Information below paraphrased from materials provided by the National Institute of Health (NIH), US Government.
Ivermectin is usually provided in the form of a pill, and is most well-known for treating animals against parasites. Millions of livestock and pets are treated each year with this medication, marketed under the name Mectizan
It was developed in the 1970's by a Japanese Kitasato Institute in cooperation with Merck, and introduced as a commercial product for Animal Health in 1981. It is effective against a wide range of parasites, including gastrointestinal roundworms, lungworms, hornflies, and external parasites such as mites, lice, and ticks...
In 1988, it was first used to successfully treat Onchocerciasis Parasites in humans (river blindness), transmitted by fly-bites that cause millions of micro-worms in human blood. It has also been successful in treating Strongyloidiasis, Ascariasis, cutaneous larva migrans, filariases (spread by mosquitoes), Gnathostomiasis and Trichuriasis, as well as for oral treatment of ecto-parasitic infections, such as Pediculosis (lice) and scabies (mites). Before Ivermectin, the disease caused visual damage for over 1–million people annually, around half of whom will become blind, in addition to painful swelling in body extremities.
It is been recognized by UNESCO as one of the greatest medical accomplishments of the 20th century. The impact of this treatment has been especially dramatic in Africa. Well over 200 million people take the drug annually, via globally-coordinated Mass Drug Administration (MDA) programs.
How does it work?
Ivermectin simply reduces the amount of a protein which is postulated to play a role in helping the parasite elude the host’s immune system. The growing body of evidence supports the theory that the rapid microfilarial reduction following ivermectin treatment results not from the direct impact of the drug, but...via suppression of the ability of the parasite to secrete proteins that enable it to evade the host’s natural immune defense mechanism
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3043740/
Ivermectin is usually provided in the form of a pill, and is most well-known for treating animals against parasites. Millions of livestock and pets are treated each year with this medication, marketed under the name Mectizan
It was developed in the 1970's by a Japanese Kitasato Institute in cooperation with Merck, and introduced as a commercial product for Animal Health in 1981. It is effective against a wide range of parasites, including gastrointestinal roundworms, lungworms, hornflies, and external parasites such as mites, lice, and ticks...
In 1988, it was first used to successfully treat Onchocerciasis Parasites in humans (river blindness), transmitted by fly-bites that cause millions of micro-worms in human blood. It has also been successful in treating Strongyloidiasis, Ascariasis, cutaneous larva migrans, filariases (spread by mosquitoes), Gnathostomiasis and Trichuriasis, as well as for oral treatment of ecto-parasitic infections, such as Pediculosis (lice) and scabies (mites). Before Ivermectin, the disease caused visual damage for over 1–million people annually, around half of whom will become blind, in addition to painful swelling in body extremities.
It is been recognized by UNESCO as one of the greatest medical accomplishments of the 20th century. The impact of this treatment has been especially dramatic in Africa. Well over 200 million people take the drug annually, via globally-coordinated Mass Drug Administration (MDA) programs.
How does it work?
Ivermectin simply reduces the amount of a protein which is postulated to play a role in helping the parasite elude the host’s immune system. The growing body of evidence supports the theory that the rapid microfilarial reduction following ivermectin treatment results not from the direct impact of the drug, but...via suppression of the ability of the parasite to secrete proteins that enable it to evade the host’s natural immune defense mechanism
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3043740/