Stay cozy and warm, the flu season is upon us.
“We have over-promoted and over-hyped this vaccine,”
Michael T. Osterholm, Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy & Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance.
“It does not protect as promoted. It’s all a sales job: it’s all public relations.”
(Reported in New York Times, October, 2012)
In October, 2012, scientists at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (University of Minnesota) released a report stating that flu vaccinations provide only modest protection for healthy young and middle-age adults, and little or none for those over 65 and older. They also concluded that federal vaccination recommendations were based on inadequate evidence and poorly executed studies.
Flu—not to be sneezed at
The bottom line is this, despite clear evidence of its ineffectiveness the flu vaccine continues to sell successfully because flu, at its worst, is very scary. A cleverly adapted virus could wreak havoc in these days of the itty-bitty global village. We are talking about an illness that could one day be our modern-day equivalent of the Black Plague.
The last big epidemic
The influenza outbreak commonly called “Spanish flu” (but known in Spain as the “Naples soldier”) killed more people than all those who died in combat during World War I. Estimates put the worldwide death toll at 21,642,274. One billion people were affected by the disease—half of the total human population. It came at a time when 19 nations were at war, and the disruption, stress, and privation of war certainly aided the flu’s spread. It killed people on every continent except Antarctica, with the most lives lost in Asia and the highest percentage of the population killed in India. 
From August 1918, when the incidence of flu began to seem abnormally high, until the following July when it returned to about normal, 20 million Americans had become sick and more than 500,000 had died. In October 1918, the flu reached its peak, killing about 195,000 Americans.
About 57,000 American soldiers died from influenza during World War I; about 53,500 died in battle.
It should be noted that homeopaths were very successful in treating the 1918 flu. While the death rate for those who sought treatment from conventional physicians was about 30%, the death rate for those who sought homeopathic treatment was 1.5%.
You can listen to me being interviewed about this in depth here.
If not the shot, then what?
If the flu shot is proving to be ineffective, how else can we protect ourselves and our families, when a serious flu epidemic hits? A few years ago when I was living in southern Ireland Influenza A arrived in town. To this day it was the most vicious virus I have had to help people with in all my time as a homeopath.
My phone was much busier than usual, with at least half a dozen sufferers describing more or less the same symptoms. They felt absolutely freezing, although running high fevers. They were in bed with all their clothes on, extra sweaters, piles of blankets and quilts heaped on top of them. They had very painful sore throats with pain shooting up into the ear. This is a perfect match to a homeopathic medicine, Hepar sulph, and they all made quick recoveries after taking the remedy. (Others who presented with different symptom pictures received different remedies according to their symptoms.)
One advantage of a true flu, or indeed any truly acute episode, is that it often presents a clear set of symptoms that can be more easily matched to a homeopathic medicine than the symptom pictures in chronic conditions. If you do fall ill with flu, contact your homeopath for advice as soon as you can clearly describe your symptoms. In any event, teach yourself the basic homeopathic rules and have a homeopathic medicine kit at home.
Dealing with the next big epidemic
Homeopaths can greatly help one another by sharing information on symptom patterns and remedies they have found effective in their patients. The homeopathic literature of old describes this being done very effectively during a major cholera epidemic and a scarlet fever epidemic. The concept, known as finding the “genus epidemicus,” has the potential to greatly reduce suffering and save lives. The idea is to build up a picture of an epidemic as it is being expressed in a large number of different cases. By drawing all of these cases together “as if one person,” one or two homeopathic medicines can be identified that can be used to treat almost everyone. These same medicines could even be prescribed to protect people from contracting the illness at the height of an epidemic. Once again, the Internet could be our salvation, permitting the speedy exchange of this information through homeopathic forums.
Your best defense
Remember too, that the best defense against illness is a healthy immune system. It will reduce your chances of catching anything, and if you do fall ill it will spring into action. Our immune system is weakened by drug use, alcohol abuse, and smoking. It is strengthened by good, fresh, pesticide-free food, unpolluted air and water, exercise, deep sleep, and relaxation. It is also worth checking your Vitamin D levels and supplementing them if necessary. If you have to be around people with coughs, colds and flu, then wash your hands frequently and make sure they dispose of tissues (ideally burn them or put them in the trash outside). Take 1000mg of Vitamin C and an Oscillococcinum 30c if you feel you may be succumbing.
Like all systems, our immune system benefits from a good work out, so don’t automatically suppress acute symptoms with over-the-counter medications, be they conventional or homeopathic, unless your system really can’t cope. If your energy levels, sleep pattern, and appetite are not upset, then it is probable that you can recover without any type of intervention at all, provided you rest and drink plenty of fluids. The bonus is, next time around you will be stronger.
Look out for my free e-book on flu remedies coming soon.