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Background: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease of major importance in the tropics where the incidence peaks in rainy seasons. Natural disasters represent a big challenge to Leptospirosis prevention strategies especially in endemic regions. Vaccination is an effective option but of reduced effectiveness in emergency situations. Homeoprophylactic interventions might help to control epidemics by using highly-diluted pathogens to induce protection in a short timescale. We report the results of a very large-scale homeoprophylaxis (HP) intervention against Leptospirosis in a dangerous epidemic situation in three provinces of Cuba in 2007.

Methods: Forecast models were used to estimate possible trends of disease incidence. A homeoprophylactic formulation was prepared from dilutions of four circulating strains of Leptospirosis. This formulation was administered orally to 2.3 million persons at high risk in an epidemic in a region affected by natural disasters. The data from surveillance were used to measure the impact of the intervention by comparing with historical trends and non-intervention regions.

Results: After the homeoprophylactic intervention a significant decrease of the disease incidence was observed in the intervention regions. No such modifications were observed in non-intervention regions. In the intervention region the incidence of Leptospirosis fell below the historic median. This observation was independent of rainfall.

Conclusions: The homeoprophylactic approach was associated with a large reduction of disease incidence and control of the epidemic. The results suggest the use of HP as a feasible tool for epidemic control, further research is warranted.

Cuba monitors levels of Leptospirosis infection carefully and rates of disease are known to peaks during periods of heavy rainfall and flooding. In 2007 a serious epidemic began to develop in three provinces and the risk of disease was further increased by wide-spread flooding. The government was faced with the emergency situation of having only 15,000 doses of vaccine available for 2.3 million people living in high-risk areas.

Due to the extreme circumstances, the novel approach of homeoprophylaxis (HP) was attempted. A homeopathic medicine made from inactivated Leptospirosis bacteria was given to 2.3 million people at high-risk, while the remaining 8.8 million members of the population were untreated.

Within weeks of the HP intervention being given, a dramatic decrease was seen in the number of confirmed cases, from 38 to 4-6 cases per week*. The projected incidence for this period had been 111-461 cases per week, representing a decrease of between 91.8 and 65.8%. This drop occurred at the point when HP treatment had been received by 70% of the population.

The HP preparation 'nosoLep' was manufactured using four inactivated strains of Leptospirosis-causing bacteria. The treatment regime involved two oral doses of nosoLEP 200c given 7-9 days apart. Treatment was continued 10-12 months later with two oral doses of nosoLEP 10MC given 7-9 days apart. Each dose comprised 5 drops under the tongue (given by trained health professionals) and administered 20 mins away from eating, drinking and smoking. HP treatment was restricted to those over 1 year of age.

Homeoprophylaxis was given to 92% of the 2.3 million high-risk population; in addition to this use of the 15,000 doses of conventional vaccine included vaccination of 0.6% of the high-risk population.

*'cases per week' means the number of cases of Leptospirosis per 100,000 people, per week.

The use of ultra-diluted natural products in the management of disease and treatment of cancer has generated a lot of interest and controversy. We conducted an in vitro study to determine if products prescribed by a clinic in India have any effect on breast cancer cell lines. We studied four ultra-diluted remedies (Carcinosin, Phytolacca, Conium and Thuja) against two human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and a cell line derived from immortalized normal human mammary epithelial cells (HMLE). The remedies exerted preferential cytotoxic effects against the two breast cancer cell lines, causing cell cycle delay/arrest and apoptosis. These effects were accompanied by altered expression of the cell cycle regulatory proteins, including downregulation of phosphorylated Rb and upregulation of the CDK inhibitor p27, which were likely responsible for the cell cycle delay/arrest as well as induction of the apoptotic cascade that manifested in the activation of caspase 7 and cleavage of PARP in the treated cells. The findings demonstrate biological activity of these natural products when presented at ultra-diluted doses. Further indepth studies with additional cell lines and animal models are warranted to explore the applicability of these agents.

In a recent paper, Nobel Prize winner, Prof Luc Montagnier, and his team report the results of a series of rigorous experiments investigating the electromagnetic (EM) properties of highly-diluted biological samples.

They found that pathogenic bacteria and viruses show a distinct EM signature at dilutions ranging from 10-5 to 10-12 (corresponding to ~3CH to 6CH) and that small DNA fragments (responsible for pathogenicity) were solely accountable for the EM signal. The EM signature changed with dilution levels but was unaffected by the initial concentration and remained even after the remaining DNA fragments were destroyed by chemical agents.

They observed that the EM signal was destroyed by heating or freezing the sample. Also, a 'cross-talk' effect was found whereby a negative sample inhibits the positive signal in another sample if they are left together overnight in a shielded container. It was also noted that the samples needed be 'vortexed' (a process akin to succussion) for the EM effects to be present. They propose that specific aqueous nano-structures form in the samples during the dilution process and are responsible for the EM effects measured.

With this initial paper Prof Montagnier and his team have started a very promising line of enquiry, which has direct relevance to homeopathy as they continue to investigate the characteristic physico-chemical properties found in high-dilutions of biological material.

Dr A Tournier PhD, HRI Founding director

In this pragmatic randomised controlled trial, adjunctive homeopathic care consisted of five in depth consultations and individualised homeopathic medicines, with outcome being measured by difference in Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Total score at 22 weeks. In the group receiving homeopathic as well as usual care, significantly greater improvements were seen in pain, fatigue and tiredness upon waking, compared with those receiving usual care only. The greatest effect of the adjunctive homeopathic treatment was improved function. No adverse events were reported.

The results of this collaboration between Barnsley Hospital and the University of Sheffield, were published in the Faculty's journal 'Homeopathy' earlier this year.

The research team included Society members Clare Relton, Jackie Raw and Clare Walters. The success of this initial project has enabled Jackie and Clare to secure further funding from Homeopathy Action Trust to continue their research into the homeopathic treatment of FMS. The next stage has already begun, with a case series investigating the optimum period of homeopathic treatment for FMS. This will inform the profession as a whole and contribute to the design of a large-scale trial planned for 2010 in collaboration with Clare Relton at Leeds University.