“You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, everyone stop now.” This is the message posted on Twitter on August 23 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to explain that the’ivermectin should not be used to treat Covid-19.
You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it. https://t.co/TWb75xYEY4
– US FDA (@US_FDA) August 21, 2021
What is ivermectin?
Ivermectin is an antiparasitic commonly used to treat intestinal worms, usually in animals and especially horses. It is also indicated to fight scabies or malaria. This antiparasitic is also classified by the WHO as a drug “safe” can “be used on a large scale“against river blindness, a disease transmitted by a bite of a small black fly in some rivers. And the advantage that comes from this is that ivermectin is not expensive.
Ivermectin and Covid-19: where are the studies at?
The ivermectin trail has been launched after the publication of a study (April 2020) in the scientific journal Antiviral Research, by Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. The results seemed promising since the drug lowered the viral load by 99.98%. And this, in just 48 hours.
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur have also shown that ivermectin protects symptoms of Covid-19 in an animal model. In a statement, relayed on July 12, 2021, they explain having observed “that taking ivermectin is associated with a limitation of the inflammation of the respiratory tract and the symptoms which result from it”.
However, this drug has not yet proven its effectiveness against covid19 in humans.
According to experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), it is premature to use this molecule to treat covid-19, outside of clinical trials. “Current data on the use of ivermectin to treat patients with COVID-19 is inconclusive. Until more data are available, the WHO recommends that this drug be administered only in clinical trials “, underlined the WHO in a press release, on March 31.
Why is this drug so popular?
It is clear that purchases of ivermectin are exploding in the United States where the drug is over the counter. And calls to poison centers too!
This is what the New York Times in an article published on August 30. “For a week, the doctor Gregory Yu, emergency physician in San Antonio, receives the same request from his patients every day, whether or not they are vaccinated against Covid-19 : a prescription for ivermectin, a drug used in the treatment against certain parasitic worms, which has however proved ineffective in all clinical trials on patients with Covid-19. ”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescriptions for ivermectin jumped from 3,600 per week before the pandemic to 88,000 in mid-August.
The first clinical trials communicated as “promising” at the start of the epidemic are at the origin of this enthusiasm. Added to this, the fact that the drug is inexpensive, this was enough to make the molecule a new “miracle” pill like chloroquine.
What are the health risks ?
The problem observed across the Atlantic is that the formulation of the drug is suitable for animals – horses, cows, etc. – and not for humans, their morphologies being very different! Consequence: there is a risk of overdose. The New York Times article says poison centers are overwhelmed with calls. Patients have symptoms of nausea, diarrhea, or muscle pain.
Sources:
- Demand Surges for Deworming Drug for Covid, Despite Scant Evidence It Works, article from New York Times, August 30, 2021
- Attenuation of clinical and immunological outcomes during SARS-CoV-2 infection by ivermectin, Molecular medicine, July 2021
- WHO advises against using ivermectin to treat COVID-19 outside of clinical trials, March 31, 2021
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