Vitamin C deployed in big doses to help treat coronavirus patients

Hospitals in the United States and China administer the supplement as part of a therapy for people with Covid-19

But there’s no evidence yet that it is effective and more research needs to be done, expert say

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Vitamin C is being used as part of treatment for Covid-19 patients in New York and Wuhan. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:00am, 28 Mar 2020Updated: 11:42pm, 28 Mar 2020

First it was herbal tea. Then it was a traditional Chinese medicine formula. Now some coronavirus patients are taking large doses of Vitamin C in an unorthodox quest for an effective therapy.

But medical specialists warn that there is no evidence to support it as a valid treatment.

American news magazine Newsweek reported on Thursday that large doses of the vitamin, among other drugs, were given to patients in hospitals in New York – a new epicentre of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

According to the report, Vitamin C was injected intravenously into patients in amounts much higher than the normal recommended daily dose of 90 milligrams for men and 75 milligrams for women suggested by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Vitamin C is often suggested as a dietary supplement for people who have caught a cold, but is not considered a cure for diseases like influenza.

A similar treatment is also being tested in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus was first detected.

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