By sandra j. perko, phd 
 Reviewed by maggie taeger 
 Influenza 

 Influenza  Virus

 Perko clearly intends her book as a wake-up call. It is effective. Part I of her book (112 pages) is largely the story of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-19. This is a chapter in history which many of us know too little about. In brief: this previously unseen strain of flu swept the entire globe in a matter of months. Some estimates of global mortality top 40,000,000. It took the lives of 675,000 Americans and 30,000 Canadians. (In Native communities of the far north, some villages suffered a 100% mortality rate.) Onset was extremely rapid and death could ensue within 48 hours or less of first symptoms. Conventional doctors were helpless against the disease, and were probably responsible for greatly increasing the death rate through the heavy-handed use of aspirin (as Perko and many homeopaths of that time have postulated, and as is born out by the discovery of the link between aspirin and viral infection in Reye’s syndrome). Tragically, the young adult population, 14 to 40 years of age, was the hardest hit and saw the greatest number of fatalities. Perko describes at length the symptoms and progress of the illness, and the state of hospitals and communities-chances are you won’t get through this section of the book without shedding tears.
 Homeopathy was the light shining in the darkness. In roughly 50 accounts from homeopaths of the time we hear how they treated patients successfully, mostly with a few well-known remedies (Gelsemium looms largest), and lost astoundingly few patients.
 Perko explains how periodic shifts are thought to occur in the structure of flu viruses, as a result of avian viruses finding their way to humans (often via swine); when a new virus of this kind combines (through genetic reassortment) with a highly contagious human flu virus, a super-virus can be created, to which humans have no immunity. (This is the best current explanation for the Spanish Flu pandemic.) According to Perko, the world’s leading virologists fully expect another disastrous pandemic of flu. She thinks we should get ready.
 The second part of the book is Perko’s attempt to compile and render easily accessible materia medica information with specific reference to flu symptoms. (This is preceded by a short section on fevers, influenza complications, and recommended care.) First she gives a 107-page “Quick Keynote Reference”, which is divided up under headings, for example “Fever Predominates”; “Respiratory Symptoms Predominate”; “Throat Symptoms Predominate”; etc. Under each heading, flu remedies are listed in alphabetical order along with their characteristic fever symptoms, or respiratory symptoms. This section seems unwieldy, since to find your patient’s fever, for instance, you have to read through 5 pages of fever descriptions-15 pages if you also want to consider chill and perspiration-in order to find the best match for your patient. And if you want to consider more than one predominant symptom, say throat and muscle aches, this section won’t help you.
 Perko then gives a 112-page materia medica of 68 remedies in which she includes only symptoms relevant to flu (“Influenza Remedy Differential Reference”). This is quite useful since it is hard to get an unencumbered flu picture at a glance from other sources. Here Perko doesn’t contribute original material, but quotes a number of different authors for each remedy (Tyleresque), both older and modern, which tends to give a helpful, well-rounded picture.
 A brief section (10 pages) at the end of the book deals with pneumonia as a complication of influenza and with post-influenza complications (“never been well since”). For each, Perko gives a list of remedies which have been noted as helpful in these conditions, along with one or two quotes suggesting their indications.
 Perko’s book is written in a clear, accessible style and is well-researched. It is an important effort to spread awareness and increase readiness among homeopaths concerning the danger of future pandemics. For this alone I think the book is worth the price. If the predictions of virologists are true, world communities will once again find themselves in dire circumstances, and homeopathy will be the only known effective medicinal tool for saving millions of lives. In such a circumstance, the specialized materia medica which Perko has compiled will certainly be of good use.

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