An anti-parasitic drug used in horse dewormer and human head lice treatment has Australian scientists “cautiously optimistic” it could be a possible weapon against SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.

Researchers in a joint study by Monash University’s Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Peter Doherty Institute of Infection and Immunity found that a single dose of ivermectin killed COVID-19 cells within 48 hours in laboratory tests. Findings were published in Antiviral Research – read it here.

Study leader Dr. Kylie Wagstaff remarked, “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 really significant reduction in it. We need to figure out now whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective – that’s the next step.”

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