Echinacea can safely prevent respiratory tract infections (RTIs) and associated complications, thereby decreasing the demand for antibiotics an April 2024 study has concluded. The results also support the beneficial effects of long-term, preventative echinacea supplementation. Despite medical advances RTIs are still the most frequent illnesses worldwide and are the leading cause of antibiotic prescriptions, primarily due to the risk for secondary bacterial infections. Approximately one-third of all RTIs affect children below five years of age, of which a disproportionally high number of 0.7 million cases are lethal. A higher fatality rate is also reported for elderly people and immunocompromised patients (these numbers do not account for the recent COVID-19 pandemic).
The prevention of RTIs may be achieved by taking echinacea species as antiviral and immunomodulatory actions have been reported. Recent literature has found a wide spectrum of activity for alcoholic extracts against enveloped respiratory viruses, including influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2. Clinical benefits manifest not only in a reduced risk of RTIs but also of RTI relapses and secondary complications.
In the systematic review and meta-analysis a comprehensive search identified 30 clinical trials (39 comparisons) studying echinacea for the prevention or treatment of RTIs in 5652 subjects. Echinacea significantly reduced the monthly RTI occurrence, risk ratio and number of patients with RTIs. Echinacea reduced the risk of recurrent infections, RTI complications and the need for antibiotic therapy, with total antibiotic therapy days reduced by 70%.
References
Gancitano G, Mucci N, Stange R, Ogal M, Vimalanathan S, Sreya M, Booker A, Hadj-Cherif B, Albrich WC, Woelkart-Ardjomand K, Kreft S, Vanden Berghe W, Hoexter G, Schapowal A, Johnston SL. Echinacea Reduces Antibiotics by Preventing Respiratory Infections: A Meta-Analysis (ERA-PRIMA). Antibiotics (Basel). 2024 Apr 16;13(4):364. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics13040364. PMID: 38667040; PMCID: PMC11047471.
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