Lately, there have been so many videos and also articles that went viral all over the world stating that the water vapor from soaking cloves or bunga cengkih could really help to treat the dangerous infection of COVID-19. Just for fact, cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree. They are native to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia and are commonly used as a spice. Cloves are available throughout the year owing to different harvest seasons in different countries.
Because this doubtful fact has become so well-known all over the place, this particular doctor named Dr. Ahmad Samhan has posted a Twitter thread on his account to explain the situation and whether it is a fact or just a myth made for people that do not want to get vaccinated wanted to believe.
Clove flowers contain Eugenol inhibiting the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase. These particular enzymes are responsible for the production of leukotrienes which are mediators of various inflammatory-related diseases. This means that water vapor from cloves is very good for reducing inflammation and relieves symptoms like coughs, sore throats, and colds.
The doctor then emphasizes that cloves cannot treat COVID-19 or even asthma. After inhaling water vapor or drinking clove decoction, the symptoms will be less and disappear but the COVID virus is indeed still there.
For COVID patients, you can drink clove decoction to relieve sore throat and cough, but you cannot kill the COVID virus. The correct way would be for the COVID patients to be quarantined so that they able to avoid spreading it to people around and also to monitor their symptoms. If the condition worsens, seek treatment in a hospital immediately.
Sources: Twitter Dr. Samhan.