If you are reading this in the fall or winter, then, wherever you live in the northern hemisphere, the flu season has arrived. In recent weeks the Swine flu has attracted huge amounts of attention. It is so famous that the vaccine is sold out as soon as it arrives in the medical centers. Health officials claim that 5 to 20% of the US get the flu and 200,000 of them are hospitalized; 36,000, they say, will die from it 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 say the above statistics are not exactly honest. For example, most of the 36,000 who supposedly died of the flu were already weakened by other problems such as pneumonia. No doubt for these the danger of getting any flu is much more serious.

Recently I was send a link giving 9 reasons why not to give your children to flu vaccine. These included, a) the consequences may be more dangerous than getting the flu itself; b) Swine flu is just another flu, not something unusually lethal; c) prior flu vaccination programs have proved to be worthless; d) over-vaccinating children is a common problem; e) the vaccine has not been proved that it works. But in spite of misleading statements about Swine flu, no one wants to get sick.

Whether you or your loved ones get the flu shot, there are certain measures you can take to greatly decrease your chances of getting the flu. Wash your hands thoroughly using liquid soap and running water. (Antibacterial soap does not work better than regular liquid soap) . A dishwasher is good because it washes the dishes in water too hot for hands to handle and this kills more germs. If someone does get the flu, isolate them and keep your family away from others who show flu-like symptoms.

Drinking water is a common way for bacteria and viruses to spread. No doubt your source of drinking water has been tested for purity. City water has a minimum standard and is tested often, and well water should also be tested. However, especially during this season, additional filtering is highly recommended. Who’s to know whether your water has been contaminated and it doesn’t take much to do so. Filtered water can eliminate this worry.

For example, one group tested the Black Berkey water filters with more than 10,000 times the concentration of pathogens per liter than is required by standard test protocol. Normally the result would include 100,000 or more pathogens per liter present. The report read, "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". This amazing result might nudge many into taking the step of filtering their drinking water to be safe.

These activated charcoal filter rods have been tested to remove Klebsiella, E. Coli, Pseudomonas, Giardia, Aeriginousis, and Cryptosporitium resulting in non-detectable levels. That list may not mean anything to you, but suffice it to say that any have the ability to cause serious illness if found in drinking water. To have the promise of removing them to non-detectable levels is reassuring, to say the least.