Five swine flu necessities for under $10 (and don't forget the wine box)

As more people catch the swine flu and newspapers, magazines, and the internet fill with horrifying predictions of the coming porcine apocalypse, we here at Walletpop felt that it might be a good idea to offer our readers a few cheap, effective tools for weathering the next few weeks. These simple suggestions are easy to find, easy to use, and will probably still come in handy when this whole thing blows over. In the interests of clarity, we have organized them in ascending order, from one (probably a good idea, even if there isn't a swine flu epidemic) to five (Grab on to something stable, Mabel; it's going to be a stormy night!). Here's hoping that you don't need them!

Stage One: Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
Swine flu is a virus, which means that your best protection is basically keeping your immune system in top form. While exotic supplements from Coenzyme Q 10 to bovine colostrum are rumored to help, many of the old standbys can also give your immune system a huge boost. Start with a good multivitamin, or at least get your RDA of Vitamins C and B complex, as well as zinc. While you're at it, some sources say that Vitamin D is hugely helpful. Given that it comes from sunlight and milk, we figure that it couldn't hurt.

After the epidemic is over: you should probably still be taking a multivitamin.