Abstract
Background Hong Kong is geographically located in the province of Guangdong which, after Hubei,
has been the region of China second-most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared
to the pathognomonic symptoms of the named disease, homeopathic symptoms are always
more helpful for homeopathic prescriptions.
Aim This study reports and summarizes the homeopathic symptoms observed in 18 confirmed/suspected
epidemiologically related cases in cluster outbreaks of COVID-19 in Hong Kong in early
2020.
Methods Homeopathic symptoms from this case series were collected from 18 consecutive patients
who, in addition to their concurrent conventional treatment or traditional Chinese
medicine, actively sought help from homeopathy as an adjunctive measure for symptomatic
relief from COVID-19. Cases were categorized according to outbreak clusters, focusing
mainly on the homeopathic symptoms. In the analysis, frequency of all homeopathic
medicines, common rubrics in all the cases, common rubrics in each of the top-ranked
remedies, and differentiating symptoms for each top-ranked remedy were determined.
Results Homeopathic symptoms of 18 cases, each identified as mild and belonging to one of
six separate clusters, are reported. Eighteen common symptoms screened out of 79 selected
rubrics constituted two sets of homeopathic symptom pictures: Bryonia alba (n = 4) and Gelsemium sempervirens (n = 12). Eight and seven differentiating features, respectively, were identified for
Bryonia alba and Gelsemium sempervirens.
Conclusion The common symptoms of 18 mild COVID-19 cases constituted two sets of homeopathic
symptom pictures, indicating Bryonia alba or Gelsemium sempervirens; they were indicated in 4 and 12 cases, respectively, out of the 18 in total.
Keywords
homeopathy - COVID-19 - Hong Kong - China - clinical features
