Homoeopathic Medicine Arsenicum album 30 C for Covid-19 in 2020: A Retrospective Analysis from Mass-level Data.

Background and Objective: Homoeopathy has played a notable role in managing epidemics in the past. The Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, declared Arsenicum album 30 C as a prophylactic for Covid-19, which was followed by the distribution of the medicine across India. The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) collected post-prophylactic consumption data of individuals from various colleges over months, which created a data pool. Considering the importance of these mass-level data and their possible impact on public healthcare decisions, the information gathered from this heterogeneous population cohort was subjected to a retrospective data analysis to observe the incidence of Covid-19 in the community. Methods: Data from 50 colleges from February-August 2020 showed that 10.6 million people in 13 states of India received prophylactic medicine during the study period. The data was collected from individuals three weeks following prophylactic consumption for a retrospective analysis. The incidence of Covid-19 was assessed. Results: The data of 584 980 individuals who met the study criteria were included in the analysis. The incidence of Covid-19 in the population cohort was 13.58 per 10 000-person weeks (95% CI, 13.04 to 14.14), which remained near-constant over time despite the increasing disease burden in the country (12.87 to 14.52 per 10 000-person weeks). Consumption of the prophylactic significantly reduced the risk of contracting Covid-19 in high-risk groups as compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: The study concludes that Arsenicum album 30 C has a potential prophylactic effect against Covid-19. Further controlled studies are recommended to establish a causal relation.

Homeopathy for COVID-19 Prevention: Report of an Intervention at a Brazilian Service Sector Company.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 quickly became a serious public health problem worldwide, with serious economic and social repercussions. Homeopaths around the world have been studying to find a genus epidemicus (GE) medicine that might help in the prevention and treatment of this disease. OBJECTIVE: To compare the incidence of COVID-19 between employees who received or did not receive a homeopathic GE medicine for disease prevention. METHODS: Retrospective cohort analysis. The study population comprised all employees of a service sector company in São Paulo, Brazil, and followed up by the corporate Occupational Health department. Intervention consisted of administering Arsenicum album 30cH in a one-weekly dose. Primary outcome was incidence of COVID-19 during 3-months' follow-up (April to July, 2020). RESULTS: We analyzed 1,642 of 1,703 employees without previous diagnosis of COVID-19 at onset of the study period: 53.34% of employees were referred to telework at home and did not receive intervention (Group 1, G1); 24.66% remained working on-premises in the state of São Paulo and received the intervention (Group 2, G2); 21.98% remained working on company premises in other states and did not receive intervention (Group 3, G3). Incidence rate of COVID-19 was respectively 13.35%, 0.74%, and 67.87% (p < 0.001). The odds ratio of being infected in (1) G3 versus G1 was 13.70 (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.21 to 18.39), (2) G3 versus G2 was 283.02 (95% CI, 88.98 to 900.18), and (3) G1 versus G2 was 20.66 (95% CI, 6.53 to 65.39). LIMITATIONS: The present is a retrospective analysis of a real-world experience. We could not ensure direct observed treatment, and neither could we control adherence to general prevention measures outside company premises. CONCLUSION: The incidence of COVID-19 was significantly lower amongst on-premises employees who received the GE medication in comparison to workers who did not receive the intervention (those either at other company premises or teleworking at home).

Antimonium Tartaricum as a Possible Homeopathic Prophylactic Remedy in the COVID-19 Epidemic.

The current COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) epidemic has proved challenging due to its high impact on physical and mental health. According to Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, in an epidemic the most severe symptoms of the clinical condition presented by the population in question should be the basis for selecting the medication that is as similar as possible to them, and which should be administered to individuals who have been exposed to the disease but have not yet developed it. This medicine is called the genus epidemicus. This study aims to demonstrate the reasoning used to propose the homeopathic medicine Antimonium tartaricum (Ant-t) as a genus epidemicus in the COVID-19 epidemic. It was decided to develop the reasoning based on the respiratory symptoms described in the epidemiological bulletins presented by the Health Surveillance Secretariat of the Ministry of Health of Brazil, as these symptoms are the most serious of the disease. After repertorization, it was confirmed in the Materia Medica that Ant-t has a high degree of similarity with these respiratory symptoms, including the most serious situations, of COVID-19. Homeopathic Ant-t is thus a possible prophylactic genus epidemicus in the COVID-19 epidemic; further studies are needed to test this conclusion.

