A Retrospective Study on Efficacy and Safety of Guduchi Ghan Vati for Covid-19 Asymptomatic Patients (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has been declared global emergency with immediate safety, preventative and curative measures to control the spread of virus. Confirmed cases are treated with clinical management as they are diagnosed but so far, there is no effective treatment or vaccine yet for Covid-19. Ayurveda has been recommended by preventative and clinical management guidelines in India and several clinical trials are ongoing. But there is no study to assess impact of Ayurveda on Covid-19. Methods Objective of present study was to evaluate the clinical outcome in Covid-19 confirmed asymptomatic to mild symptomatic patients who had received Ayurveda and compare with control (who has not received Ayurveda or any support therapy). Patients having Ayurveda intervention (Guduchi Ghan Vati-extract of Tinospora cordifolia) were included from Jodhpur Covid Care Centre and non-recipients were taken from Jaipur Covid Care Centre between May 15 to June 15, 2020. Total 91 patients, who were asymptomatic at the time of hospital admission and between 18 -75 years of age, were included in the study to analyse retrospectively. Results In control group, 11.7% developed mild symptoms after average 1.8 days and none in Ayurveda group reported any symptoms. Significant difference was reported between the group of patients taking Guduchi Ghan Vati (n=40) and patients in standard care (n=51) in terms of virologic clearance at day-7 (97.5% vs 15.6% respectively; p=0.000), at day 14 (100% vs 82.3%) days to stay in hospital ( 6.4 vs 12.8 respectively; p< 0.0001) . Conclusion Results of the study suggest that Guduchi Ghan Vati, a common and widely used Ayurveda preparation, could benefit treating asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. Larger, randomised controlled Trials are required to confirm the findings. Keywords Ayurveda, Guduchi Ghan