When flu season rolls around, single parents or those who live alone can plan to avoid or prevent getting sick with influenza. A few simple steps will do the trick.
Influenza, a viral infection of the lungs and airways, happens every year and is common worldwide. Each year's flu is a little different because the virus often changes slightly. Most people who have had a previous strain will have some protection against the new version. However, health agencies are concerned that some new strain will change to the point where few people are resistant, resulting in a global epidemic (pandemic) where many people will become seriously ill.
"Everyone should plan ahead in case they become ill with influenza," advises Alberta Health and Wellness (Influenza Self-Care, publication CD0092, June 2005, p. 15).
Preventing Flu by Being Prepared – Who Should be Most Concerned?
While everyone should take active measures to protect their health, some people might be more at risk of the consequences of catching the flu. Alberta Health and Wellness advises that these groups in particular should prepare:
those who live alone, regardless of age
single parents, regardless of the age of their children
caregivers, volunteers working with the ill, and health-care workers
those with children less than 2 years old
people with weakened immune systems, whether by disease or medication/treatment
people with certain chronic illnesses such as heart or lung disease
In addition, senior couples where only one partner is mobile should make extra preparations.
Be Prepared to Prevent Flu and its Consequences
There are a number of steps people in those groups can take in order to protect themselves and others against influenza, or if they do get the flu, to reduce the severity and duration of its effect. Figures and advice cited are from Alberta Health & Wellness.
Choose to Immunize – Each year a new vaccine is created containing the three virus strains most likely to circulate that year. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to take effect, so it is given early, before the flu season starts. The vaccine is effective in 70% to 90% of people
Live Healthy – Follow a healthy lifestyle year round. Exercise regularly, eat a balanced diet, drink plenty of water. Older adults may take daily multivitamins.
When flu season comes, be sure stock up on fluids (bottled water, juice) and other supplies such as tissues. The goal is to have enough on hand to last one or two weeks (the normal duration of a flu bug).
Have a medical thermometer handy, and know how to use it. The level of fever is an important indicator for knowing when to seek emergency medical aid (fever for three to four days without improvement is a danger sign)
Stock up on over-the-counter (OTC) fever medications [Advil, Tylenol, Aleve, Aspirin and others are medicines and may have side effects. Talk to a pharmacist or physician about these products. – author.]
Know what options are available at work – persons with flu should not go to work, but might be well enough to do some work at home
Have a backup caregiver for family
It may not be possible to avoid the flu entirely. However, some advance preparation can reduce both the chances of getting influenza and the severity and duration of the symptoms. Having proper supplies and equipment in the home will help.
The copyright of the article Flu Prevention – Preparatory Measures in Public Healthcare Issues is owned by Thomas Alan Gray. Permission to republish Flu Prevention – Preparatory Measures in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
If you or anyone you know has for any reason determined it essential to be
vaccinated for H1N1 swine influenza, below are some safety considerations
for you to ponder in selecting the least toxic vaccine of the four
"fast track" vaccines available that are thrown together by
American Companies. You also should peruse the prior post on
"Treatment against Vaccine Toxins".
But first we will
clarify that, at this point in time, none of the American-made vaccines
noted below are supposed to contain the dangerous squalene adjutant, but
that can change with all of the emergency orders that are being put into
effect. However, squalene is present in some vaccines produced outside the
USA. The other tip to be aware of is that the mercury containing
"preservative" thiomerisol is present in multiple dose vials --
it is present in only one of the four single dose vaccines listed below.
1. The FluMist intra-nasal spray vaccine from MedImmune contains a
live "attenuated" H1N1 virus. However, it has been stated that
anyone vaccinated via this intra-nasal method may pass on the virus to
others they come into contact with (a great way of fostering a
"pandemic"). This vaccine contains sugar, an antibiotic, and
monosodium glutamate, also known as MSG, a known excito-toxin and
neuro-toxin. Why in the world they added such an obviously harmful
substance such as MSG seems entirely senseless -- unless the actual intent
was harmful of course.
2. The injectable vaccine from Novartis
contains a toxic carinogenic disinfectant, a toxic carcinogenic cleaning
agent, two antibiotics (one of which is known to be dangerous for unborn
babies), egg proteins which may contain avian bacteria, and even their
single dose vials contain a small amount of mercury. Needless to say that
this vaccine should be avoided.
3. The injectable vaccine from
Sanofi-Pasteur contains formaldehyde (a certifiable carcinogen), a toxic
detergent, salt, gelatin, and sugar. Sounds more like it was made to be
edible than injectable - that's not really funny is it? Prefilled syringes
and single dose vials are supposed to be free of mercury. This vaccine does
not sound too great either.
4. The injectable vaccine from CSL
Biotherapies contains two antibiotics (one of which is known to be
dangerous for unborn babies, just like the Novartis vaccine), salt, a toxic
detergent, a carcinogenic disinfectant, and several other questionable
substances. Single-dose vials are not supposed to contain mercury. Is this
one the lesser of four evils? Sounds like a toss-up until you throw in
their disclaimer that there are no clinical studies that indicate a
decrease in influenza after injection with this vaccine.
However, all four vaccines have an insert that states that they have not
been shown to protect against the influenza virus, but that they may work
from about 25% to 50% of the time. In other words, they admit that the
vaccines are not effective in preventing influenza most of the time, but of
course the injurious ingredients will always inflict their damage.
Nov 8, 2009 8:26 AM
Guest :
If you are injected with a vaccine, we recommend the following regimen in
an attempt to offset some of the toxic effects. Note that the dosages are
set at levels for adults, not for children -- we are working on that...
* Consume fish oils. The fish oil made by Carlson Labs is
stated to not contain mercury and also has the appropriate balance of EPA
and DHA to combat the flood of cytokines. Take one tablespoon per day, but
if any adverse vaccine symptoms surface, increase the dose to two
tablespoons per day until the symptoms abate. We recommend continuing to
consume fish oil (or another form of omega 3) on a permanent basis.
* Avoid all immune stimulating supplements except beta-glucan which
reduces inflammation and has a reduced risk of effecting the autoimmune
system while increasing antiviral cellular immunity. * Take a
multi-vitamin and mineral supplement daily, without iron. * Take a
natural form of vitamin E, four hundred 'IU' per day, in addition to the
multi-vitamin. * Take one thousand mg of vitamin C four times per
day, in addition to the multi-vitamin. * Take four mg of
astaxanthin daily. * Take twenty mg of zinc daily for one week
then five mg per day for a second week. * Take magnesium citrate,
five hundred mg per day, in addition to the mineral supplement. It is best
if you can consume this suppelment in tandem with calcium. * Take
a vitamin D3 supplement in addition to the multi-vitamin. * Juice
celery with a mix of parsely, consuming eight ounces twice per day.
* Mix five hundred mg each of circumin and quercetin into one teaspoon of
extra virgin olive. Take this mixture three times a day for two weeks. * Avoid anything known to contain mercury (such as seafood).
* Avoid corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, canola, and peanut oils.
