Avoid the Swine Flu Vaccine — And Boost Your
Own
Immunity
By Len Saputo, MD and Stacia Lansman, MD
with Byron Belitsos
Our nearly seventy combined years of practicing medicine has taught us this, if
anything: Be wary whenever “big pharma” is part of any health campaign from
which it stands to profit. And this is all the more true when it comes to emergency
immunizations like the coming swine flu vaccine. Like most everything else in
modern medicine that concerns pharmaceuticals, the swine flu scare is surrounded
by worrying signs of questionable science, corporate-dominated politics, and
obvious conflicts of interest—in this case on a global scale.
The first and cardinal point to understand is that, at the moment, the current
strain of swine flu is not more dangerous than the average flu; in fact, if corrected
for seasonal variation, far more people die from
regular
influenza virus every day.
About 100 people on average die daily from the ordinary flu in the U.S. according
to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics. Yet this number is
more than ten times the rate of death from H1N1
worldwide
since its outbreak in
April. (1)
Further, there is no firm evidence that a more virulent strain of H1N1 is likely
to evolve. And even if such a new strain
does
emerge, the current vaccine soon to
be distributed worldwide will most likely be useless against it. That scenario
would require the creation of a new vaccine to fight this new strain. Manufacturing
and distributing such an updated vaccine, even under emergency conditions, would
take at the very best four months. This doesn’t even take into consideration the
safety issues with a vaccine that is hurried into use without sufficient testing.
Thus, for these and other reasons we detail below, we counsel readers—as we
do our patients—to avoid participating in the vaccination program soon to be
under way, even when it is directed at your children. Further, in light of the
outbreak that is expected this fall, bear in mind that the best Rx for preventing or
dealing with any sort of infection is to follow well-known guidelines to boost
one’s own immunity, as indicated later in this article. As you begin to confront the
decision to get immunized against the H1N1 virus, get yourself and your family to
peak health, do your own research, and ask probing questions of public health
officials and the media before getting inoculated with these largely untested
vaccines.
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DOUBTS ABOUT THE SAFETY OF SWINE FLU IMMUNIZATION
Among the questions we all need to ask is: Is it possible that the new H1N1
vaccine now in production may be more dangerous than the swine flu itself? One
thing is for sure: By the time it is administered in October, we will not have had
sufficient time for adequate clinical trials. We can also be sure that the vaccine will
contain potentially dangerous “adjuvants” (such as squalene) that manipulate the
immune system to boost its potency.
In statements made to health professionals in late August, the CDC openly
admitted a significant safety problem: It told them to assume that one in every
100,000 vaccine recipients will suffer serious side effects, resulting in as many as
30,000 serious or potentially lethal adverse reactions to the H1N1 vaccine.(2)
Warnings like this bring to mind a chilling precedent: During the great swine
flu scare of 1976, 46 million Americans took the vaccine offered at the time, and
over 4,000 ended up seeking damages which amounted to $3.5 billion. The
situation that led to this shocking scenario in 1976 is eerily similar to the current
scare. In those days, the CDC pushed for nationwide inoculation while yet
admitting there were no confirmed cases of the flu. The program was suspended
after it became clear that the vaccine was far more dangerous than the threat of the
flu itself; only one person died from the flu, while 25 people perished because of
the vaccine, and hundreds suffered from a debilitating type of paralysis known as
the Guillain-Barre Syndrome. (3)
The current mass campaign is even more ambitious than the ill-fated 1976
effort. In the coming weeks, health officials will almost certainly deploy the
setting of local schools as the locus of swine flu vaccination for Americans,
beginning with children. The last time such a drastic nationwide immunization
program occurred was in the mid-1950s, when the Salk vaccine was introduced.
This is a truly historic moment in public health.
The problem is that we can’t completely trust public health officials.
Dr. Len Saputo’s new book,
A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform
and the Future of Medicine,
documents how pharmaceutical companies routinely
profit off of unsafe and ineffective products—usually with complicity from
government officials, who are easily manipulated. And now Congress is doing it
again. It gave $1 billion to swine flu vaccine makers in May, while granting them
an exemption from the normal FDA licensing process. Pharma has learned lessons
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from numerous class action suits, so it also made sure that the swine flu legislation
grants it immunity against liability for side effects from the new vaccine. The
result is that these vaccine makers stand to make between $10 and 20 billion in the
global market for swine flu vaccines, with no responsibility for tens of thousands
of likely casualties! Increased sales of Tamiflu will also no doubt result from the
scare tactics used by World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC.
