J Altern Complement Med. 1996 Fall; 2(3): 345-8.

Effect of honey versus thyme on Rubella virus survival in vitro.

Zeina B, Othman O, al-Assad S.

Teshreen Hospital, Damascus, Syria.

In this paper, we assess the antiviral properties of honey solutions and thyme extracts at varying concentrations. This was done by testing these solutions in vitro using monkey kidney cell cultures that were infected with the Rubella virus. Our results indicated that honey had good anti-Rubella activity, while thyme did not. These results may justify the continuing use of honey in traditional medicines from different ethnic communities worldwide and in some modern medications such as cough syrups.