No, at least when it comes to genuine prevention, which is what the flu vaccine does.
Some people shy away from getting the flu vaccine because they think it will make them sick (it won’t) or because of unfounded fears about a mercury-containing preservative called thimerosal found in some vaccines. Numerous studies have failed to find any basis for the concern that thimerosal is linked to autism or learning disorders. For parents who worry nonetheless, there are now thimerosal-free vaccines available for kids.
The concern that getting a flu shot will give you the flu is “absolutely ridiculous, ridiculous,” said Dr. Alfred De Maria, chief medical officer at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. “There is no way you can get the flu from a flu shot.”
When it comes to treating the flu, a number of homeopathic or plant-based remedies are on the market, but how safe and effective they are is difficult to say.
Some people who sell these products, like Steve Bernardi, a co-owner of Johnson Drug in Waltham, MA, which he described as “a conventional pharmacy with a slant toward complementary medicine,” swear by products like Boiron’s Oscillococcinum to reduce the severity and duration of the flu. It’s made from duck liver, but data on the product are scanty. (Besides, wouldn’t you rather have your foie gras with a nice glass of pinot noir?)
Bernardi also touts several products made from mushrooms, including LifeShield Throat Defense and Host Defense, both made by New Chapter. Again, it’s impossible to evaluate the claims that these products reduce the severity or duration of colds or flu.
Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, a nonprofit organization that distributes information on herbal products, advised combining mainstream and alternative medicine on this one: Get a flu shot AND take the dietary supplements if you like.
My take is more mainstream: Get a flu shot, which is 70 to 90 percent effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you do get the flu, see your doctor and take one of the four FDA-approved drugs for influenza: amantadine, rimantadine, zanamavir or oseltamivir. The mushroom remedies sound intriguing, but for now, I’ll save my mushrooms for omelettes after the foie gras.