An observational study on acceptability, palatability, and safety of Ayurveda immunity booster kit for the prevention of COVID-19 in frontline workers in Jaipur, India

BACKGROUND: National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, India, had distributed Ayurveda immunity booster kit (AIBK) (prepared at own pharmacy and comprising Chyawanprasha – 300 g, Vyadhi Kshamatva Kwatha – 300 g, and Vyadhi Kshamatva capsule – 30 g) for 15 days among the health-care workers, sanitation workers, and security and police staff engaged in the containment zones for prevention of COVID-19. AIM: The aim of present study was to explore the medication that may be effective in prevention of the COVID -19. Hence, this study was done to assess the compliance of these medicines and their effects in the prevention of COVID-19. METHODS: One thousand seven hundred and fourteen frontline workers were provided with the AIBK for 15 days from April 24, 2020, to June 27, 2020. Data of frontline workers who had participated in AIBK and completed the treatment regimen with 2 weeks of follow-up after treatment with complete available data for safety, palatability, efficacy, and compliance were included in the study. Any adverse event needing hospitalization or medication, drug compliance and palatability, and appearance of the symptoms of COVID-19 or testing positive for COVID-19 were the outcome measures. RESULTS: Out of 1714 participants, 1003 participants were found to be eligible for this analysis. The median age of these participants was 39 years (range, 19-70), and males accounted for 90.1% (904 of 1003). A total of 7.5% of participants (75 of 1003) reported having adverse events after taking the study treatment. None of the participants reported any serious adverse effects after the administration of the AIBK. The acceptability of the AIBK was as high as 97.4%. None of the participants reported positive for COVID-19 results or COVID-19 symptoms up to 2 weeks of follow-up after completion of the study treatment. CONCLUSION: The acceptability of AIBK is good and indicates its role in the prevention of COVID-19-like illness, hence further randomized control trials or cohort studies can be done to assess the mechanism of action and efficacy of AIBK as the preventive strategy in COVID-19.