16/03/2020
The current epidemic (2019-2020) of Coronavirus Covid-19 that started in Wuhan, China, has created a state of panic, which is disproportionate to the mortality rate of this infection. Along with the rising alarm, people in cities where new cases are being discovered, are stocking up on essential medicines, food, masks and sanitizers, creating a shortage in the market for those who really need these products.
People have been promoting alternative cures and prophylaxis too and homeopathy seems to be the most promising and most actively circulated prophylaxis through Facebook, Whatsapp and other social media. The most commonly recommended homeopathic medicines are Arsenicum album, Gelsemium, Influenzinum, Mercurius and Argentum nitricum. The Government of India has officially announced Arsenicum album as a likely prophylactic for Coronavirus infection (I have been told that CCRH did consider symptoms published in The Lancet before recommending Ars-alb).[i]
The problem with most of these recommendations is that they are not based on actual symptoms of the affected patients. Fortunately, now we have a lot of epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data available and published in peer-reviewed journals, which can be used to draw reasonable conclusions about the group of homeopathic medicines that will work in this infection.
This article will provide an in-depth analysis of the recorded symptom-set of patients of Coronavirus infection and then analyze them using the principles of Organon and tools of Repertory and Materia Medica, to reach the desired groups of remedies in a scientific manner.
However, before that we need to establish some facts and dispel some myths to reduce this unusual state of global anxiety.
Myth. Cornonavirus is a fatal infection for everyone.
No. If you look at the mortality rate of recent epidemics and even the usual flu, you will realize that Covid-19 is not a life-threatening infection for most people.
Infection/Epidemic Mortality (Death Rate)
Ebola 25-90%
Bird Flu – H5N1 50%
SARS 9.6%
Dengue 1%
Coronavirus Covid-19 1-2%
H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) .03-.06%
Measles .2%
Seasonal Flu .01%
In China, the mortality rate is around 2.5% for Covid-19 but as the diagnosis and awareness is improving, so is the management and prognosis. Most people who are succumbing to this infection are over 50 years of age or have some associated comorbidity (illness) like asthma, COPD, diabetes etc. For reasons that we do not understand yet, Covid-19 is usually NOT affecting children below the age of 18 and the children who are getting infected are only developing mild flu-like illness.[ii] So parents of young children can reduce their parental anxiety.
