Updates/ Vitamin C Infusion is helping CoV-19 patients in New York.

Mar 26, 2020

Addition - Food sources of vitamin C, quercetin, and zinc are at the top of this document, which includes this blog post and a few others on the topic of COVID-19 (Antivirals in Foods) Eating good sources several times a day may help the body prevent infection or have a less severe case.

Virus enter a cell and are replicated to the cell's capacity to produce them, at that point the cell bursts releasing the newly formed virus which go and infect other cells and force those cells to make even more virus to the cell's capacity, and they all burst, releasing yet more virus - in an exponentially increasing number. Each time a cell bursts and releases the viral load, the cell dies. So the sooner you can help your body stop the viral replication the sooner you are protecting your cells from being killed by the process.

Megadoses of the nutrients that help stop viral replication may not be needed. Moderate amounts of good food sources may help the body fight the infection before it has spread to numerous cells and caused significant cell damage. Reducing infection load may also help prevent an over-reaction of the immune system to the infection. An over-reaction of the immune system can be deadly as the inflammatory chemicals can attack healthy cells and lead to organ failure and eventually death. The next section is about a nontoxic treatment that might help if an over-reaction of the immune system leads to a Cytokine Storm/sepsis reaction.

Foods contain antivirals that work in a similar manner to the chloroquine medications that we have been hearing about in the news. More production is needed before they are available for widespread use, and they are somewhat expensive and can be dangerous. Quercetin is a phytonutrient that is readily available in vegetables and fruits and as a bulk or individual supplement.

Nursing homes and hospitals could be adding the bulk supplement powder to a food at each meal and including zinc food sources. The zinc is carried into infected cells by the quercetin (or chloroquine) and the zinc disrupts viral replication. The chloroquine, quercetin, or zinc are not killing virus. White blood cells are the body's patrol for killing and removing infected cells.

Health takes work and work takes nutrients.

Vitamin C helps the immune system fight infection. Good sources include: cabbage, tomatoes, green peppers, broccoli, asparagus, peas, kale, & citrus, strawberries, kiwi, papayas, cantaloupe. (Vit C Fact Sheet)
Good food sources of quercetin include: red onion, onion, garlic, kale, tomatoes, asparagus, broccoli, capers, nuts and seeds, red grapes, cherries, olive oil. Herbal supplements also containing quercetin include St John’s Wort, Gingko biloba, and American Elder. (WebMd)
Good food sources of zinc include oysters, meats, poultry, dairy, cashews, pumpkin seeds. Other beans, nuts and seeds would also have some as vegan sources. Meats have more than the vegan sources, while oysters have so much zinc that it might risk excess if eaten regularly in large servings. (Zinc Fact Sheet).

There are no guarantees in life, but trying a nontoxic strategy is at least safe. Medications may have risks of side effects - always see a medical professional for individualized health care guidance.

Vitamin C Infusion for Cytokine Storm immune overreactions.

Good news updates - a hospital chain in New York has found the use of high dose intravenous Vitamin C Infusions helpful for patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) novel coranovirus. "Dr. Andrew G. Weber, a pulmonologist and critical-care specialist affiliated with two Northwell Health" is providing his patients who have sepsis/cytokine storm symptoms an intravenous drip with 1500 mg of vitamin C three or four times per day. (1) Patients getting the Vitamin C treatment have been helped more than patients who did not according to Dr. Weber. A spokesperson for the Northwell Health system said that vitamin C is being "widely used" at their hospitals where 700 patients approximately are being treated for SARS-CoV2, however it varied by patient need and the clinician's plan of care. (1, 2)

“The patients who received vitamin C did significantly better than those who did not get vitamin C,” Weber said. (1)

The protocol for the treatment also includes vitamin B1 generally but that news article doesn't mention that ingredient of the IV mixture. The treatment is a much larger amount of vitamin C than the daily recommendation for a normal diet, however a patient with an overactive immune response is not in normal health. The treatment is used for patients who have had an overactive immune response to the infection and their own immune cytokines become produced in excessive amounts. The cytokines can then start damaging the patient's own organs which can lead to organ failure and result in death.

The damaging immune chemicals in a normal response to infection would only attack the infected cells. The excessive amounts however use up all supplies of vitamin C in the patient's body, and supplying vitamin C in high doses is then very helpful for protecting the patient from harm by the excess.

Quercetin plus zinc is a zinc ionophore, and is being tested as an anti-viral in human clinical trials for the treatment of SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19).

