Nice Articles

The majority of flu shots contain 25 micrograms of mercury -- an amount considered unsafe for anyone weighing less than 550 pounds!

Health advocates have expressed outrage over a CDC recommendation that pregnant women, infants and children should continue to receive injections of thimerosal-containing flu vaccines, which contain mercury.

This recommendation comes despite an Institute of Medicine advisory that mercury-containing vaccines should not be injected into these sensitive populations.

Thimerosal's harmful effects on the immune, metabolic and nervous systems have been widely documented. However, Dr. Jay Lieberman, while making a presentation for the CDC regarding the recommendation, ignored the bulk of peer-reviewed research, and instead focused on a small number of highly criticized and flawed epidemiological studies that have found no harmful associations.

Dr. Lieberman has been a consultant to Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi-Pasteur, and is on the speakers' bureau for all three vaccine-makers. Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi-Pasteur all currently use thimerosal in their products.

The majority of flu shots contain 25 micrograms of mercury, an amount considered unsafe for anyone weighing less than 550 pounds.

Sources: Medical News Today

And which groups are most sensitive to the neurological damage that has been associated with mercury? Infants, children, and the elderly -- the key groups to which flu vaccines are most highly pushed.

Unfortunately, now, for the first time, flu vaccination is also being pushed for virtually all children -- not just those under 5.

This is a huge change. Previously, flu vaccine was recommended only for youngsters under 5. This year, the government is recommending that children from age 6 months to 18 years be vaccinated, expanding inoculations to 30 million more school-age children.

Aside from exposing your child or yourself to toxic mercury, other possible serious adverse reactions to flu shots include joint inflammation and arthritis, anaphylactic shock (and other life-threatening allergic reactions), and Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralytic autoimmune disease.

Fortunately, in most states you still have the choice of whether or not to get this vaccine, unlike in New Jersey, which is trying to force the shot on their infants.

To make matters worse …

The Flu Shot Simply Does Not Work

If your child gets a flu shot, he can still get the flu (or flu-like symptoms). This is because it only protects against certain strains, and it’s anyone’s guess about which flu viruses will be in your area. According to the CDC:

“In some years when vaccine and circulating strains were not well-matched, no vaccine effectiveness can be demonstrated in some studies, even in healthy adults. It is not possible in advance of the influenza season to predict how well the vaccine and circulating strains will be matched, and how that match may affect the degree of vaccine effectiveness.”

Even if the “experts” get it right and do match the circulating strains (and that is a BIG IF), studies still show that the flu shot is vastly ineffective.

A study published in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine found that vaccinating young children against the flu appeared to have no impact on flu-related doctor visits or hospitalizations during two recent flu seasons.

Two reports this week showed the flu vaccine may not be effective in preventing health problems in children. One study revealed that flu shots in the past two seasons did not reduce doctor visits or the risk of hospitalization for flu in children age 5 and younger. Another showed that MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (a sometimes fatal drug-resistant bacteria that can accompany the flu), as opposed to the flu itself, is a main contributor to the growing number of child deaths attributed to influenza. The first study suggested that a reason the vaccine did not prevent children from getting the flu was that the strains in the flu vaccines have mismatched the circulating flu strain in past years.

MRSA is a drug-resistant superbug that can piggyback on the flu and can cause outbreaks of deadly pneumonia. Secondary infections increase the risk of death from the flu more often than the flu itself.

 Sources: ABC News October 7, 2008, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, October 2008, American Academy of Pediatrics  

At first glance, the data did suggest that children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years derived some protection from the vaccine in these years. But after adjusting for potentially relevant variables, the researchers concluded that "significant influenza vaccine effectiveness could not be demonstrated for any season, age, or setting.”

A large-scale, systematic review of 51 studies, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in 2006, also found no evidence the flu vaccine is any more effective for children than a placebo.

