MYTH: Herbal tonics made from the artemisia plant in Madagascar can treat COVID-19
This is not true. This plant is not known to treat Covid-19. The artemisia annua, or sweet wormwood plant, is used to make drugs to treat malaria. Malaria is caused by a parasite spread through mosquito bites, whereas Covid-19 is caused by a virus – a very different kind of bug. Researchers are studying the artemisia plant to see if it works against Covid-19 but right now there is no proof that a herbal tonic made from the plant can help patients with the disease. And the World Health Organization is concerned that people over-using the plant could boost malaria resistance, which means the drug may become less effective against malaria. It’s very important to use the right medicine for an illness and artemisia herbal tonics are not proven to work against Covid-19.