New research finds that ivermectin could help control malaria transmission
57 comments
·August 2, 2025kacesensitive
gus_massa
> it’s definitely not some miracle drug or cure-all like some would have you believe
I agree. Anyway, there is a nice post about Ivermectin in 2020 by Derek Lowe (In the Pipeline) https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/what-s-ivermectin the most relevant quotes are:
> The drug is effective against a wide number of parasites and arthropods in general
> Its ion-channel mechanism of action against parasites has no application to viruses.
cryptoegorophy
It would’ve been very nice to show early in Covid the scale size of parasites vs viruses. Calling it a horse dewormer created the opposite, conspiracy effect.
sjsdaiuasgdia
"Well if it can kill that big ol' thing, surely it can absolutely destroy those microscopic bastards!"
A whole lot of people will ignore or rationalize away evidence that disagrees with what they have already decided is true.
bamboozled
Golf is awesome...I know that much for sure.
andy_ppp
Yes, I really am always shocked by the Joe Rogans et. al. who spout off about random fad pharmaceuticals like this (with microscopic grains of truth that’s been twisted), they don’t even understand the basics of what is done to prove anything at all works effectively but in complete stupidity there’s a certainty I don’t think I have about anything.
People are more likely to believe Mel Gibson than a scientist on this stuff, it’s going to lead to absolute disaster.
ImHereToVote
I believe it was a licensed MD who prescribed Ivermectin to him. It might be that we all have some parasites that worsen COVID immune reactions.
ujkhsjkdhf234
Get involved in sports and you'll learn you can find a crooked doctor to prescribe anything and I mean ANYTHING.
bamboozled
Yet there was zero evidence to suggest it would work for COVID, and people like him going around saying it worked, or they had "good results", based on nothing. Then they caused a shortage of the drug in places it was needed. So he actually caused harm with his BS.
I also got a fairly early strain of COVID and didn't have Ivermectin and I got over it pretty easily too? I just thought I pushed it too hard in the gym and felt a bit tired. My cousin got it, ended up in hospital on Oxygen.
Joe Rogan is just a fool and a propagandist.
smallerfish
Yes, and there are licensed MDs working for RFK specifically to demonize vaccines (while there are many other licensed MDs who see vaccines as being very positive and efficacious). A license doesn't make you right.
wat10000
What do you call someone who graduates last in their class in medical school?
“Doctor.”
There’s no shortage of credentialed quacks out there.
transcriptase
[flagged]
andy_ppp
There’s zero evidence and many clinical trials showing ivermectin is not effective against COVID. I don’t watch CNN I just believe we should use the scientific method to figure things out not theories people post on YouTube.
awnird
Some Americans literally bought and consumed horse medicine because they thought it would cure covid. That’s not misinformation.
danans
> Yes, I really am always shocked by the Joe Rogans et. al. who spout off about random fad pharmaceuticals like this
Why shocked?
It seems quite normal since we live in an age where there is no accountability for spouting that stuff, and probably a major economic upside for the person spouting it.
Snake oil has never had a bigger market than it has today, aided by the Internet as a platform.
ttoinou
Of course but the real question is how good the competition / alternative to Joe Rogan is. If he replaces MSM (all their lies and manipulation), then he’s better, even if he has low proof for what he talks about
kennywinker
Might makes right?
Success in a media marketplace is not the same as quality, honesty, or integrity.
kytazo
Why was this flagged?
draw_down
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amluto
> It has now been shown to reduce malaria transmission by killing the mosquitoes that feed on treated individuals.
That seems like it will interfere with careless randomized controlled trial design. If the drug kills mosquitos, it could easily do less well at preventing the user from getting infected by a mosquito, but it could potentially prevent an infected patient from spreading an infection via mosquito or even kill a mosquito that would otherwise subsequently spread an infection between two other people.
In any case, here’s a better article. It seems the authors are very much aware of this issue, and they randomized entire clusters of people:
https://www.science.org/content/article/well-known-drug-coul...
vnchr
The discoverers of ivermectin shared a Nobel Prize in 2015 [0] with a discoverer of a novel malaria treatment. Interesting coincidence.
[0] https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2015/press-releas...
stocksinsmocks
I wonder how many years it will take for the emotional response to the word “ivermectin” to subside so that every mention of it doesn’t erupt into a two minute hate. I worry that the unintended consequence of these marketing campaigns, whether well intentioned or not, is going to be a growing list of trigger words that send people into deep mental anguish. As there seems to be a new outrage every few months, I would think there has to be some kind of real damage that accumulates from a lifetime of this.
aeonik
22.3 years is the standard amount of time before something tragic can become funny.
This standard may also apply here.
latchkey
SouthPark got it wrong, it is only 36 days.
https://newrepublic.com/article/116425/science-humor-when-do...
Terretta
Ivermectin: much more than you wanted to know
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/ivermectin-much-more-than-y...
Spoiler: this finding fits
walterbell
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/116436
> Four states -- Tennessee, Arkansas, Idaho, and Louisiana -- have passed OTC ivermectin laws
> [Nine] other states have bills moving through their legislatures
zoklet-enjoyer
You can just go buy it at any farm supply store. Same thing with DMSO
walterbell
State legislative processes have multiple functions.
rolph
it doesnt stop you from being infected, it is administered, in such dosage as to make the blood toxic to mosquitoes.
the reduction of infection is by reduction of mosquito population.
jmclnx
Well something needs to be done about malaria. Since there is no hope in solving Climate Change, seems malaria and other disease are slowing heading north.
I remember reading some nasty mosquito diseases already landed in Florida and Southern Texas. And seems malaria use to be as far north as NH.
So, if work does not start soon, malaria could cover a decent area of the US. Of course we know the politicians will completely ignore this threat and some may even say it is no worse than the common cold. Just look at the progress on Climate Change, if decent work was done on that 30+ years ago, it would have solved lots of potential issues.
OutOfHere
This paper seems misleading to me because ivermectin was dosed only once a month at about a standard dose. Based on the drug's pharmacology, there is no way in which it could maintain any effectiveness over a week.
If the paper is legitimate, then the effect could be better with weekly dosing and much better with twice-a-week dosing.
raffael_de
This research must have been conducted by a bunch of conspiracy nuts - after all Ivermectin is a horse dewormer and that's all you need to know about it (source: CNN)
gddgb
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aaron695
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Ivermectin has a surprisingly interesting origin, it was discovered in soil near a Japanese golf course and developed from a bacterium that kills parasites. It went on to treat diseases like river blindness and became widely used in both human and veterinary medicine. Despite all that, it’s definitely not some miracle drug or cure-all like some would have you believe. Though that didn’t stop my grandpa from stockpiling it after watching too many Fox News ads.