PREVENTING AND HANDLING INFECTIONS NATURALLY

By Lawrence Wilson, MD

© Revised, June 2008, The Center For Development

This article is a very important one in today’s world. We are beset by infections of many types. Today, there are also bioterrorism threats that involve infectious organisms. This need not frighten anyone if you understand how to prevent and handle most all infections naturally, quickly, safely and effectively at home.

A separate article on this website discusses the special topic of Lyme Disease.

ALL INFECTIONS ARE POTENTIALLY LIFE-THREATENING AND SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED

This is a principle that must never be overlooked. It applies to even a simple cold, flu or diarrhea. So never ignore an infection. It could be far more costly to take care of later if it becomes complicated.

For this reason, there will always be a place for antibiotic and other anti-infection pharmaceutical drugs. However, most have terrible side effects that go unrecognized because they don’t cause immediate symptoms. So if we can avoid them safely and effectively, this is the best course of action.

ACUTE AND CHRONIC INFECTIONS

This is a second principle regarding infection. They are of two general classifications.

Acute infections are characterized by an active involvement of the entire immune response to invading microorganisms. The body is deeply affected with symptoms such as heat or fever, a most powerful infection-fighting mechanism.

Other acute infection symptoms are pain, redness, inflammation, pus formation (dead bacteria or other germs), swelling and more. One may have almost any symptom, however, from a headache to an upset stomach or a rash.

Chronic infections are those that the body is unable to fight actively. The infection rarely kills, but the body is also unable to remove it completely. Most everyone has some of these.

Symptoms are often negligible, if there are any at all. Typical ones are post-nasal drip related to a chronic sinus condition or a little dizziness or slight hearing impairment related to a chronic ear infection. Others are horseness related to a chronic bronchial or other respiratory infection, itchy areas of the body, or a sensitive tooth.

Another common one are symptoms of gas or a little bloating or stomach discomfort at times. This may be all that one is aware of when the intestinal tract is infected with improper bacteria or a parasite infestation such as E.coli, entamoeba histolytica or candida albicans.

However, in many cases, one is unaware of the presence of a chronic infection. Blood and other types of tests also often show no evidence of infection. The reason is that the body has often encapsulated or otherwise isolated the infection so that it does not cause direct symptoms.

Chronic infections often require a different approach than acute ones. Here I will only say that one must strengthen the entire body to prevent and successfully handle infections. Piecemeal efforts are smetimes helpful, but should never be one’s only or main approach.

EFFECTS AT A DISTANCE

A third principle about infections is that symptoms and deep, lasting damage from infections need not come directly from the site of the infection. All microorganisms secrete toxins that travel throughout the body.

This is often the most dangerous part of an infection. Without our knowledge, they can travel to the brain or the heart and cause death far more quickly than one might imagine. This is why all infections are to be dealt with aggressively and completely.

Both acute and often chronic infections secrete extremely toxic so-called endotoxins and exotoxins into the bloodstream. These can caus all manner of disturbances at subtle levels of the body.

A common source of chronic infection, for example, in which endotoxins play an important role are chronically infected root canals and dental cavitations. These are pockets of bacteria that are so toxic that when such a tooth has been extracted and placed under the skin of a laboratory rabbit or mouse, the animal dies.

Many biologically-oriented dentists will not fill root canals and prefer instead to extract the tooth for this reason. We don’t always agree, however, but often they are correct.

ACT AGGRESSIVELY WITH ALL ACUTE INFECTIONS

Start Immediately. It is best to work aggressively and immediately with your acute infections, no matter how trivial they seem. This applies especially if there is fever, pain or swelling in the throat or elsewhere.

All infections can become complicated quickly with potentially life-threatening consequences. So do not delay and begin the methods below as soon as you feel an infection has begun. There is no need to wait until you see a practitioner or have some kind of test, as the doctors sometimes want you to do. The natural methods below are safe if used correctly and can be applied immediately for the best results. Complications are problematic!!!

Use More Than One Natural Method And Remedy. At times, one natural product or method may be sufficient. However, this is never the best approach if you choose natural methods. Use a combination of rest, diet, nutrients, and hydrotherapy, for example.

Use Enough Of Natural Remedies. Be sure to use a lot of the natural remedy. Most are very safe and taking a little more is better than not taking enough. An aggressive approach is by far the best. However, there is no need to overdo or use more than the recommended amounts.

