Have You Heard About The Flu Vaccine Controversy
You have probably heard all the good, bad and ugly about the flu vaccine and maybe you just don’t know what to do. Let me give you some facts so you can make up your mind.
Getting the flu vaccine is a matter of choice but with all the marketing and propaganda many people are confused, especially the elderly.
Over the last 20+ years the flu vaccination rate among the elderly has increased from 15% to a current rate of 65%. Has there been a corresponding decrease in hospital admissions or mortality due to the increased rate of vaccination - NO!
Let’s go one step further. A recent Canadian study had 704 individuals of which 85% were 64 years of age or older. One-half (352) were the control group and did not get a shot; the other half (352) got a flu vaccination.
The results: Sadly 29% came down with serious pneumonia and 12% died. Now if you compare this with the national averages it would appear at first glance that the flu vaccination reduced the mortality rate by 50%. Let’s look a little deeper into the underlying factors.
A certain percentage of the individuals were classified by doctors as “good” patients. What this means is that these individuals exercised regularly, did not smoke, only drank in moderation and took a variety of supplements or necessary medications. If you include this factor into the evaluation, accepting the flu vaccine did not have any significant effect on mortality.
In other words, is someone is otherwise healthy they probably have a better chance of surviving a serious flu infection that someone who is already frail and in ill health. The flu vaccine would not make a difference in either groups mortality rate.
Even the evidence is overwhelming that the flu vaccine program offers no benefits, remember it is a government program and with most government programs the public and the health professionals have been brainwashed into believing that the program is saving lives.
It would be wise to spend the money that would have been spent on flu vaccine on increasing your intake levels of vitamin D, especially in winter when many do not have the advantage of natural sun exposure and those that do have a reduced rate of sun exposure due to a weaker sun in the winter months.
Now lets look at vitamin D and see how it might take the place of the flu vaccine.
It appears that people get far to little of vitamin D and therefore they fall into a group of generally un-healthy people that could be candidates for the flu vaccine. But this can be avoided by starting supplementation with 200IOU of vitamin D if you are under the age of 50; 400IU from 50 to 70 and 600IU for those over the age of 70.
Just to show you how aggressive the U.S.Government and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) are about the flu vaccine, they lowered the age for universal vaccination from 65 to 50 years of age in 2001. This added 41 million people to the list.
Furthermore in 2003 they added children from 6 months to 23 months old; in 2005 they added children up to 5 years old. At the present time 84% of the population qualifies for a flu vaccination.
Only healthy people from 19 to 49 years of age are exempt.
Almost all of the CDC’s 15-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)who make these recommendations have financial ties to the vaccine industry. The CDC therefore must grant each member a conflict-of-interest waiver. The government promotes National Vaccination Week, which this year is December 8-14.
The New York Times published an article in the September 2, 2008 edition titled “Doubts Grow Over Flu Vaccine in Elderly,” which says, “The influenza vaccine, which has been strongly recommended for people over 65 for more than four decades, is losing its reputation as an effective way to ward off the virus in the elderly.
A growing number of immunologists and epidemiologists say the vaccine probably does not work very well for people over 70, the group that accounts for three-fourths of all flu deaths.” The article refers to a study done by the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle on 3,500 people, age 65 thru 94, to determine if flu vaccines are effective in protecting older people against developing pneumonia. (Lancet 2008;372:398:405).
If the millions of individuals that are at health risk would start a vitamin D supplement there may not be a need for a flu vaccine.
Beware of the non-shot option which is a nasal mist vaccine. Because it contains a weakened live flu virus it is not for people with a weak immune system or certain health conditions. This nasal mist is ONLY for healthy, non-pregnant women between the ages of 2 to 49 years old.
Joni Bell has many years of extensive study in the area of natural cancer prevention and treatment. He has numerous success stories of people being diagnosed living cancer free with use of alternative methods. Ask Joni Bell