dr. jennifer ashton. who also by the way recommend getting plenty of vitamin d to avoid getting sick. she says, 70% of americans are deficient in the vitamin. >>> in other news this morning, a $9.7 billion bill to help victims of superstorm sandy is logged. president obama signed the aid deal which will pay flood insurance claims. the white house says 100,000 claims would have been held up without extra money. house vote next week on a more comprehensive $51 billion sandy aid package. the vote expedited after republicans, democrats, assailed boehner for not getting it done, fiscal cliff deal. apparently now $60 billion on the way, badly needed money when you compare it to how fast, say, katrina victims got their aid. what's happening in the northeast with sandy. >> at least it happened. >> yes. better late than never. right? >> exactly. >>> a look at your weather. heavy rain in the pacific northwest mountain snow in the cascade and rockies. evening thunderstorms from houston to corpus christi. showers, thunderstorms in florida. thawing from denver to new york. >> 40s here in the north

dr. jennifer ashton how to say void getting sick. >> recently, the fda approved the drug tamiflu for infants as young as 2 weeks of age. first and most important thing, get a flu vaccine. it's not too late. there's enough available. second thing is keep your hands and anything your hands touch -- phones, keyboards -- clean as possible. that's how the virus is transmitted. it's very important to do that. >> doctors say if you are sick, please stay home from work. most people will infect four to five other people before they know they have it. >> skcary stat. >>> a retired pennsylvania pastor charged with killing both of his wives goes on trial today. arthur shermer is accused of killing betty jean in 2008 and stages a car accident to cover it up. they found betty jean's dried blood in his garage, indicating she was injured before she got in the car. >>> a georgia mom saved her family by shooting an druder. when the man broke into the house and started rum ajs around. when he opened the door to the attic, she shot him five times. the suspect is expected to survive. no one in the family was hur

dr. jennifer ashton reporting in. >>> and we turn next to washington today. secretary of state hillary clinton spoke to cameras for the first time since her concussion and blood clot, saying she is thrilled to be back at work, but calling her return to the state department bittersweet, as she prepares to step down, saying, don't call it retirement just yet. >> i don't know if that's the word i would use, but certainly stepping off the very fast track for a little while. >> and for now, her fast track includes some growing signs of menace from iran. today, the state department vowed to do something about a father held hostage for years and a family's desperate plea for action. here's abc's chief global aff r affairs correspondent martha raddatz with the story. >> reporter: these are the latest images of robert levinson. the last proof of life, sent anonymously via e-mail to his family, more than a year ago. kept secret in hopes it would help his chances, until now. >> they are very difficult to look at even today. some of our daughters were crying to me over t

dr. jennifer ashton to reveal which ones really help. >> reporter: if you're home sick with the flu, boosting traditional treatments with natural ingredients you can find in your local vitamin store may bring you some real relief. elderberry, particularly the sambucol type, is what you are looking for. there are studies that show that elderberry pills or extract shorten the duration of flu symptoms in adults. it can also help ease swollen sinuses. just don't eat the wild berries. they can be toxic. look what you can find in the supermarket. in the spice aisle you might want to reach for a jar of turmeric. the popular indian spice contains curcumin, believed to help prevent the spread of viruses in your body. what about the old favorite? chicken soup. your mom might have been behind something and there is science behind hit. studies have shown that homemade remedy can help clear congestion. and chicken soup affects your body's white blood cells, holding them back from creating congestion, meaning less coughing and less sneezing. and it's not something seen with any other soup. now, more resear

dr. jennifer ashton. always great to see you. mr. and the cdc is encouraging anti-virls earlier than ever? >> that's right. for anyone not getting better within a couple days and recently the fda approved tamiflu for infants as young as two weeks of age. it tells you how seriously they take the risk in infants and children. >> two weeks, but it's perfectly safe? >> absolutely. >> you have tips for people without infants or young which were, sounds obvious but bears repeating. >> first thing, get your flu shot. it's not too late. there's still flu vaccines available. it does reduce the severity and the duration even if you were to get the flu. second, keep your hands and anything your hands come in contact with, clean. phones, keyboards. that's how the virus is transmitted. >> wipe it all clean, keep your family safe. and other things to boost your immunity? >> getting enough sleep, exercise, adequate vitamin d intake. 70% of the country is low on vitamin d. keep it high, and it improve your chances. -- of avoiding the flu. >> i know

