Ivermectin cannot be used to treat COVID-19. | File Photo
Ivermectin cannot be used to treat COVID-19. | File Photo
Iowa Poison Control warns against using ivermectin.
Iowa has seen a spike in reports of people taking ivermectin either purposely or by mistake, Radio Iowa reported. Individuals ingest it in hopes of preventing or treating COVID-19.
“Ivermectin, a drug that is used to treat heartworm in livestock & certain skin conditions in humans, is being sought out to treat #COVID19" Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management said in a post to its official Twitter account on Aug. 30. "The @CDCgov says it is seeing a major increase in prescriptions written for #Ivermectin. #Warning.”
Ivermectin is designed for deworming cattle and has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans. There have been clinical trials to look into the possibility of the medication serving as treatment for COVID-19, but they did not find enough evidence for it to be approved as a treatment, KCCI reported. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were fewer than 4,000 prescriptions being written a week for ivermectin at the beginning of the year.
As of Aug. 30, the number of weekly prescriptions for ivermectin had gone up to 88,000. The FDA said ivermectin is not antiviral drug, making it useless against the coronavirus, KCCI reported.
Symptoms of a ivermectin overdose are nausea, vomiting and dehydration, KCCI reported.
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