Influenza Prevention and Treatment

“Just as governments around the world are stockpiling millions of doses of flu vaccine and antiviral drugs in anticipation of a potential influenza pandemic, two new surprising research papers to be published at the end of September have found that such treatments are far less effective than previously thought,” reported the New York Times last week. “The studies published today reinforce the shortcomings of our efforts to control influenza,” wrote Dr. Guan Yi, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, in an editorial that accompanied the papers. The two studies were published early online by The Lancet, the London-based medical publication, because of their important implications for the coming flu season. “There is a wild overestimation of the impact of these vaccines in the community,” said Tom Jefferson, a researcher in Rome with the Cochrane Vaccine Fields project. “In the case of a pandemic, we are unsure from the data whether these vaccines would work on the elderly.” In the second paper, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta found older antiviral drugs being ineffective with the threat of the new ones becoming, in short order, equally ineffective as well.

The immediate implications of these finding are most ominous for wealthier nations who have been stockpiling expensive antiviral medicines that might easily fail in their intended use. And as far as flu vaccines the United States has ordered $100 million worth of vaccine, and Italy $43 million worth, a lot to spend on something not only ineffective but dangerous because of the thimerosal most of them contain. The New York Times said, “The fact that the vaccine study showed that inoculations have had only a modest effect in the elderly is particularly worrisome, because this is a group that tends to suffer high rates of complications and deaths from the disease and vaccination is the standard practice. In people over 65, the vaccines “are apparently ineffective” in the prevention of influenza, pneumonia and hospital admissions.”

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) spend a vast amount of their resources on stirring up fears of influenza and bird flu with the aim of selling as much dangerous flu vaccine as possible. It is a lot of time and money for something not “apparently” effective. So it would serve us and millions of people to study and understand what would be effective. The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) released state-by-state projections that found more than 500,000 Americans could die and more than 2.3 million could be hospitalized if a moderately severe strain of a pandemic influenza virus hit this country. Based on its estimates, 67 million Americans are at risk of contracting the pandemic influenza strain. A pandemic with the H5N1 strain could be worse though, according to Schwartz.[i][1]

In 1943 Dr. A. Neveu used the magnesium chloride solution in a case of diphtheria to reduce the risks of anaphylactic reaction due to the anti-diphtheria serum that he was ready to administer. To his great surprise, when the next day the laboratory results confirmed the diagnosis of diphtheria, the little girl was completely cured, before he could use the serum. Now what would be safer to administer to a child, a vaccine for diphtheria or a form of magnesium that comes from the sea? According to Dr. Delbet: “Magnesium chloride has a cytophilactic[ii][2]” activity that no other magnesium salt has. Dr. Pierre Delbet used to give magnesium chloride solution routinely to his patients with infections and for several days before any planned surgery and was surprised by many of these patients experiencing euphoria and bursts of energy.

Dr. Vergini wrote, “A French doctor A. Neveu observed that Magnesium Chloride has no direct effect on bacteria (i.e. it is not an antibiotic). Thus he thought that its action was a specific, immune-enhancing, so it could be useful, in the same manner, also against viral diseases. So he began to treat some cases of poliomyelitis, and had good results. And then found the same good results in: pharyngitis, tonsillitis, hoarseness, common cold, influenza, asthma, bronchitis, broncho-pneumonia, pulmonary emphysema, “children diseases” (whooping-cough, measles, rubella, mumps, scarlet fever…), alimentary and professional poisonings, gastroenteritis, boils, abscesses, erysipelas, whitlow, septic pricks (wounds), puerperal fever and osteomyelitis.” The problem is that very probably their physicians and pediatricians don’t know anything about this therapy, so how can they give good advice? Children under 5, he says, nonetheless must consult their pediatrician.
Dr. Raul Vergini

A naturopathic anti influenza protocol could focus on two essential substances, magnesium chloride, Vitamin C plus pure water (of an alkaline nature) to properly hydrate the body. This suggested protocol could safely be included in any humane practice of medicine whereas the flu vaccine is an exercise in medical and pharmaceutical terrorism. Spirulina, or some other super green food, would certainly back up the above because of its rich nutritional profile. So would some other natural good things. It is widely recognized that the majority of Americans do not get the government’s minimum daily requirement for magnesium yet the FDA has done everything it could to keep this low-cost mineral out of Americans’ bodies. (Internationally CODEX will undoubtedly do more harm in this direction.) Is it any wonder that disability and death from heart attack and stroke are the nation’s leading killers?

While the government officially refuses to recognize the effects of magnesium in preventing vascular disease the nation’s leading health agency acknowledges magnesium’s critical role in keeping us alive.[iii][i] Why is it that the government has done everything it can to keep Americans from learning about the lifesaving properties of this mineral? And why are healthcare practitioners so slow to pick up on the reality that their patients are deficient in magnesium? We must address this fundamental nutritional reality in our patients and ourselves in short order for that is how quickly they will benefit from magnesium therapy.

Doctors eagerly prescribe expensive patented drugs, while low-cost nutrients like magnesium remain overlooked. If the 68% of Americans who are magnesium deficient took corrective action, the need for prescription drugs would be reduced, our detoxification and chelation protocols would function more efficiently, and our ability to fight off infections would be greatly enhanced. But the public does not know and the result is that startling numbers of adults and children suffer the sometimes lethal consequences of magnesium deficiency.

[ii][2] Cytophylactic- referring to cytophylaxis- the process of increasing the activity of leucocytes in defense of the body against infections
[ii][3] The National Institutes of Health publishes the following information on its website: “Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.”
[Iii][1] Infectious Disease News. September 2005 www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

Author: Mark Sircus Ac., OMD