Here are some thoughts on useful kitchen herbalism in this unpredictable time. Remember that you don’t need these exact herbs; in fact, it makes a lot more sense for you to find herbs that are local to you and address the needs of your body. Plant medicine is not one-size-fits-all, and it tends to work better when we tweak the formulas based on what is happening with you specifically (more about that, and also here).
We really don’t know all the ways this infection manifests itself, and we do not have experience working with it since it is a new virus; we’re guessing which herbs might be helpful based on what we’ve heard about the symptoms and energetics involved, but take that with a huge grain of salt as there is so much we still don’t know. It’s also really important to use herbs that are local to you and abundant, instead of endangered mythic super-herbs from the other side of the globe (more here and here if that’s a new idea). 
Herbs and wild foods have nurtured your ancestors through many a plague throughout the history of human animals, and that legacy of fortitude and survivorship lives on in you: what weeds connect you with your roots? Lean in to reconnecting with the lessons of your family legacy.
Practice figuring out whether something is warming or cooling, drying or moistening, stimulating or not, soothing or not as this is useful to figure out when to use each herb for balance (more thoughts on that). Remember to combine herbs for best effectiveness: herbs to improve absorption, astringents to help retain moistening demulcents, expectorants with anti-inflammatories, etc. (more thoughts on that).
Sorry for any gaps or short explanations. In real life I’m covered in cooped-up toddlers and feeling a little overwhelmed myself, so this is jotted in stolen moments of play dough and snacks. Post your specific questions on my Instagram or Facebook pages as public comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Immune System Health as a Daily Practice
Here are some common herbs that are gentle enough for regular use and offer support to immune and lung health, as well as being some combo of antiviral, anti-inflammatory, nervine, adaptogen, and lymphagogue.
Tincture
- Reishi
- Thyme
- Lemon balm
- Angelica
- Astragalus
- Tulsi
Instructions to make your own tinctures. This is absolutely fine to do with fresh or dried herbs; see the end of the resource list for good places to buy herbs.
Tea
- Mineral-rich herbs: nettles, raspberry
- Calming immune-modulating adaptogens: tulsi, astragalus
- Lymphatics & hepatics: burdock, red clover, calendula, dandelion
- Hugs for the nervous system: oatstraw, lemon balm, multiflora rose. Lemon balm and Baicalensis are also antiviral and seem uniquely suited to this moment.
- Warming lung and digestive herbs: calamus, angelica, cinnamon
There is a small pot on the stove with the thicker roots double-doubling away as needed, then added to a big teapot full of everything else to infuse when needed and sweetened with turmeric-, ginger-, marshmallow- or schisandra-infused honey, depending on my mood.
Instructions to make tea like an herbalist
Nourishment
We’re paying a lot of attention to eating a whole-food diet rich in vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, soluble fiber/prebiotics, and probiotic bacteria–things like brightly colored fruits and vegetables, clean meats and eggs, beans, lentils, a variety of grains like quinoa, brown rice, and barley, oatmeal, plain yogurt, kimchi, dosas…there are lots of ways to make eating healthy fun and delicious. We’re getting excited for early greens and herbs, nibbing the first creasy greens, nettles, and chives.
We routinely work medicinal herbs into our meals, like garlic, ginger, thyme, rosemary, sage, turmeric, and cinnamon. 
The kids are eating oatmeal with cinnamon, ginger honey, fruit, and plain yogurt for breakfast. They’re happy because they’re eating honey and fruit–little do they know my nefarious plan to sneak medicine into the every meal bwa ha ha ha ha.
The other night, I roasted one of our own chickens with my oldest daughter, who is 3 (and a half!) and loves to help cook, standing on a chair wearing her little apron. The leftovers went into chicken noodle soup, heavy on the schmaltz in the proud healing tradition of my grandmothers (and all the plagues that soup recipe has survived, we should be so lucky), and the carcass went into the slow cooker to become bone broth, together with medicinal mushrooms–reishi, turkey tail, shiitake–and medicinal herbs including sage, rosemary, garlic, ginger, and thyme. Half the broth will be frozen for the future.
