Antibiotics are getting beat by quickly evolving bacteria.  In many American cities, there’s an infestation of Bed Bugs, some of which now have bacteria such as MRSA that are super-resistant to antibiotics. Consider alternatives to antibiotics.  Here are four.TODAY, there’s news that bed bugs are now carrying two different drug resistant bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE).  This is yet another indication that we are relying too much on drugs like antibiotics because the bugs we fight are developing immunity.

The result is that the bugs are wining.

If you haven’t heard, bed bugs have become a big deal – they’ve infested many cities, particularly New York City.  People are in a panic.  It’s really hard to find and dispense with the buggers.

Moreover, when one carrying MRSA and/or VRE bites you, you have more than a problem; more like a disaster.  As the Mayo Clinic presents it:

“Staph skin infections, including MRSA, generally start as small red bumps that resemble pimples, boils or spider bites. These can quickly turn into deep, painful abscesses that require surgical draining. Sometimes the bacteria remain confined to the skin. But they can also burrow deep into the body, causing potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs.”

If you reach for the antibiotics every time you get a sniffle, you’re contributing to the creation of Super Bugs that resist all known antibiotics. Furthermore, antibiotics kill all the “good” bacteria in your gut that it vital for digestion and colon health.

There are alternatives to antibiotics for many bacterial infections.  Google “MRSA herbal treatments” or “MRSA natural treatments” and you’ll get more suggestions than you’re likely to wade through.

Here are four antibiotic alternatives to consider:

Oregano

Prior to the development of antibiotics, Oregano was often used to treat MRSA-like infections.  Use the oregano essential oil, and mix six drops into two tablespoons of olive oil and apply topically about ten times per day.  You can also ingest four drops of oregano oil with one tablespoon of olive oil four times per day.

Olive Leaf Extract

In Europe, particularly in Hungary, Olive Leaf Extract is commonly used for treating MRSA.  You can ingest a powerful formula such as this one from ProHealth, or use an essential oil as described above for Oregano.

Tumeric

This herb is getting much press of late. Dr. Weil says it’s one of his top supplements for its antibacterial as well as anti-inflammatory properties.  The literature says that Tumeric does a good job fighting various staff infections, including MRSA.  It’s best that you use a concentrated form such as Jarrow’s concentrated formula.

Probiotics

As mentioned, your body needs this whether you’re sick or not, and unless you eat foods that are rich in probiotics, like yogurt and grass, it’s a good idea to supplement with probiotics from time to time, particularly if you have digestion/constipation issues. Ingesting a higher level of probiotics can help strengthen your system and aid in ridding your body of an MRSA-like infection.

Do you have any suggestions for antibiotic substitutes?  What has worked for you? Please weigh in below in the Comment Section.

Related posts:

1. 7 Tips for Preventing (and Combating) Urinary Tract Infections, says Oz
2. Allergies: Are There Simple Solutions?

Am on a myth roll… this one, “10 winter health myths”.  After all, it is winter, you want to be healthy, so check it out.

I JUST can’t help myself.  Just read another list of health myths, and am compelled to list them, but this time, I’ll leave it to you to click over to the original article rather than summarize them (along with my two cents), as I did yesterday’s post, 12 Myths About Cholesterol.

This one is from Yahoo! Health and it’s called, 10 Winter Health Myths Exposed, by Sara Jio.  Go to her article and read the specifics about why these commonly held beliefs are bunk, or continue on here to scan the list.

Here they are, 10 Winter Health Myths:

1. You can catch a cold by being out in the elements too long. (It isn’t the cold, it’s the bacteria and viruses.)
2. More people are depressed during the winter months. (Perhaps a bit more stress, but not depression.)
3. Chicken soup helping a cold is an “old wives tale”. (Could help the immune system and assist in zapping the cold.)
4. Wear a hat cause you lose must of your heat via the head. (Nope, first be concerned with your torso – wear a warm jacket.)
5. Shouldn’t exercise in the cold. (Nope, just warm up first.)
6. We need more sleep in the winter. (Not a need, but perhaps a compulsion.)
7. Don’t need sunscreen in the winter. (Yes you do… the Sun and UV rays are still present.)
8. Frostbite is hard to get. (No, can happen in just 30 minutes.)
9. Dry skin is harmless and a winter issue. (Maybe not, as it can induce infection.)
10. Can’t get allergies during the winter. (Depends – pollen allergy suffers are safe, but indoor allergies get worse.)

