The current spread of coronavirus across several continents has created significant anxiety and worry amongst the general public. As a Naturopath, my role is inform to you about what the best nutritional and herbal medicines are to keep your immunity strong and healthy during the outbreak of coronavirus.
Whilst the path of this outbreak is impossible to predict, and the situation is rapidly evolving, here is what we know so far about the current coronavirus outbreak.
Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) have long been considered inconsequential pathogens, causing the “common cold” in otherwise healthy people. However, the emergence of the SARS-CoV in the early 2000s and MERS-CoV in 2012 caused global epidemics with alarming morbidity and mortality.
The current outbreak is caused by a novel strain from the coronavirus family. This virus is so new that it does not yet have a name – it is currently being labelled by the WHO as the 2019 novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV.
The virus is thought to have originated from a seafood market in Wuhan, a central Chinese city. Currently, all 5 confirmed cases of the virus in Australia are in individuals who have recently visited Wuhan with no human-human transmission occurring in Australia, although such cases are expected, and have occurred in China.
At this point in time, the virus has been responsible for approximately 490 deaths in China. In all of these cases, the individual has suffered from an underlying condition, was elderly or frail, and therefore had reduced ability to mount an appropriate immune response. Currently, there are no available effective medical treatments.
The main causes for concern relate to what is not known about the virus:
- It is not known how virulent this strain of coronavirus is
- It is not known how it is transmitted or how long it lives on surfaces; however, it thought that coming within a 1-metre radius of an infected person increases the likelihood of transmission
- It is not known if the person is able to transmit the virus before symptoms appear
Thankfully, the 2019-nCoV appears to have a much lower fatality rate than previous coronavirus outbreaks such as SARS and MERS, or other deadly viral diseases such as Ebola. The current estimated fatality rate of the 2019-nCoV is approximately 2-3%. Individuals who have died from this coronavirus are individuals who would have been at similar risk from a common seasonal influenza, which helps to contextualise the lethality of this outbreak. However, it is possible that the virus could mutate and become more deadly.
For perspective, the mortality rate of SARS was 10%, MERS was 36%, whilst the Ebola virus killed half of all individuals infected.
Recommendations to reduce spread
Current recommendations to help prevent the spread of the virus are common-sense recommendations which are applicable to viruses such as influenza, and especially apply to people travelling or working in healthcare. The WHO recommendations include:
- Regularly wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing with a tissue or flexed elbow. Avoid coughing into your hands. Throw the tissue into a closed bin
- Avoid close contact with individuals who display cold and flu-like symptoms
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. A face mask may help you to remember to not touch your face
- Avoid travel if you have a fever or a cough
- Avoid travel if you are immunocompromised or have a chronic illness, or if you are regularly in close contact with individuals with such conditions
- If you have a fever, cough or difficulty breathing, seek medical care early, and share your travel history with your health care provider; let your doctor know before you present to their clinic that you have respiratory symptoms so that you are not kept waiting with other patients
- If you feel unwell during your travels, notify your travel crew
- Eat only well-cooked food while travelling
Whilst we still do not know a lot about this virus, supporting your own immune system during this outbreak is paramount, particularly for those planning to travel, healthcare workers or individuals who work in public spaces.
Prevention is certainly better than cure in this case!
A naturopathic approach to prevention is to focus on immune support.
The best supports for your immune system at this time is to focus on taking nutritional and herbal medicines which strengthen the immune system and help with increasing your defences. Your best prevention is to keep your immunity strong and healthy during the outbreak of coronavirus.
Nutrients and Herbs to consider:
- Vitamin C – long known as a strong immune supporter and enhancer of epithelial barrier function against pathogens
- Zinc – is crucial for normal development and function of cells mediating innate immunity, neutrophils, and Natural Killer cells.
- Vitamin A – increases adaptive immune response and increases T-cell proliferation
- Vitamin D – decreases inflammation and stimulates activity of our defensive immune cells
- Echinacea – stimulates immune system function, most applicable when and infection arises
- Astragalus – increases production of white blood cells, boosts resilience to infection
- Reishi and medicinal mushrooms – boost immune function and have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects
To ensure you get the best quality support its always best practice to book a constellation with a Naturopath so they can guide you to the most appropriate nutritional and herbal medicines for you.
At Shine Health our Naturopaths have 20 years of experience in helping people prevent and overcome illness. If you want the ensure you and your family have great immunity during this outbreak book an appointment with either Marta our Principal Naturopath or Melita.
Stay well!
xx Marta
helping you Shine…from inside out
Book an appointment
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5707683/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2277319/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130207131344.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2906676/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0029320
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684115/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92757/
Leave a Comment