TheCable

One message wey dey go round WhatsApp don advise pipu sey make dem stop to swallow paracetamol wey dem write P/500 ontop.

Di message warn sey di drug get Machupo virus inside and anybodi wey swallow am go catch infection.

“Shine ya eye make you no go do mistake swallow paracetamol wey dem write P-500 ontop. Na new paracetamol wey dey shine come white wella, doctors advice sey e get “Machupo” virus, one of di most dangerous viruses for di world, wey dey kpai pipu like water,” na so di message tok.

Apart from WhatsApp, di message folo comot for Facebook.

“Abeg share dis message wit all di people for ya contact list togeda wit ya family, make you for save pesin life or plenti pipu own… I don do my own; e remain you … rememba sey God dey help pesin wey dey help oda pipu togeda wit theirself! Send am as you get am,” na dia di message stop.

Di post no tok weda dem folo medical expert or pharmaceutical institution tok before dem make dat kain message.

Paracetamol na drug wey dey reduce pain, dem dey usually use am treat pain wey no too plenti and to reduce fever. Di usual dose wey dem dey give adults na 500 milligrams or 1 gram.

Machupo na zoonotic disease, dat is disease wey fit dey transfered from animal to human being. Anoda name for di virus na black typhus or Bolivian hemorrhagic fever. Dem first discover am in 1959 for Bolivia, and na onli for di South American kontri dem don record some cases.

According to Standford University, di virus dey “spread through small liquid drops, inside food, or direct contact wit di virus particles”.

But na true sey paracetamol tablets get Machupo virus inside?

WETIN WE CHECK

TheCable check see sey di message don dey circulate for internet since 2017 and some news platforms don confam sey di tori no correct.

In 2017, di Malaysian ministry of health bin tok sey di report na fake and make nobodi send am.

Di ministry come add sey e no receive any report from di manufacturer sey paracetamol get Machupo virus.

On May 7, di Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority, inside one statement tok sey di message wey dey circulate for social media no“correct and no suppose cause concern”. Di regulatory agency add sey dem neva see any case of Machupo virus wey dem fit link to paracetamol.

Nonso Odili, pharmacist and CEO of DrugIT, tell TheCable sey di message na notin but fake news wey dem don tok plenti times.

“Dis tin don old. E get one time a few years ago wen e bin dey circulate. At dat time, dem bin tok sey na fake news. Dat time, WHO and NAFDAC no chuk mouth for di mata, maybe becos no bi somtin wey dey important,” na so im tok.

“E beta make pipu dey only use products wey NAFDAC register.”

Olusayo Akintola, chief informate of di National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC), folo chuk mouth for di mata and e tok sey dis kain claim no get head especially as di post no tok sey dem put di drug for “laboratory test”.

FINAL TOK

Di claim wey tok sey paracetamol tablets get Machupo virus no correct. Di fake tok don dey appear for different kontris and evritym dem dey tok sey e no correct.