Currently, on the Optimal Health Network home page, I discuss some of the possible ways in which we can strive to keep ourselves and our communities healthy in the face of the flu season and specifically in the face of the H1N1 virus. When it came time to write this newsletter, I realized that I needed to share more on these issues.

Except for those with certain serious medical conditions, becoming sick with the swine flu is not something for the vast majority of us to be afraid of. I repeat, getting the H1N1 virus is not something that most people need to be afraid of! If our immunity is not strong enough to keep the virus from taking hold and making us sick, then the majority of us will benefit from the immunity we build by recovering from the H1N1 virus.

People who recover from influenza, including swine flu, actually gain long-lasting protection from the flu strain they have recovered from. In fact, most people over 60 won't get swine flu this year because they recovered from influenza caused by a similar swine flu strain in the past and still have protective antibodies. As we seek health, we have to continually ask ourselves: are we sacrificing long-term, robust health for convenient, short-term immunity?

There is no scientifically based evidence that the H1N1 vaccine is effective in reducing harm from swine flu. Unfortunately, vaccines are useful only against the specific viral strain that was available at the time of their manufacture. But influenza viruses mutate quickly. It was reported by the World Health Organization that the real concern with H1N1 swine flu is that it will combine with seasonal flu this fall, creating a new viral strain that will be resistant to all available vaccines.

In a truly criminal act, the pharmaceutical industry has acquired almost complete and total insulation from any liability for two antiviral drugs being used to treat swine flu, Tamiflu and Relenza, and also for the swine flu vaccine makers. The last time the government embarked on a major vaccine campaign against a new swine flu was in 1976. Thousands filed claims for side effects such as paralysis caused by the vaccine, and a number of people died. The researchers must know more now than they did last time, but no business should ever be granted legal protection from its own actions. We all need to be fully accountable for what we do.
 
Remember that vaccines are big money for the companies that make them. These are for-profit companies. Thinking through this issue would be altogether different if we used not-for-profit companies to develop our vaccines for us. The original polio vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk, was given to the people to promote the common good; there was no patent on it. Greed is such a powerful motivator. Let it not cloud our thinking when it comes to optimizing our individual and collective health.
 
I am not against all vaccinations. Rather, I am an advocate of vaccine safety. Vaccines can be useful, but they need to safe. It is crucial for the health of our communities to bring science and safety to the fore of the process of creating and distributing immunizations. Unfortunately, even with scrupulous science behind it, millions of people will need to use these flu vaccines before we are truly informed of the overall health effects.

First and foremost, let's build robust individual and collective immunity for ourselves and our communities. In certain situations, this may mean being inoculated with a virus. In other situations, this may mean doing the tough day-to-day work of keeping our blood sugar balanced throughout each day, sleeping enough, supporting our adrenal glands and our thyroid glands, keeping our gut immunity strong, and taking antiviral supplements such as garlic and echinacea.

It is important to be mindful when you are touching public access surfaces such as doorknobs, grocery cart handles, elevator buttons, or bank ATM keypads. Wash your hands often, but not excessively. Be sure you don't use antibacterial soap because of the risk of creating resistant bacteria. Rather, use a simple chemical-free soap such as our goat milk soap or Dr. Bronner's Castile Soaps.

Be informed. If you choose to be vaccinated, read the inserts for the vaccinations beforehand.

Here are two inserts to start with:

Sanofi Pasteur Influenza A (H1N1)
2009 Monovalent Vaccine, Intramuscular Injection

MedImmune Influenza A (H1N1)
2009 Monovalent Vaccine, Live, Intranasal

Let's work together toward a deep practical understanding of creating health, both on the individual and community level, and learn how to carefully unpack the many ideas that come at us, from all sources, to determine their usefulness in supporting personal and collective health. Let's consider this newsletter article a beginning, a draft, a welcome to all of us to continue this exploration with each other in our daily lives, in our social networking spaces like Facebook (I invite you to our OHC Madison Facebook page), with our health care providers, through our daily choices, and within our own minds.

Thank you for letting me share this information with you.

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