Follow Through For At Least Five Days Or More. Another mistake is to stop your natural infection-fighting program too soon. This is like stopping antibiotics too soon, something most people are aware of. So be sure to continue at least five days and after symptoms are completely gone an extra day or two is not a bad idea, either.

If You Are Not Succeeding On Your Own, Seek Help Immediately. This is also part of an aggressive approach. Do not delay if you feel an infection is out of your control. For example, appendicitis is rare, but it occurs once in a while and often requires surgery. Delay can mean complications and rarely death. So keep watch on all infections and do not hesitate to seek help if you believe you need it.

On the other hand, do not worry excessively if correction takes a week or two, or even more time than this. Some infections, even certain strains of the flu, are quite intense and can take several weeks or more to improve. Just keep getting more rest and using your remedies and natural methods if you feel you are slowly getting well.

THERE IS NO “IMMUNE SYSTEM”

The so-called “immune system” is not really a body system. The response of the body to infective organisms is better termed the immune response. It is extremely complex, involving the skin, intestines, nasal mucosa, blood, lymph and many other organs and tissues. Unless all of these are in good working order, infections tend to gain a foothold far too easily.

Now let us discuss specific measures everyone can take to avoid infections and to remove both acute and chronic infections. Some are obvious, but few people actually do them.

PREVENTING INFECTIONS

A healthful lifestyle greatly assists to maintain a strong immune response. The body is the physical temple and it is to be honored. Care for it and never abuse it for any reason. This means:

1. Obtain plenty of rest and sleep, at least nine or more hours daily. Also, go to bed early. The hours before midnight are worth at least four times the benefit of sleeping after midnight. Be in bed by 9 PM if at all possible.

2. Reduce stress as much as possible. Stress of most kinds weakens the body a lot. Many of the following are ways to reduce stress on your body. However, other types of stress such as family problems, financial difficulties and others will weaken the immune response as well.

3. Eat very carefully. Eating habits are also very important. Your daily diet is always a basic preventive measure. Have regular, sit-down and preferably home-cooked meals of whole, natural foods, organically grown if possible.

Eat protein at least twice a day, as protein is most important for the detoxification pathways in the liver, and helps in rebuilding the immune system. Eat several cooked vegetables with at least two meals a day. These provide minerals, vitamins and other substances needed for a healthy body.

Raw Foods. Raw food must be washed very thoroughly. Do not eat raw food in restaurants for maximum protection against a wide variety of infections. Other foods to watch or better avoid in restaurants include all salad dressings, all sauces and seafood or shellfish, especially if lightly cooked. Sushi tastes good, but is not the best food to eat anywhere, but particularly in a restaurant. Making it at home would be best with ingredients you trust. Otherwise avoid it today due to many infections in uncooked seafood and shellfish.

Basic Supplements. To protect your self in general, take a multivitamin-mineral supplement and use kelp as a condiment instead of table salt. Some sea salt is also excellent. This is very basic, but will provide basic nutrients everyone needs. Other articles on this website discuss eating habits and nutrition in far more detail, so I will not repeat the information here.

4. Do some regular light exercise each day, if possible, and at least five times weekly. However, do not overdo anything, even pleasurable exercise, in particular running or jogging, as these actually deplete many people.

5. Breathe deeply as often as you can. Oxygenating the body well is a key to avoiding and eliminating all infections in the body.

6. Live and work in a simple way in as healthy an environment as possible, preferably away from large cities. This is impossible for most people reading this, but do your best to avoid air and water pollution, fluoridated water, chlorinated pools and hot tubs and all the other contaminants found in modern society.

7. Positive attitudes and emotions tend to greatly enhance our infection-fighting abilities. This is well-known in some medical circles. Laughter can be better than drugs, for example. Peace and quiet are far better than a noisy or negative environment.

8. Reduce your exposure to all harmful micro-organisms. Excessive exposure to bacteria, viruses and other disease-causing organisms will overwhelm anyone’s immune system.

Air travel, hotels, malls, theatres, shops, stadiums and anywhere else the public is found in large numbers are sources of infection. Avoid public bathrooms or wash carefully after using them.

