The devastating outbreak of cholera in Southern Africa is due to politically (mal)engineered breakdown of elementary services for which the taxpayer and householders pay. The same could be argued for the countless deaths from HIV and now multiple-resistant TB in South Africa – systematic deliberate economic sabotage by Governments (and the Big Business that keeps them in power) rooted in corruption, self-interest and disdain for the poor majority and even their voters.
But the early release articles published in JAMA this 2 March under an editorial from Harvard University are stark reminder of ongoing perils not just from “new” infections like AIDs (and of course from politicians and snake-oil salesmen) but also from mutating influenza viruses.
Now it is the H1N1 strain that goes on re-circling the world. And virtually all isolates (cases) have been resistant to known antiviral drugs.
The implication is terrifying – resistant strains have apparently spread even without exposure to antimicrobials.
According to the latest findings as summed up by the Harvard team, “
“an axiom of good infectious disease practice [is that] inappropriate use of anti-infectives invariably results in resistance.”3 But if drug-resistant strains can out-compete susceptible ones in the absence of anti-infective pressure, it follows that for this organism and this agent, the most basic “truth” about anti-infective resistance may be wrong……. For now, the best tools to mitigate influenza infection are tried-and-true—vaccination, social distancing, hand washing, and common sense.”
But now that it has come out that mercury may have been withdrawn from vaccines but often replaced by aluminium, and with the changing patterns of virus types, some remain skeptical about the cost:benefit of vaccines.
There is much evidence that everyone should be taking supplements of fish oil, minerals and vitamins regularly lifelong, including 3gms vitamin C a day (the Irvine Stone-Pauling hypothesis) or less to individual bowel tolerance..
But for those at higher risk of infections, especially children and the frail/elderly, apart from the items listed by the Harvard team above, everyone needs to up their self-defenses at least seasonally against all diseases including infection, with supplements- especially probiotic; a multinutrient; and especially:
vitamin C powder both as nasal snuff, and orally to tolerance (which rises during stress eg infection) short of diarrhoea- which may be 10 or 50gms a day depending on an individual’s diarrhoea threshold;
beta-carotene about 10 000iu/d; vitamin D about 5000iu/d;
zinc about 20mg/day; selenium; and especially – IF IRON DEFICIENT- IRON ;
and appropriate sex hormone replacement – powerful immune modulators.
herbs like aloe; shiitake (mushroom), sutherlandia, and many Chinese herbs;
and for the overweight or those already with metabolic syndrome or diabetes- extra insulin sensitizers like the herb galega officinalis or it’s derivative metformin (an anti-infective biguanide) to tolerance short of diarrhoea. .