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2008/10/21, 08:19 AM
Copy and past here, worth reading and considering.
Back in 2005, The Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that all children between 6 months and 5 years old receive flu shots each year. Now they have expanded their guidelines to include children up to 18 years, which means everyone except those between the ages of 19-49, who are in good health, are urged to get a flu shot.
It should come as no surprise to find out that a majority of the ACIP members who came up with these guidelines have financial ties to the vaccine industry, and stand to gain personally for every additional person getting a yearly injection. It?s actually the only explanation that makes any sense for recommendations as insane as these.
Three Reasons to Reconsider Flu Shots
There are three major reasons why this government push to vaccinate 84 percent of the U.S. population with a yearly flu vaccine is so incomprehensible:
1. The majority of flu shots contain 25 micrograms of mercury; an amount considered unsafe for anyone weighing less than 550 pounds! And which groups are most sensitive to the neurological damage that has been associated with mercury? Infants, children, and the elderly.
2. No studies have conclusively proven that flu shots prevent flu-related deaths among the elderly, yet this is one of the key groups to which they?re pushed.
3. If you get a flu shot, you can still get the flu (or flu-like symptoms). This is because it only protects against certain strains, and it?s anyone?s guess which flu viruses will be in your area.
So why would you take a flu shot ? EVERY YEAR -- that has NEVER been proven to be effective, that can give you the very illness you?re trying to prevent, and has potential long-term side effects that are far worse than the flu itself?
The powers that be have done an excellent job of instilling fear into the population so they believe that they must get a shot to stay healthy, but the simple reality is it?s doing you more harm than good.
And, even if the flu vaccine could effectively prevent the flu, there have been several examples in past years where government health officials have chosen the incorrect influenza strains for that year?s vaccine. In 2004, the National Vaccine Information Center described how CDC officials told everyone to line up for a flu shot that didn't even contain the influenza strain causing most of the flu that year.
Two-Thirds of This Year?s Flu Vaccines Contain a Full-Dose of Mercury
According to Dr. Donald Miller, MD, two-thirds of this year?s flu vaccines contain 25 micrograms of thimerosal. Thimerosal is 49 percent mercury by weight.
Each dose of these flu vaccines contains more than 250 times the Environmental Protection Agency?s safety limit for mercury.
By now, most people are well aware that children and fetuses are most at risk of damage from this neurotoxin, as their brains are still developing. Yet the CDC still recommends that children over 6 months, and pregnant women, receive the flu vaccine each year.
In addition to mercury, flu vaccines also contain other toxic or hazardous ingredients like:
Formaldehyde -- a known cancer-causing agent
Aluminum -- a neurotoxin that has been linked to Alzheimer?s disease
Triton X-100 -- a detergent
Phenol (carbolic acid)
Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
Various antibiotics: neomycin, streptomycin, gentamicin ? which can cause allergic reactions in some people
The Evidence Against Flu Vaccines
For those of you who are still unconvinced, know that there?s plenty of scientific evidence available to back up the recommendation to avoid flu vaccines ? if nothing else, then for the simple reason that they don?t work, and don?t offer any real benefit to offset their inherent health risks. For example:
A brand new study published in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine found that vaccinating young children against the flu had no impact on flu-related hospitalizations or doctor visits during two recent flu seasons. The researchers concluded that "significant influenza vaccine effectiveness could not be demonstrated for any season, age, or setting" examined.
A study published in the Lancet just two months ago found that influenza vaccination was NOT associated with a reduced risk of pneumonia in older people. This supports a study done five years ago, published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Research published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine last month also confirms that there has been no decrease in deaths from influenza and pneumonia, despite the fact that vaccination coverage among the elderly has increased from 15 percent in 1980 to 65 percent now.
Last year, researchers with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institutes of Health published this conclusion in the Lancet Infectious Diseases: ?We conclude that frailty selection bias and use of non-specific endpoints such as all-cause mortality have led cohort studies to greatly exaggerate vaccine benefits.?
A large-scale, systematic review of 51 studies, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in 2006, found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo in children. The studies involved 260,000 children, age 6 to 23 months.
Might Influenza be Little More Than a Symptom of Vitamin D Deficiency?
Vitamin D, ?the sunshine vitamin,? may very well be one of the most beneficial vitamins there is for disease prevention. Unfortunately it?s also one of the vitamins that a vast majority of people across the world are deficient in due to lack of regular exposure to sunshine.
Published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection in 2006, the hypothesis presented by Dr. John Cannell and colleagues in the paper Epidemic Influenza and Vitamin D actually makes a lot of sense.
They raise the possibility that influenza is a symptom of vitamin D deficiency!
