During this week I have watched, with some amusement, news reports about the “dreaded swine flu”.

I say with amusement because indirectly many people are reveling in it. I am specifically referring to the news media, Health Officials and related organizations in various countries along with the World Health Organization. Oh, and let’s not forget about the makers of Tamiflu - although they keep quiet and we cannot hear them rubbing their hands in glee.

Last night on the news here in NZ half of the news was devoted to swine flu and all the headlines were about swine flu. It’s been like that for the last few days.

We in New Zealand have had an extra dose of it because a group of school children arrived back in NZ from Mexico earlier this week with flu symptoms. Some of them have tested positive for the swine flu.

But they are ALL recovering well and most of them will be going back to school today.

So, why all the fuss and why do I suggest it may be just more ‘nonsense’?

Because when you look at the facts and compare that to the fuss that is being made it is

Just this morning the Director of the WHO announced that they were ramping up the pandemic status another notch. This would be music to the ears of all the bureaucrats in the WHO and other similar organizations. Once again it puts them into the limelight, gives them an excuse to convene conferences around the world and appear important.

I don’t have a problem with anyone wanting to get their little bit of glory but I am not so positive about it when it puts tax payers to unnecessary expense, but worse is that it creates unnecessary panic with many of the public. Some people are terrified about it and they have no reason to be.

With any flu outbreak it is sensible to do whatever can be done to contain the outbreak but not to the extent where it creates paranoia in a large sector of the population. It should be done with a lot less hype.

So, what are the facts?

At the time of writing this article In Mexico there have been 139 deaths in which the victims had flu like symptoms but ONLY 37 of these cases were confirmed as having swine flu.

Swine flu has been identified in about a dozen countries including the US and here in New Zealand from the people who arrived back from Mexico. But, there have been NO fatalities! In fact, it seems that the symptoms from this strain of flu are milder than the normal flu and the risk of it being fatal is very low.

So, why the fuss about what is really quite a minor issue?

Why doesn’t the WHO issue a pandemic alert for the ‘normal’ flu? After all the good old standard flu actually kills 20 000 people a year in the US alone and almost 500 000 people a year world-wide! Now that is serious but is largely ignored.

The death of 37 people in Mexico has created world headlines and triggered the spending of tens of millions of dollars in actions much of which are “over the top”.

Put it into another perspective: 37 people have died in Mexico through this form of the flu. Last month 3,500 people in Mexico were murdered in drug related crimes. Nobody says much about that. What about the thousands of children who die each month through not being able to access clean drinking water? Does the WHO declare this a pandemic? Of course not!

One has to wonder what really drives this over the top reaction. Is it just the media? Is it the politicians? Are the drug companies who prosper from these events gearing up their media companies to feed the story and keep it alive for as long as possible?

Who knows? I don’t.

But, this I do know - that is there is no need to panic. The likelihood of you getting swine flu is a lot less than the normal flu, and even if you did get it you are no more likely to die than if you got the ordinary flu.

There have been outbreaks like this since humans first populated the earth. In recent times we have had SARs, and bird flu panics. Both grossly overrated and I have written about both of them in the past.

Is there anything that you need to do?

In my opinion nothing more than you should be doing as part of your daily routine.

•Wash your hands before eating.
•Avoid touching your mouth with your hands particularly if you have been in a public place.
•Use ‘wipes’ to clean your hands if you have been to a public bathroom and touched the door handle when you leave.

Focus on your general health and keep your immunity levels as high as possible.

Remember that you are more likely to catch the flu from someone before they actually realize that they have it. In other words before their symptoms appear. So, it is impossible to avoid contact with it. Just take the basic precautions and don’t worry about it. I personally am not concerned about it because I know my immunity is so good and even if I get it I am not worried about dying from it.

Just following a good supplement protocol will build your immunity and reduce your risk. If you are not already doing so I would suggest taking Total Balance every day along with our Omega 3 / DHA Fish Oil.

Don’t do it specifically to protect yourself from swine flu. Do it to help protect yourself against all flu’s, colds and reduce the risks of other degenerative diseases including cancer.  If you want to give yourself a quick additional immunity boost you can add our Viral-Protec in the regime as well.

But…don’t panic.

In good health,

Warren Matthews

PS. If you have been directly exposed to someone with confirmed or suspected swine flu then you should contact your health professional to check if it is warranted having a a course of Tamiflu. Don’t do it though without just cause though.