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| - Fact Check: This viral breathing test to diagnose Covid-19 is a hoax
A false testing method for oxygen levels in the lungs to check whether one has contracted Covid-19 is doing the rounds on social media, amid massive spike in Covid cases across the country.
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India Today Fact Check
As per World Health Organization (WHO), being able to hold your breath for 10 seconds or more without coughing or feeling discomfort does not mean you are free from Covid-19 or any lung disease.
Amid the surge in coronavirus cases and scarcity of oxygen in Indian hospitals, a testing method for oxygen levels in the lungs to check whether one is infected with Covid-19 has gone viral on social media.
Several Facebook users that urges viewers to hold their breath for over 20 seconds. According to the video, if one can hold their breath that long, it means the person is free from coronavirus.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral claim is misleading. As per World Health Organization (WHO), being able to hold your breath for 10 seconds or more without coughing or feeling discomfort does not mean you are free from Covid-19 or any lung disease.
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AFWA probe
A similar claim had gone viral last year as well during the peak of the first wave. That claim asked people to hold their breath for 10 seconds for a quick Covid-19 check. The World Health Organization (WHO), while debunking the claim, had ruled out this test as a clinical parameter to judge whether one has coronavirus infection or any other lung disease.
FACT: Being able to hold your breath for 10 seconds or more without coughing or feeling discomfort DOES NOT mean you are free from the coronavirus disease or any other lung disease. Posted by World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday, 29 March 2020
India Today spoke to leading pulmonologist Dr JC Suri, presently director and head of department at Fortis hospital, Vasant Kunj.
As per Dr Suri, “identifying this breathing test with coronavirus is certainly misleading because an asymptomatic Covid-19 patient could also hold the breath that long”. Therefore, this test does not give the real picture of whether one is infected with Covid-19 or not.
Dr Faheem Younus, vice-president and chief of infectious diseases at University of Maryland UCH, has the same opinion about the viral claim. Last year, he’d tweeted saying, “Most young patients with Coronavirus will be able to hold their breaths for much longer than 10 seconds. And many elderly without the virus won’t be able to do it.”
As per WHO guidelines, three types of tests are being conducted at present to check for Covid-19. First is the PCR testing, where nasopharyngeal or pharyngeal swab is taken. Second is antigen testing, where health experts try to detect the outer protein of the virus. And the third type is to detect within the human body whether they’ve developed antibodies.
Hence, it can be concluded that the viral Facebook claim regarding a breathing test for lungs to conclude whether one is free from coronavirus or not is misleading.
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