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Posts Tagged ‘flu’

The CDC is reporting much increased “unusual” Flu activity so far this year.  Much of this activity is swine flu.  Much of the new cases are with young people and young adults.

Minesota is reporting “widespread” outbreaks of flu and swine flu.  “Widespread” is he CDC’s highest classification of the spread of the disease.  It means that this condition has been reported in at least half of the states regions.  30 schools across the state have reported significan numbers of cases (reported by The Mineapolis Star-Tribune).

News from the CDC is good in regard to progress on the H1N1 vaccine. New progress is that only a single dose is required.

Watch the video archive* of the September 11, 2009 briefing on the current H1N1 situation (from www.Flu.gov). Top scientists and doctors from CDC, FDA and NIH provide information on current activities including an update on the H1N1 clinical vaccine trials. *The video archive is playing continuously and you may join the Webcast in progress. An on demand version will be available shortly

For protection vaccine is the best protection but until it is available be sure to wash your hands often, sneeze into your sleave and avoid contact with those who may be infected.  Here are 8 steps the CDC recomends to protect yourself and your family: 

1. Stay home if you are sick with influenza-like illness for example, fever or chills AND cough or sore throat. In addition, symptoms of flu can include runny nose, body aches, headache, tiredness, diarrhea, or vomiting. CDC recommends that sick workers stay home if they are ill with influenza-like illness until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (100° F [37.8° C] or greater) or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications. This would require employees to stay home for 3 to 5 days in most cases. CDC recommends this time period away from work regardless of whether or not antiviral medications are used.
2. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
3. Avoid touching your nose, mouth and eyes.
4. Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue, or cough and sneeze into your upper sleeve. Dispose of tissues in no-touch trash receptacles.
5. Wash your hands or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.
6. Keep frequently touched common surfaces clean. For example, telephones, computer equipment, etc.
7. Try not to use other workers’ phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment. If necessary, consider cleaning them first with a disinfectant.
8. Maintain a healthy lifestyle; attention to rest, diet, exercise, and relaxation helps maintain physical and emotional health.

New Guidance for Small Business
	New guidance includes help for small businesses on writing a preparedness plan and provides ten tips to help protect the health of your employees. Planning for 2009 H1N1 Influenza: A Preparedness Guide for Small Business  (PDF - 3.74 MB) See more information

• Swine Flu School Closings: Fort Worth ISD, Lewisville, Ponder … – I’ve been paying close attention to the Swine Flu school closings in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, especially since I live in Plano TX myself. 
• 2009 H1N1 Flu: International Situation Update – This situation report provides an update to the international situation as of September 11th, 2009. As of September 6th, the World Health Organization (WHO) regions have reported over 277607 laboratory-confirmed cases of 2009 H1N1 …
• H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu): Resources for State and Local Health Officials – H1N1 Influenza (Flu) Resources for State and Local Health Departments.
• US Influenza and Pneumonia-Associated Hospitalizations and Deaths … – As of 6:00 PM ET on September 11, 2009, CDC is reporting 1380 hospitalized cases and 196 deaths. For the 2009-2010 influenza season, states are reporting based on new case definitions for hospitalizations and deaths effective August 30.

Is Swine Flu dangerous?  That’s a question we provide information for so you can get the answer yourself.  There is so much hype – yes/no.  Buy this buy that to protect yourself that we try to provide information so you can answer for yourself.

Symptoms of Swine Flu – Know the Difference Between H1N1 Flu and Regular Flu
By Arunraj V.S.

Swine Flu is a number one health concern the world over. The HI1N1 flu or Swine Flu was first detected in US in April 2009. The worst affected areas initially were Canada and Mexico before H1N1 flu cases began to emerge in other areas of the world. In a short span of four months, the disease has spread to almost all regions in the world. World Health Organization has called H1N1 as pandemic which means a big epidemic that involves the entire country or perhaps the world. Usually, the signs of a pandemic are when a virus without any immunity to stop it, spreads across various parts of the world.

Risk factors of Swine Flu
Swine Flu spreads from person to person in the same way as regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. People with high risk for seasonal flu are also at high risk for H1N1 flu. For example, people above 65 years of age, pregnant women, children below 5 years of age and those with chronic medical conditions and lifestyle diseases like diabetes are at high risk.

