ivermectin

noun

iver·​mec·​tin ˌī-vər-ˈmek-tən 

: a drug mixture of two structurally similar semisynthetic lactones that is used in veterinary medicine as an anthelmintic, acaricide, and insecticide and in human medicine to treat onchocerciasis

Examples of ivermectin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Marik was forced to resign his positions at Eastern Virginia Medical School and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital for promoting the use of ivermectin after the FDA’s actions, according to the lawsuit. —Jen Christensen, CNN, 27 Mar. 2024

Disappointingly, the growing evidence of healthy young men dying shortly after being vaccinated and the therapeutic benefits of ivermectin and the hydroxychloroquine cocktail were not discussed. —Letters To The Editor, Orange County Register, 27 Mar. 2024

Some consumers were even taking the veterinary formulation of ivermectin, which was commonly used for deworming horses and which produced a surge of calls to poison control centers in Mississippi, prompting the FDA’s warning tweets. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024

Kory and Marik have testified in statehouses across the country espousing their views of ivermectin as a treatment for covid or against legislation promoting vaccines. —Lauren Weber, Washington Post, 21 Feb. 2024

That has become harder to do as time goes on, as Ladapo has moved from promoting useless treatments for COVID-19, such as the drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, to waging an ever-expanding fact-free campaign against the leading COVID vaccines. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2024

Studies have shown that two doses of ivermectin are effective at eliminating the disease in 98 percent of patients. —David Cox, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2024

The channels also claim to sell the drug ivermectin, which the US Food and Drug Administration said should not be used to treat or prevent Covid-19 in 2021. —Matt Burgess, WIRED, 18 Dec. 2023

Neither ivermectin nor fluvoxamine reduced the risk of long COVID. —Lucy Tu, Scientific American, 22 June 2023

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from di- + New Latin avermitilis (specific epithet of Streptomyces avermitilis, bacterium from which it is derived) + English -ect- (of unknown origin) + -in entry 1

First Known Use

1981, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

ivermectin

noun

iver·​mec·​tin ˌī-vər-ˈmek-tən 

: a drug mixture of two structurally similar semisynthetic macrocyclic lactones that is a derivative of avermectin used in veterinary medicine as an anthelmintic, acaricide, and insecticide and in human medicine to treat onchocerciasis