Spices and Plants as Home Remedies for COVID-19: A Survey in Rajbari District, Bangladesh

Abstract

Objectives: Corona virus SARS-CoV-2, otherwise known as COVID-19 has created a pandemic and lacks any drugs or vaccines for treatment. Since its outbreak in late December in 2019, till as of August 7, 2020, the virus has infected 19,358,362 people throughout the world and caused deaths of 719,561 people. The corresponding figures for Bangladesh are 252,502 total cases and 3,333 deaths with 1,532 cases and 20 deaths per million. Since it is not always possible for infected rural people to travel to what they think as the best place for diagnosis and treatment, namely Dhaka, the capital of the country, they resort to home remedies, which may vary in different regions. The objective of the present study was to collect such home remedies from Rajbari district in Bangladesh. Methods: Since people are reticent to talk about having COVID-19, data was collected from three known persons, who were known to have tested positive for COVID-19 and agreed to give their home remedy formulations for cure. Data was collected with the help of an open-ended questionnaire after the patients were fully recovered. Results: Interestingly, although the three persons were unknown to each other, their basic formulation was to drink tea, in which tea leaves were boiled with spices, along with consumption of particularly sour and/or citrus fruits. Conclusion: Spices, particularly which are known as ‘hot spices’ or ‘garam masala’ in Bangladesh and India were the common ingredients added to tea during preparation (boiling), which was taken in the morning. These spices merit attention from scientists as to their anti-viral activities.