If possible, avoid crowded places, especially indoor where air circulation is poor. Unfortunately, air travel is probably the worst of these. Buses, subways, trains and other public places are also commonly sources of respiratory and other types of infections.

Any closed buildings such as offices, motels, hospitals and all others may be dangerous to your health if you don’t know who has been there before you and how well ventilated and cleaned they are.

Restaurants and bars are a huge source of food and contact infection. Although laws exist to protect the customer, one does not ever really know where the food came from, how cleanly it was prepared or even how well the dishes were washed.

While this may sound paranoid, it can save your life. Be careful around restaurants and bars, especially. Order only cooked food to be most careful and avoid shellfish, seafood and most fish. All of these are often today contaminated.

Pools and hot tubs are another common source of many infections. Do not believe for a moment that the bromine, chlorine or even ozone will kill every microorganisms. Many organisms are resistant to chlorine, especially the newer, genetically-altered strains of bacteria and viruses. Pools and hot tubs are particularly bad because the warm or hot water supports the growth of microbes.

Promiscuous sexual activity, especially the ‘bar scene’ with its loose sexual activity, always spreads disease. Young people must not trust partners when they say “I am totally healthy”. This is often a lie. Even if it is the truth, the person usually does not really know if they have been exposed to sexually transmitt4ed disease. A recent study fround that one of every four teens in some groups are already infected with a sexually transmitted disease. Old moral standards regarding sex make a lot of sense just in terms of disease transmission.

9. Practice Excellent Personal Hygiene. Always wash your hands with soap after using the toilet, especially a public toilet. It is best to wash hands several times a day, especially before meals or after leaving any public place such as a train, bus, airplane or movie theatre. This is an easy habit to develop that pays great dividends.

Other personal habits are to change your underclothes frequently, preferably every day. Also, do not let dirty clothes mix with clean ones, as many people do today.

10. Tap water is usually not an important source of infection if you are in the United States. However, in many other nations, the drinking water is not clean or safe. Beware of this if you travel outside the country.

However, tap water has many toxins in it so we do not recommend it. Distilled or quality spring or “drinking water” is much better. Also, drink plenty of water, about 3-4 quarts daily for adults and somewhat less for younger children.

11. Treat your infections. By this I mean that if you know you have infections, such as infected teeth, take care of the problem. Do not just disregard it because you don’t want to pay for dentistry. Look around for a less costly dentist or bargain with your dentist if needed.

Many people have untreated infections that can be handled naturally, too. The sections below cover how to use natural methods to deal with acute and then chronic infections. We will also discuss the differences between acute and chronic and how they affect your health.

12. Other Preventive Procedures.

Sunshine. Besides those mentioned above, some sun exposure for yourself and for clothing and other objects that may become infected is excellent. The sun radiates in the ultraviolet range which has a definite germ-killing effect. Thus, leaving blankets, rugs and other objects in the sun at times is wonderful.

Sunbathing also helps with infections to a degree, probably because it kills some surface germs and vitamin D production increases. Vitamin D is definitely inloved in some germ-fighting efforts.

Heating the Body. we find that heating the body daily is an excellent way to avoid and take care of infections. The simplest and safest way to do this is with a sauna. Spending 20 minutes in a sauna daily is an excellent preventive method. You can also often “sweat out a cold” using sauna therapy as well.

Colon Cleansing. Another excellent preventive is to avoid constipation and to use colon hydrotherapy. This not only removes toxic substances regularly from the intestines, but can actually help reduce infections in the liver and other organs as well. On this site are information about saunas and colon cleansing or enema therapies.

Natural Therapies. Foot reflexology, chiropractic and all other balancing natural healing methods can also reduce your stress and thus help to prevent and reduce the severity of infections of many types. Just be sure your practitioners’ offices are clean and neat and that you are not exposed to too many sick people in these offices or the effort may backfire.

HANDLING ACUTE INFECTIONS

1. Rest. At the first sign of an infection, rest in bed as much as possible. If at all possible, do not go to work. Children should be at home in pajamas, not playing outside. My father used to climb into bed with a cup of tea and just stay there until his cold or flu passed. He was rarely sick for long.

This is common sense when one realizes how serious infections can become. Even polio and other severe illnesses can be avoided or minimized if one rests at the first sign of a cold, flu or other infection.

