In the desire to find a solution to the disease that put the whole world on edge, there are many twists and turns that were generated around the Covid-19. However, today the scientific community knows much more than seven months ago, and health and science professionals have already demystified certain premises to definitively banish.
The myths to be eliminated:
Heat kills the virus
When it all started, seven months ago, many linked the virus to temperature and seasons. In this sense, one of the great myths was that the virus would die in the summer. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “It is not yet known whether the climate or temperature affects the expansion of the coronavirus. Other viruses like the flu are much more contagious in the cold months, but that does not mean that it is impossible to contact them in the warm months. ”
In fact, in Europe, in countries like Spain and Germany, there are regions that despite being entering the hot season, had to return to preventive or compulsory social isolation due to outbreaks in the communities.
Chinstraps do not prevent Covid-19
It is still a matter of controversy between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the measures adopted in the rest of the world. “”The coronavirus caused by Covid-19 is transmitted by contact with droplets of saliva that come from coughing, sneezing, or simply breathing from another person. But it does not remain floating in the air, nor is it possible that it will be transmitted through it if we go out on the street or walk through a supermarket where an infected person spent a while before, ” details a WHO report that evaluated the scientific evidence available until the moment and that is why he reiterated that it is not necessary to use masks or chinstraps to transit the streets.
However, experts assure that its use is part of prevention measures such as social distance, hand washing, surface disinfection, among others, since its use without the implementation of the other measures does not guarantee anything.
If the person does not experience symptoms, they do not have the coronavirus
At the beginning of the disease, as it spread to other countries, the most common symptoms were fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, body pain, and then the loss of taste and smell, nausea, among others, added up. However, despite the fact that the symptoms were being added to the list, the dreaded asymptomatic patients were also getting to know who could also spread the Covid-19 even without feeling or experiencing a single symptom.
Thus, there are more and more attempts to focus on preventive measures, including the use of the mask to prevent the virus from being spread by an asymptomatic person. Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s Zoonosis and Emerging Diseases Unit, at a United Nations press conference detailed that the studies carried out so far indicate that about 16% of the population that contracted the virus can be asymptomatic. However, he acknowledged that other studies, which refute this idea, maintain that up to 40% of global transmission can be caused by asymptomatic patients.
If the person had coronavirus, they are free of the virus forever
One of the biggest unknowns regarding the disease is the immunity generated by having it. It is not yet clear that having Covid-19 generates foolproof immunity. “We are still waiting for some studies to tell us for sure that once you have passed the virus and developed antibodies you are protected,” said Roger Shapiro, associate professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard University.
“We can only say that when current studies show us that,” continues Saphiro. “We don’t know if we get the immunity or how long it lasts, but preliminary assessments allow us to be quite optimistic. ”
Children don’t get Covid-19
One of the premises installed since the start of the pandemic is that those with risk factors such as pre-existing diseases, advanced age, among others, were the most likely to go through the disease with greater difficulty, while children, adolescents and young adults they would not suffer it in the same way or they would not directly suffer it.
However, in recent months, it has been shown that more and more children have been infected and have overcome the disease. In fact, according to a study by an American researcher, children, teens, and young adults are at higher risk for serious Covid-19 complications than previously thought, and people with underlying health conditions are at risk. even greater.
The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, was the first to describe the characteristics of seriously ill pediatric Covid-19 patients in North America. “The idea that Covid-19 does not affect youth is simply untrue,” said study co-author Lawrence C. Kleinman, professor and vice president of academic development and head of the Population, Health, Quality, and Population Implementation Division of Health, Quality, and Implementation of the Department of Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine.
Hot water kills the virus
One of the great myths about how to fight the virus revolves around hot water. From drinking infusions with hot water to bathing. However, Since CDC has warned that hot water does not kill the coronavirus, even if it is very hot or very cold.
” There is no scientific information that proves that drinking hot beverages has any kind of effect on the coronavirus. There is no study that indicates that hot measures prevent or have any effect on COVID-19, “said infectious disease specialist Isabel Casetti.
Taking bleach or taking other cleaning products kills the virus.
After the President of the United States, Donald Trump suggested, during his daily White House conference on COVID-19, to study the possibility of using an injection of cleaning products to combat the virus, leaving the scientific community stunned.
In this regard, the New York Center for Poison Control received 100 incident calls for disinfectant products within a four-day period after the president’s suggestion to use, ingest, or inject these products to combat the coronavirus pandemic, compared with 28 cases on the same dates last year.
The only effective use of cleaning products is to disinfect surfaces, which is part of the coronavirus prevention measures.
Taking antibiotics prevents and kills the virus
Although antibiotics are helpful in treating many diseases, as long as they are prescribed, the coronavirus COVID-19 is not one of them, since different drugs attack bacteria, not viruses.
In fact, the WHO does not recommend self-medication, particularly with antibiotics, to prevent or cure COVID-19. There are several ongoing clinical trials with traditional and western medications.
If the person holds his breath for ten seconds, he does not have the virus
One of the great myths, which was installed on social networks was that of the “self-examination” of breathing to see whether or not the virus is suffered. The exercise consisted of holding the breath for more than ten seconds, which would indicate the absence of the infection. Since one of the most serious symptoms of coronavirus is that of shortness of breath, it went viral.
The experiment went viral quickly, but many specialists have already knocked down this method, assuring that there is no way of knowing if you have the virus, making it clear that the only certainty is that of laboratory analysis.
