Trump under fire for suggesting people should be injected with DISINFECTANT to cure coronavirus

Apr 24, 2020 3:06 PM

United States President Donald Trump proposed unorthodox new treatments for the coronavirus at Thursday’s White House press briefing – including injecting disinfectants in the body and use of ultraviolet lights.

His suggestion quickly elicited reactions from scientists and others who described it as ‘stupid.’

Trump, who studied finance and real estate but touts his gut instincts about medical and scientific issues, brought up possible treatments at Thursday’s White House press briefing.

Trump asked William Bryan, a senior Homeland Security science and technology advisor: “Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light? And I think you said, that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it.

“And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that too. Sounds interesting.’

Then he raised another possible treatment. “And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that? By injection inside or almost a cleaning. As you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that,’ Trump said.

“So that you’re going to have to use medical doctors. But it sounds interesting to me,” he said.

It came after Bryan delivered a report claiming that ultraviolet rays and heat have a potent impact on the pathogen.

The ‘study’ – which was not peer-reviewed and therefore is not a fully-fledged piece of research – also uncovered that bleach can destroy the virus when isolated from saliva within five minutes, while isopropyl alcohol took just a minute to kill it.

Both of those were when the virus was outside the body.

Trump’s idea has already been lambasted by the medical community, with pulmonologist Dr Vin Gupta warning the public on NBC News that Trump’s idea could have fatal consequences: “This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible and it’s dangerous.

“It’s a common method that people utilise when they want to kill themselves.’

Dr Gupta added that even small amounts of disinfectant can kill and that it was depressing to hear the White House spouting such dangerous ideas.

Less severe effects of ingesting bleach include vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea, dizziness, heart palpitations and rapid breathing, similar to symptoms of severe dehydration.

Gupta also accused the president of proposing unproven treatments.

The government’s own Food and Drug Administration warned against the consumption of disinfectants last year after a spate of deaths from people drinking a so-called Miracle Mineral Solution, which circulated as a fix for a variety of ills on social media.

John Balmes, a pulmonologist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, added to Gupta’s warning that even inhaling chlorine bleach ‘would be absolutely the worst thing for the lungs’.

‘The airway and lungs are not made to be exposed to even an aerosol of disinfectant,’ he told Bloomberg.

‘Not even a low dilution of bleach or isopropyl alcohol is safe. It’s a totally ridiculous concept.’

The medical community unanimously took to Twitter to warn people just how dangerous taking the president’s advice could be.

Kashif Mahmood, a doctor in Charleston, West Virginia, tweeted: ‘As a physician, I can’t recommend injecting disinfectant into the lungs or using UV radiation inside the body to treat Covid-19.

‘Don’t take medical advice from Trump.’

Also makers of Dettol and Lysol disinfectant in US quickly warned the citizens to avoid using any disinfectant for treatment of coronavirus.

Disinfectant manufacturer RB, the company behind the Dettol and Lysol brands, urged people not to try the method, saying under no circumstance should disinfectants be injected or consumed.

The company issued a statement saying: “Due to recent speculation and social media activity, RB has been asked whether internal administration of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus.

“As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).’

It added that all its products should only be used as intended.