2. Diet. Eat lightly of simple, nourishing foods or fast on water or diluted juices. I do not recommend living on undiluted fruit and juices, however. These are far too expansive or yin.

Chicken soup, for example, is superb for many people when ill. Lightly cooked vegetables are fine, too. Rice that is well-cooked is also good in most cases.

If fever is elevated, drink extra water. Fasting on just water for a day or two is fine, but not for more than about 2-3 days as a general rule.

3. Exercise. Or Activity Do not exercise when ill or even move about any more than necessary. Movement, and especially exercise, just uses up energy required for healing and will slow your recovery.

4. The Infrared Electric Light Sauna. If you have access to an infrared sauna, use it three or four times daily for only 10-15 minutes each session. Do not overdo, since more time is not better and will only exhaust you.

Sauna therapy inhibits the sympathetic nervous system, which enhances the immune response. It is also fever therapy that boosts the immune response. It also can dramatically improve circulation, hydration and oxygenation of the tissues and organs and decongest the internal organs. Near infrared can also help heal wounds and damaged tissues.

Always drink plenty of extra fluid when using any sauna or sweating by any method or you may become dehydrated. This applies especially to children, who may use all these methods with great benefit as well. Children must be accompanied by an adult when using a sauna and watched carefully for signs of heat stroke. Children sweat easily and can dehydrate faster than adults.

Infrared sauna use is a superb treatment modality for acute infections. It heats the body several degrees which disables or kills many microbes, improves circulation, inhibits the sympathetic nervous system and much more. It greatly assists the body to fight infections of all kinds.

Traditional saunas may also be used with benefit, though they do not penetrate the skin as the far and near infrared types do. The test type is the near infrared lamp sauna because you can direct the rays to any area of the body such as an infected tooth or sinus, for example. This cannot be done nearly as well with the far infrared or traditional saunas.

5. Other methods to induce sweating. If one does not have a sauna, one can still induce sweating with other methods. Turn up the heat in the house, sit in a tub of ver4y hot water, drink hot tea and wrap the body in lots of blankets. An electric blanket may also be used, though we generally do not like the electromagnetic effects of electric blankets.

Inducing a fever, either with a sauna or other methods, will often shorten the time it takes to overcome an acute infection. Be sure to drink extra water if you are sweating, as you will lose fluids.

6. Colon Cleansing - Enemas or Colonics. Enemas and colonic irrigation greatly assist elimination through the liver and colon. This, in turn, will help unload toxins that are burdening the immune response.

These procedures have many other positive, though subtle effects. They can inhibit the sympathetic nervous system, which assists the immune response and they help decongest the liver, which produces many infection-fighting chemicals. Up to four or even five coffee enemas per day may be used to lower a fever, for example, and help overcome any severe infection.

The value of colon cleansing during infections is an old and well-known therapy that has been forgotten in this age of “wonder drugs”. We wonder why they don’t use the simple, physical therapies that worked for years and were standard practice in hospitals. They would not only stop the proliferation of antibiotic resistant organisms that is causing even worse infections in the population, but the widespread use of the purge, as they used to call it, would save many lives when the doctors have used up their arsenal of drugs and other methods.

Always use distilled or spring or filtered water if one feels the tap water is not clean. However, most American tap water could be used in enemas, though it is not ideal.

7. Deep Breathing. Deep breathing can be surprisingly important to help fight infections. It is another ancient therapy that was well-known, for example, to the ancient yogis of India and China.

Practice deep breathing while lying in bed before getting up, for at least half an hour daily. A simple way to do it is to count as high as you can as you inhale, hold for a few counts and then exhale to a number of counts as well. Try to increase the number of counts as you begin to breathe more deeply. Also, avoid tight clothes that restrict your inhalation.

Oxygen is lethal to most pathogenic micro-organisms. Most people do not breathe deeply, depriving the body of adequate oxygen. Oxygen starvation is more common in urban areas, where the oxygen level in the streets can be 20% lower than in rural areas due to gas-burning auto engines that breathe oxygen from the air.

Deep breathing, which can be done anywhere, even in bed, also acts like a massage for the internal organs.

8. Natural Remedies. Certain supplements are vital to help fight infections. Here are several that may be used together:

a) Colloidal silver. This is an excellent braod-spectrum anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal. It has been known to help many other infections such as candida, parasites and other problems.

