The Mississippi State Department of Health issued a warning on Friday against the use of an antiparasitic drug to treat or prevent COVID-19. The alert came when calls to the state poison control center have increased, with at least 70% related to the intake of ivermectin, a drug commonly used for livestock.
“I definitely recommend people not to take any medications at a feed store or a veterinary source,” Mississippi health worker Thomas Dobbs said Wednesday in a COVID-19 briefing. “It can be dangerous.”
Ivermectin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat humans with intestinal complications caused by parasitic worms and for topical use to treat conditions such as head lice and rosacea. The drug is also commonly used to prevent heartworm disease and other parasites in animals. Ivermectin is not approved or recommended by the FDA to treat or prevent COVID-19 in humans.
In March, the FDA issued a warning about the use of the drug for COVID-19 treatment.
“Never use medications intended for animals for yourself,” the advisor said. “Vermectin preparations for animals are very different from those approved for humans.”
Side effects associated with taking ivermectin include rashes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, swelling of the face or limbs, dizziness, seizures, sudden drop in blood pressure, coma, and even death. the FDA.
According to the health department alert, of those who called the Mississippi Poison Control Center, 85% had mild symptoms and no hospitalization has been associated with ingestion of the drug. A resident was instructed to seek additional evaluation due to the amount of ivermectin they ingested.
Soumyabrata Roy / NurPhoto via Getty
“You wouldn’t get your medical treatment, you wouldn’t get chemotherapy at a feed store,” Dobbs said. “I mean, you wouldn’t treat pneumonia with your pet’s medication. It can be dangerous to take the wrong doses of medication, especially for something that’s intended for a horse or a cow.”
The health worker urged people to work with their primary care physicians and recommended that eligible residents be vaccinated with one of three vaccines authorized for emergency use by the FDA: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Modern.
Mississippi, which has the second-lowest vaccination rate in the country, is in the middle of a fourth-wave record as the Delta variant spreads across the state. As of Thursday afternoon, 5,048 new cases of COVID-19 had been reported in the state, according to data from its health department, and only 8.25% of intensive care beds are available statewide. . Of these ICU beds, 59.87% are used to treat patients with COVID-19.
“We’re clearly in the worst part of the pandemic we’ve seen everywhere and it continues to get worse,” Dobbs said.
He issued an order on Friday threatening fines and / or imprisonment for residents diagnosed with the virus who do not isolate at home.