Round two of the flu season is upon us. According to Rishma Parpia “Although spring is when the typical “flu season” ends, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned in mid-March 2018 that a “second wave” of influenza B virus appeared to be on the way and could cause more illness, especially among young children.1 23 News reports stated that the majority of the 2017-2018 flu season was dominated by the H3N2 virus, an influenza A strain, while the second wave would be dominated by the influenza B strain.3 According to the CDC’s weekly surveillance report, for the week ending March 17, 2018, total influenza cases were declining but there were more laboratory confirmed cases of influenza B viruses than influenza A viruses.4
According to CDC’s spokeswoman Kristen Norlund, “B is usually worse for younger children. We often see an increase in influenza B cases during seasons when influenza A/H3N2 was the predominant virus earlier in the season.”2 Gary Leonardi, PhD, a virologist at Nassau University Medical Center in New York added that, “There has certainly been diminished influenza activity in the past three weeks. However, influenza is still circulating.”2
According to CDC officials, previously contracting influenza A strain virus does not provide immunity against B strain viruses. In March, health officials continued to warn that it is still not too late to get a flu shot, even though this year’s flu shot was estimated to be only about 25 percent effective for type A and about 42 percent effective for type B influenza.2 TIME Magazine reported that, “The CDC recommends vaccination “as long as flu viruses are circulating”—and with 17 states still reporting widespread flu activity, that puts us squarely within that window.”3
So what does all of this mean. We live in a society of a fear of BUGS. We are constantly doing everything possible to eliminate germs and viruses. Germs and viruses are like rats in a dump. If you have a dump you will have rats. You can throw a poison on the dump to kill the rats but as long as the dump is there, more rats will come back. The ones that come back are immune to the poison, thus causing SUPER RATS. Our society is so focused on the different poisons (drugs and vaccines) we need to kill the rats rather than working on getting rid of the dump. Bacteria and viruses need an environment to survive. Unfortunately we are in a situation where we constantly inundated with antibiotics. Not only prescription but also antibiotics given to our food sources. Our food is constantly tainted with antibiotics and other pesticides.
Where does the focus need to be? We need to focus on the getting rid of the dump. Bugs will constantly evolve and outsmart our ways of combating them. Nature has a wonderful way of getting rid of these BUGS. Its called the Immune System. This system is designed to locate and destroy foreign invaders. Unfortunately, our immune system is affected by a number of things. Most importantly, it is affected by our spinal health. If we have a unhealthy spine our immune system is not working at its maximum health potential. Our office focuses on correcting the alignment of the spine helping an individual improve the immune system. When the spine, especially the upper neck, is properly balanced the immune system is able to function better. This in turn focuses the attention to getting rid of the dump.
Getting your spine healthy and keeping it healthy is one of the best ways to combat the flu this Spring.!!
