Italians snap up baby-milk supplements after virus claim
Italian pharmacists are facing a huge upsurge in demand for a niche product usually marketed as an immune system booster for babies - weeks after a viral video suggested it could protect against coronavirus.
Lactoferrin, a protein found in high concentrations in breast milk, has undergone a small clinical trial in Rome and the organisers reported positive results but said more research was needed.
There has been no confirmation that the drug is effective against coronavirus, but pharmacies in central Rome told AFP they were dealing with dramatic surges in demand in a country with one of Europe's highest death tolls.
"We don't know anything about this product – we're blind too," a pharmacist told AFP on condition of anonymity, confirming that demand was spiking. "When people are scared, they will believe anything."
The demand for lactoferrin followed a local news report in July in which Elena Campione, a dermatology professor from the Tor Vergata university in Rome and one of the organisers of the trial, made striking claims about her research.
"We decided to treat patients with COVID-19, in the early stage of the disease," she said.
"It was incredible but 10 days after the...