Daniel Blanco of Argentina says
For memory cells to exist, nonspecific immunity must first be activated, and this inevitably leads to the formation of antibodies. For nonspecific immunity to be activated, there must be something recognized as foreign to the body. Nosodes contain nothing that can be recognized by any component of the immune system. Apparently, they misunderstood how immunity works. Saying that nosodes stimulate cellular immunity is a gross fallacy that also goes against the basic principles of homeopathy.
I kept being advised by Lepto nosode users, to research the Cuba lepto Nosodes event, where people claim that the population were given nosodes that helped to bring down a lepto infection. So I did.
And it is clear that a number of holistic vets have climbed on the band wagon, and made unproven claims.
I found that Dr Gustavo Bracho Granado was involved in the 2008 event in Cuba, and co-wrote the article, "Large-scale application of highly-diluted bacteria for Leptospirosis epidemic control."
I would like to thank Dr Bracho Granado, of Flinders University, Australia, for providing me with a full copy of the report. A public extract can be viewed at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1475491610000585
The article sets out that an area of Eastern Cuba suffered tropical rainstorms, with the high volume of rainfall putting residents at risk of lepto, due to contamination of water by flood water. The area of three provinces was called the Intervention Region, or IR for short. All the remaining provinces of Cuba were considered as another geographical area, and designated Rest of the Country, or RC for short.
The IR consisted of a population of some 2,404,787 people. 72,144 (3%) of that population had already been vaccinated with the human VaxSpiral vaccine, due to their being classed as At risk of becoming infected of Lepto due to housing location or work type.
The vaxSpiral vaccine comprises three pathogenic strains (L. interogans Serovar Canicola, L. interogans Serovar Copenhageni and L. kirschneri Serovar Mozdok).
During the risk of disease period over 2007/2008 - Chemoprophylaxis (medications to prevent or slow the development of disease or infection) was applied mainly for focal treatment and outbreak control to high-risk groups when identified and consisted of a weekly oral dose of Doxicycline 100 mg. Doxicycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
Homeoprophylactic strategies:
Homeoprophylactic, or HP for short, is the use of homeopathy, as a preventive medicine or immunisation against serious infectious diseases.
HP intervention was implemented for the entire population, over 1 year of age, of the IR. It consisted in the application of the homeopathic product nosoLEP in two different potencies. HP started in week 45 of 2007 with two oral doses of nosoLEP 200C with an interval between doses of 7 to 9 days. Ten to twelve months later, the schedule was completed by the administration of another two oral doses (7 to 9 days apart) of nosoLEP 10MC. Each dose consisted of five drops (250 to 300 mL) administered sublingually (under the tongue) 20 m away from eating, smoking or drinking. It was administered by about 5000 personnel of public health system of Cuba which included family doctors, nurses, social workers and paramedics that were trained in the administration procedure. The intervention was organized and stratified in order to achieve the highest coverage in the shortest time as possible.
nosoLEP comprises four highly-diluted strains of inactivated leptospiras: L. interogans Serovar Canicola, L. interogans Serovar Copenhageni, L. kirschneri Serovar Mozdok and L. borgpetrsenii Serovar Ballum. The strains were selected on basis of the frequency of isolation (circulation rate), viability and virulence. Inactivated bacteria (106 bacteria/ml) were used as source material for mother tinctures obtaining.
From the mother tinctures, 1/100 serial dilutions were prepared using homeopathic pharmaco-technical methods (Korvsakovian dilutions). Between each dilution step, the solution was succussed 100 times using an automatic dynamizer up to 200°C (200 1:100 dilutions) and 10 MC (104 1:100 dilutions). The four strains were processed independently and mixed in equal proportions in the final products (nosoLEP 200C and nosoLEP 10MC), in 30% ethanol. The quality of final products was controlled by measuring the alcohol content, water quality, pH and microbiologic load.
The report/article by Dr Gustavo Bracho Granado, et al states
"Vaccination represents, to date, the most effective option for disease control despite the fact that Leptospirosis vaccines are not widely available. vaxSpiral is the commercial name of the only three-valent Leptospirosis vaccine available in the market. It is a whole cell inactivated preparation developed and produced at Finlay Institute, Cuba. vaxSpiral demonstrated a 78.1% efficacy and good safety profile in clinical trials conducted in Cuba has been included in the national immunization program since 1998 for immunization of individuals over 15 years old in at-risk groups (mainly farmers and animal breeding workers)."
