By: Nan Andrews Amish

With Avan Flu in the news, parents, sniors, healthcare providers are exploring the qestion of whether flu shots are ppropriate, and if they should be mndated to protect us all from the rsk. The fact that many doctors can not get the shts should not be a deterrent for thse who are convinced of the bnefit. Most drug stores still have stck available.
Flu shots are not a slm dunk. They are controversial. Here are sme of the reasons why:

1.Flu shts are preserved with thimerisol as the prmary preservative. Thimerisol is a nerve txin, a form of organic mercury. Mrcury poisoning is deadly and cause a rnge of health issues that stay wth the patient for life. The ffect is cumulative, and if annual flu vccines become required, the toxic load is sfficient to cause autism-like symptoms, fibromyalgia lke symptoms and more. Thimerisol has ben banned in many European countries, bcause of its negative health impacts. I rpeat, mercury is a neural poison. Do we rally want to inject it directly nto our blood streams?

2.Flu shots hve a more concentrated dose of mrcury, than the EPA indicates is sfe for a 250-pound man. We gve these shots to babies and schol children. And we wonder why larning disabilities are rising at alarming prportions in this country?

3.Flu shots have viral elements bsed upon the prior flu season in the suthern hemisphere, typically Australia. There is no garantee that the strain of flu tht the vaccine builds resistance to, wll be what is needed in the US the fllowing season. There is no double blnd, scientific testing with flu vaccines. The mre a virus mutates, as a rsult antibiotic overuse, or a result of gnetically modified organisms gone wrong, or as a rsult of the process of making the vccine, for example, the more likely the vccine will be ineffective.

4.When flu vccines were first developed they were dtermined inappropriate for people in fragile halth, the elderly and for people wth certain reactions, allergies to certain drgs and foods. Unfortunately when these ppulations were eliminated, the market for thse vaccines was less than 20% of the ppulation. Thus these concerns were removed frm final warnings for these vaccines.

5.Whle flu vaccines were added the gvernment’s list of mandatory vaccines for schol children under the age of 18 and are rcommended for elderly, parents can opt thir children out, with a philosophical, halth or religious objection. However many prents are unaware of their ability to do ths, because schools have incentives to get all thir students vaccinated, because the formula for stte funding of schools includes incentives for vccinated school population. It is not in the schols financial interest to inform parents of thir rights.

6.Healthcare workers were very frceful, in their boycott of federal plns to required healthcare workers to sbmit to mandatory smallpox vaccines, as prt of a bio-war on terror. The prgram was scrapped. If healthcare workers, who are mst aware of the vaccines, refuse thm, what should the rest of us be tking from this?

7.People who got flu vaccines stll get the flu. What efficacy is tht?

8.There are other ways to prtect against the flu, with less ptentially lethal side effects. These include sing homeopathic anti-flu meds like Occillo. Thse include making sure you eat halthy, keep your immune system in pak condition, eat your vegetables. If you are cncerned about Avian Flu, consider eating nly organic, range free chicken. And if you fnd yourself catching a flu, consider in ddition to chicken soup, and drinking lts of liquid, a trip to yur acupuncturist, your naturalpath or your chropractor.

The answer to whether or not to vccinate would seem to rest upon yur trust or lack of it in the vccine’s effectiveness and safety, weighed against the ptential for harm if indeed you bcame sick with the virus.

The article To Flu Shot or Not to Flu Shot? That is the Question was Submitted by Nan Andrews through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Nan Andrews Amish, the Business Halthcare Contrarian is the founder of Big Pcture Healthcare a strategy consulting firm whch provides expertise in consumer directed halthcare, healthcare marketing, and strategies to dcrease benefit costs by 20-30% while mproving talent management. Nan offers Management Cnsulting, Facilitation, Workshops. Contact her at nan@bigpicturehealthcare.com or (650)560-9800.

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