Email This Story
Print This StoryDo Homeopathic Flu Vaccines Work?
People Turn To Holistic Remedy During Vaccine Shortage
The flu is quickly turning into an epidemic, and nervous people, turned away because of the vaccine shortage, are trying something new.
NewsChannel5's health team reporter Alicia Booth showed how many people are turning to a homeopathic vaccine to treat the flu.
Who would have thought so many people would want a shot? Not the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , and not the people who make the flu vaccine.
NewsChannel5 reported that there simply isn't enough flu vaccine, and health departments are not sure if they will be receiving any more of the vaccine.
In Medina County, the picture is bleak, and people who put off getting their shots are a little nervous.
So, many people are trying something new at Ohio Holistic Medicine.
At Ohio Holistic Medicine, there is plenty of homeopathic flu vaccine, a natural remedy some doctors say works, even for people who already have the flu.
"It has relieved their symptoms of the flu, so they've recovered in a day or two and come back to work, as opposed to suffering for a week or two," said Dr. Leonard Torok, of Ohio Holistic Medicine.
The homeopathic form is the traditional vaccine diluted into a water and alcohol solution over and over. You take two pills a day for a couple of months.
"The nice part about the process is it's difficult to run out of this vaccine, as they're running out of the other," said Torok.
The question is, is it better than the vaccine, or even any good at all?
Traditional medicine has its doubts because the law doesn't require the same research.
"I don't have any documented evidence of any proof that holistic or herbal remedies would help prevent the flu or even cure it," said Corinne Conner, a registered nurse at the Cleveland Clinic.
Despite your best efforts, if you do get the flu, don't come to work, because that's the best way to spread it -- stay home instead. And if you do feel really sick, go to the doctor, because now there are ways to treat the flu so it doesn't last as long.
There is also some evidence that flu-mist, the vaccine that goes into your nose, may be even better than the shot.
NewsChannel5's health team reporter Alicia Booth showed how many people are turning to a homeopathic vaccine to treat the flu.
Who would have thought so many people would want a shot? Not the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , and not the people who make the flu vaccine.
NewsChannel5 reported that there simply isn't enough flu vaccine, and health departments are not sure if they will be receiving any more of the vaccine.
In Medina County, the picture is bleak, and people who put off getting their shots are a little nervous.
So, many people are trying something new at Ohio Holistic Medicine.
At Ohio Holistic Medicine, there is plenty of homeopathic flu vaccine, a natural remedy some doctors say works, even for people who already have the flu.
"It has relieved their symptoms of the flu, so they've recovered in a day or two and come back to work, as opposed to suffering for a week or two," said Dr. Leonard Torok, of Ohio Holistic Medicine.
The homeopathic form is the traditional vaccine diluted into a water and alcohol solution over and over. You take two pills a day for a couple of months.
"The nice part about the process is it's difficult to run out of this vaccine, as they're running out of the other," said Torok.
The question is, is it better than the vaccine, or even any good at all?
Traditional medicine has its doubts because the law doesn't require the same research.
"I don't have any documented evidence of any proof that holistic or herbal remedies would help prevent the flu or even cure it," said Corinne Conner, a registered nurse at the Cleveland Clinic.
Despite your best efforts, if you do get the flu, don't come to work, because that's the best way to spread it -- stay home instead. And if you do feel really sick, go to the doctor, because now there are ways to treat the flu so it doesn't last as long.
There is also some evidence that flu-mist, the vaccine that goes into your nose, may be even better than the shot.
Copyright 2003 by NewsNet5. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
