It’s true. People are eating a de-wormer, mostly intended for farm animals, to ward off or treat a Covid-19 infection and that’s prompted public health officials from across the state and the nation to issue a warning about it.
Last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) issued a warning that the improper use of ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19 infection by could lead to serious health complications and it doesn’t really help against the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued similar warnings.
The Williamson County and Cities Health District posted the CDC warning to social media but said it doesn’t have any comments on ivermectin use in humans.
Despite these warnings, pharmacies and feed supply stores have seen a run on the product and the Texas Poison Control Center’s hotline is burning up with calls from people concerned about overdosing on the livestock dewormer.
According to the DSHS statement, calls to the Texas Poison Control Center about ivermectin exposure increased about 150% in August over the previous month.
“More than half of the 2021 calls (87, 55%) were potential Ivermectin exposure taken in an attempt to treat or prevent COVID-19,” according to the DSHS statement. “Most of the calls were about people experiencing mild symptoms, but for 52 (33%), the patient was either on the way to a health care facility or was referred to a health care facility, suggesting more severe effects.”
“Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. However, you can have further problems, including mental status changes, coma, even seizures, and there have been deaths reported,” said Dr. Shawn Varney, the Medical Director of Texas Poison Center, reported in a Texas Public Radio Network story. “No, I haven’t seen any deaths here in Texas, but these are things that are reported by the manufacturer with people who use large doses.”
He said that the center has received 260 calls with ivermectin poisoning so far this year. He said the poisoning can be accumulative, so if a person takes multiple small doses over time, there can be a sudden overdose.
That hasn’t stopped a run on the product in area stores. One local chain pharmacy posted on social media Sunday that ivermectin was “officially on backorder, we do not have any.”
An internet search for the websites of WilCo feed stores also shows the product out of stock or on back order.
“The past few months it’s been ivermectin. Last year, it was hydroxychloroquine,” said Varney in reference to the drug used to treat malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis that was once touted to treat the coronavirus and was later proven ineffective and harmful in some cases. “What is it going to be next week? There’s something else will come along and will take its place. It’s part of the desperation for searching for a cure. But right now the best thing we have is the vaccine.”
There are formulations of ivermectin approved for human use, by prescription — for the treatment of head lice and some skin conditions, but ivermectin found in a feed store is formulated for animals.
“(The medications) have different carriers in them or different products to help get them in your blood stream.” said Varney in the radio interview. “They haven’t really been studied in humans either to know what the effect would be because they weren’t ever meant for humans. So there are different complications and problems that people may run into.”
“Ivermectin is not an anti-viral drug that can treat viral illnesses such as COVID-19,” said the DSHS warning. “The FDA has not approved ivermectin for treating or preventing COVID-19. Large doses of ivermectin can cause serious harm.”
Even the manufacturer of ivermectin warns against its use in humans.
According to the Merk website, “… company scientists continue to carefully examine the findings of all available and emerging studies of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 for evidence of efficacy and safety.
The website noted that the company’s analysis has identified:
• No scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against COVID-19 from pre-clinical studies;
• No meaningful evidence for clinical activity or clinical efficacy in patients with COVID-19 disease, and;
• A concerning lack of safety data in the majority of studies.
“We do not believe that the data available support the safety and efficacy of ivermectin beyond the doses and populations indicated in the regulatory agency-approved prescribing information.”
“Let’s encourage the vaccine and avoid taking all these medications,” said Varney.
The Ragged Edge 