A message allegedly written by “Air Marshal” Ashutosh Sharma, Chest physician & pulmonologist, Command Hospital, Bangalore, is claiming that Coronavirus, which is hidden behind the Paranasal sinus of the nose, can be killed by taking steam through the nose.
The Facebook caption read: Simple tips to kill the COVID-19 virus in the paranasal sinus before it reaches lungs. *Message from Air Marshal Ashutosh Sharma, Chest physician & pulmonologist COMMAND HOSPITAL AIR FORCE, BANGLORE* Please send this message to all your colleagues daily. *Important Message for all* The hot water you drink is good for your throat. But this Corona virus is hidden behind the Paranasal sinus of your nose for 3 to 4 days. The hot water we drink does not reach there. After 4 to 5 days this virus that was hidden behind the paranasal sinus reaches your lungs. Then you have trouble breathing. That’s why it is very important to take steam, which reaches the back of your Paranasal sinus. You have to kill this virus in the nose with steam. At 50°C, this virus becomes disabled i.e. paralyzed. At 60°C this virus becomes so weak that any human immunity system can fight against it. At 70°C this virus dies completely. This is what steam does…READ MORE
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above post and found it to be false.
With the help of keyword search, we found a press release by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the nodal agency of the Government of India, published on April 25, 2021. The headline of the release read, “CLARIFICATION ON WHATSAPP MESSAGE ALLEGEDLY WRITTEN BY AIR VICE MARSHAL ASHUTOSH SHARMA”.
The release clarifies that there is no Air Marshal Ashutosh Sharma at Bangalore as mentioned in the viral post. It further states that Command Hospital Air Force Bangalore is headed by Air Vice Marshal Ashutosh Sharma and the message in question has not been originated by him.
Coming to the next claim, we found that the query has been answered by World Health Organisation (WHO) on their Facebook page. WHO has stated that Coronavirus cannot be prevented from taking hot water steam. Additionally, it advised that extremely hot steam can be harmful which can cause a burn injury.
Also, we found a PIB Tweet claiming that there is no scientific proof that steam kills Coronavirus.
There is no scientific evidence to prove that inhaling hot water steam kills #Coronavirus.
Remember: Respiratory hygiene, social distancing and washing hands are effective measures to prevent #Covid19
Let’s spread facts, not fear and contribute to #IndiaFightsCoronavirus pic.twitter.com/fD6PYI68Ds
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 30, 2020
Hence, social media claims about Air Vice Marshal Ashutosh Sharma professing the use of hot steam to counter COVID-19 is false.
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