FACT CHECK: Can Inhaling Hot Air From A Sauna Or Hair Dryer Kill Coronavirus?

Trevor Schakohl | Legal Reporter

A video shared on Facebook claims inhaling hot air from a sauna or hair dryer can kill the new coronavirus.

Verdict: False

Experts have debunked the claim that hot air blown into the sinuses can eliminate the new coronavirus. It can be transmitted in areas with hot and humid climates.

Fact Check:

YouTube and Facebook users have been sharing the video that claims blowing hot air into your sinuses will help eliminate the new coronavirus because heat kills it. Someone named Dr. Dan Lee Dimke, who appears to have a doctorate in education, narrates the video.

But, according to medical doctors, the information in the video is inaccurate and could even be dangerous to one’s health. (RELATED: Does ‘Harry Potter’ Actor Daniel Radcliffe Have The Novel Coronavirus?)

“They have no data to support that,” Dr. Katrina Armstrong, physician-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, said about the video’s claims in an interview with MassLive.com. “We have not done randomized, controlled trials of sauna use, but there’s not a reasonable scientist who would suggest that.”

Faheem Younas, an infection disease expert at the University of Maryland, debunked the notion of using a hair dryer to kill the virus, tweeting, “Please don’t. Our nose carries bacteria, as part of normal flora. Those bacteria may get confused.”

“Most of the body is the same temperature, and there’s no evidence to suggest it’s preferentially attacking the sinuses,” Armstrong also noted.

The video’s claim that heat kills the COVID-19 virus doesn’t hold up either. In fact, the World Health Organization notes on its “Myth Buster” page that the virus can be transmitted in areas with hot and humid climates.

At the time of publication, there are 335,991 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, according to the Johns Hopkins University live map. Some 14,641 people have died from the disease.

Trevor Schakohl

Legal Reporter
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