Well, I guess I did include a summary (actually, a conclusion) for each of these 10 winter health myths, but for more insight and a better understanding, go read Sara Jio’s article.

Related posts:

1. Five Diet and Exercise Myths that Need to Die
2. 12 Myths About Cholesterol
3. Dr. Weil and Kevin Rose Talk Health (Video)

Most American ‘s Antibodies are capable of squashing H1N1, the “Swine Flu”

ACCORDING TO some recent research reported by LiveScience.com, about 183 million Americans, (59%) are currently immune to the H1N1 strain of the influenza virus, aka, the “swine flu”.

For it, therefore, to reap havoc this coming flu season, the H1N1 virus will need to adapt to a highly immune American population.

If immune, you are so either due to having been vaccinated, or you’ve been exposed to the virus, researchers say.  If this is a topic of interest to you, I recommend you read the particulars here.

If you want to jump into the pros and cons of vaccination, you can start on this very contentious subject by reading the following:

-  What Dr. Weil told Larry King about swine flu

-  The debate between two noted experts with opposite views

-  Some doctors and nurses views (Opinions are all over the map, including among medical practitioners,)

-  Robert Kennedy’s views of the vaccine/autism link

All of the information in the bullets above is at least several months old when the last swine flu scare was upon us last flu season.  Undoubtedly, the debate about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines will stridently arise as the season arrives again, and I’ll endeavor to keep you abreast of the latest.

In the meantime, wash your hands.



Related posts:

1. Obama Declares Swine Flu Emergency
2. Obama Daughters Get Swine Flu Shots
3. Harvard Creates iPhone Swine Flu App (Video)

Vaccines, Health Rumors and Fat-fighting Food

ALTHOUGH THIS blog is not a forum for Swine Flu or Vaccines, I did write quite a bit about it during the scare we had a few months ago, and delved into the frothing debate about the value of vaccinations.

Given this precedent, I thought I’d report about and link to a surprising revelation today, and then turn to eight health tips times two.

First up, the vaccine headliner:

“Medical journal The Lancet [today] withdrew a 1998 study linking autism with inoculation against three childhood illnesses, a paper that caused an uproar and an enduring backlash against vaccination.”

If you’re still gathering data on the pros and cons of vaccination, check out the report here.

Now onto two stories of eights…

8 Crazy Health Rumors examines, well, crazy health rumors, such as:

1. Baby carrots are preserved with bleach. (Not really — rinsed not preserved.)

2. Exercising on an empty stomach burns more fat. (Not significantly.)

3. Sugar leads to diabetes. (Could increase the risk.)

4. Listerine mouthwash scatters mosquitoes. (Nay.)

5. Spicy foods boost metabolism. (Nope.)

6. Liquid eyeliner causes sinus infections. (Only if allergic to them.)

7. The 5 second rule for grabbing food of the floor. (Bacteria is faster.)

8. Cracking knuckles causes arthritis. (Naw.)

8 Foods that Fight Fat is a primer for eating foods which have a fat-reducing chemical reaction within your body.

1. Almonds are high in alpha-linolenic acid, which can accelerate your metabolism of fats. They themselves are high in fat, so limit yourself to 12 per serving to keep calories in check.

2. Berries — whether they be blueberries, blackberries or strawberries — are natures candy and can help you burn more fat during workouts. I routinely buy organic frozen berries and add them to smoothies, oatmeal and yoghurt. I add chopped almonds to them.

3. Cinnamon reduces the blood glucose uptake (measured by the glycemic index) of anything you eat with it. Not to mention that cinnamon has anti-bacteria properties. I add it to all that stuff in #2 above.

4. Mustard, due to the tumeric spice in it, may slow the growth of fat tissues; and it, too, has anti-bacteria properties. In India, tumeric seems to be in everything. If you like curry, you like tumeric.