Here’s a recipe for Immunity Herbal Bone Broth
Steam
There’s another little pot on the back burner of the stove bubbling away with aromatic leftovers, releasing all those lovely volatile oils into the air to moisten our mucous membranes. The contents change daily based on what scraps we have, but things like orange peels, the trimmings from garlic and ginger, calamus leaves, eucalyptus, rosemary and thyme: any of your aromatics are worth a try. My husband is calling it “compost soup”–but also, he ATE HIS WORDS about the annoyingly huge bundles of eucalyptus, sage, rosemary, calamus, and mint hanging from the kitchen rafters–this battle, I have officially won. Ha. Anyway, it smells quite festive in here, and the humidity is nice.
Burning Bundles
Aromatic herbs make wonderful burning bundles or smudge sticks. These are super easy to make yourself. Late summer I’ll usually spend an afternoon wrapping herb bundles together with jute twine or yarn, then dry them in a basket and give them as gifts. There is no reason to covet the sacred White Sage of the West, which is endangered and super inappropriate for any non-Native person to use. Better alternatives are basically everything else, except toxic stuff like poison ivy. I bundle lavender, mugwort, goldenrod, New England aster, garden sage, thyme…basically anything fragrant or resinous. Once they’re dry they burn beautifully and smell great, and it doesn’t contribute to the loss of a beautiful plant that has the right to exist for its own sake, or someone else’s religious materials, or environmental degradation. Burning bundles are great lovely way to cleanse the air by releasing bioactive resins, and they’re calming and centering in a way that is helpful in high stress times. If you’re not familiar with why non-Native people don’t get to use White Sage anymore, please check out United Plant Savers.
The “Uh-Oh Basket”
My older daughter helped me put herbs aside into what she named the “Uh-Oh Basket” (as in “Uh-oh somebody doesn’t feel good so Mommy will give them medicine”). We prioritized antivirals, anti-inflammatories with an affinity for the lungs, moistening lung herbs and astringents to help them soak in, stimulating expectorants, cough suppressants, fever herbs, and nervines for stress and anxiety.
These herbs all overlap categories since they all have a bunch of different actions–refer to my article on herbal actions for more about that. I don’t want to make these lists so long as to be overwhelming, so you may notice that some things aren’t cross posted to multiple lists since it’s not a full materia medica, it’s just some herbs to group together on one shelf in case you need them in a hurry.
These formulas are very popular with the kids in my house
- Elderberry-ginger-thyme syrup (locally known as “spicy medicine”)
- Ginger-cinnamon-rose oxymel (locally known as “sweet pickle medicine”)
- White pine oxymel (pine AKA “people hay” is one that my 3 year old loves to nibble on our walks)
Instructions to make oxymels, Instructions to make syrups . Feel free to improvise the proportions based on what you have: twice as much ginger as cinnamon is going to be great, and so is substituting lavender for rose because it’s what you have…let your creative side roll, oxymels and syrups tend to turn out great. It’s totally fine to make any of these recipes with fresh or dried herbs. See the end of the resource list for good places to buy herbs.
Moistening, Soothing Anti-Inflammatory Herbs with Affinity for the Lungs
- Marshmallow root (for grown-ups) and leaf (for kids), tea or honey–take this one by itself between meals, it can block absorption of nutrients in the gut.
- Mullein Leaf tea or honey
- Solomon’s Seal tincture or tea
- Calendula tea
- Violet leaf tea
Astringents (to help those moistening herbs work better)
- Yarrow, my favorite, tincture or tea
- Goldenrod tincture or tea
- Plantain tincture or tea
Stimulating Lung Anti-inflammatories, Expectorants, Cough Suppressants
- New England Aster tincture or tea
- Prickly Ash tincture
- Angelica tincture or tea
- Elecampane tincture or tea
- Calamus tincture or tea
- Pine tincture or tea
- Ginger tincture or tea
- Turmeric tincture
- Hyssop tincture or tea
- Prunella tincture or tea
- Cherry Bark tincture
- Anise-Hyssop, tincture or tea
- Bee Balm tincture or tea
- Coltsfoot tincture
- Lobelia tincture
Herbs to Support Fever Response
Check out what Jim McDonald writes about this! Most of these are also anti-inflammatory and good for tummy trouble, some are also antiviral too
- Catnip tincture, tea, or bath
- Peppermint tincture, tea, or bath
- Bee Balm tincture, tea, or bath
- Yarrow tincture or tea
- Black Birch Bark tincture or tea
- Boneset tincture
Antiviral Herbs
All of these do a bunch of things as well as supporting a healthy immune response, like supporting fever activity, decongesting, or calming stress.
