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Are Flu Shots Necessary for your Family?

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DO YOU KNOW ENOUGH TO DECIDE IF YOUR FAMILY SHOULD GET FLU SHOTS?

Vol. 6 Issue 132

With flu season soon upon us, you should consider the following information before deciding if your family will get the flu shot.

Each year a “flu shot” is prepared based on the guess-work of Federal health agency officials, who try to determine which of three flu strains will be prevalent in the U.S. during the following year, so they can select which strain to include in the vaccine.

The flu vaccine is prepared from fluids of chick embryos that have been inoculated with a specific type of influenza virus. The virus is then activated with formaldehyde and preserved with thimerosal — a derivative of mercury.

If health officials select the correct strain of the virus, the vaccine is thought to be 70-80% effective in preventing the flu in healthy persons under 65 years of age — the efficacy drops to only 30-40% among those over 65 years. Health officials don’t always make the right prediction, which lowers the effectiveness for that year.

According to the National Vaccine Information Center’s fact sheet, “Influenza is a respiratory infection that produces fever, chills, sore throat, muscle aches and cough.” Symptoms can last for a week or longer and can be deadly for the elderly or those suffering from diabetes, kidney dysfunction and heart disease.

The vaccine does not protect against throat, respiratory, gastrointestinal and ear infections caused by bacteria or other kinds of viruses; it serves only to provide temporary immunity against the three specific viral strains included in the year’s vaccine.

Adverse reactions typically being within 12 hours of vaccination and last for several days; these include fever, fatigue, painful joints and headaches. The most serious reaction, which occurs within two to four weeks of vaccination is Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is characterized by muscle weakness, unsteady gait, numbness, tingling, pain and sometimes paralysis of one or more limbs or the face.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, those at high-risk include any person who is sick with a fever, has an impaired immune system, has an egg or mercury allergy, and has a history of Guillian-Barre Syndrome. Pregnant women should be aware the flu vaccine contains the mercury-derivative thimerosal, which has been linked to causing brain damage and developmental delays in babies whose mothers were exposed to high levels of mercury during pregnancy.

SOURCE: National Vaccine Information Center, NVIC, www.909shot.com/Diseases/influenzafacts.htm; 800-909-shot.

Effectiveness of Flu Shots

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Flu Vaccine Posts Dismal Performance

Vol. 13 Issue 31

The results are in regarding the effectiveness of flu vaccinations for the year 2007, and the statistics are not very good for the drug companies. During this year, the effectiveness of the vaccine in protecting Americans dropped way down to just 44 percent.

Not only did the effectiveness of the shots drop, but so did public demand for the number of doses produced. According to information released by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, 18 million of the 121 million produced for the 2006-07 flu season went unused. The following year for the 2007-08 season, 27 million of the 140 million doses produced where never delivered.

Given this dismal rate of success, and with more and more information coming out on the potentially harmful side effects of vaccinations, wouldn’t it seem logical that doctors and government advisors would be guiding Americans to alternative flu-fighting solutions?

Unfortunately this is not the case, mainly because flu shots are a multi-billion dollar annual business in the United States and worldwide. Consider this projection: By the year 2012, the global vaccine market is expected to top $23.8 billion.

What the government and doctors did was get together with drug company representatives to see if they could come up with ways to sell the public on getting more flu shots. The American Medical Association, together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held a 2-day “National Influenza Vaccine Summit” that was also attended by representatives of the five pharmaceutical companies that sell flu vaccine in the United States.

One idea that came out of this conference was that doctors should become much more aggressive in “suggesting” to their patients that they get their flu shots. One attending physician said this is how his office became more proactive in making sure their patients received the shot. “When the patient signs in, the lady who is taking their information asks, ‘Have you had the flu vaccine this year?,’ and if the answer is ‘No,’ we say, “Well, today you are getting it.’”

One such aggressive effort was naming the week following Thanksgiving “National Influenza Vaccination Week” and urging people to get their flu shot. Regardless of such hype, Americans didn’t respond to this public information campaign according to CDC. Public use did not increase during this time.

It’s good to see that Americans did not respond to this added pressure to get their flu shots and that drug companies were left with millions of unused vaccine doses in their warehouses.

Americans would be wise to learn more about non-drugging means to protect themselves during the flu season. Simply staying well-rested, well-hydrated by drinking ample water, and keeping their body defense mechanisms up through good nutrition and additional vitamin intake as needed, could offer the best defense against getting the flu.

Source: The World Chiropractic Alliance. “Flu Vaccine Success Rate Down to 44% in 2007.” November 2008. http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/tcj/2008/nov/a.htm

Antibiotics linked to Allergies and Asthma

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ANTIBIOTICS LINKED TO DEVELOPMENT OF ALLERGIES AND ASTHMA

Vol. 7 Issue 127

A study conducted at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit has linked antibiotics to allergies and asthma in children. Children who received antibiotics within their first six months were at an increased risk of developing asthma and allergies by the age of seven.

448 children were followed from birth to seven years; the children were divided by gender into even groups.

Researchers collected data about all prescribed oral antibiotics; blood tests that measures immunoglobulin E (the antibody that causes allergies); skin reaction tests that determines if a person is hypersensitive to an allergen, and on all clinical visits. Researchers also collected environmental samples from the homes of the children.

The data was collected before birth and then at the first four birthdays. Each child was then evaluated at 6 to 7-years-old by a certified allergist.

Forty-nine percent of the children had received antibiotics by the age of six-months; the most commonly prescribed antibiotic was penicillin. Other finding included:

* Children who received antibiotics by six months old were 1.5 times more likely to develop allergies by age seven than children who did not receive antibiotics, and 2.5 times more likely to develop asthma.
* Children who lived with less than two pets by the age of six months given at least one antibiotic were 1.7 times more likely to develop allergies and three times more likely to develop asthma.
* Children whose mothers had a history of allergies were twice as likely to develop allergies. Those who were breast-fed more than four months, and received antibiotics by six months were three times as likely to develop allergies; the risk of asthma was not influenced by breast feeding and antibiotics.

According to Christine Cole Johnson, PhD, lead author of the study and senior epidemiologist for Henry Ford’s Department of Biostatistics and Research Epidemiology, “…we need to be more prudent in prescribing antibiotics for children at such an early age. In the past, many of them were prescribed unnecessarily, especially for viral infections like colds and the flu when the antibiotics would have no effect anyway.”

SOURCE: Henry Ford Health System press release, Science Daily, October 1, 2003; WCA News,
www.wcanews.com, October 2003; www.newscientist.com, September 30, 2003; BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk.