Dear Stephen,
I would like to ask about any good anti-viral herb ‘specific’ against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). I live in a dangerous area in Switzerland for TBE and would like to have something at hand in case I or my little daughter (3 years old) gets infected with the virus. Would you know a herb that could also help prevention? My daughter will go weekly to forest playgroup for the whole year soon. This year is a tough year for ticks due to mild winter (I pulled 49 ticks this week from my cat!). She’s on bee products and astragalus. She caught lyme last year but she’s fine now. So far, these were herbs what I found: 1) Ledum, Motherwort and Black Currant Suggesting: aqueous extract (?) of ledum, motherwort and black currant (all kill TBE in vitro and improve health in infected mice in vivo); 2) Artemisinin Suggested a good antiviral (Flaviridae specific): artemisinin (dosage?); 3) Frozen garlic, echinacea, eleutherococcus, lomatium, cryptolepis (?) (my guesses); 4) TBE vacination? I’m afraid of this alternative that could compromise my daughter’s immune system… She reacts strongly to most vaccines. Thank you again for any precious hint.


Stephen’s response:
Astragalus is probably the best overall thing to take regularly to prevent infection and to minimize tissue damage if infection does occur. It is specific for this condition. Immune enhancers such as eleutherococcus are good as well though for a child I would use a 1:5 tincture NOT the herb pharm formulation made in Germany. Bee products are also exceptionally good for overall immune health in this situation. Again, the astragalus is the best thing overall for her to be taking. If infection does occur resveratrol (knotweed) is specific for the kind of brain inflammation that occurs during TBE infection. The other herbs suggested in the lyme book for lyme neurotoxins are also specific. The use of these herbs will help reduce brain impacts considerably. Direct antivirals: I would use lomatium and andrographis if active infection does occur. Hope this helps!
Stephen

Author

  • Stephen Harrod Buhner

    Stephen Harrod Buhner was an Earth poet and an award-winning author of twenty-four books on nature, indigenous cultures, the environment, and herbal medicine including the acclaimed book Healing Lyme: Natural Healing & Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis & Its Co-infections.

    Stephen came from a long line of healers including Leroy Burney, Surgeon General of the United States under Eisenhower and Kennedy, and Elizabeth Lusterheide, a midwife and herbalist who worked in rural Indiana in the early nineteenth century. The greatest influence on his work, however, was his great-grandfather C.G. Harrod who primarily used botanical medicines, also in rural Indiana, when he began his work as a physician in 1911.

    Stephen’s work has appeared or been profiled in publications throughout North America and Europe including Common Boundary, Apotheosis, Shaman’s Drum, The New York Times, CNN, and Good Morning America. Stephen lectured yearly throughout the United States on herbal medicine, the sacredness of plants, the intelligence of Nature, and the states of mind necessary for successful habitation of Earth.

    He was a tireless advocate for the reincorporation of the exploratory artist, independent scholar, amateur naturalist, and citizen scientist in American society – especially as a counterweight to the influence of corporate science and technology.

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This protocol was incredible. After only a few weeks most of my symptoms were gone. After six months all my symptoms were gone… it has given me my life back.

– Amazon review by Joseph

Please note:

Stephen Buhner is no longer living and this Q + A column on Planet Thrive is closed to new questions. It will be kept on our website so readers can access vital information in the archives, communicate with each other in the comments section, and find herbs, books + lyme adjuncts in our directory. If you want to read more of Stephen’s writings, please see his website at: stephenharrodbuhner.com.



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