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  • 2021-09-07 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Ivermectin Win a Nobel Prize? (en)
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  • In September 2021, as people continued to seek out alternative treatments to COVID-19 despite there being free, safe, effective and readily available vaccines against the disease, many turned to ivermectin, a drug that is frequently used to de-worm horses and fight parasitic roundworm infections in humans. This led to livestock stores turning away customers, an increase of calls to poison control centers, and a warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for people not to self-medicate, as they could use the incorrect dosage or the entirely incorrect medicine. Some social media users pushed back on the claim that ivermectin was a horse de-worming drug, and claimed that ivermectin had won the Nobel Prize in 2015 after it was found to be effective in humans. This is largely accurate. William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura were truly awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015 for the development of a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites called ivermectin. It's not entirely accurate to say that they were awarded the Nobel for ivermectin's outstanding results in treating HUMANS, however, as the drug was proven to be extremely effective in both animals and humans. A news release announcing the award reads: More importantly, the developers of ivermectin were awarded a Nobel Prize for its effective treatment for parasitic worms. But COVID-19 is not caused by a parasitic worm. No. As rumors circulated about Ivermectin, so did a fake quote that was ostensibly uttered by one of its developers. This is not a genuine quote from Campbell. While Campbell did win a Nobel prize for developing an effective treatment for parasitic worms, he has not said that Ivermectin cures COVID-19. In addition to the fact that ivermectin was developed to treat parasitic worms and has not been approved as a treatment for COVID-19, the real danger of this drug comes when people try to self-medicate. A doctor may prescribe ivermectin for humans, but the drug is harder to come by without a prescription. This has led to people buying over-the-counter versions that are meant for animals and taking the incorrect dosage. The FDA explains that the horse version of ivermectin is much more concentrated because horses and other livestock tend to weigh much more than the average human. This means that if people take horse medication, they run the risk of overdosing and suffering nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension (low blood pressure), allergic reactions (itching and hives), dizziness, ataxia (problems with balance), seizures, coma and even death. This drug has not been proven to be effective against COVID-19, and it has not been approved for use as a treatment or preventative measure against the disease in the United States. The FDA writes: A few clinical trials have started to test the drug against COVID-19, but so far those studies are inconclusive. (en)
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