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Prior to full U.S. approval of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had a simple a message for Americans who are considering using ivermectin, a drug used to deworm livestock, instead of getting vaccinated against Covid.
“You are not a horse”, he noted. “You are not a cow. Seriously, all of you. Stop that.”
As with other alleged alternative treatments for Covid-19, misinformation about ivermectin has spread across social media and through right-wing media and politicians.
In July, Bret Weinstein, an evolutionary biologist, told Fox News host Tucker Carlson: “[If] ivermectin is what those of us who have looked at the evidence think it is… the vaccine debate would be closed by definition.
At a Senate hearing last December, doctors touted ivermectin alongside hydroxychloroquine, once championed by Donald Trump, and other alternatives.
In comments widely shared on social media, Dr Pierre Kory, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at Aurora St Luke Medical Center in Milwaukee, called ivermectin a “wonder drug.”
Experts then said that test results suggesting that ivermectin may inhibit the replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus did not amount to official authorization for use.
“It’s far from in vitro lab replication to help humans,” Dr. Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection prevention at the University of Wisconsin hospital, told The Associated Press. Madison.
Eight months later, many states in the US are struggling to increase vaccination rates and contain the contagious Delta variant, with some short of intensive care capacity.
The vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States involve unvaccinated people. On Saturday night in Alabama, the state with the lowest vaccination rate, Trump called on a crowd to get vaccinated. He was booed and taunted.
US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy told CNN on Sunday: “The best protection we have against Covid-19 is the vaccine, and if you get Covid-19, we actually have treatments that work.
“Ivermectin is not one of them.”
Pfizer’s shot was officially approved on Monday.
The FDA accompanied its Saturday Tweeter with an information sheet. In response to the question “Should I take ivermectin to treat Covid-19”, he replied, “No. While there are approved uses for ivermectin in humans and animals, it is not approved for the prevention or treatment of Covid-19.
“You should not take any medicine to treat or prevent Covid-19 unless it has been prescribed for you by your health care provider and acquired from a legitimate source.”
Further studies, he said, were needed to determine whether ivermectin “might be appropriate to prevent or treat coronavirus or Covid-19”.
The FDA has said it has approved the use of ivermectin “for the treatment of certain internal and external parasites in various animal species” and “people should never take animal drugs. [as] the use of these products in humans could cause serious harm ”.
Side effects that could be associated with ivermectin, he said, included “rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, swelling of the face or limbs, neurological side effects (dizziness, convulsions, confusion), sudden drop in blood pressure, 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. “
In Mississippi last week, the state health department said at least one person was hospitalized after ingesting ivermectin.
Mississippi public health official Dr Thomas Dobbs said the preventative use of the drug “is really a little crazy. So please don’t do this.
The FDA also said some pet owners may have difficulty finding ivermectin because of humans seeking cures for Covid.
Ivermectin tablets are approved for use in humans, the FDA said, for “the treatment of certain parasitic worms.” The formulations can only be used on prescription for the treatment of “skin conditions such as rosacea” and “external parasites such as lice” – or nits.
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