Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc.. Presently, he is head of Nuclear Medicine Department and
Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him with addition from me, Dr Brent Mathieu, makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know

The only portals of entry for the flu virus are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into
contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much
of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of
secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any
part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. It washes away the virus.  In a way, gargling with salt water has the same ffect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one.  Don'tnderestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with
warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very
good yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a
day after rinsing with salt water, and/or swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C
(Amla, Rose hips, blueberies, goji) and other citrus fruits). *If you supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption. Echinacea also boosts the immune response.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking
warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.  Aromatic herbal teas are anti-viral such as yarrow, oregano, or even mint.