CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a Kingsville man is choosing to regularly drink colloidal silver as a means to protect himself from the virus, despite reports on how it’s been proven ineffective — and potentially dangerous.
Jesse Rios, 66, spoke to KRIS 6 while having lunch with his older friends. These friends are older, and also regularly take colloidal silver.
Rios said it makes them feel safe.
“We’re in a crisis right now,” he said. “We’re in a fight. We’re in a war with a virus that you can’t smell — you cannot taste it. If we don’t find a solution, how many people have to die?”
James Mobley, the health authority at the San Patricio Department of Public Health, like many other health experts, says colloidal silver has no proven effects against COVID-19.
“Historically, silver’s been known to be bactericidal, that it actually does kill bacteria, and that’s been known for, really, hundreds of years,” Mobley said. “That’s kind of the basis of where these things come from, but this is not a bacteria — it’s a virus.”
Instead, Mobley warns that larger doses of colloidal silver can be dangerous.
“Silver’s a heavy metal,” he said. “And it can be toxic to the kidneys and cause other problems, so there’s some risks of this also.”
Meanwhile, Rios shows no sign of stopping his use of the controversial product. He said two years a go he was introduced to it by a family member after he got an infection from surgery.
“Within three days, I was out and about. Whatever it was, it got rid of it,” Rios explained. “Symptoms of flu or anything, it helps a lot.”
Today, he uses it to obtain a sense of normalcy with his friends.
While Mobley reaffirmed that silver has no proven effects toward a virus, he said he understands why individuals would want to find a solution for themselves.
“Anytime where you have a condition where we really don’t have a treatment, then people will look for treatments, and the internet of course and all that helps out now,” Mobley said. “So they look for other ways to help prevent or possibly treat disease, and that seems to be what most of what’s going on here — it’s just really frustrating that we have little control over this virus.”