Viral Infections

Pregnancy can often weaken the immune system, which makes it easier for women to catch a cold or flu. During pregnancy, flu symptoms can last longer and be more severe than for the average person. Most expecting mothers are worried about taking flu medicines at risk of harming the baby, so pregnancy and the flu can form a nasty combination.
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Flu25 Aug 2010

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A new survey suggests that bed bugs are spreading incredibly quickly across the U.S., and almost no region remains unbitten. Exterminator calls for bed bugs across the nation have increased by 57 percent over the last five years, and this year so far by 24 percent alone.

A University of Kentucky entomology professor, Michael Patter, says that these days most cities are having to deal with the big problem of bed bugs. He points out that in a place where there is a high density of people, or a significant movement of people, there will be a breeding place for bed bugs. Increased immigration level, travel, and insecticide resistance are the factors most often pointed to for the bed bug epidemic, although there are experts who blame bans on certain insecticides which have recently been brought in due to environmental concerns.
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Other Viruses24 Aug 2010

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Harri Hemilä, an Author-Professor, claims that it makes no sense to take vitamin C every single day of your life to reduce the chance of getting a cold or flu. Nevertheless, as we said earlier, the use of vitamin C could be justified if the person has a severe cold or flu, or certain physical stresses. In addition, one study gives strong evidence that a taking large dose of vitamin C when the cold or flu just starts could be of benefit. However, there is more research required to confirm these results.

The recommended dose of vitamin C currently allowed is only 60mg, but a registered British Dietetic Association dietician, Catherine Collens, says that the optimum amount of vitamin C should be 200mg per day, because it has been proven to help our immune system. She said that this amount could be easily obtained by most people just by eating five portions of vegetables and fruit on a daily basis. However, if you eat too much vitamin C, it will not be absorbed into the body, and, thus, will be removed.

Ms Collins said that even though infection-fighting white blood cells have been found to use vitamin C, there is simply not enough evidence to suggest that it also helps prevent colds and flu. She said that it sounds biologically feasible to most people, since vitamin C strengthens the immune system. However, there is not enough proof that vitamin C prevents an illness from occurring.

For more information,
go to: en.wikipedia.org,
nlm.nih.gov

Flu19 Aug 2010

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Whereas in the past doctors advised you to keep your vitamin C levels high in order to ward off colds and flu, new evidence suggests that nowadays this could advice could be almost irrelevant. The benefits of vitamin C are now under question, after scientists have found that taking daily vitamin C supplements do not protect the majority of people from colds and flu.

A review of 30 different studies, which involved a total of 11,350 people, discovered that a 200mg minimum dose of vitamin C every day did almost nothing to help make their colds shorter or less severe. (more…)

Flu19 Aug 2010

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A paper recently published in a journal called Epidemiology and Infection, discusses in detail the benefits of vitamin D, and explores the theory that it is actually a “seasonal stimulus” that no one seems to notice. The paper suggests that changes in vitamin D levels, which occur throughout the year, explain why the influenza virus is seasonal. The periodic changes in vitamin D levels, which occur as we get close to winter, cause predictable and recurrent vitamin D deficiency during this season. This makes the human population much more susceptible to influenza epidemics.

Cases of colds and flu predictably happen mostly after the winter solstice, because that is when there are extremely low levels of vitamin D. Naturally, there are very few cases of colds and flu observed in the months after the summer solstice. It has also been found that the older population, who live in countries where vitamin D consumption is high, such as Norway, have a much lower chance of death in the winter. Russian scientists found that vitamin D-producing UVB lamps reduced colds and flu in schoolchildren and factory workers.

So, the obvious conclusion here is that vitamin D is very important. Physicians must diagnose and treat vitamin D deficiency adequately. It is recommended that the level of vitamin D taken daily should be maintained at 25-hydroxy levels, which is a level normally achieved on a regular summer’s day.

For more information, go to:
en.wikipedia.org,
ods.od.nih.gov

Flu18 Aug 2010

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New research suggests that sunshine may be more than just a cold remedy. A new study has found that people with low vitamin D levels had a higher chance of catching colds and flu than those who have a normal amount in their body. The benefits of vitamin D (also known as the “sunshine vitamin”) were most prominent in people who had asthma or other lung diseases, and those who were susceptible to respiratory infections.

According this week’s Archives of Internal Medicine research, people who had the largest deficiency of vitamin D had a 36 percent greater chance of suffering respiratory infections than those who had normal vitamin D levels. (more…)

Flu18 Aug 2010

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Seasonal flu trends continue to be a major public health concern every year. Early detection of the spread of the disease is the key to reducing seasonal, as well as pandemic influenza. One of the ways that early detection can be improved is by monitoring and observing remedy-seeking behaviour on online search engines. Millions of users submit queries on the subject around the world each day. A new method is presented by Google to monitor the numbers of search queries to track flu trends in a population. It was found that the frequency of queries is highly correlated to the amount of physician visits where patients exhibit influenza-like symptoms. Thus, it is easy to estimate the level of influenza activity accurately in different regions of the U.S.
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Flu10 Aug 2010

