Can onions prevent the swine flu? ASK THE HORT AGENT
Question Can onions prevent the swine flu?
Answer No and yes. As the story goes, if onions are placed in bowls in each room, they will soak up the flu virus and prevent folks from getting sick. This cheap and easy preventative is supposed to have saved people from the pandemic of 1918. Nowadays, scientists can prove onions have antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral qualities. Unfortunately, we also know onions will not “soak up” a virus from a room.
Throughout history onions have been credited with curing nearly everything from blurry vision to sleeplessness. With the resurgence of illness comes the resurgence of desperation. Interestingly, the worldwide pandemic of 1918 was also the swine flu. Regardless of what you call it today – influenza A, H1N1, swine flu, hog flu or pig flu – both the 1918 and 2009 pandemics are variations of influenza A subtype H1N1. This illness was called “swine flu” in 1918 because it was found in both people and pigs. While we don’t know whether the pigs gave it to us or vice versa, we do know that people cannot get swine flu from eating pork products (and vice versa).
Influenza (flu) is pretty common in swine. From 1930 until the 1990s the primary flu that pigs contracted was H1N1. When pigs get sick, they move slowly and quit eating. Only 1 to 4% actually dies. Most just lose 10 to 15 pounds. The flu spreads quickly amongst pigs. When they cough and sneeze, their straight-pipe noses shoot flu snot on everything in front of them. H1N1 specializes in entering through eyes, noses and mouths. Ironically, direct transmission of H1N1 from pigs to humans is rare, with only 12 cases in the U.S. since 2005.
In 1918 somewhere between 50 and 100 million people died from the swine flu worldwide. In 2009, some folks are trying to revive the onion superstition in order to dodge the flu bullet. According to common sense and snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com/medical/swineflu/onion.asp), there is no validity to the onion myth.
Flu season is in full swing and the number of bogus products that claim to ward off or prevent the flu has increased dramatically. The US Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning about 140 fraudulent flu products, including special shampoos, hand sprays and electronic devices. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/h1n1flu/
According to experts at the Centers for Disease Control, the best way to prevent swine flu is to wash your hands. In order for washing to be effective, you need to keep your hands under running water long enough to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice (approx. 20 seconds). Use alcohol-based hand rubs if you don’t have access to water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth or nose until you have washed your hands.
For more info on H1N1 (swine flu), visit http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/ If you don’t have internet access, then call me at 910-893-7533 or email me at gpierce@harnett.org
No matter how clean your hands are, you can get the swine flu if a sick person sneezes in your face. This is where onions come back into play. If you snack on raw onions throughout the day, I can guarantee that nobody will be close enough to sneeze the virus on your face. In that case, onions can prevent the swine flu.
Gary L. Pierce
Horticulture Extension Agent
Harnett County | 
