Prognosis
Too Good to Be True? Osaka Says Gargling Formula Can Beat Virus
- Gargling with povidone-iodine helped virus patients: officials
- Results based on limited trial of around 40 people in Osaka
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The Governor of Japan’s Osaka prefecture touted the powers of gargling medicine to control the coronavirus and recommended at-risk residents use it -- sending related shares jumping and clearing shelves of the medicine, even as some questioned the findings.
Based on limited trial on a group of 41 patients with mild symptoms, gargling with diluted povidone-iodine four times a day reduced the number of those testing positive to 9.5% after four days, compared with 40% for a group who gargled with just water, Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said at a press briefing on Tuesday.