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5 more Coronavirus Misinformation Messages Debunked

Abhijit Chanda

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5 More Coronavirus Misinformation Messages Debunked Abhijit

More coronavirus misinformation has come my way, and I'm fact-checking them all! These messages claim that vitamin C, homeopathy and blowing hot air up your nose with a hairdryer can save you from the coronavirus. Oh, and apparently raw onions can cure COVID-19 100%! How I wish these were true.

But they are not! These WhatsApp and Facebook forwards have no evidence at all supporting their claims to prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus from infecting you or cure the disease it causes, COVID-19. If you see any of these forwards pop up on your phone, don’t forward it and share this with the person who sent it to you.

It’s getting really hard to keep up with all of these.

Let's begin! 

FWD 1: Can Vitamin C prevent Coronavirus...and cancer...and HIV?

Hello, I'm Laila Ahmadi from China, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Zanjan University

   Corona virus arrives in any country sooner or later, there is no doubt that many countries do not have any diagnostic kits or equipment, so

   Please use as much * natural vitamin C as possible * to strengthen your immune system.

   Don't worry, C gets rid of it a lot, and that's fine.

   Also make sure to use more yellow wood

   In addition

   Tell yourself and your children that they are all supposed to be HIV positive and * don't touch anyone and don't regret it *.

   The virus currently contains no vaccine and no specific treatment

   Unfortunately, due to the genetic mutation that made it very dangerous

   This disease appears to be caused by the fusion of the gene into a snake and a bat, and it has acquired the ability to infect mammals, including humans.

   It is important to keep the message on your greatest acquaintance: Professor Chen Horin, CEO of the Beijing Military Hospital, said: "Lemon slices in a cup of lukewarm water can save your life." *

   Even if you are working, you should take a look at this message and pass it on to others! Hot lemon can kill cancer cells! The lemon cut into three parts and put in a cup, then pour hot water and turn it into (alkaline water), drink it every day will certainly be beneficial for everyone. Hot lemons can release the anticancer medicine again. Hot lemon juice appeared on cancerous tumors and cured all cancers.

   Treatment with this extract destroys only malignant cells and does not affect healthy cells.

   Second: the acids and carboxylic acid in lemon juice can regulate high blood pressure, protect narrow arteries, regulate blood circulation, and reduce blood clotting.

   After reading, tell someone else and transfer it to the person you love and take care of your personal health.

   Advice:

   Professor Chen Horin notes that whoever receives this message is at least guaranteed to save someone's life ...

   I did my job and I hope you can help me develop it too.

  They published it in university groups

Verdict: FALSE! 

This whole message is all kinds of wrong. Random references to "yellow wood" and telling your kids "that they are all supposed to be HIV positive and * don't touch anyone and don't regret it *." What the hell was all that about? 

It also says the virus "caused by the fusion of the gene into a snake and a bat" which is just nuts. It sounds like something out of a horror movie. 

Anyway, getting to the juice of this message, it claims vitamin C can strengthen the immune system. True, it is necessary for immune system function, but vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, does a bunch of other stuff too. It's an antioxidant and an essential component in making collagen, a material that gives your skin and other tissues elasticity and strength. It also keeps your immune system healthy and helps your body absorb iron. Vitamin C's role in immune system function can also lower the severity and duration of a cold by 8% in adults and 14% in children, but it can't prevent you from getting them. 

As for the current crisis, there's no evidence to show that vitamin C can protect you from COVID-19. If it can't protect you from the regular cold or flu, it won't be able to protect you from its deadlier cousin. 

The message then suddenly jumps into claiming vitamin C can kill cancer cells (which isn't true) in the most garbled way possible. Also, it can apparently help a variety of cardiovascular issues. Possibly, Vitamin C does have a mild effect in lowering blood pressure but not enough to be used as a supplement for people with hypertension. There is no evidence to be found of any of its other claims. 

Other things to consider about this message:

  1. Laila Ahmadi is from the Department of Midwifery in the Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, which is in Zanjan, Iran and not China. I can't be sure, but I don't think she was the one who wrote this. If she is, shame on her. 

  2. There is no hospital called the Beijing Military Hospital

  3. Professor Chen Horen always leads me to Professor Hui-Ren Chen, who has served in many hospitals in China. I can't figure out how legit he is but that portion of this forward has been used with his name for many more hoax forwards. In fact, there's one that is identical except it changes lemon water to coconut water. 

FWD 2: Eating raw salted onions can’t cure COVID-19!

This is a video, apparently circulated on TikTok. This Sikh lady seems very confident indeed. She says you should take an onion and slice it into several pieces. Then, generously cover it with salt and feed it to a person infected with the Coronavirus. In one hour, the patient is guaranteed to test negative for the virus. 

If this was true, it would save lives! But…

Verdict: FALSE! 

There is absolutely no scientific evidence that shows that onions can cure any disease, let alone COVID-19. 

However, onions are incredibly nutritious and should be a part of a healthy, balanced diet. They are rich with many micronutrients, minerals and vitamins that work towards keeping you healthy. That doesn't mean they're a magical cure-all that can fight off a viral attack that is spreading across the world.

If it was right, and this simple, not a single Indian, especially no Punjabi would ever get sick or be infected with COVID-19. Punjabis, along with many other people in India, have lots of raw and salted onions almost every day as a part of their meals. Since I could find no studies or science articles about this claim, I must conclude no evidence supports it.

FWD 3: Homeopathy can’t save you from the Coronavirus

I recently put up a rant about this on my social media accounts, and I feel I put my thoughts down well there, so here it is: 

The Ministry of Ayush has been making headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. They have recommended that people take a dose of a homoeopathic remedy, Arsenicum Album 30 to prevent contracting COVID-19. This is not only pointless but also dangerous. 

