Can it REALLY be spread by petrol pumps?
While doctors battle to ensure we hear the right information about Covid-19, others seem determined to misinform. Today, we take a look at the latest rumours circulating about the virus and sift fact from fantasy.
YOU CAN BE INFECTED AT THE PETROL PUMP
A SOCIAL media message shared by millions online claims that NHS officials are warning that ‘the virus seems to be spreading quickly via petrol pumps’.
While it’s believed the coronavirus can survive on plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours, a spokesman for Public Health England says: ‘Petrol pumps are no worse than other surfaces, although we do recommend people use gloves and wash their hands after using them.’
Dr Bharat Pankhania, a lecturer in public health medicine at the University of Exeter says: ‘You cannot treat one surface as being more dangerous than another — every surface poses a potential infection risk.’
THE VIRUS SPREADS ONLY VIA COUGHING
‘THIS is simply not true,’ says Dr Peter Bagshaw, a GP in Minehead, Somerset. ‘In China, six out of seven cases of coronavirus were caught from people who didn’t have this symptom.
‘This could be because they were still incubating the coronavirus or simply that they didn’t have the classic symptoms we associate with it.
‘You have to treat everyone you meet as though they may have coronavirus and every surface as if it is potentially infected with it.’
A RUNNY NOSE IS NOT A SYMPTOM, JUST A COLD
YOU can have Covid-19 and also have a runny nose. Early studies suggest a runny nose is a relatively uncommon symptom, but some patients do have it and the World Health Organisation includes it in its list of symptoms.
‘Not everyone will exhibit the same symptoms, so don’t be complacent if you don’t have a cough or a fever,’ says Dr Pankhania.
BLOOD PRESSURE PILLS PUT YOU AT RISK
SOME stories suggest there is a link between taking ACE inhibitor drugs — prescribed for those with high blood pressure — and an increased risk of coronavirus infection. They say this is because both the virus and the medicine target the same entry point of a cell, so taking the blood pressure drugs could make it easier for someone to be infected.
In a letter in The Lancet on March 11, scientists pointed out they had not confirmed the link.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, says: ‘A number of expert groups have agreed there is a lack of evidence to support speculation that ACE inhibitors increase the chances of severe Covid-19 infections. ‘Stopping taking your medication could be dangerous — putting you at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke.’
SO WHAT’S THE TRUTH ABOUT IBUPROFEN?
WE’VE heard concerns that taking ibuprofen could make Covid-19 worse, but what about other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)?
Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading, says: ‘The concerns around taking ibuprofen to treat Covid-19 relate to its biochemical mode of action.
‘It had been used in outbreaks of other viruses in the hope it would reduce the ‘cytokine storm’, a potentially damaging overreaction of the immune system that some infections trigger.
‘However, the results of these studies have generally been negative and instead use of ibuprofen and other NSAIDs seems to lead to a longer recovery time. Paracetamol works in a different way and the latest NHS advice is to take it, not ibuprofen, for sore throats, high temperatures and other symptoms of Covid-19.
‘So I’d suggest avoiding NSAIDs and using paracetamol. But if you are already taking a NSAID for another condition, speak to your doctor before stopping.’