I generally prefer store-bought products over home-made ones for quality control reasons. The general dosage is about 2-3 tablespoons per day for an adult for up to a week if it is a low potency product (15-50 parts per million of silver). One should take a lot less, about 1-3 teaspoons or less, if it is a higher potency product of over 50 parts per million of silver.

b) Bee propolis, up to 50 drops three times a day for adults for up to 3 weeks, is also excellent.

c) High-dose vitamin A, up to 200,000 iu per day for adults for up to two weeks, is another excellent remedy for some infections.

d) Vitamin C, Two to four grams three or four times a day or more for up to several weeks is safe for most people. If you take too much you will get diarrhea, a harmless side effect that just requires reducing the dosage.

e) Colostrum. This is the bluish first milk from a woman or an animal. It is sold in powder or capsule form. Follow directions on the bottle. It is quite harmless, however, if you take too much unless one is sensitive to dairy products.

f) Herbs. Herbs have been used for centuries to help fight infections. The only problem with herbs is that one does not know their potency and some can be a little toxic. So be careful with herbs.

Among the best known are echinacea, golden seal. astragalus, certain mushroom extracts, adaptogens and lomatium I do not recommend herbs first as they are not as consistent in quality as are the others above. However, they can be life-saving and are not costly at all in most instances.

9. Mineral Supplements. If you wish to take more than the above remedies, copper kills many bacteria, fungi and viruses. Many people have a copper imbalance, impairing their ability to fight infections. Taking about 3 mg twice times a day of copper during an infection is often helpful.

Zinc is required for the immune system and is very low in many diets. Vegetarian diets are low in zinc, and zinc is removed from refined foods of all kinds. Adults may take about 25 mg of zinc twice daily with copper for infections. Avoid taking iron or iron-containing products during infections as iron favors the growth of bacteria and viruses. We recommend avoiding most other vitamins or herbs during acute infections.

10. Glandulars. Lymph, thymus and spleen glandular concentrates are very helpful to recover from and even prevent some infections, especially in children. When taken orally, they migrate to their target organ and can enhance the organ or gland's activity. They contain nucleoproteins and other substances the immune system requires.

Avoid other glandulars such as adrenal and thyroid products when attempting to prevent or recover from infections as these stimulate the sympathetic nervous system which impairs the immune response to some degree.

11. Simple Energy Therapies. Treatments with acupressure, jin shin jyutsu, and hand and foot reflexology may be very helpful. Reflexology may be done on oneself at home if no one is available to help.

Radionic machines such as the QX, Computron and others may be helpful. Rife and other frequency generators may also be extremely good for certain infections and will not do harm that I am aware of if used properly. Energetic methods are best used with the lifestyle and dietary methods.

12. More Sophisticated Natural Treatments. These range from various electrical machines to ultraviolet blood irradiation and many others. These are offered by various practitioners and may be extremely helpful for some conditions. They are never a substitute for the basic lifestyle aspects of healing infections, however, which the doctors who offer these may overlook.

A natural therapy I have found extremely helpful for sinus infections, for example, is the use of a single reddish, heat lamp or infrared lamp aimed at the sinus area for five minutes every hour or so for a few days.

This dramatically improves the circulation to the sinuses and heals them as well. Combined with “sniffing” colloidal silver up the nose and in the throat, most sinus infections can be handled safely and quickly with little fuss.

13. Prescription and OTC Drugs. If you are willing to use the above methods immediately upon feeling the onset of any illness, prescription and over-the-counter drugs will rarely be needed. I cannot think of an episode in at least 15 years with any of our clients in which antibiotics or antiviral medication ware required.

If you choose a drug therapy:

a) It is often far more costly than natural methods.

b) All drug therapy has side effects, some of which can be life-threatening.

c) Many drugs and over-the-counter remedies are far less effective than advertised on television or by the medical profession. If they were more effective, we would not have an epidemic of chronic infections today.

Most antibiotics kill most, but not all germs in the body. This causes the development of resistant organisms that persist for years, causing many subtle problems.

Antibiotics also interfere with the normal bowel flora in almost all cases, leaving the patient with digestive problems, often for years if not corrected. Read more about antibiotic problems in the article on this site entitled Beyond Antibiotics. d) I always would recommend combining many of the above natural approaches with antibiotics and other drugs. It will only help and cannot hurt that I can imagine. In other words, the natural methods will enhance any drug therapy.

