Flu Shots: Consider A Different Perspective

Millions of people have been given vaccines. The great majority of them have suffered no more than soreness at the injection site; and much disease has been prevented. Vaccines have been responsible for the virtual eradication of small pox and other diseases. On the other hand, some people may have serious consequences from taking vaccines.  Allergic and other immune responses to vaccines have been implicated in death, paralysis (Guilles an Barret Syndrome), autism, neurological and other disorders.

Conventional medicine extols the virtues of immunizations and minimizes the negative effects. The philosophy is “everyone should be immunized so that no one gets sick and the few who get negative outcomes is worth the many saved from disease”.  I suggest that the few who get the negative outcomes would not ascribe to that philosophy. When I was a child, there were 7 vaccine injections that were recommended; now there are 37 vaccine injections recommended.

Most of the things we immunize for (flu, measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox) are mild, self-limited viral illnesses, or, if bacterial, have well established, efficacious treatment regimens.  All of these can have complications, usually a secondary infection, like meningitis; and some people die of these diseases. The complication rate is often about the same as getting a side effect of the immunization. Measles, for example has about a 30% complication rate from the disease and about 30% side effects of the immunization.

Some vaccines, especially flu vaccines, can be more problematic. Flu vaccines are designed by observing the flu-like illnesses that start in Asia and Europe. They take the most prevalent strains that occur there and put them into the vaccine that is produced annually. They make an educated guess at which to include. Some of these are live viruses, from which you can get the flu, and some are dead viruses that won’t cause the flu in people who are vaccinated. The flu mutates very easily and many times the vaccine that is produced is ineffective against the wild strains that end up in your community. If they make a good guess, the vaccine works pretty well. If they make a bad guess it doesn’t work too well. Last year’s flu vaccine was mostly ineffective.

Fortunately, homeopathic medicines offer a safe, natural way to provide some protection. Homeopathic medicines were used before there were vaccines and are attributed for preventing people from getting the plagues that were so common in Europe. They can be used to protect yourself if you choose not to vaccinate and can be used to protect yourself from the vaccine if you choose to vaccinate. Homeopathy is always a good choice and it’s important to start right now.

Recommendations for whom should get flu shots include the very young, very old and very sick. These are the least likely people to mount an adequate immune response to make the antibodies to fight off the flu virus; and most likely to contract any live viruses in the vaccine. Taking larger doses of Vitamin C (4000-6000 mg/day for adults or to bowel tolerance), and some immune enhancing botanicals such as Echinacea during flu season will also help you to avoid the flu.

Guest article contributed by Konrad Kail, N.D.
Konrad Kail, N.D., was certified as a Physicians’ Assistant and received a BS in Medicine from Baylor College of Medicine in 1976, got his doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine (N.D.) from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in 1983 and is a Fellow of the American College of Naturopathic Family Medicine and Minor Surgery. He is co-founder of the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Sciences, and is a consultant to the Southwest College Research Institute. He is a past president and serves on the advisory board of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians; and completed a term as a member of the Advisory Council to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes for Health.  He received a Distinguished Service Award from the State of Arizona, and a Distinguished Service Award from the Arizona Naturopathic Medical Association in 2008.

Contact:
Arizona Advanced Medicine, 7425 E. Shea Blvd. #106, Scottsdale, AZ, 85260. Phone: 480-905-9200, www.azadvancedmed.com.

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