Clinical StudiesA randomized controlled trial of the effect of fluid extract of Echinacea purpurea on the incidence and severity of colds and respiratory infections ∗☆,
Section snippets
Subjects
Patients were recruited at a large general practice in Dettelbach, Germany, between December 1990 and May 1991. Patients were eligible for study entry if they reported more than three respiratory airway infections or common colds in the preceding year, were at least 12 years old, and had given written informed consent for study participation. For patients younger than 18 years old, the parents gave written informed consent.
General exclusion criteria were acute infections of any kind within 1
Results
A total of 109 patients with a history of more than three colds or respiratory infections in the preceding year were enrolled in the study (Figure 1). Since one patient withdrew his consent before taking the first dose of the allocated medication, only 108 patients (54 in each group) were included in the analysis. Their baseline characteristics are shown in Table 1.
Discussion
This randomized blinded trial investigated the effect of fluid extract of Echinacea purpurea on the incidence and severity of colds and respiratory infections during 8 weeks of follow-up in 108 selected patients with a history of more than three colds or respiratory infections in the preceding year. We found that treatment with fluid extract of Echinacea purpurea did not significantly decrease the incidence or severity of colds and respiratory infections compared to placebo juice.
Several other
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The study was sponsored by Madaus AG, Cologne, Germany.
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