Povidone-iodine sales shoot up amid radiation threat

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Hundreds of worried folks have been trooping to drugstores across the city since Wednesday to secure various sizes of bottles of povidone-iodine, amid the radiation scare in Japan.


A 7.5-milliliter bottle of branded povidone-iodine costs P25 over the counter. But some of the consumers reached by Sun.Star Pampanga said they did not mind the price, so long as they heed the advice contained in a text message which spread like wildfire on Monday.


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The text message reads: “BBC Flashnews: Japan government confirms radiation leak at Fukushima nuclear plants. Asian countries should take necessary precautions. Remain indoors for the first 24 hours. Close doors and windows. Swab neck skin with betadine where thyroid area is, as radiation hits thyroid first. Take extra precaution. Radiation may hit the Philippines starting at 4:00 p.m. today (Monday, March 14).”
Another message warned the public against a nuclear fall-out: “Kapag umulan mamaya, huwag lalabas at delikado. May tendency na masunog ang balat ninyo, makalbo o magka-cancer.”


Panicky residents in this city said it is best to stand guard about the nuclear explosions in Japan, after it was hit by tsunami from a recent 8.9-magnitude earthquake.


“Tutuo man o hindi ang mga text na iyon, maganda na ang sigurado. Baka maulit iyong sa lahar noon na ibinaba ang mga alert level tapos bigla na lamang dumating,” said Adelaida Bustos, a mother of three kids whom she fetched early from school.


Ramon Sitangco, who works in a bank, said he spent the day worrying about the possibility of radiation, passing on the messages to his friends and text mates: “It is no joking matter. The source of the text messages seems to have knowledge of radiation and first aid that he recommended the swabbing of Betadine.”


An official of the Department of Education division office, who preferred not to be named, said that there is nothing to worry about.


“The department did not issue any order on the suspension of classes.
After an emergency meeting with the Department of Science and Technology and Phivolcs, we were assured that the radiation leak was far from reaching the country,” the official said, although some schools took it on their own to send students home early for safety reasons.


In an interview, Science and Technology Secretary Mario Monteno disclosed that the Philippine National Research Institute was monitoring the radiation fall out locally and found out the country is too far from Japan to be affected.


“We just hope that irresponsible texting of such will stop so as not to cause panic and so fear to the public,” he said.


Published in the Sun.Star Pampanga newspaper on March 17, 2011.