It is not typical for physicians who base their claims solely on science and laboratory research to make recommendations that are more of a home remedy, and therefore should be taken with caution. So far we have had many similar “recipes” and myths about the coronavirus.
Over the past few days, the portal Magazine.com has reported that Russia has found a cure for the coronavirus. One of the headlines reads, “The Russians have made a COVID-19 cure that blocks the inflammation, based on the anti-malarial drug Mefloquine!”
The text is based on statements by the Russian Federal Agency for Biomedicine that released information on March 28 that Mefloquine, a drug used against malaria, in combination with an antibiotic, works well against the coronavirus. On March 30, 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to allow the distribution of Hydroxychloroquine for treatment against COVID-19. It is important to note that this is a generic product that is 70 years old and gives excellent results in the treatment of malaria.
Therefore, such sensationalist statements should not be taken seriously. Also, if one acknowledges the readiness of different countries to find a cure for the coronavirus, it can be concluded that everyone is far from it.
If you look at the situation in Russia, according to official information, there has been a rapid increase in the number of coronavirus patients in the recent days.
March 26– 182 new cases 840 infected in total
March 27– 196 new cases 1036 infected in total
March 28– 228 new cases 1264 infected in total
March 29– 270 new cases 1534 infected in total
March 30– no data no data
March 31– 500 new cases 2337 infected in total
April 1– 440 new cases 2777 infected in total
Source: Worldometers.info
For comparison, since January 31 when the first case was diagnosed, until mid-March, only 28 were reported infected in Russia in total, out of population of 144 million.
On the other hand, the number of cured patients is relatively small, i.e. more than 4 times lower than that of Denmark, which has approximately the same number of infected in total.
Additionally, the portal Magazin.mk has also published a text in which a Russian doctor makes recommendations for protection against the virus with homemade recipes.
It is not typical for physicians who base their claims solely on science and laboratory research to make recommendations that are more of a home remedy, and therefore should be taken with caution. So far we have had many similar “recipes” and myths about the coronavirus. Some of them are denied on this link.
The sensationalism of attracting readers during a pandemic can cause panic, false euphoria and hope and endanger people’s lives.
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This project was funded in part through a U.S. Embassy grant. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the implementers/authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government.
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