This year’s flu scare has really had an impact on certain industries.  I would guess that travel medical insurance is up, as people fear contracting H1N1 all over the country.  Sales of masks and such have certainly risen.  And, of course, the pharmaceutical companies are making big bucks off of the vaccines.

And yet, much of the scare over H1N1 is based on bad information.  CBS recently ran an article about the flu data from the early part of the summer.  (There isn’t consistent information available from more recent months, as the CDC stopped collecting it.)  Of all of the cases diagnosed as H1N1, a very tiny percentage actually were, when the hard data was examined.  In fact, the vast majority wasn’t even flu at all!  Although the data is from the summer, if dozens or hundreds of doctors were misdiagnosing “flu-like illness” as H1N1 all summer, it seems probable that the same thing is occurring now (even if the numbers/percentages aren’t the same).  This means three things, including some good news and some bad news.

1. H1N1 (“swine”) flu is far less prevalent (at least in the United States) than we have been led to believe.
2. H1N1 may be deadlier than was previously thought, because fewer people have H1N1 than we thought, but most of those who died (at least as far as I can tell) were confirmed to have H1N1.  (The situations I have seen on the news were not actually deaths directly from H1N1 flu, though.  They were from secondary, bacterial infections, which I assume should be treatable by antibiotics.  So don’t panic; just stay attentive if you or your children are suffering with the flu.)
3. Many who believed they had already had H1N1 have not – so many who believe they have developed immunity may not have.

The first is, of course, cause for relief.  The second is far more disconcerting but, again – don’t panic.  Just be watchful.  The second and third both lead to my primary point: we need to be conscious of how we can strengthen our families’ immunity.

In our household, we won’t be getting flu shots.  There are a number of reasons for this, not least of which is that the H1N1 vaccines were never actually tested for safety or even effectiveness.  They are just assumed to be safe and effective because they’re similar to seasonal flu shots.  (Even seasonal flu shots have not been tested, or have been minimally tested, for certain target groups, such as pregnant women.)  Our defense, instead, is based primarily on two things – regular handwashing and a healthful diet.  Obviously, these are not guarantees, so I also like to be aware of what natural methods can be used to combat influenza, in case we should have need of the information.

Certain standard immune-boosters, like echinacea, are not recommended for this particular flu.  (I’m not sure exactly why, but I think it has something to do with previous, similar strains of flu being most deadly for those with the strongest immune systems.  They apparently had super-immune responses, and that’s what caused problems.  As far as what I’ve read, that hasn’t necessarily been seen with this particular strain; it’s just what they saw in similar strains in the past.)  Natural anti-virals are still good, though, like garlic.  (I think this is the category oregano oil falls into, as well.)

Herbally speaking, elderberry is great for flu.  It’s a fairly standard tincture/syrup.  I was encouraged to find Herbs for Kids‘ elderberry syrup at our local grocery store.  (Really local – as in, less than 2 miles away.  That would certainly be convenient if the kids needed it and we ran out.)

If you prefer homeopathics, oscillococcinum is the standard recommendation.  It’s available in most health food stores, too, as well as some mainstream drugstores.  Boiron is the best-known brand, and they currently have a coupon for $1 off of any of their three new children’s products (all of which are cold/flu-related).

How ’bout you?  What are you doing to stay healthy and/or to treat cold and flu in your family this season?