Beware of the infodemic

 Beware of the infodemic!

In any calamity, the first to take the hit, I am told, is common sense and sticking to facts. We would all agree that it has been no different in case of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a large majority of this planet’s population struggles with the physical, mental, emotional and financial repercussions of the situation, I make superwomanly efforts to clean the ‘infodemic’ of the myth network, which continues to vomit copious amount of misinformation about the virus. I wonder if most of these claims are made through social media because social media is free and freely available? 

The extra long message forwarded in a WhatsApp group that Covid19 is a bacterial infection and not viral, shook me out of my  slumber. It sounded so well-researched and credible-looking that I asked for the source. It has been three weeks, I am still waiting for the reply. Sample some others such myths here and let me know if you too have been the lucky recipient of these nuggets of gold.

• Extra hot baths: Bathing with very hot water might instead give you scalds which you do not want to explain to anyone, but if this was the cure, don’t you think we would have had millions of Americans known for their love of showers, looking like boiled potatoes and beetroots covered in bandages having a good time in restaurants, bars, shopping malls or their little ones wrapped in flowing kaftans of school colours parroting the day’s lessons?

• Affects  only old people: Agreed, the elderly might have weaker immune systems and thus be more likely to develop complications but the virus is a great equaliser, it has not distinguished its hosts on the basis of nationality, race, gender, age, religion or food habits.
• Heat kills the virus: The summer has come and gone but the virus is still doing the death dance. Need we say more? It seems to thrive in any kind of climate. Now the recent one doing the rounds is that it would be die in winter. Is that possible when people are less particular about washing, cleaning and bathing and spend most of the time huddled in enclosed environs?
• Vitamin C helps: Ready to make Vitamin C manufacturers richer? Sorry, doctors would warn that excessive vitamin C might damage  kidneys and stomach.
• Immunity boosters: People are taking garlic (Is it a vampire?), gogoi, cloves, tulasi, green tea, Echinacea, karha (a concentrated drink of herbs boiled in water for long) or zinc supplements.  But what’s the harm in taking all these anyway, asked a friend? None, unless smelling like a spice rack to keep people at a distance, is your thing.

• Wear gloves: Do they protect you from the virus when you touch elevator buttons, door knobs etc.? You would keep wearing the same contaminated gloves and might even touch your or your dear one’s face or hands, thus risking the spread.
• Rinsing nose with saline: Now whether you believe the World Health Organization that there is no evidence to support claims that a saline solution will kill the virus and protect you or the person who sent you this tip, is upto you. But equally ineffective are lime juice or sesame oil drops in your nose.

• Rasam: The spicy soupy dish made of toor dal, tomato or tamarind   might help clear your nasal passages and lachrymose glands of excess deposits, as also make the meal more palatable, but beyond that it does not seem to have helped as our countrymen from the southern states who consume it regularly and daily, would tell you.

• Cow urine: Newsmedia reported that the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha had hosted a cow urine-drinking event in New Delhi in March, hoping that the practice would stave off coronavirus. dw.com/en wrote that Suman Harpriya, an Assam legislator, had told during the assembly session on March 2 that cow urine and dung could be used to treat COVID-19. But virologist and traditional medicine researcher Debprasad Chattopadhyay told Germany's Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency. "Cow dung and urine are waste material, there is no test that validates or proves they are good for us."

Photo- Getty Images

• Yoga: The same site quotes Baba Ramdev, “If you practice yoga, your immunity increases which can help save a person in case they are infected with the virus. If immunity is low, the person cannot be saved.” To this Anant Bhan, a researcher in bioethics and global health, says, “Making random claims around treatment or prevention of the coronavirus through cow dung or yoga is irresponsible, whether it comes from the government or anyone else.”

• Pneumonia and flu vaccines. There is currently no vaccine to prevent the COVID-19 virus. Vaccines against pneumonia, such as the pneumococcal vaccine, don't provide protection against the COVID-19 virus. The flu shot also won't protect you against it. However, annual flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone age 6 months and older. (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-myths/art-20485720)
• Courier Although the virus can last on surfaces for many hours, the environment, transportation and varying temperatures during shipment make it difficult to remain active. If you worry the surface is contaminated, clean it with a disinfectant and wash your hands after touching it.    

 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nine-covid-19-myths-that-     just-wont-go-away/     debunks some more myths.

• Engineered in a Chinese lab: Because the pathogen first emerged and began infecting people in Wuhan, China. Some conspiracy theorists even speculated it was engineered as a bioweapon. U.S. intelligence agencies have categorically denied this possibility, stating that the intelligence community “concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified.”Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli, who studies bat coronaviruses and whose laboratory President Trump and others had suggested was COVID-19’s source, compared the pathogen’s sequence against that of other coronaviruses sampled from bat caves and found it did not match any of them and explained why her lab could not have been the source of the virus. China also invited WHO researchers to discuss the scope of such a mission. But the evidence suggests SARS-CoV-2 was not created in a lab.
• Wealthy spread the virus to win power, profit: In a video from a conspiracy theory film entitled Plandemic and a book she co-authored, Judy Mikovits, makes unsubstantiated claims about National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, suggesting they have used their power to profit from disease.  The video, widely shared by anti-vaxxers and the conspiracy theory group QAnon, garnered more than eight million views on social media before it was taken down because of its false statements.
• COVID-19 no worse than the flu. Many people also have partial immunity to the flu because of vaccination or prior infection, whereas most of the world has not yet encountered COVID-19. So no, coronavirus is not ‘just the flu.’ 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-myths/art-20485720 refutes some other myths:

• Antibiotics: Antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses. COVID-19 Patients in hospital might be given antibiotics because they also have developed a bacterial infection.

• Alcohol and chlorine spray. Spraying alcohol or chlorine on your body won't kill viruses that have entered your body. These substances can harm your eyes, mouth and clothes.

• Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection lamp. Ultraviolet light can be used as a disinfectant on surfaces. But don't use a UV lamp to sterilize your hands or other areas of your body. UV radiation can cause skin irritation.
•  5G mobile networks. Avoiding exposure to or use of 5G networks doesn't prevent infection with the COVID-19 virus. Viruses can't travel on radio waves and mobile networks. The COVID-19 virus spreading many countries that lack 5G mobile networks.
• Disinfectants.  Disinfectants can help kill COVID-19 virus on surfaces. However, they can irritate the skin and be toxic if swallowed or injected into the body. Also, don't wash produce with disinfectants.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/coronavirus explores the myth about

• Swimming pools: According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of USA, there is no evidence to suggest that SARS-CoV-2 spreads between people through the water in swimming pools, hot tubs, or water playgrounds. Disinfecting water with chlorine or bromine makes the virus inactive. People should continue to protect themselves both in and out of the water by staying 6 feet away from others and wearing cloth face coverings when not in the water.

Meanwhile, Mani, my husband, looks crest-fallen since I told him that the information about smoking and drinking keeping the C-virus at bay, is also just that - a myth! My suggestion:

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