New packs of P/500 paracetamol pills do not contain fatal ‘Machupo Virus’

Hyderabad: Several social media users are sharing an image of P/500 paracetamol pills and claiming that they contain the “Machupo” virus.

This message is being widely shared on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook.

The viral message reads, “Be careful not to take paracetamol that comes written P / 500. It is a new, very white and shiny paracetamol, doctors advise that it contains “Machupo” virus, considered one of the most dangerous viruses in the world, with a high mortality rate. Please share this message, with all people on your contact list as well as family and save a life or lives..... I have done my part, now it’s your turn... Remember that God helps those who help others and themselves.”

It ends with an appeal to people to forward the message.

NewsMeter received this claim on the WhatsApp tipline (74828 30440) for it to be fact-checked.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be a hoax.

Science Direct explains, “Machupo virus is an arenavirus from the New World serogroup that has contributed to epidemics of hemorrhagic fever in Central and South America. Rhesus macaques, Geoffrey’s marmosets, and African green monkeys may be experimentally infected with the Machupo virus. In these species it causes a severe, disseminated infection involving the central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs. Hemorrhages are found in the skin, liver, oral cavity, and adrenal cortex.”

Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has debunked the claim regarding the transmission of Machupo virus through paracetamol tablets and called it a hoax.

They also added, “To date, there are two versions of the hoax “alert” circulating. One version mentions the paracetamol product “P-500” tablets and the second version mentions the “Aeknil Paracetamol” tablets. Both warn that “P-500” or the “Aeknil Paracetamol” tablets should not be consumed as they contain the “Machupo” virus. The “alerts” also claim that the ‘new, very white and shiny paracetamol tablets’ have been proven by doctors to contain the “Machupo” virus.”

A keyword search led to a 2017 media report by The Hindu debunking the same viral message.

Another media report by New Straits Times was titled “Paracetamol pills in Malaysia do not contain deadly virus, says Health Ministry.”

He said, “The Machupo virus is classified under Arenavirus endemic to Bolivia that causes the disease commonly called Bolivian hemorrhagic fever. It was first discovered in 1959 in an outbreak in San Joaquin, Bolivia.”

He added, “Machupo virus has an incubation period of 1-2 weeks. Patients infected with Machupo virus may develop an influenza-like illness with fever, malaise, and fatigue followed by the onset of headache, dizziness, myalgias, and severe lower back pain.”

Dr. Panigrahi explained, “Machupo virus spreads by inhalation of aerosols generated from excretions of its carrier, a rodent, although human-to-human transmission can also occur. The claim that it spreads through packaged tablets is false and very unlikely assuming tablet factories are machine-controlled under sterile conditions.”