Echinacea as effective as Tamiflu for early flu treatment

Published: 11-Dec-2015

Researchers conclude that echinacea is an attractive therapy for acute influenza


Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is a popular prescription antiviral drug used to treat influenza; however, a 2014 systemic review in the British Medical Journal found only a modest benefit and that it can cause nausea, headaches and renal and psychiatric syndromes.

A 2015 study featured in Current Therapeutic Research compared an Echinacea purpurea extract to Tamiflu and found that the echinacea was just as effective without the side-effects.

In this randomised, double-blind, multicentre clinical trial, 473 patients experiencing flu symptoms for 48 hours or less were randomised to receive either 5 days of Tamiflu treatment, 5 days of placebo or ten days of echinacea in the form of an Echinacea purpurea-based hot drink (Echinaforce Hotdrink, A. Vogel/Bioforce AG, Roggwil, Switzerland).

Recovery from the flu was comparable in the two treatment groups (10 day recovery rate of 90.1% for Echinacea and 84.8% for Tamiflu versus placebo; however, there were far fewer adverse events in the Echinacea group (2.46% vs 6.45% incidence). The primary side-effect of the Tamiflu was nausea. In fact, nine of the patients in the Tamiflu group dropped out of the study because of the side-effects.

The researchers noted that risk of drug resistance, safety issues and limited availability challenge the usefulness of drugs like Tamiflu for early flu symptoms. They conclude that echinacea is an attractive therapy for acute influenza because it has a better safety profile than drugs such as Tamiflu and it appears to be just as effective for early treatment.

The World Health Organisation estimates that epidemic influenza causes between 30,000 and 40,000 deaths a year in the United States. Finding safe ways to treat the flu will not only save lives, it will help millions of Americans avoid feeling miserable. Echinacea is considered to be safe and has a long history of use as a potent immune stimulating botanical.

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