- Lemon balm tincture or tea
- Spilanthes tincture
- Sage honey
- Garlic
- Thyme tincture, tea, steam, or eaten
- Rosemary tincture, tea, steam, or eaten
- White Pine tincture, tea, honey
- Elder flower tincture or tea
Daytime Nervines
For anxiety, fear, stress, for the caregiver as well as the sick person.
- Tulsi tincture, tea, honey
- Ashwagandha tincture
- Lemon balm tincture or tea
- Baicalensis tincture
- Milky oats tincture
- Rose tincture, tea, or honey–multiflora for armor and tenacity, garden for a peaceful heart
Nighttime Nervines
For sleep help or mind-whirling anxiety, for the caregiver as well as the sick person.
- Skullcap tincture
- Passionflower tincture
- Hops tincture
- Linden tincture or tea
I’ll be updating this as I figure things out more. Please let me know if you find things that are helpful too. Check out my ongoing Herbal Resource list for excellent perspectives from throughout the herbal world.
Comment publicly on social media with questions. I’m inundated with emails at any given time and generally don’t answer specific medicine-related questions that way. Be sure to read up on any herbs you’re trying, and double check them with your health conditions, medications, and your family’s needs–some of these are safe for everybody, some of them have a couple warnings, so it’s definitely worth taking the time to check. Remember that we really don’t know much about this brand-new virus and listen to the cues of your body.
Stay well. Love your kids, wash your hands, lower your expectations for yourself, and stay the heck home.
Old Ways Herbal: Juliette Abigail Carr 
Thanks for this list. I am currently using most of these but I like that you put them in categories. I’ve got this list handy so I can go immediately to it in case of an emergency.
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Reblogged this on Dreamsong Homestead and commented:
Great post on practical herbalism for these times.
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FRIARS AND NUNS RECOMMEND ALL AGEEGES DOCTOR HILDEGARD VON BINGEN ABEDISSA SOLDOUT IN ALL MONESTRIES THEY SELL HERBS BREAD HONEY IN CROATIA ITALY SPAIN FRANCE MEDUGORJE CROATIA MARIJA BISTRICA CROATIA EVEN SLOVENIAN MONESTRIES : Like many people, my first exposure to St. Francis of Assisi was one of those small images of Francis surrounded by animals. My mother had a ceramic statue of him that sat on a windowsill in our home. In his hand was a bird. A small fox curled up at his feet. And, until several years ago, when I began to learn about and fall in love with St. Francis, that little brown-robed figurine, and the occasional garden statue, was all I knew of this amazing saint.
There are many reasons to love Francis. But, I’d like to reflect on one theme that stuck out to me when I recently had the chance to visit the relics of one of Francis’ spiritual descendants: Franciscan friar, priest, mystic and saint, Padre Pio. The strength that made them special, and that infuses so many other saints, and the Franciscan order today, is their humility.
Francis’ humility shines through in one of the most famous stories from his ministry.
The village of Gubbio had been terrorized for some time by a large wolf that prowled about, at first picking off livestock, and later developing a taste for people. By the time Francis arrived in Gubbio, the villagers were essentially trapped inside the gates, terrified of the wolf.
Francis determined to visit the wolf in the woods, and make peace between it and the villagers. As recounted in “The Little Flowers,” Francis found the wolf, and addressed it:
“Brother wolf, thou hast done much evil in this land, destroying and killing the creatures of God without his permission; yea, not animals only hast thou destroyed, but thou hast even dared to devour men, made after the image of God; for which thing thou art worthy of being hanged like a robber and a murderer. All men cry out against thee, the dogs pursue thee, and all the inhabitants of this city are thy enemies; but I will make peace between them and thee, O brother wolf, if so be thou no more offend them, and they shall forgive thee all thy past offences, and neither men nor dogs shall pursue thee any more.”
The wolf submitted to Francis, and, according to legend, made peace with the villagers. When the wolf died, tradition holds the villagers gave it a proper burial, and erected the Church of Saint Francis of the Peace over the grave.
