Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Variolinum is a homeopathic remedy. It is a single drug, not a mixture. It is also called the smallpox nosode.
The Latin name is Variola virus. The source is lymph fluid taken from a smallpox sore.
The source material is diluted again and again, with hard shaking between each step. At the usual 30C strength, no smallpox material is left in the final pellet or drop. There is nothing in it that can pass on smallpox.
Old homeopathic books used it to try to ward off smallpox, and to settle complaints blamed on the old smallpox vaccine. Tests in people have not shown it works better than a dummy pill (placebo).
It has a long record inside homeopathy, but long use is not proof that a thing works, and that rule holds for every claim on this page. Variolinum is not a vaccine and must never take the place of one.
There is no known way for it to work in the body. At 30C nothing of the source is left, so there is no drug action to measure.
Homeopathy explains it a different way. A nosode is made from diseased matter, and the idea is that a tiny trace of what caused an illness can prompt the body to answer it. Homeopaths also hold that shaking leaves an imprint in the water or alcohol.
That idea is not accepted by chemistry or biology, and no test has shown such an imprint. Any change people notice is best explained by time, by care and attention, or by the placebo effect (feeling better because you expect to).
It comes as small sugar pellets you let melt under the tongue. It also comes as liquid drops and as pressed tablets.
Common strengths are 30C, 200C and 1M. The higher the number, the more dilution steps were used. Some suppliers sell 6C and 12C as well.
It is sold by homeopathic pharmacies and some health shops. It is not a licensed medicine for smallpox or mpox anywhere.
Variolinum came out of 19th century homeopathy, during the last big smallpox outbreaks in Europe and North America. German and American homeopaths, including Clemens von Boenninghausen, used nosodes in that era.
It was given as a supposed shield against smallpox, and to treat complaints laid at the door of the old arm-to-arm vaccine. Smallpox was wiped out by real vaccination, declared gone in 1980.
Today it sits in homeopathic materia medica books as a minor remedy, and some sellers push it again whenever mpox is in the news.
See a doctor straight away if you have a fever with a new rash, blisters that spread, or sores in your mouth. Do this the same day, and phone ahead so the clinic can prepare.
Get urgent help if you have trouble breathing, a stiff neck, confusion, a rash that does not fade when you press a glass on it, or a rash that becomes hot, swollen and full of pus.
Also call your doctor or public health service if you think you have been near someone with mpox or another pox illness. A real vaccine may still help if given early.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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