Episode Details

This episode is all about ivermectin - which truly is a wonder drug! A veritable miracle cure.

For, ahem, river blindness. And for some other parasitic diseases, like hookworm. Mostly in animals.

But in the US, you have likely heard of ivermectin not as a treatment for parasites but for different purposes altogether. There are thousands of videos on YouTube and Instagram extolling ivermectin for viral diseases like Covid, various cancers, and for something called a “parasitic detox,” or a “parasitic cleanse.”

Really? This one drug does all that?

No. It does not.

In this episode of Drug Story, we tell the tale of ivermectin, and what gets all those people on TikTok raving about this drug - what they hope it could be, what they believe it works on.

And then, with an open mind, we go to the science – to tease apart the true miracles from the mere fantasies.

Source for this episode:

[1] Dirt Eaters (2006) NCpedia: Hookworm spreads through skin contact with contaminated soil, with infection linked to poor sanitation and barefoot exposure.

[2] What Would It Take to Describe the Global Diversity of Parasites? (2020) Proceedings B (Royal Society): Discussion of parasite diversity and implications for global health.

[3] Charles Wardell Stiles (n.d.) The Online Collection and Catalog of Rockefeller Archive Center: Stiles identified hookworm as a widespread cause of disease in the American South and helped initiate national eradication efforts.

[4] The Great Hookworm Crusade (1978) Facing South: Exploration of early 20th-century public health campaigns targeting hookworm.

[5] The Germ of Laziness: Rockefeller Philanthropy and Public Health in the New South (2007): Analysis of the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission’s hookworm eradication campaign and its role in shaping public health systems.

[6] How a Worm Gave the South a Bad Name (2016) NOVA (PBS): Hookworm caused anemia, fatigue, and cognitive impairment, contributing to stereotypes of laziness in the American South

[7] Lessons Learned (2016) Vanderbilt University: Hookworm campaigns demonstrated the importance of sanitation, education, and coordinated public health infrastructure.

[8] Public Health: How the Fight Against Hookworm Helped Build a System (2020) REsource: Early hookworm eradication efforts contributed to the formation of organized public health systems in the U.S.

[8] Dr. Abbott Assails “Freedom” League (1910) The New York Times: Physicians publicly criticized groups opposing national health initiatives during early 20th-century reforms.

[10] America’s Deadly Flirtation with Antiscience and the Medical Freedom Movement (2021) Journal of Clinical Investigation: Historical medical freedom movements mirror modern resistance to public health guidance.

[11]

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