Lowering Fevers With Aspirin or Tylenol. This stupid practice was probably concocted by a drug representative. Most often, it just slows the healing of infections. These drugs, used for a period of even a few days, also damage the kidneys, liver, stomach and other organs and can cause severe illness if the practice is continued long enough.

Fever is a good sign. It should not be suppressed unless the person is extremely debilitated, and even then, natural methods such as enemas and sponge baths can control most any fever without drugs.

Exception: If a person is in reasonably good health before becoming ill, but the fever rises to about 103 or 104 F., it may cause convulsions or death. Use Aspirin, preferably, to help lower the fever ONLY if natural methods do not work. If the person is very old or very young, you may want to lower a fever that is even at 102 F. to protect the patient. Once again, natural methods usually work excellently. If they do not, however, use Aspirin, and not Tylenol which has more side effects in most instances.

However, in my experience, the use of cool water enemas, cooling baths and/or sponge baths with water or, more powerfully, alcohol, will lower most fevers rapidly and safely with no side effects.

Supervision. If possible, work with a knoweldgable practitioner with any problem you are having. Always consult someone knowledgeable in the following situations:

1) If you are unsure how to use a natural remedy or even a drug.

2) If you are not making progress after four or five days of fighting an infection.

3) If the infection or problem is getting worse, not better, even after one day or less. There may be complications you are unaware of. There is no shame to going to an emergency room if you are in trouble. Modern diagnostic methods can be helpful and life-saving in these instances.

HANDLING CHRONIC INFECTIONS

Chronic infections must be brought to an acute state. This can take years, literally, or working through layers of toxins and bacteria and other micro-organisms until the body’s energy level is brought up high enough to restart an active fight against an old, chronic infection.

For this reason, we cannot give specific instructions as each person’s situation is so different. We offer, instead, nutritional balancing programs whose goal is to slowly enhance the body’s energy level to the point where it can and automatically will bring up chronic infections for healing. However, this process takes time. For m ore information about nutritional balancing programs, see the article entitled The Healing Lifestyle and others on this website.

If one wishes to begin this process at home at a very reasonable cost and in a comfortable manner, start with building or purchasing a near infrared lamp sauna. This is so powerful that it alone will often bring up chronic infections for healing.

OVERLOOKED INFECTIONS

Medical professionals often overtreat certain infections with antibiotics. Other infections they do not view with the seriousness they should. These include, for example, hospital infections, which kill almost as many patients than the diseases for which they are being treated.

The Sexual Area. The most important area where infection is overlooked may be in the sexual area. Women, I particular, are often given the pill, the patch or the IUD with very little warning that these methods do absolutely nothing to control the spread of venereal infections. Vaccination will not protect against this, either.

Intestinal Infections. Another area that is overlooked is intestinal imbalances. When someone goes to the doctor with diarrhea, for example, everyone today should get a stool test for parasites, bacteria, yeasts and other micro-organisms. The level of their healthful flora should also be measured.

We do something different. We give everyone a powerful product, GB-3 and/or Bioculture 3000, a probiotic or lactobacillus product. These both begin to clean up a toxic intestine and kill the germs, parasites and other problems in this area of the body.

Infection From Air Travel and Other Contact. Another area that is overlooked by doctors is the danger of air travel and other crowded places with poor ventilation. This should receive more attention today and is mentioned later in this article as well.

Vaccines Spread Infection. Doctors are also woefully unaware of how many infections are caused by vaccines. After all, one injects altered germs into the person. In too many cases, the person gets the disease from the vaccine, even if it is a mild form. This can remain in a weakened body and cause all manner of problems from ADHD or autism to a slow and horrible death.

CONCLUSION

Eliminating infections is a matter of life and death at times. Knowing the important remedies and keeping this article in a safe place in your home may be a necessity if the number of infection that do not respond to drugs keeps increasing at the present rate.

Many wonderful natural remedies are available that are safe and inexpensive. To achieve and maintain a strong immune response, however, one needs to correct all factors that impair the immune system. These include nutrient deficiencies, unhealthful lifestyles, stress, toxic substances in the body, fatigue, negative thinking, and excessive exposure to disease-causing organisms.

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