Part III The Influenza Vaccine

8/3/2019 Part III The Influenza Vaccine

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Arm Yourself Against the Flu Dont Get

the Flu Shot!

Gary Null PhD and Nancy Ashley VMD, MS

It is fall and another flu season is upon us. The CDCs big marketing claim about the flu

vaccine emphasizes repeatedly that 36,000 Americans die of flu each year. But is this

true? A 2005 study from the British Medical Journal debunks this figure by revealing

two things: first, the number is not based in counting actual deaths. It comes from a

statistical model which only estimates mortality but doesnt actually track it. Second, if

anyone questions this large mortality, the CDC inflates the numbers by combining deaths

from flu and pneumonia as though they were all flu deaths. Actually, the annual deaths

from pneumonia unrelated to flu are far greater than those from flu.1

How do they make the annual flu shot?

The annual flu vaccine is trivalent, consisting of 2 random strains of the influenza virus

type A and one of type B. Since 2010, the Swine Flu virus (H1N1), a type A virus,

has replaced one of the other type A viruses. Because officials can never know in

advance which strains of influenza are going to be at large, the flu vaccine is entirely

a guessing game. They might be right or theymight bewrong.


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Which Flu Vaccine You are Given Makes a Big Difference

There are currently 7 different types of flu vaccines. The Flumist vaccine by

Medimmune merits special mention. It is a live virus vaccine that is administered

intranasally, thus causing virus shedding and unwitting inoculation of anyone in the

vicinity of the vaccinated person for a period of up to 3 weeks. Like with the oral polio

vaccine, this could lead to unintended consequences for the pregnant or

immunocompromised,2 and Flumist has been an unpopular choice as a result.

Of the 6 injectable flu vaccines, 4 offer both a single dose and a multi dose version. The

immediate problem with multi dose vaccines is that they require more preservative,

which in this case is thimerosal -- ethyl mercury. In July 1999, the American Academy

of Pediatrics and the Public Health Service agencies agreed that thimerosal should be

reduced or eliminated from vaccines because of the potential risks: mercury is a known

neurotoxin with cumulative effects and to give it to a developing brain is to ask for

permanent neurological dysfunction. While the additive has been removed from most

pediatric vaccines, it has not been removed from the flu vaccine. Adults likewise are

not immune from the neurotoxic effects of mercury, even though their brains are fully

developed. These multi dose flu vaccines, from CSL Limited (Merck), Novartis,

GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi Pasteur, all contain 25 micrograms (mcg) of mercury per

0.5 ml. The EPAs safe limit of mercury is 0.1 mcg/kg3: to be able to tolerate 25 mcg of

mercury and still be at a safe level, a person would have to weigh 550 lbs! So what about

those folks who weigh less than this, which is the vast majority of us? We and

especially our children -- are receiving a toxic dose of mercury with every injection.

None of the package inserts suggest not giving the mercury-laden product to children and


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actually recommend that children receiving the flu vaccine for the first time should get

two doses four weeks apart! How does this make any sense?

The Multi Dose Vial Hidden Risks

What they never mention in any of these studies is the inherent flaw of the multi dose vial

of any vaccine: namely, the actual dose received depends on the vagaries of how well and

consistently the vial is agitated and mixed before each dose is drawn up because the

constituents do not remain in suspension. It is impossible that every dose will contain an

identical amount of virus and mercury each injection will vary hugely. Further, multi

dose vials require multiple needle penetrations over time, thereby increasing the risk for

contamination in each successive dose administered. If you get your flu vaccine in a

Duane Reade or a CVS pharmacy, you will be receiving just such a mystery dose of the

Fluvirin or Fluzone multi dose flu vaccine.

By the Way, Who is Giving You the Flu Vaccine?

Because of the intense campaigning to ensure that every American get a flu shot, one can

now get a flu shot in a drug store, big box store, shopping mall or even a drive through

pharmacy! As a result, unqualified personnel are actually the ones administering the

vaccine in many cases. If you get a vaccine outside of a health care facility, it is likely

you will be dealing with a pharmacist, pharmacy assistant, or general employee. Do you

really trust them to know what they are doing? To know anatomy well enough to give it

in the correct location? To manage an anaphylactic reaction? The package inserts all

have the caveat that prior to administration of any dose of vaccine a healthcare provider

should review the patients prior immunization history for possible adverse events to


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determine the existence of any contraindication to immunization and to allow an assessment

of benefits and risks. And more importantly, appropriate medical treatment and supervision

must be available to manage possible anaphylactic reactions following administration of the

vaccine.4 Can a Wal-Mart employee handle this?