So having read and digested that, I then searched the UK for information on Lepto nosodes, their make up, and their use.
The BAHVS, the BAVH, and the IAVH were asked :-
I keep hearing about nosodes being used to protect dogs against Lepto. I'm aware that there's around 15 or so strains of lepto that have been found in dogs in the UK.
I would appreciate it if your organisation could explain how the nosodes are given to the dog, how one determines the amount for different sizes of dog, how it helps the dog, and how one proves that it is protected or helped against all those strains of Lepto in the UK - as in, has it been given enough or too much.
Many thanks
Mark Ellis
The British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons (BAHVS) https://bahvs.net/ replied :-
So I then looked at the commercial Lepto Nosodes for dogs, that are sold on the internet. One such company is Abnobapetstore.
https://abnobapetstore.co.uk/dog/health/homeopathic-nosodes/nosodes-for-dogs-size-60-pillules.html
I found that they sell a Nosodes product that protects again; Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvo Virus, and Leptospirosis.
Suggested use:
One pillule twice daily for three days,
Then one pillule weekly for six weeks,
Then one pillule monthly for six months.
This should be repeated every year.
If in contact with disease take one pillule twice daily
And states "Nosodes are prepared by homeopathic dilution. Although they have been used for many years, they have not been subjected to clinical trials, so therefore the evidence for their prophylactic use can not be substantiated."
So I emailed Abnobapetstore, and asked
I look forward to their response.
I have been contacted by some dog owners who use Lepto Nosodes. These Nosodes come as liquid or tablet. I am told that they just randomly put the fully disolvable tablet or liquid into the dog's water bowl, and the dog is fully protected by the nosodes.
I have asked them as to which strains of Lepto they are protecting their dogs against. They claim (despite the evidence shown by Dr Gustavo Bracho Granado) that nosodes do not work like that, and the nosode protects from all strains of Lepto. I point out that despite their claims about Cuba in 2008, this was not the case.
Puppy Shots – Understand Vaccinations - from https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/page/357/?tags=weapon
Dr. Susan G. Wynn, a private practitioner in Marietta, Georgia, has done teaching in alternative medicine, co-edited a text for veterinary schools entitled Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine, and completed a four-year post-doctoral fellowship in viral immunology. She agrees with Dr. Dodds.
“There is no question that vaccines are more beneficial than harmful,” she says. “Distemper used to kill some 50 percent of all dogs born. I have seen a total of three cases of distemper since my 1987 graduation. Vaccines have played a really important role in reducing the incidence of severe, infectious diseases. They have been so effective that today we do see more adverse vaccine reactions than the infections themselves, which may give the appearance that the vaccine is worse than the disease. This is simply not the case. Ceasing all vaccinations would be foolhardy. Our challenge is to reduce vaccines to the least needed to prevent harm, while maintaining our current high level of protection against infectious diseases.”
Little support for nosodes
Nosodes are a homeopathic alternative to vaccinations, in which a small amount of the infectious agent is potentized in water (by vigorous shaking) and then diluted to such a degree that there is no longer any measurable amount of the agent in the liquid. Some holistic veterinarians believe nosodes to be effective in preventing disease. Others, including Dr. Wynn, are reluctant to place much faith in them.
“While they are certainly not harmful and perhaps they are beneficial, there is no scientific evidence to support their effectiveness,” says Dr. Wynn. “In fact, there is at least one study that clearly showed nosodes to be ineffective against parvovirus.”
The theory suggested by a number of nosode users is that because they have been giving their dog these nosodes for x years, and the dogs have not become infected with Lepto over those X years, then the nosodes protected the dog from getting Lepto for those X years.
Now then. My dog, Katie was last vaccinated with Nobivac L4 in November 2015. I took ownership of Katie in March 2016, and she has shown no signs of Lepto infection over the last 9 years. So based on the Nosode users' theory - then the Nobivac L4 must offer assistance to the dog for more than 9 years.
But of course, it does not actually mean that at all. It's like someone saying, "Well, I have a wine gum every day, and I've never had appendicitis. So wine gums must protect me."
To emphasis the response by IAVH,
"You should consult with a local homeopathic veterinarian, but not all homeopathic practitioners use nosodes or agree upon their efficacy, so you may need to seek someone with whom you can discuss this."
