Debunking Myths about Novel Coronavirus-19

Coronavirus is threatening the world with its risky and viral spell. It has affected many humans and damaged people in diverse methods. But, this virus is being supplied, not the way it sincerely is.

Let’s have a look at the well-known coronavirus myths and discover the truth at the back of those myths.

The majority of the rumors about COVID-19 circulating on the net are specializing in preventing and treating the sickness. A few of those focus on matters to consume and drink.

MYTH 1: You can flush the virus out by drinking water

One viral post recommends sipping water at least every 15 minutes to make sure the mouth and throat never get dry. This post says “Even if the virus gets into your mouth, drinking water and other liquids will wash them down through your throat and into the stomach. Once there, your stomach acid will kill the entire virus”. Now obviously, hydration is important to health but there is no evidence that drinking water will protect you from the coronavirus or flush the infection out of your body.

MYTH 2: If you eat garlic you can prevent the infection

I have also seen this myth that if you eat enough garlic you can stay away from COVID-19. Some posts suggest bring a tea out of garlic and drinking that to prevent coronavirus. Garlic is a well-known home remedy for cold and flu and it does contain some antimicrobial compounds but the World Health Organization (WHO) is saying that there is no evidence to say that garlic can prevent COVID-19.

MYTH 3: Holding your breath for 10 seconds tells if you have coronavirus

There are also myths about how to test or self diagnose if you have the disease and different self-diagnostic methods have been circulating on Facebook, Twitter and on WhatsApp.

One of the myths is you can tell if you have COVID-19 by holding your breath by 10 seconds. This myth says if you can “Take a deep breath and hold it for more than 10 seconds and if a person does this successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stiffness or tightness, there is no fibrosis in the lungs; it basically indicates no infection”.

In reality, the disease does affect the lungs and it can cause cough and shortness of breath. In this situation doing deep breathing exercises is not a bad idea but it’s not a way of diagnosing yourself at home.

MYTH 4: You can stop the virus by taking a Pneumonia Vaccine

There is another misunderstanding that is really confusing, according to this myth existing pneumonia vaccine protects against COVID-19. The reality is that pneumonia is a lung condition that can be caused by several different kinds of bacteria and viruses. All of the existing pneumonia vaccines don’t directly use against the coronavirus because nothing is been developed for the new infection yet.

It’s a very good idea to be up-to-date on your pneumonia shots because if you are protected against all the other causes of pneumonia you are actually at a lower risk of getting COVID-19. This is because one chest infection with any bug leaves you much more vulnerable to get in a second or even a third chest infection.

MYTHY 5: If you are young, you are not at risk of COVID-19

People believe that young people are not at risk of getting COVID-19 because early on this epidemic we were seen as the worst cases of illness in older people. According to a BBC report on 18 February 2020, “Coronavirus: Largest study suggests elderly and sick are most at risk”.

But the evidence showed that younger people are just as likely to get this disease as older people. A report from the New York Times on 18 March 2020 says that “Younger adults make up a big portion of coronavirus hospitalization in the U.S.”.

As the pandemic grows and we get more data we have seen that younger kids and teens get really sick with this virus. In fact, in California, we have seen reports that 17 years old may have died from complications related to COVID-19. There were so many news reports that younger people don’t get sick and don’t wind up in the hospital but new data from CDC shows that people under the age of 54 make up a significant proportion of those who wind up in hospitals with COVID-19.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned young people about COVID-19 with this message “You are not invincible. This virus could put you in the hospital for weeks or even kill you”.

There is some new evidence that especially the babies and younger kids and those who have pre-existing medical conditions they can windup more severely sick with COVID-19 than school-age children.

Even with no symptoms or mild symptoms kids and younger people still spread this disease that is why we are saying that this is not the time to have regular spring break. We have to do physical distancing aggressively to stop the spread of the disease.

MYTH 6: Runny nose is not a symptom of novel coronavirus

Another rumor revolving around is that if you have runny nose it means you don’t have COVID-19. This is a new virus and we are learning more about it day by day but as the pandemic grows and we are getting more data about symptoms we are seeing that many people do have a runny nose and it can also cause a productive cough. The only true way of knowing if you have COVID-19 is to get attest for the disease.

MYTH 7: There is a relationship between temperature and COVID-19

Another myth about coronavirus is that this virus hates the sun. According to a social media post, the virus is killed in temperatures of 77 Fahrenheit or greater. The reason behind the myth is that many viral infections do have seasonality. Some of them spread in winter months and some during summer months.

COVID-19 is a new virus and it does not have seasonality yet. It is spreading like wildfire because we are not immune to it and we have not been exposed to it before. So we don’t exactly know what kind of seasonality the new coronavirus will have if it becomes established.

MTYH 8: Gargling saltwater stops COVID-19

You may have seen the myth that gargling with salt water will prevent infection with the new coronavirus. Gargling is a well-known home remedy for when you have a cold or flu. It does not prevent or treat COVID-19 but it’s an only trick to relieve the symptoms like scratchy throat.

MYTH 9: You can treat COVID-19 by taking antibiotics

Taking antibiotics for COVID-19 might sound like a good idea because antibiotics are used to treat chest infections but it only works when it used against bacteria, a completely different kind of bug, and it does not work for COVID-19 which is caused by a virus.

To treat the new coronavirus you need antiviral medicine. There is no antiviral medication that has been approved yet to treat the coronavirus.

MYTH 10: If you have coronavirus infection, stop taking Ibuprofen

Another myth I keep seeing is that if you have COVID-19 you should not take Ibuprofen. There is so much confusion out there about wither COVID-19 patients should or should not take Ibuprofen.

This all started when the French Minister for Health, Olivier Veran, tweet those patients with COVID-19 should stay away from Ibuprofen. But it is unclear where the minister’s information first came from.

Ibuprofen is a medicine from a class of drugs known as NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Both the European Medicine Agency and the World Health Organization have come forward to say there is no reason to stop using Ibuprofen to coronavirus patients.

In fact, these medicines can be useful in treating the fever and pain associated with the disease. It is very important that if you are already taking medicine then do not stop taking it without first talking to a health care provider.

It’s always a good idea to talk to your healthcare provider that can be a doctor, a nurse or a pharmacist about any medication you are thinking of taking to treat COVID-19.

How to deal with the false information

It is very easy to back on those myths and thought I would never fall for that. Today there is a lot of fear and uncertainty and in this situation, even the smartest people can fall for false information. Here are some quick tips to spot these kinds of myths online.

·        If the information you are seeing is presented in a super sensationalized way then it is the warning sign that this could be a myth.

·        Always try to trace the information back to its original source. If you cannot do that or if the original source looks shady then it is likely to be a myth.

·        Always look out for credible sources of health information such as the CDC and the WHO.