The drug is a horse dewormer and hasn’t been proven to treat COVID-19 in humans.
Ivermectin is a medication used to treat a parasitic infection. It’s not normally something sold over the counter for humans. This is because it needs to be dosed properly according to the patient’s weight, and to be given in accordance with their medical condition. How a patient’s body responds to the drug must also be considered.
But that hasn’t stopped some people. Recently, some people have decided to use the drug to try to treat COVID-19. They’ve purchased the drug at farm stores, and are taking it on their own. While you may be tempted to try it, here are some reasons why getting the coronavirus vaccine to protect yourself is a better idea.
Clinical trials of ivermectin to treat COVID-19
Some people want to believe a true cure for COVID-19 is out there. Maybe it is. It’s true that ivermectin is currently being investigated in clinical trials as a potential treatment to help fight off the coronavirus, as are other drugs. The thing is, there is still no clinical data to prove that it works. There was a study published in 2020 that proved high doses of ivermectin inhibited the virus that causes COVID-19 in a lab petri dish. This has never been proven in humans, however, and so whether or not ivermectin does anything to protect you against the virus is unknown. It’s totally possible that ivermectin doesn’t do anything in helping humans fight COVID-19.
Ivermectin is primarily sold in the US to treat parasitic infections in animals like horses. Yes, it is a horse dewormer. Yum! Fighting viruses is another matter.
There IS a mountain of clinical data to prove that coronavirus vaccines work to reduce your chances of hospitalization and death should you contract COVID-19, however.
You can take your chance, but why bother?
Related: Viral loads decrease faster in infected fully vaccinated people
What ivermectin DOES treat
As stated above, this drug is used to deworm animals. It controls intestinal worms, and heartworms. Ivermectin was developed in the 1970s and it currently treats neglected tropical diseases in humans in other places besides the US. Ivermectin is used to treat river blindness, (when a person goes permanently blind from parasitic infections), and lymphatic filariasis. This disease impairs the lymph system and causes fluids to build up in your body. It’s known as elephantiasis and it’s disfiguring with no known cure. (Ivermectin is given as an effective preventive medicine for this disease).
Neither of these two diseases are normally contracted in the US.
What does the company that makes ivermectin have to say?
Merck is the company that manufactures ivermectin. They have publicly stated that the drug does not treat COVID-19.
So, there you have it. Maybe the facts will change, who knows. For the moment, however, we have a variety of vaccines to prevent serious COVID-19 infection that are widely available, effective, and have been tested in humans. And they’re pretty much free. Millions of humans, by this point, have taken them safely. They have been proven to be effective at helping you stay alive.
In contrast, no one yet knows exactly what ivermectin does against COVID-19. It is known that it does a great job at helping to prevent two neglected tropical diseases that aren’t even around on American soil. People in other parts of the world need ivermectin so they don’t go blind, grow crippled or die. Please leave this medicine for those who need it for use in treatments we know already work.
Get a COVID-19 vaccine. You could say “it’s never too late” but actually, it can be, so act today.
photo credits: Sari ONeal/Shutterstock.com