Or in other words, find a holistic vet who will take your money.
The reality is that people are putting an unknown, untested, unapproved product into their dog - which just happens not to have be infected by, or shown symptoms of being infected with Lepto.
So I'll merrily challenge any vet or homepthatic formula supplier to conduct independent clinical trials - to prove that Lepto nosodes actually protect the dog from Lepto, or help the dog to fight off any lepto infection.
An extract from http://www.canismajor.com/dog/vacci01.html
Homeopathic remedies - an alternative to vaccines?
Herbal and homeopathic remedies and treatments such as acupuncture and chiropractic are gaining popularity as alternatives to modern medicine for people and pets, but it is highly unlikely that anything in this assortment of alternative remedies will replace vaccinations against canine and feline diseases. Homeopathic nosodes have been used as a vaccine substitute and credited with preventing these diseases, but there are no studies that support their use on a broad scale and no quality assurance in their production.
Susan Gayle Wynn, DVM, said on the Alternative Veterinary Medicine website (http://www.altvetmed.com/articles/vaccinations.html) that ". . . unfortunately, there is no convincing evidence that nosodes do prevent disease. A few studies published in homeopathic journals suggest that nosodes may decrease the severity of active disease and possibly prevent the spread of epidemics, but these studies are not well-controlled."
Wynn, a homeopathic veterinarian, continued: "The results of one well-controlled study suggest that parvovirus nosodes are completely ineffective in preventing parvoviral disease under experimental challenge conditions. Until well-designed studies are completed and thousands of pet owners make a concerted effort to help with potential retrospective studies, nosodes remain an unknown quantity and I do not recommend using them as a sole strategy for disease prevention."
Dr. Wynn recommends puppy and kitten vaccinations followed by annual boosters for a year or two.
An extract from Dr Jones DVM's book, Dog Health Secrets, where he tries to sell you his "Health formula"
"Some holistic practitioners advocate the use of homeopathic nosodes for heartworm prevention. Again, there are no studies indicating that they are effective. In his book, Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs, Don Hamilton, DVM, says “I do know of some cases where the nosode did not protect, however. I believe it does offer some protection, though it may be incomplete. If you decide to try the nosode, you must understand that its effectiveness is currently unknown.”
A conversation on Facebook, between myself and a UK Holistic vet
Substack is a website, where you have to subscribe in order to read the content.
The Canadian government have taken a very strong stance on nosodes. An extract from https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/homeopathic-remedies-are-not-substitute-vaccines
OTTAWA – Health Canada is concerned about false claims being made in some marketing of homeopathic remedies, known as nosodes, stating that the product can prevent infectious diseases. Nosodes are not, and never have been, approved by Health Canada to be vaccine alternatives. There is no evidence supporting their effectiveness in preventing or treating infectious diseases. No homeopathic products should be promoted as an alternative to vaccines because there are no substitutes for vaccines.
Health Canada is aware of reports that some homeopathic and naturopathic practitioners are promoting nosodes for “homeoprophylaxis,” suggesting they can protect children from illness. The Department has not approved any nosodes with homeoprophylaxis claims. We are following up on these reports, and if we identify any non-compliance with the Food and Drugs Act or its regulations, we will take action.
Health Canada requires that the labels on all homeopathic nosode products include the following statements to make it clear that they are neither vaccines nor vaccine alternatives:
“This product is neither a vaccine nor an alternative to vaccination.”
“This product has not been proven to prevent infection.”
“Health Canada does not recommend its use in children and advises that your child receive all routine vaccinations.”
An article of 1999 - from Advances in Veterinary Medicine, Vol 41
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065351999800238?via%3Dihub
The question of frequency of vaccination of dogs should be addressed. Annual revaccinations for CDV, CPV, and CAV are probably not needed. However, it would be desirable to collect more data to support less frequent vaccinations. Annual immunization for bacterial diseases such as kennel cough, Lyme disease, and leptospirosis should continue. It also would be desirable to develop more oro/nasal vaccines, perhaps combined with newly developed vectors that are less likely to induce undesirable side effects that may be seen after parenteral vaccination.
Finally a word of warning against homeopathic “nosodes” to replace tested canine vaccines. They will appear highly effective as long as the majority of dogs remain vaccinated. As soon as a nonvaccinated dog population is large enough to allow virulent agents to spread, disease outbreaks will occur and we will be back where we began 40 years ago.
