Happy 2013- Wishing you a year filled with good health, naturally!

We are really busy at the clinic right now with colds and flu- much of what we are seeing are people with the common cold who come in wishing for a cure to the misery.  I have addressed colds and home management in previous blogs.  It's a good time to refer back to that!  Remember, don't ask for, or accept, antibiotics for a cold.  It will not help! 

What I want to address today is a the flu, influenza!  Influenza A or B.  Specifically, flu A since it will make you sicker than B- but, it all applies to both.  I'm going to give you some tips on prevention and treatment.....including, the immunization.

Let's look at the difference between a cold and the flu- if you've had the flu you can probably skip this part.  After a good old case of the flu you are pretty clear on the difference!  The best rule of thumb is that with a cold the symptoms are from the neck up, and with influenza symptoms are systemic.  Cold symptoms are usually gradual in onset with maybe a day or two of just not feeling well.  People with the flu can almost tell me the hour they got sick- onset is sudden.  Fever is rare in adults with colds although children may run some,  fever with flu may be 101-102 (even higher in children).  People complain of a "bad" headache with flu,  rarely with a cold.  Body aches are mild in a cold but severe with flu.  People with the flu have extreme exhaustion- frequently they are laying on the exam table when I walk in because they are too tired to sit up, and tiredness may last as long as 2 weeks.  Sore throat is more common in flu but sneezing and runny nose are more common in a cold- although all can be present.  People with the flu are usually coughing rather significantly, the cough is much milder in a cold.  These area just a rule of thumb- remember, if it's from the neck up it's probably a cold; if you feel it all over your body, you are so exhausted you can't sit up and are running a fever- think flu

Let's talk about prevention:

First, would be the vaccine.  The CDC highly recommends the flu vaccine for high risk groups.  They define these as persons 50 yeas of age or older, people with chronic health problems over 6 months of age, people with compromised immune systems, all health care providers, persons who reside in skilled nursing facilities, persons 6-18 months on long term aspirin therapy, pregnant women in the second or third trimester and all children 6- 59 months of age.  Allergy to eggs is an absolute contraindication to getting the flu vaccine since it is grown in fertilized chicken eggs.

 Each year the makers try their best, based on available information, to come up with the most likely strains expected to circulate this year.  The vaccine includes a combination of three strains.  The statistics say that you can expect 80% response to the vaccine.  The people who do not build immunity tend to be the elderly, or others whose immune systems do not mount a vigorous response to the vaccine.  Additionally, statistics from the CDC tell us that even when an immunized person contracts the flu the incident of hospitalization and death are lower than among unimmunized folks.

The CDC does not believe that thimerosal is anything to be concerned about- however, I disagree, so I will address the presence of thimerosal in the vaccine.  All multi-dose vials contain thimerasol, which is a preservative containing 49.6% mercury.  Annually some thimerosal-free vaccines are produced but they are harder to find and more expensive.  Pre-filled syringes, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur and marketed as Fluzone do not have mercury, beware, they also manufacture multi-dose vials marketed under the same name.  Fluzone is an inactivated vaccine.  FluMist, a live vaccine, contains no mercury but is not recommended for people under 2 or over 50.  In my experience, these are the two most commonly administered flu vaccines.

Less commonly prefilled, mercury free, syringes are manufactured by Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and CSL Biotherapies.  Only one, Fluarix by GSK, is recommended for children as young as 3; Afluria by CSL is recommended down to 9- all other are for people over 18.

Whether or not you take the flu vaccine is a personal decision.  I am including this information because it is a personal decision and you should educate yourself before making the choice- this is only basic information.  But, if you proceed, it takes 2 weeks to build immunity after the vaccine and the vaccine does not give you the flu.  The inactivated vaccines just can not do it- they are dead!  The FluMist, which is a live vaccine, is associated with some incidence of symptoms.  The most common reason people "get the flu" after taking the vaccine is that they are incubating the flu virus at the time that they get the vaccine.  But, I've also seen people who get a cold or a cough and believe they've gotten the flu from the vaccine they've just taken.

OK- that behind us let's get to the meat of prevention, as far as I'm concerned!                    

Wash your hands!  And wash them correctly.  That means using good old soap, and it does not have to be antibacterial, to make a good lather.  Rub the lather over your hands for 15 seconds (sing along-Twinkle twinkle little star.....), rinse well, dry with a paper towel or your own towel at home.  Aside from the times our mother taught us to wash our hands, do it after shaking hands, after being around someone who is coughing/sneezing, after caring for someone who is sick, when you get home.  You can use hand gel.  And try to keep your hands moisturized- dry, cracked hands do not provide good barriers.
Avoid touching your mouth, nose or eyes.  This is a good way to introduce the irus!                   
Get 7-8 hours of sleep
Stay hydrated.  6-8 glasses of water
Eat 5 or more servings of fruits or vegetables, lots of Vit C and E in your diet
Exercise regularly
Drink Emergen-C, or equivalent, 1-2 times daily
Include Echinacea in your supplements during periods where there  is a high incidence of flu in the community- do not stay on it for long periods.  I use the tincture three times daily, every 2 hours if i start to feel symptoms.
Avoid large crowds.  Watch movies at home, limit time at the mall and grocery store, etc.  I'm not suggesting you never have fun but winter is a good time to spend more time at home, with the family, for many reasons.  Avoiding the flu is just one.

What to do if you get the flu?

Use over the counter meds that bring fever down.  NO products that contain aspirin in children, this leads to the development of a syndrome called "Reyes."  Beware that there are products that contain aspirin, such as Pepto Bismol
Pain relievers.  Medications and heating pads
Cough medications
Dark rooms
Oscilloccoccinum is a homeopathic flu medication that can reduce the severity and duration of flu-like symtpoms when taken on the onset of the illness.  It can be taken by children as young as 2.  This is available in the US as Oscillo by Boiron
Tamiflu is available by prescription, it reduces the duration of illness by 1-2 days and can reduce the severity of the symptoms, much like Oscillo

When to get worried or call your doctor?

Fever does not go down below 102 in spite of medication.  This means it never goes down with the med.  People sometime call concerned because it goes down and comes back- the fever medicine does not cure the fever so it will come back.  The concern is when it is not relieved at all.
Breathing- difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.  Especially if children are breathing very fast and the area between the ribs or above the collar bone sinks when the child takes a breath.  If there is blue color of the lips or nails.
If the person will not drink or suck on ice
If an infant has less than 6 wet diapers in 24 hours, urine is dark or there is not much of it
The mouth is dry and the eyes are sunken
The person keeps vomiting or retching
There is a change in mental status- difficulty awakening, confusion, hallucinations, fainting or near fainting, convulsions, a child can't be comforted no matter what you try
Worsening of flu symptoms, failure to start to improve after 3-5 days
Worsening of any health problem

Refer to my previous post on colds and flu for herbal/natural remedies.

Take care of yourselves!!!!!


(It appears my computer does not want to download photos correctly today so after the first illustration of good handwashing messed up I did not include others- sorry, hopefully my techno skills will improve!)