Plantas medicinales como prevención y tratamiento del Covid- 19

Abstract

As a consequence of the CO VID- 19 pande mic, in the absence of a cure or treatment during the first months of the virus propagation, the consumption of medicinal plants to prevent and treat this disease increased, due to the antivir al and anti- inf lammatory properties that these plants possess, according to people knowledgeable in the matter, they assure th at they strengthen the i mmune system and the treatment of respiratory affections, allowing counteracting the COVID- 19 symptomatology. Theref ore, the objective of the study was to describe the n ames and preparation of these medicinal plants used as prevention and treatment of COVID -19. For this purpose, a descriptive resear ch, quantitative approach, cr oss -sectional, nonexperimental and field study was designed, which w as executed in the population of the Toacazo parish, with a sample of 200 participants selected under inclusion and exclusion criteria, to who m the U- Pl an Med questionnaire was applied with a Cronbach' s alpha index of 0 .82, reliability of 0.98. The data collected were an alyzed in the SPSS statistical program, evalu ated by me ans of descr iptive statistics. The research complied with the ethical principles of the Helsinki declaration. The main results indicated that the most used medicinal plants to prevent COVID- 19 were 17.5 % eucalyptus and 12 % ginger; as a cure, 6 .5 % ginger and 3.5 % eucalyptus were used. The most used part was the leaves prepared in 32% infusions, while the root was prepared in 19% infusions. These have been ad ministered orally in 57.5 %. Theref ore, it was concluded that the population of the Toacazo parish used medicinal plants as part of family tradition and cultur al beliefs, which is why most of them have opted to use euc alyptus and ginger in infusions ad ministered orally to prevent and treat the symptoms of COVID -19, due to their antiinf lammatory properties and ef f ectiveness in treatin g respiratory conditions.