Japanese Traditional (Kampo) Medicine for the “Osome Cold” (“Russian Flu”) Pandemic that Started in 1890 in Japan

Abstract

In this article, we focus on Japanese traditional (Kampo) medicine for the 1889 “Russian flu (Osome cold)”. The influenza pandemic arrived in Japan in 1890 (Meiji 23), and returned in waves over the next several years. The Kampo medicine at that time is described in “Ryukokanbo Setsu (Influenza Editorial)” by Sohaku Asada and “Tenkojikikanbo Zeisetsu (Epidemic Disorder Editorial)” by Masaharu Okada, in “Wakan Irin Shinshi (New Journal of Japanese-Chinese traditional medicine)”. There are prescriptions in “Shang Han Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases)” for both daiseiryuto and keishinieppito, as well as for formulas of Gosei School, such as gekito, saikogedokuto, shoyosankato, kyushikososan, wageto, jusshinto and kososan. As candidates to cause this pandemic, both the novel influenzavirus-H3 and the novel coronavirus-OC43 are considered. In contrast to Western medicine, which must deal with each virus, Kampo medicine was as effective for the Russian flu, as it was for the Spanish flu.