In my previous post, I covered how H1N1 is not looking as dangerous as we’ve been led to believe. While the media keeps reporting on every individual swine flu death (and they have managed to find some very tragic cases), the fact remains that we are not seeing the kind of morbidity that we would expect – if swine flu is as dangerous as it has been made out to be.

This doesn’t mean that you should not pay attention to your health. Despite the fact that the virus may not kill you, it will make you sick. Most of us would like to avoid a nasty flu bug if at all possible. What can we do?

For those who choose not to get the vaccine because of concerns (like the lack of double-blind studies) – or for those who are allergic to vaccine components like egg – we need other options to help stay well. However, the only public health strategy offered is an obsessive focus on hand hygiene.

While handwashing with a regular soap (as opposed to the more toxic antimicrobial soap) is a good strategy for many viruses, the data shows that H1N1 is spread through the air. Hand sanitizer – the new display item at the entrance of almost every mall – will kill microbes, but will not kill viruses. It can reduce them on the skin, but it doesn’t kill them like it does bacteria. So how can handwashing and sanitizers alone be our major public health strategy for H1N1?

For those with chronic conditions of all kinds where the complications from any virus could be serious, where are the public health messages to eat well, get 7-9 hours sleep at night, avoid undue stress and take at least the RDA of all your vitamins and minerals, including vitamin D? Even if we get the vaccine, isn’t this the kind of advice that everyone should hear?

People have become so afraid of each other’s hands, the traditional hand-shake is on the way out. In my church service on the weekend, two people told me that they don’t shake hands when I went to greet them. I know I shook the hand of one of these people previously.

Despite the growing level of anxiety in all quarters, there are some medical professionals who are bucking the trend. In fact, some doctors are advocating vitamin D as a better way to protect yourself from the flu than any vaccine. I’m waiting for these individuals to be shut down by the government, as it presses people to get an innoculation that it has spent millions of dollars on (and so, must justify).

Another MD I’ve read online has implied that perhaps it’s actually okay to get H1N1 at this point in time while the virus is relatively mild. After all, viruses do mutate and a more nasty sibling of the current H1N1 could turn up in future flu seasons. This is an interesting position to take, but it has some merit. Recent research in animals shows that getting one flu virus can provide at least partial immunity to related viruses. While this is not presented as a reason to avoid vaccination, it does beg the question of whether or not we have to poke ourselves or our kids every year just because flu season rolls around.

We may be able to let the human immune system do what it was designed to do.

At the same time, researchers are looking at the distinctly seasonal pattern to the majority of viral diseases, and are linking the acquisition of disease to a continent-wide tendency to vitamin D deficiency. As we have become more and more concerned with “protecting” ourselves from the sun, we have deprived ourselves of a critical nutrient that our bodies can make in abundance – as long as forgo the sun screen at least part of the time and put our skin (wisely and in the right dose for our complexion) in the sun.

So, what if taking at least 2,000 IU of Vitamin D was enough to reduce our incidence of viral disease, simply because our immune system is working better? What if a simple vitamin regimen actually gave us better protection against flu while also helping us to avoid mercury, aluminum and other foreign chemicals that come with a dose of vaccine? Mercury, for instance, is a known neurotoxin. While it may not be deadly in the amount which we receive in a flu shot, surely less of it is better!

It’s surprising that we are still calling H1N1 a “pandemic”. It’s just flu season. Like all flu seasons, some people will get very sick and some people will die. This is tragic and it still happens, even in vaccinated individuals. Yet, despite the risks, each winter we continue to shake each other’s hands and we don’t panic.

Here’s hoping that some sanity will prevail.