5. Oranges contain fat-blasting compounds known as flavones. If orange juice is your thing, remember to eat the pulp; moreover, remember that now matter how healthy, fruit juice is high in sugar and calories, so don’t drink it like it’s water.

6. Soybeans are rich in choline, a compound that blocks the absorption of fat and breaks down fatty deposits, but don’t over do it. Over doing it means that soy becomes your main meal. Soy advocates often point to Japan as an example of a population who is healthy due to soy, but they forget to say that the Japanese typically use soy as a side dish — not the main event — and it’s often fermented which improves it’s health yielding benefits in a way that I’m not sure about at the moment.

(OK, I decided not to be so lazy and looked it up… here’s the benefits of fermentation.)

7. Sweet Potatoes are high in fiber content (translating in a low glycemic index) which means they keep your insulin steadier than, say, white potatoes. This translates into less fat being packed onto your six pack.

8. Swiss Cheese is a calcium-rich food, and as such helps reduce fat-producing enzymes and increase fat breakdown. Not bad for cheese. Remember though, Swiss cheese is high in fat and calories, so discretion is advised.

Hey, if you have any fat-busting tips or food, please weigh in at the “comments” section below.

Related posts:

1. A “Health Tips” Dinner with Alli — Watch
2. Vaccine Supplies, Vaccine Holdouts, Supplements, Big Money and World Domination
3. On The Road? Tips to Eat Right

Compare the Views of Two Giants of the Vaccination World

Flu Vaccine (picture by Andrew Zuckerman)

(Watch the Videos)

THE EMAILS keep coming in.  Nervous mothers asking me to support their views about vaccination for H1N1, or to write a critique of some pro or con article that a friend is brandishing in front of her face as proof that whatever she’s doing (or not doing) is wrong and potentially harmful to her family.

Like I have the answers.  Like I’m qualified to discern the truth in this matter of H1N1 vaccination when even those seeped in it, those medical doctors and researchers whose careers are made from it, are in vociferous debate.

There’s an old joke about economists.  If you laid head to feet all the economists in the world you still wouldn’t reach a conclusion.  Well, epidemiologists can now supplant economists in that quip.

So, returning to those emails beseeching me to clear the air…I have two answers:

1. I’m simply not qualified to make a decisive declaration; and

2. There’s no one single definitive answer for all.

That said, what I can do is share what I’ve read, and I’ve finally read two good countervailing articles about this conundrum of whether the H1N1 vaccine works and for whom.

I will summarize them in this long post, but I ask you to please read both Wired.com’s An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All, and then, just as you begin to think you finally have the answer, read The Atlantic’s Does the Vaccine Really Matter?. (If you don’t read them, you will miss two well-crafted stories and more data than my summary below contains.)

We’re fortunate to have these two articles to juxtapose because they pitch the views and research of two formidable scientists (and their collaborators) with opposing views about the H1N1 virus.

In the “Get Vaccinated” camp is a prominent vaccine inventor, Dr. Paul Offit, a favorite target for vilification by anti-vaccine groups, particularly those that claim vaccines can, and do, cause autism in children. (Read and watch what Robert Kennedy, Jr. has to say about it.)

In the “Don’t Bother” camp is Dr. Tom Jefferson, who even his detractors reluctantly admit knows the flu-vaccine literature better than anyone else on the planet.

(This thing about “literature” is an important part of the puzzle, it turns out, because one of the “anti-vaccine” crowd’s most damming argument concerns how “pro-vaccine” studies were conducted, which I address below.)

So, now I’m going to attempt to distill their arguments…

Wired.com’s article focuses on Dr. Offit and the point of view of the pro-vaccinators, which can be summarized thus (all info and statistic, except in parentheses,from the article):

–>Vaccines save a tremendously greater number of lives than they negatively effect.

Smallpox killed an estimated 500 million people before eradicated with a vaccine. Sixty years ago, polio paralyzed 16,000 Americans every year, while rubella caused birth defects and mental retardation in as many as 20,000 newborns. Measles infected 4 million children, killing 3,000 annually, and a bacterium called Haemophilus influenzae type b caused Hib meningitis in more than 15,000 children, leaving many with permanent brain damage.  So, the clear inference is, ditto for the H1N1 vaccine — it will protect you.

