Do not use Betadine for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – There is another trend that medical experts are warning people not to use to treat COVID-19.

There is a video making the rounds on social media, viewed more than 350,000 times, which suggests that people are gargling Betadine, an antiseptic used to treat sore throats and cuts, to protect themselves from the coronavirus that enters. in the lungs. There are also tweets, like the one that says it kills the virus in the mouth.

“Oh absolutely not. This should not be used for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19, ”Dr. Chirag Patel with UF Health Jacksonville.

Patel says using Betadine in the nose, gargling too often, or even swallowing it can kill new skin cells.

“And if you do that, you can have nausea, you can have vomiting, you can develop ulcers and bleeding in your intestinal tract or in your nose,” Patel said. “These are all very serious.”

Florida Poison Control says it received a call in the past month from South Florida from someone gargling Betadine to prevent COVID-19.

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On the Betadine website, the company says there have been questions about the use of Betadine against COVID-19. The company says Betadine should not be used to kill coronavirus and should not be gargled to prevent or treat COVID-19.

Patel says that while everyone wants more options for dealing with COVID-19, the reality is that when it spreads it mutates and viruses are much harder to deal with. That’s why he says getting the COVID-19 vaccine is the best preventative measure.

“We know that even when people are vaccinated, you can still develop COVID, and we want to make sure that we have everything available that is safe and effective to treat these people. It doesn’t happen by just trying random things, ”Patel said. “There are a lot of consequences when we do this, and that consequence usually ends up being that people get sick, sick or, God forbid, die.”

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Forbes reports that some studies show in vitro activity of different antiseptics against the coronavirus, but the data have not been sufficient to recommend its use. Medical experts say it can lead to poisoning, which can be life threatening.

The Associated Press says experts and medical groups have also lobbied to eliminate the growing use of ivermectin, a decades-old antiparasitic drug to treat COVID-19, warning that it can cause side effects harmful and there is little evidence that it helps.