Trial procedures
MUTATION
Eligible patients were admitted to the study ward. Baseline investigations included a full clinical examination, rapid SARS-CoV-2 antibody test (BIOSYNEX COVID-19 BSS IgM/IgG, Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France), blood sampling for hematology and biochemistry, an electrocardiogram and a chest radiograph (following local guidance, but this was not a study requirement). After randomization, oropharyngeal swabs (two swabs from each tonsil) were taken as follows. A Thermo Fisher MicroTest flocked swab was rotated against the tonsil through 360The TaqCheck SARS-CoV-2 Fast PCR Assay (Applied Biosystems, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) was used to quantitate viral load (RNA copies per mL). This assay is a multiplexed real-time PCR method, which detects the SARS-CoV-2 N-gene and S-gene as well as human RNase P in a single reaction. RNase P was used to correct for variation in the sample human cell content. The viral load was quantified against known standards using the ATCC heat-inactivated SARS-CoV-2 VR-1986HK strain 2019-nCoV/USA-WA1/2020. Viral genetic variants were identified using real-time PCR genotyping with the TaqMan SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Panel. Plasma ivermectin concentrations were determined on days 3 and 7 using validated high-performance liquid chromatography linked with tandem mass spectrometry (