In the almost eleven months of the advent
of this disease in China, and more than eight months of this pandemic
world-wide, Nigeria has officially recorded, as at August 10, 2020: 319,850
samples (persons) tested; 46,867 infections; 950 deaths; and 33,346 discharged
patients. By all accounts, this is an impressive picture in its lowly numbers
judging from occurrences elsewhere.
A detailed examination of these figures
shows that the infection rate is about 14.65%, death rate is about 2.02%, cases
per million in population is about 228, and deaths per million in population is
about 4.6. With these figures, Nigeria could be said to be doing quite well in
combating and containing the spread of the SARS-C0V-2, compared to Europe and
the Americas.
Dr Jibunoh |
The western world most likely will
pooh-pooh our statistics as being incomplete or unreliable or for the facts
that more people may be sick and dying without any records if they were neither
admitted nor quarantined. However this may be the case, it is also true of every
nation as some cases could slip detection until death occurs. But one thing is
certain though, and that is the fact that our hospitals and isolation centres
have not been overwhelmed with sick patients. The intensive care units in these
hospitals and isolation wards are sparsely populated relatively speaking, and
most importantly our communities have changed little or not at all in terms of
infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. In other words, even if we are under
testing, hospitalization of the sick has not grown astronomically, and we do
not have an overwhelming amount of people dying of any disease for that matter.
Do not get me wrong, please. One death is
bad enough but given what is going on in Europe and the Americas, and the
severe lack of comprehensive healthcare in Nigeria, most of the world expected
Nigerians to be dropping like flies from Covid-19 onslaught. Why are Nigerians
so resilient? Why have we been spared, as it were by this agent of death? We
have by no means flattened the curve but, truth be told, we have plateaued at
less than 1000 infected cases per day. This news is good, even though we would
all prefer to have zero cases per day just like we achieved with the Ebola
containment. So, what is the secret to our low rate of infections and death
from Covid-19?
I am of the opinion that even in the face
of daunting challenges, Nigerian public health officials and leaders must be
doing something right with the management of the pandemic. Early on in the
pandemic, the authorities following the advice of experts instituted a lockdown
of the country in a gradual but fairly enforced manner. Given our previous
experience with Ebola, it was not too difficult to get the public to comply
with the six to ten weeks of lockdown and over twelve weeks ban on interstate
travels. Most effective was the ban on public events and crowd congregations of
all types, limited hotel patronages, closures of schools, restaurants, bars,
and phased market operations. All these were combined with frequent
decontamination and sanitization of markets, hospitals, and offices.
Of greater challenge was the management of
infected persons in a pandemic where a therapeutic drug does not exist. But
here again, our doctors and nurses excelled with the use of drugs and
combination of drugs that have proven to have some level of efficacy in the
treatment of similar viruses either in real life or in research. For years,
Nigerian doctors have prescribed chloroquine for the treatment of malaria, a
tropical disease caused by a parasite of the genus Plasmodium transmitted
through mosquito bites. There is no known immunity against malaria, and as long
as one is exposed to mosquito bites, one can get malaria disease every ten
days, the period of incubation of the parasite in the body before the onset of
symptoms.
Prior to this pandemic, virologists and
microbiologists from Nigeria and elsewhere have carried out researches on the
antiviral efficacy of chloroquine in treating infections from human
coronaviruses known to cause the common cold. Chloroquine has also shown
limited anti-viral properties against SARS-CoV-1 that is responsible for severe
acute respiratory syndrome that broke out in Asia many years ago. Covid-19 is
caused by SARS-CoV-2, a more infectious cousin of SARS-CoV-1. So, in the absence
of any known therapy, doctors have resorted to the use of chloroquine, in
combination with other drugs that can inhibit feverish conditions, decrease
inflammation, and promote immunity within the body to manage Covid-19 patients.
And this seems to be working.