A Homeopathic View of the Influence of Chronic Diseases in the Manifestation of COVID-19.

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) may present variable symptoms among infected individuals, with chronic disease patients appearing as the group most susceptible to present severe pulmonary infection, while having a higher risk of developing complications from the disease. This study demonstrates the relationship between the manifestation of COVID-19 and the presence of chronic miasmatic disease, based on the works of Samuel Hahnemann. The reaction of the individual who previously presented chronic miasmatic disease, when in contact with the stimulus of the epidemic disease, depends on the type of response that the organism was generating in the face of the pre-existing situation: if it is an intense reaction and greater than that which the stimulus of COVID-19 can generate, this individual will not develop the severe form of the epidemic disease; if the reaction is less than that generated by COVID-19, more intense symptoms may appear. Understanding that the presence of a chronic miasmatic disease interferes with the manifestation of COVID-19, which may have repercussions on other organs, can change how one must act on the treatment, as this can alter the individual's health status.

Health-Related Self-Care Strategies and Coping Resources During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Online-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Complementary medicine (CM) is often used as an opportunity for preventive health measures and supportive self-care practices. This study aimed to explore the use of self-care practices and preventive health strategies and the aspects of the experienced emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic in a population with an affinity for CM. Methods: The authors conducted an exploratory cross-sectional study using an anonymous 41-item online survey in the German language. The survey respondents were recruited among adults with an affinity for CM (e.g., as targeted through their memberships in CM associations) from September 2020 to February 2021. A selection of self-care methods, mainly from CM, was presented in the questionnaire. Numerical rating scales (NRSs), ranging from 0 = minimum to 10 = maximum, were used to measure the intensity of different emotions experienced during the pandemic. Statistical analysis was carried out descriptively. Results: A total of 1605 participants (80.6% female; mean age: 55.4 ± 12.6 [SD] years; 43.9% holding a university degree) were included. The use of self-care methods for health promotion during the pandemic was reported by 86.8% of the respondents. Respondents favored staying in nature (85.6%), healthy nutrition (85.6%), and physical activities (83.6%). More than 60% of the respondents made use of vitamin C and/or D, herbal medicines, nutritional supplements, relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, homeopathy, or meditation for health promotion. The analysis of emotional status by NRS (0-10) revealed the lowest mean ± SD (standard deviation) for "feeling lonely" (2.6 ± 2.9) and "feeling anxious" (2.8 ± 2.6), and the highest mean for "feeling connected to others" (6.2 ± 2.5) and "well-being" (5.8 ± 2.4). Conclusions: Participants used a wide variety of self-care methods and prevention strategies to promote their health during the COVID-19 pandemic and showed, overall, a balanced emotional status. Further research should include a control group representative of the general population, to investigate the possible impact of self-care strategies. Clinical Trial Registration Number: "Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien" (German Clinical Trial Register); registration number: DRKS00022909.

