First things first: I'm not going to get deep into any flu shot links to Alzheimer's, Cancer, Autism, or things like those, (no matter how tenuous those may be), because I haven't done the research. What spooks me a bit is how difficult it IS to do the research right now. Seriously! I wanted to find out how many flu strains there are so I Googled it. All I got was, "Get your flu shots now!" "Flu myths dispelled!" "You can't get the flu from flu shots!" "The new 4 strain flu shots are here!" "If you are skeptical, get a flu shot anyway!" And try as I might I couldn't get many details that I want to know before I get one. I'm not even against flu shots I just want to know how effective they are so I will know if it's worth it. I Googled "How effective are flu shots?" and came up with the same 40 pages of propaganda about flu shots and how we should all go out and get them. The closest I got was from a Canadian Medical Association page, also pushing flu shots heavily, that mentioned they are 50-60% efficient. On the same page they mentioned what that meant. Lemme tell you, THAT was hard to find. Now I have been called a skeptic, and even accused of championing a conspiracy theory or two, but when I can't get detailed, factual information on something so important, alarm bells start ringing. I got a bit on this one page. I also know that there are three kinds of lies: white lies, damned lies and statistics. This statistic I saw on a lot of the propaganda pages without explanation. It seems to me that the people who are already sold on flu shots might want to believe that this means if I get a flu shot I am 50-60% less likely to get the flu. That would STILL not completely sell the shots to me, but that's not what it meant. At least on this one site. It might be considered positive thinking but a person could assume it meant that 50-60% of the flu strains this flu season are covered by the flu shot and if the matching has been done correctly by this year's flu shot scientists, you won't have to worry unless you get one of the other ones. Well THAT'S not what it meant either on this site. This site cited studies that showed that when the strains in the flu shot match the strain you are exposed to, then you are 50-60% less likely to catch those 3 or 4 strains! Only IF they match and IF you catch one of them.
So for example if I got the "trivalent" shot that covers 3 strains of flu - 50-60% - IF I get them. This year's front runners are H1N1 that we all know as Swine Flu, H3N2, and one B strain. The first two are A strains. The new "quadravalent" shots cover H1N1, H3N2 and TWO B strains. I could not get info on how many other strains there are out there but I know I have read recent reports of other strains in Cambodia and other places around the world coming into their own right now. H5N1 is Bird Flu, H2N2 is Asian Flu, H7N9, B Massachusetts, B Yamagata, I wish I knew how many other strains could be the main strain this year. Hopefully it won't happen like in 2003/04 when the scientists guessed wrong, the main flus weren't combatted by the flu shots and those flu shots were about 0% effective. It happens. But it's really REALLY hard to find out right now just how long the odds are of that happening. Nothing but "Go get 'em while their hot!" It spooked me.
So I Googled H1N1. It's the one that most are worried about I think. And I read about a study done in the States somewhere in which people, (and don't ask me where they found these troopers who suffered for science), VOLUNTARILY contracted, under laboratory conditions, the H1N1 influenza virus. I mean these people did their BEST to get it. They may have injected the virus intravenously for all I know. And STILL only 69% of the subjects actually got the Swine Flu! 31 out of every 100 people couldn't get it even in the best possible conditions to contract it! That I found enlightening! I think what I would have done if I were a scientist in that study is send the 69 home and study these 31 people to research a really great flu shot made from their antibodies or whatever it was that kept them from getting the flu. THAT flu shot I'd feel more comfortable about.
Now, we don't live in laboratory perfect conditions for contracting the flu. Most of us try our best to wash our hands, keep sanitary, stay at home if we get flu-like symptoms, eat our garlic and ginger and just avoid sneezing on other people and such. Those conditions would substantially drop everyone's chances of getting the flu. So if we use our good sense we should be able to fight a pretty good fight against the flu without the shots. And the shots are only good if you manage to catch the flu virus and it's one that the immunization matches. So I really don't know how much our chances of avoiding the flu are actually increased by the shots.
I found stats that mentioned that about 200,000 people a year are hospitalized with flu symptoms in the U.S. I don't know how many actually had the flu or how many of those people actually had their flu shots. It would have been interesting to learn. But these sort of things are so UNavailable right now that it got me wondering.