The vitamin D formed when your skin is exposed to sunlight regulates the expression of more than 2,000 genes throughout your body, including ones that influence your immune system to attack and destroy bacteria and viruses. Hence, being overwhelmed by the ?flu bug? could signal that your vitamin D levels are too low, allowing the flu virus to overtake your immune system.
How to Prepare For Flu Season Without Getting a Flu Shot
I often find that some of the simplest explanations are the truest, and this sounds about as simple as it gets. And, getting appropriate amounts of sunshine (or taking a vitamin D supplement when you can?t get healthy amounts of sun exposure) is one of my KEY preventive strategies against the cold and flu, as it has such a strengthening effect on your immune system.
Interestingly, last week the American Academy of Pediatrics doubled its recommended dose of vitamin D. Unfortunately this is still a woefully inadequate recommendation as the dose should be TEN times larger. Rather than going from 200 to 400 units per day, it should have increased to about 2,000 units per day.
For most of you reading this it is ?vitamin D winter,? which means there simply isn?t enough sunshine to make significant amounts of vitamin D, so you will need to use a tanning bed or take oral supplements.
Although supplements are clearly inferior to sunlight or safe tanning beds, I am becoming more convinced of the value of vitamin D supplements as they are less potentially toxic than my initial impression, and they are certainly more convenient and less expensive than a tanning bed.
For those in the winter with no or very limited exposure to sunshine, 4,000-5,000 units per day would seem appropriate for most adults. If you are very heavy you may need to double that dose, and for children the dose can be half that.
The key though is to make sure you monitor your vitamin D levels by blood testing, to make sure your levels are therapeutic and not toxic.
I advocate getting your vitamin D levels tested regularly, but as I reported recently, you now need to beware of where you?re getting your test done. For an in-depth explanation of what you MUST know before you get tested, please read my updated article Test Values and Treatment for Vitamin D Deficiency.
You can also use vitamin D therapeutically to TREAT the flu. But please understand that if you are taking the above doses of vitamin D the odds of you getting the flu are VERY remote. The dose of vitamin D you can use would be 2,000 units per kilogram of body weight (one pound is 0.45 kg). The dose would be taken once a day for three days.
This could be a very large dose if you were very heavy (2-300,000 units per day) This is the dose that Dr. John Cannell, founder of the Vitamin D Council, has been using very successfully for a number of years.
I have not received a flu shot nor had the flu in over 20 years. Here are the other ?secrets? I use to keep the flu (and other illnesses) at bay:
Eat right for your nutritional type, including avoiding sugar
Eliminate sugar from your diet
Eat garlic regularly
Consume a high-quality krill oil daily
Exercise
Get adequate sleep
Address emotional stress
Wash your hands regularly (but not excessively)
Another useful supplement you could try, should you come down with a case of the flu, is olive leaf extract, which you can find in most any health food store.
Olive leaf extract has been found to be a potent broad-spectrum antiviral agent, active against all viruses tested, including numerous strains of influenza and para-influenza viruses.
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Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer
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2008/10/21, 09:06 AM
I've gotten a flu shot once, and I've had the flu once. Random occurrence, I think not.
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2008/10/21, 01:18 PM
As you may be able to ascertain from my post, I am not a fan of flu shots now or ever have been.
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Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer
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2008/10/21, 05:43 PM
yeah, I think the only year i got the flu was the year I got the shot....
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A man of sense is never discouraged by difficulties; he redoubles his industry and his diligence, he perseveres and infallibly prevails at last.
Lord Chesterfield
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2008/10/22, 05:14 AM
Never had one, never will. That's some interesting info...
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--JBennett
"I've up-ed my intensity.... now up yours!"
"Pain is only weakness leaving the body."
"Never think of how weak you are; think of how strong you're going to be."
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2008/11/07, 07:14 PM
DANGIT! I just got one two days ago...I really need to start coming on this site more often....They were offering them free at my school :surprised:
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2008/11/07, 09:56 PM
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Quoting from jbennett:
Never had one, never will. That's some interesting info...
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2 x that for me!
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Knock-Um Down & Keep-Um Down!
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2008/11/08, 01:13 PM
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Quoting from jbennett:
Never had one, never will. That's some interesting info...
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Can get it for free, but...."Never will"
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Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.
Ivan (GO HABS GO!)
Montreal Canada (City of Festivals)
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2008/11/10, 11:27 AM
Like several others ... I only had the shot one time and had a full blown case of the flue shortly after.
