'Red Medicine' Kills COVID-19 Too?…MFDS "Clinical Effect Not Confirmed, Use with Caution"

[Image source = Seonggwang Pharmaceutical SNS]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Amid a shortage of the 'red medicine' Povidone-Iodine, recently introduced through the media and academic journals as having an effect in eradicating the COVID-19 virus, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has repeatedly warned that this is not a confirmed result and that it should not be ingested or drunk.

On the 11th, the MFDS provided research results on the inhibitory effect of Povidone-Iodine against COVID-19 and the correct usage of Povidone-Iodine-containing preparations.

Povidone-Iodine is the main ingredient in medicinal products used for external sterilization and disinfection, and it is approved domestically as an over-the-counter drug in external preparations, throat sprays, and mouth gargles.

Users must follow the indicated application areas and usage methods for each product, such as skin, throat, and oral cavity, and it must not be used in the eyes or ingested, as it is not intended for ophthalmic or internal use.

Furthermore, the MFDS cautioned against overinterpreting the recently published domestic research on the inhibitory effect of Povidone-Iodine on the COVID-19 virus. This study was conducted as a cell experiment in vitro with cultured COVID-19 virus, not as preclinical trials on actual animals or clinical trials on humans.

Currently, clinical trials on the preventive effect of Povidone-Iodine sprays against COVID-19 are underway in countries such as the United States and Canada, but these results have not yet been completed, so the clinical efficacy remains unclear. In other words, the recently introduced claim in academic journals and the media that Povidone-Iodine reduces coronavirus by 99.9% is misinformation.

Additionally, the MFDS introduced the correct usage of medicinal products containing Povidone-Iodine. External disinfectants should only be used for sterilizing skin wounds and surgical sites. Gargles should be used only for oral sterilization and laryngitis, diluted 15 to 30 times with water, and after gargling, users must spit it out and not swallow it. Throat sprays should be sprayed only once in an appropriate amount inside the mouth.

Moreover, prolonged use of medicinal products containing Povidone-Iodine may cause symptoms such as thyroid dysfunction due to iodine, so caution is required. The MFDS especially urged that patients with thyroid dysfunction, renal failure, iodine hypersensitivity, newborns, and infants under six months old should refrain from using these products.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.