Symptoms of Swine Flu
In children, the symptoms of H1N1 virus include:
1. Rapid Breathing or Difficulty in breathing.
2. Grayish or Bluish Skin Color
3. Dehydration
4. Persistent of severe vomiting
5. Not able to interact properly with people, become irritable
6. Flu like symptoms, bad cough and fever

In adults, the symptoms of swine flu include:
1. Shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing
2. Pain in chest or abdomen
3. Sudden dizziness or loss of energy
4. Severe or continuous vomiting
6. Flu like symptoms, bad cough and fever

The symptoms of H1N1 is similar to the ones that people get in regular, seasonal flu and so things like fever, sneezing, cough, body ache, head ache, shivering, sore throat and fatigue are common. Diarrhea and vomiting are also symptoms that have been associated with some cases of this flu, also known as Influenza A.

How do I catch swine flu?
H1N1 is transmitted the same way like seasonal flu. Flu viruses are spread usually from person to person through sneezing or coughing by people who have influenza. Some people may become infected with the deadly H1N1 by touching something that has virus on it and then bringing to their nose or mouth.

How can someone with swine flu infect it to someone else?
Infected people can actually infect others from the first day itself, even before they themselves get any symptoms. This means there are also chances that one can pass on the symptoms of flu even before she or he knows that she or he is sick.

How do I protect myself from swine flu? How can I take precautions against H1N1virus?
There is no vaccine that can protect you or be prevention against H1N1 Flu. You can only maintain hygiene and take care to prevent spread of germs that can lead to illnesses like influenza. Here are the ways in which you can prevent yourself against the flu:

1. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze or cough. Throw the tissue in the trash after you sneeze into it.

2. Wash your hands with a liquid handwash like Dettol or Lifebuoy, especially after you cough or sneeze.

3. Do not touch your mouth, eyes or nose. Germs can spread in this manner.

4. Avoid contact with people who are infected. This is sad but then the disease is highly infective.

5. If you are sick with influenza, stay at home and do not go to school or work. Limit your contact with people so that they do not get infected.

6. Do not venture into crowded spaces.

7. Increase the airflow in your room by opening the windows for proper ventilation.

8. Sleep well, eat nutritious food and practise healthy habits so that you are physically active and immune to the flu.

How long can the Swine Flu virus stay on things like doorknobs and furniture?
According to medical experts, the influenza virus can stay on environmental surfaces and infect people from 2 to 8 hours after being deposited on things like door knobs, books etc. Germs of H1N1 can spread when a person touches infected areas or infected people and then touches their eyes, ears, nose or mouth. Cough droplets or sneeze from an infected person can travel through the area. When a person comes in contact with droplets of sneeze of another person or touches things like books or desk of that person that is contaminated with sneeze droplets, and touches his or her own eyes, mouth, nose etc; before washing hands, one can contract the virus.

What are the medicines and treatment options?
Taking oseltamivir(Tamiflu) or zanamivir(Relenza) can treat H1N1 but they should be taken in the early stages of the disease. Antiviral drugs or prescription medicines can make your immune system strong and keep the flu viruses at bay and stop them from reproducing in your body. So, you should start taking antiviral drugs within two days of getting H1N1 or influenza symptoms.

How do I prevent getting H1N1 in high risk areas?
If you live in places where people have been infected with H1N1 virus or have influenza like symptoms mentioned above, then you should stay home and avoid contact with these people. If you develop flu like symptoms, do not leave things to chance and take instant medical care. Your health care provider or doctor will be able to tell you whether H1N1 flu testing is required.

Does WHO recommend using a MASK?
If you are not sick or if you are not living in high risk areas, it is not required to wear a mask. If a near and dear one is sick with H1N1, you need to wear a mask since you will be in close contact with the ill person. Dispose the mask after contact and wash and clean your hands thoroughly. Using the mask correctly is important because using it incorrectly will spread infection.

How can I differentiate between H1N1 Swine Flu and seasonal flu?
You cannot tell the difference without a medical verdict on it. Since symptoms for both the diseases are same like cough, headache, sneezing, fever, runny nose etc, only your doctor will be able to say if you have H1N1 virus. In case, your doctor suspects symptoms, they will have your blood sample, nasopharyngeal (nose to mouth) and throat swab to laboratories.

Home remedies for swine flu:
There are no home remedies, especially when you have to figure out if it is H1N1 or season flu. The H1N1 requires anti-viral drugs because treating it is an emergency issue. However you can prevent the spread of swine flu and strengthen your immune system by doing the following:
1. Wash your hands properly before having a meal, not just with soap and water.
2. Wear face mask before going outside. If someone is coughing or sneezing near you, cover your nose and mouth with palms or a hanky. Swine flu gets into the body through the mouth and nose.
3. Drink lemon balm tea because it has anti-viral properties.
4. Chew fresh garlic cloves because they have antiviral properties as well.
5. Steam inhalation with chamomile or eucalyptus thrice a day can relieve lung congestion and prevent swine flu symptoms.

