Healthcare experts warned Ivermectin should not be used to treat COVID as it is ineffective against the disease. This comes as there are reports that an increasing number of urgent cares in Louisiana are recommending the unverified treatment, sometimes coupled with zinc supplements.
LSU Health New Orleans Chief of Community Medicine Dr. Ben Springgate urged doctors not to prescribe the treatment for COVID and asked residents not to take the treatment unless they have parasitic worms.
“While there was some preliminary information that showed it might be beneficial against the virus in a Petri dish in a lab we have subsequently learned that it does not work in humans,” said Springgate.
Springgate said taking Ivermectin takes the treatment away from those who need it and can give people a false sense that they are treating their COVID when they aren’t. The drug also can have some nasty side effects.
“It can interact with other medications such as blood thinners, you can overdose on Ivermectin which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure, seizures, and even death,” said Springgate.
The treatment gained some popularity in recent weeks due to social media misinformation. Springgate said don’t believe everything you see online…
“We hope that we will have better solutions in the future and it is understandable that people are looking for other answers but relying on medications that are not intended for treating COVID-19 can end up hurting someone and we don’t want to see that,” said Springgate.
Merck, which makes Ivermectin, issued a statement on their website saying there is no meaningful clinical data or scientific basis for using Ivermectin to treat COVID.
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