The Ivermectin vs Covid Calamity

Ivermectin is effective against infestations by mites, ticks and botfly parasites that cause huge economic losses in the livestock industry. It was effective against parasites in horses, cattle, pigs, sheep and dogs, and was nontoxic to these animals.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 was divided, one half jointly to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura "for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites" (3)

Ivermectin vs Covid, it worked in cells?


The first thing you do to assess a drugs potential effectiveness against a novel virus, is too test it in the lab, in glass/in vitro. So you might think it is looking good for our wonder drug that when we see a paper titled:

“The FDA-approved drug ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro” (8)

"However, the concentration of ivermectin they tested was 20 to 2,000 times higher than the standard dosages used to treat human parasitic infections. Such high concentrations of the drug would likely be toxic."(9)

"This is almost certainly the reason that ivermectin doesn’t work against COVID-19 in spite of its activity in vitro against SARS-CoV-2. It requires a concentration roughly 66- to 197-fold higher than is safely achievable in the blood."(10)

Hence, based on in vitro results, ivermectin was never a promising candidate as an antiviral drug to treat COVID-19. Because even after very high doses of Ivermectin, we still cannot get to a level where is concentrated enough to be effective.

Another double blinded trail with 1358 patients receiving either ivermectin and placebo reported:

"Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of Covid-19 or of prolonged emergency department observation among outpatients with an early diagnosis of Covid-19.” (16)

And another well designed decentralized, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trail
“We did not find a clinically relevant effect for treatment of early COVID-19 with ivermectin 400 µg/kg daily for 3 days in this large trial that enrolled over 1500 participants in the United States.” (16b)

And another
"In this randomized clinical trial of high-risk patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, ivermectin treatment during early illness did not prevent progression to severe disease. The study findings do not support the use of ivermectin for patients with COVID-19.” (16c)

What’s the harm?

"Although ivermectin has been a game-changer for people with certain infectious diseases, it isn’t going to save patients from COVID-19 infection. In fact, it could cost them their lives."(2)

Commonly reported side effects of ivermectin include
fever, pruritus (itching), and skin rash.

Serious side effects that have been reported with ivermectin include: (17)
Neurological problems (which involve the brain or nerves), such as confusion or sleepiness.
Serious eye problems, such as loss of vision.
Serious skin reactions, such as toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
Low blood pressure.
Increased heart rate.
Liver damage.
Severe allergic reaction.

So pretty nasty all round.

“
This experience shows just how desperate Long Covid can make us. The combination of extremely poor quality of life, the unclear prognosis and the absence of any ‘official’ treatment means that long haulers (including myself at that stage) will take unknown risks if there’s some chance it might help them in any way. Because at some level it feels like there’s nothing to lose. However, it’s never worth taking risks on medication that you’re unfamiliar with if you’re not under the care of a supervising doctor. Beyond simply the doctor’s ability to prescribe, their role is to carefully consider the evidence for efficacy and safety, which should lead to a considered discussion of your individual circumstances and thus informed consent. I don’t know anyone who’s rolled the dice on a random drug and found they were suddenly cured, so don’t be tempted by social media stories that say something along those lines. There is far more risk than reward.”

The above is a direct quote from this book. It is very good and worth reading. (Although they are wrong about acupunture)