Ad
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Do flu shots cause the flu? Login/Join
 
<w.c.>
posted
 
Reply With QuoteReport This Post
<w.c.>
posted
More interesting data questioning the use of flu shots, this time from the mainstream:


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147589,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,136611,00.html
 
Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
quote:
Nevertheless, the sudden vaccine shortage this fall is igniting a "scarcity mentality" similar to runs on banks during stock market crashes and convenience stores when hurricanes brew offshore.

Millions who never bothered to get vaccinated before suddenly are hounding their doctors, workplace nurses and supermarket clinics. Americans are crossing borders and proffering their exposed arms; in Seattle, people are paying $105 to ride a high-speed ferry for a shot at the dock in Victoria, British Columbia.

What is behind this feverish behavior? Researchers say it is not so much the flu itself as a more generalized sense of feeling unprotected.

"Not being able to get the shot takes away your control over your health," said David Ropeik, director of risk communication at the Harvard School of Public Health (search). "That sense of being out of control is scary."
A boy or girl who has to live in a plastic bubble because of a collapsed immune system. That�s scary. That�s worth sweating over any germs that might be floating around out there. But to think of a latte-sucking 30-year-old healthy Seattlite paying $105 to take a high-speed ferry for a shot in Victoria, BC is almost enough to make me sick. Is there a shot for that?
 
Posts: 5413 | Location: Washington State | Registered: 21 September 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
The first article seems to have an axe to grind about sugar: . . . concentrate on eliminating the destroyer of health from your diet, which is sugar, by following the eating plan. Confused It also doesn't recognize that there are different strains of the flu, and that flu shots don't innoculate against them all (see http://my.webmd.com/hw/cold_and_flu/ue5492.asp).

Immunization is a sound practice, in general. Granted, there are risk groups, but these are also generally known and people who belong to them should weigh the risks. The demise of polio, diphtheria, smallpox and a wide range of diseases can be credited to immunization procedures similar to those wherein the flu shot is administered.

But to think of a latte-sucking 30-year-old healthy Seattlite paying $105 to take a high-speed ferry for a shot in Victoria, BC is almost enough to make me sick. Is there a shot for that?

Big Grin Not exactly a high risk group, there. Of course, the sugar in the latte will kill such a gent long before the flu if we are to take Dr. Mercola seriously. Wink
 
Posts: 7539 | Location: Wichita, KS | Registered: 09 August 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
Immunization is a sound practice, in general. Granted, there are risk groups, but these are also generally known and people who belong to them should weigh the risks. The demise of polio, diphtheria, smallpox and a wide range of diseases can be credited to immunization procedures similar to those wherein the flu shot is administered.

Well said. I'm in full agreement. But I've also read that having a minor sickness (such as a flu) helps strengthen the immune system through its very use. Did I latch onto an old wives' tale or is there some truth to that? I must confess that it is my guiding principle concerning such things as flu shots (but not, obviously, such things as polio, diphtheria and smallpox). I also wonder if we are going to make the whole human race extremely vulnerable to any new bugs if we keep zealously inoculating ourselves. I don't know the science involved but all I can think of is the examples we've had of resistant strains of viruses, bacteria and such that tend to develop when we keep trying to squash every last one of the buggers with some new drug or vaccine.

Well, I didn't read down far enough to get to that sugar pronouncement (or I simply missed it), but it would certainly be my advice for everyone to cut down on sugar, regardless of how inappropriate such as rant is the context of flu shots.
 
Posts: 5413 | Location: Washington State | Registered: 21 September 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
But I've also read that having a minor sickness (such as a flu) helps strengthen the immune system through its very use. Did I latch onto an old wives' tale or is there some truth to that? I must confess that it is my guiding principle concerning such things as flu shots (but not, obviously, such things as polio, diphtheria and smallpox).

I think that's pretty much the way they do it with polio, diphtheria and smallpox, Brad. You get a weakened dose of the antigen and it stimulates your body to produce antibodies. It's a risk, for sure, but, then, so is actually catching the real thing without your immune system already having a "blueprint" on how to make the antibodies.
 
Posts: 7539 | Location: Wichita, KS | Registered: 09 August 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
I think that's pretty much the way they do it with polio, diphtheria and smallpox, Brad. You get a weakened dose of the antigen and it stimulates your body to produce antibodies. It's a risk, for sure, but, then, so is actually catching the real thing without your immune system already having a "blueprint" on how to make the antibodies.

Yes. That makes sense, Phil. But I guess my question would be, at least concerning less life-threatening illnesses (and not in regards to the already sick, weak or elderly) if it would be better for us healthier folk to keep our distance from flu shots.

I guess this is the other side of the coin to which I was referring:

quote:
The key to a healthy child is a strong immune system. When functioning properly, the immune system fights disease-producing organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. All children are continuously exposed to these pathogens, but exposure does not mean a child will get sick. A strong immune system provides a child with powerful natural defenses against disease. Conversely, a child with a weakened immune system is vulnerable or more susceptible to colds, flu, and more serious illnesses.

It is virtually impossible to germ-proof your child. Germs are abundant everywhere, especially in situations such as daycare or preschool. Being exposed to germs is a part of life, but not necessarily unfavorable. Exposure to different viruses and bacteria can actually strengthen a child�s immune system. Furthermore, acquiring innocuous childhood diseases such as chicken pox, measles, mumps and rubella can help to build immunity and give your child lifetime protection against these diseases. Lifetime immunity is important since these diseases can have serious negative effects if acquired as an adult.

If your child is overly susceptible to illness, you may want to take steps to enhance his or her immune system and make it as strong as possible. Prevention is the way to avoid subjecting your child to continuing cycles of antibiotics or other medications. The powerful tools of prevention include breastfeeding, good nutrition, nutritional supplements, a healthy mental attitude and emotional well-being, a nontoxic environment, avoiding unnecessary antibiotics and vaccines, low stress, and plenty of rest and exercise.
I�m wondering if it�s possible to immunize ourselves into weakness? Might this become a vicious cycle? The more we immunize against every little thing the more we need that immunizations.
 
Posts: 5413 | Location: Washington State | Registered: 21 September 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata