The medical detective

Treating infections - Treating viral herpes

One patient who had recurrent genital herpes for 12 years took powdered Echinacea at the maximum listed dose. So long as he began treatment within one or two hours of the onset of tingling and neuralgia, the pain subsided within six hours, and the outbreak was aborted. Although he had never been able to prevent an outbreak once the neuralgia began (even with high doses of lysine, a classical remedy for herpes), he has not had a single eruption since starting the Echinacea regime eight years ago. Recurrences have also become less and less frequent (Br J Phytother, 1991; 2: 5).

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