* November 4, 2009, 3:49 AM ET
Recipes from China’s Alternative Swine Flu Frontlines
Until recently, China has been fairly sheltered from bad news associated with the H1N1 flu virus. But since early October, when the country reported its first H1N1 death, temperatures have dropped and H1N1 cases are reportedly rising steeply, so a corresponding increase in anxiety levels is inevitable.
Amid such fears, the available science doesn’t always prevail.
On the Internet, rumors that H1N1 could be caused by vaccines prompted a strongly worded refutation from the Ministry of Health, while flu fears at a Beijing university spurred school authorities to rid the campus of stray cats, despite a lack of evidence that the animals play a role in the spread of the H1N1 virus. (And to be sure, Chinese authorities don’t help when they add restrictions to imports of pork products, which the WHO says would not transmit the H1N1 virus via consumption).
China has launched an ambitious H1N1 vaccination campaign and drug makers are operating at full capacity to produce vaccine doses. But even so, health officials say domestic vaccine makers will only be able to produce around 100 million vaccine doses by the end of March 2010,still a long way from the 390 million doses needed to inoculate targeted groups, such as military, medical personnel, students and the chronically ill.
Against that backdrop, Chinese traditional medicine (TCM) offers some alternative measures for H1N1 prevention. An official with the department of medical administration in the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine referred us to the following TCM recipes (available in Chinese here). She noted that the recipes are only intended as a reference, since variations among regions and individuals must also be taken into account.
Soup
5 grams scallion, 30 grams daikon radish, 3 grams parsley. Add an appropriate amount of water, boil and drink.
Salad
30 to 60 grams fresh “fishy grass” (aka cordate houttuynia) (fresh whiteflower patrinia or purslane may be substituted), blanched and mixed with garlic juice and vinegar.
Bean Porridge
1. 30 grams each red beans, green beans and white hyacinth beans, cleaned and boiled with 500ml water.
2. 30 grams each red peanuts, red beans and red dates, boiled with 500ml water. Add brown sugar to taste.
Tea
Three grams each green tea leaves, dried chrysanthemum flower and licorice steeped in boiling water. Three to five nasturtium flowers may be used as a substitute for the tea.