In search for a panacea for coronavirus disease-19: Analysis of ongoing clinical trials for the management of coronavirus disease-19 pandemic in India.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical trials that are registered on the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI) portal for a year, for the treatment, prevention, and supportive therapy of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). MATERIALS AND METHODS: All the trials registered on CTRI (since January 2020 till January 2021) for therapeutic, preventive, and supportive interventions for COVID-19 were searched with the keywords "Coronavirus," "COVID-19," "SARS-COV-2," and "2019-nCoV". These registered studies were analyzed as follows: Trials under different systems of Medicine-Allopathy/Homeopathy/Ayurveda/Unani/Yoga/Naturopathy. The Allopathy trials were further analyzed in detail: Intervention, design, comparator, number of subjects, duration, and approvals taken. RESULTS: A total of 1597 records were found. After excluding the overlaps, behavioral and other studies conducted to understand the diagnosis, epidemiology, a total of 419 registered studies were included for further analysis. Out of these 419 studies, 166 (39.6%) were in Ayurveda, 154 (36.7%) in Allopathy, 33 (7.8%) in Homeopathy, 30 (7%) in Unani/Siddha, 18 (4.3%) in Yoga and Naturopathy and 18 (4.3%) in Nutraceuticals. A total of 264 interventions had been registered in 419 clinical trials. Sixty-seven interventions were being studied under allopathy in 154 studies. Same product was being evaluated in differently designed protocols with different endpoints. Maximum number of trials and subjects were for Hydroxychloroquine 25 (17,998), Ivermectin 11 (2820), Convalescent Plasma 11 (3982), Remdesivir 8 (3725), Tocilizumab 6 (884), and Azithromycin 6 (582). CONCLUSIONS: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian researchers came forward from all the systems of medicine to evaluate interventions for prophylaxis or treatment of the disease. The involvement of AYUSH systems of medicine was specifically more in this regard. A wide variation and heterogeneity in doses and outcomes were observed in trial designs which might make it difficult to generalize the study results when they are made available. Urgent analyses of studies involving interventions on the treatment advisory of the Government may help the healthcare providers take more informed decisions for managing COVID-19 patients in India.

2021 Annual Report of the National Poison Data System© (NPDS) from America's Poison Centers: 39th Annual Report.

ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION: This is the 39th Annual Report of America's Poison Centers' National Poison Data System (NPDS). As of 1 January, 2021, all 55 of the nation's poison centers (PCs) uploaded case data automatically to NPDS. The upload interval was 4.87 [4.38, 8.62] (median [25%, 75%]) minutes, effectuating a near real-time national exposure and information database and surveillance system. METHODS: We analyzed the case data tabulating specific indices from NPDS. The methodology was similar to that of previous years. Where changes were introduced, the differences are identified. Cases with medical outcomes of death were evaluated by a team of medical and clinical toxicologist reviewers using an ordinal scale of 1-6 to assess the Relative Contribution to Fatality (RCF) of the exposure. RESULTS: In 2021, 2,851,166 closed encounters were logged by NPDS: 2,080,917 human exposures, 62,189 animal exposures, 703,086 information requests, 4,920 human confirmed nonexposures, and 54 animal confirmed nonexposures. Total encounters showed a 14.0% decrease from 2020, and human exposure cases decreased by 2.22%, while health care facility (HCF) human exposure cases increased by 7.20%. All information requests decreased by 37.0%, medication identification (Drug ID) requests decreased by 20.8%, and medical information requests showed a 61.1% decrease, although these remain about 13-fold higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Drug Information requests showed a 146% increase, reflecting COVID-19 vaccine calls to PCs. Human exposures with less serious outcomes have decreased 1.80% per year since 2008, while those with more serious outcomes (moderate, major or death) have increased 4.56% per year since 2000.Consistent with the previous year, the top 5 substance classes most frequently involved in all human exposures were analgesics (11.2%), household cleaning substances (7.49%), cosmetics/personal care products (5.88%), antidepressants (5.61%), and sedatives/hypnotics/antipsychotics (4.73%). As a class, antidepressant exposures increased most rapidly, by 1,663 cases/year (5.30%/year) over the past 10 years for cases with more serious outcomes.The top 5 most common exposures in children age 5 years or less were cosmetics/personal care products (10.8%), household cleaning substances (10.7%), analgesics (8.16%), dietary supplements/herbals/homeopathic (7.00%), and foreign bodies/toys/miscellaneous (6.51%). Drug identification requests comprised 3.64% of all information contacts. NPDS documented 4,497 human exposures resulting in death; 3,809 (84.7%) of these were judged as related (RCF of 1-Undoubtedly responsible, 2-Probably responsible, or 3-Contributory). CONCLUSIONS: These data support the continued value of PC expertise and the need for specialized medical toxicology information to manage more serious exposures. Unintentional and intentional exposures continue to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the US. The near real-time status of NPDS represents a national public health resource to collect and monitor US exposure cases and information contacts. The continuing mission of NPDS is to provide a nationwide infrastructure for surveillance for all types of exposures (e.g., foreign body, infectious, venomous, chemical agent, or commercial product), and the identification and tracking of significant public health events. NPDS is a model system for the near real-time surveillance of national and global public health.

