Introspecting Scope of Ultra-Diluted Homeopathic Preparations in Human SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Perspective Review

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a zoonotic disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Its symptoms range from mild fever, cough, pharyngitis to severe acute respiratory syndrome. Since its first outbreak in Wuhan province of China, the disease has spread worldwide and emerged as pandemic. The infection is mainly spread by droplets and through contacts. Initially SARS-CoV-2 was thought to cause viral pneumonia only, but now it is evident that the virus can spread through the bloodstream and can cause systemic lesions as well. Though most of the time patients recovered spontaneously for immune-compromised patients, it is detrimental. Lack of effective therapy in conventional medicine has made host immune response as the only option to focus on this battle against COVID-19. First-world countries such as the USA, Italy, England and Spain have witnessed a massive number of deaths, and India is not an exception to that. The whole world is searching for effective treatment in the form of antiviral drugs, vaccines and hydroxychloroquine, but none has proven effective. Homeopathy has always put a mark during epidemics and in recent past during the elimination of leptospirosis in Cuba (2009–2014), homeopathy was very effective. In this scenario, we think homeopathy has a decisive role to play to fight this pandemic as it can enhance the host immune response and reduce the severity of the infection to a great extent. In this review, we will discuss the scopes of homeopathic medicines in the treatment of coronavirus disease.