FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug ivermectin can kill the coronavirus within 48 hours, reports new study

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FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug ivermectin can kill the coronavirus within 48 hours, reports new study (www.naturalnews.com)

“We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours, there was a significant reduction in it,” said Dr. Kylie Wagstaff, a senior research fellow at Monash University in Australia and the senior author of the study.

As one of the widely available and cost-effective medications included in the World Health Organization‘s (WHO) model list of essential medicines, the researchers believe that ivermectin warrants further investigation for its beneficial activities against the virus responsible for COVID-19.

Ivermectin, the anti-parasitic drug that exhibits anti-viral activity Ivermectin was first discovered in the 1960s by Satoshi Omura, a microbiologist at Tokyo’s Kitasato Institute, and William Campbell, an American biologist and parasitologist who, at the time, was working at Merck Research Labs in New Jersey. As part of the research agreement between the institute and Merck, Omura isolated microorganisms from soil samples collected around Japan and conducted preliminary evaluation of their bioactivities in hopes of discovering a new anti-parasitic. Promising samples were then sent to Campbell’s lab in the U.S. for further testing.

But the benefits offered by ivermectin are not limited to only cattle and pets. Soon enough, researchers found that this anti-parasitic drug can do wonders for human health. For instance, ivermectin can improve nutrition as well as overall health and well-being. It is also an effective treatment for two disfiguring neglected tropical diseases, namely, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis). These two diseases are caused by parasitic roundworms.

Recently, a series of studies on ivermectin reported another useful activity displayed by the drug. Australian researchers found that ivermectin exerts potent anti-viral effects against two viruses that cause life-threatening human diseases, namely, the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and the dengue virus (DENV). According to their report, which appeared in the Biochemical Journal, ivermectin can prevent infection by both viruses by inhibiting the transport of viral proteins to the nucleus of target cells — a process that’s critical to the life cycle of many RNA viruses.

Besides HIV-1 and DENV, ivermectin has also been found to limit infection by other viral pathogens, such as the West Nile virus, the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and the influenza virus. Because of these reports, Wagstaff and her team decided to test the activity of ivermectin against the Wuhan coronavirus.

(Natural News) An anti-parasitic medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can be used against the Wuhan coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), reports a new study. Australian researchers discovered that ivermectin, a semi-synthetic drug commonly used to treat head lice, scabies, ascariasis and other parasitic infections, can effectively kill SARS-CoV-2 within 48 hours in culture. “We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours, there was a significant reduction in it,” said Dr. Kylie Wagstaff, a senior research fellow at Monash University in Australia and the senior author of the study. As one of the widely available and cost-effective medications included in the World Health Organization‘s (WHO) model list of essential medicines, the researchers believe that ivermectin warrants further investigation for its beneficial activities against the virus responsible for COVID-19. Ivermectin, the anti-parasitic drug that exhibits anti-viral activity Ivermectin was first discovered in the 1960s by Satoshi Omura, a microbiologist at Tokyo’s Kitasato Institute, and William Campbell, an American biologist and parasitologist who, at the time, was working at Merck Research Labs in New Jersey. As part of the research agreement between the institute and Merck, Omura isolated microorganisms from soil samples collected around Japan and conducted preliminary evaluation of their bioactivities in hopes of discovering a new anti-parasitic. Promising samples were then sent to Campbell’s lab in the U.S. for further testing. But the benefits offered by ivermectin are not limited to only cattle and pets. Soon enough, researchers found that this anti-parasitic drug can do wonders for human health. For instance, ivermectin can improve nutrition as well as overall health and well-being. It is also an effective treatment for two disfiguring neglected tropical diseases, namely, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis). These two diseases are caused by parasitic roundworms. Recently, a series of studies on ivermectin reported another useful activity displayed by the drug. Australian researchers found that ivermectin exerts potent anti-viral effects against two viruses that cause life-threatening human diseases, namely, the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and the dengue virus (DENV). According to their report, which appeared in the Biochemical Journal, ivermectin can prevent infection by both viruses by inhibiting the transport of viral proteins to the nucleus of target cells — a process that’s critical to the life cycle of many RNA viruses. Besides HIV-1 and DENV, ivermectin has also been found to limit infection by other viral pathogens, such as the West Nile virus, the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and the influenza virus. Because of these reports, Wagstaff and her team decided to test the activity of ivermectin against the Wuhan coronavirus.

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