Scientists find drug that kills COVID-19 in 48 hours

Scientists in Australia have found an already existing drug that kills COVID-19 in the laboratory within 48 hours. The drug, Ivermectin, is used to treat head lice and is available all over the world. Researchers at Monash University found that a single dose of Ivermectin stops the SARS-CoV-2 virus growing in cell culture. But the research is in its early stages and Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, has not yet been tested on persons infected with COVID-19. According to British tabloid Daily Mail, the next step is for scientists to determine the correct human dosage, to make sure the level used in vitro is safe for humans. The scientists warned that it could take at least a month before human trials start. ‘We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA (effectively removed all genetic material of the virus) by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it,’ Daily Mail quotes Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute’s Dr Kylie Wagstaff as saying last Friday. He added: “In times when we’re having a global pandemic and there isn’t an approved treatment, if we had a compound that was already available around the world then that might help people sooner. “Realistically it’s going to be a while before a vaccine is broadly available.’