This whole story sounds like embellishment. But, during renovations to the church in 1872, workers unearthed the grave of a large wolf – apparently several hundred years old. So, was the story of the wolf legend, or was it history? I like to believe it is true. But, what’s most important here isn’t whether it’s legend or historical account. What’s most important is the truth within the story.
The truth of that wolf lives within each of us. We each have our own wolf, circling, waiting to devour our best intentions, our best laid plans. The wolf in the story of Francis plays the role of the devil, in 1 Peter 5:8: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
How do we tame such a beast? Francis gives us the answer: We must have humility. We must humble ourselves before Christ, surrendering to the knowledge we cannot overcome the wolf on our own. Only when we surrender to Christ within us, and allow Christ to shine forth from our innermost being, as Francis went forth to tame the wolf, can we hope to tame our ego, our pride, and find “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.”
Francis’ emphasis on humility was infused throughout his ministry, and spread to his brothers and spiritual heirs – down to this day. One of his brothers in life, a Pacifico, recorded in “The Little Flowers” a vision of the reward for this humility.
One day Pacifico “…was caught up in an ecstasy. He saw a row of thrones in the sky, one higher and more radiant than the others, studded with precious stones. Wondering for whom it was prepared, he heard a voice say: ‘This was Lucifer’s throne; Francis will occupy it instead.’ It continued: ‘Just as Lucifer was hurled from it because of his pride, Francis will receive it because of his humility.’”
Again, the important thing here isn’t whether or not there’s a literal throne in heaven for Francis. What’s important is the truth behind the story. The ways of Satan – and of this world – feed on and foster pride. The ways of God – and of the Kingdom – grow in a bed of humility, and lay the foundation of God’s Kingdom on Earth. The latter yields the greater reward, the reward that resides in the innermost part of our being, and in the truth of heaven, “where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
Francis fought his entire adult life to perfect this humility. Near the end of that fight, during a retreat at La Verna, one of the brothers observed Francis praying in the woods at night, repeating, over and over, this simple prayer: ‘Who art thou, my dearest Lord, and who am I, a most vile worm and thy most unprofitable servant?”
Francis was pleading with God to remove anything of himself that stood in the way of perfecting his humility, of achieving perfect surrender. And, he was rewarded shortly afterward with a visit by an angel, who told him: “I am come to admonish and encourage thee, that thou prepare thyself to receive in all patience and humility that which God will give and do to thee.” Francis replied humbly: “I am ready to bear patiently whatsoever my Lord shall be pleased to do to me.”
To perfect his humility, he knew he had to emulate Christ, who humbled himself as God by becoming human, by taking on our suffering and pain. To be perfectly humble, Francis would have to suffer as Christ suffered for us.
He made this passionate prayer:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, two graces do I ask of thee before I die; the first, that in my lifetime I may feel, as far as possible, both in my soul and body, that pain which thou, sweet Lord, didst endure in the hour of thy most bitter Passion; the second, that I may feel in my heart as much as possible of that excess of love by which thou, O Son of God, wast inflamed to suffer so cruel a Passion for us sinners.”
Not long after, again at La Verna, Francis received a divine visitation. A Brother Angelo recounted the episode: “One morning two years before his death, about the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, while he was praying on the side of a mountain in La Verna, there appeared to him a seraph in beautiful figure of a crucified man, having his hands and feet extended as though on a cross, and clearly showing the face of Jesus Christ. Two wings met above his head, two covered the rest of his body to the feet, and two were spread as in flight. When the vision passed, the soul of Francis was afire with love; and on his body there appeared the wonderful impression of the wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Francis received the stigmata – the wounds of Christ – a painful blessing he bore until his death, two years later. And that brings me back to one of his spiritual heirs, St. Padre Pio. In his own words, Padre Pio recounted a scene similar to Francis’ account, from when he received the stigmata in 1918:
“It all happened in a flash. While all this was taking place, I saw before me a mysterious Person, similar to the one I had seen on August 5th, differing only because His hands, feet and side were dripping blood. The sight of Him frightened me: what I felt at that moment is indescribable. ‘I thought I would die, and would have died if the Lord hadn’t intervened and strengthened my heart which was about to burst out of my chest. The Person disappeared and I became aware that my hands, feet and side were pierced and were dripping with blood.”
padrePio.jpg
But, 700 years had passed since St. Francis, and the 20th century world wasn’t sure what to think of a stigmatic friar. Many sought to discredit Padre Pio as a fraud – an effort that continues, sadly, to today. As a result, the Vatican published five decrees warning the public about Padre Pio, and he was restricted from hearing confessions and celebrating Mass for 11 years. For more than a decade, due to bearing the wounds of Christ, Padre Pio was essentially sequestered – imprisoned – in solitude within the walls of his cell.
