Patrolling the flu’s – November ‘06

November began with me catching a nasty cold, looking for sympathetic bloggers, and desperately looking for an “airborne” to treat it. Of course I passed it on to family. Now I don’t know exactly how I got it (but I did fly long distance and stayed in the city). I am now in more vigilant about contaminations, and even if I sneeze innocently I am using my shirt sleeve to cover my mouth. Better a snotty sleeve than a nasty hand. I’m not taking chances anymore, so this time I’m resting more, taking more sunshine and loading up on Vitamin D. So far I’ve been flu-free!

Round the globe, a lot has happened at the flu forefront:

Seasonal Flu and related illnesses

The flu season has began in earnest. Physicians, the CDC and other organizations all want us to take the flu shot (flu “jab” in the UK) and especially so for children, pregnant women or those with a chronic medical condition. However, some groups are wary about vaccines because of the mercury they contain. The FDA also issued warnings about using Tamiflu because of reports that treated children have bizarre neurophysiological behavior.

Bird Flu/H5N1

Where are we on H5N1? South Korea was very much in the news, with two outbreaks occuring a week apart! But Indonesia still topped the charts with 57 human deaths due to the bird flu virus.The expert opinion is that the H5N1 might evolve into a form that passes quickly among humans and become uncontrolled as a pandemic. But, Australia’s chief medical officer stirred controversy by saying that the pandemic might have done a Y2K!

This month, we read that a dominant strain of H5N1 originating from China may have developed resistance to vaccines. In response, the Chinese government has refuted this here. The UK also warns about using a single drug against the flu – the reasons being… viruses forming resistance! President Bush was also in the news when he toured a Vietnam lab as pledge of support for the international efforts against bird flu. But at the homefront, trouble might be brewing for the US government when reports surfaced of its vaccine supply expiring. Global efforts to fight this growing menace is going on strong, but we need more cash for Africa, where the bird flu has also spread.

Vaccine and Research

Conventional medicine for dealing with the flu are vaccinations and Tamiflus. But homeopathics have their favorites, from taking herbal supplements such as the concoction in Airborne, taking Vitamin D, using a star-aniseed, snorting hot pepper nasal sprays!

In research, Tm Bioscience has developed a test that detects multiple viruses which is useful for eliminating non-types and rapidly identifying the specific virus. There’s also promising research on a peptide that may disables the H5N1.

So far, November has been mild compared to previous months for flu outbreaks. Hopefully, it will stay this way through the rest of the season.

Stay safe!

Tags: bird flu, flu pandemic, H5N1, seasonal flu, research, vaccines, common cold