The breaking news on Avian flu is both discouraging and hopeful.? The bad news is that the flu has been showing up increasingly in China with the same high mortality rate (>50%) as in VietNam and other countries.? The good news comes out of recent trials of H5N1 flu vaccines which show good immune response to the current deadly strain.? This helps us to know that there can be preventive measures taken if the H5N1 avian flu ever becomes more widespread.? The department of Health and Human Services of the US government has purchased 20 million doses of this vaccine and contracted for more.? The other good news is that researchers at Penn State have developed a test that detects all strains of flu virus (including H5N1) within a few hours rather than the previous incubation period of 3-10 days.? This shorter time to diagnosis would allow me as a medical professional to take a much more aggressive approach to treatment if H5N1 was found.?
If we did have an outbreak of avian flu here in the U.S. and vaccine supplies were short we would want to test for the H5N1 strain and proceed with a two-pronged approach.? We would want to find out whether or not vaccine could be secured and administer it ASAP and consider using Tamiflu if it was effective against the particular strain.? The other prong would be the non-drug approach and could be done along with vaccine and drug or by itself.? this would include using proven herbal and nutritional strategies that boost immunity and have specific anti-viral activity:
- Oral and IV vitamin C (10 grams to 75 grams respectively)
- Beta 1-3,1-6 glucan
- Shitake and maitake mushrooms
- Lomatium Dissectum (40 drops extract 3x perday)
- Black Elderberry Extract (2 teaspooons extract 3x per day)
- Vigorous hand washing and careful hygiene avoiding touching face in the areas of mouth, nose and eyes
- Lactobacillus acidophillus and other probiotics 4-40 billion units?daily
- Stress reduction, exercise and deep breathing
It seems that most of the people who have contracted the flu have had exposure to the diseased chickens in their backyards, in poultry processing plants or through eating raw or partially cooked poultry.? Since most of these exposures are unlikely it is probably best to remain cautious but take no specific action.? Immune support makes great sense all the time.? Exercise and stress reduction enhance immune function and just about every other function.? Vaccines to this specific H5N1 strain will probably be available in the next couple of years.? In the event that this specific H5N1 strain mutates to become:
- contagious from human to human or through other animals
- still lethal in a mutated form
- responsive to vaccine
- responsive to Tamiflu or other drugs
we'll need to be very precise in dealing with each infected person.? The stakes would be very high indeed, but at this point there is a lot of concern and a high probability that all those mutations will not happen.? Looking ahead I would recommend taking great care of yourself and remembering that God is still in the game and your life doesn't hinge on the digestive tract of a chicken!
