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by dkga 1679 days ago
Veterinarian here, used to ivermectin as it should be used - as an anti parasitic.

I fully agree with this view above.

2 comments

You mean you believe that a widespread administration of ivermectin would lead to development of ivermectin resistance in parasites?
That’s certainly already the case. Ivermectin has lost effectiveness against particularly insidious parasites such as Haemonchus Contortus (barber pole worm). We’ve resorted to other treatments such as Moxidectin, Levamisole, etc, all of which are more expensive and harder to dose safely and effectively.

I can totally understand how Ivermectin got its following— it’s an amazing general purpose medicine around the farm. I generally use it responsibly by verifying the presence of parasites before administering (which can be literally any animal on the farm with almost any parasite) … but then there are times such as when my daughter had a single pet chicken (among many healthy ones) that wasn’t looking so hot … Whereas previously I’d just dispatch the animal and be done with it, now I give a dose of Ivermectin and isolate for a few days before calling in the grim reaper. So far the success rate is something like 90% where now my 9 year old daughter administers it herself. While I acknowledge this isn’t the most responsible, I can imagine others have had similar experiences which explain some of the popularity of Ivermectin with rural folk.

What's the downside of giving Ivermectin to livestock that don't have parasites?
Ivermectin stops working.
Through what mechanism?
Natural selection.
There's an issue with collies and collie-derived dog breeds; used to be warnings (even mentioned in an episode of "House"). But. Most of the lines running around today are the ones that weren't sensitive and didn't die from ivermectin. So it's no longer such an issue.
Widespread administration does lead to the development of resistant parasites. That's not an hypothetical, that's what you see on any farm if you prolong the treatment for too long.

It's always recommended that you cycle through different anti-parasite treatments.

Why would I take human medical advice from you? Are you saying there are no human uses beyond an anti parasitic?
I guess in theory you could use the topical cream form as a moisturiser. Perhaps even use the tube as a doorstop in a pinch.