By Catherine Lucey and Stephanie Armour 

The manufacturer of Lysol warned that its products shouldn't be used internally after President Trump speculated about whether solar light and household disinfectants could be used inside the body to treat the new coronavirus.

Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Lysol and Dettol, wrote on Friday that it was compelled to issue a statement "due to recent speculation and social media activity" and warned against the improper use of its products: "We must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route)."

During Mr. Trump's daily coronavirus press briefing Thursday, a science and technology adviser from the Department of Homeland Security shared what he described as emerging research about how sunlight and household disinfectants can quickly kill the virus on surfaces. The president then pondered how those results could be applied to patients.

"So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous -- whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light -- and I think you said that that hasn't been checked, but you're going to test it," he said. "And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body."

Mr. Trump added: "And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs."

Mr. Trump asked Dr. Deborah Birx, the administration's coronavirus response coordinator, if she had heard that heat and light could work as a treatment for the virus. She replied: "Not as a treatment, no."

She added: "Certainly fever is a good thing. When you have a fever, it helps your body respond."

This wasn't the first time the president has spoken about possible treatments for the new coronavirus, which has killed more than 50,000 people in the U.S. He previously encouraged people to take a combination of antimalarial and antibacterial drugs to combat it, defying the advice of public-health experts as his own advisers debate the effectiveness of the drugs.

Dr. Arthur Caplan, a professor of medical ethics at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, said it was dangerous for the president to speak off the cuff about unproven treatments.

"People listen to him, they then go out and try things," Dr. Caplan said. "You're going to kill people when you suggest try antimalarial drugs or try disinfectants or other unproven or dangerous ideas."

Leana Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner and an emergency doctor at George Washington University Hospital, added that "injecting people with disinfectant is harmful and could be deadly. It has no benefit whatsoever, and could permanently damage blood vessels and tissue, and even kill."

She added: "I don't know what it means to hit the body with light. This is also not a medical therapy. It has no benefit and, if this is referring to UV light, can lead to many types of harm."

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany issued a statement Friday in response. "President Trump has repeatedly said that Americans should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasized again during yesterday's briefing," she said. "Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines."

Surgeon General Jerome Adams retweeted the White House statement Friday and added: "A reminder to all Americans- PLEASE always talk to your health provider first before administering any treatment/ medication to yourself or a loved one."

William Bryan, the science and technology adviser with the Department of Homeland Security who spoke at Thursday's briefing, told reporters that it takes 90 seconds for the virus to lose half its strength in the presence of sunlight.

Other research has found the virus can survive for days on some surfaces, such as cardboard, and is detectable in the air for up to three hours, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Additional studies have also indicated that ultraviolet light appears to destroy the virus, but the results aren't considered especially significant since most transmission hasn't been linked to people touching outdoor surfaces.

Sunlight and humidity have both been found to make it harder for the novel coronavirus to survive on hard surfaces. Currently, scientists don't know if spread of the novel coronavirus will wane in summer. An April study in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine indicated that heat and humidity may not be sufficient to significantly slow the virus.

"I'm just here to present talent," Mr. Trump said during his briefing on Thursday. "I'm here to present ideas, because we want ideas to get rid of this thing. And if heat is good and if sunlight is good, that's a great thing as far as I'm concerned."

Write to Catherine Lucey at catherine.lucey@wsj.com and Stephanie Armour at stephanie.armour@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 24, 2020 12:50 ET (16:50 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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