Preprint / Version 1

Clinical outcomes among COVID-19 patients managed with modern and traditional Siddha medicine – A retrospective cohort study

Authors

  • Ramaswamy Meenakumari aNational Institute of Siddha (NIS), Tambaram Sanatorium, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Elumalai Rajalakshmi cICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Venkatesan Suba aNational Institute of Siddha (NIS), Tambaram Sanatorium, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Melvin George bSRM Medical College, Kattankulathur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Andi Mariappan aNational Institute of Siddha (NIS), Tambaram Sanatorium, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Ponnappan Shanmugapriya aNational Institute of Siddha (NIS), Tambaram Sanatorium, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Malayappan Sundaram aNational Institute of Siddha (NIS), Tambaram Sanatorium, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Arunachalam Sundaram bSRM Medical College, Kattankulathur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Karuppiah Thangaraj bSRM Medical College, Kattankulathur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Muthappan Sendhilkumar cICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Keywords:

Siddha, Kabasura kudineer, COVID-19, AYUSH, Traditional medicine

Abstract

Kabasura Kudineer (KSK) is a Siddha polyherbal decoction recommended by the Ministry of AYUSH and the Tamil Nadu government to prevent and manage COVID-19 in India. Objective(s) We aimed to determine the outcome of integrated therapy for COVID-19 using KSK in virologic clearance and length of hospital stay. Materials and methods It was a single-centre, retrospective cohort study. We included the COVID-19 patients admitted to SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Chennai, during May–June 2020. KSK was administered along with the standard of care for all the patients. We collected data pertaining to demographic, clinical, and laboratory parameters and presented as frequencies and proportions. Results We collected 204 COVID-19 positive patients’ data. The mean (SD) age was 39.5 (13.4) years with a range of 13–79. Majority of the patients were male (n = 157; 77%), 28% (n = 58) had any co-morbidities, and 61% (n = 131) had mild symptoms. Fever (n = 57; 27.9%) and cough (n = 53; 25.9%) were the commonly reported symptoms. Paracetamol (n = 135; 66.7%) and Zincovit (n = 197, 96.6%) were the commonly administered medicines along with KSK. About 74% of asymptomatic (n = 54) and 65% of mild symptomatic (n = 85) patients turned negative for COVID-19 in RT-PCR within 4–7 days. There was a significant difference in the blood parameters (p < 0.05) after the integrated treatment. Conclusion The use of KSK with standard care of treatment in COVID-19 treatment had notable results in the duration taken for virologic clearance, thereby reducing the length of hospital stay and improvement in laboratory parameters. Keywords: Siddha, Kabasura kudineer, COVID-19, AYUSH, Traditional medicine

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