POXVIRUS , SMALLPOX AND HOMEOPATHY: WHEN THE HISTORY OF EPIDEMICS SHEDS LIGHT ON OUR PRESENT

Far from being an isolated and mysterious disease, Contagious Lung Dermatosis ( CLD) in cattle belongs to a large family of viruses well known for millennia: Poxviruses . These DNA viruses, whose traces go back more than 3,000 years in human history, are responsible for emblematic diseases, starting with smallpox.

A FAMILY OF VIRUSES WITH MANY FACES

The Poxvirus family does not affect just one host: it manifests itself in a wide range of animal species.

·       Sheep develop eczema of viral origin,

·       camels their " camelpox" "

·       rabbits of forms called " rabbitpox ".

·       In cattle, cowpox has historically been studied closely: it was this virus that the English physician Edward Jenner used to develop the first vaccination against smallpox at the end of the 18th century.

·      The long list also includes swinepox (pigs) and monkeypox. (monkeys and humans) or even to buffalopox .

 Poxviruses (family Poxviridae) are DNA viruses, much larger and more complex than coronaviruses. They cause characteristic skin lesions (pustules, crusts, nodules), often visible to the naked eye.

 Epizootics (Diseases affecting an animal species or group of species as a whole in a more or less extensive region) have direct repercussions :

·       on human economic activities: significant losses due to animal death or reduced yield (decreased egg laying, lactation or growth);

·       on the health history of humanity: smallpox epidemics have marked the decline of entire civilizations, from medieval Japan to the Aztec Empire in Mexico.

 SMALLPOX: COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND TIMELESS FEAR

Historically, smallpox was one of the most feared diseases, responsible for millions of deaths and major societal upheavals.

Until 1978, the date of its official eradication, vaccination against smallpox was mandatory for travelling abroad.

In the collective unconscious, the mere mention of this disease remains associated with terror, comparable to that left by the plague.

This pandemic memory resurfaces regularly, as recently, with the return of local outbreaks of monkeypox , identified within certain communities where its human-to-human transmission worries health authorities.

HOMEOPATHY'S ​​ANSWERS

In homeopathy, the Poxvirus family has held a special place since the 19th century. Practitioners of the time, including Samuel Hahnemann, the father of the discipline, relied on the study of epidemics to develop so-called prophylactic strategies.

The idea was to identify, from the first symptoms, the “similimum” remedy – the one whose action most closely resembled the manifestations of the disease – and to administer it not only to treat but also to preventively protect exposed populations.

 From this practice arose what homeopaths call homeo prophylaxis , a collective approach that is said to have helped popularize homeopathy beyond wealthy elites.

Nosodes – prepared from attenuated infected tissues, such as:

·       variolinum (derived from smallpox),

·       malandrinum (related to horsepox , the equine virus),

·     or even vaccinotoxinum (derived from all natural and/or vaccine inoculation practices)  repeated)

 They were thus developed and used as prevention tools.

WHEN EPIDEMICS SHAPE EPIGENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISEASES: THE TERRAIN IS EVERYTHING!

At the crossroads of medicine, history and imagination, smallpox not only contributed to disrupting the evolution of entire societies: it also played a key role in the development of alternative medical practices and in the global spread of homeopathy.

Today, the periodic resurgence of certain Poxviruses in the animal kingdom as well as in humans reminds us that these infectious agents have succeeded in modifying the "epigenetic" terrain.  = Changes in gene expression that occur without alteration of the DNA sequence; they can be inherited or induced by environmental factors or stress and play an important role in gene regulation * and the occurrence of numerous human diseases.

The historical study of the "terrains" of human epigenetic susceptibility (universal scabies and psora, tuberculosis and tuberculinism, venereal diseases and sycosis or syphilis) is a major contribution and asset of homeopathy to the understanding, prevention and therapeutic care of humans, as well as other animal species. 

 *The term gene describes everything related to a gene, its structure, function, or modification. A gene is defined as a unit of information located on DNA, coding for one or more products essential for the survival and development of organisms.