Is the deworming drug Ivermectin considered a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19 right now?

SAN ANTONIO – – You may have seen posts about Ivermectin on social media. It was also a topic mentioned during a Senate committee hearing.

There is a question circulating right now across the country: is the anti-deworming drug Ivermectin safe and effective to use as a COVID-19 treatment?

We sent the question through our KSAT Trust Index, where our teams consult with doctors, researchers and experts on topics discussed like this.

“It’s a de-wormer, so for pets, it’s used a lot. We don’t have as many worm infections in the United States, but when people travel to resource-poor places, it’s also approved for treating worms in humans. with UT Health San Antonio.

Ivermectin is one of the drugs that tested positive in laboratories earlier this year for treating SARS CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

However, human testing has only just begun and the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration specifically say that it is not yet approved or safe for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19.

“I agree with the NIH’s recommendation that it should be done in a process where they are really closely monitored,” Bowling said.

Bowling called Ivermectin promising, but is worried to hear that doctors prescribe it without a label or that some people even take prescription drugs for pets.

“The problem is that if you take the level of Ivermectin that I use in these plates in the lab, it’s 10 times higher than the approved dose for humans,” he said. “Ivermectin is usually well tolerated, but when people have an inflammatory condition, as you would with COVID infection, it can cause neuro-toxicity, side effects of the central nervous system. So you will not reach those levels that they have reached in the laboratory without having more worries about side effects. “

Dr. Bowling said that without completing current COVID-19-specific clinical trials, there is no way to determine the safe doses, possible side effects and, of course, efficacy.

For this reason, combined with the lack of FDA approval or emergency use authorization, the statement that “Ivermectin is considered a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19 right now” is labeled Not true on our KSAT confidence index.

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