And it was that 11 years of solitude – or more importantly, Padre Pio’s response to his seclusion – that speaks to the true power he shared with St. Francis.
In his ostracization, Padre Pio could have become indignant. Angry. Frustrated. He could have defied the Church. He could railed against the way he was treated. Those would have been understandable responses. But, instead, Padre Pio – who had no desire for the public to know of his divine wounds – resigned himself to obedience and prayer for the Church, and for others.
Through these prayers, Padre Pio healed many. And, he was known to miraculously bi-locate. But, it was not the miraculous healings, the bi-locations or the stigmata that made Padre Pio – or Francis before him – so remarkable. Those miracles were the work of God. But Francis and Padre Pio offered up something more, that enabled God to work through them.
As Fr. Mike Schmitz, a popular Catholic video blogger, pointed out, the greatest miracle of Padre Pio – and I would say also Francis – wasn’t the stigmata, or the healings or the unexplained miracles, like bi-location or levitation. The greatest miracle was their humility. The greatest miracle – and the one which we all can emulate – was their complete surrender to God.
It is unlikely any of us will bear the stigmata. It is unlikely we will do any of the miracles attributed to Francis and Padre Pio. But, each and every one of us has the power to walk the path of their humility – to completely surrender ourselves to God, to bear the wounds of Christ in our hearts, and allow God to use us to build a more loving, empathetic world. We have the power to surrender, and in that surrender to walk in the footsteps of Francis, and of Padre Pio, and to let God use us as He wills, to build his Kingdom.
Let us pray: Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, and of blessed Padre Pio, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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3 COMMENTS
Madeline Bialecki
Madeline Bialecki
Oct 7, 2019
Surrender and humility are somewhat foreign ideas in our culture–and yet, they are the path to true peace and freedom. We can’t buy our way into freedom. This and your other two recent posts point to this truth. Thanks for speaking this truth.
Reply1
jamesrneal
jamesrneal
Madeline Bialecki
Oct 8, 2019
Thank you. Yes, they are very foreign, and very needed, in our society. Hope you are well.
Reply
samo lucija
samo lucija
2m ago
spanjolska kuga SVETV https://www.svtplay.se/video/26107020?start=auto
SVT NyheterNyheterLokaltSportSVT PlayBarnTv-tablåAlla programOm SVT VETENSKAP Vid sidan av framtagandet av vaccin mot coronaviruset testas många läkemedel. Foto: Pixabay Därför tros malarialäkemedel fungera mot corona UPPDATERAD 26 MARS 2020PUBLICERAD 21 MARS 2020 Läkemedelsindustrin har ställt om och just nu pågår omfattande försök att finna effektiva läkemedel mot det nya coronaviruset. Det aktiva ämnet klorokin i malariamedicin verkar ha en särskilt god effekt i behandling av covid-19-patienter. Spridningen av sjukdomen covid-19, som för de värst drabbade innebär kraftigt inflammerade lungor, har gjort att man nu testar olika antiinflammatoriska läkemedel mot sjukdomen. I förra veckan godkände Läkemedelsverket en beredskapslicens för den för ebola utvecklade antivirala medicinen Remdesivir. En annan god kandidat verkar alltså kunna vara läkemedel med den aktiva substansen klorokin. – Givet att det är ett säkert läkemedel vi haft i ungefär 70 år och så mycket talar för dess effektivitet när man gör kontrollerade uppföljningar och följer virusantal och så där, så tycker jag att det här verkar otroligt spännande, säger Johan Brun som är senior medicinsk rådgivare på de forskande läkemedelsföretagen, LIF. Agerar antiinflammatoriskt och antiviralt Det som händer i kroppen vid en virusinfektion är att viruset tar sig in i människans celler. Väl inne i cellen översätter det sin genetiska kod och lurar på så vis cellen att börja producera fler virus. Grundämnet zink kan stoppa den här processen genom att blockera för viruset och på så sätt stoppa