A TEAM of scientists from the National University of Lesotho (NUL) led by Dr Lerato Seleteng-Kose has produced a cough syrup known as OptiCough.
Dr Seleteng-Kose said the project was a result of a desire to produce a cough medicine that is “proudly Basotho”.
“While at it Covid-19 came and we are now focused on developing a Covid-19 drug,” she said.
She said the team did preliminary tests in July last year for both OptiCough and Covid-19 samples at the NUL pharmacy department for toxicity and they were both cleared.
She said they further took the Covid-19 drug to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa for further testing of anti-microbial effectiveness against the virus.
Dr Seleteng-Kose said the Opti-Cough project started around January before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Lesotho.
She said around August while awaiting results from CSIR, they saw an opportunity to “go back to our original plan of making a cough syrup because flu exists throughout the whole year.”
“We completed it and indeed it has dominated social media and the majority of people heard about it,” she said, highlighting that some people were confused whether the medicine treated Covid-19 or common flu.
“The relationship between the two is that some of the Covid-19 symptoms are flu-like and people can see fever symptoms alleviated and that led to the confusion,” she said.
Dr Seleteng-Kose said the syrup was available countrywide except in one district, (Mokhotlong), where arrangements are being made to make it available soon.
“The demand that blossomed, we tried to regulate the pricing so opportunists won’t take advantage,” she said.
Traditional healer and chemical technologist, Motiki Beleme, said the syrup was meant to treat flu and not Covid-19.
“Having similar symptoms doesn’t have to lead to confusion. It was intended to alleviate cough, fever and flu,” she said.