It Doesn’t Take a Vaccine to Avoid the Flu

Keeping your kids healthy has nothing to do with taking them to the doctor to get a flu shot. The basic “recipe” to avoid the flu involves lifestyle changes that will keep your immune system strong, including:

• Eating right for your nutritional type 
• Eliminating sugar from your diet
• Eating garlic regularly 
• Consuming a high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fat, such as krill oil, daily
• Getting plenty of vitamin D
• Exercising
• Getting adequate sleep
• Addressing emotional stress 
• Washing your hands regularly (but not excessively)

Regarding vitamin D, one credible hypothesis that explains the seasonal nature of flu is that influenza is a vitamin D deficiency disease.

Vitamin D levels in your blood fall to their lowest point during flu seasons. Unable to be protected by the body’s own antibiotics (antimicrobial peptides) that are released by vitamin D, a person with a low vitamin D blood level is more vulnerable to contracting colds, influenza, and other respiratory infections.

Studies show that children with rickets, a vitamin D-deficient skeletal disorder, suffer from frequent respiratory infections, and children exposed to sunlight are less likely to get a cold. The increased number of deaths that occur in winter, largely from pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases, are most likely due to vitamin D deficiency.

For more information on this amazing flu-preventing vitamin, as well as where to have your vitamin D levels checked and how to cure a cold or flu with mega-doses of vitamin D, read the full article on this topic.

Another influenza season is beginning, and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will strongly urge Americans to get a flu shot. In fact, the CDC mounts a well-orchestrated campaign each season to generate interest and demand for flu shots.

But a recent study published in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine found that vaccinating young children against the flu appeared to have no impact on flu-related hospitalizations or doctor visits during two recent flu seasons.

At first glance, the data did suggest that children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years derived some protection from vaccination in these years. But after adjusting for potentially relevant variables, the researchers concluded that "significant influenza vaccine effectiveness could not be demonstrated for any season, age, or setting" examined.

 Additionally, a Group Health study found that flu shots do not protect elderly people against developing pneumonia -- the primary cause of death resulting as a complication of the flu. Others have questioned whether there is any mortality benefit with influenza vaccination. Vaccination coverage among the elderly increased from 15 percent in 1980 to 65 percent now, but there has been no decrease in deaths from influenza or pneumonia. There is some evidence that flu shots cause Alzheimer’s disease, most likely as a result of combining mercury with aluminum and formaldehyde. Mercury in vaccines has also been implicated as a cause of autism. Three other serious adverse reactions to the flu vaccine are joint inflammation and arthritis, anaphylactic shock (and other life-threatening allergic reactions), and Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralytic autoimmune disease.One credible hypothesis that explains the seasonal nature of flu is that influenza is a vitamin D deficiency disease.

Vitamin D levels in your blood fall to their lowest point during flu seasons. Unable to be protected by the body’s own antibiotics (antimicrobial peptides) that are released by vitamin D, a person with a low vitamin D blood level is more vulnerable to contracting colds, influenza, and other respiratory infections.Studies show that children with rickets, a vitamin D-deficient skeletal disorder, suffer from frequent respiratory infections, and children exposed to sunlight are less likely to get a cold. The increased number of deaths that occur in winter, largely from pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases, are most likely due to vitamin D deficiency.

Unfortunately, now, for the first time, flu vaccination is also being pushed for virtually all children -- not just those under 5.This is a huge change. Previously, flu vaccine was recommended only for youngsters under 5, who can become dangerously ill from influenza. This year, the government is recommending that children from age 6 months to 18 years be vaccinated, expanding inoculations to 30 million more school-age children.The government argues that while older children seldom get as sick as the younger ones, it's a bigger population that catches flu at higher rates, so the change should cut missed school, and parents' missed work when they catch the illness from their children.

Of course, this policy ignores the fact that a systematic review of 51 studies involving 260,000 children age 6 to 23 months found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo.

Sources:LewRockwell.com October 3, 2008 , EMS Responder September 9, 2008 ,WebMD October 6, 2008, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine October 2008; 162(10):943-51

< Prev		Next >