Baby ‘turned blue’ after bizarre Covid advice from underground Telegram group

A dad who suspected his baby girl had fallen ill with Covid took to an underground chat group for advice, with shocking consequences.

The terrifying extent to which unproven Covid advice is spreading and putting lives at risk has been revealed in a young father’s pleas for help on an underground messaging group.

The American dad, who went by the name Jason, became concerned when his six-month-old daughter Ruby began to experience flu-like symptoms.

The girl’s mother had tested positive for Covid the previous week, and Jason said she was “worried sick” about the baby girl.

But instead of taking the infant to see a doctor, Jason decided to ask a QAnon Telegram group — filled with tens of thousands of people who think Covid is a hoax — what to do.

The group was infiltrated by a Vice reporter, who followed the chilling conversation.

“Do you guys think it’s safe to give ivermectin to an infant?” Jason wrote in the chat group.

Ivermectin is an antiparasitic medication used to treat infestations in humans include head lice, scabies and river blindness. It has become one of the mostly debated drugs over the past two years since researchers showed it could kill SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) in the laboratory.

The father took to Telegram to seek advice. Picture: File

There is no clinical evidence it works to treat or prevent Covid-19. And there is widespread medical consensus people should not take ivermectin at home for the disease.

The group that Jason approached for advice, however, has spent months sharing information about how to obtain ivermectin.

According to Vice, members also share tips on how to avoid going to hospitals, and how to treat the symptoms of COVID — which they don’t believe exists — at home.

“Baby aspirin to thin the blood a little and drop any fever and I would put some ivermectin on the bottoms of her feet,” one group member responded — while others said he should wait to take advice from “experts” in ivermectin usage on the group.

One user called Katie, who claimed to be an expert, piped up.

“From what I understand, yes it is safe to give to an infant, however please stop calling it Covid, it’s not Covid, it’s a simple cold. That’s how we got in this mess to begin with,” Katie wrote.

Jason took the advice and gave his baby a dose of ivermectin.

“We gave her two doses of ivermectin at 50mg each. That’s what was recommended by someone on here. She got really sick after that. Related? I don’t know,” Jason claimed in an update.

Members of the group urged Jason to take the baby to hospital. Picture: Telegram via Vice.

Within minutes, Jason reported that his little girl’s condition was deteriorating.

“Baby threw up. Is that common side effect? She’s also turning a tad blue,” Jason said.

Shockingly, somebody said this had happened to their child as well and they took him to hospital — something Jason wasn’t keen to do.

Jason responded: “We don’t trust hospitals. I told my son to give her more ivermectin.”

Group members pleaded with Jason to go to the hospital.

“That baby needs to go to the ER. Do not hesitate,” one group member called Barbara, who said she was a respiratory therapist, wrote. “I’ve seen too many go south due to O2 levels being low. The blue is hypoxia and that’s lack of oxygen at the tissue level. Please!”

Finally, Jason told the group, the child was taken to hospital.

“[My] son is taking baby to urgent care. Against my wishes but I’m praying for her. It’s in God’s hands now,” Jason wrote before later adding an update that Ruby was “doing better.”

“God knew what to do even though I thought hospital was certain death,” Jason wrote on Wednesday night. “Thanks for everyone’s advice.”

The US isn’t the only place where Covid patients are clambering to get hold of unproven treatments like ivermectin.

In Australia, the TGA has placed restrictions on the prescribing of oral ivermectin amid a spike in demand.

General practitioners are now only able to prescribe ivermectin for TGA-approved conditions – scabies and certain parasitic infections.

“These changes have been introduced because of concerns with the prescribing of oral ivermectin for the claimed prevention or treatment of Covid-19, the TGA said.

“Ivermectin is not approved for use in Covid-19 in Australia or in other developed countries, and its use by the general public for Covid-19 is currently strongly discouraged by the National COVID Clinical Evidence Taskforce, the World Health Organisation and the US Food and Drug Administration.”

It says there are three main reasons for their concern.

“Firstly, there are a number of significant public health risks associated with taking ivermectin in an attempt to prevent Covid-19 infection rather than getting vaccinated,” it said.

“Individuals who believe that they are protected from infection by taking ivermectin may choose not to get tested or to seek medical care if they experience symptoms. Doing so has the potential to spread the risk of Covid-19 infection throughout the community.

“Secondly, the doses of ivermectin that are being advocated for use in unreliable social media posts and other sources for Covid-19 are significantly higher than those approved and found safe for scabies or parasite treatment.

“These higher doses can be associated with serious adverse effects, including severe nausea, vomiting, dizziness, neurological effects such as dizziness, seizures and coma.

“Finally, there has been a 3-4-fold increased dispensing of ivermectin prescriptions in recent months, leading to national and local shortages for those who need the medicine for scabies and parasite infections.

“It is believed that this is due to recent prescribing and dispensing for unapproved uses, such as Covid-19. Such shortages can disproportionately impact vulnerable people, including those in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.”

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Originally published as Baby ‘turned blue’ after bizarre Covid advice from underground Telegram group