Swine Flu Misinformation, Profit and Flu Shots: Exposing the truth about swine flu and seasonal flu shots

By Ansley Simpson, Dr. DM, DHHP, DiHom (Pract)

 What does pandemic really mean?
A pandemic used to mean that out breaks of a new strain of a virus have been reported, that it spread quickly from person to person, affected a large number of people globally and resulted in a number of deaths.  However the World Health Organization changed its definition of pandemic, leaving out a few key points.[1]  Now all that needs to happen in order to declare a pandemic is a new strain of a virus begins to circulate, (something that is common with influenza naturally, and has been for centuries) and spreads to more than one WHO region like Europe to Canada for example.[2]  With the definition being this vague, you can expect to hear of a lot more ‘pandemics’ over the years to come, even if not one person dies.
 
Why do we only hear of influenza pandemics?
When searching the WHO’s policies on pandemics, it’s almost impossible to find the term in relation to any other illness other than influenza. 
Infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis may easily cause pandemic-like situations as defined by the WHO, however policy-making, reporting and information provided by the WHO focuses almost exclusively on influenza. The 6 stage pandemic scale only refers to influenza, no other illness.[2] Tuberculosis for example, which presently has new strains appearing, would not trigger the WHO’s 6 level pandemic alert system, even though TB was responsible for 1.6 million deaths worldwide in 2005 alone.[3]
How dangerous is the H1N1 pandemic?
Health experts around the world have determined the H1N1 version of influenza circulating this year to be no worse than the symptoms associated with common strains of flu that appear in a normal season.[4]  The southern hemisphere’s flu season showed that while the H1N1 strain may have been the most common strain of influenza that circulated, the numbers turned out to be the same as a normal influenza year.[5]  This means, that like any other year, people on rare occasion will die from the flu, the vast majority of those will have an underlying chronic disease.  To put the number of deaths from H1N1 into perspective, you have a 1 in 1.5 million chance of dying from the H1N1 flu, and a 1 in 500 000 chance of being killed by an asteroid.[6]
How common is the flu?
The reality is most illnesses that cause flu-like symptoms are actually caused by something else, something entirely unrelated to the flu.  Health Canada claims “Influenza (or flu) is a common respiratory illness affecting millions of Canadians each year.”[7]  However, Cochrane researcher Tom Jefferson (Health Canada frequently refers to studies written by him) reported “Approximately 7 percent of influenza-like illness cases are caused by influenza viruses. It's a very small percentage.”[8]  When you look at Canada’s numbers for 2007-2008, a measly 10% of every case sent to the lab to be tested for influenza actually ended up being influenza.  The other 90% were caused by one of over 200 other culprits such as Rhinoviruses, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Adenoviruses, Legionella, Mycoplasma Pneumoniae, and Streptococcus Pneumoniae to name a few.  And only 12 000 cases were actually confirmed to be caused by influenza last year across the entire country, that’s only .03% of the population.  Even if the numbers were 100 times that, a very unlikely scenario indeed, only 3.5% of the population would actually catch influenza that year.
So far this year, from August 30 to October 17th 2009, there have been 40 945 cases of suspected influenza sent to the lab (influenza-like illness) and only 1530 cases, or 3.7% of the total suspected influenza cases were caused by the pandemic strain of H1N1.  An overwhelming 20 450 cases were caused by RSV while 19 365 cases were caused by Para Influenza Virus, both of which are virally unrelated to influenza.

Does vaccinating against the flu help keep infection numbers low?
Health Canada refers to mass vaccination against influenza as the cornerstone of our influenza plan.  However when you read the source information they use to write their annual Statement on Influenza Vaccination report, something interesting appears.   The Cochrane review from which Health Canada gleans all of their statistics on vaccine effectiveness begins with the opening statement: “There is not enough evidence to decide whether routine vaccination to prevent influenza in healthy adults is effective.”  And went on to say “It did not change the number of people needing to go to hospital or take time off work.”[9]
A similar review published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) concludes, “in healthy people under 65 vaccination did not affect hospital stay, time off work, or death from influenza and its complications.”[10]  The same BMJ review reported, “In children under 2 years inactivated vaccines had the same field efficacy as placebo”.  For those with lung issues “reviews found no evidence of an effect in patients with asthma or cystic fibrosis”. 
What about the elderly? Those studies produced widely inaccurate results from “no effect against influenza or influenza-like illness to a large effect (up to 60%) in preventing all-cause mortality”.  However interesting the claim is that an influenza vaccine could prevent all-cause mortality (including the above mentioned asteroid hit), this review, the most intensive review of influenza vaccination effectiveness available, made it clear there isn’t enough research to prove vaccine effectiveness in this group or any other for that matter.
