The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) on Saturday, Jan. 15, announced that it is exploring the potential benefits of virgin coconut oil (VCO) as a nasal inhaler and mouth wash to prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In an interview over DZBB, DOST Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) Executive Director Dr. Jaime Montoya said they are currently studying which part of VCO "is making a good effect."
"Gumagawa rin po tayo ng mga pag-aaral ito po ay para makaiwas naman sa COVID-19... Ang ating ginagawa ngayon, tinitingnan po natin sya as a mouth wash at sa ilong, yung nasal inhaler ito po yung ruta na dinadaanan ng virus. Tingnan natin kung pinapatay nya yung virus, pagpasok ng virus ay patay na agad (We're also doing studies to prevent COVID-19. What we're doing now, we are looking at VCO as a mouth wash and as nasal inhaler, because that's the route of the virus. Let's see if it will kills the virus)," Montoya explained.
Montoya noted that two finished research and clinical studies showed that VCO helped reduce the severity of symptoms of patients with mild COVID-19 infections.
"Tapos na po yung pag-aaral. Dalawang aral po yung pag-aaral na yan. Yung una po tiningnan na yung VCO talagang pinapatay yung virus at napatunayang 60 to 90 percent pinapatay nya yung virus lalo na pag konti pa lang o maaga pa lang (The two studies are already fished. The first one looked if the VCO could kill the virus and it was proven that it actually kills 60 to 90 percent of the virus, especially during early symptoms)," he said.
"Ikalawa tiningnan po natin kung syang makatutulong para maibsan ang mga sintomas na nararamdaman ng mga may COVID-19, yung mga suspect po na mild cases... napatunayan na nakatutulong po, malaki po ang diperensya ng mga nabigyan ng VCO at hindi nabigyan (Second, we looked at weather it can help alleviate COVID-19 symptoms felt by those with mild COVID-19 and suspected COVID-19 patients... It has been proven that it helps, there's a big difference between those who were given VCO and those who were not)," he furthered.
The studies were conducted in Santa Rosa, Laguna and Valenzuela.
The DOST invested P8.4 million to determine the safety and efficacy of VCO as adjunctive therapy for hospitalized COVID-19 patients and to evaluate its beneficial effect for probable COVID-19 patients who are quarantined in a center or hospital.