Person hospitalised after taking livestock medicine due to false online claims it prevents Covid
The patient, now suffering from ivermectin toxicity, has been hospitalised
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Your support makes all the difference.One person was admitted to a Mississippi hospital after taking veterinary drug Ivermectin allegedly for Covid-19 treatment as the state continued to see growing resistance against vaccines and reliance on unconventional treatments to fight the deadly contagion.
Ivermectin, a drug used for treating worms in mainly horses, has not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The patient, now suffering from Ivermectin toxicity, has been hospitalised, the state health department confirmed, reported Mississippi Free Press. The patient’s condition and the time of incident have not been shared.
Mississippi state health officer Dr Thomas Dobbs urged people to not rely on unusual drugs in a bid to avoid catching Covid-19.
Stating that potential toxicities are involved, Dr Dobbs said that people are trying to use Ivermectin as a preventive drug which is “kind of crazy”. “So please don’t do that,” Dr Dobbs said on Friday.
Underlining that Ivermectin is not a substitute for Covid-19 vaccines, Dr Dobbs said: “You know, please work with your doctor. This is medical treatment. You wouldn’t get your chemotherapy at a feed store. I mean, you wouldn’t want to treat your pneumonia with your animal’s medication.
Wrong doses of medication which is a dedicated drug for horse or a cow can prove to be dangerous, the doctor said.
The claim has been backed by the FDA which has clearly stated that Ivermectin is not approved for use in treating or preventing Covid-19 in humans.
Stating that Ivermectin is not an antiviral drug, the FDA says: “The drug is approved at very specific doses for some parasitic worms, and there are topical (on the skin) formulations for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea.”
Mississippi, an active Covid-19 hotspot in the US, has the second lowest vaccination rate. The state is battered by the outbreak and is facing the “worst part of the pandemic” in a week, Dr Dobbs said, after more than 20,000 students were quarantined for Covid-19 exposure, reported The Washington Post.
The state saw a record-breaking spike of 7,839 Covid-19 cases earlier this week on Monday and more than 4,000 new cases were registered in Mississippi on Wednesday.
Top officials and health experts are pushing for Covid-19 vaccination as a way out to break the chain of transmission and combat the disease outbreak.
"It’s effective and extremely safe. Covid has killed almost 8,000 Mississippians, but we’ve seen very few side effects from the vaccine," Dr Dobbs was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.
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