The Medicines Directorate declined to provide details since the restriction on over-the-counter sales of the drug and its retail price in pharmacies was lifted.
The drug Ivermectin, the name of which has become popular because there are doctors who use it as part of the treatment for COVID-19, is sold in pharmacies without the need to provide a prescription.
Sales of the drug had limited its sale, but according to several consulted sources, the National Directorate of Medicines (DNM) has dropped the requirement.
Ivermectin is a certified drug prescribed for parasitic infections, in both animal and human formula. And it is used to treat external parasites such as lice and skin diseases.
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Side Effects of Using Ivermectin
A publication of Revistamedica.com, which listed 62 scientific articles related to the topic, indicated that the drug may have adverse effects in patients, such as blurred vision, loss of appetite, abdominal distension, diarrhea, muscle pain, constipation, fever, insomnia, edema ”, among others.
People who shouldn’t use Ivermectin
People with liver damage or pregnant. Do not administer if you are breast-feeding. It should not be used by children under 33 pounds.
Both the Medical College and the Association of Chemical-Pharmaceutical Industries of El Salvador agree that there is free sale of Ivermectin.
However, Miltón Brizuela, president of the Medical College, explained that the DNM has not yet notified the college of the new provision.
The Diario de Hoy consulted the National Directorate of Medicines regarding the approval of the drug’s free sale, the reasons and parameters for classifying it as an over-the-counter drug, in addition to its estimated retail price; However, the communications spokesperson for the management said the institution would not take a position on this.
The drug is sold and promoted as over-the-counter by several pharmacies. Costs range from $ 48.26 to $ 31.96, with some offering home delivery.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that the drug elicits reactions that can cause rashes, liver damage, swelling of the face or limbs.
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Since March last year, with the outbreak of the emergency due to the new virus, dozens of labs worldwide began investigating which drugs already approved could stop COVID-19, and in April representatives from Monach University’s Australian Institute of Biomedicine reported that, after a study of cell cultures “in vitro” (in the laboratory), they had verified that the use of Ivermectin had significantly reduced the development of viral Sars-Cov-2 RNA, by more than 90%.
Faced with the emergency and amid the impact COVID-19 had on a global level, many countries decided to use Ivermectin as part of the management of the novel coronavirus, both preventively and as a treatment. However, research showed that it had to be prescribed in large quantities.
Indeed, according to Carlos Ortega, a virology specialist at the University of El Salvador’s Faculty of Medicine, Ivermectin has not gone through any stages of study to be an antiviral agent against COVID-19 and it has no international certifications for it; However, in light of the emergency and the data that laboratory studies have provided, he does not misunderstand their use.
The epidemiologist Roberto Vidrí explained to El Diario de Hoy in August 2020 that there are no drugs to prevent or cure COVID-19 and that doctors are currently treating the symptoms caused by the virus, such as fever, pain. headache, sore throat, dry cough, breathing difficulties, among others.
“Ivermectin should not be widely used for COVID-19. Decisions are based on the burden of proof. At the moment, the evidence indicates that it does not work against COVID-19, although it could change in the future. Therefore, it should not be part of the current protocol, ”said Roberto Vidrí.
The government of El Salvador, such as Brazil, Honduras, and the United States, uses Ivermectin in the treatment of people infected with COVID-19.
Vidrí explained that it is not necessarily the drug that promotes the recovery of people with the virus, but rather, “Most people will recover from COVID-19 without any intervention. The association is wrong: they were healed because they were going to do it anyway, not because of the drug, ”said Vidrí.
Rosales Hospital’s chief of infectology, Rolando Cedillos, also explained last August that scientific evidence so far indicates that infected people will not necessarily develop symptoms and that it was irresponsible to promote self-medication, if it does not exist. prophylactic medications.
“They give medications as they are given to the patient (confirmed) to asymptomatic people, if no drug has been shown to prevent and cure COVID-19, that is irresponsible,” said Cedillos of the drug kit being provided by the government, stating that the drug has been absorbed. .
The specialist’s statements are based on the behavior of the disease, according to the Center for Control and Prevention (CDC), which states that most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without requiring hospital treatment. And 1 in 5 people who contract COVID-19 develop a serious condition and experience breathing difficulties.