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Various vaccines and drugs have been introduced to fight against swine flu, but most of them have had very limited success. However, homoeopathy doctors say that alternative medicine can help not only prevent swine flu, but even cure it, and all that without side-effects. The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) recommends homeopathic remedies for swine flu prevention. Experts suggest that a homeopathic substance called arsenicum album may be taken as a preventive measure against flu-like illnesses, and even swine flu.
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Flu9 Aug 2010

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There has been a lot of talk about the flu vaccine and whether it is effective or not. Looking at the issue closer, it becomes apparent that it is not only ineffective, but can in fact be dangerous. Here we would like to share some of the research about the latest flu vaccination, and the by-products and chemicals contained in these supposedly effective and non-harmful flu injections. Let’s look at what the common flu vaccination actually contains:
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Flu5 Aug 2010

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The Flu virus loves it when the temperature around it is somewhere around 90°F, as this is ideal for the virus to grow and multiply fast. However, the virus quickly gets stressed and is much less likely to replicate with such speed when its surroundings suddenly heats up. By drinking lots of hot fluids, you can effectively impair viral replication, and this is the key to helping your body overcome a viral illness. A further advantage of hot drinks to fight colds and flu is that hot fluids have a decongestant effect which can help you to relieve nasal stuffiness.
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Flu29 Jul 2010

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Songbirds such as sparrows and thrushes may sing incredibly beautifully, but they are carriers of a wide range of flu viruses. This in itself is not alarming, but as was reported this week by the BioMed Central journal BMC for Infectious Diseases, the flu has mutated in songbirds birds into various forms of the bird flu, all of which could potentially spread to pigs and poultry.
The researchers said that for the time being, the birds carry the less dangerous low-pathogenic bird flu. However, the flu virus swaps genes and can easily mutate into more dangerous forms.
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Flu27 Jul 2010

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Canada appears to know a lot more about flu prevention and flu treatment than the U.S. The statistics speak for themselves. Over the past 4 years Canada had a total of 16 flu-related deaths for their pediatric age group, which includes all those under the age of 18. Included in this are all seasonal cases, as well as those resulting from H1N1. 75 percent of these fatalities had chronic and serious underlying health conditions. So, that’s 16 deaths in total, from a pediatric population of 7.86 million, most of whom (around 60 percent) remained unvaccinated. To compare, during the same span of 4 years, the same U.S. pediatric category had 553 flu-related fatalities. If you break these figures down into children without underlying medical conditions, Canada has an average of only 1 flu-related child death a year, while in the U.S. that average is 35. Moreover, per capita, the U.S. has a shocking 3.2 times death rate of Canada.
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Flu26 Jul 2010

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During the flu pandemic of 2009, authorities repeatedly urged pregnant women to get the flu vaccine and take anti-flu drugs in the event of getting sick, referring to that fact that these medicines are an important weapon against a virus that is particularly hard on pregnant woman. Pregnant women in fact were put in the same category of prioritization for treatment as adults over 65 and children younger than 2.
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Flu23 Jul 2010

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Flu shot myth number 1: that it is very effective. Statistically, you are less likely to get the flu if you haven’t had a flu vaccine. A BCTV reporter in Vancouver, commenting on the overload in BC emergency rooms, said that out of 32 people who had received a flu shot, 30 got the flu.
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Flu20 Jul 2010

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Here is a medical scandal for the ages. At the risk of permanently damaging the triangular trust between big pharmaceutical companies, government regulatory bodies and the common masses, you must be urged to rethink the word “pandemic”. Perhaps you remember that bird-flu scare, otherwise known as H5N1 avian flu, back in 2005/2006? And, you certainly won’t have to strain your memory banks to recall the H1N1 swine flu “pandemic” of 2009. There were signs advertising vaccines in front of practically every commercial U.S. pharmacy on almost every other block. It’s a wonder they weren’t in furnished in neon and adorned with flashing bulbs.
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Flu19 Jul 2010

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The vuvuzela, a long plastic horn, is undoubtedly the most popular item in the soccer culture of the country where the World Cup is currently being held – South Africa. Since the World cup started a month ago, various articles have been written about the dangers of the vuvuzela. The main supposed dangers that have been reported are that the horn can spread colds and flu or the flu virus, that it can cause irreversible hearing damage, as a result of the fact that it can emit sounds of up to 130 decibels.
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Flu12 Jul 2010

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We have become a society focused on being aware of the flu. The last few years have brought serious concerns about pandemics around the world. It is the nature of viruses to mutate and survive in their environment and so we must try to use every tool in our tool box to ward off these more severe strains during the cold and flu season. Everyone hears a lot about building up the body’s immunity to fight colds and the flu, but what are some of the ways of accomplishing this?
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Flu23 Jun 2010

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Everyone seems to have a different answer to the question “How long are you contagious with a cold”. Some people indicate the first few days when you experience the symptoms, others will tell you the entire duration, until the symptoms go away. Since the actual common cold is caused by more than one hundred different agents, also known as rhinoviruses, this can be a very tricky question.
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Flu21 Jun 2010

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For many people with allergies, the cold and flu season is an absolute horror of a time. The symptoms they have for their allergies are so close to the symptoms of colds and the flu that they often don’t know the difference until they are very ill and realize it’s the flu. So how can you tell if you really have a cold or allergies?
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Flu18 Jun 2010

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