Ivermectin has no positive effect on Covid-19: Experts

KABUL (Pajhwok): A number of social media users and internet pages claim anti-parasite drug ivermectin can eradicate the coronavirus within 48 hours, but health experts refute the claim and ask the people to never use this drug.

Fatima, a twitter user tweeted: “Instructions for the use of the drug Ivermectin in the prevention and treatment of Covid-19.”

Meanwhile, Amir Ali Nezhad, another twitter user, wrote: “The African countries have used this medicine “Ivermectin” and as a result of which the death rate due to Covid declined to zero.”

Some news websites and internet sites also published information about the effectiveness of ivermectin.

Tasnim News Agency also published an article titled: “Researchers have found that this drug can destroy the culture of the cells of the acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus within 48 hours.”

Independent Farsi website also released a report titled: “Britain is researching the drug Ivermectin to treat Covid-19.”

This medicine was used all over the world to treat infections and it would be investigated in the University of Oxford.

But health experts reject the claim.

Dr. Faridullah Omari, trainer and specialist in the Antani hospital of Kabul, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “There were hypotheses that ivermectin has a positive effect on Covid, but I reject this, because this drug does not have a positive impact.”

He urged the people: “Don’t believe in such rumors, if you contract the virus, don’t use ivermectin medicine.”

Dr. HashmatullahFaizi, in charge of quality control and trainer for Covid-19 at the Afghan-Japan Hospital, said: “Ivermectin was recommended for patients at the beginning of the spread of the coronavirus but it does not give good results.”

He said no such medicine existed that was cent percent effective against Covid-19.

He advised people in a special message: “Avoid any type of self-medication and do not use any type of medicine without consulting a doctor, because it can have side effects.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, rejected the issue and said: “Ivermectin drug was recommended for the Covid patients in the first and second waves of Covid-19, but later research was conducted that ivermectin tablets were not effective for Covid-19 patients.”

He also recommended the guidelines of the Ministry of Public Health to the people.

Farsi Independent internet website released an article titled: “Japan declared the effect of antiparasitic medicine on Omicron.”

The article also said that the US Food and Drug Administration warned against the use of this drug for the treatment or preventive action against Covid-19.

sa/ma