The application of nutritional therapy in preventing epidemics has to be seriously considered and appropriate nutritional plans and protocols should be included as a standard part of pandemic influenza mitigation, prevention and management, in the event of the outbreak of highly pathogenic H1N1 influenza, according to Dr Balasubrahmaniam, CEO of Ramoni Research Foundation (RRF), an institute doing researches in herbal medicines in Chennai.

While interacting with Pharmabiz on the current outbreak of swine flu, the doctor who has a clinical experience of 40 years and clinical research experience of 25 years, said nutraceuticals never create resistant mutants and they are natural foods. The nutritional therapy is always inactivating the virus. Pepper, Turmeric and Ginger are known anti-virals from ancient ages and no resistance was developed for these things to life.

To support his point of view, he has quoted a study prepared by the Avian Influenza Expert Committee of the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), England. The committee is comprised of leading doctors and scientists in the fields of clinical nutrition, agriculture and sustainability to evaluate the scientific evidence-base for the use of nutritional and other natural product interventions in the event of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HAPI) pandemic. The pandemic influenza viruses have the capacity to mutate so that they are easily transmissible among humans.

Dr Balasubrahmaniam and professor Dr N Raaman, director of the herbal science department of the Madras University, have jointly conducted a research in the mutation of viruses of Neuraminidase (N) and alteration of antigens of Hematidin (H). There are nine mutants of Neuraminidase and 16 types of Hematidin. Both are of opinion that herbal medicines with antiviral activity can be used to prevent or reduce the effects of the viral infection. It is also important to boost the immune status of the body in order to bring about a faster recovery and prevent complications.

According to some cases of influenza reported in 1996 in various parts of the world, they claimed, the H5N1 is Tamiflu resistant strain and that may be spreading the present flu called Swine Flu. The team of doctors has submitted a report of their study along with the findings of ANH to the Health Ministries of central and state governments urging them to consider nutritional therapy in managing a pandemic flu.

In the report they said International governments and WHO have developed pandemic contingency and containment plans with the use of vaccines and antiviral drugs at their core. It is recognized by the WHO and other bodies and research institutes that these two strategic tools (vaccines and anti-viral drugs) have some severe potential weaknesses and vulnerabilities. These weaknesses range from the likely lack of effective vaccines in the early stages of a pandemic to the risk of multiple pandemic viral strains emerging, and that may complicate vaccine development and its utility. The situation may also cause shortages of anti viral drugs. If nutritional therapy is applied in the beginning, the immune system can be improved significantly and spread of disease can be controlled in large scale.

"An immune system that is fed with proper nutrition will be much more successful at defending the body. This relationship between nutrition and the performance of the immune system is the key to improved health," said Dr Balasubrahmaniam.

Referring the ANH report, he said for a variety of reasons there has long been a culture of dismissal and neglect among governments and their regulatory and health authorities in respect of the role that nutrient interventions play in human health and disease.

The ANH expert committee on Avian Influenza stressed that the dismissal of nutritional therapies by these authorities could contribute to the unnecessary loss of tens of millions of lives and therefore it is high time to discard the skepticism and consider the medication of natural products objectively and rationally. He said if the authorities do not consider this, such a dismissal may come to be seen as one of the greatest acts of professional negligence in human history.