Creencias y mitos sobre los tratamientos alternativos para prevenir la covid-19

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19; It was detected for the first time in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan China, its spread was rapid, which led the World Health Organization to declare a global pandemic (1). In the midst of panic and the health crisis, many home remedies spread in Latin America to deal with the disease (2). This is how information has been shown from people looking for alternative remedies to prevent the coronavirus or to treat it, also being the case of Ecuador (3). Objective: Identify treatments with natural medicine or alternative products as a measure of prevention and / or cure of COVID-19 in the population during the pandemic. Material and Methods: Research; it is based on a qualitative, descriptive and cross-sectional measurement approach; The sample is made up of 100 people, several of them who have presented the disease and others not, both from rural and urban areas living in the Province of Tungurahua, Cantón Píllaro, Barrio San Jacinto. The data were collected by means of a face-to-face application of a self-authored survey, they were processed in the SPSS version 25 program, to finally be analyzed using tables. Results: 58% are female; Between the age range of 18 to 40 years, 56% reside in rural areas and 88% of the total have used some type of alternative treatment; while 78% use natural medicine to treat mild symptoms. 76% of those surveyed presented improvement in their health status, 54% have used or consumed products such as ethanol and ivermectin and 6% of the total sample presented side effects after the use of these products. Conclusions A high percentage of the population; resorted to the use of natural medicine and products as viable options for the prevention and treatment of the disease, it is therefore important; research on alternative treatments for the management of COVID-19.