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Better Health Update #61 - Monte Kline, Clinical Nutritionist

Flu Shots

Every Fall a familiar drum beat fills the media - "Get your flu shots!" But are flu shots a good idea or just another health risk? Do they work, or do they just set you up for other healthy problems? Let's take a look at the efficacy and safety questions.

WHAT IS FLU?

Flu, of course, is short for influenza, a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus (I emphasize "virus" because millions of people are given antibiotics for flu, although antibiotics have no effect on viruses). Typical symptoms may be like a cold, only more severe, including fever, headaches, body aches, sore throat, sneezing, cough, and overall weakness.

FLU SHOTS NUMBER ONE PROBLEM

Flu is not a "set" disease-it's not a matter of just one particular virus that causes it. Many constantly mutating viruses cause flu-different ones every year. Since it takes up to two years to get flu vaccine ready, it's strictly a guessing game as to which flu viruses will be the main problem in a given season. The odds are probably better in Las Vegas! For this reason alone, flu shots cannot be very effective.

BUT DO THEY WORK?

Many studies cast considerable doubt on the efficacy of flu shots. For example, a Dutch article about a home for the elderly noted that in spite of 2/3 of the residents getting flu shots, 49% developed severe flu and 10% of them died. Among those who were vaccinated 50% got the flu, versus 48% on the non-vaccinated. There was essentially no difference in flu incidence in the vaccinated or unvaccinated population!

At a similar situation for the elderly a significantly lower rate of morbidity (37%) and death (3%) was noted. The only difference was that these people did not receive flu shots! A French study of people age 60-69 found 14% of those vaccinated got flu versus 13% who did not get vaccinated.

A conference was held in Naples May 31-June 1, 1997 on "Should Vaccinations be Compulsory or Free Choice?" A Japanese pediatrician presented a paper entitled, "Why the Japanese Government Had to Cease Compulsory Vaccinations." Mass flu shots for school children started in Japan in 1960. Since the 1980's the rate of vaccination remained constant at about 60%. But the incidence rate of flu increased 12-fold! Since 1989 flu vaccination dropped to about 20% of the school children, but the incidence of flu did not increase.

Sometimes M.D.'s might argue that even if you get the flu, though vaccinated, it will be less severe. There's really no evidence of that, since it cannot be proven either way. Who can say that the flu you got was less severe than it might have been when you can't go back in Marty McFly's time machine and try it all over again without getting flu shots?
Though the lack of demonstrated efficacy of flu shots is enough reason for many people to refuse vaccination, adverse reactions are a much more serious concern. The likely conclusion that flu shots don't help is one thing - that they may do serious harm to your health is another.

FLU SHOT HAZARDS

Before getting into specific problems, understand that the overall problem with flu shots, or any other vaccination, is that you're introducing a toxin into the body. The theory is that will whip your immune system into action to produce the appropriate antibodies and generate an acquired immunity. But if your body in general and your immune system in particular are weak, it may overwhelm your bodies ability to fight and set you up for health problems. This very thing happens often. Possibilities include:

1. Allergic Reactions - Flu vaccine is made from chicken embryos. People who are allergic to chicken or eggs can become seriously ill from having a flu shot (I wonder if any health practitioner ever asked you about chicken or egg allergy before giving you a flu shot?). On the other hand, injection of these proteins into your body may produce an allergic sensitivity to chicken or eggs.

2. Leukemia Connection - All viral vaccines have an undesired bonus - they contain traces of leukemia virus and other cancer causing viruses (chickens are highly susceptible to a form of cancer called leukosis). Vaccine manufacturers claim that they are 98% purified, but I don't know if I'm that comfortable with the 2% that got through!

3. Mercury Content - Mercury is the second most toxic element on the periodic table. Though we usually think of mercury problems as related to mercury amalgam dental fillings, mercury is found in many other products, including vaccines. Thimerosal is a mercury compound that has been used in contact lens solutions and many consumer products. It was definitely in all three of the flu vaccines marketing for the 2000-2001 season, and I'm assuming it's still in use. The two groups most vulnerable to methyl mercury are pregnant women and their unborn babies.

4. Warning for Pregnant Women - Flu shots are routinely recommended for pregnant women based on the statement by the CDC that one to two hospitalizations per 1000 pregnant women could be avoided if they all were immunized. Interface that suggestion with this statement by the vaccine manufacturers on their package inserts:

Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with influenza virus vaccine. It is also not known whether influenza virus vaccine can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman . . . The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices states that, if used during pregnancy, administration of influenza virus after 14 weeks of gestation may be preferable to avoid coincidental association of the vaccine with early pregnancy loss . . .

5. Alzheimer's - According to Hugh Fudenberg, M.D., the world's leading immunogeneticist with nearly 850 papers published in peer review journals, if you had five consecutive flu shots between 1970 and 1980 (the years in his study), your chances of getting Alzheimer's Disease were 10 times higher than if you had one, two, or no flu shots. According to Dr. Fudenberg, speaking at the NVIC International Vaccine Conference in Arlington, Virginia in September 1997, this correlation is due to the mercury and aluminum that is in every flu shot, the gradual build-up of which in the brain causes cognitive dysfunction.

