In the north, flu season arrives every fall and winter. Most recently, the Swine flu had gotten the spotlight. It is so famous that the vaccine sells out as soon at it arrives. Health officials claim that 200,000 of the 5 to 20% of people who get the flu will be hospitalized, and 36,000 will die from the flu this year.

But when the hype dies down, the medical community has to admit that the Swine flu is no worse than other flu. Some even claim the above statistics are hyped. For example, many of the 36,000 who die from the flu were already weakened by other health issues. No doubt for these the danger of getting any flu is much more serious.

A recent Internet link outlined nine reasons why not to give your children the flu vaccine. These included, a) Swine flu is just another flu, not something unusually lethal; b) prior flu vaccination programs have proved to be worthless; c) The vaccine has not been proved that it works; d) over-vaccinating children is a common problem; e) the consequences may be more dangerous than getting the flu itself. Yet, no matter what you decide about the shot, no one wants to get the flu.

Let’s consider some common sense measures anyone can take to greatly reduce their chances of getting the flu. Wash your hands thoroughly using liquid soap and running water. (Antibacterial soap works no better than the regular liquid). Use a dishwasher whenever possible for the hot water kills more germs. If someone does get the flu, isolate them and keep your family away from others who show flu-like symptoms.

One often overlooked caution is to be sure your drinking water is pure. No doubt your source of drinking water has been tested for purity. City water requires a rigid standard, and well water should be tested regularly. However, additional filtering is recommended, especially during the flu season. Who’s to know whether your water has been contaminated and it doesn’t take much to do so. By filtering your drinking water, you can be sure pathogens are not present.

The Black Berkey water filters, for example, were tested with water containing more than 10,000 times the concentration of pathogens per liter than would be found in normal test water. Under such conditions, it would be normal to expect 100,000 or more pathogens per liter. The report is here quoted verbatim: “Incredibly the purification elements removed 100% of the pathogens. Absolutely no pathogens were cultured from the effluent or were able to be detected, even under an electron microscope, setting a new standard in water purification” . Such a result would certainly bring peace of mind to any who want to be safe from the flu.

The system uses charcoal rods that have been tested to remove Cryptosporitium, E. Coli, Pseudomonas, Aeriginousis, Klebsiella, and Giardia, to non-detectable levels. Though these pathogens are hard to read, let alone to say, when allowed to enter our systems, each could cause serious illness. To have the promise of removing them to non-detectable levels is reassuring, to say the least.

The flu season is upon us. Each year we face a number of options in dealing with it. Whether or not you take the shots, be sure to follow the above suggestions so that you can do as much as possible to keep the flu away.

Lastly, look into the health benefits of Berkey Filters. They are able to filter out a much higher percentage of contaminants than most filters where water pressure forces the contaminants through. Learn more about the amazing effectiveness of the Black Berkey Filters, including how they can filter up to 6000 gallons with each included pair of filters.