A Homeopathic Combination Preparation in the Treatment of Feverish Upper Respiratory Tract Infections: An International Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND Upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) are very common and associated with considerable healthcare costs. We evaluated the clinical benefit of a homeopathic add-on therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this randomized controlled multinational clinical trial, patients (age range 1-65 years) with feverish URTI received either on-demand symptomatic standard treatment (ST group: paracetamol, ambroxol, and/or oxymetazoline), or homeopathic medication (IFC group: Influcid®) for 7 days plus the same on-demand standard treatment. URTI symptoms were assessed using the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey-21. Response at day 4, defined as absence of fever and absence or very mild degree of URTI symptoms, was the primary outcome measure. RESULTS 523 patients (265 IFC group, 258 ST group) were randomized in 12 Ukrainian and 10 German centers. The responder rate on day 4 was 15.4% in the IFC group and 6.7% in the ST group (x0394;IFC-ST = 8.7%, 95% confidence interval 2.9-14.5%). The IFC group used less symptomatic medication, and symptoms were alleviated 1-2 days earlier. 3 and 8 adverse events (AEs) in the IFC and ST group, respectively, were assessed as possibly treatment-related; 2 out of the 3 AEs in the IFC group were possibly related to symptomatic therapy, 1 (vomiting) to IFC treatment. CONCLUSION The homeopathic treatment shortened URTI duration, reduced the use of symptomatic medication, and was well tolerated.