Influenza Virus: Can Neem Fight This Epidemic Threat?

Influenza, commonly known as “the flu”, is an infectious disease that can spread easily and attack a wide range of the world’s population. Symptoms can be mild to severe and include fever, a sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, a runny nose and feeling tired. While mostly harmless, it can become more dangerous for high-risk groups, and even end in death. Worldwide, annual epidemics are estimated to result in about 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness, and about 290 000 to 650 000 respiratory deaths, according to the WHO.

Could the influenza virus be treated with neem?

Since 5,000 BC, Azadirachta Indica, or neem, has been celebrated for its remarkable healing properties. In Indian Ayurvedic, it is referred to as “the universal healer of all ailments”. Its names in Sanskrit are either “Nimba” which translates into “giver of good health” or “Arista” which means “perfect, complete, imperishable”.

For thousands of years, the neem tree has been used to treat deadly diseases, safeguard human health and provide agriculture with safe alternatives to commonly used fertilizers and pesticides. Neem has proven antimalarial, antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant properties, and is effective against inflammation, infection, fever, skin disease and dental illness. Today, the broad benefits of neem are being studied by institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, Oxford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National University of Singapore, in order to further investigate how its more than 200 compounds could be used to treat conditions ranging from psoriasis to skin damage caused by chemo-radiation, and to evaluate the plant’s effectiveness as a cure for influenza.

Neem vs. Influenza

A recent scientific investigation found that hyperoside, a compound exclusive to the neem tree, can disable the influenza virus from replicating and causing infections. Published in the BioMed Central’s Complementary and Alternative Medicine Journal, this study designed, screened and tested the universal treatment.

Vaccines that stimulate the body’s immune response have long been available, however, the development of an effective protection has become a problem of high concern due to the virus’ ability to mutate easily from one year to the next. Neem’s hyperoside is a solution to this problem as it disables a critical part of the virus – the neucloprotein or viral protein – that does not adapt over time. 89% of this viral protein remains the same in influenza strains and plays an important role in its life cycle. Once damaged, the virus becomes unable to duplicate and create an infection. An easily acquirable solution like neem could be used to prevent deaths and to treat the many people who are hospitalized every year due to influenza epidemics. When compared to the hundreds of possible compounds needed to create a vaccine, neem seems to be the most effective cure.