förökningsprocessen. Problemet är att zink egentligen inte vill komma in i cellen. – Då måste man i cellväggen skapa en liten kanal så att zink kommer in. Och man tror att klorokin är ett preparat som kan öppna den kanalen, säger Johan Brun. Zink finns naturligt i kroppen utanför cellen, förklarar han vidare, och med hjälp av läkemedlet kan man alltså få in det i cellen. Detta är den teoretiska tanken bakom det hela som nu enligt flertalet studier också verkar fungera i praktiken. Goda resultat världen över Resultat från behandling med malarialäkemedlet har rapporterats från bland annat Kina, Australien och Frankrike. Johan Brun säger att han inte skulle vara förvånad om Läkemedelsverket i Sverige går ut och på liknande sätt som med Remdesivir godkänner behandling med klorokin mot SARS-CoV-2. – Det görs väldigt många kontrollerade uppföljningar kring klorokin i samband med den här pågående pandemin. Hela tiden rapporterar länder ett bra resultat, och det visar just det som skulle kunna styrka det här med zink, att om man ger klorokin så försvinner viruset mycket snabbare ur kroppen, säger Johan Brun. WHO uppmanar nu länder att dela sina resultat och genomföra så likartade studier som möjligt, för att på så vis få ett starkare resultat. Ny fransk studie: Kombinera klorokin med antiobiotika I en ny fransk studie publicerad i International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents har man testat att ge patienter den formen av klorokin kallad hydroxiklorokin i kombination med antibiotika. Studiens resultat är baserat på 36 patienter, varav 20 fick hydroxiklorokin och 16 ingick i kontrollgruppen som inte fick läkemedlet. Av de 20 som behandlades fick sex patienter även antiobiotika i form av azithromycin. Detta för att förhindra bakteriell superinfektion. Resultatet av studien visar att den tid då viruset är aktivt och smittar minskade till 3-6 dagar, i jämförelse med tidigare studier som visat på en smittoperiod på 20 eller uppemot 36 dagar. Ännu bättre resultat blev det för de patienter som även fick antibiotika. – Antibiotikan skulle ju då antingen ha effekt för att när det är så här irriterat i lungorna är ju risken större att det kommer in bakterier som också passar på att bo där, säger Johan Brun. Forskarna i studien spekulerar i om den här antibiotikan, som egentligen bara är till för att ta hand om bakterier, skulle kunna ha någon annan effekt också. Det har man aldrig hört talas om tidigare och den lättaste förklaringen att ta till sig är den första, enligt Johan Brun. Ladda ner och läs hela den franska studien här. March 28, 2020 at 1:36 am — Edit *SVT NyheterNyheterLokaltSportSVT PlayBarnTv-tablåAlla programOm SVT VETENSKAP Vid sidan av framtagandet av vaccin mot coronaviruset testas många läkemedel. Foto: Pixabay Därför tros malarialäkemedel fungera mot corona UPPDATERAD 26 MARS 2020PUBLICERAD 21 MARS 2020 Läkemedelsindustrin har ställt om och just nu pågår omfattande försök att finna effektiva läkemedel mot det nya coronaviruset. Det aktiva ämnet klorokin i malariamedicin verkar ha en särskilt god effekt i behandling av covid-19-patienter. Spridningen av sjukdomen covid-19, som för de värst drabbade innebär kraftigt inflammerade lungor, har gjort att man nu testar olika antiinflammatoriska läkemedel mot sjukdomen. I förra veckan godkände Läkemedelsverket en beredskapslicens för den för ebola utvecklade antivirala medicinen Remdesivir. En annan god kandidat verkar alltså kunna vara läkemedel med den aktiva substansen klorokin. – Givet att det är ett säkert läkemedel vi haft i ungefär 70 år och så mycket talar för dess effektivitet när man gör kontrollerade uppföljningar och följer virusantal och så där, så tycker jag att det här verkar otroligt spännande, säger Johan Brun som är senior medicinsk rådgivare på de forskande läkemedelsföretagen, LIF. Agerar antiinflammatoriskt och antiviralt Det som händer i kroppen vid en virusinfektion är att viruset tar sig in i människans celler. Väl inne i cellen översätter det sin genetiska kod och lurar på så vis cellen att börja producera fler virus. Grundämnet zink kan stoppa den här processen genom att