5,000 sick in Amazon after evangelicals give animal drug as Covid 'salvation' (Peru, 2020-06-22)

[-] covid-19_throwaway | 2 points | Jun 22 2020 23:12:44

increase in their heart rate

This is an uncommon side effect, except when it's being used to treat onchocerciasis, which hasn't been reported in Peru before, but definitely exists in the Amazon basin. I wonder if they're inadvertently killing a lot of parasites while doing this?

[-] TrumpLyftAlles | 1 points | Jun 23 2020 18:06:50

Nice to see you again, covid-19-etc! It's been a while!

My twitter friend who knows all things Peru says he hasn't heard of the heart rate thing. The sum total "evidence" are words out of the mouth of the director of a radio station. Could be pure fiction.

[-] covid-19_throwaway | 2 points | Jun 23 2020 18:24:21

Yeah, it seemed kind of like they were just repeating an earlier report, which likewise didn't explain where their info was coming from, or whether they'd even interviewed a single patient.

I subscribed here early on, and watch this sub all the time, but you and a couple of other regulars are doing such a good job of posting stuff quickly that I don't often find much to add, but will come out of lurking any time I do.

[-] TrumpLyftAlles | 1 points | Jun 23 2020 18:37:24

All contributions are welcome, of course. I may be cutting back.

[-] TrumpLyftAlles | 1 points | Jun 22 2020 17:40:28

Uh-oh: bad news?! Not really: increased heart rate and diarrhoea [sic] are trivial compared to COVID-19.

Up to 5,000 people in Peru's Amazon area were given ivermectin by evangelical groups linking coronavirus with the devil and went on to suffer increased heart rate and diarrhoea

Oh. Is that all? Certainly worth it, if it prevents dying from COVID-19.

Evangelical groups have been giving a drug used for parasitic infections in animals to people living in the Amazon and passing it off as a vaccination against coronavirus.

There's limited evidence that ivermectin provides prophylactic protection against catching COVID-19, mostly reports by Latin American MDs recommending it to their colleagues -- not very good proof. Dr. Aram's (Bangladesh) initial announcement was also about using ivermectin to protect health care workers and their families. Also not scientific proof.

As the world races to find a vaccine, evangelic groups and a mayor in the region of Loreto, in north-eastern Peru's Amazon area, have been giving locals injections of ivermectin, which has not been proven to be effective and has "terrible" side effects.

Increased heart rate and diarrhoea are terrible? If that actually happened.

Spanish newspaper El Pais report up to 5,000 people in the town of Nauta have received the treatment with Leonardo Tello, the director of local radio station Radio Ucamara, telling reporters "the side effects have been terrible".

Tello said that since May, "the mayor of the province and an Evangelic alliance have called citizens, using radio stations, to be vaccinated with ivermectin as if it were a vaccine against coronavirus. In Nauta, at least 5,000 people have received it."

He said that many of those who had received the treatment had suffered an increase in their heart rate whilst others have warned of diarrhoea as a side effect.

Yawn.

Tello says that local Evangelical pastors have linked coronavirus with the devil and the end of the world, offering the injections as "a salvation".

Ugh.

Wadson Trujillo, the head of the indigenous community in Cuninico, said that volunteers from the Misiones Evangelicas de la Amazonia (Amazon Evangelical Missions) had gone to the area to give injections of ivermectin to villagers, saying that it was a medicine passed by law that "gives positive results as a vaccine".

IIRC, ivermectin is approved in Peru for administration by health professionals after receiving informed consent.

He said: "Almost everybody here had coronavirus symptoms and they are fighting against it with homemade medicine."

Interesting that homemade medicine is being used. It would be amazing if they had something that worked. We'll never know, though, since no one is studying those medicines (AFAIK).

He said that seven of the 27 coronavirus tests carried out in the community had come back positive, saying that they now have face masks for the whole population.

Local media reported that in the Peruvian Amazon, where around one million people live and around 300,000 people are indigenous, fear of coronavirus has seen the widespread use of traditional medicines which have not been proven effective against the virus.

The General Management of Medicine of the Ministry of Health of Peru have already warned about the use of ivermectin saying that it has not yet met all the requirements for use on humans.

The ministry said: "Ivermectin for animals should not be used as a replacement for ivermectin for use on human beings in order to treat coronavirus."

IVERTODO: Insert JJ's tweet about that's all they can afford

Ivermectin is under investigation as a possible inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 which causes Covid-19 but clinical trials have not yet been completed.

According to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins University, Peru has registered 251,338 cases of coronavirus and 7,861 related deaths.

[-] TrumpLyftAlles | 1 points | Jun 22 2020 17:49:10

@JJChaimie's response to (I think) a similar article:

They are using ivermectin intended for animals because is the only one available. Some "missions" are giving IVM shots, and other in combination with milk.

I haven't heard anything about heart rate rising or diarrhea

JJ knows Peru, tweets about it a lot.

[-] TrumpLyftAlles | 1 points | Jun 22 2020 18:10:13

Another article quoting the same radio guy.

About 1 million inhabitants live in the region, with 300 thousand indigenous people, who live with an increased fear of contracting diseases, feeling abandoned by the State.

5000 doses of ivermectin are a drop in the bucket.

[-] TrumpLyftAlles | 1 points | Jun 22 2020 18:15:24

Looking at the article's photos, I see that the are keeping the 6-feet rule and the health personnel have PPE!

[-] thaw4188 | 1 points | Jun 23 2020 00:33:49

anything in the mirror is probably not worth a minute of anyone's time

[-] TrumpLyftAlles | 1 points | Jun 23 2020 17:19:14

Yet another article:

Peruvians in Amazon get VETERINARY DRUG against 'devilish' Covid-19. Side effects of controversial remedy inflame debate (2020-06-23)

Same source as before, the radio station:

Consequently, some 5,000 indigenous people fell ill with rapid heart rates and diarrhea, which a local radio station chief called “horrible side effects.”

The nation made such a decision shortly after a preprint study – based on a database provided by the controversial healthcare analytics firm Surgisphere – suggested the use of ivermectin inhibits replication of Covid-19 and shows promising results. Critics, however, argued the data was far from accurate and lacked consistency, while the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) explicitly prohibits the drug’s application for treating coronavirus.

This is actually false! IVERTODO: Link in my notes about Peru's ivermectin decision-making, which did NOT include the Surgisphere Usefulness study.

[-] TrumpLyftAlles | 1 points | Jun 24 2020 18:36:14

And still another article on the same story.

Given Animal Medicine to Overcome Covid-19, Thousands of Peruvian Amazonians Sick

As a result, approximately 5,000 indigenous people fell ill with a fast heartbeat and diarrhea, a terrible side effect

Again: Would they rather have COVID-19?

This story is getting a lot of play. Is it orchestrated anti-ivermectin propaganda? Is it because of hostility toward Evangelicals? Peru is a Catholic country:

The Catholic Church in Peru is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. Catholics compose an estimated 85-90% of Peru's population.