Onions fight flu virus

[snopes]

http://www.snopes.com/medical/swineflu/onion.asp

[snopes]

Even if it were true (as some home remedy types claim) that onions "attract" bacteria, that wouldn't help ward off the flu, would it? Flu is caused by viruses, not bacteria, and those viruses are typically spread by contact. It's not as if the flu virus was an airborne phenomenon that could be "sucked up" by onions, nor is it likely that onions are flu magnets which can dislodge viruses from floors, countertops, and other surfaces.

[Eddylizard]

Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ.

Darned if I can remember any specific tales, but haven't we seen the "I heard this from my hairdresser" line a few times before?

Snopes and fellow snopesters, you should heavily tip your hairdresser. Hairdressers are helping to keep this site alive.

The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick.

To her surprise, no one came in for a haircut, due to the pervasive stink of onions in her salon. The lack of customers meant that there were no carriers to infect her staff.

If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better. If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case..

Okay now maybe I'm stepping outside of my knowledge zone here, but the part I bolded seems to be saying "the onions might not suck up all the flu viruses, but if it leaves a few behind and they infect you then it'll be milder. Surely it doesn't work like that?" For the same strain of flu are you not going to get the same severity of symptoms, dependent on your personal health, whether you get a few from the environment (since they multiply) or some mad scientist from Porton Down sprays you in the face with an aerosol can full. You either get infected or you don't - if you get infected, regardless of the aerial density of the viruses, surely the prognosis is the same.

We did it last year and we never got the flu

I switched from terrestrial analogue TV to terrestrial digital TV last year, and I didn't get the flu. Try it - it works.

[mindiloohoo]

You won't get the flu because no one will come near you or your smelly onion family. When there is no one else in your office or home, the chances of them coughing or sneezing on you or your stuff is decreased. Just Sayin.

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by mindiloohoo

You won't get the flu because no one will come near you or your smelly onion family. When there is no one else in your office or home, the chances of them coughing or sneezing on you or your stuff is decreased. Just Sayin.

I was thinking the same thing.

[rlobinske]

Considering that the Influenza virus wasn't discovered until 1933...

[simplejoys4]

Actually, the flu is spread by air as well as physical contact

[Hans Off]

Originally Posted by snopes

The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and placed it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion.

In 1919? he must have very good eyesight...

Originally Posted by wiki

Viruses display a wide diversity of shapes and sizes, called morphologies. Generally viruses are much smaller than bacteria. Most viruses that have been studied have a diameter between 10 and 300 nanometres. Some filoviruses have a total length of up to 1400 nm; their diameters are only about 80 nm.^[54] Most viruses cannot be seen with a light microscope so scanning and transmission electron microscopes are used to visualise virions.^[55] To increase the contrast between viruses and the background, electron-dense "stains" are used. These are solutions of salts of heavy metals, such as tungsten, that scatter the electrons from regions covered with the stain. When virions are coated with stain (positive staining), fine detail is obscured. Negative staining overcomes this problem by staining the background only.^[56]

[ganzfeld]

The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and placed it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion.

Originally Posted by Hans Off

In 1919? he must have very good eyesight...

They were doing the Wave.

[snopes]

Moldova's army is feeding its soldiers onions and garlic to help them ward off swine flu.

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/art...sFlu19-ON.html