FYI...Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN just said that high doses of Vitamin C or Garlic are a sham and
should not be expected to help with this virus.
I wouldn't say sham, but maybe evidence is not quite there yet due to lack of real interest.
SARS is a corona virus and
https://academic.oup...2/6/1049/731701
Vitamin C and SARS coronavirus
Harri Hemilä
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Volume 52, Issue 6, December 2003, Pages 1049–1050,
https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkh002
Published: 01 December 2003
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Keywords: ascorbic acid, pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome
Issue Section: Correspondence
Sir,
Recently, a new coronavirus was identified as the cause of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).1 In the absence of a specific treatment for SARS, the possibility that vitamin C may show non-specific effects on severe viral respiratory tract infections should be considered. There are numerous reports indicating that vitamin C may affect the immune system,2,3 for example the function of phagocytes, transformation of T lymphocytes and production of interferon. In particular, vitamin C increased the resistance of chick embryo tracheal organ cultures to infection caused by an avian coronavirus.4 Studies in animals found that vitamin C modifies susceptibility to various bacterial and viral infections,3 for example protecting broiler chicks against an avian coronavirus.5 Placebo-controlled trials have shown quite consistently that the duration and severity of common cold episodes are reduced in the vitamin C groups,3 indicating that viral respiratory infections in humans are affected by vitamin C levels. There is also evidence indicating that vitamin C may affect pneumonia.3 In particular, three controlled trials with human subjects reported a significantly lower incidence of pneumonia in vitamin C-supplemented groups,6 suggesting that vitamin C may affect susceptibility to lower respiratory tract infections under certain conditions. The possibility that vitamin C affects severe viral respiratory tract infections would seem to warrant further study, especially in light of the recent SARS epidemic.
References
1. Holmes, K. V. (2003). SARS-associated coronavirus. New England Journal of Medicine 348, 1948–51.
2. Leibovitz, B. & Siegel, B. V. (1981). Ascorbic acid and the immune response. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 135, 1–25.
3. Hemilä, H. & Douglas, R. M. (1999). Vitamin C and acute respiratory infections. International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases 3, 756–61.
4. Atherton, J. G., Kratzing, C. C. & Fisher, A. (1978). The effect of ascorbic acid on infection of chick-embryo ciliated tracheal organ cultures by coronavirus. Archives of Virology 56, 195–9.
5. Davelaar, F. G. & Bos, J. (1992). Ascorbic acid and infectious bronchitis infections in broilers. Avian Pathology 21, 581–9.
6. Hemilä, H. (1997). Vitamin C intake and susceptibility to pneumonia. Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal 16, 836–7.
The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy