Experts urge citizens not to fall for viral 'remedies' for coronavirus

Doctors advice masses to turn a blind eye to home remedies, unscientific means being shared on social media

KARACHI: Many citizens have turned to 'out of the box' home remedies and unscientific means posted on social media amid panic triggered by confirmation of four novel coronavirus cases in Pakistan.

The confirmation of COVID-19 cases has set off alarm bells as authorities scramble to screen hundreds of people who recently arrived from Iran, a major new hotspot for the virus.

Two of the patients are from Karachi while the other two are from the federal territory, who are believed to have contracted the disease during their visit to Iran.

Medical experts, however, urged the public not to opt for such 'remedies.'

"During global health emergencies such as this you will always find people who dish out medical advice despite having no medical knowledge or experience at all," the head of one of Karachi's leading public hospital's told The Express Tribune on Monday.

She added that this misinformation is then shared via Whatsapp and social media apps without fact-checking.

"Heeding to such advice can pose serious health risks," she went on to say.

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''Some patients even share the treatment administered to them despite knowing that everyone's body reacts differently to antibiotics and other drugs."

Experts say that doctors monitor the affects of drugs on patients and some medicines may not have the same efficacy on every patient with some experiencing severe side effects from their use.

Senior doctors Khadim Qureshi and Farhan Isa maintained that medicines have a direct impact on human lives and no one should  pass any such prescriptions to their friends or family.

"It is a part of Pakistani culture to pass on home remedies despite gaining minimal results," Dr Qureshi said.

The COVID-19 virus has spread to more than 30 countries, killing over 2,700 and infecting at least 80,000, mostly in China.

But new outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and in Asia have fanned fears of the contagion taking hold in poor nations that lack the healthcare infrastructure to cope.

There are also growing fears in Pakistan — sandwiched between China and Iran, both hotspots for the disease — over how the country would deal with the outbreak.