Surviving the Swine Flu

I'm sure there are many here on ATS with concern regarding this "hybrid" flu virus outbreak.
As we wait anxiously to see if it will become a major outrbreak, and infect millions,
we should be as prepared as possible.

First off, what are your opinions on vaccinations?
Would you get one?
Do you think it will kill more people?

What I don't understand is that they stated that there was no vaccination, but yet people are being vaccinated?
WHAT IS the vaccination???

Well, if anyone can contribute any information on how to be prepared, human defenses, etc. please....

Calling all doctors!!




library.thinkquest.org...

Also in terms of vitamins what should we focus on? What you guys taking to boost your immune system?

Think of it, what is your criteria for bugging out? I mean do you quarantine yourself now? or wait til it hits your city, state, country? Just curious..

These flus that kill people like this cause acute respiratory distress sydrome. Your bodies immune systems attack your lungs. You suffocate on your body's immune response.

Immune inhancers generally excite your immune system.

I would suggest that this is a VERY bad idea, particularly in people who are already pretty robustly healthy.


You DO NOT want to excite your immune system. You want to kill the pathogen. Just keep that in mind.


[edit on 2009/4/24 by Aeons]

reply to post by Aeons


Good 2 know. And it does seems to be attacking youg healthy people.!

www.webmd.com...

I'm just going to double up on my Vitamin C.

I swam in the East river as a kid, so my body's been tampered in raw sh*t.
I'm hoping my immune system is gonna go bananas, and kill this thing if it comes near me.

Also, if we shouldn't excite our immune systems, would.... say, going to the gym be a bad idea?

I'm definetaly gonna stock up on maaaad canned beans 2mrw incase I have 2 quarantine myself. I'll be farting up a storm!

And soups!

I don't think if you have the flu, particularly one that you have no antibodies at all to, that you'll be up for a jog around the block.

If you can jog around and do a workout, I think you can safely say you aren't infected so it won't matter.

I just posted a thread where I link articles which show very high dose vitamin-c can ward off all flu viruses including the avian flu. Many people have been treated with very high-dose ascorbic acid for illnesses since the 1930's!

Check it out..

I'll be stocking up on vitamin C, and should the virus make it's way into my town you can expect me to stay indoors.

I may even wear one of those funky masks.


Either way, I wish you all the best of luck in staying healthy during this potential outbreak.

People get flu's and weird diseases all the time, yet there's no epidemic EVER!

It's just more fear mongering and reasons for the government to expand. It's really that simple.

IF 25 MILLION people were infected, then I'd start thinking about it.

Look at how many people are infected with AIDS. Does that stop you from having sex with someone?

reply to post by Ben Niceknowinya


Tamiflu (oseltamivir) works for now. The bug may mutate

as influ is known to do. Genes recombinate in humans, and

it took a human with 'regular' (h1-h3) flu AND swine flu at the

same time to create this novel strain. hence the name.

Zanamivir is a strange but effective drug similar to tamiflu

but administered by an advair like mechanism : disperses a fine

mist of drug particles into the lungs. Its for over 12 year old patients.

I would stock up on tamiflu now if you can get it.

Also, many online (ie., clint pharmaceuticals, others) drug suppliers

can provide influenza rapid test kits for about $10 each.

You gotta know if you have it to treat it within the first 24-48 hours.

Finally, DON'T get exposed is the best defense! If you - like

many good ATS'ers - avoid urban centers then all the better.

Basic supplies are a must - if this is the big one, no one will be

driving gas trucks, food trucks, or pharmacy trucks. Be warned.

There is also anectodal evidence from the 1950's presented in

a few old JAMA journals/ meeting notes about (IM) large dose vitamin

C for polio (and they inferred influenza) virus treatment. It apparently

could cure active polio per the administering doctors.

Antibiotics (azithromycin, erythromycin, unasyn, ampicillen/augmentin

(clavulanate), and others) should be stocked if possible for secondary

bacterial pneumonia infections following flu...takes about 10-14 days

for that.