–>Vaccines do not cause autism.

The only negative effect widely publicized is that vaccines can cause autism in children, a claim Dr. Offit strenuously denies.  He says that many parents ignore the facts presented by peer-reviewed evidence showing no connection between vaccines and thus agonize about whether to vaccinate.

The explanation for this irrationality is that the human brain has a natural tendency to pattern-match — to ignore the old dictum “correlation does not imply causation”, and stubbornly persists in associating proximate phenomena. If two things coexist, the brain says they may be related. Some parents of autistic children noticed that their child’s condition began to appear shortly after a vaccination. The conclusion: “The vaccine must have caused the autism.”

–>Even a tiny percent of people opting out puts whole neighborhoods at risk.

According to the CDC, in states where opting out of vaccination is allowed, 2.6 percent of parents did so last year, up from 1 percent in 1991. In some communities, like California’s affluent Marin County, just north of San Francisco, non-vaccination rates are approaching 6 percent. (Interestingly, higher rates of non-vaccination often correspond with higher levels of education and wealth, Marin County being one of the richest in the U.S.)

A recent study by the Los Angeles Times indicates that the impact of even this small percent can be devastating. Though only about 2 percent of California’s kindergartners are unvaccinated, they tend to be clustered, which disproportionately increases the risk of an outbreak of such largely eradicated diseases as measles, mumps, and pertussis (whooping cough).

The clustering means almost 10 percent of elementary schools statewide may already be at risk. (This seems in conflict with Japan’s experience which suggests that when 50% of school children are vaccinated, the community’s risk falls by two-thirds; at 70% vaccinated, the risk plummets to 4%.  Read the full story here.)

To get a sense of Dr. Offit and some of his arguments, watch this video. Below the video, I examine Dr. Jefferson’s anti-vaccination views as reported by The Atlantic article.

Now, let’s turn to The Republic’s article which focuses on Dr. Jefferson and the point of view of the anti-vaccinators, which can be summarized thus (this longer summary than the one above reflects the much greater length of the article… all data presented is from the article):

–>As currently tested, it’s near impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of flu vaccines.

Flu is seasonal and is often not the direct cause of death, but a contributing factor in that it makes the body more susceptible to secondary infections like pneumonia or bronchitis. For this reason, researchers studying the impact of flu vaccination typically look at deaths from all causes during flu season, and compare the vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.

Such comparisons have shown a dramatic difference in mortality between those who vaccinate and those who do not. Numerous studies find that people who get a flu shot in the fall are about half as likely to die that winter—from any cause—as people who do not. Get your flu shot each year, the literature suggests, and you will dramatically reduce your chance of dying during flu season.

Yet in the view of several vaccine skeptics, this claim is suspicious on its face. Influenza causes only a small minority of all deaths in the U.S., even when adding senior citizens — the most vulnerable group — as well as deaths to which flu might have contributed indirectly.

When researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases included all deaths from illnesses that flu aggravates, like lung disease or chronic heart failure, they found that flu accounts for, at most, 10 percent of winter deaths among the elderly. So how could flu vaccine possibly reduce total deaths by half?

Dr. Jefferson’s answer: “For a vaccine to reduce mortality by 50 percent and up to 90 percent in some studies means it has to prevent deaths not just from influenza, but also from falls, fires, heart disease, strokes, and car accidents. That’s not a vaccine, that’s a miracle.” (emphasis mine.)

(Note: More than 50 percent of health-care workers say they do not intend to get vaccinated for swine flu and don’t routinely get their shots for seasonal flu, in part because many of them doubt the vaccines’ efficacy.)

–>Though declared dangerous and a pandemic, we don’t know how bad it is yet.

In August, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology projected that this fall and winter, H1N1 could infect anywhere between one-third and one-half of the U.S. population and could kill as many as 90,000 Americans, two and a half times the number killed in a typical flu season.

But precisely how deadly, or even how infectious, this year’s H1N1 pandemic will turn out to be won’t be known until it’s over. Remember, flu is seasonal — most people get infected in the fall and winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, winter has ended.

What happened there?

