Super Immunity (8 page)

The Cochrane review also looked specifically at the vaccination of children against the flu. After reviewing the data on fifty-one studies addressing the effectiveness and safety of flu vaccines for children, the Cochrane reviewers were shocked with our government's policy of universal vaccination. They found that in children under the age of two, the effectiveness of the vaccine was similar to that of a placebo. They also found it impossible to analyze the safety of vaccines from the available studies, due to the lack of recorded data in the trials. More concerning was their conclusion that the safety outcome data was not feasible due to extensive evidence of reporting bias in the studies. The Cochrane authors were again critical of the CDC's decisions, stating, “If immunization in children is to be recommended as a public health policy, large-scale studies assessing important outcomes and directly comparing vaccine types are urgently needed.”
¹⁸

Even among the elderly, where the risk of death from infections is higher, the studies on flu vaccination are not definitively favorable. A review of influenza vaccination among adults at age sixty-five or older suggested that the vaccine was of questionable efficacy.
¹⁹
While vaccination appeared to reduce the symptoms of influenza, the poor quality of the collected research prevented any strong conclusion regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing complications of influenza, even in this high-risk population.

The fact that flu vaccination is heavily promoted by government and medical authorities, despite the marginal benefits, fuels distrust of the entire medical/pharmaceutical/government health complex, which reeks of collusion and conflict of interest. This situation is reflective of a foundational problem with health care today: governmental authorities shaping our personal medical decisions are heavily influenced by commercial interests wielding political donations, by powerful lobbyists, and by industry-funded experts.

The scientists from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were quite pointed in their critique of public health efforts in the United States to heavily promote increased usage of the vaccine: “The CDC authors clearly do not weigh interpretation by the quality of the evidence, but quote anything that supports their theory.” No wonder, because almost all of the fifteen members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices have financial ties to the vaccine industry! The CDC grants them waivers from statutory conflict-of-interest rules. Their professional experience contributes to the development of their immunization expertise—at least, that is the rationale offered by the CDC to justify the waivers.
²⁰

The Known Risks of Flu Shots

If you read about the flu vaccine in the information supplied by the manufacturer, you will learn that each dose contains traces of formaldehyde and 25 micrograms of thimerosal (a mercury-containing compound), the latter used as a preservative. The injection of even this small amount of mercury year after year may place a person at increased risk of neurotoxicity later in life. The actual extent of this risk is hard to ascertain.

We do know that risks accumulate throughout life and that the young, developing body is more sensitized to the damaging effects of toxic substances. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service, a federal agency, have issued a joint statement calling for the removal of mercury from all vaccines. Chronic, low-dose mercury exposure may cause subtle neurological abnormalities that rear their head later in life. Considering all the vaccines children get already, adding flu vaccine to the mix and giving it each year is something that we should have serious questions about—and indeed, the scientific literature has raised those questions.

If we are going to advise giving a flu shot to everybody from infancy on, every single year, the long-term effects must be more closely examined. The flu vaccine itself has not yet been evaluated for carcinogenic potential, and animal reproductive studies over multiple years have not been performed—in other words, studies in animals testing whether the vaccine causes birth defects or developmental problems or even if it increases the risk of cancer.

Known
adverse reactions to the vaccine, according to the manufacturer, include arthralgia (joint pain), lymphadenopathy (swelling of lymph nodes), itching, vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels), and other events reflective of toxicity. Allergic reactions such as hives and anaphylaxis, neurological disorders such as neuritis, encephalitis, and optic neuritis, and—besides the previously mentioned Guillian-Barré syndrome—demyelenating disorders (such as multiple sclerosis) have also been temporally associated with influenza vaccine. There will likely be more connections made: in the ordinary life cycle of a drug, as time goes on more side effects are typically uncovered. Most recently, influenza vaccinations have been implicated as a trigger for Henoch-Schonlein purpura, a rare but serious disease that can cause kidney failure.
²¹

Each person needs to decide the risk-to-benefit ratio for themselves and their own children, because serious complications and even death from a simple viral illness such as the flu
can
occur. Still, with the limited effectiveness of today's vaccines, the benefits, even in high-risk groups, are slight.

The medical community acknowledges that certain people are at greater risk of harm and death from the flu. Those with weakened immune systems are at increased risk when they catch an infection of any type. This group includes:

• The elderly—those over seventy-five

• Those with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, transplanted organs, or AIDS

• Steroid-dependent individuals or those on other immunosuppressive drugs for autoimmune illness

• Those with significant immunosuppression (such as people with AIDS or cancer)

• Infants and toddlers under two years of age who were not breast-fed

• Those who smoke cigarettes or whose food intake is primarily junk food and other high-calorie, low-nutrient fast foods or packaged foods

In these groups, the slight reduction in influenza virulence for just a limited number of strains may be of benefit. This is not the case in healthy children or adults with normal immune function, however—especially if people are eating a nutritious diet and have adequate nutritional stores, including vitamin D.

I prefer to feed my children in a manner that protects them against
all
diseases and simply allow their healthy immune systems to deal with the flu, should they get it. My four children, who now range in age from ten to twenty-four, almost never have been sick for more than a few days in their whole lives, never had an ear infection or needed an antibiotic, and never, to my recollection, ever got the flu. Maybe good nutrition had something to do with it.

