The Cyberspace Community and the H1N1 (Swine) Flu

There’s a lot of information out on the Internet these days about H1N1 Flu, originally termed Swine Flu, till pigs got a bad name from it. There is lots of advice about it circulating in my email box from well-meaning friends. With H1N1 flu cases spiraling upwards in communities, the medical system is unable to adequately respond to the perceived need for protection and treatment. Limited supplies of vaccine and antiviral medications are in the news everyday, while more people get sick and some die. People are searching and conferring with each other in their communities, and in the cyberspace community, with ideas focused on avoiding the Swine Flu and becoming ill.

Chain emails are often anonymous. Sometimes when something is particularly good or bad, I join with those interconnecting rivulets of emails, and either forward with a comment or send it back and argue with it. Emails proliferate, because anybody can get involved. Emailing seems safe and familiar, akin to ordinary writing to someone we already know. Blogging, on the other hand, is not so comfortable to do. Blogging is talking to someone we may never know, throwing something out into cyberspace in hopes of making a ripple of difference, risking censure and criticism as well as the chance to get the message out to more people than on our email list.

I just spent some effort trying to educate one of my helpful, forwarding friends about something questionable she sent. The advice I sent back is an old topic with me, a piece of advice I keep giving out individually. She is not alone in her efforts to help others by forwarding information she considers helpful. The problem is when the information has not been critically examined before sending it onward. So, since I have made the effort for my friend, I might as well expand that effort perhaps more productively and turn it into my first blog for my Community Work class. Please bear with me while I pontificate. I hope to make this initial foray into cyberspace worth your time in reading it.

The email I have received most often is entitled “Fight against The Swine Flu H1N1” (sic). This email is a mixed urban legend, and is discussed at: http://www.snopes.com/medical/swineflu/prevent.asp
Overall, the information given was not unreasonable; some was accurate (though the doctor quoted did not write it), while part was folk wisdom. The email was correct in that the point of entry into the body is the throat via nose and mouth. However, rinsing the viruses off with anything, whether salt water or Listerine, is not as effective as destroying the infecting virus. Viruses are not like dust or pollen. Pollen and dust irritate the respiratory tract by allergic reactions to simple contact with the outside of cells. Thus, removal by rinsing helps to reduce the allergic reaction.

In contrast, viruses cause damage from inside the cells, in order to reproduce. Contact results in entry into the cell, followed by replication, or “proliferation,” as termed in the email. Infected cells shed more viruses when replication is completed and the cell self-destructs. Neither salt water nor Listerine affect the virus when it is inside the cells of the human body. Maybe they do rinse to a limited degree if the virus is momentarily not attached or inside a cell. A virus is not a cell and does not have a cell membrane. A virus is classically just genetic material wrapped in a protein coat, with no life outside a host cell. When the virus infects a cell, the protein coat is shed and just the genetic material goes in to replicate (http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/cells/virus.html).

Salt water gargling does soothe a sore throat, like a saline rinse of the eyes, but does nothing chemically to the virus in infected cells. Gargle instead with 50:50 hydrogen peroxide and water, for at least 30 seconds, twice a day, and at least 2-3 times more often if you have a sore throat. If there is a sore throat, there is some stinging as hydrogen peroxide acts on living tissue. The reason diluted hydrogen peroxide works better as a gargle is that it kills viruses by destroying the infected cells on the surface of the throat. It is an oxidizing agent, oxidizing to water and oxygen. Do not use the 3% solution available in most stores straight from the bottle without diluting it. It is too harsh. It also helps reliably with canker sores and gum irritation. It helps with the Humboldt crud, which is probably a viral bronchitis. A side effect is a gradual, gentle whitening of the teeth.

Before posting this blog, I also researched some of my ideas, to provide some backup for them. Below is a list of those sites I found most useful or interesting. Included with this list is information about the Spanish Flu, which also affected young adults more than older adults, due to young adults having better immune systems and stronger reactions. I also researched the use of hydrogen peroxide, and would caution against most of what I found on the Internet. Considering the oxidation effect of hydrogen peroxide on living cells, do not swallow hydrogen peroxide. Rinse your mouth but not your throat afterwards. There are mouthwash formulations in some stores that are essentially flavored 1.5% hydrogen peroxide, if the taste of plain hydrogen peroxide is unacceptable, but expect to pay a premium price.

Thanks for your time in reading this. If you found it useful, post a comment for me and tell your friends. If you can add to this information, then all the better.

FDA Advice on the Flu:
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm092805.htm

Information on viruses and flu virus:
http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/fluscimed.html#top

An explanation of the H1N1 Influenza A Swine Flu & suggested treatments:
http://www.medicinenet.com/influenza/article.htm

A detailed description of the Spanish Flu of 1918:
http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/index.html

Important precautions on the use of hydrogen peroxide:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/peroxide.asp