Type "SARS" (severe acute respiratory syndrome) into an Internet search engine and advertisements from a host of companies pop up offering products as diverse as health supplements, disinfectants and special protective suits that marketers say will keep the new disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome, at bay.
One company offers a disinfectant that it says "kills SARS supervirus."
A supplement maker advertises a pill that it says will ward off SARS by bolstering the immune system. Another Web site offers the "SARS protective kit," including a respirator, antimicrobial hand-cleaners and a pair of latex gloves, all on sale for US$155.
Entrepreneurship may be the pulse of the US economy, but federal health officials warn that consumers should be wary of claims like these and unswayed by companies that seem to be playing on fear.
Dr. Mark B. McClellan, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said on Friday in an interview that the risk of contracting the disease in the US was "very, very low." The best defense, he said, is to avoid traveling to China, Singapore or other countries where the cases have been concentrated.
"The evidence on SARS is very limited today," McClellan said. "We have no evidence so far that any specific drug is effective against it."
One Internet advertiser, Antec International, a British company, and its American distributor, BiosafetyUSA, is selling Virkon, a disinfectant that it says kills the agent that causes SARS.
Dr. Ronald B. Turner, a professor at the University of Virginia and a specialist in infectious diseases, said Antec could not have tested the disinfectant, because so little is known about SARS.
Scientists with the World Health Organization strongly suspect that the disease is caused by a previously unknown member of the coronavirus family that may have mutated or jumped into humans from animals.
Heinz J. Niedermaier, chief executive of BiosafetyUSA, confirmed that the company had not tested Virkon in relation to SARS. But Virkon, he said, had been proved to kill strains of the coronavirus, which is best known for causing the common cold.
The claim that Virkon kills SARS, Niedermaier acknowledged, may be an exaggeration.
Young Again Nutrients, which also advertises on the Internet, says its supplement, Beta Glucan, can boost the immune system and help protect against SARS.
"We're just saying that a strong immune system is your best defense," said John Livingston, the company's chief executive.
But Turner said the company's claims were speculative. He said it was not clear that the product would actually boost the immune system, and if it did, whether that would even help against SARS. People do not become infected with SARS, he said, because their immune systems are weak. Companies can buy ads and help improve their placement in the results of Internet searches at sites like Google and Yahoo. Google permits companies to choose the keywords that they want to bring up their ads. The most prominent ad placement goes to those who bid the most on that keyword, in this case SARS, and to those ads that are clicked on by the most users. Google advertisers pay only when someone clicks on their ads.
On Saturday, "SARS" was the second-most-searched phrase on Yahoo, after the television series "American Idol."
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