Name: Kentuckians are poisoning themselves more as they try to battle COVID-19, officials say
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Kentuckians are poisoning themselves more as they try to battle COVID-19, officials say

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Get the newsShare This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutThe Kentucky Poison Control Center said it had a 30% increase in March in overall exposure calls related to disinfectants used to fight COVID-19.A link has been sent to your friend's email address.A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Join the ConversationTo find out more about Facebook commenting please read theWelcome to our new and improved comments.This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.You will need to register before adding a comment.Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.Please be polite.It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.If you see comments in violation of our , please report them.CLOSEPresident Trump's comments on disinfectants and sunlight being used to kill coronavirus sparked backlash on social media and with medical professionals.Disinfectant "injections" and bleach baths that have popped up&nbsp;as suggested&nbsp;remedies for the coronavirus over the past few days — — are alarming medical experts who say such methods&nbsp;have no value and are potentially dangerous, or even fatal.The comments&nbsp;come at a time when including Kentucky's have spiked over accidental poisoning or injuries from household cleaners and disinfectants during the coronavirus pandemic.Trump created an uproar Thursday when he floated the idea of a disinfectant "injection" against the coronavirus."I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute," Trump said at his daily news briefing after an official described how substances such as bleach and alcohol kill the coronavirus.&nbsp;"And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?"Also, Cristina Cuomo, who came down with COVID-19, along with her husband, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, has&nbsp;attributed her recovery to alternative remedies including bleach baths.Meanwhile, calls are flooding poison control centers about accidental ingestion or exposure to disinfectants since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with Kentucky's rate above the national average.The said it witnessed a 30% increase in overall exposure calls related to disinfectant agents last month, including a 56% increase in poisonings from household cleaners and a 30% uptick in poisonings from hand sanitizers.That mimics a national trend.According to , poison control centers nationwide received more than 45,000 calls tied to cleaners and disinfectants during the last quarter, a roughly 20% increase.While the increase affected all age groups, children ages 5 and under were impacted the most, according to a news release. Complaints included shortness of breath, dizziness and vomiting.Dr. Ashley Webb, director of Kentucky's&nbsp;center, which operates&nbsp;at Norton Healthcare&nbsp;in Louisville, said public comments about unproven remedies are not helpful and likely will increase calls to poison control centers."Any time people start pushing these alternative therapies, there's always concern," she said.&nbsp;Such ideas may appeal to people frightened by the highly contagious virus, she said."They're worried, and they're looking for a way to treat this," Webb said. "They're looking for options that may not be grounded in science."Support stories like this one by becoming a subscriber today!But Webb recommends people avoid unproven treatments."It's important that people look to actual approved therapies and science and not try to look for alternatives that haven't been tested for safety and efficacy," Webb said.&nbsp;The increase in calls has prompted Kentucky's center&nbsp;to renew warnings to the public about the dangers of such products."We’ve had reports of young kids drinking hand sanitizer, as well as adults breathing in toxic fumes as they mix together combinations of cleaners,” said Maria Chapman, poison prevention coordinator with the Kentucky Poison Control Center, which also operates Kentucky’s COVID-19 hotline, in a news release.Chapman said the increase is likely because more people are staying home during the pandemic with small children."We know people&nbsp;are cleaning more often, everyone's&nbsp;home together," Chapman said.Most accidents involve children who find cleaning products or sanitizer, she said."When they're down where kids can get them, it's something new and fascinating," Chapman&nbsp;said. "Unfortunately, kids like to explore the world by tasting and touching things."Webb said she is&nbsp;not aware of any calls to Kentucky's poison control center involving people who ingested a substance to try to treat COVID-19. Most of the calls involve accidental ingestion or exposure, she said.CLOSEA Harvard University public health expert says President Donald Trump's call to consider injecting coronavirus patients with disinfectants to treat the respiratory ailment is "nonsensical." (April 24)Trump's comments Thursday, when he wondered about the possibility of&nbsp;treating&nbsp;COVID-19 with disinfectants&nbsp;or by treating patients with "light inside the body,"&nbsp;triggered a flurry of alarmed responses from health experts and manufacturers of household cleaning products.Jesse Goodman, the former chief scientist of the Food and Drug Administration and now a Georgetown University professor and attending physician, told the USA TODAY Network the amount of heat and light needed to kill the virus would be harmful to healthy cells within the body.Manufacturers of products such as Lysol also spoke out."As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route)," said a spokesperson for Reckitt Benckiser, the United Kingdom-based owner of Lysol.On Friday,&nbsp;the White House responded&nbsp;to the growing backlash over&nbsp;the president's comments with a statement that blamed the "media" for "irresponsibly" quoting Trump out of context.Trump said later Friday he was being "sarcastic," according to news reports.Meanwhile, health officials have Cristina Cuomo&nbsp;says she used, including bleach baths,&nbsp;during the couple's fight against COVID-19.Cuomo,&nbsp;the founder of the health and wellness platform&nbsp;PURIST, has shared updates on her&nbsp;recovery on her&nbsp;blog,&nbsp;crediting a number of unconventional methods with&nbsp;their improvement, such as adding half a cup of Clorox to her bath.Health experts warn that there is no evidence such baths fight the coronavirus and that they can be harmful to the skin.On Friday,&nbsp;U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,&nbsp;announced&nbsp;the center&nbsp;will receive $66,594 to help&nbsp;respond to increasing calls during the coronavirus pandemic. These federal funds&nbsp;were made available by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, McConnell's office said.The Kentucky Poison Control Center has also dealt with a flood of calls related to the coronavirus ever since Gov. Andy Beshear that the state had its first confirmed coronavirus case and that the center would operate the new COVID-19 hotline.To help it&nbsp;better handle the increase in people calling with questions about the coronavirus, state lawmakers for the Poison Control Center and $850,000 for the budget year that begins July 1.USA TODAY reporters&nbsp;Cydney Henderson, Nicholas Wu and John Fritze contributed to this report.&nbsp;Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com or 502-582-7030. Reach Deborah Yetter at dyetter@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4228. Find her on Twitter at&nbsp;@d_yetter.&nbsp;Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/04/24/coronavirus-kentucky-poisoning-calls-increase-amid-covid-19/3018364001/to help improve our site experience!More Stories

Get the newsShare This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutThe Kentucky Poison Control Center said it had a 30% increase in March in overall exposure calls related to disinfectants used to fight COVID-19.A link has been sent to your friend's email address.A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Join the ConversationTo find out more about Facebook commenting please read theWelcome to our new and improved comments.This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.You will need to...

Kentuckians are poisoning themselves more as they try to battle COVID-19, officials say

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