Of COVID-19 and Cures

As numbers swell for national and global incidences of COVID-19 infection, so does a faint sense of fear. An assessment of the timeline of the COVID-19 trajectory shows that in the four odd months of its presence, it has infected over 250 thousand individuals, killing more than 10 thousand. These are enormous numbers. For those of us born after Sony introduced the world to the Walkman, this is as close as we’ve ever gotten to feeling the fear that the modern world may have felt when it was engaged in the two World Wars (WWs) in the 1910s and the 30s. However, unlike the fear of that era, this fear gains ossification not from a witnessing of deaths of our kin—a number that was collectively close to a 100 million for the two WWs—but from a sense of unpredictability and lack of control.

The inability to understand and control the spread of infection and predict who will survive if infected and who will not underlies the common collective anxiety that all of us are reeling under. It is precisely this inability that forces us to resort to all sorts of suggestions that create a sense of control. It allows sources with no knowledge of experimental, peer-reviewed, rigorous and reproducible science to give us a false sense of hope. Thus we find in plenty, suggestions on the use of giloy herb [1], cow urine [2] and tulsi [3] as curative and preventive measures against COVID-19 infection. Proponents of the scientifically debunked field of Homoeopathy, which has for over three centuries fed patients sweet pills, have not remained quiet either. [4] Astrologers have not lagged too far behind either. A role for Jupiter in the etiology and future course of COVID-19 infection has been suggested. [5] An anecdotal suggestion of staggering corporate work timings into 2 shifts being the “best way to deal with COVID-19 infection” as suggested in “a US blog” falls in the same realm. Most of these claims are arrogant, bogus and more complex than the simple suggestions that are grounded in research. When a leading health body like WHO suggests simple interventions such as ethanol-based sanitization [6] and social distancing [7, 8] to be effective means to stall the spread of COVID-19 infection, it is based on research that has undergone stringent appraisal. It is critical for us to be able to filter the magic from the method and ask for evidence wherever there is a claim. This should be a practice for dealing with COVID-19 infection and for all things called life.

The beauty of scientific temper and research is in its humility. It is the unknown and the not yet known that propels researchers on their quest for answers, truths and an understanding of a small part of the workings of the universe.

1. https://www.indiatvnews.com/lifestyle/health-swami-ramdev-coronavirus-prevention-yoga-ayurveda-giloy-594750
2. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/coronavirus-effect-cow-dung-urine-sell-for-rs-500/articleshow/74669478.cms
3. https://www.dtnext.in/Lifestyle/Wellbeing/2020/03/08084719/1218960/What-Ayurveda-has-to-offer-in-fight-against-coronavirus.vpf
4. https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/coronavirus-ministry-indian-14022020/
5. https://www.deccanherald.com/national/when-will-coronavirus-end-in-india-and-across-globe-astrologers-prediction-815370.html
6. https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(20)30046-3/fulltext
7. https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/27/2/taaa020/5735321
8. https://www.e-epih.org/journal/view.php?doi=10.4178/epih.e2020011