Dr. Gitahi: Dettol Does Not Meet The Required Sanitizer Requirements For Coronavirus

The label on the bottle of Dettol, a  brand sold in the United Kingdom and other countries worldwide reads that the disinfectant can cure Human coronavirus.

But the reports that Dettol can cure Covid-19 is circulating fast and wide on social media.

So Dettol can fight Corona Virus and we didn’t know??? pic.twitter.com/xLZqWfSKRh

— Tife? (@Tife_fabunmi) March 22, 2020

There’s also a viral hoax story of a South African Prophet Rufus Phala allegedly gave his members Dettol , a household bleach to drink as a preventive medicine to Coronavirus and also as a sign of faith during a church service.

Report falsely claim that fity-nine of them have been confirmed dead while four are in critical condition after drinking the Dettol. South African government has not reported such an incident.

But can Dettol actually cure coronavirus?Findings

Although it is true that Dettol disinfectant can cure coronavirus, however, it can only cure Human coronavirus and not 2019 novel coronavirus.

CoronaVirus is a huge family of viruses. This COVID-19 is a new strain of the Corona virus. Dettol might be good for the other strains most likely the common ones like 229E and NL63 but not for COVID-19 that was just discovered.

The Citizen quoting African Check reported that Kate Wikilson while fact-checking the claims of Dettol curing coronavirus said there is a difference between COVID-19 and Human coronavirus.

According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), “Human coronavirus usually causes mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold”.

Although it shares some of the same symptoms as the COVID-19, Human coronavirus is not lethal like the 2019 novel coronavirus.

Dettol in a response to claims that the disinfectant can cure coronavirus said the virus is relatively new and as such the COVID-19 has never been tested using the product.

“This is a new strain of coronavirus never seen before in humans so is not yet available for testing with our products.  We continue to work with our partners to ensure that we have the latest understanding of the virus and will be testing our product range once health authorities make the strain available,” Dettol noted.

As at the time of filing this report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that there has not been an identifiable cure for the deadly virus that has claimed more than 3000 lives worldwide.

Elsewhere, Dr Githinji Gitahi, Amref Health Africa’s Group CEO, has added his voice into the debate saying that Dettol doesn’t meet the cut threshold for CODIV19

Dettol does not meet the recommended sanitizer requirements for #COVID19 which is supposed to be alcohol based with alcohol content minimum 60%. It’s a good cleaning and decontamination agent through. https://t.co/ZBMktS0Jkb

— Dr Githinji Gitahi, MBS (@daktari1) March 15, 2020