A 39-year-old bus driver in Shenzhen died of multiple organ failure and tested positive for H5N1, state media reported. He had not left the city or had contact with poultry in the prior month, and 120 people who had contact with him showed no signs of illness.
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Disease
The First Thing to do When a Cold or Flu Strikes
Mercola argues that systematic reviews find little evidence flu vaccines prevent flu, and points instead to vitamin D, preferably from sun exposure. He frames colds and flu as viral attacks on an already impaired immune system and lists zinc, green tea, vitamin C and chicken soup as treatments.
Phytochemicals
Green tea helps immunity
The green tea compound EGCG blocked DNA methyltransferase and raised Foxp3 and regulatory T cells in lab tests and in mice, Oregon State researchers found, suggesting green tea may help maintain normal immunity. A separate study found green tea polyphenols delayed herpes lesions in mice.
Vitamins
Could vitamin D work better than influenza vaccine?
The CDC urges everyone six months and older to take the 2010-2011 flu shot. The piece counters that neither cdc.gov nor flu.gov mentions vitamin D3, and cites researchers William Grant and John Cannell, who argue high doses boost innate immunity against influenza.
Drug
Flu vaccine does not reduce risk of severe complications
Italian researchers examining 32,457 elderly people, two-thirds of them vaccinated, found the influenza vaccine did not reduce hospital deaths or admissions for influenza or pneumonia. They note most vaccine trials measure antigens produced in response rather than flu cases.
Disease
Vitamin D may help reduce deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic
The CDC said in MMWR that it had overestimated annual flu deaths, putting the real toll at about two-thirds of the 33,000 figure it often cites. The piece also notes a Dermatoendocrinology paper linking solar UVB doses to lower case-fatality rates in the 1918-19 pandemic.
Nutrition
CDC lowers estimate of annual flu deaths
CDC now puts seasonal influenza-associated deaths at about two-thirds of the roughly 33,000 a year it long cited when promoting flu vaccine. The editor notes the estimate lumps pneumonia and influenza causes together, and that critics put the influenza-only toll near 300.
Miscellaneous
Flu Plan Scandal Ahead – An Urgent Warning (Video)
Mercola interviews Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center about the aftermath of the 2009 swine flu response, declared over by the WHO in August, and changes to that season's vaccine. He notes only 90 million of the 170 million US doses ordered were used.
Vitamins
New evidence: vitamin D prevents flu
A PLoS ONE study followed 198 healthy adults through autumn and winter: 16.6% of those who kept serum vitamin D at 38 ng/ml or higher caught a viral respiratory infection, against 45% of those with lower levels.
Vitamins
Vitamin D Deficiency is Why You Get Flu!
A study in Nature Immunology describes how T cells need vitamin D to activate: on meeting an invader the T cell signals the vitamin D receptor gene, whose protein binds vitamin D and then produces PLC-gamma1, letting the cell start fighting the infection.
Supplements
Echinacea next big thing in fighting swine flu?
In laboratory tests reported in Virology, a commercial Echinacea purpurea extract inactivated human H1N1, H5 and H7 avian and swine-origin influenza viruses, apparently by blocking viral entry into cells, and produced no resistant variants, unlike Tamiflu.
Lifestyle
The Flu: You've Gotten Your Shot, Now What?
Background on influenza as H1N1 spread: scientists did not pin down its cause until the 1930s, having blamed bad air and cold weather. The virus travels in mucus and saliva, survives longer indoors, and after a three- to four-day incubation brings sore throat, dry cough, chills and aches.
Disease
What's the Difference Between a Cold and the Flu?
A cold builds over several days, starting with a scratchy throat and running nose, while flu strikes after a 3-4 day incubation with severe body aches, high fever, sore throat and cough. Cold sufferers can still function minimally; flu patients are left helpless.
Food
Keeping Kids Flu Free: The Importance of Healthy Foods
Veteran parents offer tactics for feeding children well through flu season: plan menus ahead, aim for a balanced week rather than a balanced day, treat the effort as a marathon, and hide shredded zucchini or carrots in sauces if you must.
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