The Covid-19 pandemic is still affecting various countries around the world. Countries are competing to find a cure for Covid-19.
Crowded with Covid-19 drug claims from Remdesivir to Ivermectin. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are still struggling to find a cure for Covid-19.
Dr. Herman Sunaryo MSc from the Research and Development Department of PT Harsen Laboratories said, Ivermectin was discovered in 1975. This drug was originally used by veterinarians to treat livestock and pets who were sick due to parasites such as heartworm.
In its development, explained Dr. Herman, since 1981 this drug has been used to treat people who are sick due to parasitic infections as well, for example river blindness caused by Onchocerca volvulus, strongyloidosis, and so on. Even the FDA approved the use of Ivermectin for parasitic diseases in humans.
Likewise, WHO included Ivermectin in the list of important drugs in the same year.
“Until now, Ivermectin has been used in billions of doses and there are no reports of dangerous side effects and its safety is good,” said Dr. Herman in his press statement, Wednesday (28/10/2020).
When the Covid-19 case broke out, in April 2020 researchers from Monash University, Australia published a study on Ivermectin. Apparently this drug is stated to inhibit the development of the corona virus in cell culture.
In the study, viral RNA was reduced by 93% – 99.8% within 24 hours. This effect also lasts up to 72 hours in cell culture (invitro).
This is the beginning of using Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 infection. A number of countries such as Peru, Dominican Republic, Bangladesh, and India have used this drug.
One of the sources is in a research journal entitled A Case Series of 100 Covid-19 Positive Patients Treated with Combination of Ivermectin and Doxycycline.
Dr. Herman also explained, a collaborative study led by the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) with the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) showed that anti-parasitic drugs such as roundworm Ivermectin that are already available on the market can kill the SARS-CoV virus. -2 causes of Covid-19.
“The public may not know about this Ivermectin, because in Indonesia this drug is more often used for veterinarians. But concerns about Covid-19 patients dying without drugs have driven doctors in Peru, Dominica, Bangladesh and India to use Ivermectin. Besides this drug is off patent, it can be used by humans, it is also cheap, safe and effective, ”he said.
Currently, the race to find a cure for Covid-19 is still ongoing. But the most clear information, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) only approved Remdesivir as a drug to treat Covid-19 on Thursday, October 22, 2020.
To date, Remdesivir is the first drug to have received federal approval to treat Covid-19.
(DRM)
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