Most reports coming from the Southern Hemisphere in late August (the end of winter there) says that H1N1 is highly infectious, but not particularly lethal. For example, Australian officials estimated they would finish winter with under 1,000 swine flu deaths—fewer than the usual 1,500 to 3,000 from seasonal flu.

Among those who have died in the U.S., about 70 percent were already suffering from congenital conditions like cerebral palsy or underlying illnesses such as cancer, asthma, or AIDS, which make people more vulnerable.

–>The “healthy-user effect” may mean that vaccines only help the healthy.

If true, this puts the prevailing wisdom that vaccines are essential for the vulnerable on its head!  The “healthy-user effect” posits that the mortality difference between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated might be because more people who are healthier get vaccinated then those who don’t, and are consequently less likely to die over the short term.

Unfortunately, those who most need protection from the flu also have compromised immune systems that are least likely to favorably respond to vaccine. Studies show that young, healthy people have the intended immune response to seasonal flu vaccine, and their response reduces their chances of getting it. But they aren’t the people who die from seasonal flu. The elderly, by contrast (particularly those over age 70), don’t have a good immune response to vaccine—and they’re the ones who account for most flu deaths. (Infants with severe disabilities, such as leukemia and congenital lung disease, and people who are immune-compromised—from AIDS, or diabetes, or cancer treatment—make up the rest.)

Dr. Lisa Jackson, a physician and senior investigator with the Group Health Research Center, in Seattle and three colleagues set out to test this healthy-user effect.  They analyzed eight years of medical data on more than 72,000 people 65 and older. They looked at who got flu shots and who didn’t. Then they examined which group’s members were more likely to die of any cause when it was not flu season.

The result? Their findings show that outside of flu season, the baseline risk of death among people who did not get vaccinated was approximately 60 percent higher than among those who did.

This is a bit tricky to understand. Remember, this is outside of flu season indicating that the cause of death is not flu.  Hence,  if more people of one group died than the other, it would not be from the flu, or – ergo – from the vaccine designed to defang it.

Dr. Jackson’s study supported the hypothesis that on average, healthy people chose to get the vaccine, while the “frail elderly” didn’t or couldn’t. In fact, the healthy-user effect explained the entire benefit that other researchers were attributing to flu vaccine, suggesting that the vaccine itself might not reduce mortality at all.

–>Flu vaccination history suggests reasons other reasons to doubt claims that flu vaccination reduces mortality.

In 2004, there was a vaccine production shortage resulting in a 40 percent drop in immunization rates. Yet mortality did not rise. Vaccine “mismatches” occurred in 1968 and 1997, and no one, in effect, was vaccinated. (In both years, the vaccine that had been produced in the summer protected against one set of viruses, but come winter, a different set was circulating). Yet death rates from all causes – including flu and the various illnesses it can exacerbate – stayed the same.

Dr. Sumit Majumdar, a physician and researcher at the University of Alberta, in Canada, offers another historical observation: rising rates of vaccination of the elderly over the past two decades have not coincided with a lower overall mortality rate. In 1989, only 15 percent of people over age 65 in the U.S. and Canada were vaccinated against flu. Today, more than 65 percent are immunized. Yet death rates among the elderly during flu season have increased rather than decreased.

–>The Atlantic article’s conclusion: Vaccination may not help, but it’s unlikely to hurt.

Despite presenting formidable arguments against the efficacy of flu vaccines, The Atlantic’s article concludes thus:

“… what people should do when faced with a decision about whether to get themselves and their families vaccinated. There is little immediate danger from getting a seasonal flu shot, aside from a sore arm and mild flu-like symptoms. The safety of the swine flu vaccine remains to be seen. In the absence of better evidence, vaccines and antivirals must be viewed as only partial and uncertain defenses against the flu. And they may be mere talismans. By being afraid to do the proper studies now, we may be condemning ourselves to using treatments based on illusion and faith rather than sound science.”

To get a sense of Dr. Jefferson and some of his arguments, watch this video… also, please read my invitation beneath it:

If you look in the sidebar on the right of your screen and click “Flu/Virus” under “Topics”, you’ll find several other posts on this H1N1 topic.

Please consider using the Comments section to share your views.  Have you, or do you intend to have yourself and children vaccinated?  If not, why?

