Flu Shot Maine
It is a horrible tragedy when a child dies of a generally non life threatening illness. This happened this past week in Maine when a child died from complications of the flu. As the father of a 3 year old, my heart goes out to the family and friends of this child. This unfortunate death happened at a time when I was already writing a blog post on the flu shot. The media has a way of blowing things up, sometimes right, sometimes wrong.
I am concerned about how the news is reporting this tragedy. “After the death of an otherwise healthy child from the flu, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is urging those who haven’t yet received flu shots to get them” (bold added by me). Ask yourself the following. Does it make sense that “otherwise healthy” children die of the flu given that millions get the flu each year? The use of “otherwise healthy” appears incredibly misleading. Healthy people don’t get sick and they don’t die from illnesses that don’t generally kill people. Do healthy people get cancer and die? Do they have heart attacks that come out of nowhere and kill them? No, they don’t. There are underlying issues, maybe even illnesses that are flying under the radar of standard diagnostics that make people more vulnerable. These people are often unknowingly NOT healthy. How badly does the the director of the Maine CDC understand health if she thinks healthy people die from the flu when millions get the flu and don’t die. Understanding that there is more to health than not being sick is fundamental to living a conscious, proactive, organic and healthy lifestyle. Every doctor should know that healthy people don’t get sick. Unfortunately the definition of health for the CDC appears to be “not being sick”.
Below is the blog post that I was going to post today. After hearing of this tragedy in Maine I felt obliged to ask to ask a few questions for you to ponder. Is this a reason to panic or is it a reason to promote healthy lifestyles in your home?
I went in for my annual physical last Friday. After 6 months of consistent exercise 4-5 days a week my blood pressure is now at 109/67. Everything else checked out ok as well but I was faced with a decision. Flu shot or no flu shot. I am not a pregnant woman. I am a soon to be 40 year old male. The Fluzone vaccine is being recommended to pregnant women though and this alarmed me.
Fluzone, the 2012-2013 choice flu shot, is being recommended to pregnant women to prevent the flu and protect the baby growing inside them. Vaccination is your choice and I am not here to recommend or discourage, I only want to share with you what I found in the vaccine insert for Fluzone.
I should start by saying that if nothing else the flu shot does contain Mercury in the form of thimerosal and formaldehyde. The blood brain barrier that protects our brains from chemicals forms at about 6 months of age. Mercury is a known neurotoxin that crosses the blood brain barrier even when the barrier is fully developed. Formaldehyde is embalming fluid.
The safety and effectiveness of the 2012 – 2013 flu vaccine (Fluzone) has not been established in pregnant women.
Taken from the Fluzone insert
8.1 Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with fluzone. It is also not known whether fluzone can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Fluzone should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.
8.3 Nursing Mothers: It is not known whether fluzone is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when fluzone is administered to a nursing woman.
8.4 The safety and effectiveness of fluzone in children below the age of 6 months have not been established. Safety and immunogenicity of fluzone was evaluated in children 6 months through 8 years of age.
My note: Fluzone DOES contain formaldehyde and thimerosal (25mcg Mercury in the .5mL dose. The .25mL dose info is n/a).
The purpose of the information above is not to deter you from getting the flu shot. I have nothing to say regarding whether you should or should not. This blog is not intended to be medical advice. That said, you should be informed. You should know that if you are pregnant, this vaccine has been insufficiently tested on pregnant women and developing fetuses.
If you are considering “Flaurix” as an influenza vaccine I urge you to read the article in Pathways magazine entitled “The Attack on Pregnant Mothers Escalates” by Suxanne Humphries, M.D.