India Covid-19: Fact-checking misleading claims on oxygen treatments

India Covid-19: Fact-checking misleading claims on oxygen treatments

As India battles a deadly second wave of โปรโมชั่น slotxo the pandemic, its healthcare system has come under severe strain.

Hospitals are experiencing shortages of oxygen for patients and, as people try to get hold of their own supplies, online misinformation has been spreading.

It includes misleading claims about ways to treat falling oxygen levels - one of the symptoms of Covid-19.

We've been looking at some of these.

A nebuliser cannot supply oxygen

A video has been widely shared on social media of a doctor claiming that a nebuliser - a small medical device for delivering a fine spray of a drug to patients - can be used in place of an oxygen cylinder.

In the video, which has been circulated on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, he can be seen demonstrating how to use it, explaining in Hindi that "our environment has enough oxygen that this (nebuliser) can provide".

He goes on to say: "All you need is a nebuliser, and you can draw oxygen from it."

The hospital named in the post - near the capital, Delhi - has distanced itself from the claim in the video, saying the use of a nebuliser has not been backed by "evidence or scientific study".

Other medical experts have also pointed out that the technique is totally ineffective in supplying additional oxygen.

After the video was widely shared, the doctor who'd appeared in it responded to the criticism by releasing another video clip, stating that he had been "misunderstood."

He said he did not mean to suggest that nebulisers could replace oxygen cylinders, but he didn't explain why he'd said that you could get oxygen from them.

Herbal remedies don't work and can be dangerous

India's social media platforms have been inundated with messages suggesting various herbal home remedies for treating the symptoms of Covid-19, such as falling oxygen levels.

One widely shared "remedy" suggests a mix of camphor, clove, carom seeds and eucalyptus oil will be beneficial in maintaining oxygen levels while suffering from the virus.

There is no evidence that this can help people who are infected.

A video promoting this mixture, presented by a doctor of Indian traditional Ayurvedic medicine, has been shared on Facebook more than 23,000 times, as well as on WhatsApp.

In fact, camphor oil, widely used in skin creams and ointments, is potentially harmful if consumed internally.

The US Centers for Disease Control warns that camphor vapour inhalation could cause poisoning.