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The drug’s use received wide attention last week when a call from Mississippi’s top doctor not to ingest ivermectin went viral. This followed a report by the Mississippi Free Press that “at least” one person had been hospitalized after taking the drug.
The incident – and others like it – in a state with the third-lowest immunization rate in the country, left Mississippi state health worker Dr. Thomas Dobbs completely baffled: “ I think some people try to use it as a preventative, which I think is really a bit crazy. So please don’t do this.
The Mississippi State Department of Health issued a health warning on August 20 specifically about an increase in incidents of ivermectin poisoning, noting that the Mississippi Poison Control Center had received an increasing number of ‘calls’ from individuals potentially exposed to ivermectin taken to treat or prevent COVID. -19 infection.
At least 70 percent of recent calls were “related to ingestion of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin purchased from livestock supply centers,” according to the alert.
In at least a dozen other states – including Kentucky, Missouri, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Oregon and Louisiana – phone calls to poison control centers have increased this month regarding the Intentional misuse of dewormer for livestock, media reports. The shelves of farm supply and tractor stores where drugs are commonly found were also cleaned.
In Alabama, calls to the state’s only poison control hotline regarding ivermectin poisoning are set to triple this year. And in Texas, the state’s poison control center network said it received 150 calls about ivermectin exposure this year, including 55 in the past month. Last year, the center reportedly received only 48 calls.
Amid an increase in cases and hospitalizations from the virus, local and federal health officials are disturbed by the growing trend, likely accelerated by widespread disinformation on social media platforms and the drug trafficking by a multitude curatorial experts on widely viewed programs.
“If you get COVID-19, we actually have treatments that work, from steroids to monoclonal antibodies and other treatments. But ivermectin is not one of them, ”US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “What this highlights is just the deep cost of health misinformation right now.”
The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning on ivermectin on Saturday. The federal agency said it had received “several reports of patients in need of medical support who were hospitalized after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for horses.”
Some studies last year are believed to have boosted use of the drug to treat coronavirus. Conservative lawmakers such as Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson and right-wing media figures – including Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity – have also promoted the use of ivermectin as an alternative treatment, while casting doubt on the vaccine.
The FDA, which has previously warned against the use of ivermectin and has not approved or licensed the drug to treat or prevent the coronavirus, said use of the drug can have serious side effects.
“Even ivermectin levels for approved uses can interact with other drugs, such as blood thinners,” the FDA said. “You can also overdose ivermectin, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension (low blood pressure), allergic reactions (itching and hives), dizziness, ataxia ( balance problems), seizures, coma and even death. “
The agency tweeted an alert even more frank: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, all of you. Stop that.”
Shannon Larson can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ shannonlarson98.
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