When H1N1 was frequently on my mind last fall, my reading turned up elderberries as a tool against influenza, at least seasonal influenza, but I don't see why it wouldn't have some effect with H1N1. There seems to be valid scientific and clinical evidence for it. It apparently disrupts the ability of the influenza virus to infect new cells in the host's body, which buys time for your own immune system to eventually produce the antibodies that will take care of the buggers for good. Note that we're talking about its effect on influenza specifically, not necessarily the scores of other bugs that can cause flu-like disease, although it does also apparently have a general immune boosting effect as well.

You can buy commercially prepared elderberry extracts like Sambucol, Sambucus, etc., or prepare your own tincture using just elderberries and vodka. There are various variations on the recipe on the web, including alcohol-free ones, like for children. Apparently elderberries (only use the Sambucus nigra variety) are common in parts of the country, but certainly not around here. I bought the Sambucol but never did try elderberry this flu season so far so I can't comment on how it has worked for me.

However, on a different note, I did try megadosing on Vitamin C on two different occasions in the past few months when I first started feeling like I was coming down with something, like having that tickle in the back of the throat or feeling a bit feverish, and in both cases, I was totally fine by the next morning and it never developed into anything more. Was it just one of those "24 hour" bugs that would've gone away on its own without Vitamin C? Who knows, but I can't complain about how things turned out in both cases.

I'm not big on supplements, but Vitamin C/ascorbic acid is something I'm reading up and experimenting more with after reading about using it against influenza.

My original thinking for searching out these things was that I just wanted to avoid getting a really bad case of the flu. If I get it, I get it, but I'll put up with being sick. I just don't want to end up in the ICU on a ventilator, or worse. That is the big unknown with H1N1--would I be one of the small number that got really, really ill from it.