Measles

A contagious viral infection, epidemic, and more common in winter, measles spreads via airborne droplets from the nose and saliva. It mainly affects children, but adults are not entirely spared.

The incubation period is from one to two weeks, then the illness starts with what appears to be a feverish cold.

The first sign may be conjunctivitis with bloodshot eyes, but Koplik's spots are characteristic. These white spots with a pink areola appear inside the cheeks and allow reliable diagnosis.

The rash appears on the fourth or fifth day, first on the scalp and temples, spreading to the neck and the rest of the body. The raised spots disappear more quickly than their brown pigmentation, which can persist for a while. The illness lasts about ten days, during which the patient should be isolated.

Measles can be complicated by pulmonary problems or by severe encephalitis. A prescription for antibiotics should be readily available. This is a serious illness, responsible for a million and half deaths per year throughout the world. Vaccination is recommended.

Standard anti-infective treatment

To be started as quickly as possible at the first abnormal symptom:

• 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
  - ten drops to be taken three times daily. Initially ten drops every 15 minutes
• Add copper as a trace element with silver and gold in colloidal form
• Six tablets of Pyrogenium 5c, 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 the patient already has a temperature
• Vitamin C: one gram a day for adults, 0.5 gram for children, for a fortnight
• To this standard treatment composed of three homeopathic remedies, one to three trace elements, and a vitamin, the homeopath may add remedies that are specific to each illness and fundamental for each personality

Dietary advice

To be strictly followed:

• Stop all heavy, greasy foods, particularly dairy products, fried food, and dishes with sauces
• Give the child plenty to drink
• Choose foods rich in vitamin C and copper
• Supplement the diet with wheatgerm and brewer's yeast, which are rich in group B vitamins and trace elements
• Give the patient plenty of garlic and onion, known for their anti-infective action

Some foods rich in vitamin C

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

Homeopathy

Sulfur to encourage eruption,
- Six tablets at 7c to be sucked like sweets once a day, between meals

Sulfur

- Mineral origin: sulphur
- One of the main homeopathic remedies for skin ailments
- Sulfur may cause a transient worsening of the symptoms: if this happens, it is essential to consult your homeopath

Pulsatilla

- Vegetable origin: the pulsatilla anemone
- Homeopathic remedy for rashes of small red spots (maculo-papules) which disappear with finger pressure and are not found in healthy areas
- Characteristic sign: a desire for fresh air and the outdoors

Allium cepa if the watering of the eyes is not a problem. If it is. Euphrasia.

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

Allium cepa

- Vegetable origin: the common onion,used in cooking
- Homeopathic remedy for irritant nasal discharge
- The patient's symptoms are identical to those caused by peeling an onion

Euphrasia

- Vegetable origin: eyebright. or ophthalmic herb (Euphrasia officinalis)
- Homeopathic remedy almost solely used for the eyes
- Characteristic symptom: watering of the eyes is irritant, the nasal discharge is not.

• You can use Engystol@ (Heel), which contains sulfur D4, D10, and Vincetoxicum hirundinaria D6, D10, D30:
  - Available in containers of 50 and 250 tablets
  - One tablet to be dissolved under the tongue one to three times daily

Oligotherapy

Essentially copper or a copper/gold/silver combination.

• Copper remedies: found as various presentations and brands, e.g. colloidal minerals such as Organic Minerals (Colloidals) which contains 70+ trace minerals:
  - Available in 946ml bottles
  - Take 1-3 caps just before breakfast and/or evening meal
  - Children 1 teaspoon daily for each 20lbs of body weight
  
  Or Maximol (Ionized colloidals):
  - Available in 500ml bottles
  - Take 1/2 capful once or twice daily on an empty stomach

One dose four times on the first day, three times on the second day, then twice a day for two weeks

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 fruit, nuts, fish roe, plums, tea...

Herbal treatment

Echinacea, an excellent anti-infective agent.

Eleutherococcus and ginseng, very good general tonics for adults.

Prescription: Ask for a 30ml bottle of a mother tincture of one of these plants to be prepared. Take 25 drops (for an adult) in a little water, twice a day for up to 3 weeks.

Echinacea

Echinacea, the coneflower, a plant originating in North America, is widely used by native tribes for its anti-infective properties.

Eleutherococcus

Eleutherococcus is a plant of the ginseng and ivy family, but is native to the plains of Siberia where it grows in abundance. It increases resistance to fatigue.

• For children you can use Echinacea complex (Bioforce) tincture which contains Echinacea purpurea...
  - Available in 50ml bottles of oral drops
  - Eight drops to be taken in a little water, three times a day (6-12 years old) or four drops in a little water, three times daily (2-5 years old)

Plant essential oils

Eucalyptus, naiouli, thyme Unalol can be given to children. Their main property is anti-infective.

One drop of one of them to be taken in a spoonful of honey, twice a day.

Cloves

The dried buds of the clove tree are used for flavouring some dishes. Their anti-infective and stimulant properties are unquestionable, and for this reason cloves are widely used throughout Asia.