Homeopathy for Covid-19 in Primary Care: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effectiveness and safety of homeopathic medicine Natrum muriaticum (LM2) for mild cases of COVID-19 in Primary Health Care. TRIAL DESIGN: A randomized, two-armed (1:1), parallel, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical trial is being performed to test the following hypotheses: H0: homeopathic medicines = placebo (null hypothesis) vs. H1: homeopathic medicines ≠ placebo (alternative hypothesis) for mild cases of COVID-19 in Primary Care. PARTICIPANTS: Setting: Primary Care of São Carlos - São Paulo - Brazil. One hundred participants aged 18 years or older, with Influenza-like symptoms and a positive RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Willingness to give informed consent and to comply with the study procedures is also required. Exclusion criterium: severe acute respiratory syndrome. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Homeopathy: 1 globule of Natrum muriaticum LM2 diluted in 20 mL of alcohol 30% and dispensed in a 30 ml bottle. Placebo: 20 mL of alcohol 30% dispensed in a 30 ml bottle. Posology: one drop taken orally every 4 hours (6 doses/day) while there is fever, cough, tiredness, or pain (headache, sore throat, muscle aches, chest pain, etc.) followed by one drop every 6 hours (4 doses/day) until the fourteenth day of use. The bottle of study medication should be submitted to 10 vigorous shakes (succussions) before each dose. Posology may be changed by telemedicine, with no break in blinding. Study medication should be maintained during home isolation. According to the Primary Care protocol, the home isolation period lasts until the 10th day after the appearance of the first symptom, or up to 72 hours without symptoms. MAIN OUTCOMES: The primary endpoint will be time to recovery, defined as the number of days elapsed before all COVID-19 Influenza-like symptoms are recorded as mild or absent during home isolation period. Secondary measures are recovery time for each COVID-19 symptom; score of the scale created for the study (COVID-Simile Scale); medicines used during follow-up; number of days of follow-up; number of visits to emergency services; number of hospitalizations; other symptoms and Adverse Events during home isolation period. RANDOMISATION: The study Statistician generated a block randomization list, using a 1:1 ratio of the two groups (denoted as A and B) and a web-based tool ( http://www.random.org/lists ). BLINDING (MASKING): The clinical investigators, the statistician, the Primary Care teams, the study collaborators, and the participants will remain blinded from the identity of the two treatment groups until the end of the study. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMISED (SAMPLE SIZE): One hundred participants are planned to be randomized (1:1) to placebo (50) or homeopathy (50). TRIAL STATUS: Protocol version/date May 21, 2020. Recruitment is ongoing. First participant was recruited/included on June 29,2020. Due to recruitment adaptations to Primary Care changes, the authors anticipate the trial will finish recruiting on April 10, 2021. TRIAL REGISTRATION: COVID-Simile Study was registered at the University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN - https://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index.htm ) on June 1st, 2020, and the trial start date was June 15, 2020. Unique ID: UMIN000040602. FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol.

