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A Covid-positive person in Sydney has been admitted to Westmead Hospital with vomiting and diarrhea after an overdose of ivermectin and other drugs ordered online.
Westmead Hospital toxicologist Naren Gunja said the case was part of a growing trend the hospital was seeing of people taking unproven online cures for Covid. The patient did not experience severe toxicity while taking the ivermectin cocktail, “but it also did not help their Covid,” he said.
“There is no evidence to support the use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19. Do not look for magic cures online and do not trust what is peddled on the internet, because none of them work.
Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, is only approved in Australia for medical conditions such as river blindness, scabies and roundworms. The growing trend as an unauthorized Covid drug stems in part from its promotion among right-wing politicians and the media in the United States, which has flocked to the same groups in Australia.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said Monday there was a shortage of ivermectin Stromectol 3 mg tablets in August, and said there had been a tenfold increase in detections of people seeking to import the drug.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia said on Wednesday that its members had noticed an increase in the number of people presenting with prescriptions for ivermectin who refused to say what it was for.
Members of anti-vaccination groups shared information about the friendly doctors who will provide prescriptions, how to get the drug from international stores, and how to take the version of ivermectin designed to deworm cattle.
A growing number of calls to the U.S. poisons information hotline prompted the Food and Drug Administration to tell people not to take the drug.
“You are not a horse,” the FDA said in a tweet. “You are not a cow. Seriously, all of you. Stop that.”
The FDA has warned that side effects of taking ivermectin could include “rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, swelling of the face or limbs, neurological adverse effects. (dizziness, seizures, confusion), a sudden drop in blood pressure, a severe rash potentially requiring hospitalization, and liver damage (hepatitis).
“Laboratory test abnormalities include low white blood cell count and elevated liver tests. Any use of ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of Covid-19 should be avoided. “
Australian authorities, including the university behind the first laboratory trial of ivermectin to treat Covid-19, have stressed that the drug should not be used to treat Covid-19 outside of clinical trials, and people should not self-medicate or use medicines intended for livestock.
As recently as Monday in federal parliament, Independent MP Craig Kelly called for ivermectin to be considered a treatment for Covid-19 in Australia.
“How did we miss the boat? It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase Australian innovation. It could have been known as the Australian treatment all over the world, ”he said.
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The National Covid-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce, which reviews studies of the drug around the world, said in late August that “there remains significant uncertainty as to whether ivermectin is more effective and safer than standard care for treat patients with Covid-19 ”.
Gunja said Westmead has seen people come to hospital after treating themselves with a range of dangerous substances, including hydroxychloroquine, disinfectants, bleach and alcohols.
He said vaccination is the best and safest way to protect yourself against serious illnesses from Covid-19.
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