In our commitment to making sure you stay well, this month's newsletter will focus on how to strengthen your immune system, and what to do if you should get sick.

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As you know, the corona virus is starting to affect many areas of our lives at this point, and while we don't know yet the full impact, or what is yet to come, there are a few points here that you may not know.

The people most at risk will be the elderly (for those who get it, it's a 15% mortality for 80+ years old), and those with pre-existing conditions, like cardiovascular disease, which jumps up the mortality quite a bit. Children and teenagers deaths from the corona virus are the same as the flu at 0.2%

The high rate of death in China isn't necessarily reflective of the rest of the world, given a tragi c lack of hospital staff, medical supplies, ICU beds, and test kits that China is facing. Additionally, the virus shows an affinity to the ARE2 receptor in the lungs, and there are more of those receptors in people who smoke, and are exposed to air pollution (which, for those of you who have been to China, describes China right there).

The infection rate is slowing in China at this point, while it is increasing in other countries. See the stats here . Also, there is an L (mutated) and S (ancestral) strains of the COVID-19 virus. 70% of the cases have been the L strain, but we don't know if either is worse yet.

There are currently (as of today) 761 cases in the United States. Check out this tracker from Johns Hopkins , which synthesizes data from 5 different sources: WHO, CDC, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, China’s National Health Commission, and ncov.dxy.cn, an independent data source maintained by Chinese physicians.

While this is more infectious than the influenza virus, it remains yet to be seen if the death rate will approach the 40,000 PEOPLE WHO DIED LAST YEAR FROM THE FLU (you didn't know that, did you?) or the 18,000 who died this year (less virulent strain this time). Perhaps those rates are so high because we never took our hygiene seriously until now. Which brings me to:

IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO WASH YOUR HANDS AND NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE. Wipe down your most used items as well. This study saw that 93% of phones were crawling with bacteria. Think about it — you put your phone down to wash your hands, and then you picked it back up. You got rid of what's on your hands, but then your hands touched whatever contaminated thing you were just holding. So just wipe down your most used things every once in a while. And if you absolutely can't find soap to wash your hands, then use a hand sanitizer. We don't often say that, but in this case, it's better than nothing.

If you're sick with anything, stay home. Seriously.

Travel is not where most of the transmission is occurring at this point (and I'm about to get on a plane myself) but wiping down your seat area on the plane isn't a bad idea, wear a mask if you have one, and yes, wash your hands. If one good thing comes out of this, it's that people WILL WASH THEIR HANDS FOREVER MORE.

GET YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AS STRONG AS POSSIBLE. What kills people with the flu and with the corona virus is the "cytokine storm" which is an inflammatory reaction gone insane. Keep reading for how to stop that if it starts, but first, take these steps:

PREVENTION : Do Nasal Irrigation with saline solution, using a Neilmed bottle or Neti pot. When mucus membranes are dry (such as with indoor heating), they are more vulnerable to invasion by viruses and bacteria. Keep those mucus membranes moist by doing nasal irrigation 1-2x per day.

PREVENTION : Make sure your stomach pH is acidic enough to kill off anything that drips down from the sinuses. You can do that by taking apple cider vinegar in water a couple of times per day, or we love using Standard Process' Zypan, which also has digestive enzymes, pepsin, betaine hydrochloride and everything needed for good stomach pH. You can get it HERE or in our office . Dosage is 2 with each meal.

PREVENTION: Make sure your vitamin D levels are sufficient — take 5,000 I.U's per day and make sure you ingest it with some fat. It doesn't absorb well if taken on an empty stomach.

PREVENTION: Take a good immune multivitamin — we recommend Standard Process' Immuplex , which is a complex of several ingredients designed to strengthen the immune system. You can buy it HERE or in our office . Dosage is 3 twice a day.

PREVENTION : Epimune Complex , which contains MaitakeGold 404® maitake mushroom extract, protected under U.S. Patent 5,854,404. and EpiCor® dried yeast fermentate, along with turkey tails mushroom, all of which gives a huge boost to the immune system. You can buy it HERE . or in our office . Preventive dosage is 2 twice a day.

PREVENTION : Mediherb's Echinacea Premium is vital for two reasons — it boosts the immune system with long-term use, as it combines the roots of Echinacea angustifolia and Echinacea purpurea for longer action and it manages a cytokine storm. Additionally, these herbs come from Australia, which requires pharmaceutical standards for their herbs and supplements (unlike in the U.S.) so these have been tested for a total of 4.1 mg of alkylamides per tablet to ensure optimal strength and quality. You can get it HERE or in our office. Dosage will be 1 tablet, two to three times per day.

IF YOU SHOULD START TO FEEL SICK: First, don't panic. Statistically it's not the corona virus, it's probably just a bad cold. Make sure you rest and stay hydrated. But either way, to make sure you don't get a cytokine storm, do either of these as soon as you feel sick:

TREATMENT: Quercetin has been shown to slow or halt a cytokine reaction, so make sure you have some on hand. If you feel sick, take 500mg 2-3 times a day. Best to have in your medicine cabinet ready to go. You can pick it up in any health food store.

TREATMENT : Echinacea has also been shown to slow or halt a cytokine reaction, so increase the dose of Echinacea Premium to 6-8 per day. This only helps if you have been using 2 per day for two weeks prior to prime your system. Get it HERE .

REMEMBER — the majority of you will not get this, and those who do will get a mild version of it. If you have more serious respiratory symptoms, by all means get medical help. For the rest of you, take the precautions above and we will all be fine :-)

With good wishes and elbow bumping,

Your team at Merritt Wellness