YYellow fever is a viral infection transmitted by a bite from infected mosquitoes most commonly found in parts of South America and Africa. The WebMD website says that when transmitted to humans, the yellow fever virus can damage the liver and other internal organs and be potentially fatal. The World Health Organisation has estimated there are some 200,000 cases of yellow fever reported worldwide every year, resulting in 30,000 deaths. Indeed, Web MD state that yellow fever is increasing, internationally, "due to a decreased immunity to infection among local populations, deforestation, climate change, and high-density urbanization".
Conventional Medical Treatment for Yellow Fever
As usual, I have used the NHS Choices website as a guide to the conventional medical treatment of Yellow Fever. They can offer no treatment, but state that "there's a very effective vaccine that can stop you getting yellow fever if you're travelling to an area where the infection is found". The Web MD website confirms that there is no treatment.
"Because there is no cure for the viral infection itself, medical treatment of yellow fever focuses on easing symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, and dehydration."
Conventional medicine uses the Yellow Fever vaccine as a preventative. However, NHS Choices warns that it does have some minor side effects, such as a headache, muscle pain, a mild fever and soreness at the injection site. Unfortunately, this is not the whole truth. It states that babies under nine months of age, pregnant and breastfeeding women, people over the age of 60, people with weakened immune systems, and people who are allergic to any of the vaccines ingredients. such as an egg allergy, are not allowed to have the vaccine. That rules out a large proportion of the population from the only preventative measure conventional medicine has to offer, for a disease for which there is not treatment.
Indeed, the adverse reactions caused by the Yellow Fever vaccine are far more serious that admitted by NHS Choices, and they are outlined on the Drugs.Com website as follows:
• convulsions (seizures)
• difficulty with breathing or swallowing
• fast heartbeat
• feeling of burning, crawling, or tingling of the skin
• nervousness or irritability
• reddening of the skin
• severe headache
• skin rash or itching
• stiff neck
• throbbing in the ears
• unusual tiredness or weakness
• Difficulty with moving
• joint pain
• low fever
• muscle aching or cramping
• muscle pains or stiffness
• swollen joints
So conventional medicine admits that it has no treatment, and its preventative vaccine comes with the prospect of a wide variety of serious and painful side effects.
Homeopathic Treatment of Yellow Fever
Homeopathy is a medical therapy that will avoid some of the side-effects and adverse reactions of conventional medical treatment. Homeopathy is the second most popular medical therapy in the world, and the most popular holistic system of medicine. Homeopathy is based on remedies made from a variety of different substances, all of which are known to cause symptoms of illness if taken in their normal form. However, homeopathy has discovered that substances that cause symptoms of illness can also cure those same symptoms of illness.
This is the principle of “Like cures Like” on which all homeopathy is based.
The task of the homeopath is to find a remedy whose symptom picture matches the symptoms of a person’s illness. These remedy symptom pictures have been developed over the last 220 years.
The selection of a homeopathic remedy is based on the individual’s symptoms of illness, not on any broad conventionally-defined illness. It is important to stress this. Homeopathy does not treat illness or diseases. Instead it treats an individual who has been diagnosed with a particular illness or disease. The distinction is important, and if you wish to read more about this, click on the chapter “Illness Diagnosis”.
As far as Yellow Fever is concerned, homeopathy has highlighted a number of remedies that have been found to be useful in its treatment.
Susan Curtis, in her 'Handbook of Homeopathic Alternatives to Immunisations', says that homeopathic prophylaxis for Yellow Fever is the 'Yellow Fever' nosode (a remedy made from the virus), to be taken once a week whilst travelling in endemic regions, or one dose three times a week during an epidemic. This is available from homeopathic pharmacies for a fraction of the cost of the Yellow Fever vaccines.
The Hpathy website has outlined some simple remedy pictures for a number of these remedies. All the remedies mentioned are safe, and any remedy that matches the patient’s symptoms will be effective. These simple remedy pictures give some indication of the types of symptoms they will treat.
Nearly all homeopathic authorities praise this remedy in the early stage of yellow fever where there is high fever, chilliness and dry skin, bounding pulse and the characteristic mental accompaniments which are quite likely to be present in this disease. It will speedily calm the febrile storm in these conditions.
Is a remedy for the onset when the patient is apathetic and dull, and Belladonna or Bryonia may also come in during the first stage. Very often, too, Camphora with its coldness and tendency to collapse may be the remedy. The vomiting of the first stage is often controlled by Ipecac.
This remedy comes in most frequently in the second and third stages, and is one of the most important remedies in the disease. The patient has continued nausea and vomiting, and the vomited matter consist of bile or mucosities filled with blackish or sanguinolent streaks; the face is yellow and the pulse is small, weak and tremulous. There is much burning in the praecordial region and intense burning thirst, but, of course for small quantities of water only. No better remedy for these symptoms is to be found than Arsenicum. It sill often alone suffice to cure.
This remedy has given very satisfactory results in yellow fever, especially when vomiting is present, abdominal tenderness, brown tongue, delirium, slow speech, nausea, offensive discharges and black urine. It corresponds to nerve-poisoning and suits bad looking cases.
Is a useful remedy for haemorrhages of black blood, profuse sweat with exhaustion, foetid stools and diminished secretion of urine.
Is also one of the best remedies in the disease. It covers the vomiting; especially is it of use when the patient sinks and the vomiting become worse.
Phosphorous with its haemorrhages; jaundice and other symptoms is a close simile to certain forms; it was successfully used in an epidemic occurring in Rio de Janerio.
This remedy produces a perfect picture of yellow fever, and it corresponds to the stage of black vomit and blood poisoning- there is a low delirium, yellow skin and oozing of blood from every orifice of the body, even bloody sweat is sometimes present. The yellow skin produced by this remedy is characteristic, and denotes blood poisoning rather than jaundice. Cadmium sulphate has also the symptoms of black vomit, and its study in the disease is suggested.
This remedy has been considered as a preventive of yellow fever. Hering says this remedy more than any other drug corresponds in the totality of its action to yellow fever. It suits the third stage where collapse, coldness, extremely foetid discharge and great exhaustion of the vital forces are present.
Many of these remedies can be found in simple home-use remedy kits that can be obtained from these Homeopathic Pharmacies. However, for an accurate, individualised remedy selection, patients should consult with a qualified homeopath This increases the likelihood of matching an individual with a remedy that will work for them. A remedy that does not match the symptoms of an individual’s illness will not work, but equally will do no harm!
Scientific Evidence Supporting Homeopathy
There is a significant and growing amount of scientific evidence confirming that homeopathy is a safe and effective medical therapy. However, this evidence remains only the third most important proof of this.
The most important proof for the safety and effectiveness of homeopathy is clinical experience, that is the many millions of patients who, having suffered serious illness, have been treated successfully with homeopathy. This is going on throughout the world, and been doing so for over 200 years.
Homeopathy has also developed a voluminous materia medica. This contains the intricate details of the healing properties of several thousand substances used to make homeopathic remedies. The short remedy pictures above are just a tiny part of this knowledge.
I am not aware of any scientific testing of homeopathic treatment on Yellow Fever.
The information on this webpage represents the views and opinion of the author, based on his clinical experience, and the traditions of Homeopathy. This material is provided for information only, and should not be construed as medical advice or instruction. Always consult with a suitably qualified and registered Homeopath, or with a medical doctor for advice about the treatment they offer, especially in serious or life threatening medical conditions, or if you are already taking medical drugs.’