Washington (AP) — Health professionals and medical groups are pushing to eradicate the increased use of antiparasitic drugs decades ago to treat COVID-19, which can cause harmful side effects. Warns that there is little evidence that it helps.
In the fourth wave of infectious diseases, more Americans are turning to ivermectin. Ivermectin is an inexpensive drug used to kill human and animal worms and other parasites.
Federal health officials saw a surge in prescriptions this summer, with concerns about reported increases in overdose. The drug was even given to prisoners in a prison in northwestern Arkansas, despite federal warnings about the use of COVID-19. On Wednesday, podcaster Joe Rogan, who denied the COVID-19 vaccine, announced that he had tested positive for the virus and was taking the drug.
Ivermectin has been promoted by Republicans, conservative talk show organizers, and some doctors, and has been amplified via social media to millions of Americans who continue to resist vaccination. .. It is also widely used in other countries such as India and Brazil.
This week, a group of top US experts for doctors and pharmacists called for an “immediate termination” of drug use outside of research.
The American Medical Association and two pharmacist groups said:
Extensive research is currently underway in the United States and abroad to determine if the drug has any effect on the prevention or slowing of COVID-19.
The latest plea is followed by similar warnings from federal and state regulators tracking drug-related side effects and hospitalizations.
Louisiana and Washington issued warnings after an increase in calls to poison control centers. For those who buy veterinary foam to treat COVID-19, some animal feed providers have run out of medicine.
Randy McDonough, a pharmacist in Iowa City, Iowa, said:
Ivermectin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of roundworm and other small parasite infections in animals such as humans, cows, horses and dogs. Tablets are used for endoparasites and ointments are used to treat head lice and other skin infections. Generic drugs work by paralyzing the worm and killing its offspring.
The FDA has sought to condemn the online claim that animal drug versions can help fight COVID-19.
“Taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm,” the FDA warned in a public recommendation. The drug can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, delirium, and even death, officials said.
Dr. David Boulware of the University of Minnesota states that the side effects of this drug are mild, even twice or three times the normal human dose. However, livestock formulations may contain 1,000 times more than those that are safe for humans.
“It’s very easy to get into toxic levels,” said Bouleware, an infectious disease expert. “All these intensive doses in 2,000 pounds of horses can certainly make people sick or hospitalized for toxicity.”
Boulware states that several times a year in the United States, patients are prescribed medication more routinely when intestinal parasites work in common countries. But he and other experts are wary of an explosive increase in US ivermectin prescriptions.
By mid-August, US pharmacies had met 88,000 weekly drug prescriptions, a 24-fold increase from pre-COVID levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, drug-related emergency calls have increased five-fold at US poison control centers, and some cases require hospitalization.
The CDC cited a man who drank injectable form of ivermectin in cattle. He suffered from hallucinations, confusion, tremors and other side effects before being hospitalized for nine days.
The World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health, and other medical professionals also do not recommend its use outside of carefully managed patient studies. The NIH committee found “insufficient evidence” for or against the COVID-19 drug and called for a larger, well-designed trial.
Experts said early laboratory studies showed that ivermectin slowed coronavirus replication when grown in monkey cells. However, such studies do not help measure the actual effectiveness of humans. And they mentioned other studies suggesting that drugs need to be given at levels 100 times higher than standard doses to have antiviral effects in humans.
NIH is studying drugs in large-scale trials to compare half a dozen established drugs and see if they have any effect on COVID-19.
Experts say that anyone interested in ivermectin should ask about enrollment in such studies.
“Participating in clinical trials does not harm ourselves and can help society generate the knowledge it needs to know if it works or not,” Bouleware said. I am.
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AP writer Andrew De Millo contributed to this story from Little Rock, Arkansas.
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The Associated Press’s Department of Health Sciences is supported by the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. AP is solely responsible for all content.
Efforts to eradicate the use of COVID-19 antiparasitics are increasing | WGN Radio 720
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