Why is it dangerous? Because people may believe this is the only prophylactic they need to prevent getting infected by the novel Coronavirus. They may then become lax with other methods that have already been recommended.

Besides, homoeopathy has been proven not to work over hundreds of clinical trials. There is no evidence it works for any ailment whatsoever. Homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific practice that has no measurable effect except as a placebo. As amazing as the placebo effect is, it's usually only temporary and doesn't really cure anything. 

This is why it's dangerous to recommend to people, especially in a health crisis like the COVID-19 outbreak. If you see this message on social media or a WhatsApp message, please disregard it.

More recently, I've seen my pharmacist selling this product to protect people from COVID-19. People are shopping for Arsenicum Album thanks to this news. Convincing them at the pharmacy is next to impossible. I just asked them to please not ignore the other recommendations of social distancing, hand washing, and abstaining from touching their faces.

FWD 4: Saltwater, steam inhalation and Dettol foot baths can’t stop COVID-19

Gargles with warm salt water, if possible steam for 5 minutes, should be our new family ritual before going to sleep for at least next 2 months ..... 

also vitamin C (celin 500) and vitamin B (becosule ) daily 1 tablet of each is recommended by doctor friends for raising immunity levels against respiratory infections. Septiline tablet (Ayurvedic Prep similar time Sitopaladi) 1 morning + 1 evening is advantageous. 

This is of course in addition to cleaning your hands frequently during the day. Immerse your feet in Detol water solution before you go to sleep. 

So many things but necessary in critical times of the pandemic. This is not just for us and our family but it's our responsibility to contain the spread of the virus . 

Be safe, be responsible!

Verdict: Mostly FALSE

As I've said before, drinking water, gargling with salt water, washing your nose out with it and steam inhalation will do nothing to protect you from the Coronavirus. Keeping your mucus membranes moist and happy by staying hydrated will make you more resistant to the virus. But once it finds a healthy cell to infect, which it will very quickly, merely drinking water or gargling isn't going to wash them away or kill them.

I've already talked about Vitamin C earlier, but B vitamins won't help prevent COVID-19 either! Vitamin Bs help keep the body's nerve and blood cells healthy and are also essential in helping the body metabolise food and extract energy from it. It is vital to consume for a healthy immune system. So, if you may be deficient in the vitamin (like if you are a vegan or vegetarian) supplementing B12 may be a good thing for you now so that you have a robust immune system. But this won't prevent you from getting COVID-19 or cure you of it. However, if you are deficient, this may help bring your immune system back to health.

Bottom line: Many vitamins and minerals are needed to keep your immune system healthy. Just have a well-balanced diet with plenty of fruits and veggies and your immune system will be as healthy as it can be. It’ll cope with the virus more effectively but it won’t prevent you from catching it.

Septilin seems to have viral messages recommending its use for every flu that comes along. It can't prevent the Swine Flu, and it probably won't help with COVID-19. As for its general usage, I've only found some preliminary studies done on mice, but these can't tell us anything about what it does for us humans. 

Finally, washing hands is always good advice, but I'm not sure about soaking your feet in Dettol (an antiseptic solution) every night. I guess, if you wander around barefoot in public places a lot, like in temples, this may prevent getting the virus into your bed. But if this is the case, I would still recommend using the same technique for washing your hands on your feet. Just make sure you have a proper shower and include this practice after visiting such places. 

FWD 5: Blowing Hairdryers up your nose won’t kill SARS-CoV-2!

The bad news is, the video claiming that blowing hot air into your nose with a hairdryer will kill COVID-19 has been removed from Youtube so I can’t show it to you. That’s also good news. But let me explain what it showed.

The central premise is that a fatal weakness has been found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Apparently, it can be killed with high temperatures. The video recommends going to the sauna or a desert and taking deep breaths so that the hot air will go into your lungs and kill the virus. In the absence of these facilities, just blow heated air into your nose with a blow dryer, at its lowest heat setting. Does that sound legit? 

Verdict: We Don't Know, but it’s probably false! 

The fact is that no one knows what will happen to the Coronavirus in high heat conditions. The fact is, it’s already running rampant in South India and in South East Asia, where it’s already quite warm, so there isn’t much chance that this is true.

Also, this a lower respiratory disease so just heating the upper respiratory tract probably won't do much. 

The fact is that this Coronavirus may be sensitive to heat, but we don't know how it will be affected by the human body. High fevers are a way for the body to fight infection with heat, but it reaches far deeper into the body than a hairdryer or a sauna (and it works alongside the immune system). Why? Because we are warm-blooded creatures. By the time air from the outside reaches your lungs, its temperature and humidity change quite a bit.

Sorry to break it to you, but this also means we have no idea what will happen when spring and summer come around, as much as President Trump thinks he knows. 

The moral of the story is, if someone seems sure about something credible scientists in the field are not sure of, there's a good chance that they are lying to you. 

Conclusion

Fake forwards and messages on Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and other social media platforms are making their rounds continuously. The only things more contagious than the Coronavirus are the fearmongering forwards, fake treatment messages, conspiracy theories and the misinformation about it. I see more being shared every single day! I started this article about 3 messages, and it's quickly grown to 5. I would have easily kept going but then this article would never have got published. I've had to attack a couple of these on Twitter and Facebook as soon as they came out. I'll continue to do so, so if you want to stay updated or share some with me to fact check, please follow me there. 

Please, stay home as much as possible, avoid crowds, wash your hands and don't touch your face. Along with that, don't forward any information unless it's updated from your government (again, and I can't stress this enough, this does not include the Ministry for Ayush) or from WHO, or any other internationally recognised scientific, medical or governmental organisation. Fear can be more dangerous than any disease.

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