Know more about Swine Flu treatment and also discuss Swine Flu Precautions

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Arunraj_V.S.
http://EzineArticles.com/?Symptoms-of-Swine-Flu—Know-the-Difference-Between-H1N1-Flu-and-Regular-Flu&id=2748043

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• Swine flu: 10 things you need to know – Swine flu: 10 things you need to know.
• The TB crisis that gets ignored – The national media covered tuberculosis carrier Andrew Speaker wall-to-wall earlier this month. […] Read the rest »
• Follow The Money – Seeker401 | Swine Flu vaccine makers get total … – In 2006, PREPA was passed due to fear of an avian flu pandemic, in the event the avian flu virus mutated to enable person-to-person spread. Avian flu then had a 70% death rate. EVEN BEFORE THE VACCINE’S SAFETY, OR THE SAFETY OF THE VACCINE ADJUVANTS HAVE BEEN TESTED.

Is Swine Flu dangerous, if you’ve read through these resources you can at least begin to answer that question for yourself.

Swine flu continues to taper off in most places but health officials are preparing for a possible larger outbreak in the fall.

In 1918 the pandemic circled the globe killing millions.  Whole cities were shutdown in the U.S.  In some large U.S. cities they gave up trying to bury bodies in coffins – resorting instead to mass graves dug by steam shovel.

Here is a summary of how things were in 1918 from Stanford University: http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/

Flu is virus borne and so curing it is not as simple as giving a shot.  The vaccines allow the body to prepare it’s own defense by giving us a small taste of it.

Number of new swine flu cases continues to fall

The number of people newly diagnosed with swine flu continues to fall, with 25000 new cases in England in the last week, Government estimates show today. A total of 371 patients are currently in hospital as a result of swine flu and …

First swine-flu death in Louisiana is New Orleans-area woman

Get New Orleans, Louisiana latest news. Find photos and videos, comment on the news, and join the forum discussions at NOLA.com.

H5N1: Australia: Swine flu kills US tourist

Via the Courier-Mail: Swine flu kills tourist in North Queensland. Excerpt: A 48-year-old American tourist has died of swine flu in the Cairns Hospital, bringing the number of pandemic virus-related deaths in Queensland to 23.

Miss Wagstaff Presents: Has the swine flu vaccination been experimental

Has the swine flu vaccination been adequately tested, or are we the guinea pigs? A swine flu vaccination campaign will be launched in the autumn, but only certain at risk groups, including pregnant women, will be given the jab. …

The World Health Organization has told its member nations it is declaring a swine flu pandemic, the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.

WHO: Swine flu pandemic has begun, 1st in 41 years (AP) | News Logging

AP – The World Health Organization told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic Thursday — the first global flu epidemic in 41 years — as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and …

WHO approaching to acknowledgement flu pandemic Thursday – Swine …

WHO approaching to acknowledgement flu pandemic Thursday. Latest swine flu news from World (the World Health Organization) provided by SwineFluNews.org.

WHO stipulation of swine flu pandemic looks imminent – Swine Flu …

WHO stipulation of swine flu pandemic looks imminent. Latest swine flu news from United States (Vermont) provided by SwineFluNews.org.

WHO to consult experts on swine flu pandemic (AFP) | Your Daily …

AFP – World health officials were to meet on whether to declare a global flu pandemic, as Hong Kong ordered all of its primary schools shut after finding the first cluster of local swine flu cases.

World upon a verge of flu pandemic says WHO – Swine Flu Italy News

World upon a verge of flu pandemic says WHO. Latest swine flu news from Italy (Italy) provided by SwineFluNews.org.

WHO Will Declare Swine Flu A Pandemic – Bloomberg

“H1N1 is going to be classified as a pandemic, but it does not have the lethality of the other pandemic in the past”, Tommy Thompson says. (Asia Confidential)

By James LaValle, R. Ph, ND, CCN

Every fall, hundreds of patients ask us if they should get vaccinated with a flu shot. As with any medical treatment, the risks and benefits always need to be fully considered. Every year I scour the literature for any reports of harm from flu vaccines and also to look at whether the data show that they were effective in preventing the flu.

