A post on WeChat Moments caused antidiarrhea drugs to be out of stock, which is outrageous! How toxic is XBB?

[This issue's rumor]: During the New Year's Day of 2023, a post on WeChat Moments stated, "The country will open entry on January 3. The current top strain overseas is XBB.1.5. This thing mainly attacks cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diarrhea. So, if you have the conditions, please prepare montmorillonite powder...", which was screenshoted and forwarded by someone and widely circulated.

【NetEase Health Assessment】：

rumor!

【Rumor Identification Points】:

1. The person concerned responded: I posted on WeChat Moments out of good intentions and have accepted the criticism and education.

According to Red Star News, on January 3, Huang Ke (pseudonym), the man who posted the message about stockpiling medicine on WeChat Moments, said that he did so with good intentions to advise friends and family to stock up on medicine, but due to his imprecise wording and the release of unverified information, he has come to realize his problem after being criticized and educated by the police.

According to Upstream News, Huang Ke said, "I was not aware of this matter from beginning to end. The article was posted on WeChat Moments, and I did not actively spread it to WeChat groups, Weibo and other public platforms. All the screenshots online were taken and forwarded by others."

Regarding the source and feasibility of the content in the circle of friends, the person involved, Huang Ke, responded, "All the content in the circle of friends was obtained by my own search and summary, but I forgot the source of the information about the main effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diarrhea afterwards." The police stated that the information that XBB1.5 mainly affects cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diarrhea has not been confirmed and is false information.

2. Don’t know what to believe? When you see words that sound too confident, put a question mark first.

Although the first outrageous news in 2023 came so quickly, it also indirectly illustrates the experience of the difficulty in finding antipyretic drugs, which has led to a mentality of "it is better to stock up than to miss out". So, in the face of the massive amount of information on the Internet, which ones should we believe and which ones should we question? Let's analyze it from the existing factual information.

In contrast, Huang Ke’s post on WeChat Moments begins with the sentence “I remember I posted a WeChat Moments message two months in advance to remind everyone to prepare Motrin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen. It would be embarrassing if people who saw my WeChat Moments and still lacked medicine were embarrassed.” He first presented facts and reasoned to prove his “authority” , and then immediately said “the country will open up to entry on January 3”, which further strengthened his “credibility” by combining the urgency of time with the information that has been made public. At the same time, because the information was posted on WeChat Moments, it would give people the illusion of “inside information” . In the context of the epidemic, this kind of “authoritative” information can easily infect everyone’s emotions and make people who are already anxious and panic-stricken believe it.

We might as well learn from this lesson. Next time when we see screenshots or rumors with very confident statements, unknown sources of information, and unidentified speakers, we should calm down and verify the information or consult someone with professional knowledge, rather than blindly following the trend and rushing to buy, and inadvertently becoming victims of those with ulterior motives.

3. Is XBB.1.5 really that toxic? China CDC releases authoritative introduction

In fact, what everyone is most concerned about is how "toxic" the XBB.1.5 strain that "topped the US server in 15 days" is, and whether it can really cause diarrhea. On January 4, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued an authoritative response, giving a detailed introduction to the XBB.1.5 variant strain:

①Basic information of XBB.1.5

XBB is a recombinant strain of two variants BJ.1 and BM.1.1.1 derived from the novel coronavirus Omicron BA.2. XBB.1.5 is a derived sub-branch with a stronger transmission advantage.

② Prevalence of XBB.1.5

Internationally: Since November, the proportion of XBB.1.5 among COVID-19 infections in the United States has gradually increased, reaching 40.5% on December 30. As of January 2, 2023, XBB.1.5 has been monitored and found in at least 25 countries and regions around the world.

Domestic - imported cases: From October to December, my country has discovered 199 imported XBB cases through genome sequencing, including 9 subclades, of which 4 were imported XBB.1.5 cases.

Domestic-local cases: From October to December, 16 local XBB cases were reported, all of which were XBB.1 evolutionary branches, mainly concentrated in October and November, with only one case in December. No local XBB.1.5 cases have been detected. The strains prevalent in China at this stage are still BA.5.2 and BF.7, sub-branches of BA.5, which are absolutely dominant strains.

③The toxicity of XBB.1.5

Although XBB.1.5 has attracted global attention, no country has reported an increase in pathogenicity among XBB.1.5-infected people, nor has there been any report of an increase in the hospitalization rate or mortality rate among infected people . The clinical symptoms it causes are also not different from those of other Omicron subclades.

All variants of the new coronavirus, including the XBB series of variants, will infect intestinal mucosal cells, but whether intestinal clinical symptoms appear depends on individual differences.

For XBB.1.5, there is no evidence to suggest that it is more likely to cause severe diarrhea or other gastrointestinal clinical manifestations than other strains.

In special times, maintaining a good attitude and adhering to a healthy lifestyle may be half the battle. It is always the right choice to make calm judgments, not believe in rumors, and be the first person responsible for your own health.

Information sources: Upstream News, Red Star News, China Center for Disease Control and Prevention