Is the flu shot harmful?

In Australia in June 2010, more than 1000 adverse responses following seasonal flu

vaccine in children under five were reported to the Therapeutic Goods

Administration -- young children were more likely to end up in hospital because of

side effects from a flu vaccine than they were from the disease itself!5 Research into

the outbreak showed that the vaccine caused two to three hospital admissions due

to febrile seizures for every hospital admission due to influenza prevented, thus

the vaccination program in children under five clearly did more harm than good.

Most significantly, the flu vaccine has been linked to a high rate of Guillain-Barre

Syndrome, a wasting neurological disease which usually causes loss of the ability to

walk, debilitating fatigue, and sometimes death. Guillain-Barre Syndrome occurs when

the bodys immune system overreacts to foreign invaders. The immune response creates

inflammation in the nerves and degrades the myelin sheaths. This damage interferes with

the nerves ability to transmit impulses.6

It has been suggested that because influenza virus is grown in chicken embryos there is

an increased incidence of salmonella, which produces a powerful endotoxin. This

salmonella endotoxin may increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, thus


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allowing deleterious proteins to enter the nervous system, setting the stage for a

variety of neurological impairments from the vaccine.7 Other adverse effects of the

influenza vaccine include: general malaise and flu-like symptoms for days following

the vaccine, anaphylaxis, convulsions, myelitis, facial palsy, Bells palsy, optical

neuritis, brachial neuritis, syncope, thrombocytopenia, lymphadenopathy, vasculitis,

dyspnea, pharyngitis, rhinitis, chest pain, and fatigue.8

The Swine Flu/H1N1 Charade

In 2009, alarms were sounded that we would be facing a pandemic of epic proportions

from the Swine Flu and there might not be time to make enough vaccine to protect us

all. Miraculously, many Americans actually remembered the Swine Flu pandemic of

1976 in which far more people were injured from the vaccine than from the disease

-- which turned out to be a non-event -- and did not jump on the opportunity to save

themselves from certain death with the 2009 Swine Flu vaccine. As predicted by

reasonable folks, the Swine Flu epidemic of 2009 was also a non-event. But the

Swine Flu vaccine didnt go away. The manufacturers were geared up for

production, and so the H1N1 virus has become part of the annual flu shot.

A confidential letter in August 2009, sent to the UK government by senior neurologists at

the Health Protection Agency was leaked to the British tabloid, The Mail, warning

that the H1N1 vaccine was likely to trigger Guillain-Barre Syndrome because of its

similarity to the 1976 Swine Flu vaccine.9 At that time, 80,000 people came down

with Guillain-Barre Syndrome and only 1 person died of Swine Flu. Since the

regular influenza vaccine already carries an increased risk of Guillain-Barre


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Syndrome, the addition of H1N1 to the formulation makes this unfortunate

occurrence even more likely. The H1N1 vaccine by itself has a host of adverse

effects, and was specifically banned in Finland for causing narcolepsy.9

Is the flu shot effective?

Package inserts of all flu vaccines start off with the same disclaimer: the indication for

vaccinating against influenza disease is based on the immune response elicited by

the vaccine; there have been no controlled clinical studies demonstrating a decrease

in influenza disease after vaccination.

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This means that since all they have tested

for is an antibody response, they have no way to know if the vaccine will prevent

disease they admit that they dont know if the flu vaccine is effective! Yet the

CDC recommends that every American over the age of 6 months get the flu vaccine

every year for an entire lifetime. Why? The CDC states that the vaccine is most

effective in healthy adults, but how do they know that these same healthy adults

wouldnt have avoided the flu anyway, even without the vaccine? No one has yet

had the courage to undertake a study comparing vaccinated healthy adults versus

unvaccinated healthy adults to assess if there are differences in rates of getting the

flu. If a healthy adult is unlikely to get the flu without getting a vaccine, why on

earth get the vaccine? And how can this so-called science be used as proof of

vaccine effectiveness?