Also, as you know, many people are confused about whether to vaccinate.  If you think this post might help inform them, please share it.

Also see: Q&A: “Facts About Swine Flu”

Want to pump up your immune system?  Read this post.

Related posts:

1. H1NI Swine Flu Expert Opinions on Video
2. 144 Kids Die from H1N1 — Tamiflu Stockpile Released
3. Robert Kennedy, Jr. Says Vaccines Cause Autism (Video)

Move the Waiting Line to Wall Street

FOR REASONS yet to be fathomed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC“) has decided to allocate the scarce H1N1 vaccine to a few Wall Street institutions, such as Goldman Sachs and Citi Group.

This is at a time when there are substantially insufficient H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine supplies for various high-risk populations, such as children and pregnant mothers.

Chalk it up to another blunder by the likes of Goldman, that costs you, but, decidedly, not them.

After being excoriated by just about everyone NOT working on Wall Street for a few basic things like undertaking risks that helped slammed the economy into a deep recession, then having their businesses saved by taxpayer billions, and then setting aside billions more for bonuses, Goldman Sachs and their lot have become the new symbol for the despised Robber Barons of old.

Not to let the good people at Goldman skip a chance to get pilloried, SNL plied their usual comedic sensibilities to the much needed task.

Watch Saturday Night Live having fun with Goldman Sachs:

Related posts:

1. HIV Vaccine Breakthrough!
2. Vaccine Supplies, Vaccine Holdouts, Supplements, Big Money and World Domination
3. H1NI Swine Flu Expert Opinions on Video

Cites a Cover-up!   Three Federal Judges say “Not So”

Watch Part 1 of 2:

WATCH TWO counfounding videos (first above, second below) of environmental lawyer, Robert Kennedy, Jr. claiming that vaccines in general producing “the most sickly children the American history”, and causing autism.

Then you can read a story in Slate that rebukes the claims of Mr. Kennedy and others here.

And then you can read more details that Kennedy outlines in the video clips here.

After all that, you can sink into your couch and stare dumbly at the wall, cause you’re going to be mighty confused; unless, of course, you’ve already made up your mind. There’s no messing with certainty.

Anyway, back to Mr. Kennedy, a long time promoter of the connection between vaccines and autism, who says that at a private conference, members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and other industry participants agreed that the evidence is clear — there is no denying a causal link between autism and thiomersal in many vaccines, including H1N1.

What did they then do?

How ’bout strategizing how to bury the evidence, and underwrite new studies to dispute the causal link between thiomersal and autism? According to Mr. Kennedy, a transcript of the meeting says precisely that.

If you’re more of a sleuth than I am, you can wade into that 262 page document here and see if it’s true. Or take a short cut and read a Congressman’s (who is also an M.D.) letter to the CDC here.

Mr. Kennedy says he has hundreds of letters from mothers who say that after vaccination, perfectly healthy children were irrevocably harmed.  The CDC refuses to support studies looking into this, he claims.

Parents, in particular, need to watch these two videos, measure them against the Slate article, and put this information into their decision-making matrix regarding the vaccination of their children. And you may also wish to read and view a personal story on this subject.

Watch Part 2:

Related posts:

1. Do Flu (H1N1) Vaccines Work? Two Studied Opinions
2. 59% of Americans Will Squash Swine Flu
3. H1NI Swine Flu Expert Opinions on Video

Doctors and Nurses that say “No”, A Finnish Conspiratorial Theory, and Dartmouth Takes the Middle Road

Doctors Speak Out Against the Vaccine

THIS IS worth watching so you can assess if the reasons given by these doctors for not taking the vaccine are persuasive.  That said, perhaps an equally compelling set of reasons in support of H1N1 vaccine could be presented by another group of medical doctors with countervailing views.  This is why this issue is so confusing: If the medical experts can’t concur, how can the general pubic make an informed, decisive decision.

Conspiracy Anyone?

In the video below, Finland’s Minister of Public Health, Rauni Kilde, goes way out in conspiracy land, not because she says the Swine Flu is not very dangerous, but part of a plan of world population control.  Remember — this is coming from a minister of an advanced country. I hesitated posting this because of how extreme and unsubstantiated her claims are, but decided to do so as a preemptive strike in case various governments wind up mandating vaccination, since Ms. Kilde floats this potential.