Let’s start with the risks. The manufacturers of flu vaccines combine three strains of inactivated (dead) flu viruses, along with preservatives. Most of the controversy surrounding vaccines has to do with whether the preservatives are safe. In some cases, they clearly are not. Mercury as part of the preservative thimerosol has received the most attention since it is a known neurotoxin, and it is still in some vaccines.¹ At the very least, I recommend requesting thimerosol-free vaccines.

Some of the risks from vaccines however, may be due to the immune activation itself, or the long-term effects of live viruses that are sometimes used. For instance, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is a neurological condition that can develop after having a bacterial or viral infection. It occurs when something goes wrong in the immune system and your protective nerve coatings known as myelin get attacked. There is a very low risk (something like one in a million) of getting GBS after receiving a flu vaccine.²

Some experts suspect that we will eventually find that vaccines greatly increase one’s risks of neurological problems, but currently the risks are not known. Finally, there is a risk of serious allergic reactions; with flu vaccines, the rates of severe immediate reactions have been very rare.

As to the benefits, we have to first ask: Is the treatment effective? The answer is, not very. The three flu strains that go into the vaccine are chosen almost a year before flu season hits. Because the viruses mutate rapidly, the strains in the vaccines often don’t match the actual viruses that come to your town each season.

For instance, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admitted that last year’s flu shot was a good match for only about 40% of that year’s flu viruses.³ That’s why last year’s flu outbreak was one of the worst in a long time — despite the widespread use of flu vaccines.

In 2006, the esteemed British Medical Journal looked at all the research behind flu shots and came up with some interesting conclusions:⁴

• The evidence shows that flu vaccines have little or no effect.
• There is little comparative evidence that the vaccines are safe.
• The authors noted a “gap” between guidelines that call for mass vaccination and the evidence to support those guidelines.

Those considered to be at highest risk from flu are the elderly and young children. In those over age 70, flu vaccines did not reduce the number of deaths, but it is thought that it did reduce hospitalizations. A 2008 study of children aged 6 months to 5 years old found that the flu vaccine was not effective in any kids, regardless of age, where they live, or when they got vaccinated — and the most likely reason was because the vaccines didn’t match the strains that actually hit.⁵

While everyone has to make their own decision, I can tell you that personally I do not take flu vaccines because I have serious reservations about the long-term neurological effects. Medical literature states that just because you get a flu vaccine doesn’t mean you won’t get the flu.

So regardless of whether you decide to vaccinate or not, it’s a good idea to know other ways to protect yourself. First, make sure that you are taking measures to build a strong immune system. Vitamin C, vitamin A, and zinc all play important roles in the immune system. Zinc for instance causes your T killer cells to come to full maturity. So make sure you are taking in adequate amounts of these nutrients, via good food sources and a multivitamin.

If you do come down with the flu, here are the top flu remedies we use at Lavalle Metabolic Institute:

• Oscillococcinum. This homeopathic preparation is one of the world’s most popular for flu, particularly in France, where it has been in production for over 65 years. Though the key to this remedy is having it handy at the earliest signs of getting the flu, our patients report high effectiveness. One published study showed it prevented the onset of flu in 19.2% of users and improved symptoms in 43.7%.⁶

• Black Elderberry Extract. We carry an elderberry syrup for cold and flu called Sambucol. Elderberries are rich in immune supporting anthocyanins, and in two studies, the Sambucol product showed much more rapid recovery from the flu compared to a placebo.^7-8

So good luck, and next time I will be talking about the best ways to protect yourself from colds this winter.

References

1. “Influenza Virus Vaccine Fluzone 2005-2006 Formula,” package insert, Aventis Pasteur. (Company name has since changed to Sanofi Pasteur MSD.) Update Feb. 14 2006
2. Haber P, et al. JAMA 2004;292:2478-2481.
3. Associated Press, Feb. 15, 2008.
4. Brit Med J, Oct. 28, 2006;333:912-915.
5. Szilagyi PG, et al. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2008;162(10):943-51.
6. Br J Homeopathy 1998.
7. Zakay-Rones Z, et al. J Alt Comp Med 1995;1(4): 361-369.
8. Zakay-Rones Z, et al. J Internat Med Res 2004;32:132-140.

[Ed. Note: James LaValle is the founding Director of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, one of the largest integrative medicine practices in the country. Dr. LaValle is the author of the bestselling book Cracking the Metabolic Code: 9 Keys to Optimal Health and is the Executive Editor of THB's The Healing Prescription. To learn more, click here.]

“This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com“