Clinical trial for Lagundi as COVID-19 medicine began, according to DOST official
An official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said that the clinical trial for lagundi as a medicine in order to prevent severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases had began.
This, as Dr. Jaime Montoya — the executive director at DOST Philippine Council for Health Research Development — on Thursday said in a public briefing that the clinical trial was approved by the Ethics Review Board and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
According to Montoya, they had screened over 150 patients. Of these, Montoya added that about 37 patients were qualified and their participation for the clinical trial had already began.
The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development had listed lagundi as an herbal drug for cough in the Philippines.
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Based on a report on GMA News Online, Montoya also said that they’re following the community-based study of virgin coconut oil as COVID-19 medicine.
In the same study, Montoya said that they would also start to administer the virgin coconut oil to infected patients at the Philippine General Hospital.
For the first two months of the study, Montoya added, virgin coconut oil was given only to suspected COVID-19 patients and close contacts of COVID-19 positive patients.
As of 4:00 pm of October 8, 2020, the Department of Health recorded a total of 331,869 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines.
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