key papersKey paper
Exposures to bleach, peroxide, disinfectants, antimalarials, and ivermectin reported to the California Poison Control System before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2015 to 2021
California's poison control system saw ivermectin exposures rise steadily through 2021 as people tried it against COVID-19, from about 14 a month to a rising monthly count.
Overview
Interrupted time-series analysis of California Poison Control System reports from 2015 through 2021 found that reported ivermectin exposures were stable at 14.5 a month before December 2020 and then increased by 2.05 a month through December 2021 (Ghai poison centre trends 2024). Exposures to household cleaning products also rose sharply in March 2020, while antimalarial exposures did not change significantly (Ghai poison centre trends 2024).
Observational studyHas not changed practice yet
Authors
Ghai A, Sabour E, Salonga R, Ho R, Apollonio DE.
Published
Public Health Reports, 2024
Findings
- Ivermectin exposure reports rose by about two a month from December 2020 through December 2021, from a baseline of 14.5 a month.
What it means
Population-level evidence that when a drug is promoted online for an unproven use, poison centres see the result.
Caveats
- Reports to a poison centre undercount exposures and do not record severity in this analysis.
drugs
1Phase 2Oral antiparasitic small molecule (macrocyclic lactone), studied in cancer as an add-on to checkpoint antibodies
Ivermectin · Stromectol