Herbal Medicine for the Treatmentof Viral Infections: A Systemic Review

Abstract

The term “Antiviral agents” has been defined in very wide terms as substances other than a virus or virus containing vaccine or specific antibody which can build either a protective or therapeutic effect to the direct measurable advantage of the virus infected host. Viruses are simple in form which are very tiny germs. They comprise of genetic material inside of a protein coating. Viruses cause amicable infectious diseases like common cold, flu and warts. They also cause severe diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola, avian influenzas, dengue virus and COVID-19. Viral diseases are very complex and are easily spread. Herbs and herbal medicines were the foremost in treating infections from centuries over the world in every civilization. Modern science has narrowed the importance of herbal medicine in the past two centuries. But, the side effects and new varieties of diseases creating challenges to modern science. So, usage of herbal medicines is again attaining interests these days. Herbal products for different treatments have achieved a lot of popularity in the last couple of decades. Thus, discovering novel antiviral drugs is of extremely important and natural products are an excellent source for such discoveries. There are many herbs which are excellent sources for the antiviral properties to treat viral infections. This review provides the verified data on the herbal substances with antiviral activity, and some of the herbal marketed antiviral agents like CORONIL TABLETS from Patanjali and different companies had made an attempt to treat viral infections in this pandemic situation. Therefore, herbal plants proved to be a major resort for the treatment of diseases and sickness by traditional healers in many societies.