Well, that's all i can think of , besides masks (hepa rated N95 or better)

yours truly

Dr. Phil (M.D)

Great thread, great idea.

I just ran into a government microbiologist in a chatroom i frequent. We play the same internet game (browser based) anyways.

I swear, as I was babbling about the 57 confirmed deaths in Mexico, and warning people of the possible threat. I wasn't spreading panic. I was warning people to be more cautious of germs in the next few days/weeks.

This guy immediately starts trying to discredit all of my information. Saying there isn't anything to worry about and he even started pushing tamisil. Everyone knows he is a goverment biologist, of course he is the expert, so he wins most of the herd over.

I just think it was soo strange that he cited the reasons for the deaths in Mexico for "poor health care" This isn't San Felipe, Baja California. This is Mexico City. It is plenty developed. The whole thing stunk really bad to me.

I know who I trust, and it isn't him thats for sure.

reply to post by Aeons


yes, agree....the "cytokine storm" results in pulmonary edema

which lands you in the ICU and can result in acute respiratory distress

syndrome, SARS like.

So....if you take anything OTC, think antihistamines and

antiinflammatories (NSAIDS like alleve, ibupro, etc).

And BTW, my med school classmate who works as an anesthesiologist

on staff at a major teaching hospital in Boston once told me he quit

the disaster planning committe there because all they did was fart around

with flowcharts of "who comes in when, and what order to call people"

and ignoring his requests for more ventilators , gloves, gowns etc (there

weren't enough as is, let alone major pandemic).

As for all the support staff at my hospital - and im sorry to say

that most will say this - "we're not coming in if it means we're going

to die...."

think about that. i think we would come in if vaccinated /on tamiflu

but there's a ramp up time for that too!

[edit on 4/24/2009 by drphilxr]

reply to post by drphilxr


Thank You.!

They're trying to make all up and coming flu shots mandatory for me at work. They already make sure there is lots of social pressure and judgment against those that will not take the shots.
I'm just quitting my job if this happens. I don't trust any of it worth a sh*t.

I'ma stick to my vit C, loads of cayenne, garlic, ginger, cumin, all that jazz....
Fruits, vegetables, stay away from immune suppressing substances and environments. Lock myself indoors with some N100 masks and extra food for a while if things start to get polluted up here...


But overall, I think I'll be fine. I just hope other people around here smarten up and realize how quickly things can spread all the way from Mexico up to Canada, ( or from wherever. I mean....airplanes are pretty real, the last time I checked....) and make sure they take good care of their health.

I'll wait to do anything until there's a real epidemic going. If a pandemic makes any significant headway in my backwater town before it makes major news, then, well, that's fair enough.

People who aren't me get paid to worry about that sort of thing.

Originally posted by mdiinican
I'll wait to do anything until there's a real epidemic going. If a pandemic makes any significant headway in my backwater town before it makes major news, then, well, that's fair enough.

People who aren't me get paid to worry about that sort of thing.

For some people, it can take months of careful dietary and health adjustments to get their immune systems anywhere near able to cope with high exposure to a virus. (most especially those with chronic strains on their immune system, like severe allergies, asthma, cancer, MS, etc)

I wouldn't expect anyone run and hide in the mountains or drink gallons of fad elixers or anything insane, unless a bag of swine flu is waiting at your front door, hissing, spitting and ready to jump you ......but it might be wise to make sure your health is great, and nothing less. Who knows, in a few months, maybe there will be a 'real epidemic' all around you....would you be ready?
But also, you could lock yourself in a house and not come in contact with anyone for awhile
That's good if your town is isolated. Hopefully it will be less likely to experience any sort of terrible bug if it gets bad out there.

Originally posted by phoebeflakes
They're trying to make all up and coming flu shots mandatory for me at work. They already make sure there is lots of social pressure and judgment against those that will not take the shots.
I'm just quitting my job if this happens. I don't trust any of it worth a sh*t.

