Covid 19- Homoeopathy and boosting immunity.
Homeopathy has been repeatedly used during different epidemics to improve immunity. In fact, the phrase, ‘genus epidemicus’ was coined by the founder of homoeopathy, Dr Samuel Hahnemann, to indicate the remedy which could serve as a prophylactic during epidemics. Dr Hahnemann treated and advised prophylaxis during a scarlet fever epidemic and those treated with homoeopathy were known to have had significantly increased chances of survival at that time. Homoeopathy has also been used to treat and protect patients during the Spanish Flu epidemic which occurred after the First World War.
Amongst the more recent illnesses, two interesting pieces of research by Marino and associates, published in 2008 and 2009 seem to indicate that homoeopathic treatment and prophylaxis for dengue and swine flu may be beneficial. Robert Mathie and associates also conducted an analysis of swine flu treatment and the indications are positive.
An important example of improved immunity against a specific infectious disease using homoeopathic medicines is the story of leptospirosis in Cuba. This paper, published in 2010, explains that 2.3 million Cubans were provided homoeopathic prophylaxis against leptospirosis and a much lower than expected incidence of the infection occurred that year. What is most relevant about this is that leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that humans contract from animals and the usual prophylaxis prepared with conventional medicines were unavailable.
Does all this indicate that homoeopathy should be used to increase immunity during the ongoing pandemic? Well, it certainly helps the case for homoeopathy. In the case of a novel disease entity like COVID-19, no system of medicine has years of experience to justify any approach to prevention or management. However, it is important to remember that swine flu was novel not too long ago.