blockera för viruset och på så sätt stoppa förökningsprocessen. Problemet är att zink egentligen inte vill komma in i cellen. – Då måste man i cellväggen skapa en liten kanal så att zink kommer in. Och man tror att klorokin är ett preparat som kan öppna den kanalen, säger Johan Brun. Zink finns naturligt i kroppen utanför cellen, förklarar han vidare, och med hjälp av läkemedlet kan man alltså få in det i cellen. Detta är den teoretiska tanken bakom det hela som nu enligt flertalet studier också verkar fungera i praktiken. Goda resultat världen över Resultat från behandling med malarialäkemedlet har rapporterats från bland annat Kina, Australien och Frankrike. Johan Brun säger att han inte skulle vara förvånad om Läkemedelsverket i Sverige går ut och på liknande sätt som med Remdesivir godkänner behandling med klorokin mot SARS-CoV-2. – Det görs väldigt många kontrollerade uppföljningar kring klorokin i samband med den här pågående pandemin. Hela tiden rapporterar länder ett bra resultat, och det visar just det som skulle kunna styrka det här med zink, att om man ger klorokin så försvinner viruset mycket snabbare ur kroppen, säger Johan Brun. WHO uppmanar nu länder att dela sina resultat och genomföra så likartade studier som möjligt, för att på så vis få ett starkare resultat. Ny fransk studie: Kombinera klorokin med antiobiotika I en ny fransk studie publicerad i International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents har man testat att ge patienter den formen av klorokin kallad hydroxiklorokin i kombination med antibiotika. Studiens resultat är baserat på 36 patienter, varav 20 fick hydroxiklorokin och 16 ingick i kontrollgruppen som inte fick läkemedlet. Av de 20 som behandlades fick sex patienter även antiobiotika i form av azithromycin. Detta för att förhindra bakteriell superinfektion. Resultatet av studien visar att den tid då viruset är aktivt och smittar minskade till 3-6 dagar, i jämförelse med tidigare studier som visat på en smittoperiod på 20 eller uppemot 36 dagar. Ännu bättre resultat blev det för de patienter som även fick antibiotika. – Antibiotikan skulle ju då antingen ha effekt för att när det är så här irriterat i lungorna är ju risken större att det kommer in bakterier som också passar på att bo där, säger Johan Brun. Forskarna i studien spekulerar i om den här antibiotikan, som egentligen bara är till för att ta hand om bakterier, skulle kunna ha någon annan effekt också. Det har man aldrig hört talas om tidigare och den lättaste förklaringen att ta till sig är den första, enligt Johan Brun. Ladda ner och läs hela den franska studien här. SVT NyheterNyheterLokaltSportSVT PlayBarnTv-tablåAlla programOm SVT VETENSKAP 2 min Se Anders Sönnerborg, professor och överläkare, berätta om hur Sverige kan testa läkemedel mot corona. Foto: Vetenskapens värld Läkemedelstester mot corona planeras i Sverige PUBLICERAD IGÅR 17:09 Hundratals läkemedel undersöks om de kan ha effekt mot corona i Kina, USA och Europa. Ett av de läkemedel som undersöks är Remdesivir och snart kan tester även bli aktuella i Sverige. – Det ser lovande ut vad gäller provrörsförsök, säger Anders Sönnerborg, professor och överläkare. Läkemedlet Remdesivir var från början tänkt mot ebola, men har fungerat mot andra coronavirus, som sars och mers. – Det pågår ett antal undersökningar i världen och vår förhoppning är att vi inom kort ska kunna börja en sådan undersökning i Sverige också, säger Anders Sönnerborg, professor och överläkare, vid Karolinska institutet. Malarialäkemedel undersöks Malarialäkemedlet Klorokin verkar också ha effekt på covid-19. Resultat från behandling med malarialäkemedlet har rapporterats från bland annat Kina, Australien och Frankrike. Dessutom undersöks två HIV-läkemedel och hundratals andra godkända läkemedel, för att se vilka som kan ha effekt på covid-19. – När man läggs in börjar vi behandla med klorokinfosfat, säger Anders Sönnerborg. RELATERAT Det senaste om corona från SVT Nyheter 24 februari 2020 Därför tros malarialäkemedel fungera mot corona 21 mars 2020 Madeleine Bäckman
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