Flu Shots

Hey everybody,
It's that time of year again - time for them to start pushing flu shots. Obviously everyone has to make their own choices about this. However, I'm going to share my reasons for avoiding this one. I highly encourage you to do your research before spending your $15...

1. Most of the vaccines contain mercury and aluminum preservatives. Some studies have found these to be harmless. I hope they are. However, we know mercury is a toxic substance. Remember all the scare over mercury thermometers? Even if it is a tiny amount, I don't want it injected into my children. Dr. Sears wrote an article for Mothering magazine a few months back about aluminum toxicity.

2. The vaccines are grown on egg protein, and my children and I have egg allergies. If you've never been tested for allergies, you may allergic to egg as well and just not know it. Egg allergy can cause severe gastrointestinal issues.

3. Last year's flu shot was reportedly only 44% effective anyway. This article goes into depth about the efficacy testing. Sounds pretty flawed to me. Every year the strain they put into the vaccine is a guess, because they never know for sure what strain of the flu (there are hundreds) will actually be active and make people sick. Usually the vaccine you receive contains two or three strains. Not good odds. I do have to hand it to the vaccine makers - obviously they guess pretty well, if they can get it anywhere close to 44% effective...

4. The nasal vaccine contains live virus, as opposed to the dead virus in the shot. Um, does anyone remember how live Polio vaccine actually CAUSED polio? No thanks. It's a money-maker for the drug industry, I'm tellin' ya. It sounds easy and more pleasant than a shot...no thanks.

5. Cutting out cane sugar would probably keep you from getting the flu anyway. White sugar is poison for your body. The sugar in one can of coke is enough to deplete your immune system for 24 hours, according to Dr P.

6. If you do get sick, alternative medicine treatments will help you recover quickly. Taking Oscillococcinum when you first start to feel yucky sometimes wipes out the flu altogether. We rarely are sick for more than 2-3 days around here. Black Elderberry is another thing we keep on hand, and take at the first sign of symptoms. You can take mega amounts of vitamin C - far more than the RDA, to help your body wipe out sickness. There are various homeopathic remedies depending on your symptoms, to help you be more comfortable without the dangerous side effects of cold/flu medicines. (Tamiflu, by the way, is incredibly dangerous. Scroll down to the "Observed During Clinical Practice" part. Is a chance of those things worth a day less flu to you?)

7. Vaccinating children doesn't really protect the elderly from the flu, though drug companies would like you think it does.

So, there's some of my research. If you have solid information against any of this, I would be happy to see it. My only request is that you keep to the facts. Any attacks of a personal nature will be deleted and ignored. :)