Oscillococcinum
Oscillococcinum (or Oscillo) is a homeopathic preparation marketed to relieve influenza-like symptoms. It does not provide any benefit beyond that of sugar pills. It is a popular preparation, particularly in France. It is manufactured by Boiron, its sole manufacturer. Oscillococcinum is used in more than 50 countries and has been in production for over 65 years.
The preparation is derived from duck liver and heart, diluted to 200C—a ratio of one part duck offal to 10400 parts water. Homeopaths claim that the molecules leave an "imprint" in the dilution that causes a healing effect on the body, although there is no evidence that supports this mechanism or efficacy beyond placebo.
Oscillococcinum was originally proposed by the French physician Joseph Roy, based on his misidentification of an oscillating bacterium he named oscillococcus in victims of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1917-1918. Roy said he had seen the same bacterium in cancer sufferers, and proposed a homeopathic preparation (which he claimed to have isolated in a duck) as a remedy for the Spanish flu. The microbes Roy said he saw have never been independently observed by any other researcher. In addition, it is now known that flu is caused by a virus and not a bacterium.
The word Oscillococcinum was coined in 1925 by the French physician Joseph Roy (1891–1978) who was on military duty during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1917. Roy wrote that on examining the blood of flu victims, he had observed what he thought to have been an oscillating bacterium which he named Oscillococcus.
Roy claimed he had also detected the bacterium in the blood of patients that had viral diseases like herpes, chicken pox and shingles. He thought it to be the causative agent of diseases as varied as eczema, rheumatism, tuberculosis, measles, and cancer. The microbes have never been independently observed by another researcher, and it remains unclear what, if anything, Roy actually saw.
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