The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new health advice on Thursday reiterating that ivermectin does not treat or prevent COVID-19. The drug, which is commonly used to treat parasites in humans and animals, is running out veterinary stores and has become a common prescription application in the United States
Ivermectin has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat river blindness, intestinal fortiloidiasis, head lice, and rosacea in humans. When used as prescribed for these conditions, it is “generally safe and well tolerated,” the CDC said. But the National Institutes of Health has determined that there is not “sufficient data” to recommend the drug for the prevention and treatment of COVID, and the FDA has not approved it for these uses either.
In March, the FDA issued a warning warning people, “Never use medications intended for animals. Vermectin preparations for animals are very different from those approved for humans.”
Seven studies on the drug have published results in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, but all have small samples, “incomplete information, and significant methodological limitations,” the NIH said. There are several ongoing clinical trials or recruiting participants to study future implementation.
However, outpatient retail pharmacies have observed a 24-fold increase in ivermectin prescriptions compared to before the pandemic, the CDC found. From March 16, 2019 to March 13, 2020, there were an average of 3,600 ivermectin prescriptions per week. In the week of August 13, there were over 88,000 recipes in the US
But as the use of the antiparasitic drug increases, so do reports of adverse effects, the CDC said.
Poison control centers across the country have seen one call recovery report human exposures to ivermectin. In July, the number of calls received by drug centers multiplied by five compared to the number of pre-pandemic calls. The centers also saw an “increased frequency of adverse effects and visits to the emergency department and hospital,” the CDC said.
Many of the cases the CDC has seen include people ingesting ivermectin products they bought without a prescription, including formulas for large animals such as horses and cattle. These formulas are highly concentrated and can cause an overdose, the CDC warned.
“People who take highly inappropriate doses of ivermectin above the FDA-recommended dose may experience toxic effects,” the CDC said. These effects can range from nausea and vomiting to those that are more neurological, including hallucinations, seizures, coma, and death.
There are currently three FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Modern.