British Nurses Say “No”

This August 2009 news story in UK reports that up to a third of British nurses refuse to be vaccination, as do some small pox vaccine researchers.  One issue is thiomersal (half of which is mercury, though I’ve read that the amount of mercury in the vaccine is equivalent to that in a can of tuna).

Is the H1N1 Vaccine Safe?

Dr. Jack Turco of the Dartmouth College Health Service talks about the benefits and risks of the H1N1 vaccine.  This is a new vaccine so there aren’t many case studies, he asserts; thus, he says the number and degree of side affects aren’t predictable.  Though not zero, he believes that that the risk of H1N1 becoming a serious illness is small.  That may be, but it would be more helpful if Dr. Turco discussed the risk matrix related to various population groups, such as the elderly (somewhat risky if unhealthy, I’ve read), children (more at risk than the elderly, particularly if unhealthy), pregnant women (among the most risky groups) and the middle aged (least risky if healthy).

Related posts:

1. Harvard Creates iPhone Swine Flu App (Video)
2. Obama Declares Swine Flu Emergency
3. Obama Daughters Get Swine Flu Shots

THERE ARE an assortment of ways to track the H1N1 Swine Flu outbreaks, both in the U.S. and world wide.

In the U.S. the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks cases on a regional level. Its interactive map segments the U.S. into ten regions and keeps up to date with the number of cases per region.

Then, naturally, there’s Google Maps — in this case technology provided by Rhiza Labs and Google. You can get whichever part of the world you want. Check it out the here.

One primary benefit of knowing the number of people contracting this flu in your neck of the woods is to judge when to take extra precautions, whether it be staying away from crowds, washing your hands a lot, increasing your immune enhancement supplements, or getting vaccinated.

Related posts:

1. Can You Wash Away H1N1?
2. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta Gets H1N1
3. 144 Kids Die from H1N1 — Tamiflu Stockpile Released

Now this headline is a shocker, intentionally so, because it sets up a perspective that I wish to examine.

If your child is among the 144, nothing else matters, particularly context. To everyone else, what’s most disturbing in the headline isn’t the number of deaths, per se, but the mystery.  The unpredictability.  After all, if the headline was “144 Kids Die from Auto Accidents So Far This Year”, you’d hardly notice.

Why?

Perhaps you know that about 2,000 children die in an auto accident each year.  Or, more likely, you’re familiar with driving and the risks thereof, and can assess how the statistic in this article’s headline could affect your life were the subject about auto accidents.

Not so regarding the H1N1 Swine Flu.

The Swine Flu is mysterious and potentially very, very injurious. (It’s a pandemic for Pete’s sake, now in 48 states!)  So it’s lurking somewhere (maybe everywhere), and a lot of smart experts are concerned, and the government wants you to get vaccinated, because you, and your child, could die.

Although this is true, just like with the analogy of the car accident, is it likely?

Of the 144 children who died from H1N1, it’s important to know that that two-thirds had some sort of underlying health problem, including cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy.  That said, healthy, even athletic, children died as well.

So, that then is the context for the headline to this post; now on to the news that instigated this post: As reported today by the New York Times, the U.S will release its stockpiles of Tamiflu for children because of the shortage of H1N1 flu vaccine.

As you might have already read on this site or elsewhere, the amount of H1N1 vaccine is substantially below the forecast made by manufactures and underscored by government officials last July.  We’re talking about 27 million doses compared to the 120 million projected to be available now.  The short term solution announced today is to make up the short-fall in the short-term with Tamiflu, an antiviral drug that slows the spread of the flu virus

Cipla, an Indian company that makes the only oseltamivir (the drug renamed “Tamiflu”), other than the drug company Roche, is said to be able to supply the U.S. with one million children’s doses in four to six weeks.

Officials and drug manufacturers are scrambling to help knock down H1NI, as they should.  What we need to do is carefully assess our risk exposure and act accordingly.

Related posts:

1. Obama Declares Swine Flu Emergency
2. H1N1 Flu Tracker — Stay Up to Date
3. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta Gets H1N1