What is it about?
This study comprehensively reviews scientific literature from databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar to evaluate the potential of traditional medicinal plants and their bioactive compounds as immune-boosting and antiviral agents against severe viral respiratory infections, including influenza, MERS, SARS, and SARS-CoV-2. Given the ongoing need for effective therapeutics alongside vaccines to prevent severe COVID-19 complications, the authors cross-referenced the clinical efficacy and safety of key phytocompounds with existing official monographs to ensure safe and proper use. Ultimately, the analysis underscores the promising role of herbal antivirals while emphasizing an urgent need to update outdated herbal monographs and establish globally harmonized regulatory standards for health claims.
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Why is it important?
This study is critically important because it addresses the therapeutic and safety gaps in managing severe viral respiratory infections by systematically identifying plant-derived bioactive compounds that inhibit viral replication and modulate dangerous inflammatory responses, while establishing a scientifically validated framework to prevent harmful herb-drug interactions and dosage misuse through cross-referencing with official pharmacopeial monographs; ultimately, it drives the modernization of outdated regulatory standards and promotes globally harmonized health claims to ensure the safe, standardized, and evidence-based integration of natural antivirals into mainstream public health care.
Perspectives
The perspective of this study approaches medicinal plants through a comprehensive regulatory, clinical, and global health policy lens, viewing herbal remedies not merely as traditional options but as scientifically validated sources of bioactive antivirals capable of mitigating severe viral respiratory infections alongside conventional vaccines. By cross-referencing efficacy and safety data with official pharmacopeial monographs, the study emphasizes a safety-first and integrative approach to healthcare, while critically addressing the gaps in outdated regulatory frameworks and advocating for globally harmonized health claims to ensure standardized, evidence-based public health integration.
Dr Mayssaloune Ali Kanso
Beirut Arab University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: ANTIVIRAL POTENTIAL OF HERBAL MEDICINE IN FIGHTING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, RE-INVESTIGATION OF HERBAL MONOGRAPHS, International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, September 2024, Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd,
DOI: 10.22159/ijpps.2024v16i9.51681.
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