According to many meta-analyses of the influenza vaccine by the unbiased Cochrane

Collaboration based in Italy, there is no evidence from many systematic reviews of

the scientific literature that inactivated influenza vaccines have any effect. Although


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studies are plentiful, they are generally of poor quality and lack convincing evidence

supporting the conjecture that vaccination minimizes transmission of disease.11

A 2008 study published in The Lancet contested the accepted wisdom that influenza

vaccination programs for the elderly reduce hospital admissions for pneumonia. It found

that in a US managed-care population of older adults over three seasons, the effect of

influenza vaccination was strikingly lower than previous estimates.12

Ultimately, although vaccination programs are directed against influenza, in reality it is

influenza-like illnesses that cause most of the malaise referred to as flu. Because

these illnesses are not caused by the influenza viruses found in the annual vaccine,

the vaccine cannot possibly prevent such disease. According to the CDCs own

Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (MMWR), Many people vaccinated with

the flu vaccine can still get 4-6 episodes of an influenza-like illness during the flu

season. 13

So if the flu shot poses potentially serious health risks, contains mercury, has varying

doses of flu virus and mercury if it comes from a multi dose vial, weakens the

immune system, and doesnt protect against the flu what would be the reason to

actually subject oneself or ones children to this vaccine?


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Footnotes

1. Are US Flu Death Figures More PR Than Science?British Medical Journal2005; 331;1412 (10 December).

2. Medimmune, Flumistpackage insert,http://www.medimmune.com/pdf/products/flumist_pi.pdf, accessed October 7,

2011.

3. Methylmercury, http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0073.htm, accessed October 10, 2011

4. Fluvirinpackage insert,

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdf, accessed October 7, 2011, Fluzone package insert,

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/.../ucm195479.pdf., accessed

October 7, 2011.

5. Corduroy A, Side Effects Worse Than the Disease, The Sydney Morning Herald,

September 18, 2010.

6. Grimaldi-Bensouda L, Guillain-Barre syndrome, influenzalike illnesses, and influenza

vaccination during seasons with and without circulating A/H1N1 viruses,Am J

Epidemiol. 2011 Aug 1;174(3):326-35. Epub 2011 Jun 7

7. Geier M, Influenza vaccination and Guillain Barre syndrome,Journal of Clinical

Immunology; 107 (2003) 116121

8. VAERS, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, http://www.vaers.hhs.gov/index,

accessed October 7, 2011.

9. Macfarlane J, Swine Flu Jab Link to Killer Nerve Disease: Leaked Letter Reveals

Concern of Neurologists over 25 Deaths in America, Mail Online, 15 August 2009.

10. Finland Vows Care For Narcolepsy Kids,Helsinki Times, 13 October 2011.

11. Medimmune, Flumistpackage insert,

http://www.medimmune.com/pdf/products/flumist_pi.pdf, accessed October 7, 2011,Fluvirinpackage insert,

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdf, accessed October 7, 2011, Fluzone package insert,

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/.../ucm195479.pdf., accessed

October 7, 2011.

12. Jefferson T, Influenza Vaccination: Policy Versus Evidence,British Medical
http://www.medimmune.com/pdf/products/flumist_pi.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/.../ucm195479.pdfhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21652600http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21652600http://www.vaers.hhs.gov/indexhttp://www.medimmune.com/pdf/products/flumist_pi.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/.../ucm195479.pdfhttp://www.medimmune.com/pdf/products/flumist_pi.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/.../ucm195479.pdfhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21652600http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21652600http://www.vaers.hhs.gov/indexhttp://www.medimmune.com/pdf/products/flumist_pi.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123694.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/.../ucm195479.pdf


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Journal; Vol 33, 24 October 2006.

13. Jackson M, Influenza vaccination and risk of community-acquired pneumonia inimmunocompetent elderly people: a population-based, nested case-control study The

Lancet, Volume 372, Issue 9636, Pages 398 - 405, 2 August 2008

14. Notice to Readers: Considerations for Distinguishing Influenza-Like Illness fromInhalational Anthrax, MMWR Nov. 9, 2001; 5044; 984-6,

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5044a5.htm, accessed October 12,2011.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/vol372no9636/PIIS0140-6736(08)X6033-7http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5044a5.htmhttp://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/vol372no9636/PIIS0140-6736(08)X6033-7http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5044a5.htm

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Part III The Influenza Vaccine