Singapore autopsy found that the new coronavirus infection was not caused by the virus? This is a joke...

Recently, a rumor about the new coronavirus has started to spread again. The rumor says that Singapore conducted the world's first autopsy on a COVID-19 victim. In a detailed analysis, doctors found that the cause of the new coronavirus disease was not a virus, but a radiated bacterium. In the human body, this bacterium causes blood to coagulate, leading to the patient's death. For this reason, doctors in Singapore say that the new coronavirus disease can be effectively treated with antibiotics and anticoagulants such as aspirin. Although this rumor is not very reliable at first glance, we still seriously dispel the rumor to spread the correct voice further and avoid unnecessary hoarding of drugs.

First of all, this is an old rumor that is nearly two years old. As early as 2021, an early version of this rumor was circulated on social media, and the initial target changed from Singapore to Russia. The rumor at the time also added the message that "the World Health Organization prohibits autopsies on COVID-19 victims", as if the whole world was uniting to carry out some conspiracy. In fact, as early as September 2020, the WHO issued guidelines for autopsies on COVID-19 victims to improve the safety of the process. It is nonsense to say that autopsies are banned. China also completed the autopsies of the first and second COVID-19 remains in the country as early as February 2020, long before the rumor circulated in 2021.

Secondly, the claim that the COVID-19 disease is caused by bacteria rather than viruses is also unfounded. In fact, when this rumor was circulated overseas, the Singapore Ministry of Health issued a special article to refute it, pointing out that no such autopsies had ever been conducted, nor did it claim that the COVID-19 disease was caused by bacteria. On the contrary, its official pointed out that based on current research and evidence, the COVID-19 disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is what we commonly call the new coronavirus. The World Health Organization has also refuted similar rumors.

The third point, and the one that is most relevant to ordinary people like us, is the choice of therapeutic drugs. The original rumor said that because the new coronavirus disease is caused by bacteria, it must be treated with antibiotics. At the same time, because this bacteria can cause blood coagulation, anticoagulants such as aspirin must be used. Similarly, the Singapore Ministry of Health has officially refuted the rumor, saying that it has never made such a claim about the pathophysiology of new coronavirus infection. According to our discussion in the second point, since the new coronavirus is caused by a virus, it is naturally not recommended to use antibiotics against bacteria for treatment. For those with milder symptoms of the new coronavirus, if they are not hospitalized and do not have venous thromboembolism, the guidelines of the National Institutes of Health of the United States clearly oppose the use of aspirin as an anti-thrombotic therapy. Not taking the medicine as prescribed by the doctor will not only fail to achieve the therapeutic effect, but may also be harmful.

In summary, this rumor spread on social media is an outdated rumor. After being translated into Chinese and adding a few foreign names, it seems to be true. But in fact, the information in this rumor does not stand up to scrutiny at all, and there have been various refutations of this rumor overseas. If you are infected with the new coronavirus and have any concerns about the symptoms, what we should do is to follow the doctor's advice instead of believing the unknown information seen on social media. Wasting money is a small matter, but taking the wrong medicine and damaging your health is not worth it.

References:

[1] False message circulating on changes to treatment protocols following an alleged COVID-19 patient autopsy

[2] Fact Check-COVID-19 does exist and autopsies in Russia did not show otherwise

[3] Antithrombotic Therapy in Patients With COVID-19

Author | Ye Shi

Review | Zhang Yu, researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, doctor of medicine, and master's supervisor

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