‘Virus-fighting’ gargling solution sells out
TOKYO: Japanese chemists were yesterday stripped bare of a gargling solution, a day after the governor of the western prefecture of Osaka suggested it could help fight coronavirus, triggering panic buying reminiscent of the early days of mask shortages.
Hundreds of thousands of people posted pictures of emptied shelves on Twitter, accompanied by hand-written “Out of Stock” notices, as they canvassed suggestions on how to acquire the coveted antiseptic.
“Anyone else having trouble buying gargling medicine? I’m coming to four misses now,” wrote one user, who posted images of four cleaned-out shelves.
A day earlier, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said a study showed a smaller viral load in the saliva of 41 patients with mild symptoms after regular gargling with a medicine infused with povidone-iodine solution than in those who had not. “Perhaps we can even overcome the coronavirus with gargling medicine,” he suggested.
Even as was speaking, shares of Meiji Holdings, which sells a popular medicine previously marketed as Isojin, skyrocketed, gaining as much as 7.7% by late on Tuesday, before reversing down 4% yesterday.
As governments worldwide have struggled to rein in the virus, which has killed nearly 700,000 people and infected more than 18 million, some in authority have seized on any treatment that seems to offer a glimmer of hope.
For example, US President Donald Trump has persistently promoted the unproven drug hydroxychloroquine as successful in treating the virus, and in April, he asked publicly if injecting disinfectant might help.
Some experts are sceptical about the efficacy of the gargling solution, however. “I think these kinds of claims might even lead to a high number of false negatives for PCR tests,” pharmacist and medical writer Shuichi Aoshima tweeted.