A Flu Shot or a Shot in the Dark
by Lah-May
Before the seasons even change, the media starts to sound the alert: “The flu is coming—get your shot early.” A short time passes, and another warning floods the airwaves: “This year’s flu is particularly deadly—make sure you get your flu shot; the young and elderly are especially vulnerable.” Further into the flu season dire warnings are issued: “Numerous flu-related deaths have been reported from around the country; there are shortages of flu vaccines.” Images are flashed on your TV screen: long lines of people waiting to get their shots and clinic waiting rooms packed with sniffling adults and children.
Have you been convinced?
Flu vaccines are supposedly developed to protect us against influenza. What’s the flu? What’s influenza? What’s the difference?
The word flu has evolved into a generic term applied to almost anything that makes us feel unwell. Influenza, according to the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is an acute respiratory infection caused by a variety of viruses.
The [influenza] viruses spread from person to person via airborne droplets of respiratory fluids, especially after an infected individual sneezes or coughs. Flu viruses generally enter the body through the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose or mouth.
Prominent symptoms include head-ache, chills and a dry cough, which are followed rapidly by body aches, malaise and fever. Typically, the fever starts declining on the second or third day of the illness as upper respiratory symptoms—nasal congestion and sore throat—become more noticeable.
Most people recover from the flu within a week. However, for those at high risk, such as the elderly and people with certain chronic illnesses, flu and its complications can be life-threatening.
~ NIAID Press Release, July 14, 1997
This year more than 83 million doses of flu vaccine were produced by two major manufacturers, Aventis Pasteur and Chiron Corp, and more than 70-75 million Americans were vaccinated. But the flu vaccine cannot protect against a variety of viruses—it’s created to immunize against a single virus. This season’s virus is called the A-Fujian-H3N2 strain.
The majority of flu-like illnesses experienced by people during the fall and winter season are actually not associated with influenza viruses. The chances that a person, by getting a flu shot, will be protected from getting influenza are actually very low. In fact, a shot may be more harmful than beneficial. Besides purified portions of the virus, which are cultivated on chicken embryos, flu vaccines may also contain some or all of the following: formaldehyde, mercury, and aluminum. Reported problems associated with flu shots include paralysis, memory loss, itchy rashes, and chronic fatigue. Additionally, research done by an immunogeneticist named Hugh Fudenburgh finds that if someone has five consecutive flu shots, his or her chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease is ten times higher.
"There is no evidence that any influenza vaccine thus far developed is effective in preventing or mitigating any attack of influenza. The producers of these vaccines know that they are worthless, but they go on selling them anyway." ~ Dr. J. Anthony Morris (distinguished virologist and formerly Chief Vaccine Control Officer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
But, you may ask, what about those people who die from "flu-related" illnesses. In most cases, they are individuals who are already immunocompromised—they have weakened immune systems and may already be sick even if they’re not showing symptoms.
Sicknesses may have other causes besides viruses. As far back as the 1960s similarities were seen between symptoms of the flu and symptoms experienced when one is exposed to toxic levels of such poisons as pesticides, herbicides, and fluoride. According to Walen James in his book Immunization: The Reality Behind the Myth, Granville Knight, MD, stated under oath at a Congressional Hearing in the 1960s that "…waves of so-called ‘Virus-X’ and other similar diseases…are caused by exposure to such agricultural chemicals; [and] that it is impossible for doctors to diagnose the difference between London flu, virus conditions, and pesticide poisoning."
So why is the public, via the mass media, encouraged to get a flu shot over choosing healthy foods, balanced diets, and a clean environment? Could it be there is not enough profit to be made?
"Thus, if doctors guarantee their patients that they will not get the flu after they came in to get their jab, this is an unethical manipulation, the basis for which most probably is simply profit for both those who produce the vaccine and those who administer it." Dr. Kris Gaublomme, MD, "Vaccines: Influenza Vaccine", Inter-national Vaccination Newsletter
“Flu shot or no flu shot” is the question for many. Individuals must make their own decision on whether or not to get a flu shot; however, it is only fair that the decision be an educated one. Current information available from the mass media is one-sided in favor of the pharmaceuticals’ proposed solution to avoiding the flu. But counter information is available through the Internet and many non-profit organizations.
Ultimately though, becoming and staying healthy requires more than a shot; it’s a commitment to coming into balance at all levels—the physical, the mindal, and the spiritual—through higher choices in all areas of our lives.
