Back to School Swing Flu Precautions with ChicagoHealers.com Practitioner Dr. Martha Howard
SWINE FLU Q and A with Dr. Martha Howard -
1. With school starting, there are many parents worried about their children getting the swine flu. Do they really need to worry any more about the swine flu than any other type of influenza? Why or why not?
At this time, the CDC does not consider novel H1N1 “swine” flu to be more dangerous than other types of seasonal flu, but it does say that the disease burden of swine flu is greater on younger people. According to the CDC website: “The information analyzed by CDC supports the conclusion that novel H1N1 flu has caused greater disease burden in people younger than 25 years of age than older people. At this time, there are few cases and few deaths reported in people older than 64 years old, which is unusual when compared with seasonal flu. However, pregnancy and other previously recognized high risk medical conditions from seasonal influenza appear to be associated with increased risk of complications from this novel H1N1. These underlying conditions include asthma, diabetes, suppressed immune systems, heart disease, kidney disease, neurocognitive and neuromuscular disorders and pregnancy.”
The most important thing to consider about swine flu is how to teach and learn good public health preventive measures that are based on actual facts about the way the flu virus is transmitted. Flu virus is mainly transmitted from person to person by sneezing or coughing, but also can survive from
2
to 8 hours. If you touch a contaminated surface and then touch your nose or eyes, you can be infected.
Here are the most important points, directly from the CDC website:
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it, then clean hands with soap and water or alcohol based hand cleaner.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
Stay home if you are sick for 7 days after your symptoms begin or until you have been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever is longer. This is to keep from infecting others and spreading the virus further
2. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a novel H1N1 swine flu vaccination is currently in production and expected to be released in the fall. On July 29, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met to make recommendations who should receive the vaccine. What are your thoughts on this swine flu vaccine?
See below.
3. Do you feel it is a wise recommendation for grade-school children to get the swine flu vaccination? What are the potential side effects or hazards of the vaccine?
I do not think it is wise to get swine flu vaccination for grade school children at this time, or really for anyone, because the vaccines being developed are to contain the “adjuvant”—a chemical that induces greater immune response—squalene, which is known to cause a harmful immune response in rats resembling rheumatoid arthritis.
According to Meryl Nass, M.D., an authority on the anthrax vaccine:
“A novel feature of the two H1N1 vaccines being developed by companies Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline is the addition of squalene-containing adjuvants to boost immunogenicity and dramatically reduce the amount of viral antigen needed. This translates to much faster production of desired vaccine quantities.”
Novartis’s proprietary squalene adjuvant for their H1N1 vaccine is MF59. Glaxo’s is ASO3. MF59 has yet to be approved by the FDA for use in any
U.S.
vaccine, despite its history of use in other countries.
According to Dr. Nass, only three vaccines exist that use an approved squalene adjuvant. None of the three are approved for use in the
U.S.
There are no other vaccines containing squalene that have been approved for use in the
United States
. Swine flu is considered to be about the same as seasonal flu, though it does attack a different age group—more people age 5 to 24 get it, and regular seasonal flu tends more to attack infants and the elderly. There are generally about 100 child deaths per year in the
United States
from flu, and even if that is doubled by swine flu, I don’t think it is worth the risk of exposing your child to possible long-term problems with immunity. This all may be a moot point because we probably will not have adequate supplies of the vaccine by the fall season anyway.
4. For parents who aren't in favor of getting their kids vaccinated against swine flu, what are the most effective ways they can protect their children from getting this disease?
First, make sure the child carries tissues and hand sanitizer, and knows how to use them—sneeze or cough into the tissue, throw it in the wastebasket (not on the desk) put a dime size blob of hand sanitizer on hands and rub hands together until dry.
Second, make sure the child is trained as much as possible not to share drinks or food, and not to touch their eyes nose or mouth with their hands.
Third, Give the child N-acetylcysteine, in a dose that is proportional by weight to the adult dose .of 600 milligrams twice a day. A
70 pound
child would be given 300 milligrams twice a day. A
35 pound
child would be given 150 milligrams twice a day, and so on. For children under 2, consult a physician.
5. What natural or homeopathic alternatives are effective in swine flu prevention?
The most important of these is N-acetylcysteine. A recent study reported in the August 2009 issue of the American Family Physician journal, showed that elderly patients taking 600 milligrams of N-acetylcysteine twice daily over the flu season were much less likely to have clinical influenza illness (29% vs. 51% of controls), and when they did have it, episodes wer much less severe. In addition, cell mediated immunity was improved in the people receiving NAC, and not in the controls.
6. What treatment plan do you suggest for parents of kids who get swine flu?
I would recommend supportive treatment—rest, fluids, and Chinese herbs: The combination of two readily available formulas, Zhong Gan Ling and Yin Chiao Chieh Du Pian (both available online from ) is effective for treating flu.
Here is what the CDC has to say about flu drugs:
”CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with novel H1N1 flu virus. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaled powder) that fight against the flu by keeping flu viruses from reproducing in your body. If you get sick, antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications. During the current pandemic, the priority use for influenza antiviral drugs during is to treat severe influenza illness (for example hospitalized patients) and people who are sick who have a condition that places them at high risk for serious flu-related complications.
According to the CDC, signs in a child that require emergency medical attention are:
In children, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:
· Fast breathing or trouble breathing
· Bluish or gray skin color
· Not drinking enough fluids
· Severe or persistent vomiting
· Not waking up or not interacting
· Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
· Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
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