Use of medicinal plants for COVID-19 prevention and respiratory symptom treatment during the pandemic in Cusco, Peru: A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: The burden of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru has led to people seeking alternative treatments as preventives and treatment options such as medicinal plants. This study aimed to assess factors associated with the use of medicinal plants as preventive or treatment of respiratory symptom related to COVID-19 during the pandemic in Cusco, Peru. METHOD: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted on general public (20- to 70-year-old) from August 31 to September 20, 2020. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire via Google Forms, it consisted of an 11-item questionnaire that was developed and validated by expert judgment using Aiken's V (Aiken's V > 0.9). Both descriptive statistics and bivariate followed by multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess factors associated with the use of medicinal plants for COVID-19 prevention and respiratory symptom treatment during the pandemic. Prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI), and a P-value of 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance. RESULTS: A total of 1,747 respondents participated in the study, 80.2% reported that they used medicinal plants as preventives, while 71% reported that they used them to treat respiratory symptoms. At least, 24% of respondents used medicinal plants when presenting with two or more respiratory symptoms, while at least 11% used plants for malaise. For treatment or prevention, the multivariate analysis showed that most respondents used eucalyptus (p < 0.001 for both), ginger (p < 0.022 for both), spiked pepper (p < 0.003 for both), garlic (p = 0.023 for prevention), and chamomile (p = 0.011 for treatment). The respondents with COVID-19 (p < 0.001), at older ages (p = 0.046), and with a family member or friend who had COVID-19 (p < 0.001) used more plants for prevention. However, the respondents with technical or higher education used less plants for treatment (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There was a significant use of medicinal plants for both prevention and treatment, which was associated with several population characteristics and whether respondents had COVID-19.

Efecto antibacteriano de extractos y aceites esenciales-DE Lepechinia meyenii WALP (PUNA SALVIA) y Minthostachys andina BRITT EPLING (MUÑA) frente a cepas de Escherichia coli y Shiguella flexneri, causantes de enfermedades diarreicas agudas / Antibacterial effect of extracts and essential oils-DE Lepechinia WALP meyenii (PUNA SAGE) and Andean Minthostachys BRITT Epling (MUÑA) against strains of Escherichia coli and Shigella flexneri, causing acute diarrhea

El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo realizar el análisis comparativo del efecto antibacteriano que presentan los aceites escenciales de dos especies altoandinas Lepechinia meyenii WALP (Puna Salvia) y Minthostachys andina BRITT EPLING (Muña) frente a cepas de Escherichia coli y Shiguella flexneri. El método empleado para la determinación del efecto antibacteriano fue el método microbiológico de Bauer-Kirby y se utilizaron las cepas de Escherichia coli INS 86 y Shinguella flexneri INS6. En cuanto a los resultados, se tiene que los extractos secos etanólicos de L. meyenii Walp y M. andina (Britt) Epling presentaron efecto antibacteriano ya que los halos de inhibición fueron mayores a 9 mm miestras que comparativamente, los aceites esenciales de dichas especies no presentaron efecto antibacteriano frente a las mismas especies de bacterias , lo que indicaría que las sustancias activas presentes en los extractos son las responsables del efecto farmacológico estudiado.

This research was done with the objective of a comparative analysis of antibacterial activity of essential oils and the ethanol extracts of two Andean species, Lepechinia meyenii WALP (Puna Silvia) y Minthostachys andina BRITT EPLING (Muña) against Escherichia coli and Shiguella flexneri. The method used for determining the antibacterial effect was the microbiological method of Bauer-Kirby and the species of bacteria used were Escherichia coli INS 86 and INS Shinguella flexneri 6. As a result of this investigation, dry ethanolic extracts of L. meyenii Walp and M. Andean (Britt) Epling presented antibacterial effect because the halos of inhibition were greater than 9 mm while comparatively, the essential oils of these species showed no antibacterial effect against the same bacterial species, suggesting that the active substances in extracts are responsible for the pharmacological effect studied.