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Efficacy of Natural Honey Treatment in Patients With Novel Coronavirus

Phase 3
Conditions
COVID-19
Interventions
Dietary Supplement: Natural Honey
Other: Standard Care
Registration Number
NCT04323345
Lead Sponsor
Misr University for Science and Technology
Brief Summary

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) has been discovered recently in December 2019 from wuhan city in China to spread in more than 40 countries allover the world. This disease has gain the attention of all nations after it has been stated as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 12, 2020. Currently no treatment has been proved to be efficient in the treatment of infected patients by COVID-19. Natural honey has been demonstrated as potent antimicrobial in many research investigations and has been considered a good alternative for antiviral drugs for the treatment of some viral infections. The investigators aim to study the efficacy of natural honey in the treatment of COVID-19 patients in this randomized , multicenter, controlled trial, comparing honey in one arm to standard care in the other arm.

Detailed Description

The (SARS CoV-2) virus is spreading globally, threatening all healthcare systems. Many healthcare systems and organizations are using different protocols and measures to fight the COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir and other antiviral medications are currently under research investigations. Natural honey has been well known for its high health properties in diabetes, nutrition, dyslipidemia, skin lesions and it got FDA approval for topical wound treatment in 2007 as the most potent antimicrobial agent. Honey has been previously considered as an alternative for acyclovir in the treatment of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and it also demonstrated for its significant antiviral effect against varicella zoster virus (VZV). Many studies have demonstrated the broad spectrum antimicrobial effect of honey as an antibacterial, anti fungal, antiviral and antimycobacterial. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Public Health England (PHE) guidelines recommended honey as a first line of treatment for acute cough caused by upper respiratory tract infection which is currently a cornerstone symptom in COVID-19 infectious disease. Moreover, natural honey should no longer be used as "alternative" and deserves to gain more attention by scientists and researchers. The aim of this trial is to study the efficacy of natural honey in treatment of patients infected with COVID-19 in comparison with current standard care.

Methods:

This will be a randomized , multi center, double armed clinical trial, patients will be randomly assigned to two groups on 1:1 basis. Natural honey group will include patients receiving standard care and added intervention in the form of natural honey in a dose of 1gm/kg/day (previously used safely in small studies) divided into 2 to 3 doses for continuous 14 days. The other arm is the arm receiving the standard care according to the center protocol.

Our primary outcome is days for recovery using the parameters: turning from positive to negative swaps, days from fever to no fever and lung inflammation recovery in x ray or CT, our secondary outcome is the 30 days mortality rate. Data will be collected and statistically managed using STATA blindly from who received the intervention.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
UNKNOWN
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
1000
Inclusion Criteria
  • Meeting the criteria for diagnosis of COVID-19, either clinically or as confirmed by positive swap.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Children below 5 years old. Severely ill patients with either terminal disease. Nil per os (NPO) patients with contraindication to nasogastric tube feeding.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Natural Honey GroupStandard CareNatural Honey 1gm/kg/day divided into 2 to 3 doses for 14 days in addition to standard care
Natural Honey GroupNatural HoneyNatural Honey 1gm/kg/day divided into 2 to 3 doses for 14 days in addition to standard care
Standard CareStandard CareCurrent standard care including supportive measures and lopinavir/ritonavir tablets or Arbidol or chloroquine phosphate or Hydroxychloroquine or oseltamivir with or without azithromycin.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Fever to normal temperature in days14 days

Number of days till no fever

Rate of recovery from positive to negative swaps14 days

Percentage of patients turned from positive to negative swaps at day 14

Resolution of lung inflammation in CT or X ray30 days

Number of days till lungs recovery in chest X ray or CT

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
30 days mortality rate30 days

mortality rate in each group at 30 days

Number of days till reaching negative swab results30 days

Number of days from initiation of intervention till changing of the swap test result from positive to negative

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Mahmoud Tantawy

🇪🇬

Cairo, Egypt

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