COVID-19 resulting from a mutation in the coronavirus family, a large family of viruses, causes a large-scale outbreak for the first time. There appears to be a massive information pollution through social  media about the outbreak which was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO)  in February.

In crisis situations, especially in a pandemic environment with death risk  and very high spreading rate, aside from useful information shared in many aspects, there is a lot of fake information circulating in the virtual communication environment, that can cause anxiety and panic.

By stating that medical personnel, even doctors believe in the virtual pollution experienced, methods and suggestions that may be risky or harmful for public health are rapidly spreading. İş Bank subsidiary  Bayındır Kavaklidere  Hospital, Infectious Disease Specialist Prof.Levent DOĞANCI, MD , emphasizes  that “In order to distinguish between right and wrong, our sources of information should be resources with proven scientific competence in their respective fields, such as WHO, Rebuplic of Turkey Ministry of Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), European CDC (E-CDC), Food and Drug Administration (American FDA)”.

While coronavirus continues to infect humans worldwide, news and social media posts about this virus are also spreading on the internet. The information pollution about the measures that should be taken against the disease and the recommendations that are given to avoid being ill, prevent the people from accessing the correct information. Stating that only scientifically proven sources should be trusted against information pollution, Prof. Levent DOĞANCI, Infectious Diseases Specialist at Bayındır Kavaklıdere Hospital, who stated that only scientifically proven sources should be trusted against misinformation, warns people against the facts that are actually false about the disease.

Not a Biological Warfare!
While the coronavirus which has dominated the global agenda, is spreading rapidly,  Prof. Levent DOĞANCI, MD, Infectious Diseases Specialist at Bayındır Kavaklidere Hospital, made assessments against the striking comments about the point of origin of the virus: "The COVID-19 virus is a mutated virus and most likely originated in bats. Contrary to the popular belief, the ability of the microbe to be a biological weapon is irrational.  It is necessary to accept the fact that a biological agent, 80% of which is asymptomatic or has no fatal effect on the young population, cannot be a very effective weapon of attack, considering that the "military personnel" is made up mostly of young people aged between 18 and 25 years. Besides, without knowing the protective vaccine and treatment, there is no other country in the world that can exhibit such an illogical behavior to use a biological weapon that can return to the source country and confront the country with an economic, administrative and social problem. Could it be a lab accident? Although, the answer of this question is unknown exactly, but worth remembering that the starting point of the epidemic in the People's Republic of China is a region with high consumption of wild animal meat (bat, mouse, snake etc.) and the same virus was also seen in wild animals. As well, we can also say that this possibility is very weak due to the very strict control of bio-security laboratories working with live viruses”.

The Disease Is Transmitted by Respiratory Secretions!
As in most respiratory infections, Covid-19 is also transmitted through  respiratory secretions and is called droplet contamination. When people sneeze, cough, talk they spread their respiratory secretions into the air in the form of small liquid droplets. These droplets which are larger than 5 microns hang in the air in a very short time. Then droplets land on surfaces and can remain contagious on these lifeless surfaces for a while. Surface cleaning and washing hands prevent the spread of these infectious droplets remaining on the surface. In another aspect, the droplets (very small liquid particles such as 1-2 microns) suspended in the air in dental treatments with aerator and interventional medical procedures such as bronchoscopy increase the chance of contaminating the indoor areas with the breeze. Therefore, dental treatment (which needed use of aerator) should be postponed for a while.

Types of Virus Treatment
There is no approved specific treatment for COVID-19 virus or a safe vaccine that can be used effectively. Prof. Levent DOĞANCI, MD, says “Antibiotics are not effective against viruses. It is extremely easy to destroy viruses outdoors, in laboratories where we produce (which can be live cell culture or live egg cell membranes), with various drugs or substances involved in the environment. This is what we call in-vitro, in other words ‘reproduction outside the body’.

Anti-viral drugs are needed to destroy viruses in vivo. These drugs do not harm human (or animal) tissues, organs or cells, they help healing by destroying the virus. Acyclovir, which is used against herpes virus, oseltamivir, which is used against influenza virus,and  many anti-viral drugs used in HIV act this way. However, a drug specific to COVID-19 is currently at an experimental level. Knowledge is not sufficient for their activities. However, there are anti-viral and immune response regulatory drugs that are at the experimental stage for usage.  It is understood that positive outcomes are obtained from case reports and they facilitate being discharged from the intensive care unit by decreasing the duration of the disease. Drug activities and clinical laboratory results on thousands of patients need to be scientifically interpreted to demonstrate that treatment models are useful in a disease such as COVID-19 that can result in 80-85% improvement.

