Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Alfred Santamaria hosted a community outreach event in Wynwood this week where the candidate handed out a medicinal lotion to people that he said would alleviate and treat symptoms of Zika. But the campaign may have in fact misled residents.
As candidate AlfredSantamariaand his team went door to door inWynwoodthey handed residents purple boxes of an antiseptic calledZycazin.“When you put it on your your skin, it kills the virus of of the Zika and it does not let it spread," Santamaria said.
But the producer of Zycazin disagrees. Leon Atencia, the head of product development at Axis Healthcare, says Zycazin is only FDA approved to treat minor infections and irritations. He says he wants to distance himself from Santamaria’s claims.
“I don’t endorse that," he said. "It’s not a preventative medicine in any way.”
But that’s exactly what residents of Wynwood likeCheryl Washingtonsay they were told.
“Yeah he said it would prevent it,” she said, speaking about Santamaria's explanation of the medicine.
Aileen Marty is a professor of infectious diseases at FIU. She says once a mosquito's saliva enters the bloodstream, rubbing ointment on the skin will not stop the Zika virus.
“There is absolutely nothing in the published, peer-reviewed literature that supports the use of this product for any specific viral uh illness," Mary said.
When pressed on his endorsement of Zycazin as a treatment for Zika a day later, Santamaria recanted, and said Zycazin was not a substitute for professional Zika treatment.
“It’s definitely not a treatment, I’ve said it on the media, I’ve said it everywhere," he said.
Medical experts say there is no known treatment for Zika, but a vaccine is in the works.
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