October 1, 2009
Over the past few weeks, I have had many patients, friends and family members ask my opinion on this new vaccine. I feel obligated to report what I’ve heard and read, so here is some information you may not know. Please keep in mind I am not trying to persuade you one way or the other. The choice is obviously yours. I just want you to know as much as possible to make your most educated decision.
For those of you that don’t want to read on (though it will be restated at the end as well), here’s my final thought:
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep in mind, the best medicine is still prevention.
Work on supporting your immune system.
Eat well, exercise, get a good night’s sleep, manage your stress, keep your Vitamin D levels up and WASH WASH WASH those hands!
Now back to the vaccine…
First of all, it is unclear as to whether the swine flu is any more serious than the average flu. What it may be able to do, however, is spread more easily. Just as with the flu, people with different immune responses will have different experiences of it. Earlier this year, those that unfortunately passed away from contracting the H1N1 (swine flu) virus had pre-existing conditions that made their bodies more susceptible to contracting a virus, and less able to counter it. Those things you may have heard. Let’s now look at a few more items you probably have not.
In 1976, the vaccine created to counter the swine flu from that era caused Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), an autoimmune disease resulting in weakness and possible paralysis, in some of the recipients. They even admit it in a leaflet that comes with vaccine preparations put out by Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Limited in September 2009 for the Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine. Of course you would hope that they’ve created a better vaccine since then, but even Dr. Sears, a supporter of the H1N1 vaccine, had this to say in an interview:
“So, I see no correlation between the risk of GBS from that old vaccine and the current one. Having said that, everyone needs to be aware that ANY flu vaccine poses a very small risk of a GBS reaction. Although I don’t think this new vaccine has an increased risk, what I DO worry about is that infants will be getting FOUR (count them, FOUR) flu vaccines this year – two doses of the regular one, and two doses of the swine flu vaccine. That’s unprecedented. We’ve never given anyone four doses of a flu vaccine in one year. There is no way to predict what the side effects might be.”
Even more interesting to me are the ingredients. Here’s a basic list:
viral proteins, egg proteins, gelatin, formaldehyde, ethylene glycol (antifreeze), sucrose, sodium chloride, sodium phosphate, potassium phosphate, calcium, and 2 antibiotics. And what if you are allergic to any of those chemicals?
I also found it interesting to read (on that same leaflet straight from Novartis) that Thimerosal is still an ingredient in many of these vaccines. Thimerosal is the controversial mercury compound that they claim to have removed from vaccines years ago. Interestingly, the drug companies can claim a vaccine is “mercury free” even if it contains Thimerosal in trace amounts.
Mercury is a heavy metal that builds up in the body (because we have no way to get rid of it) and has been linked to things like allergies, autism and Alzheimer’s (and that’s only the As!). According to Novartis’ leaflet there are two types of injections, one is a “Prefilled single dose syringe, 0.5-mL. Thimerosal, a mercury derivative used during manufacture, is removed by subsequent purification steps to a trace amount (≤ 1 mcg mercury per 0.5-mL dose).” And the other is a “Multidose vial, 5-mL. Contains thimerosal, a mercury derivative (25 mcg mercury per 0.5-mL dose). Thimerosal is added as preservative. “
In addition to the viruses and other additives, many vaccines also contain immune adjuvants like aluminum and squalene. An adjuvant is a substance that is added to a vaccine to help the body absorb it faster and speed up the immune response. While most vaccines use aluminum, which obviously isn’t great for the body, some of the swine flu vaccines have squalene in them, which appears to be even worse. According to Joseph Mercola, M.D. in his article, “Squalene: The Swine Flu Vaccine’s Dirty Little Secret Exposed,” squalene is not FDA approved and has been linked to Gulf War Syndrome (since it was the adjuvant used in the Anthrax vaccine they received) as well as many other chronic inflammatory diseases.
This is no easy decision. However the scary thing to me is that WE are the guinea pigs in this experiment. They don’t even know if the vaccine will work. And there has been very little testing of these vaccines and certainly NO long term studies. Maybe the benefits still outweigh the risks…but at least you now have more than one side of the story. With one final note (the same as the one above), I wish you all good health.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep in mind, the best medicine is still prevention.
Work on supporting your immune system.
Eat well, exercise, get a good night’s sleep, manage your stress, keep your Vitamin D levels up and WASH WASH WASH those hands!