CAN HOMOEOPATHY COMBAT COVID-19? A REPERTORIAL VIEW.

Abstract

Corona virus disease 2019, COVID-19, the ongoing pandemic had resulted in greater loss and had been challenging to the global health security and Health care system. With no curative medicines, repurposing of existing allopathic medicines was widely carried out. Besides Allopathy, traditional medicines and complimentary alternative system of medicines are also being tried and tested everywhere. Management of COVID-19 patients in India is being done according to the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Under its directives, the Ministry of AYUSH has recommended using Homeopathy drugs as Prophylactic medicines in the name of Immune boosters and also as a Therapeutic agent along with the existing standard of care in the Management of COVID-19 disease. During many previous epidemics Homeopathic medical system has registered its success in both treatment and preventive aspects, which has been recorded in various literatures. Adapting the principles of individualization in an epidemic situation, two major concepts - Genus epidemicus and Similimum through Repertorisation have proved to be viable in embracing homeopathic approach for Prophylactic and Therapeutic measures against COVID-19 respectively. We in this study have used Repertorisation to derive similar remedies for the clinical picture in each concept, to combat COVID-19.The results from the review and repertory have shown Arsenicum album and Phosphorus to have the most similarity with COVID-19 clinical picture of various stages as listed in the World health organisation (WHO) and Indian council of Medical Research (ICMR), based on the two concepts respectively. These remedies prove to have signicant effect as a prophylactic and therapeutic against the COVID-19 disease based on the Genus epidemicus concept, yet it needs scientic clinical trials for stronger and conclusive evidence which have been started and is being done by various homoeopathic hospitals across India