6. Fluoride - Fluoride compounds, typically associated with aluminum, are frequently found in all types of vaccines. Fluoride can significantly impact neurological and cognitive function, as well as contribute to many other health problems.

7. Respiratory Infections - Cases are documented of people developing bronchitis and bronchopneumonia after flu shots. In one case a 41 year old man developed pneumonia 14 days after vaccination and died two weeks later.

8. Gastro-Intestinal Disturbances - Vomiting, nausea, and bowel incontinence have been noted.

9. Urinary Problems - Difficulties with urination and paralysis of the bladder were experienced by a man 13 days after having flu shots.
10. Mental-Emotional Symptoms - Flu shots have been noted to cause difficulty thinking, loss of initiative, confusion, sadness, and even hallucinations.

11. Neurological Disease - Paralysis, polyneuritis, meningitis, encephalitis, MS, headache, disorientation, loss of speech, unconsciousness, and Guillain-Barre Syndrome (see section below) are reported reactions.

12. Other Flu Shot Reactions - Impotence, vertigo, various eye problems, circulatory problems and even anaphylactic shock have been noted after flu shots. More general symptoms of fever and fatigue are common.

GUILLAIN-BARRE SYNDROME

The serious disease most often associated with flu shots is Guillain-Barre (ghee-yan ban-ray) Syndrome. GBS is an autoimmune disease of the peripheral nervous system. The first symptoms involve weakness or tingling sensations in the legs that may spread to the upper body. These neurological symptoms may increase until the victim is almost paralyzed. This constitutes a medical emergency in which an artificial respirator and a heart monitor may be necessary.

The relationship between flu shots and GBS was first noted in New Jersey after a 1976 mass vaccination. In eleven other states an approximately 10 times greater incidence of GBS was noted in the flu vaccinated versus non-vaccinated population. That 1976 vaccination resulted in 565 cases of GBS and 30 deaths. Dr. John Seal of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease says:

We have to go on the basis that any and all flu vaccines are capable of causing Guillain-Barre.

NATURAL MEDICINE ALTERNATIVES

The real answer to flu is not flu shots but building up your immune system. That makes more sense that injecting a bunch of dead viruses (toxins) into your body at the time of the year when your immune system is already compromised. Why do people get colds and flu mostly in the winter? We tend to exercise less, eat more, and spend most of our time in crowded buildings heated by recirculating ventilation systems that are full of mold, bacteria and viruses. It boggles the mind to think how many health problems would be remedied by just getting more fresh air! Other suggestions for prevention or treatment of flu include:

1. Get off junk food - Avoiding refined sugar is especially important. Bacteria, fungi, and viruses love it!

2. Drink lots of distilled water - pure water for detoxification is essential to disease prevention.

3. Buffered Vitamin C - For prevention purposes I would take 2000-3000 mg/day of buffered, ascorbate-type C, spread throughout the day. If you already have a cold or flu, I would suggest two to three times that amount.

4. Zinc - Zinc lozenges can be particularly helpful for throat infections. Zinc in general is known to fight infection and build the immune system.

5. Garlic Supplements - Either as a preventive or for treatment garlic helps for all types of infection and immune stimulation.

6. Olive Leaf Extract - This herb also is very effective for virtually any type of infection. I have come to use it regularly.

7. Echinacea - Echinacea has gotten a lot of publicity for its effect on immune stimulation. If you use it for prevention purposes, skip taking it one week per month. Otherwise it loses effectiveness.

8. MSM - Methylsulfonylmethane is a powerful antioxidant that has many uses, including immune stimulation.

9. Homeopathic Remedies - Various homeopathic nosodes (dilutions of disease organisms) have been developed for preventing or treating flu. The homeopathic dilution of influenza safely stimulates the immune system to fight the disease without the harmful side-effects that may be associated with flu shots. Incidentally, if you do choose to get flu shots, I would at least counter their negative effectives by before and after usage of a homeopathic flu remedy with lots of buffered vitamin C.

The late pediatrician, Robert Mendelsohn, M.D., a frequent vaccination critic, perhaps summarized things best with a November 5, 1986 quote from Dr. William Proschauer in the Scripps-Howard News Service. He said that healthy people under age 65 should not take flu shots because, "the risk of suffering serious complications from the vaccine is far greater that that of having serious effects from the flu."

The decision to take or not take flu shots is a highly personal decision. Hopefully this information on the hazards and the alternatives allows you to make a truly informed choice.

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose illness nor prescribe treatment. Rather, this material is designed to be used in cooperation with your nutritionally-oriented health professional to deal with your personal health problems. Should you use this information on your own, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but neither the author nor publisher assume responsibility.