A fresh look at the concept of Genus Epidemicus: findings from the Clificol Project

The Clificol® COVID-19 Support Project is an innovative international data collection project aimed at tackling some of the core questions in homeopathy, including the notion of Genus Epidemicus. Aims:To shed some light on the notion of Genus Epidemicus in the context of this infection. Going beyond that, the project aims to use these data to tackle more fundamental questions, such as the role of symptoms and rubrics in treatment individualisation. Methodology:This online multi-national data-collection project is supported by the ECH, ECCH, ICH, HRI, LMHI, and other professional associations. The collected data includes demographic information, severity, conventional diagnosis and treatment, presenting symptoms as well as the remedies prescribed. The outcome of treatment was tracked using the ORIDL scale. The concept of Genus Epidemicus, including the role of treatment individualisation, was investigated by analysing whether presenting symptoms cluster into distinct groups (K-Means clustering approach). The symptom data originating from China was obtained using a questionnaire. Results and discussion: 20 Chinese practioners collected 359 cases, primarily in the first half of 2020 (766 consultations, 363 prescriptions). The cluster analysis found two to be the optimum number of clusters. These two symptomatic clusters had a high overlap with the two most commonly prescribed remedies in that population: In cluster 1 there were 297 prescriptions, 95.6% of which were Gelsemium sempervirens, incluster 2, there were 61 prescriptions, 95.1% of which were Bryonia alba. Under the assumption of a single genus epidemicuswe would expect to see a single cluster of symptoms. The data from the Chinese population were not compatible with this assumption. Conclusion:This was the first study that investigated the notion of Genus Epidemicus by using modern statistical techniques. These analyses identified at least two distinct symptom pictures. The notion of a single COVID-19 Genus Epidemicus did not apply to this population.

Update from the Clificol Project: Omicron in Hong-Kongand worldwide overview of the pandemic

The Clificol® COVID-19 Support Project is an innovative international data collection project aimed at documenting the presenting symptoms, use of homeopathy through the pandemic and tackling some of the core questions in homeopathy. The Covid-19 pandemic raised many questions and mobilised many resources. In order to make good use of resources, sound knowledge of the presenting complaints and demographics are required. In particular, we aimed to characterise the recent Omicron wave in Hong-Kong and to get an overall picture of the global pandemic as experienced by the homeopathic community. This online multi-national data-collection project is supported by the ECH, ECCH, ICH, HRI, LMHI, and other professional associations. The collected data includes demographic information, severity, conventional diagnosis and treatment, presenting symptoms as well as the remedies prescribed. The outcome of treatment was tracked using the ORIDL scale. More recently a 23-items prospective questionnaire was added to the input in order to gather targeted data about the presenting complaints. The recent wave of the Omicron variant in Hong-Kong, was analysed (N=372 cases) in terms of the symptomatology of this variant. The data from the 23-items questionnaire is compared to the longer questionnaire (150 items) used by the Hong-Kong team (21 practitioners). The most frequently reported common Clinical symptoms were extreme tiredness (60%), sore throat (46%), headache during fever (45%), dryness of mouth (37%), poor appetite (37%), runny nose (34%) and unusual muscle pains (31%).Also, the cases collected from around the world over the course of the pandemic (N=1300) were analysed, providing an overall picture of the pandemic and its specificities per country and over time. Clificol has shown and continues to show the value of data collection for the homeopathy community, providing important information for the management of future pandemics and opening new avenues for research in homeopathy.

El uso de la Medicina Natural y Tradicional frente a la enfermedad del coronavirus / The use of Natural and Traditional Medicine against the coronavirus disease

El origen de la Medicina Natural y Tradicional (MNT) está íntimamente unido al de la humanidad y a la historia del hombre en su lucha por la supervivencia. Se define como la especialidad que incluye un conjunto de métodos y técnicas terapéuticas que consisten en restablecer el equilibrio en el individuo y entre él y el universo. Por la gran importancia de esta rama de la medicina en la época actual se realizó una revisión bibliográfica con el obejtivo de fundamentar los sutentos teóricos relacionados con el uso de la MNT en la batalla contra los efectos del coronavirus. Para ello se consultaron bases de datos del portal de salud en Cuba, Infomed, Scielo, trabajos originales y artículos de revisión para un total de 22 referencias bibliográficas. Se consluyó que la MNT constituye una alternativa más de tratamiento para diferentes enfermedades, en especial, la Covid-19.