Did this surface your workplace just recently, because of this virus?
Or b4? Dang....

Any1 else facing this @ their workplace yet?
I'm witchya on that 1 phoebes tho.

It's the shots I'm scared of the most.!

Originally posted by Ben Niceknowinya

Originally posted by phoebeflakes
They're trying to make all up and coming flu shots mandatory for me at work. They already make sure there is lots of social pressure and judgment against those that will not take the shots.
I'm just quitting my job if this happens. I don't trust any of it worth a sh*t.

Did this surface your workplace just recently, because of this virus?
Or b4? Dang....

Any1 else facing this @ their workplace yet?
I'm witchya on that 1 phoebes tho.

It's the shots I'm scared of the most.!

No this wasn't recently or because of this virus, but the pressure has noticeably increased week by week and I really don't appreciate it. I don't think half the staff that are responsible for occupational health & safety matters realize exactly what they are pushing, or at least they certainly don't see any reason to question it.
But anyhow, it's been a little while, a few years, since they began 'encouraging' us to take flu shots.
I never have, never will.

If this doesn't go pandemic something else eventually will . If it does go pandemic maybe it will take a few months to really get going. Either way, if there is the possibility of time before it hits properly then there is time to attempt to boost the immune system, which as someone mentioned can take a while.

Eat only organic food. Yes, it costs more but if you plan your weekly meals better you could probably cut down on the amount you buy and so end up spending the same as you would do on the weekly non-organic shop.

Get a water filter to purify tap water

Be careful of taking Echinacea for longer than a few weeks at a time as it's been linked to health problems, it's powerful stuff and must not be over-used

If planning to bulk by (I am ) then you're going to need to try and get at least three months worth of food and other supplies in, preferably 6 because if people start dropping like flies then food production, manufacturing and tranportation will be affected and there will be food shortages

Consider also alternative fuel and lighting sources as in a really bad scenario it's possible that water, electricity and gas plants might be affected due to staff numbers rapidly declining. I've got a small camping stove /cook pots set and will be getting a calour gas fire and some of those big gas canisters to fuel it. I also have a wind up radio, wind up torch and loads of candles....I got a bit paranoid 2 years ago when the hype first broke out so when a bit nuts on buying stuff . I bought masks too but later on learnt that masks apparantly have a shelf life, ie a sell by date !! You might want to check this out if you have masks that have been sitting in a box for 2 years like me as they might be useless

We talked about it all 2 years ago and decided if it broke out to basically hole ourselves up for X amount of months, not venturing anywhere unless it was absolutely essential. No visits to relatives, shops, public places etc and if we did then to go out with masks, gloves, shoe covers, plastic coveralls

So if you go this route ensure you've lots of things to keep you /kids occupied - books, games , spare batteries for toys, ipods, etc

And don't tell anyone except those you absolutely trust that you have supplies

Originally posted by unityemissions
I just posted a thread where I link articles which show very high dose vitamin-c can ward off all flu viruses including the avian flu. Many people have been treated with very high-dose ascorbic acid for illnesses since the 1930's!

Check it out..

Yeah I believe that, when ever anyone of my family members get sick including myself, i stock up on OJ and Grapefruti juice, the natural kind, not tropicana, but the Simply Orange, and simply Grapefruit. It helps out a lot, so does drinking lots of tea, and getting plenty of rest.

Originally posted by Ben Niceknowinya

Also, if we shouldn't excite our immune systems, would.... say, going to the gym be a bad idea?

Gym work actually reduces your immune system.
Which is why you shouldn't train when you're sick
The 'energy' instead goes to repairing the muscles etc making any symptoms linger.

Until the reports come out I'd vote for isolation and 'masking up'.

But don't over-sterilise yourselves,
Anti-biotic soap this,Anti-germ spray that....

Give your immune system something to do once in a while,eat that sweet you just dropped in a puddle,and that piece of steak 2 days past it's sell by date..