P-500 Paracetamol Tablets: Fatal Machupo Virus? 2023
Several social media users are disseminating what appears to be a warning against Paracetamol tablets, specifically P-500, imploring recipients to forward the message to their loved ones.
According to the viral Forward, the “new, very white and shiny” tablets contain the “Machupo virus” which causes high mortality.
Verification of information
First, we conducted a keyword search for “paracetamol Machupo virus,” which led us to a government advisory from Singapore dated August 2, 2017, stating that a “hoax” alert alleging the Machupo virus is present in Paracetamol P-500 tablets is “inaccurate and not a cause for concern.”
According to the advisory, symptoms of the Machupo virus, also known as the Bolivian hemorrhagic fever (BHF) virus, include fever, muscle pains, bleeding gums, and seizures.
Infection with the Machupo virus is contracted through direct contact with the virus, which is primarily transmitted through the secretions, feces, and urine of infected rodents. Infections with the Machupo virus have only been documented in South America to date.
The Nation, a newspaper based in Thailand, reported on November 4, 2020 that the Digital Economy and Society Ministry of the country has also debunked the alert. In addition, the Machupo virus cannot grow in an arid environment, so the likelihood that it contaminated a tablet is exceedingly low, according to the report.
Dr. Dipin Sudhakaran, senior resident physician at AIIMS, Delhi, verified that the viral alert is a hoax with no scientific basis. “Viruses require hosts for survival. Without a host, it cannot survive in inanimate objects such as Paracetamol tablets. This urban legend has been circulating for some time.”
Conclusion
The viral alert that Paracetamol (P-500) tablets contained the fatal Machupo virus was determined to be false.
