Physicians News Health news for doctors and patients.
By Alan Lyndon
President Donald Trump trumped himself last night as he gave what appeared to be the worst, and perhaps most ignorant, medical advice during a White House coronavirus press briefing.
Bill Bryan, undersecretary of science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security, reviewed department research that showed bleach and isopropyl alcohol — the main ingredient in many disinfectant products — could kill the novel coronavirus in saliva or respiratory fluids within minutes.
The study also found preliminary evidence that the lifespan of the virus may be significantly reduced on surfaces and in the air due to exposure to sunlight and humidity.
“Our most striking observation to date is the powerful effect that solar light appears to have on killing the virus, both on surfaces and in the air,” said Mr. Bryan.
But then Trump took over. And in his rambling, incoherent manner of speaking, the president tried to overshadow his own scientists by irrationally suggesting their findings — which were very clearly related to reducing the virus “on surfaces and in the air” — could somehow be a treatment or vaccine by injecting disinfectant or sunlight directly to the human body.
“And then I saw the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute, and is there a way we could do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning,” said President Trump. “As you see it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”
Bryan returned to the podium to try to clean up Trump’s ramblings and said about disinfectant injections, “We don’t do that within that lab, at our labs.”
Unsatisfied with that correction and needing the final, ridiculous word, Trump replied: “maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t work.”
Needless to say, do not try this at home.
When I was a kid we all knew the sun (UV light) is the best disinfectant God made.
Before dryers, and disposable diapers, people always hung baby diapers in the sun to dry and disinfect them.
THAT is what Trump was talking about. I replayed that clip over and over and can see where some people took it out of context but NO, he did not in any way, shape or form said to ingest “LYSOL”.
The video of the company who is making the “Healight” – which actually does what Trump is talking about here, has been conveniently removed from the internet.
How sad.
Yes, UV light can possibly heal us from the inside! It is an amazing technology which needs more development.