Influencer's bleach 'cure' for autism leaves children ill

A social media influencer is promoting industrial bleach as an "autism cure", despite health warnings and reports from parents that their children have become seriously ill after following her advice.

- JABED AHMED

Kerri Rivera, who has more than 17,000 followers on Instagram and thousands more on TikTok, encourages parents to give their autistic children chlorine dioxide — a potentially lethal chemical used to bleach textiles and disinfect industrial surfaces.

Experts have called her fake cures “sickening”, adding it is “wrong, dangerous and harmful to autistic people and their families”.

Messages seen by The Independent from Ms Rivera’s private support group revealed parents reporting instances of vomiting, rashes and seizures in children after following her advice.

One parent wrote: “I have noticed a high ammonia-smelling urine in my daughter's pull-ups... I imagine these are the parasites dying and leaving behind their toxins. Is this a good sign to be smelling this?”

Ms Rivera, who falsely claims that autism is caused by “parasites” and “worms”, routinely reassures parents that these are signs the treatment is working. She refers to symptoms like vomiting and hives as evidence that the body is “detoxifying”.