January 8, 2003

Flu shot alternatives here

If you haven’t gotten your flu vaccine yet, unless you are over 50, between 6 and 24 months, or otherwise considered at risk, you needn’t try anymore. On Dec. 9 the Greene County Combined Health District ran out of the vaccine, and the Centers for Disease Control told the health department there was no more available for Greene County.

But some health care providers and Yellow Springs residents say the flu shot is not the only option, and that for some, it may be unnecessary.

Back in November, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson appealed to the public to get flu shots, stating that the flu kills 36,000 people each year and that everyone over six months should “protect yourself and those who you love and go out and get vaccinated right now.”

Since mid-October, the Greene County health department has given approximately 4,500 flu shots, according to Vicky Costello, director of community health services. Health care workers came to the Yellow Springs Senior Center at that time and gave about 200 vaccinations to seniors in the area. The Yellow Springs schools sent students home with a survey last month to see how many parents wanted shots for their children, and the school received 90 requests.

Then the vaccine ran out, and flu season began to take off. In the first full week in December, the health department had 89 confirmed flu cases in the county, about eight times higher than that time last year. On Monday, Dec. 15, the high school had 65 students out, over twice the number of students absent on a normal school day.

But some local doctors have not seen the high number of flu patients that were predicted at the beginning of the season. Though the flu season, which runs from December to March, is still young, some people think the push to get flu shots was mainly media driven. And the options presented by the CDC are not the only suggestions doctors are recommending to avoid getting sick this year.

Local osteopathic doctor Suzanne Croteau, who has an office at the Humanist Center, agrees that elderly people and those who are immunocompromised should seek some sort of flu prevention, but the flu shot is only one option. Croteau recommended to her patients two successful homeopathic preparations of the virus, influenzinum 2003-04 and oscillococcinum. Both can be used to prevent the flu as well as to treat it once the flu is contracted.

Most importantly though, she recommends that “people do the right thing” by taking care of themselves and taking lots of vitamin C and echinacea, getting rest, eating well and washing hands frequently.

“We’ve probably seen it sooner than usual this year, and supposedly it could be slightly worse this year than others,” Croteau said. “But beyond that, it’s been completely blown out of proportion.”

The biggest problem with the flu vaccine this year is that it doesn’t protect against the most prevalent strain, the Fujian strain, local chiropractic doctor Gerard Poortinga said. So whether you get the vaccine or not, “you need to increase your vitality” and build a strong natural defense system. A stronger body may avoid the flu or it may diffuse the symptoms of the virus, he said.

Poortinga recommended avoiding big sugar loads. Sugar essentially incapacitates white blood cells, which the body needs to fight disease. He also suggests people get rest, drink a lot of fluids, and take any number of vitamins and supplements that are known to be beneficial.

Poortinga also advises that people go out in public and intentionally come into contact with the germs that cause the flu. These “small exposures” allow the body to build up a natural immunity, a process similar to the flu vaccine.

“Small exposures in the beginning of an epidemic are good,” he said. “I have not taken the vaccine because I would almost prefer to have the natural immunization from exposure.”

Poortinga admitted it was early yet, but that the risk of contracting the flu was not “worth being paranoid about.” The media seems to prey on people’s fears and create hysteria “in vogue,” which happens this year to be the flu, he said.

Local resident Jackie Mulhall used to get the flu shot regularly, until one year ago when she got sick anyway.

“Maybe my flu shot helped me, but I got really sick anyway with a serious case of strep throat,” she said.

That was also when she started researching the vaccine ingredient list and alternatives to it. Now when asked if she would get the shot, “Heck no!” she said, “Everything we read says the flu shot is nasty stuff.”

According to a publication from Health Sciences Institute, the flu vaccine contains formaldehyde, mercury derivatives, a phenol disinfectant and an antifreeze called ethylene glycol. Mulhall, who has three young children, wants the fewest chemicals possible and chooses to fortify herself and her family with good food, spirulina, astragalus root and medicines as cheap as fresh garlic.

“The CDC recommends the shot as the only option, and with the media as a marketing tool, everyone wants it,” she said. “You wonder if the government is thinking about making money rather than the health of the community.”

Many elderly people in the community have great confidence in the vaccine, and some came an hour and a half early to the senior center to be sure to get a shot.

“Our seniors are very earnest about getting here and getting their shots,” Senior Center Director Rodney Bean said. “Some of them have the fear of God that we’re going to run out of vaccine.”

Though the CDC recommends the shot as the “single best way to prevent the flu,” the experts also recommend good hygiene, rest and liquids. The health department and many doctors also have doses of FluMist, the nasal vaccine, at a higher cost for people between the ages of five and 49.

The most important thing is that people know there are many alternatives to getting the flu shot, Mulhall said.

“I don’t think there is one thing to avoid getting sick, there are many things,” she said.

—Lauren Heaton