Good news update regarding quercetin and zinc as a zinc ionophore - the combination had already made it through animal trials for use against Ebola, and SARS-CoV(1) and was approved by the FDA for human clinical trials. Plans were underway for it to be trialed in China for patients with SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19). I haven't found results yet.

CBC News Interview with "Dr. Michel Chrétien's team at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal" : Canadian team invited to do clinical trials in China for antiviral drug. Feb 28, 2020, (youtube).

UK What to do if at home with a Potential Infection, Guidance:

Stay at home: guidance for households with possible coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. Updated 24 March 2020, (gov.uk).

*The UK guidance recommends isolating for seven days after symptom onset, - it might be wise to use caution longer than, especially if trying to protect people in your home who are in a high risk group, which includes: Senior Citizens, people with asthma or other lung conditions, smokers, people with hypertension, and immune-compromised people.

While the infectious stage seems to start prior to symptom onset and to have the most risk of spreading the infection during the early days of symptoms, when a fever is also often a symptom, that might not be consistently true and not everyone infected with SARS-CoV-2 gets a fever. The longest a patient has been found to be infectious was 37 days and the shortest was eight days. The average for patients with severe symptoms being treated in a hospital to be infectious was 19 days and for patients with critical symptoms the average was 24 days to remain infectious. (4)

Sensible precautions if sharing a home with infected and non-infected people include:

Cover your coughs or wear a mask or bandana to catch respiratory droplets from your breath, coughs or sneezes. Try to avoid being in the same room with non-infected people if possible, at least during the highest risk days during the early onset of symptoms, or positive test result.
Wash hands often and sanitize or wash with soap any commonly used surfaces such as door knobs, kitchen and bathroom areas.
Don't prepare raw foods for non-infected people if you can avoid it. Otherwise wash hands thoroughly or wear food preparation gloves if possible after the initial week or two of more severe feverish symptoms has passed.
US CDC guidance for home care of a person infected with SARS-CoV2 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/guidance-prevent-spread.html

This is doable - the quercetin rich foods mentioned in the last post plus sinc supplements or foods may provide a protective effect against getting a viral infection. Stay calm and eat sauteed onions or citrus with a little of the peel left on, plus pumpkin seeds or meats. Best wishes for everyone's health!

Request for plasma donations from people recently recovered from SARS-CoV2, Mount Sinai

There is a request for people who have recently recovered from SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) and who would be willing to donate plasma if they have antibodies against the infection to contact Mount Sinai's medical team. Antibody rich plasma can be given to severely ill patients with the infection to help them fight the virus. They can check for the presence of antibodies. Contact: COVIDSerumTesting@mountsinai.org, see (Statement from Mount Sinai Chief Medical Officer, (via @MikeDelMoro/via @joshchafetz).

Mount Sinai medical system has developed a test for checking for CoV-19 antibodies within hospitals and are sharing the technique: BREAKING: The First U.S. Test to Detect If a Person Has Potential Immunity to COVID-19 Was Just Developed (leapsmag.com)

Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes.

Reference List

Lorena Mongelli and Bruce Golding, New York hospitals treating coronavirus patients with vitamin C. March 24, 2020, NYPost.com, https://nypost.com/2020/03/24/new-york-hospitals-treating-coronavirus-patients-with-vitamin-c/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter
Dan Lyman, Coronavirus Patients Being Treated With Vitamin C at New York Hospitals. March 25, 2020, https://www.newswars.com/coronavirus-patients-being-treated-with-vitamin-c-at-new-york-hospitals/
CBC News Interview with "Dr. Michel Chrétien's team at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal" : Canadian team invited to do clinical trials in China for antiviral drug. Feb 28, 2020, (youtube).
Fei Zhou, Ting Yu, Ronghui Du, et al., Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study. The Lancet, March 11, 2020, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30566-3 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30566-3/fulltext#back-bib33
Kira Peikoff, BREAKING: The First U.S. Test to Detect If a Person Has Potential Immunity to COVID-19 Was Just Developed. March 22, 2020 leapsmag.com, https://leapsmag.com/breaking-the-first-u-s-test-to-detect-if-a-person-has-potential-immunity-to-covid-19-was-just-developed/?fbclid=IwAR2z_hl9VZfsrjz2JL03Sze2cPscdqGTFD0VyBrSbUvx-bOP8f5lmz9BgdU