Echinacea is an herb also known as Purple Cone Flower. The leaf, flower, and root are used as medicine. Echinacea was used in traditional herbal remedies by the Great Plains Indian tribes. Later, settlers followed the Indians example and began using echinacea for medicinal purposes as well. Echinacea is an herbal remedy that may help the body defend itself from the viruses and is widely used to fight infections, especially the common cold, the flu, and other upper respiratory infections. Some people take echinacea at the first sign of a cold, hoping they will be able to keep the cold from developing. Other people take echinacea after cold symptoms have started, hoping they can make symptoms less severe.Echinacea is also used against many other infections including urinary tract infections, vaginal yeast infections, herpes, HIV/AIDS, human papilloma virus (HPV), bloodstream infections (septicemia), tonsillitis, streptococcus infections, syphilis, typhoid, malaria, ear infection, swine flu, warts, and nose and throat infections called diphtheria.