dr. jennifer ashton, you heard john report there, some pharmacists turning some patients away, saying 65 and older. that's going to make people nervous out there. >> let's go through the numbers, david, there's still vaccine available. this year, there were 135 million doses made, about 128 million were shipped out or distributed. that's about 95% of the supply this year. believe it or not, they started to work on next year's. i ran out in my office. i called and i got a shipment on thursday. >> itt was a week ago, we were talking about children. two more pediatric deaths. you also learned of a shortage of medicine for children. >> we're seeing a shortage in the antiviral vaccine tamiflu in its liquid form. and that's the form give on the children. due to a shipping delay from the manufacturer. they're literally opening capsules and mixing it at the appropriate dose for children. but, again, we're waiting for those shipments to reach the pharmacies. >> something that you told us in the newsroom today that struck me, how long members of family are contagious? children are contagious longe

dr. jennifer ashton when her office ran out of the flu vaccine she got a new shipment within just a matterdays. dan? >> important to emphasize it is not too late to get the shot, john, thanks for your report this morning. >>> now to allegations of hypocrisy and absurdity as the recovery from super storm becomes a political football. they'll vote on relief money but politicians from the northeast are outraged that republicans want to give them much less than they're asking for. abc's david kerley is at the white house this morning. >> reporter: not so fast is what some republicans are saying so for the third time we'll hear heated words from northeast lawmakers when this comes up in the house of representatives. >> so bad. >> reporter: 2 1/2 months and the victims of sandy and their representatives have had enough. >> they have suffered long enough. they need to hear from their government. >> reporter: they are helping, but in chunks. congress passed more than $9 billion if aid a week ago. but the states and the president have asked for another $50 billion. instead the house plan calls for

dr. jennifer ashton is here to tell us about that. >> good morning, guys. i think you need to go home after you're finished with the show, bianna. we don't have answers. we don't know why the flu this year is so bad. we don't know how bad it will get. what we do know is that the cases of influenza or flu-like illness are picking up speed. they're gaining momentum. we do expect them to get worse before it gets better. and these are particularly bad strains this year, making people incredibly sick. >> even people who have had flu shots? >> yeah. listen, the flu vaccine is not 100% effective. it varies between 60% to 85% effective. but people who are vaccinated, if they do come down with influenza, seem to have a let severe course of the illness and a shorter course of the illness. it's not too late to get vaccinated. if you can see your doctor and get that vaccine today, it may save your life or someone else's life. >> such an important note. before we go, you were pointing out to me before the broadcast, that these new numbers out this morning are not even t

dr. jennifer ashton is here, to talk about alternative treatments for people suffering with the flu. you're a western-trained physician. but you believe that alternative medicines actually help. >> i do. and in a real world you integrate with traditional medicines to complementary medicine. this is not a substitute for traditional medicine. it's in addition to. >> it looks like you have a war chest right there. walk us through. this is tumeric. >> this is called indian cold. this is what gives curry the yellow flavor. has been studied and found to have really strong antiviral and anti-bacterial properties. i add this to my eggs. but you can add it to soup, too. >> for years, we've been hearing about zinc and how effective zinc can be. >> most people take zinc when they feel the common cold coming on. much better for the cold than the flu. you can take extra when you're six. you can shorten the duration of symptoms. do not use the nasal form. that can affect your sense of smell. >> and what is this right here? a netti pot? >> you've never used this. >> i'll show you later. we're talki

dr. jennifer ashton is here. top five or six or four ways to get and stay healthy. sit on down there. before we get to your top five -- >> happy new year. >> let's be honest. we were perhaps partaking some of us out there just waking up to the program. >> right. >> but we want to get them up and going on this january 1st. how best to battle -- >> you're talking about the hangover a little bit. we're not really sure what causes those dreaded physical symptoms of a hangover but the leading contender is dehydration now, little math for us at this hour of the morning. you consume four alcoholic beverages, which we probably did just right here at this table. that can result in the elimination of up to one liter of water so the dehydration is key. if possible you want to rehydrate as you're drinking if you didn't do that last night, it's not too early now. drink that water and if you need something for the headache, reach for eye ibuprofen, not acetaminophen. >> why did hair of the dog worked. >> hair of the dog is a myth. greasy foods is also. stay with bland stuff. >> it always works. >>

dr. jennifer ashton here.g secrets to staying healthy, strong and sexy in your 30s, 40s and beyond." it's out in paperbook. and she's going to tell us two things that reveal our age. our skin and our waistline. >> exactly. >> it's great to have you here. >> thank you. >> i have to say, olympic athlete dara torres and dr. oz have singled your book out as being phenomenally valuable to them. >> it meant so much to me. >> what sets it apart? >> there's a lot of things that work. and there's a lot of information that people are aware of. it's putting it into practice in very simple, easy to implement, five-week plans. it's very effective and easy to do. it becomes a habit. and that's the key. >> is it only for women? >> the book is written, directed at women. but we're finding a lot of women are reading it. and saying to our spouse or partner, you know what? you should try this. and some of it works for men, too. >> the first thing you say is a dead give away of our age is our skin. and the number one thing we sho