Vitamin C "very effective", so much so that it can be used as a drug for patients in hospital. And then drink water and hot drinks because the high temperatures kill the virus, or consume onion extracts. There are several fake news about coronaviruses that go crazy and are going viral on social media and the internet. All false, as experts point out. "We are in an era not very different from that of the plague described by Alessandro Manzoni, but the truth is that we still don't know many things about this virus and there is a lot to learn", notes Massimo Puoti, director of the Department of Diseases Infectious of the Niguarda hospital in Milan . "Having said that, it is true that many hoaxes are circulating these days and there are also citizens who offer us their theories and what they know, hoping to help us", he continues.
Among the hoaxes there is one that is traveling on social media, dominating the trends on the internet and Twitter, although it is false: it is the news launched by a self-styled nurse or doctor, who makes it known that in some Milanese hospitals they are successfully using the Coronavirus patients suffer from vitamin C, so much so that everyone is invited to ingest 1-2 grams a day, even in pills, as a preventive measure. As the virologist of the State University of Milan, Fabrizio Pregliasco points out "it is obviously false news . As we have known for years, vitamin C has an antioxidant function and is an adjuvant, it can help, but certainly not cure or prevent coronavirus ". Undoubtedly, adds Puoti, "some extra orange juice does not hurt, unless you are diabetic, because in general vitamin C has a protective effect from respiratory infections, but that taken with food is sufficient. Take it as a supplement, if not prescribed by the doctor, it can cause an excess harmful to health ".
Another fake news that is circulating, Puoti points out, "is that drinking hot drinks and rinsing your mouth with hot water helps eliminate the virus. This is also false. To kill the virus you should drink water at boiling temperature, the which would damage the internal tissue of the throat and esophagus. " Finally, there are those who have suggested using onion extract to protect themselves from the virus, but in this case, concludes Puoti "the only effect would be to help maintain social distance to avoid contagion".