What’s the harm in getting a shot in the arm just in case?
As in previous years, all the influenza vaccinations (including the H1N1 shot for adults and children) purchased by Health Canada for the 2009 – 2010 season contain Thimerasol, a preservative that contains the known neurotoxin mercury, which easily accumulates in the body.[11]  Other chemicals in this year’s Fluviral seasonal vaccine include “Formaldehyde, Egg protein, Virus: Influenza, Sodium deoxycholate, Triton X-100”.[12]  The last ingredient, Triton X-100 is a commercial detergent to which “Toxicology [has not been] fully investigated.” However, “The product may contain traces of ethylene oxide or dioxane, which are probable human carcinogens.”[13]  Formaldehyde, another known carcinogen is also of concern, because of its “toxicity, and volatility, exposure to formaldehyde is a significant consideration for human health.”[14]  The only exception is the seasonal Influvac vaccine for children under the age of 18, which does not contain thimerasol this year however it still contains; “Formaldehyde, Sodium chloride, Potassium dihydrogen phosphate, Disodium phosphate dehydrate, Potassium chloride, Egg protein, Calcium chloride, Magnesium chloride hexahydrate, Virus: Influenza.”[15]
Haven’t vaccines been studied for safety?
To some extent their manufacturers have studied vaccines as part of the approval process.  However when you take a closer look at all the safety studies that have been conducted, only one clinical trial was done to test vaccine safety for children, which involved only 35 children aged 12-28 months from which all safety of influenza vaccination is based on for children under the age of 18 [10], a fact that most parents and pediatricians I’m sure are unaware of.  For healthy adults “despite a dataset of several million observations, safety was only reported in five randomized controlled trials (2963 observations in total) on local and systemic adverse events seen within a week of giving parenteral inactivated vaccine.”10  This lack of safety data, especially in regards to children and long-term effects, makes it impossible to claim seasonal flu vaccines are safe enough to administer to anyone.
How safe is the pandemic H1N1 vaccine?
The WHO warns “new technologies are involved in the production of some pandemic vaccines, which have not yet been extensively evaluated for their safety in certain population groups”[16] The new technologies being referred to are vaccine adjuvants MF59 or ASO3, both of which contain squalene, both of which have never been approved for use in Canada or the US.  The director of the WHO’s Initiative for Vaccine Research said “You are absolutely right that safety data, [on adjuvants] at least in terms of numbers are lacking in certain population groups. You mentioned the children, certainly there are no data in children more than 6 months old and less than 3 years, there are no data in pregnant women, there are no data in asthmatics, so there are quite a number of populations for which there are no data.”[17]
The unapproved ASO3 is to be used in GlaxoSmithKlein’s H1N1 vaccine purchased by Canada.[18]  Adjuvants like these are said to supercharge the development of antibodies, allowing manufacturers to use less virus in every vaccine, resulting in substantially greater numbers of vaccines available for sale and distribution.  Squalene, the active ingredient in these two adjuvants, is found naturally in small quantities in the nervous system, brain and joints.
Major problems begin when the body develops antibodies to squalene during the supercharged antibody response after injection.  Antibodies against a substance naturally found in the brain and nervous system tissue cause the body to attack this vital tissue as it would a virus or bacterial invader. [19] Research already shows that injecting squalene-based adjuvants into the body can cause lupus erythematosus, crippling arthritis, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and multiple sclerosis in humans and rats.[20]
Extensive study on Gulf War syndrome revealed the detrimental effect squalene had in the anthrax vaccine.  Symptoms of Gulf War syndrome include; fatigue, persistent headaches, muscle aches/pains, neurological symptoms e.g. tingling and numbness in limbs, cognitive dysfunction - short term memory loss, mood and sleep disturbances - depression, anxiety, insomnia, dermatological symptoms - skin rashes, unusual hair loss, respiratory symptoms, chemical sensitivities, gastrointestinal symptoms, cardiovascular symptoms, seizures, Systemic Lupis, ALS and Multiple Sclerosis. [21] [22]  They noticed in those who suffered from Gulf War syndrome following anthrax vaccination containing the adjuvant showed antibodies towards squalene, which resulted in the body attacking vital brain and nerve tissue containing natural squalene, permanently impairing brain and nerve function.
What methods other than vaccines are overlooked?
