Published 13:59 IST, May 26th 2020

Fact Check: Have Italian doctors found a cure for coronavirus?

Fact Check: There has been a message circulating online that Italian doctors did an autopsy of COVID-19 patients' bodies and found the cure for coronavirus.

Reported by: Yashika Sharma
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re has been rigorous research work ongoing globally when it comes to finding vaccine or cure for coronavirus. This has led to many claims and news on social media that say that a particular country has been successful to find cure. One of recent claims on social media says that Italy has found a cure for COVID-19. It goes a step furr to state that it was not coronavirus but something else that has been killing so many at once.

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Origin:

A message was shared on Facebook, with title of Last Hour International Italy. It talked about how autopsies were done on bodies infected by coronavirus. It furr states that COVID-19 is not a virus but it is bacteria that causes death. 4 points follow this claim, sharing about what was found in autopsy, thus claiming that it is not really a global pandemic. 

(Source: Thought Shop Facebook)

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This message was later forwarded on Twitter and Whatsapp. Instances of only a small part of this long message being shared also came forward. Here is a Whatsapp forward of same:

(Source: Whatsapp)

first claim in message states that COVID-19 is just ‘Disseminated intravascular coagulation’, which is also known as Thrombosis. Thrombosis or blood clots is something that has proven to be a frequent complication in COVID-19 patients, as claimed by scientific studies, which includes one in American Journal of Hematology. However, re is no scientific evidence that thrombosis is major cause of death for COVID-19 patients. WHO has also acknowledged possibility of Thrombosis in COVID-19 patients, and in circular for COVID-19's clinical management, have suggested measures for it as well. Below is screenshot from its circular talking about Thrombosis:

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(Source: World Health Organisation)

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Anor claim in message starts that cure for this ‘bacteria’ is “antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and anticoagulants”. As per a doctor quoted by a media portal, re is no role of antibiotics in treating COVID-19. He talked about how se antibiotics are given to resist any collateral bacterial infections that could affect patient.

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message has point ‘Ventilators and intensive care unit were never needed’. Sergio Harari, who is director of Pneumology Operative Unit of San Giuseppe Hospital in Milan, Italy talked about how COVID-19 deaths are occurring due to interstitial pneumonia and respiratory failure. Both of se problems do require ventilators and intensive care.

Thus, looking at how all three points given in message are proven to be untrue by facts, it can be said that this message is fake and misleing. news of 'Italy found a cure for coronavirus' is untrue. It is important to understand and share news that is factually correct in se trying times. 

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COVID-19 is indeed a virus and Italy has not found a cure for COVID-19

Google Trends Analysis

Google Trends shows how people tried to search truth about 'Has Italy found cure for coronavirus?'. People took to Google to search about this topic and as shown by Google Trends, one can see a sharp rise and fall in its searches. It saw a peak on May 24, 2020 at 3:30 AM:

(Source: Google Trends)

13:59 IST, May 26th 2020