Orthomolecular Therapy for Management & Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Disease

Abstract

The renowned coronavirus spread throughout the entire world within a short duration of time and in the process it destroyed everything it encountered in its path, like an invisible fire. This article is to review some of the key features of the coronavirus pandemic and also the virus that causes it. That is, to review the covid-19 virus, which is also known as SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – Corona Virus – 2). Several vaccines have been developed worldwide for the prevention and treatment of this virus, but due to the limitation of their distribution and manufacturing capacities, the targeted global “herd immunity” has not been achieved. Meanwhile, SARS-CoV-2 is constantly mutating and that unfortunately limits the effectiveness of various vaccination campaigns, notwithstanding the speed of the campaigns. Meanwhile, the current antiviral drugs being used including ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, ritonavir and lopinavir have not resulted into any conclusive benefits to those infected. Therefore, more effective treatments that are affordable, safe and available globally are urgently needed for targeting the SARS-CoV-2 infections. Covid-19 infections affects the upper respiratory tract and also the lower respiratory tract. However, about 80% of the patients with the disease will not require any hospitalization because their symptoms are relatively mild. But, for the remaining 20% patients, the disease deteriorates to the lower respiratory tract and results into pneumonia. Unfortunately, about 6% of the covid-19 patients with pneumonia (out of the 20% patients with lower respiratory tract involvement) eventually develop respiratory failure which usually require urgent admission to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for adequate support. The most frequent and commonly reported symptoms of covid-19 infections are cough, shortness of breath, and fever. The clinical diagnosis for covid-19 infections can be made using the symptoms, chest imaging, and exposures history. In addition to that, an individual that is suspected to have covid-19 can be evaluated and thereafter confirmed for SARS-CoV-2 based on quantitative Real Time – Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR), which is a viral nucleic acid test. So far, covid-19 has proven to be a serious global health threat and it has strained the global healthcare capacity. Therefore, it is very important and necessary to really study it and develop more effective pharmacological treatments which are effective for the treatment and prevention of the disease. In this article, we will review an anti-viral therapy made up of quercetin, zinc and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) combination. This combination has proven to be quite effective and safe. Also, various clinical studies and anecdotal evidence supports its efficacy in the management and prevention of covid-19 infections. The evidence includes a study done at Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro, Pakistan and another study at the Department of Critical Care Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, China.