With the continuously expanding COVID-19 pandemic, increasing numbers of patients and contacts are progressively posing a global challenge. Being novel, there is so much that is yet to be known about this virus and how to manage it. This scenario is not only true for conventional medicine, but is also applicable to herbal medicine and natural products. An ideal anti-COVID-19 medication (or a combination of agents) should be safe for patients while conferring three basic therapeutic effects (and/or preventive health benefits):
- Enhancing the antiviral immunity,
- Tissue-protection (and tissue repair), and
- Exerting potent antiviral effects.
Unfortunately, ideal anti-COVID-19 medications are not available so far. Public health interventions that apply community-based prevention programs have been widely used. Conventional medicine approaches such as pharmacotherapy with many different drug molecules and biologics have also been utilized. A number of existing drug molecules are being repurposed for the management of COVID-19, with several clinical trials underway to validate safety and efficacy. Many institutions are carrying out research on potential vaccine candidates with the aim of discovering a safe and efficacious vaccine.
Read full blog article by Prof. Julius Mwangi and Dr. Peggoty Mutai at https://uonresearch.org/blog/covid-19-and-herbal-medicine/
