Is inhaling disinfectant for cold/flu a good idea?
I tried googling this, but there is suprisingly little info that I could find, I can't possibly be the only one to think of it.

Is it possible to help treat a cold/flu by inhaling some sort of disinfectant? I know everyone always encourages using hand sanitizer to kill cold/flu germs, well what if you already have a cold or flu? Isn't there a safe way to get disinfectant into your body?

For example, if you have the flu, and its in your throat and lungs, couldn't you inhale some vodka mist? Alcohol kills germs and is safe to drink. I know it wouldn't be an instant cure, but perhaps it might wipe out 10% of the germs/viruses, making less work for your body's natural defenses, and helping you heal quicker?
For anyone who says it is not a good idea, could you please explain why? I don't see how inhaling vodka could be bad since it is ok to drink and have in your body. It seems like if you inhaled vodka mist it would coat your throat and lungs with a nice layer of disinfectant, that would kill all the germs on the surface of your throat and lungs, leaving less germs for your body to fight.

Posted by Naomi Nirvana!
why would you want to inhale disinfectant!? thats not good for you weather you got a cold or not! yeah hand sanitizer helps get rid of the germs on your HANDS.

Posted by Daniel
No offense, but that's like saying "can I swallow a band-aid to fix my internal bleeding." Disinfectants are only for use on skin. If you check, it will say something about "external use only". Follow these instructions, strictly. The best thing I can recommend for a cold is cough syrup, aspirin, and lots of Vitamin C.

Posted by Ms. Hoppenstedt
Please don't.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/3493487.stm

Posted by Maddie Z
ahahahaaaaa funny you are! But, no inhaling a disinfectant will not cure or even help you it will make you sick!!!! In order to feel better you must simply let time heal you, it may help to get a Chiropractic adjustment due to when getting an adjustment I think its something in the upwards of 50,000 white blood cells makng their way throughout your body into the blood stream to help fight infection and disease so when your sick thats exactly what ya need!

Posted by Frank
No, it is a very bad idea. Many disinfectants are toxic if taken internally (including inhaling them). They will not kill a virus in your body. They will kill everything in your body, starting with your lungs. Fortunately, you can't inhale enough of a dose to do more than damage the lining of your lungs (the alveoli).

When a virus is on a surface, killing everything that is alive on that surface will stop the virus. Once you are infected, the virus is inside your cells, where it hijacks your cells and tells them to make more virus. (This is why a virus is not truly considered alive, since it can't reproduce on its own, but it is the same organic material that your live cells are made of, and that organic material is damaged by disinfectants, so if I write about "killing" a virus, I mean disrupting its organic material to the point that it cannot infect a cell.) Once the virus is inside your cells, disinfectants would have to kill your cells to get to the virus. But it is too late. The virus has already spread through your body and infected some of your cells. Inhaling or drinking a disinfectant will only attack the cells in your stomach or lungs.

This is where your white blood cells come in. They selectively attack unfamiliar organic material such as a virus without attacking healthy cells.

The reason you have a fever is because at higher temperatures, the organic materials (the protein fragments) in a virus are slightly disrupted, which makes them not as good at infecting your cells and causing your cells to create more virus. This gives your white blood cells an advantage. It also disrupts things in your body that are not part of the virus, which is why you don't feel good.

If you consume disinfectants or other toxic chemicals or vodka, your liver will be busy processing that instead of filtering out the white blood cells that have found their target and enwrapped them.

Vodka will also dehydrate you, which is a bad thing since a fever tends to dehydrate you.

In summary, and to be clear, do not do this. Disinfectants will only kill your stomach or lungs and will keep your liver busy. It will hurt all the wrong things and not do a thing to what you want to hurt: the virus.


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