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2008/11/15, 01:51 PM
I know this is no longer an active post, but I figured I HAD to touch up on it. The "Flu" is commonly misconceived and misdiagnosed by those who believe they have it. The ONLY possible way to actually get influenza after having a flu shot is to have gotten the symptoms before the shot was given. Symptoms usually take three to four days to appear. The flu shot protects from influenza causing harm to the body. So, those of you saying you have gotten the flu after having the shot.. That's nearly impossible. I do find it funny.. Just about EVERYONE who recieves the shot claims they get the flu ONLY after having the shot.. Perhaps there is a connection between the flu shot and the imposter flu
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2008/11/16, 10:53 PM
Another thing that people don't take into consideration when getting a flu shot is what is in it and do they have any sensitivities to it such as those who are allergic to eggs shouldn't take it because a flu shot contains egg proteins. Others who shouldn't necessarily take the flu shot are those who have asthma, long term health problems, weakened immune system, diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, lung disease, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and pregnant women and the obvious if you had an allergic reaction to it before.
Really, like any other vaccine or medication, you should know what all the limitations are before taking it. A lot of the symptoms above can cause it to have a negative effect it does. I like BB1, do not take the vaccine.
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Bettia
Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable... attainable. Have the patience, wait it out It is all about timing.
-Stacey Chapman
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2008/12/05, 01:42 AM
Hey BB1, thanks for the info, I love your posts.
I have never liked the flu shot. Being Military it is MANDATORY for us to get the shot... they have; however, switched to a Nasal, egg based flu mist. I still don't like it so I don't follow their directions and exhale when they activate the mist.
Do you know if this is any different or better/worse than the conventional shot?
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Sean "TBAR" Johnson -USAF-
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2008/12/07, 11:01 AM
kudos, I recieved the flu shot once, that year was the worse that i ever felt. I refuse to give my kids the flu shot and i have never gotten it again. I teach them proper hand washing and give them plenty of fluids. I also give them daily vitamins.. we get simple colds but have never again have i felt as bad as i did that one year. if i do get a cold it is once a year... NO FLU SHOT FOR ME!!!!!
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2008/12/18, 10:10 AM
Interesting....
New figures have revealed that more than half of US adults have no intention of getting vaccinated against the flu this season.
Results of the RAND Internet-based survey of approximately 4,000 U.S. adults revealed that 53% of adults have no intention of getting the flu vaccine, whilst 17% say they have not been to get their vaccine yet but plan to in the near future. In adults aged 50 and under the uptake is even lower, with 70% of those under the age of 50 saying that they do not intend to get the vaccine.
More worryingly, 46% of adults who are particularly vulnerable to flu ? those aged 50 and over, pregnant women, and those with underlying conditions, such as asthma, chronic lung disease, heart disease, and diabetes ? said that they did not plan on getting vaccinated this year, however 17% said they are planning to.
The CDC recommends that people get the flu vaccine as soon as possible after it becomes available each year, as the protection it confers will last throughout the flu season.
Got the Flu Shot? Half Say 'No'. WebMD.com December 10th 2008
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Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer
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2008/12/19, 12:46 AM
And the reason?
99.9% of people don't understand what the actual flu is..
& everyone seems to believe that "the one time i've ever got the flu shot is the only time I've ever gotten the flu."
Has to be about the most ironic thing..
There must be a correlation somewhere along the line.. but it is near impossible to IMPOSSIBLE to get the actual flu once you have been vaccinated. Get it done people!
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2009/01/13, 02:42 PM
Interesting news the other day....guess what? Same as always....the flu strains the flu shot protects you from are probably not the one going around this year. Same old song, that gets very stale after a while.
Maybe a bailout of the industry will help. :big_smile::laugh::big_smile:
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Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer
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2009/05/07, 03:50 PM
Just wanted to say that I agree with a lot of what is said here, except that it is theoretically possible to get flu after having a flu shot. Certainly here in the UK the flu shot changes each flu season depending on which specific strain the scientists predict is going to be the problem one that year. There are hundreds/thousands of different flu viruses which differ genetically. So the vaccine is against one specific type which seems to be most prevalent. Plus is is literally impossoble to get flu from the vaccine n the injection form as it uses a killed virus (meaning it's dead and cannot infect).
I work in healthcare and have a jab as I believe it not only protects me, but protects vulnerable people in the population through herd immunity.
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2009/05/07, 03:58 PM
Sorry, read that back after posting and it didnt make sense to me. In summary- cannot get flu from the vaccine as it's uses a dead virus, but could get an alternative strain than the one the jab protects against (as previously pointed out in the post above).
Clear as mud, right?
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2010/04/20, 11:11 AM
@bb1 -- a great and informative post, one that more people need to hear and understand. haven't had the flu shot since i was very young and don't need it as i never get the flu. also of note -- i have been taking olive leaf extract since 2001, so nearly a decade now -- one of the single greatest finds in the history of my life thus far. keep up the great work.
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