Desperation, misinformation: how the ivermectin craze spread across the world

With Peru's health system overhelmed last year, many residents began self-medicating, an indicator of things to come

As Covid-19 cases in Peru rose rapidly during the early months of the pandemic, public interest in the drug ivermectin surged.

Misleading information suggesting the drug, used to treat parasites in humans and livestock, had been proven effective against coronavirus reached many Peruvians online, doctors told the Guardian.