Influenza

Primarily a winter infection, influenza epidemics, viral in origin, affect millions of people every year. Influenza is most often benign, but sometimes leads to serious complications, mainly in the elderly and frail. After a short, apparently symptom-free incubation period of from 12 to 48 hours, it takes hold rapidly. Airborne droplets containing the virus from the saliva and the breath make it highly contagious during this initial phase.

The diagnosis is arrived at on the basis of an infectious period, a flare-up at the start with the temperature raised to 39-40C, accompanied by intense fatigue, aching all over, muscle and joint pain, and even ear, nose, and throat signs as seen in any ENT infection.

Incubation is the time that elapses between the moment of infection and the appearance of the first symptoms of the illness.

Homeopathic prophylaxis

Aimed at preventing the illness from appearing or at reducing its harshness There are three commonly prescribed remedies:

Influenzinum: Prepared from a strain of the current year's anti-influenza vaccine.

Aviaire: Prepared from chicken tuberculin.

Yersin serum: Prepared from plague serum.

Prescription Example:

-Influenzinum 7c, four tablets on Monday and Thursday
- Avaire 7c, four tablets on Tuesday and Friday
- Yersin 7c, four tablets on Wednesday and Saturday
Taken from September to January.

Natural prophylactic food

Cider vinegar: its virtues were discovered by an American veterinary surgeon who noticed that the rotten apples he added to his livestock's feed protected them from winter infections.

- Add a small teaspoonful of natural vinegar (of known origin) to half a glass of water, to be drunk before breakfast. Take a calcium supplement to avoid mineral deficiency

Standard anti-infective treatment

At the start of about of influenza. To be instituted as quickly as possible after the first abnormal symptoms appear.

• Start with Aconitum-Homaccord@ (Heel) which contains Aconitum D2, D10,D30,D200, Eucalyptus D4,D10,
  D30 and Ipecacuanha D2, D10, D30, D200:
  - available in drop bottles containing 30 and 100ml
  - Generally 10 drops three times daily. Initially 10 drops every 15 minutes
• Add copper as a trace element with silver and gold in colloidal form
• Six tablets of Pyrogenium once a day, in a single dose, for a few days.
• Twenty drops of Lehning @ L52 in a little water, three or four times a day, if there is fever.
• Vitamin C: one gram per day in adults, 0.5g per day in children, for a fortnight.
• You can take natural vitamin C in Weleda Hippophan@:
  - Sold in 200ml bottles
  - One tablespoonful taken in the morning provides about 25mg of the vitamin

Some foods rich in vitamin C

Citrus fruits (lemon, orange, grapefruit); green vegetables (celery, green cabbage++, cress, spinach, sorrel. parsley, horseradish); fruit, particularly red fruit (strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants). but also others (pineapple, blackcurrants++, guava, kiwi++); potatoes, green peppers, tomatoes...

Some foods rich in copper

Seaweed, almonds, avocado, cocoa, cereals (especially whole wheat and whole rice), mushrooms, shellfish, oysters, crustaceans, calf and sheep liver++, dried fruits, green vegetables, nuts, fish roe, plums, tea...

Gold

In the Middle Ages gold was considered a panacea that healed almost everything. Innumerable medical properties were attributed to it, and it was widely used for all illnesses. It cured gout, smallpox, plague, leprosy, strengthened the heart, and even revived the dead... It sank into oblivion as a treatment for some decades, but was rehabilitated during the 19th century, thanks to its efficacy against syphilis and other venereal diseases; then it became an accepted treatment, and still is today, because of its role in stimulating immunological defences.

• You can take Oscillococcinum@ which is not a vaccine in the strict sense of the term, but a remarkable initial treatment composed of filtered, autolysed Barbary duck liver and heart: - Available in boxes of three or six doses (generally tablet form)
  - One dose to be taken at the first shivers, and once or twice again on the first day, and possibly the following day.
• Or you may take Gripp-Heel@ (Heel) which contains Aconite 04, Bryonia 04, Eupatorium 03, Lachesis 012 and Phosphorus 05:
  - Sold in containers of 50 and 250 tablets - In general. 1 tablet to be dissolved under the tongue 3-5 times daily. In acute disorders I tablet every 15 minutes (over a period lasting up to 2 hours)
  Since influenza is a viral infection, antibiotics, which act only against bacteria, are useless, yet they are frequently prescribed.

This treatment, combined with the dietary advice given in the section 'The start of infection', brings about improvement or cure in a good number of cases, but it is wise to add the following specific homeopathic remedies, as well as the basic remedy chosen by your homeopath.

Homeopathy

Eupatorium, Gelsemium

- Four tablets of one of these remedies at 5c, to be sucked like sweets, between meals, three to four times a day.

Eupatorium perfoliatum

- Vegetable origin: com frey, a herbaceous plant with tall stems and pink flowers
- The homeopathic remedy for intense aching
- Specific sign: an agitated state

Gelsemium sempervirens

- Vegetable origin: jasmine, a climbing shrub with large scented yellow or white flowers
- Homeopathic remedy for infectious illnesses with extreme fatigue and shivering
- Specific sign: prostration

• You can take Lehning@ Gelsemium Complex 70, which includes Aconite 2x, Belladonna 3x, and Gelsemium 3x...
  - Sold in 30ml bottles of oral drops
  - Fifteen drops to be taken in water, three times a day by adults, eight drops three times a day by children.

Two plants to combat influenza

Anti-infective Echinacea, very stimulating ginseng.

Prescription: Ask your herbalist to prepare 30ml bottles of the mother tincture of each of these two plants. Take 25 drops of the first, in water, three times a day, and 25 drops of the second, twice a day.

Echinacea

Echinacea is a plant native to North America, where it was widely used by native tribes for its antiseptic properties.
. You can use Echinaforce (Bioforce), a tincture of Echinacea purpurea:
- Available in 50ml and 100m I bottles of oral drops
- Fifteen drops to be taken in a little water, three times a day by adults, seven drops three times a day by children (6-12 years old).

Three essential oils to combat influenza

Ceylon cinnamon, Melaleuca (tea tree), Ravensara aromatica

Prescription: Obtain a 2ml bottle of the essential oil of one of these plants from your pharmacist, health-food shop or herbalist. Take three drops in a little honey, twice a day.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon bark has been used since the dawn of time for its tonic and stimulant properties. Until recently, cinnamon wine was given out in hospitals and hospices in some countries to combat the spread of disease.

Melaleuca/Niaouli

The leaves of the tea tree (Melaleuca), originally an Australian tree, have considerable antiseptic properties, thanks to their essential oil. Naiouli which belongs to this family, is extremely effective against most infections.

• You can use Comvitar Propolis and Honey Elixir which contains tea tree oil, Irish moss, peppermint oiL honey and propolis:
  - Available in bottles of 200ml
  - Adults two teaspoons per day. Children one teaspoon per day
• If you prefer a good toddy, here is a recipe: one drop of essential oil of cinnamon, three drops of essential oil of orange, one drop of essential oil of Spanish oregano, one drop of essential oil of thyme, some honey, the juice of a lemon, and hot water.