別交“智商稅”！網上關於“新冠肺炎”的這些偏方都沒用
比新冠肺炎疫情更讓人擔心的是，社交網絡上關於疫情以及預防病毒感染的謠言滿天飛。不少人爲此交了大筆“智商稅”，還可能損害健康。
據悉，日本有謠傳“花崗岩能防病毒”，導致日本網民瘋搶花崗岩，而且是用來泡澡……
近日，印度還出現了針對新冠病毒的“牛尿治療法”。
關於大蒜的各類奇怪偏方也在各國流傳，稱吃大蒜可以預防感染。
世界衛生組織用“信息疫情”（infodemic）一詞形容由新冠肺炎疫情引發的社交媒體虛假信息，並呼籲人們警惕謠言和錯誤信息的傳播。
一起來看看下面的各路虛假信息，謹防中招。
Michele Blackwell/unsplash
1. 吃大蒜
Lots of posts that recommend eating garlic to prevent infection are being shared on Facebook.
臉書的網友們分享了很多建議吃大蒜預防新冠病毒感染的帖子。
The WHO (World Health Organization) says that while it is "a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties", there's no evidence that eating garlic can protect people from the new coronavirus.
世界衛生組織稱，儘管大蒜是一種“可能具有某些抗菌特性的健康食品”，但沒有證據表明吃大蒜可以保護人們免受新冠病毒的感染。
antimicrobial [,æntɪmaɪ'krəʊbɪəl]：adj.殺菌的，抗菌的
In lots of cases, these kinds of remedies aren't harmful in themselves, as long as they aren't preventing you from following evidence-based medical advice. But they have the potential to be.
在很多情況下，只要不妨礙你遵循循證醫學建議，這類療法本身無害，但也有可能有害人體健康。
The South China Morning Post reported a story of a woman who had to receive hospital treatment for a severely inflamed throat after consuming 1.5kg of raw garlic.
據《南華早報》報道，一名女子在食用了1.5公斤生大蒜後，因喉嚨嚴重發炎而入院治療。
We know, in general, that eating fruit and vegetables and drinking water can be good for staying healthy. However, there is no evidence specific foods will help fight this particular virus.
我們知道，一般來說，吃果蔬和喝水有益健康。但沒有證據表明某種食物可以幫助對抗新冠病毒。
2. “神奇的”礦物質？
YouTuber Jordan Sather, who has many thousands of followers across different platforms, has been claiming that a "miracle mineral supplement", called MMS, can "wipe out" coronavirus.
油管用戶喬丹·薩瑟在不同的平臺上都有成千上萬的粉絲，他一直聲稱一種“神奇礦物質補品”（簡稱MMS）可以“消滅”冠狀病毒。
It contains chlorine dioxide - a bleaching agent.
MMS含有二氧化氯，這是一種漂白劑。
Sather and others promoted the substance even before the coronavirus outbreak, and in January he tweeted that, "not only is chlorine dioxide (aka MMS) an effective cancer cell killer, it can wipe out coronavirus too".
早在新冠病毒暴發之前，薩瑟等人就開始推廣這種礦物質補品了。今年1月，他在推特上寫道：“二氧化氯（又名MMS）不僅可以有效殺滅癌細胞，還能消滅冠狀病毒。”
Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned about the dangers to health of drinking MMS. Health authorities in other countries have also issued alerts about it.
去年，美國食品和藥物管理局警告了飲用MMS對健康的危害。其他國家的衛生機構也發出了警告。
The FDA says it "is not aware of any research showing that these products are safe or effective for treating any illness". It warns that drinking them can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and symptoms of severe dehyrdation.
美國食品和藥物管理局表示“沒有任何研究表明這些產品對治療某些疾病是安全或有效的”。它警告說，飲用MMS會導致噁心、嘔吐、腹瀉和嚴重脫水症狀。
3. 自制洗手液
There have been many reports of shortages of hand sanitiser gel, as washing your hands is one key way to prevent spread of the virus.
由於洗手是防止病毒傳播的關鍵途徑之一，所以洗手液短缺的報道很多。
But these recipes were for a disinfectant better suited for cleaning surfaces and, as scientists pointed out, not suitable for use on skin.
但這些自制洗手液實際上是一種更適合清潔物體表面的消毒劑，正如科學家指出的那樣，不適合清潔皮膚。
Alcohol-based hand gels usually also contain emollients, which make them gentler on skin, on top of their 60-70% alcohol content.
含酒精的洗手液通常還含有潤膚霜，即使酒精含量高達60-70%，用在皮膚上也較爲溫和。
emollient [ɪˈmɒliənt]：n.潤膚霜
Professor Sally Bloomfield, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says she does not believe you could make an effective product for sanitising hands at home - even vodka only contains 40% alcohol.
倫敦衛生和熱帶醫學學院的莎莉·布盧姆菲爾德教授說，她不相信人們可以在家裏製造出一種有效的洗手產品——伏特加的酒精含量也只有40%。
For cleaning surfaces, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says most common household disinfectants should be effective.
對於清潔表面而言，美國疾病控制和預防中心表示，大多數常見的家用消毒劑都有效。
4. 膠體銀
The use of colloidal silver was promoted on US televangelist Jim Bakker's show. Colloidal silver is tiny particles of the metal suspended in liquid. A guest on the show claimed the solution kills some strains of coronavirus within 12 hours (while admitting it hadn't yet been tested on Covid-19).
