Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, November 13, 1992
Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
But the claim quickly fell afoul of state officials. "They were giving out major misinformation on the transmission of AIDS," said Dan Walsh of the California AIDS Fraud Task Force in the state Department of Health Services.
He said the odds of anyone getting the virus that causes AIDS from a carpet was "one in millions. This is not a mode of transmission." The HIV virus is fragile and cannot live outside a cell. The cells will die as soon as any body fluids spilled on a carpet dry, making the treatment unnecessary, Walsh said.
Even if a person did come in contact with a recent spill of infected fluid, it would be unlikely that he or she would get the virus.
In addition, the disinfectant was intended for bathrooms, not carpets, and its manufacturer made no claims that it killed the HIV virus, he said.
Walsh said that the case was the first he knew of that involved a disinfectant, although there are frequent cases involving fraudulent AIDS drugs or treatments, which have supplanted phony cancer cures as a leading medical fraud.
He added that he understood that the ads had been pulled and that the treatment was no longer being supplied. Serrano could not be reached for comment.
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