Patients following up on "promising" research suggesting head lice treatment, Ivermectin, could be used to tackle COVID-19 are being urged to "think again" before buying it.
In an article posted on The Conversation, University of Sydney Dean of Pharmacy, Andrew McLachlan, urged health professionals and patients to take a cautious approach potential to COVID-19 cures.
"Researchers testing the head lice drug Ivermectin as a possible treatment for COVID-19 have seen promising results in lab studies," he said.
"But the research is in its early stages and the drug is yet to be tested on people with COVID-19.
"There's so much we don't know, including the right dose and delivery method for people with coronavirus infection.
"So if you're thinking of buying some just in case, think again."
McLachlan noted that data from scientists at Monash University and the Doherty Institute suggested that the drug can stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, from replicating.
However, he said it was "not clear exactly how Ivermectin works" to stop the virus.
"This research on Ivermectin has been conducted in cell culture (cells grown in a laboratory) and is very preliminary," he said.
"It provides some promise, but not evidence of an effective treatment in people (yet).
"Rigorous clinical trials in people with or exposed to COVID-19 infection are needed to establish the drug works and is safe to use, and in what doses."
Over the weekend concerns about doctors and dentists potentially self-prescribing were flagged by pharmacists on Twitter.
Using the social media platform, Pharmacy Guild of Australia Victorian Branch President, Anthony Tassone, reported a surge in demand for the drug and called on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and the Medical Board of Australia to make a statement on the prescribing of Ivermectin, following a similar issue relating to anti-malarial, hydroxychloroquine (PD 23 Mar).
Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) Head of Pharmacy Futures, Dan Guidone, pleaded with universities to reconsider releasing in vitro results about potential COVID-19 treatments to the media, urging them to wait until they had some clinical data.
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