DISTURBING QUESTIONS REMAIN
The WHO has labeled the H1N1 virus “unstoppable” and calls the threat a Level 6
pandemic, its highest possible classification; it is in fact the first influenza
pandemic since 1968. But the term
pandemic only refers to prevalence
, that is, the
spread of the virus to multiple countries and regions. Unfortunately, the
phenomenon of the rapid spread of H1N1 has led many to overlook a key
distinction: the difference between the threat posed by the appearance of a disease
in multiple locations, and its severity. It would be terrifying if this pandemic was
causing widespread morbidity and mortality; however, it appears that WHO and
the CDC are tracking an illness that is no more severe than an ordinary cold!
Clinical experience also raises questions: Dr. Stacia Lansman, MD, a pediatric
integrative specialist, describes this swine flu as one of the mildest she has seen in
years. She states, “the children I have seen with swine flu this summer are just not
that sick. To consider a mass vaccination program aimed at children is dangerous
and misguided. The safety of this vaccine is not proven and children, with their
developing brains and organ systems, are among the most vulnerable when it
comes to vaccinations. I wouldn’t give it my children or recommend it to my
patients.”
Many have charged that this mandatory vaccine is a thinly veiled attempt to
exaggerate and capitalize on a relatively innocuous pandemic in order to enrich the
coffers of US pharmaceutical and security corporations. While not necessarily
supporting such allegations, we once again invite Americans to stand back and
question the prevailing government line.
Nor would we entirely dismiss internet rumors that point to the possibility that
the swine flu is a genetically engineered virus. This virus continues to be an
unprecedented enigma for virologists. In the April 30, 2009 issue of
Nature
, a
virologist was quoted as saying, ‘Where the hell it got all these genes from we
don’t know.’” Extensive analysis of the virus has revealed that it contains the
original 1918 H1N1 flu virus; the avian flu virus (bird flu); and two new H3N2
virus genes from Eurasia—a rather unlikely blend of elements.
Last but not least is the issue of the safety of Thimerosal, a mercurycontaining
compound used to keep multiple-dose vials of swine flu vaccines
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SWINE FLU PREVENTIVE MEASURES
FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS
______
Dr. Lansman has had excellent results in preventing and managing flu
symptoms with a range of vitamins, supplements, herbs, and homeopathic
preparations. Her basic recommendations include 400 IUs of vitamin D each
day for infants and toddlers, and 800 IU daily for older children. She also
recommends Elderberry once daily and one dose of homeopathic
Oscillococinnum each month. Dr. Saputo’s recommendations for adults
include the following:
•
Adopt a healthy lifestyle: adequate sleep, good diet, regular exercise,
avoid stress
•
Get plenty of sunshine, or supplement to keep vitamin D levels
adequate
•
Wash your hands frequently with water
•
Consider boosting immunity with vitamin C, beta glucans, echinacea,
vitamin A, maitake and shitake mushroom extracts, minerals such as
selenium and zinc, certain herbs such as olive leaf extract and garlic,
and homeopathic remedies.
FOOTNOTES
(1) See current statistics and official background information on H1N1 at the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention website at this link:
http://www.cdc.gov/H1n1flu/update.htm
(2) Herb Newborg, “CDC States H1N1 Vaccine May Maim and Kill 30,000 Americans,
FDA Requires Minimal Efficacy,”
Global Research
, August 28, 2009.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14950
(3) For the whole story, watch this video of a 1979 episode of
60 Minutes
:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/07/16/Major-Expose-on-Swine-
Flu-by-60-Minutes.aspx
(4) Declan Butler, “Swine flu goes global: New influenza virus tests pandemic
emergency preparedness,”
Nature
458, 1082-1083 (April 29, 2009).
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090429/full/4581082a.html
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Len Saputo, MD, a graduate of Duke University Medical School, is founder and director
of the Health Medicine Center, Walnut Creek, CA (
www.HealthMedicineForum.org
),
A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of
(Origin Press, 2009). See www.AReturnToHealing.com
.
www.pediatricalternatives.com
.
