Swine flu -- time to up your Vitamin D dose

We're at the end of a long winter and cold spring, so our vitamin D stores are probably low. Now, along comes that "worrisome" (to quote CDC) swine flu out of Mexico. See University of Minnesota's CIDRAP for daily updates on current status. It won't be long -- another week at most -- before we find out just how virulent that influenza virus is. And it won't take long to spread, given all the wonders of globalization. So, now is the time to douse yourself with sunlight EVERY DAY for at least 15 minutes (assuming you can be in shorts and sleeveless), and if that isn't available to you, to take D3 supplements. I'm no doctor, but some are recommending 1000 IU or 2000 IU a day. The Vitamin D Council's John Cannell, MD wrote a very readable article about the evidence relating influenza to Vitamin D deficiency in 2006. It gives some guidance on dosage, both as a daily preventive, and as a supportive approach to limiting flu symptoms. Over the short run (several months), these doses are generally agreed to be benign.
For a recent update on the link between Vitamin D and colds and flu, see Scientific American's latest article, "Vitamin D deficiency linked to more colds and flu," summarizing the study recently announced by the Massachusetts General Hospital, and highlighted in my Jan 25 post on the subject.