I Googled "Influenza," "The Flu," "Flu," all kinds of things like that. If you Google just about anything there'll be a Wikipedia explanation usually on the first page. No Wiki to be found!
The thing that got me on this vane was a post on Yahoo about how we should run out and get flu shots right away and every single comment was negative. Comments like, "I got the flu every year I got flu shots and then stopped getting them and stopped getting the flu." Lots similar to that. There was one person who posted a list of chemicals and nastiness that are in flu shots. Now I'm not going to repost that for a couple reasons: One because it would be irresponsible of me to use a comment on Yahoo as scientific fact, and Two because when I went back to the page every other comment was still there EXCEPT that one. It had been mysteriously removed! See what I mean? It's scarier than Halloween ghosts!
So I finally found a site, again Canadian medical site, again proponents of the flu shot, that mentioned some of the ingredients. Now, these days there are all kinds of movements to get foods properly labeled. Mcdonalds even has to provide ingredient lists even though we all know it's not health food. And lots of people are trying to get genetically engineered foods labeled as well. We just EAT food. Flu shots are injected intramuscularly, (usually), yet they don't really come with a list of ingredients. Why not? Again, very sketchy!
Some of the things mentioned on the site were things like Thimerosal, a mercury preservative. Now I didn't find this too upsetting because the levels are comparable to the levels of mercury found in a can of tuna. But a lot of people are worried that there could be links to health issues including Autism in kids. I found no solid research. Ethylene Glycol, something found in antifreeze. Phenol, also known as carbolic acid. Again in miniscule amounts but it was used in larger doses as a rapid execution method in Nazi Germany. Formaldehyde. I remember getting formaldehyde in my eye while dissecting an eyeball in science class and the teacher panicked, grabbed the eyewash and doused me good. Aluminum, which has links to Alzheimer's. And one I remember from the disappearing Yahoo post was MSG. I know there are a lot of people allergic to MSG. I don't know for sure if it's in there but if it is we certainly should know about it, no?
It seems to me that there are a lot of reasons NOT to get a flu shot, the largest of which is the shot doesn't seem to come with a very good chance of helping me or anyone else. But I can't say that with great certainty because the information available is vague, or abstract at best. Forgive me for saying so but it seems a trifle too purposely so. What could the purpose be? Well I'm glad I asked that question.
There are few entities that have earned my MIStrust more thoroughly over the years than Big Pharma. And it seems to me like a culture of flu shots being acquired without knowing what we are getting is what is being widely encouraged here. We do all kinds of things that aren't good for us, and are probably bad for us. Things we do without thinking about them just because it's what our cultures do and have done for years. I am wondering if flu shots might be one of these things that is being developed now. For now they are ostensibly free, although we all know our taxes pay for them, but in future I could easily see Pfizer coming out with an "F7" flu shot. "Why just protect yourself against 3 or 4 strains of flu when Pfizer can immunize you against 7 strains for the low, low, one-time-only price of $150 per dose?" Imagine the money to be made!
Now I'm not saying that this is what I believe is happening. As I said, I just can't get any access to good, solid literature on this right now. I would welcome any links to help me out. Please! I DO remember being encouraged LAST flu season to be immunized since I sort of work for Alberta Health and at the time I was considering it since I worked in hospitals. But it couldn't have been more than a year ago, and at that time I WAS able to find reputable sites. Unfortunately there were medical doctors supporting flu shots and just as many medical doctors talking about how they are not worth getting and possibly dangerous!
I am not against immunization at all! I had some before travelling overseas and got so sick a few times that I wished I had gotten MORE! I think I had Malaria once in the Philippines. But the flu shot doesn't seem to me to have the scientific backing yet. And the fact that it is almost like drug pushers endorsing them without giving solid reasons why, I think for now I'm going to give the flu shot a miss. I am not encouraging anyone to do the same. I really AM encouraging anyone who reads this to give me some solid web sites to check out. It would make me feel better.
But at this time, the flu shot is as spooky as Halloween. Leastaways that's what I reckon.
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