There is no Air Marshal Ashutosh Sharma at Bangalore. Command Hospital Air Force Bangalore is headed by Air Vice Marshal Ashutosh Sharma and the message in question has not been originated by him.

By Tej Kumar 

A viral message is circulating on social media claiming that “Air Marshal Ashutosh Sharma, Chest physician & pulmonologist COMMAND HOSPITAL AIR FORCE, BANGLORE says that steam inhalation drive can cure coronavirus.” Air Vice Marshal Ashutosh Sharma, who heads Command Hospital Air Force in Bengaluru (CHAFB), has not written any message on WhatsApp about use of steam to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry clarified that “there is Air Vice Marshal not Air Marshal in Bengaluru”. “The Indian Air Force and Air Vice Marshal Ashutosh Sharma do not vouch for anything that is stated in the message”.

The archived version of the post can be seen here

The statement also said that don’t believe in any of the rumours; if you have any symptoms, “seek medical help for treatment”.

This claim has been shared on WhatsApp multiple times and the message itself is wrong and misleading.

Steam inhalation is still not proven to prevent Covid-19. This advice, which is inaccurate and potentially dangerous, was debunked by First Check here.

The same message was circulated previously with a different name Dr N.N.KANNAPPAN, which was fact-checked by  First Check.