A landmark study was recently published in Cuba by the Finlay Institute on the use of a specific homeopathic used to successfully prevent Leptospirosis in 2.5 million Cubans during an epidemic in 2007.  The Finlay Institute is one of the most recognized conventional vaccine researchers internationally.  In addition to conventional vaccines for international sale, they also make many drugs and vaccines prescribed to Cuban citizens as part of Cuba’s government funded health care system.  This means it’s in the Finlay’s best interest to find the most effective preventatives and medications at the lowest cost to manufacture.  This unique situation led the Finlay Institute into researching alternatives to pharmaceuticals and vaccines, making them to date the biggest facility worldwide dedicated to research, development and production of homeopathics, especially homeoprophylaxis for prevention of infectious diseases in epidemics.
Leptospirosis epidemics caused by floods during hurricane season affect millions of people in Cuba yearly. Leptospirosis bacteria can cause inflammation to the spinal column and brain leading to meningitis as well as swelling of the liver, jaundice and renal failure.  Usual numbers place those who become ill in the thousands with a number of deaths reported yearly.  In October of 2007 flooding in the eastern region of Cuba caused water sources of these regions to become contaminated with the bacteria.  Instead of conventional vaccination, “the Finlay Institute prepared a leptospira nosode 200 CH [homeopathic medicine made from leptospira] using 4 circulating strains and following international quality standards.”[28]   The homeopathic nosode was given orally in two doses to 2.4 million people (95% of the population involved in the epidemic) shortly after the outbreak began.  “The epidemiology surveillance after the intervention showed a dramatic decrease of morbidity two weeks after and a reduction to zero of mortality of hospitalized patient. The number of confirmed leptospirosis cases remains at low levels and below the expected levels according with the trends and rain regimens.” Results showing a reduction of mortality to zero two weeks after administration was unheard of with the conventional leptospirosis vaccine.
Not only did this study prove that homeoprophylaxis is a highly effective way to prevent illnesses during epidemics that surpassed conventional vaccines, it did so at low manufacturing cost and did not cause any side effects.  Conventional vaccines for leptospirosis usually cost the Cuban government over $3,000,000 US dollars to develop, a number that is much lower considering the government pays for manufacturing costs only, and does not need to purchase these vaccines from an outside company looking for a profit.  It cost only $200,000 US dollars to develop 5 million oral Homeoprophylaxis doses for distribution.[29]
Other beneficial steps to illness prevention are as follows:
Wash your hands often with regular soap for 15 seconds, and avoid using antibacterial products and soaps around the house as it results in resistant strains of bacteria.
Eat well, focus on ‘real’ food, not processed.
Drink plenty of good quality water, even in the winter as dry air dehydrates the body quickly and can lead to cracks in our mucus membranes increasing the chance of contracting an illness.
Maintain a balanced lifestyle, and manage stress and emotional issues as they surface and exercise regularly.
Avoid conventional vaccines.
If you still feel it necessary to take something to prevent influenza, consider taking a homeoprophylaxis called ‘Influenzinum 200c” which can be purchased at many local health stores, or provided annually from your Homeopathic Dr.
Ansley Simpson, Dr. DM, DHHP, DiHom (Pract)

To read full article please click here. 
