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Safe as a prophylaxis, negligent in fighting Covid: Evaluations of the Echinaforce study from the Spiez laboratory.
It’s about this: According to a study by the Spiez laboratory, the herbal medicine Echinaforce is supposed to help against coronaviruses, also against the pandemic virus Sars-CoV-2, which triggers Covid-19. “Blick” reported on this. Thurgau A. Vogel’s natural remedy is made from red echinacea extracts and is available as tablets and drops. It is supposed to strengthen the immune system and prevent colds.
These are the results of the study: The research group used cells from the human upper respiratory tract that had been infected with various coronaviruses in the Petri dish. He found that Echinaforce has a lethal effect on viruses. Christian von Burg, SRF scientific editor, notes, however: “The results were obtained in an artificial system. In most cases, an active ingredient that has been tested in the laboratory is not effective in the human body. “
Proof that Echinaforce is useful against Covid-19 has yet to be provided.
Keystone
Human studies are now needed: The next step would be to test Echinaforce on people with Covid-19. The advantage is that the drug is already approved. This means that the dosage and side effects of Echinaforce are known.
Obstacles to a comprehensive study: However, the effort would be great: a human study would have to include thousands to tens of thousands of test people. Some of the participants would act as a control group: these people receive a placebo. The other group would be treated with Echinaforce. The test subjects do not know whether they received the placebo or the drug.
For a broad-based experiment, you would have to switch to countries like Israel, Brazil, or the United States.
However, the coronavirus is not widespread enough in Switzerland for a broad-based experiment with Echinaforce. “It would have to move to other countries like Israel, Brazil or the United States,” says von Burg.
Effect against Covid-19 still fully open: You can safely take the natural remedy as a prophylaxis, says SRF’s scientific editor. But: “At the moment it is not known if Echinaforce is effective against Covid-19 in humans. If you are sick with Covid-19 and are dependent on such a drug, you would be remiss. ”This simply requires more testing.