美國電視佈道家吉姆·巴克在節目中推廣了膠體銀的使用。膠體銀是懸浮在液體中的金屬銀微粒。一位嘉賓在節目中稱，這種溶液可以在12小時內殺死一些冠狀病毒（同時承認它還沒有在新冠病毒上測試過）。
televangelist[ˌtelɪˈvændʒəlɪst]：n.電視福音傳道人；電視佈道者
The idea that it could be an effective treatment for coronavirus has been widely shared on Facebook, particularly by "medical freedom" groups which are deeply suspicious of mainstream medical advice.
膠體銀可以有效治療冠狀病毒的說法在臉書上被廣泛分享，尤其是那些對主流醫療建議持懷疑態度的“醫療自由”羣體。
Proponents of colloidal silver claim it can treat all kinds of health conditions, act as an antiseptic, and state it helps the immune system. But there's clear advice from the US health authorities that there's no evidence this type of silver is effective for any health condition. More importantly, it could cause serious side effects including kidney damage, seizures and argyria - a condition that makes your skin turn blue.
膠體銀的支持者聲稱，它可以治療各種病症，起到抗菌的作用，並聲稱它有助於免疫系統。但美國衛生機構明確表示，沒有證據表明這種銀有治病功效。更重要的是，它可能會導致嚴重的副作用，包括腎臟損傷、癲癇和銀質沉着病（使皮膚變藍）。
They say that, unlike iron or zinc, silver is not a metal that has any function in the human body.
美國衛生機構表示，與鐵或鋅不同，銀對人體沒有任何用處。
5. 每15分鐘喝一次水
One post, copied and pasted by multiple Facebook accounts, quotes a "Japanese doctor" who recommends drinking water every 15 minutes to flush out any virus that might have entered the mouth. A version in Arabic has been shared more than 250,000 times.
一位“日本醫生”建議人們每15分鐘喝一次水，以清除任何可能進入口腔的病毒。很多臉書用戶複製粘貼了這個帖子，帖子的阿拉伯語版本已經被分享了超過25萬次。
Professor Bloomfield says there is absolutely no evidence this will help.
布盧姆菲爾德教授說，絕對沒有證據表明這會有幫助。
Airborne viruses enter the body via the respiratory tract when you breathe in. Some of them might go into your mouth, but even constantly drinking water isn't going to prevent you from catching the virus.
你吸氣時，空氣傳播的病毒通過呼吸道進入體內。有些可能會進入你的口腔，但即使不斷地喝水也不能阻止你感染病毒。
Nonetheless, drinking water and staying hydrated is generally good medical advice.
儘管如此，一般來說，喝水和補水是很好的醫療建議。
6. 提高溫度，不要吃冰淇淋
There are lots of variations of the advice suggesting heat kills the virus, from recommending drinking hot water to taking hot baths, or using hairdryers.
有很多說法都聲稱病毒會被高溫殺死，比如喝熱水、洗熱水澡，或使用吹風機。
One post, copied and pasted by dozens of social media users in different countries - and falsely attributed to Unicef - claims that drinking hot water and exposure to the sun will kill the virus, and says ice cream is to be avoided.
來自不同國家的數十名社交媒體用戶複製並粘貼了一篇帖子，並錯誤地稱其援引自聯合國兒童基金會。該帖子稱，喝熱水和曬太陽可以殺死病毒，並且不要吃冰淇淋。
Charlotte Gornitzka, who works for Unicef on coronavirus misinformation, says: "A recent erroneous online orting to be a Unicef communication appears to indicate that avoiding ice cream and other cold foods can help prevent the onset of the disease. This is, of course, wholly untrue."
在聯合國兒童基金會負責糾正新冠病毒錯誤信息的夏洛特·戈爾尼茨卡說：“最近網上有條錯誤信息……據稱是來自聯合國兒童基金會的消息，聲稱不吃冰淇淋和其他冷的食物有助於預防感染新冠病毒。當然，這肯定不是真的。”
We know the flu virus doesn't survive well outside the body during the summer, but we don't yet know how heat impacts the new coronavirus.
我們知道流感病毒在夏天無法在體外存活很久，但是我們還不知道高溫對新冠病毒有何影響。
Trying to heat your body or expose yourself to the sun - presumably to make it inhospitable to the virus - is completely ineffective, according to Prof Bloomfield. Once the virus is in your body, there's no way of killing it - your body just has to fight it off.
布盧姆菲爾德教授表示，試圖使身體升溫或曬太陽——可能是爲了讓病毒不易在人體存活——是完全無效的。一旦病毒進入人體，就沒有辦法殺死它了——你的身體只能自己抗擊病毒。
Outside the body, "to actively kill the virus you need temperatures of around 60 degrees", says Professor Bloomfield - far hotter than any bath or sauna.
布盧姆菲爾德教授說，在體外，“要想有效地殺死病毒，你需要60度左右的溫度”——比任何沐浴或桑拿溫度都要高得多。
Washing bed linen or towels at 60 degrees is a good idea, as this can kill any viruses in the fabric. But it's not a good option for washing your skin.
用60度的水溫清洗牀單或毛巾是個好主意，因爲這可以殺死織物中的任何病毒。但清潔皮膚不宜這樣做。
And having a hot bath or drinking hot liquids won't change your actual body temperature, which remains stable unless you are already ill.
洗個熱水澡或喝點熱飲也不會改變你的實際體溫，除非你已經生病了，否則體溫會保持穩定。
