Netizens on Facebook revived a seven-year-old false claim about using bird’s eye chili (siling labuyo) as cure for dengue.
The posts, which began reappearing on May 28, bore this caption:
“SILING LABUYO is very effective to cure dengue. This is tested and proven. Put siling labuyo in a small part / portion of any kind of banana fruit ,as small as the siling labuyo and is enough and easy to be swallowed by the child (sic).”
“The Department of Health (DOH) cautions the public against Facebook posts claiming Birds Eye Chili or Siling Labuyo can cure Dengue. The DOH clarifies that currently, there is no specific treatment for Dengue,” the Department of Health said in a June 13 statement.
“The best way to prevent Dengue is to avoid mosquito bites,” it added.
“Wala pong katotohanan yan, walang evidence na mayroong role ang siling labuyo doon sa panggagamot ng dengue (There is no truth to it, no evidence that bird’s eye chili has a role in treating dengue),” infectious diseases specialist Dr. Rontgene Solante said during a June 13 interview with ABS-CBN’s Gising Pilipinas.
A post carrying this erroneous claim first appeared in January 2017.
The wrong claim re-emerged late last month, two days after the health department reported that cases of dengue reportedly increased by 17 percent in Western Visayas in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year.
Agence France Presse also debunked the alleged dengue cure.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
