This is junk science and quackery of the most dangerous sort. In no way is Ivermectin an antiviral. It's strictly a treatment for various species of worms, lice, burrowing mites and other parasitic infestations. Yes, it has been used in humans, for "river blindness" in the deep tropics / rain forest, for example. This particular affliction is caused by a microscopic, parasitic worm which travels through the blood stream. It has also been used against scabies, head lice
The referenced articles read like propaganda; all glittering generalities, no specifics. Anyone else remember Laetrile? Just like that.
It's hard to believe that a legitimately promising treatment would be so roundly dismissed and rejected by health experts nearly worldwide, save for a few "developing" countries.
The recommended dose for parasitic infections in Humans seems to be 150-200 micro-grams per kilogram of body weight, which works out to about 10-13 milligrams for a 150-pounder. My 45-ish pound dog gets 136 micro-grams for heartworm prevention (the bigger boy is a white footed herding breed with MDR1, so he gets something different.)
The way COVID-19 kills older folks (such as myself) is by viral pneumonia. However, younger people have been dying from it in startling numbers. The start to recover from a relatively mild case, then suddenly go into acute respiratory distress and die within days. This is caused by a runaway immune reaction called Cytokine Storm Syndrome. This is exactly what killed most of the younger victims of the 1918 "Spanish" flu. There are simple tests and a number of medicinal treatments for this, but no one seems to care. They put the patient on a ventilator and walk away. This is where Hydroxychloroquine would have actually helped. People were taking it as a preventative or for mild cases and it proved useless for both. It's an immune suppressant. Properly applied, it would very likely have saved thousands of lives. It's an old drug, though, and there are newer and more effective replacements, but they're not using them. This is in spite of extensive write-ups by respected experts.
But ivermectin is not an immune suppressant, nor an antivral. I can't find anything definitively connecting it to the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. Did they just try something at random? Where is the research?
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