Philippine Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) as a treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients is now undergoing clinical trials at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), and in hospitals in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region IV-A CALABARZON.
The conclusive clinical study titled “Virgin Coconut Oil and Omega-3a Adjunctive Therapy for Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19”, conducted with the help of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) follows the earlier confirmation of DOST that the VCO anti-viral treatment recommendation by Dr. Fabian Antonio Dayrit of Ateneo de Manila University is being studied in Singapore.
DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña announced on April 1, 2020, that the VCO treatment clinical study will have two tracks, the hospital-based, and the community-based studies.
The Hospital-Based study will be headed by Dr. Marissa Alejandria at UP-PGH where virgin coconut oil provided by PCA will be given to COVID-19 patients as a supplement in their daily treatment regimen.
The UP-PGH study will use Virgin Coconut Oil as a supplement treatment for patients with moderate to severe cases of COVID-19 and Patients Under Investigation (PUIs).
The study aims to assess the possible benefits of VCO if given to patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 in addition to the drugs being assessed in the clinical trials. The study will run for a minimum of one month or until the minimum number of patients has been achieved.
The Community-Based arm, facilitated by the DOST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, will have Virgin Coconut Oil incorporated in the food given to PUIs in isolation facilities and hospitals in Metro Manila and Calabarzon areas. The study will run for at least 4 weeks.
The study aims to assess the possible benefits provided by VCO for patients with COVID-19 as well as contacts and other high-risk groups.
The DOST research is in collaboration with the UP-PGH Clinical COVID-19 Research Group, the Metro Manila Health Research and Development Consortium of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, and the Philippine Coconut Authority.
More UP-DOST initiatives to address the COVID-19 pandemic include the GenAmplify COVID-19 Rapid Detection Kit, the first Philippine-made COVID-19 test kit that is now being distributed in selected government hospitals, the RxBox vital signs monitoring device, and the Ginhawa ReliefVent Ventilators.
SEND WELL WISHES in the comments below to UP, DOST, PCA and other groups involved in using Philippine virgin coconut oil as a treatment for COVID-19 patients!
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