If you are reading this in the fall or winter, then, wherever you live in the northern hemisphere, the flu season has arrived. In recent weeks the Swine flu has attracted huge amounts of attention. It is so famous that the vaccine sells out as soon at it arrives. Health officials claim that 5 to 20% of the US get the flu and 200,000 of them are hospitalized; 36,000, they say, will die from it this year.
When you talk honestly with the medical community, however, they will tell you that the Swine flu is not worse than any before it. Some even claim the above statistics are hyped. For example, most of the 36,000 who supposedly died of the flu were already weakened by other problems such as pneumonia. No doubt the possibility of catching the flu is a much greater fear to these.
Recently I was sent a link giving 9 reasons why not to give your children to flu vaccine. These included, a) Swine flu is just another flu, not something unusually lethal; b) prior flu vaccination programs have proved to be worthless; c) The vaccine has not been proved that it works; d) over-vaccinating children is a common problem; e) the consequences may be more dangerous than getting the flu itself. But in spite of misleading statements about Swine flu, no one wants to get sick.
Let’s consider some common sense measures anyone can take to greatly reduce their chances of getting the flu. For example, wash your hands often under running water with liquid soap. (Antibacterial soap does not work better than regular liquid soap) . Use a dishwasher if possible for plates and utensils because it uses much hotter water than hands can stand and thus kills more germs. If someone does get the flu, isolate them and keep your family away from others who show flu-like symptoms.
Even your drinking water can be a source of contamination. No doubt your source of drinking water has been tested for purity. City water has a minimum standard and is tested often, and well water should also be tested. However, especially during this season, additional filtering is highly recommended. It is surprising how viruses can spread, even in drinking water and a little contamination goes a long way. By filtering your drinking water, you can be sure pathogens are not present.
For example, one group tested the Black Berkey water filters with more than 10,000 times the concentration of pathogens per liter than is required by standard test protocol. Normally the result would include 100,000 or more pathogens per liter present. The report read, “Incredibly the purification elements removed 100% of the pathogens. Absolutely no pathogens were cultured from the effluent or were able to be detected, even under an electron microscope, setting a new standard in water purification”. This amazing result might nudge many into taking the step of filtering their drinking water to be safe.
The system uses charcoal rods that have been tested to remove Cryptosporitium, E. Coli, Pseudomonas, Aeriginousis, Klebsiella, and Giardia, to non-detectable levels. These pathogens could cause serious illness if allowed in drinking water. The promise of removing them to non-detectable levels is certainly reassuring.
The flu season is upon us. Many options face us as to how we can avoid getting sick. Hopefully these simple suggestions will keep you and your family healthier as you follow them carefully.
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