The Prophylactic use of Vitamin C/Ascorbic acid to fight against Corona Virus

Abstract: Human Immune system has significant role in fighting against Corona virus. Vitamin C is a strong anti-oxidant and boosts the immune system as well. As there is a myth among people that all the vitamin C rich foods like orange, lemon and amla may cause cold and some of them allergic to such foods. So they lack in vitamin C and more prone to viral infections. Our Government can suggest Small doses of vitamin C tablets can be taken as prophylactic treatment to prevent from human corona virus.
Introduction:
Corona viruses are types of viruses that typically affect the respiratory tract of mammals, including humans. The symptoms associated with the common cold, runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, pneumonia, fever and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Human corona viruses can sometimes cause lower-respiratory tract illnesses, such as pneumonia or bronchitis. This is more common in people with cardiopulmonary disease, people with weakened immune systems, infants, and older adults.
Prevention and Treatment:
The history of infectious diseases is as old as the human civilization, and need of protection against these infections always remains one of the major concerns. Infectious diseases are a leading cause of death, and alone accounted for one-fourth to one-third of total deaths worldwide. Among all the disease-causing agents in humans, viruses are the most notorious, active and important. Viruses are obligate parasites that depend on host for their survival and replication. There is no treatment available to protect against human corona virus infection.
In 1949, Dr. Klenner reported successful treatment of polio, diphtheria, herpes zoster, herpes simplex, chicken pox, influenza, measles, mumps, and viral pneumonia with injections of large doses of vitamin C. Based on the recent updates, people with viral infections have low serum levels of vitamin C, which may be due to increased utilization of vitamin C for the detoxification of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during inflammation caused by infection. Viral infections produce severe oxidative stress, contributing to cellular damage and disease progression. Low serum vitamin C in these individuals may be due to the increase in inflammatory and oxidative processes that take place during a pathological state. When subjects are exposed to a viral infection, the need for vitamin C is increased, depending on the body’s immune function. It is therefore proposed that in the clinical management of viral infections, especially in the early stages, considerable benefits will be noticed from antioxidant repletion with dosages substantially above recommended daily allowances. In recent years, vitamin C has been under investigation for its role as an antiviral agent, either by itself or as an adjunctive therapy with a conventional treatment. It was shown that vitamin C at sufficiently high doses can prevent viral disease and greatly speed recovery from an acute viral infection.
Several mechanisms for vitamin C’s antiviral effect are known or suggested from these studies. First, the antioxidant property of vitamin C promotes a reducing environment in the bloodstream and tissues, enhancing the body’s response to oxidative stress from inflammation, thereby helping to fight microbes and viruses that propagate in stressful conditions.
Vitamin C is also involved in enhancing several functions of the immune system. Cells of the immune system have one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C. Vitamin C can also enhance the production of interferon, which helps prevent cells from being infected by a virus, stimulate the activity of antibodies and cytokines, and in mega-doses, play a role in mitochondrial energy production. It can enhance the ability of specialized immune cells to ingest bacteria.
Conclusion: From the above data we can conclude that, there is no specific drug treatment for corona virus. So preventing us from corona virus is possible with Vitamin C tablets. Along with all other Non pharmacological measures like social distancing we can also take Vitamin C tablets as a preventive measure.

Pharma Professor