Lysol maker urges people not to inject disinfectants after Trump remarks

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 23, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

(Reuters) - Lysol and Dettol maker Reckitt Benckiser warned people against using disinfectants to treat the coronavirus, after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested researchers try putting disinfectants into patients' bodies.

"Under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route)," the company said https://www.rb.com/media/news/2020/april/improper-use-of-disinfectants.

Trump said researchers should try to apply their findings to coronavirus patients by inserting light or disinfectant into their bodies.

"Is there a way we can do something like that by injection, inside, or almost a cleaning?" he said. "It would be interesting to check that."

Reckitt said due to recent speculation and social media activity, it had been asked whether internal usage of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus.

(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)