We should all be appropriately fearful of the flu. Maybe that fear would encourage us to take action and start eating large amounts of nutrient-rich natural foods. Presently we don't, as a nation—but if we did, the fear of the flu could actually save millions of lives, because the same healthy diet that protects against the flu also protects against many cancers, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, and other diseases.

Other Flu-Related Issues

While flu shots are a hot-button topic these days—and rightfully so, as we have seen—there are other flu-related topics to consider.

More Drug Options for the Flu

When you get the flu, many physicians prescribe drugs that are marketed as helping you get better faster. Three antiviral drugs—amantadine (brand name Symmetrel), rimantadine (Flumadine), and oseltamivir (Tamiflu)—are available in the United States for influenza. These medications are only partially effective, and they are not effective at all unless they are started within the first two days of symptoms. As prescription drugs, they have serious potential risks. Besides the more common side effects of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and insomnia, rare but serious adverse reactions have been reported, including depression, suicide, and a potentially fatal reaction called neuroleptic malignant syndrome, which involves a high fever, muscle rigidity, and mental status changes.

The general use of these medications has a poor benefit-to-risk ratio, especially since it is hard to differentiate influenza from other, similar viral infections, for which these medications would
not
be indicated. Most prescriptions for these drugs are written without clear documentation of a flu virus being responsible. It takes time to diagnose the flu, and by the time a person gets to a doctor for an accurate diagnosis, the window of time in which these medications are effective will have passed. Hundreds of thousands of doses of Tamiflu are prescribed each year, and in more than 90 percent of instances, they will be used after the period when the drug has any potential to help! People will be increasing their risk of medication-caused side effects
without any potential benefit
.

The poor benefit-to-risk ratio would make it hard for anyone to recommend the general use of these medications. However, these medications may be appropriate in the event of an outbreak in a nursing home or hospital—places where high-risk people are in close contact with one another and an early diagnosis of the flu can be confirmed.

The Protection of Good Hygiene

Almost every year flu season seems to bring with it extraordinary anxiety and fear, especially among parents of young children. Through all the fog of media hysteria and worry, let's not lose our bearing and make rash decisions to use medications that can cause more harm than good.

The important news is that most Americans can and should take steps to reduce the likelihood of getting an infectious disease like the flu. Viruses are primarily spread via hand-to-face contact. They can also be spread when a sick person coughs or sneezes, aerosolizing the virus so others inhale it. A person can be contagious the day before he or she develops symptoms and for seven to ten days after symptoms first develop.

Here are some steps you can take to minimize the likelihood of catching the flu:

Avoid touching your face when you are in public places and immediately afterward, until you have a chance to wash your hands well.
Surface transmission of the flu and other viruses is more common than transmission by sneezing or coughing. Many of the most concerning viruses can be transferred via public surfaces or people touching one another—such as shaking hands, touching door handles, using gas pumps, and sharing pens. If you use a public bathroom to wash up while you're out and about, use a paper towel to turn off the water and then to open the door to leave the bathroom, to keep your hands clean.

Keep preschool-age children at home.
Childcare settings with large numbers of other children with runny noses are fertile ground for viruses, so don't use out-of-home childcare unless you have to. The last place you want to be with a sick child is an emergency room or a doctor's office, because these places will certainly increase your chances of getting an infectious disease.

If you do get the flu, stay home.
Sip water all day, as opposed to guzzling a lot all at once. Eat as little as possible; if you're hungry, stick to light food, mostly juicy fruits and salads. Once you are ill, it is important not to overwork your body by making it digest heavy meals. Anorexia of infection (loss of appetite) is one way the body has of activating a more powerful immune response.

Knowing When to Call the Doctor

I do not recommend seeing a physician or seeking out medical assistance with typical flu or viral symptoms, such as a runny nose, fever, and body aches, because treating them with medications has no significant benefit. When a severe flu does occur, the main reason for hospitalization, severe illness, and even death is the complication of pneumonia. Instead of calling the doctor at the outset, watch for a sudden worsening of the overall condition, especially if worsening symptoms start to involve labored breathing. Symptoms suggesting that medical consultation is necessary are these:

• Rapid breathing

• Breathing with grunting or wheezing sounds

• Labored breathing (in a child, with rib muscles retracting)

• Abdominal pain (more common in children)

• Changes in behavior or mental status, such as disorientation or lack of alertness

• Persistent diarrhea or vomiting (more common with children), especially if unable to hold down sufficient fluids

• Persistent fever above 103 degrees for three days

Choose Nutrition over Medication

Remember that I mentioned the first pharmacology course I had in medical school, when the professor told us that all drugs are toxic? His words still ring true, and we physicians need to teach our patients how to avoid them. People do not build health via the ingestion of medicinal substances. Even natural, herbal products that have pharmacologic effects work because of their
toxic
properties, not their
nutritive
content. When you chose to live healthy, you limit your exposure to all treatments and remedies that could further compromise your long-term health.

It is important to understand that the choices you make today could punish you or protect you thirty to sixty years later. Health is complicated. All the contributory environmental factors leading to cancer are not yet known. However, we have learned much about cancer causation and the disease-fighting ability of a well-nourished immune system in recent years. We have the knowledge available today to do a much better job than our ancestors did at enhancing natural immunity, with a huge potential to extend our healthy life expectancy. I am of the opinion, based on my research and observation of patient outcomes over the last few decades, that most of us should be able to extend our lifespan to surpass ninety-five (good) years of age. However, we are not going to win the war on cancer or other life-threatening diseases with more medical treatments and more money devoted to medical care and drugs.