Rekindling Tradition in a Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of the Use of Traditional Herbal Mixtures Among High-Risk Groups During the Early Outbreak of COVID-19 in the South-South Region of Nigeria

On 27 February 2020, Nigeria reported its COVID-19 index case from Italy. The first 30 days saw the recording of 81 cases. In the first 60 days, this number rose to 1 337 for people over 50 and with serious underlying medical illnesses that were made worse by the COVID-19 infection. In this study, we investigated the use of traditional herbal mixtures by older people and people with chronic medical conditions in the prevention, management and control of COVID-19 in the South-South region of Nigeria, with Bayelsa State as a case study. Using purposive and snowball sampling techniques, we sampled and interviewed 21 participants, with interviews taking place at the health centres and the homes of older persons. The data were analysed thematically using content analysis with the aid of an Atlas.ti. The findings indicate that the majority of the participants used at least one traditional herbal mixture to prevent COVID-19 infection, and that the fear of contracting COVID-19 was the major factor for its use during the pandemic. The most commonly used herbal mixtures during the COVID-19 pandemic were a combination of “dogoyaro”, lime fruit and leaves, lemon, ginger, garlic, mango leaves and bark, pawpaw leaf and seed, soursop leaf, bitter leaf, scent leaf, lemongrass and moringa leaf. We concluded that older persons and people with underlying health conditions in particular relied on traditional herbal mixtures in the management and prevention of COVID-19 during the early outbreak of the pandemic in Nigeria.