DEBUNKING 9 MYTHS ABOUT CORONAVIRUS


DEBUNKING 9 MYTHS ABOUT CORONAVIRUS



                                                                      Image by Pete Linforth


With panic across the globe because of the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19), many myths are going about in the community. Most of the people are either ill-informed or misinformed, thus causing lapses in prevention of this disease. 

This is an attempt to clarify some of the myths:

MYTH 1: CORONAVIRUS CAN BE PREVENTED BY BATHING IN HOT WATER





TRUTH: Taking a hot bath will not prevent you from getting infected with the virus. The normal human body temperature is 37°C, regardless of the temperature of your bath or shower. Humans are homeothermic, that is, our body regulates its temperature itself without getting affected by the environmental temperature, as opposed to poikilothermic animals, which cannot. Actually, taking a hot bath with extremely hot water can be harmful, as it can burn you. The best way to protect yourself against coronavirus is by washing your hands frequently. By doing this you eliminate viruses that may be on your hands and avoid infection that coud occur by then touching your eyes, mouth, and nose.


MYTH 2: COVID-19 WILL NOT SURVIVE IN VERY HOT OR VERY COLD CLIMATES, ESPECIALLY IF IT SNOWS


                                                                       Image by Free-Photos & composita

TRUTH: From the evidence so far, the novel coronavirus can be transmitted in ALL AREAS, irrespective of the weather. Even though the virus is susceptible to extremes of temperature, it is well protected in an infected person’s body because, again, the human body temperature is independent of the weather. It may get transmitted from person to person in close contact via droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Regardless of climate, adopt protective measures.


MYTH 3: CORONAVIRUS INFECTION WILL END IN APRIL/MAY LIKE OTHER SEASONAL FLU



                                                                          Image by Valiphotos

TRUTH: Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch doesn’t think any weather changes will put a big dent in how the virus spreads. COVID-19 has now been documented around the world. If the virus is anything like a typical flu virus, it may worsen in Southern Hemisphere regions as the seasons change.
David Heymann from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine says not enough is known about this new virus to predict how it will change with different weather conditions.
(Source: National Geographic)


MYTH 4: CORONAVIRUS CAN BE TRANSMITTED BY MOSQUITO BITES


                                                                        Image by Elias Schäfer


TRUTH: NO, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support this. Coronavirus is transmitted through droplets of an infected person when he sneezes or coughs, or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose.  

MYTH 5: SPRAYING ALCOHOL OR CHLORINE ALL OVER YOUR BODY CAN KILL THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS?


                                                                            Image by Michael Tavrionov

TRUTH: No. Spraying alcohol or chlorine all over your body will not kill viruses that have already entered your body. Spraying such substances can be harmful to clothes or mucous membranes (i.e. eyes, mouth). However disinfectants containing alcohol or chlorine can be useful to disinfect inanimate surfaces.


MYTH 6: EATING GARLIC CAN PREVENT INFECTION WITH THE NEW CORONAVIRUS?


                                                                                        Image by Steve Buissinne

TRUTH: Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus.


MYTH 7: ONLY OLDER PEOPLE ARE VULNERABLE


                                                         Image by Selling of my photos with StockAgencies is not permitted 

TRUTH: People of all ages can be infected by the new coronavirus. Older people, and people with CHRONIC diseases like asthma, diabetes, heart illness, COPD, etc appear to be more susceptible to becoming severely ill with the virus. 
WHO advises people of all ages to take steps to protect themselves from the virus, for example by following good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene.


MYTH 8: TAKING MULTIPLE ANTIBIOTICS SIMULTANEOUSLY MAY TREAT THE INFECTION


                                                                       Image by Steve Buissinne 

TRUTH: Antibiotics do not work against viruses. However secondary bacterial infection may occur, and antibiotics may be prescribed to an infected person for this.
Doctors from various countries have used a cocktail of drugs comprising of anti-malarial, anti-HIV and anti-swine flu (oseltamivir) agents and have claimed to have cured patients of coronavirus. But these are experimental only. Till a sure shot cure is proven, precaution is the best weapon.

MYTH 9: HAND DRYERS AND ULTRAVIOLET (UV) DISINFECTION LAMPS CAN KILLING THE VIRUS


                                                                         Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images

TRUTH: Hand dryers are NOT effective in killing the coronavirus. To protect yourself against the new coronavirus, you should frequently clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.
UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation.

 SOURCE: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

13 COMMON CYCLING MISTAKES THAT WE MAKE AS BEGINNERS

Image
13 COMMON CYCLING MISTAKES THAT WE MAKE AS BEGINNERS                                                                                               Riding a bike is one of the easiest sports in the world – just hop on, push the pedals and you’re off! However, even though it looks so easy, many bikers make a lot of mistakes. You don’t have to be a newbie cyclist to prove guilty of any of these cycling mistakes. As beginners, all of us make at least some of these mistakes. Here are 13 common cycling mistakes that we make as beginners: 1.     IGNORING REST Whether you are a beginner, amateur or a pro, sleep plays a vital role in performance. When you’re increasing the training hours, recovery time is vital in being able to go on performing. Getting proper sleep and rest is the best remedy to perform better on the bike. The biggest mistake people make is not sleeping enough. They sacrifice sleep in order to do more work by waking up early to jam in a bike
Read more

15 BEST MOTIVATIONAL MOVIES WORTH WATCHING

Image
  15 BEST MOTIVATIONAL MOVIES WORTH WATCHING   Are you struggling to find inspiration?  Going through a stage in life where you are feeling unmotivated and uninspired can be quite difficult.  The best inspirational movies leave an indelible impression on the viewer.  You  need  daily motivation  to help you overcome all of the obstacles you will face in this line of work. And sometimes, it just gets so hard to even finish off a single day. That’s when you need  inspiration.  Movies have been, and still are, a source of inspiration for many. Movies have the power to challenge our limits, push our understandings, and invoke powerful emotions.                                                         Here are 15 most motivational movies of all time worth watching:   1.     THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)   IMDB rating: 9.3 The Shawshank Redemption is an ode to hope. The undisputed leader on IMDB's top 250, this classic follows Andy Dufresne during his 19 years of prison life and how h
Read more

37 MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES TO INSPIRE YOU FOR SUCCESS

Image
  37 MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES TO INSPIRE YOU FOR SUCCESS   Wisdom of the greatest men in the form of quotes can be used to motivate us for striving to succeed in our life. These motivational quotes will give you the jumpstart your day needs. Success does not come overnight. It requires a combination of multiple factors – hard work, perseverance, luck, knowledge. To be successful, you have to use each day as an opportunity to improve, to be better, to get a little bit closer to your goals.   Here are 37 motivational quotes to inspire you for success:   1.       The secret of getting ahead is getting started – Mark Twain 2.       Whatever you are, be a good one ― Abraham Lincoln 3.       Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions ― Dalai Lama XIV 4.       Do one thing every day that scares you― Eleanor Roosevelt 5.        Hold the vision, trust the process – Unknown 6.        Impossible is just an opinion – Paulo Coelho 7.       Don’t be afra
Read more