The Washington Post - 19.03.2020

the washington post

.

thursday, march

19

,

2020

dc

12

catastrophizing.”

In that vein, here’s a look at

where some prominent coronavi-

rus myths originated and what

the facts really are.

Myth: Chlorine will kill

coronavirus

A QAnon supporter has been

advising his 120,000-plus Twitter

followers to use a “miracle miner-

al supplement” containing the

bleaching agent chlorine dioxide

to “wipe out coronavirus.” S imilar

posts have advised people to use

bleach in spray bottles for self-

cleaning or gargling. It’s all terri-

ble advice; bleach is meant for

surfaces, not human bodies.

The Centers for Disease Con-

trol says that unexpired house-

hold bleach is an effective house-

hold cleaner for coronaviruses

when properly diluted — w hich is

four teaspoons of bleach per quart

of water. You can safely use bleach

to clean frequently touched sur-

faces, such as tables, doorknobs,

light switches and faucets — but

don’t spray it on your skin or in-

hale it. The WHO says spraying

chlorine all over your body will

not kill viruses that have already

entered your body and can be

harmful to mucous membranes in

your eyes and mouth.

Myth: Garlic soup will ward

off c oronavirus

There was a post circulating on

Twitter and Facebook that ad-

vised people to make a soup by

boiling eight cloves of garlic in

water to “cure” the coronavirus.

Facebook was quick to tag it with

the statement “the primary

claims in the information are fac-

tually inaccurate.”

Garlic certainly has health ben-

efits and is being researched for

its antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-

tumor and antibacterial poten-

tial. In the antiviral research,

most studies focus on HIV or the

common cold, and the data can-

not be extrapolated to the novel

coronavirus. Because there’s a

sliver of knowledge about garlic

and viruses, it’s easy to embellish.

But according to the WHO, “there

is no evidence from the current

outbreak that eating garlic has

protected people from the new

coronavirus.”

Myth: Nasal spray helps

prevent coronavirus

This rumor seems more like a

mix-up. An Australian company

makes a nasal spray that it adver-

tises as a disinfectant for your

nose, capable of reducing the

amount of detectable coronavirus

by almost 100 percent. The fine

print? The research was conduct-

ed before the virus that causes

covid-19 and probably refers to

coronavirus that causes the com-

mon cold.

There’s a lso a myth that sesame

oil nasal spray can combat the

virus. Although two small studies

from 2000 and 2001 found that a

nasal spray m ade from sesame oil

can help keep nasal passages

moist in dry winter climates,

there’s no science linking sesame

oil as a helpful aide for a runny

nose, cough, cold, flu or coronavi-

rus. Putting sesame oil on the

body will not block the coronavi-

rus.

The WHO says there’s no evi-

dence that regularly rinsing the

nose with saline has protected

people from infection with the

new coronavirus, either. Accord-

ing to the WHO website, “There is

some limited evidence that regu-

larly rinsing the nose with saline

can help people recover more

quickly from the common cold.

However, regularly rinsing the

nose has not been shown to pre-

vent respiratory infections.”

Myth: Extreme temperatures

kill coronavirus

President Tr ump suggested

BY CARA ROSENBLOOM

Governmental agencies are

stepping in to debunk bogus coro-

navirus cures — including chlo-

rine, garlic or colloidal silver —

that are ricocheting around the

Internet. The World Health Orga-

nization has set up a helpful re-

source page to bust such myths

and is working with social media

platforms to flag posts making

false claims, so the misleading

information can be blocked from

news feeds. And the Food and

Drug Administration and the

Federal Trade Commission sent

warning letters on March 9 to

seven companies peddling illegal

or unapproved drugs.

Why would the public believe

such far-fetched and potentially

dangerous advice as drinking col-

loidal silver or gargling with

bleach to prevent coronavirus?

“People need to manage the fear

that comes from feeling like you

don’t have control over some-

thing as fundamental as your

physical health and safety,” said

Christopher J. B ryan, an assistant

professor of behavioral science at

the University of Chicago Booth

School of Business. “If science is

telling you the only thing you can

do is wash your hands, that can

feel unsatisfying, because it’s a

thing we already do regularly, so

it doesn’t feel like it has any

special protective power,” he add-

ed. “So, in our desire to feel like

we’re taking all possible action to

protect ourselves in an emergen-

cy, it’s easy to see how we would

become more open to plausible-

sounding claims about uncon-

ventional things we can be doing

that satisfy that need.”

And the Internet has the ability

to distribute any health guidance,

good or bad, with lightning speed.

“If I’ve learned anything in the

past few days, it’s that the poten-

tial to spread information rapidly

really exists through social media

platforms,” said Abdu Sharkawy,

an infectious diseases specialist

at U niversity Health Network and

assistant professor of Medicine at

the University of To ronto, whose

own, legitimate, counsel about

how to handle the outbreak went

viral. “But some people with little

background in science or health

care have anointed themselves as

experts and give people advice.

It’s very damaging and hasn’t

helped at all.”

In his Facebook post, which

has reached more than 1.3 million

people, Sharkawy advised meet-

ing the coronavirus challenge

with compassion for others and

“an unfailing effort to seek truth,

facts and knowledge as opposed

to conjecture, speculation and

that the coronavirus out-

break will be gone by April be-

cause heat generally kills this

kind of virus. Comforting

thought, sure. Fact? Nope. A Twit-

ter post that advised people to

take hot baths and avoid ice

cream w as viewed by social media

users globally and was falsely

attributed to UNICEF. The non-

profit organization quickly told

Twitter users it was a fake post.

Other Internet myths say cold

weather, a warm bath or hand

dryers can kill the coronavirus.

None of these are confirmed to be

true. Ultraviolet light may be able

to kill coronavirus on surfaces but

should not be used to sterilize

skin, because UV radiation can

cause skin irritation.

Coronavirus has popped up in

countries with a variety of differ-

ent temperatures, so it’s impossi-

ble to say that people living in one

climate may be more likely to

contract it.

Myth: Colloidal silver

prevents coronavirus

Te levangelist Jim Bakker re-

ceived a cease-and-desist letter

from the New York attorney gen-

eral after an episode of his TV

show promoted “Silver Solution”

as a coronavirus cure. On the

episode, he interviewed a natur-

opath who said the product

“hasn't been tested on this strain

of the coronavirus, but it’s been

tested on other strains of the

coronavirus, and has been able to

eliminate it within 12 hours.” B ak-

ker’s company was one of the

seven that received letters from

the FDA and FTC.

These are only some of the wild

claims circulating the globe; in

addition, zinc won’t p revent coro-

navirus from “multiplying in your

throat,” and cocaine won’t kill it.

Anything you read about curing

the virus will be false; there is no

specific medicine recommended

to prevent, treat or cure covid-19.

Your best bet for finding informa-

tion is through the WHO, CDC or

similar evidence-based portals.

“Don’t use conjecture, whim or

non-evidence-based practices to

try and combat this problem,”

Sharkawy said. “I’m fine if you

want to drink your water with

garlic, but not if it replaces hand-

washing or other evidence-based

advice that we know to be help-

ful.”

[email protected]

registered dietitian cara

rosenbloom is president of Words to

eat By and specializes in writing,

nutrition education and recipe

development. she is the co-author of

“nourish: Whole Food recipes

Featuring seeds, nuts and Beans.”

Bogus coronavirus cures: Debunking myths circulating online

Wellness

KAtHy WIllens/AssocIAted Press

Garlic soup is among the bogus cures for the coronavirus being spread on the Internet.