Landmark Homeopathic Research Study: Leptospirosis

A study in the August 2010 UK journal Homeopathy describes the successful use of homeopathy to prevent epidemic disease—one of the first such studies and the largest homeopathic trial in modern medical literature. It took place in Cuba, where researchers and public health officials collaborated in the homeopathic immunization of over 2 million persons against Leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease of the tropics and the developing world. In recent years, however, it has increasingly been recognized as a serious problem worldwide. Primarily spread through contaminated drinking water, the incidence rises during rainy seasons, floods, and natural disasters. Dozens to hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of serious illnesses are caused by Leptospirosis in Cuba each year, primarily from October to December.

In October 2007, with an unusually early rise in disease incidence indicating the likelihood of an especially dire season and with the inability to procure enough conventional vaccine, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health used a homeopathically prepared vaccine product. Made from 4 strains of Leptospira, the homeopathic product was administered orally to 2.1 million people in regions considered at highest risk. The rest of the 11 million Cubans did not receive any preventative forms of medicine, other than 15,000 ­people in the intervention region, who received the conventional vaccine.

Unprecedented results

Within 2 weeks of giving the homeopathic product, a 90% decrease in disease incidence was observed in the intervention region. This was stunning, considering that the disease had historically increased during this period (even with administration of conventional vaccination) and statistical models had predicted a nearly 100% increase. No decrease was observed in the non-intervention region—instead, the usual increase for this time of year occurred.

In September 2008, a second round of homeopathic prophylaxis was given—this time to 2.3 million persons. Again, results demonstrated the effectiveness of the homeopathic product, with disease rates significantly below the historical average, despite a record rainy season. In the non-intervention region in 2008, disease incidence remained at historical levels, just as in 2007.

The total annual incidence of Leptospirosis was reduced in the intervention region by 84% from 2007 to 2008, while incidence rose in the non-intervention region by 21%. The researchers considered numerous variables besides homeopathy that may have influenced the trends, but all were shown to be statistically non-significant.

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Prestigious institute, significant implications

The study was conducted at the Finlay Institute—Cuba’s national medical research institute and a World Health Organization recognized facility on par with major university medical centers in the U.S. The institute is primarily involved with conventional medicine but also has a small homeopathy arm.
Since 1998, scientists at Finlay have manufactured the world’s only trivalent conventional vaccine for Leptospirosis—“vaxSpiral.” This product takes almost a year to make, costs the Cuban government $3M, and covers just 800,000 of its citizens (leaving a large percentage unprotected). By contrast, the homeopathic vaccine was manufactured within one week at a cost of $200,000 (about 2% of the cost of conventional vaccine) and covered 2.3 million people.

The fact that homeopathic prophylactic medicines can be manufactured so quickly makes it possible to create vaccines in real time using the exact strain of annual infectious organisms as they emerge—something not possible in conventional vaccine manufacture and often leading to vaccine failure (in influenza, for example).

None of this invalidates conventional vaccinations, but it does present a potential lifesaving opportunity for developing countries that lack resources to either purchase the conventional vaccine and/or administer it to their populations. If replicated sufficiently in further studies and shown to be reliable, homeopathic immunization could greatly benefit the developed world as well.

Imagine that…

Which brings up the unfortunate fact that none of the prominent conventional ­medical journals would publish it. Homeopathy editor Peter Fisher commented: “It is hard to imagine that such an impressive study of a conventional medicine or ­vaccine would not be published in a major medical journal, especially given the sample size of 2.3 million subjects.”

But we don’t need to imagine, since the authors of this study have indeed had their work in conventional medicine consistently published in prominent journals. Lead author Gustavo Bracho and investigators Jorge Menendez, Luis Garcia, Rosa Solis, and Concepcion Campa have published dozens of papers in journals such as Science, Vaccine, Human Vaccines, Expert Review of Vaccines, Infection and Immunity, The International Journal of Medical Microbiology, and Immunology and Cell Biology.

This sort of “all evidence is equal but some evidence is more equal than others” attitude is a fact most in the homeopathic community have unfortunately grown accustomed to.
Nevertheless, it is a good day for homeopathy and for those willing to listen.

Christopher Johnson, ND, is Vice President of the Virginia Association of Naturopathic Physicians and a graduate of Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine. He practices in Alexandria, Virginia. www.thrivenaturopathic.com or 703-836-3678