A former presidential aide, Doyin Okupe, has narrated how he recovered from COVID-19 two weeks after testing positive to the disease.
Mr Okupe, who alongside his wife tested positive to the disease on 23 April, said he was compelled to reveal how he survived the virus after a comment on his Facebook post had discredited the existence of COVID-19.
“It is sad the level of distrust in this country. Some people wrote on my Facebook wall that in spite of my post, that all the COVID-19 talk is a scam. And that I should post a video to convince them. Well I dont hv (sic) a video,” he said in the post.
Responding to queries about how he had survived the disease, he said he used the anti-malaria drug—hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and vitamin C.
“The medications I took for my covid19 virus infections:Hydroxychloroquine, 400mg daily for 2days, thereafter 400mg daily for 3days. Azithromycin 500mg daily for 10 days. Zinc sulphate 100mg daily and Vitamin C 1200 mg daily till now,” he said.
He said he used the anti-malaria drug “because he was down with malaria while on admission for coronavirus treatment.”
This, he said, was followed by the usage of Augmentine for the treatment of cough.
“I had malaria while on admission. Was effectively treated with an anti malaria. I also developed cough after about a week and was effectively treated by fairly large dose of Augmentine for 7 days,” he said.
Warning
As scientists rush to find a lasting end to the pandemic, the World Health Organisation has warned that there is no yet approved vaccine for the treatment of COVID-19.
The WHO has also cautioned against physicians and medical associations recommending or administering unproven treatments to patients with COVID-19 or people self-medicating with them without sufficient evidence.
It said the treatment of the disease lies with the capability of the individual patients’ immune system to heal from the disease naturally.
It recommends the boosting of the immune system.
Meanwhile, the United States, France, China and others are ramping up efforts in the clinical trials of antimalarial drugs like chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, Ebola vaccine—Remdesivir among others.
Nigeria has also joined the global experimentation of treating coronavirus patients with these drugs and is also looking into herbal remedies like that deployed in Madagascar.
Nonetheless, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned that it has not granted approval for any vaccine for the treatment and cure of COVID-19.
There is no universally medical consensus on a specific treatment for COVID-19 because most clinical trials of drugs being carried out across the globe have limited scientific acceptability or have not resulted in 100 per cent success, according to WHO.
But Mr Okupe argued that the humongous nature of the global emergency makes it impossible for countries not to explore experimental drugs that show any possibility or potential to contain the virus.
He said he believed “the chloroquine regime is the most promising” of all the drugs.
“In my own case, I commenced treatment with the hydroxychloroquine regime 4 days to my isolation. This was because I read extensively on various options of treatment for covid 19 and I followed the global debate on the pros & cons of d treatment.
“With my medical background and consultations locally with colleagues I already made up my mind that the chloroquine regime was so far the most promising,” he wrote.
However, he cautioned against using it without consulting a physician.
Immunity
Mr Okupe said he ingested immune boosting drugs and preparations like zinc sulphate, immunace, reloaded and similar immunity enhancing drugs.
“I also took copious amount of ginger, garlic, tumeric and lemon. In Kaduna I am told that they add dongoyaro leaves to the above mixture and drink liberally,” he added.
He urged Nigerians to comply with the hygiene recommendations from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and maintenance of physical distancing.
