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Leptospirosis (also known as Weil's Disease) is an infectious disease carried by rats and caused by bacteria called spirochetes usually found in contaminated water. It is common in tropical countries such as Cuba, especially after heavy rain. In late 2007, after a period of particularly heavy rainfall, Cuba faced an potential epidemic of Leptospirosis but only had enough vaccine to treat 15,000 high-risk people. The government therefore decided to treat the entire population over one year of age (around 2.3 million) in the province worst affected with a homeopathic medicine prepared from the inactivated causative organism by the Cuban National Vaccine Institute. Within a few weeks the number of cases of Leptospirosis had fallen from the forecast 38 to 4 cases per 100,000 per week, significantly lower than could have been predicted from previous years’ figures. The 8.8 million population of the other provinces did not receive homeopathic treatment and the incidence of the illness was as forecast. Moreover, the effect seemed to last: there was an 84% reduction in infection in the population who had received the homeopathic treatment region in the following year when, for the first time, incidence did not correlate with rainfall, while the incidence in the untreated region increased by 22%. Dr Peter Fisher, editor of Homeopathy in which the ‘experiment’ was reported, notes that this was a very large study and its results, if confirmed, could have huge potential impact. However, more research is needed into the effectiveness of homeopathic preparations in preventing infectious diseases, complications, and the economic viability of a homeopathic approach. .Bracho G, Varela E, Fernández R, et al. Large-scale application of highly-diluted bacteria for Leptospirosis epidemic control. Homeopathy 2010; 99: 156-166.
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