Does the Vaccine Matter? and how to stay healthy this season

This is an article from the Atlantic that addresses the issue of whether any flu vaccine, for either the seasonal or swine flu, is actually helpful. Not maternity-related, but pregnant & nursing women are being encouraged by some to get vaccinated, and to vaccinate their small children.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/brownlee-h1n1

Nutshell:

• The composition of the seasonal vaccines is determined by an educated guess, based on previously-widespread strains. They may be pertinent to current strains, and they may be irrelevant.
• Flu vaccines do boost immune response to the virus in young, healthy people (who are not considered at risk), but not nearly as much or as reliably in the elderly, the sick, children and the immune-compromised (ie those undergoing chemotherapy, those with an autoimmune disease such as AIDS, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, and pregnant women). Immune response is an imperfect measure of vaccine effectiveness, but this does suggest that the vaccine may not be effective for those for whom protection is necessary (or necessary for those on whom it is effective).
• The trials for vaccine efficacy have not been very rigorous; they have largely been based on "cohort studies," which are notoriously difficult to control, rather than placebo studies. Many in the medical community, convinced of the vaccine's helpfulness independently of scientific trials, say it would be unethical to provide some patients with the vaccine and others with a placebo.
  
• Anti-virus drugs like Tamiflu are also not well-supported by scientific research; the virus can become resistant to them in days. In otherwise-healthy people, Tamiflu cuts the duration of the disease by up to 24 hours, but as many as 1 in 5 will experience nausea and vomiting as a side effect; it produces neuropsychiatric effects in 1 out of 5 children, including suicidal behavior, and it has also been responsible for fatal cardiac arrest.

Here's how you can take care of yourself this flu season and boost your immune system:

• Drink lots of water and get plenty of sleep.
• Cut as much refined sugar and flour out of your diet as possible; these shut down immune response.
• Stay off antibiotics. They don't fight viruses and they weaken your immune system.
• Wash your hands frequently with a non-antibacterial soap; your skin has friendly bacteria that make up your body's first line of defense, and it won't kill viruses anyway.
• Get a good probiotic supplement, and/or consume probiotic foods (active yogurt, kombucha, kefir, there are many out there) every day.
• Vitamin C supports your immune system, and you need vitamin D as well.
  
• Echinacea also bolsters immune response, and tincture of osha kills both families of seasonal flu. Alfalfa is also a great immune and energy booster.
  
• If you feel ill or fatigued, stay home! Rest is good and you expose fewer others to whatever you have.
• Don't go to the hospital or emergency room unless you absolutely must; it is the best place to catch a virus.
  
• Chicken (or turkey) soup is really proven to help! Add cayenne to break up congestion and lots of garlic to fight the secondary bacterial infections that cause many flu complications.