Dr. Antonio Viruez, who is treating the five at a hospital, said one incorrectly believed he had COVID-19 and developed pneumonitis, an inflammation of lung tissue, after taking chlorine dioxide and a medication used to treat parasite infestations. The other patients are improving, he said.Dr. Antonio Viruez, who is treating the five at a hospital, said one incorrectly believed he had COVID-19 and developed pneumonitis, an inflammation of lung tissue, after taking chlorine dioxide and a medication used to treat parasite infestations. The other patients are improving, he said.
“The Health Ministry cannot risk recommending something that doesn’t have a scientific basis,” said Miguel Ángel Delgado, a senior ministry official. However, Bolivia’s opposition-controlled congress is promoting the use of chlorine dioxide. Last week, the Senate approved a bill authorizing the emergency “manufacture, marketing, supply and use of chlorine dioxide solution for the prevention and treatment of coronavirus.”
A woman buys chlorine dioxide at a pharmacy in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Friday, July 17, 2020. Long lines form every morning in Cochabamba, one of the Bolivian cities hardest hit by the new coronavirus pandemic, as people wait to buy small bottles of chlorine dioxide, a toxic bleaching agent that has been falsely touted as a cure for COVID-19 and myriad other diseases. A woman buys chlorine dioxide at a pharmacy in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Friday, July 17, 2020. Long lines form every morning in Cochabamba, one of the Bolivian cities hardest hit by the new coronavirus pandemic, as people wait to buy small bottles of chlorine dioxide, a toxic bleaching agent that has been falsely touted as a cure for COVID-19 and myriad other diseases.
A health worker disinfects the area next to a coffins with the remains of a recently deceased resident of the San Jose nursing home in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Thursday, July 16, 2020. According to city officials, ten elder residents of the care facility have died in the last two weeks after COVID-19 related symptoms. A health worker disinfects the area next to a coffins with the remains of a recently deceased resident of the San Jose nursing home in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Thursday, July 16, 2020. According to city officials, ten elder residents of the care facility have died in the last two weeks after COVID-19 related symptoms.Chlorine dioxide is one of a number of fake cures that have been promoted, often by fringe groups online, since the pandemic began.
Health workers carry an empty coffin into the San Jose nursing home to recover the body of an recently deceases resident, in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Thursday, July 16, 2020. According to city authorities, 10 elderly people with suspected COVID-19 symptoms have died in the last two weeks at the nursing home. In April, a federal judge in South Florida ordered a Colombia-based group, the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, to stop selling a related product, Miracle Mineral Solution, in the U.S. Prosecutors said Genesis marketed the solution as a treatment for COVID-19, autism and other ailments.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has previously issued public warnings that MMS can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and severe dehydration. In April, U.S. President Donald Trump mused about whether disinfectants could be injected or ingested to fight COVID-19, prompting intense blowback from doctors and other health officials.
A health worker takes samples to test elderly residents for the new coronavirus at the San Jose nursing home in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Friday, July 17, 2020. At least 60 residents at the senior care facility tested positive for the new coronavirus and 10 have died with COVID-19 related symptoms in the last two weeks, amid a rise in cases and fatalities in the Andean country.
(AP Photo/Dico Solis)
By DIEGO CARTAGENA and PAOLA FLORES, Associated Press: 6 hrs ago 17th July 2020
