Researches to determine possible benefits of virgin coconut oil (VCO) as a supplementary aid for COVID-19 patients are currently being conducted. Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato dela Peña has announced that VCO trials on COVID-19 patients at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) are finally underway. He stated that the ethics review board of the University of the Philippines Manila National Institutes of Health approved the study on the use of VCO for moderate and severe cases of COVID-19. The PGH has started to enroll COVID-19 patients who will participate in the clinical trials.
The DOST provided a P5-million funding for two clinical studies on VCO. The other study is being conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute in collaboration with the local government of Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Philippine Coconut Authority, and Medical City South Luzon. Dela Peña said the clinical study would involve 90 persons under investigation for COVID-19 who manifest symptoms of the illness.
The DOST secretary explained that the patients will be given VCO for 14 days to test whether the substance has good effect on them. He noted that while VCO trials in the Santa Rosa Community Hospital in Laguna had started almost a month ago, they are unable to meet the recommended number of 90 patients enrolled in the trial as the arrival of patients there is slow.
“What we did was to include the two other, shall we say hospitals or centers who have patients, and fortunately Medical City has set up a facility in Santa Rosa just two weeks ago and they agreed to participate,” said dela Peña. The quarantine center of Santa Rosa shall also provide additional patients for the trial, he added.
The article entitled “Coconut and COVID-19: Philippines Studying Anti-viral Properties of Coconut Oil as Potential COVID-19 Treatment” published in www.nutraingredients-asia.com on March 11, 2020 stated that coconut oil contains lauric acid and monolaurin, which the researchers believe are the potential mechanisms behind its anti-viral activity. If successful, they say that the use of VCO will be affordable and risk-free with potentially enormous benefits for COVID-19 patients.
For more information, please visit Nutra Ingredients Asia, CNN Philippines, and DOST.
