Home remedies for COVID-19 treatment in Gazipur district, Bangladesh

Abstract

When a disease is difficult or costly to treat, the general practice is to treat with home remedies. This is true for COVID-19, a viral disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In the absence of therapeutics and with vaccines still not reaching Bangladesh, doctors are repurposing medicines and patients are self-medicating with home remedies for treatment of COVID-19. Surprisingly, these home remedies from various regions of Bangladesh are fairly consistent in their use of spices like ginger, clove, and cinnamon with black tea. We describe home remedies used by three COVID-19 patients in Gazipur district, Bangladesh and discuss the scientific validation of such home remedies.