Infectious Disease I: Viral Infections 

Overview

 

• Review the pathophysiology of viral infection.

• Offer a general overview of the antiviral herbal materia medica.

• Review myths and misconceptions about the effects of herbal medicines on virus in the body.

• Describe the pathophysiology and herbal therapeutics for topical viral infections, such as herpes and shingles.

• Describe the pathophysiology and herbal therapeutics for mosquito-borne viral infections such as West Nile, Dengue, Chikungunya, or Zika virus infections, including treatment strategies for neurological complications or long-term sequelae.

• Describe general nutritional and herbal support for immunity during respiratory viral infection.

• Describe historical and contemporary therapeutics for influenza, including a review of herbal remedies used during the 1918 Influenza pandemic.

• Describe the stages of COVID-19, from prevention, to early onset, to the onset of inflammatory symptoms, to “long haul” consequences, with herbal strategies for each of the stages.

 

Viral infections, whether acute or chronic, are among the most common maladies affecting the human species. With infection, the virus competes against the host resistance, and lifestyle, nutritional, and herbal methods to maintain or increase host resistance are the main strategies. With topical infection, herbs or their constituents and volatile oils, may have a direct effect against viral replication. But with internal use, plant constituents are too dilute to directly affect a virus, and supporting host resistance by various methods, and reducing local or systemic inflammation that may result from the antiviral immune response become the only strategies available. This course reviews the scientific literature on the effects of herbs on viral infection, and more-important offers the traditional and contemporary professional treatments used for these conditions.

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Materials

 

With this course you receive Audio files for the 4 lessons, more than 275 slides to accompany the lectures, supplementary notes, readings, and full-text reference articles.  The course comes with a Study Guide and Continuing Education questions. Students enrolled in our courses are also eligible for a 10% discount on purchases at Mountain Rose Herbs.

 

Lessons 

 

Lesson 1. Viral Infection and the Antiviral Materia Medica

Lesson 2. Herpes and Shingles: Materia Medica and Therapeutics

Lesson 3. Mosquito-borne virus and neurological complications

Lesson 4. Respiratory Infection: Influenza and Covid-19

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Further down on this page you can find Faculty Biographies.

 

Enrollment for Credit 

 

To enroll in the course, receive a faculty mentor, and to earn the Continuing Education certificate, follow these steps:

1. Purchase the course materials in our online store. The materials may be purchased for self-study without further enrollment in the course or tuition. 

2. When you receive materials, print out the application form or scan it to email. Send it in with the $145 tuition, or make the payment at the school store. 

3. This entitles you to assignment of a faculty mentor for 12 weeks after we notify you that your enrollment is accepted. You may also request and extension. 

4. Read the instructions for obtaining CE credit in the read-me-first file with the notes.

5. Look over the CE questions and review them before listening to the audio. 

6. Complete any assignments or readings and answer the CE questions for each lesson.

7. You will receive a certificate reflecting 26 hours of CE credit.

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Faculty

The recorded lectures were delivered by NAIMH Director Paul Bergner in classroom settings, edited and supplemented with studio portions. If you enroll, you will also be assigned a faculty mentor. All our faculty are fully qualified clinical nutritionists as well as medical herbalists. Click here to see Faculty biographies.