What seems to be obvious, though not yet
proven, is that Nigerians whose primary illness is malaria have been so infused
with chloroquine in their lifetimes that it appears this novel coronavirus runs
into a brick wall on infecting any Nigerian. This brick wall of chloroquine
saturated tissues perhaps renders the coronavirus largely impotent, making it
easier to deal with the infection in no time. Just look at the recovery ratio
of 72% or, from the mortality point of view, nearly 98% survival rate.
Moreover, it is also probable that by the time the coronavirus is transmitted
from one Nigerian to another, the virus is already drunk in chloroquine that it
is only a shadow of itself, with diluted powers to do very little harm in its
new host.
But of greater interests is the proportion of Nigerians
who are not sick. They may be infected but asymptomatic, or cured without
presenting themselves to hospitals, or have succeeded in warding off the
infection in the first place. We are a nation that believes strongly in herbal
medicine. I know people in my community and even in the cities who started a
regimen of having sauna baths with our local Agbo from the get-go of this
pandemic. They do this twice a day and drink its herbal hot syrup daily with
their families. Believe me, this works very well in treating malaria in three
to five days. I had used it as a child and young man growing up in my village.
Agbo is a mixture of Neem tree leaves, lemongrass leaves, guava and plantain
leaves with some other herbs and roots thrown in for good measure, boiled
together in a big pot with plenty of water. After boiling , you sit naked
astride the pot, cover yourself with a blanket, and breathe in the steam from
the pot which is also infused into you through the skin. After this, you take a
bath with water from the pot too, mixed with cold water to a tepid temperature.
And this is no voodoo science either. The Neem tree,
(with the scientific name of Azadirachta indica) has well known medicinal
properties including antimalarial, antiviral, antibacterial, and
immunostimulant properties and activities. Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), is
also known to have anti-feverish, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and
antimicrobial properties. Therefore, a concoction of these with other herbs and
roots has been known to yield potent locally formulated antimalarial admixture.
And just like chloroquine, the mix might be working against Covid-19 in similar
manner. Additionally, there is also the factor of self-medication by Nigerians
who have more or less become ‘adept’ in the safe treatment of malaria.
Another factor is the Nigerian Cuisine which is an
important element of our daily lives. Our foods are nourishing, well cooked,
with lots of vegetables and plant seeds, rich in proteins and spices all devoid
of extraneous chemicals. A typical Nigerian pot of soup or stew is a fine work
of many ingredients artfully blended into the most healthy, organic, and
nutritious edible potpourri. As was published on page 22 of The Guardian
newspaper of August 13, 2020, researchers from Department of Biochemistry,
Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan;
University of Lagos; and Federal University of Technology, Akure Ondo state, in
a study titled “Frugal Chemoprophylaxis against Covid-19: Possible Preventive
Benefits for The Populace” and published in the International Journal of
Advanced Research in Biological Sciences stated the benefits of some medicinal
foods such as ginger, garlic, onions, bitter kola, alligator pepper, black
seed, turmeric, bitter leaf, zinc, and vitamin C in warding off Covid-19. These
plants and elements possess potent pharmacological properties which include
anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antipyretic properties, and inhibition of viral
replication properties against the symptoms displayed by SARS-CoV-2 infection.
In other words, these frugal medicinal foods offer great chemo-prophylaxis
benefits that can enhance and boost the body defenses and immunity needed to
fight and curtail the spread of Covid-19 in the community. Our foods have come
to our aid!
It appears probable, that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that
causes Covid-19 has met its match in Nigerians. This is not to say that we
should be complacent and drop our guards. We must continue to listen to and do
what the experts advise. Whatever luck we are riding on presently is no
substitute for ways to control or end the pandemic. Rather, these potential
remedies are pointing us in the directions to focus our searches. Our
scientists are hard at work researching vaccines and therapeutic drugs against
this deadly disease that is also destroying our fragile economy. The whole
World must not rest until both are discovered, so that life can return to
normal.
* Dr Jibunoh is the Founder of FADE Africa
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