This will come up with the difficulty of interpretation experienced in another outbreak (as in the interaction of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever-Ribavirin).

This situation will be encountered with the difficulty of interpreting in another outbreak (as in the interaction of Ribavirin in Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Disease). In this case, it would be useful to look at the guidelines of scientific organizations such as WHO or CDC in treatment decisions. In fact, CCHF causes a cytokine storm similar to COVID-19 disease. However, the tissues and organs that our immune system targets are different."

False Facts About COVID-19
- Drinking liquids such as garlic water, alcohol, salty water, various antiseptic mouthwashes to the throat or nasal mucosa is absolutely not protective. These applications can facilitate the attachment of viruses to cells in these areas by disrupting the mucous integrity.

- The information that vitamin drugs, various dietary supplements and herbal products strengthen the immune system is completely wrong. In our normal physiological state, this system is in complete balance, no drugs or substances have an immune-boosting effect. Because an overworked immune system invites the auto-immune disease group. Good nutrition, good sleep and good rest, avoiding cigarettes, tobacco products and excess alcohol, keeping our mental state pleasant, avoiding excessive mental tensions are essential for a balanced immune system.

- Hot application, sauna, moisture or cold application cannot destroy viruses. Viruses die at 56°C, but at this temperature, the proteins inside our cells denatured, causing our cells to die.

- COVID-19 has the potential to make people sick, even in very cold or very hot areas. Since these regions are regions where there is little social convergence and fewer people live, the disease is less common (Deserts, tropical forests, regions with extreme weather conditions such as Alaska and Siberia, the North and South poles).

- Live cells are absolutely necessary for viruses to survive. The possibility of contamination by various products purchased via cargo or remotely is very weak, even impossible.

- Keeping products coming in plastic, steel or cardboard packagings such as groceries or cargo outside of our house, for example in our doorway for 1 to 2 hours is sufficient enough to eliminate the possibility of contamination from COVID-19.  Disinfection of these products can also be risky, as some disinfectants are toxic.

- It is wrong to trust the protection of the mask. By staying at home, we need to keep a social distance of one and a half meters, which we call social distancing.We also should stay away from social acts of intimacy such as hugging, handshaking, kissing.

- It is known that masks and surgical gloves do not protect people, but they may pose a higher risk for other people.

- Masks should be used to protect the non-patients from patients who have fever or respiratory symptoms (such as cough, sneezing, runny nose, sputum discharge). More importantly, masks that can also isolate viruses such as N-95 should be kept only for healthcare providers who provide intensive care or treatment to these patients.

- A person who wears gloves might think that they are protected, however feeling more confident due to the gloves that person might touch more surfaces with their gloves and handling stuff which will cause the glove to get dirty, which will result in a risk towards other people who aren’t wearing gloves. It is enough to wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 30 to 60 seconds.

- Malaria medicines, drinks containing tonic water, medicines containing quinine are never preservatives. Using them poses a risk to public health in terms of encountering side effect problems.

- A special drug used in malaria and some rheumatic diseases is found in the treatment protocols of COVID-19 patients who have caused lung damage. If this special medication is used incorrectly as a preservative, it may weaken the immune system and increase the chance of having the disease.

- Our pets or stray animals have no role in transmitting coronavirus which has gained the ability   to infect people from person to person.

- Highly speculative numbers about mortality rates in the outbreak increase our social panic. Let us quickly state that the real fatality (death) rate can be put right by measuring the immunity of the society. This period is 7-8 months according to the best estimates. Towards the end of the year, the measurement of COVID-19 specific IgG antibodies in the very crowded masses exposed to the disease, and the proportion of patients who have undergone the disease without symptoms and the number of healed patients with deaths will give us real death rates. It would not be surprising that this speed is far below the speed currently determined.

Things to do in 8 Steps
- Stay at home as much as possible, do not go out unless necessary.
- Do not go to hospitals or health institutions unless necessary and there is an emergency.
- Postpone your routine health controls.
- Protect the elderly (65+). Isolate  them from the community and from yourself and from other households if you have to go in and out of the house.
- Do not believe and spread every information you hear or read on the internet.
- Do not waste your economic power with unnecessary measures.
- Do not panic and try to relax your soul and try to keep calm.
- Pay attention to your hygiene, both physical and psychological