 
References:
[1] Johann Grolle and Veronika Hackenbroch, “Interview with Epidemiologist Tom Jefferson 'A Whole Industry Is Waiting For A Pandemic'” Spiegel Online International http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,637119,00.html (07/21/2009)
[2] World Health Organization Global Alert and Response, Current WHO phase of pandemic alert http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/ (2009)
[3] World Health Organization Media Center, Tuberculosis http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en/ (March 2007)
[4] CNN Health.com, Karl Penhaul, John Vause, Diana Magnay, Pauline Choo Swine flu no worse than regular flu, Napolitano says http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/04/swine.flu.main/index.html
[5] CTV News, Southern hemisphere offers swine flu lessons, http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090904/flu_update_... (Tue May 5, 2009)
[6] Live Science, Environment, The Odds of Dying, http://www.livescience.com/environment/050106_odds_of_dying.html (Jan, 06, 2005)
[7] Health Canada, Health Concerns, Influenza (flu) http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/dc-ma/influenza-eng.php (09/22/2009)
[8] Johann Grolle and Veronika Hackenbroch, “Interview with Epidemiologist Tom Jefferson 'A Whole Industry Is Waiting For A Pandemic'” Spiegel Online International http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,637119,00.html (07/21/2009)
[9] The Cochrane Collaboration Cochrane Reviews, Demicheli V, Di Pietrantonj C, Jefferson T, Rivetti A, Rivetti D, Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults
 http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab001269.html (Jan 09, 2006)
[10] BMJ, Tom Jefferson, Influenza vaccination, policy vs. evidence http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7574/912#TBL2 2006;333:912-915 (28 October)
[11] Public Health Agency of Canada, Thymerisol, Updated Statement, Canadian Communicable Disease Report An Advisory Committee Statement, http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/07vol33/acs-06/index-eng.php Volume 33 • ACS-6
1 July 2007
[12] World Association for Vaccine Education, Fluviral, Fluviral S/F Influenza Virus Vaccine Trivalent, Inactivated Whole-Virion Active, http://www.novaccine.com/specific-vaccines/vaccine.asp?v_id=16
[13] Material Safety Data Sheet, Safety data for Triton X-100, http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/TR/triton_X-100.html (January 8, 2009)
[14] Wikipedia, Formaldehyde, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formaldehyde
[15] World Association for vaccine Education, Influvac -  Influenza vaccine, surface antigen, inactivated, http://www.novaccine.com/specific-vaccines/vaccine.asp?v_id=16
[16] World Health Organization Global Alert and Response, WHO recommendations on pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccines http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_vaccine_20090713/en/
[17] World Health Organization, Transcript of virtual press conference with
Gregory Hartl, WHO Spokesperson for Global Alert and Response
and Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research,
http://www.who.int/entity/mediacentre/pandemic_h1n1_presstranscript_2009... (13 July 2009)
[18] The Washington Post, Rob Stein, Swine Flu Campaign Waits on Vaccine http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/22/AR200908... (Sunday, August 23 2009)
[19] Gary Matsumoto, Vaccine A-The Covert Government Experiment That’s Killing our Soldiers and Why GI’s are Only the First Victims
[20] Vaccination Risk Awareness Network, Edda West, The Terrifying World Of Vaccine Adjuvants http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/news.php?start=2760&end=2780&view=yes&... - newspost (Monday July 20, 2009)
[21] The Environmental Illness Resource, Gulf War Syndrome, and overview http://www.ei-resource.org/illness-information/environmental-illnesses/g...
[22] Viera Scheibner Ph.D, ADVERSE EFFECTS OF ADJUVANTS IN VACCINES  http://www.whale.to/vaccine/adjuvants.html (Dec 2000)
[23] World Health Organization Global Alert and Response, Safety of pandemic vaccines
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_safety_vaccines_20090... (6 August 2009)
[24] Public Health Agency of Canada, Vaccine Development Process
 http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alert-alerte/h1n1/h1n1bck-eng.php (2009, 06, 11)
[25] The New York Times, Health, Andrew Pollack, Fear of a Swine Flu Epidemic in 1976 Offers Some Lessons, and Concerns, Today http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/health/09vaccine.html (May 8, 2009)
[26] The Star, Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press, Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe
 http://www.thestar.com/article/593439 (Thu Feb 26 2009)
[27] European Medicines Agency, EPARs for authorised medicinal products for human use, Daronrix http://www.emea.europa.eu/humandocs/Humans/EPAR/daronrix/daronrix.htm (11/04/07)
[28] Official Homeopathy Resource, Dr. Concepción Campa, Dr. Luis E. Varela, Dr. Esperanza Gilling, MCs. Rolando Fernández, Tec. Bárbara Ordaz, Dr. Gustavo Bracho, Dr. Luis García, Dr. Jorge Menéndez, Lic. Natalia Marzoa, Dr. Rubén Martínez. Summary of Cuban Experiences on Leptospirosis Prevention From the Authors,
 http://homeopathyresource.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/summary-of-cuban-experiences-on-leptospirosis-prevention-from-the-authors/ (January 17, 2009)
[29] Official Homeopathy Resource, Successful Use of Homeopathy In Over 2.5 Million People Reported From Cuba
 http://homeopathyresource.wordpress.com/2009/01/01/successful-use-of-homeopathy-in-over-5-million-people-reported-from-cuba/ (January 1, 2009)
[30] Pharmamanufacturing.com, Who is Manufacturing the Swine Flu Vaccine?
 http://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/industrynews/2009/149.html (09/03/2009)
[31] Medical News Today, Epidemic Influenza And Vitamin D
 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.php (15 Sep 2006)
[32] The Vitamin D Council, John Jacob Cannell, Am I Vitamin D Deficient?
 http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/deficiency/am-i-vitamin-d-deficient.shtml (2008/10/01)