As the whole world is reporting more and more number of coronavirus cases everyday and thousands of people are losing lives, it has become an emergency to discover the drug that would kill the virus. Several scientists are testing different medicines and drugs to counter COVID-19.

A recent study conducted by the researchers from the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia, has found that the head lice drug, Ivermectin, could potentially be used to kill the coronavirus.

According to study, the drug, Ivermectin, successfully killed the novel coronavirus within 48 hours, in a laboratory setting.

How did researchers perform the laboratory test?

The researchers infected some cells with the COVID-19 virus. These infected cells were then exposed to the head lice drug, Ivermectin. There was a significant reduction in the virus in just 24 hours. In the later next 24 hours, there was a complete destruction of the virus.

Conclusion: Researchers found that just a single dose of Ivermectin had successfully killed the virus in a petri dish. The drug proved it's antiviral activity by completely removing the COVID-19 virus in less than 48 hours.

Researchers believe that Ivermectin has ability to pause the process that allows the proteins to move within a virus which will in turn stops nuclear transport leading to virus destruction.

Though this drug has already been established safe for human consumption, experts recommend people to not consume or hoard this drug, as human trial is still underway.

If the human trials turn out to be successful, it will significantly speed-up the development for a COVID-19 treatment.

Apart from fighting against the coronavirus, Ivermectin has also shown to be effective against other viruses including HIV, Dengue, influenza and Zika virus in vitro.

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