Flu Vaccine Controversy - Should you Get Vaccinated or Not?

Hi Everyone!

How many of you have gotten the flu this season already? How many of you have gotten the flu vaccine?

I get asked all the time “should I get a flu shot?”  I can’t tell you what to do with your own health and I don’t prescribe, but I can tell you this: I have never had a flu vaccine and I avoid them like the plague! (And I haven’t missed a day of work in over 5 years). This comes from my personal experience, reading, and experiences of my colleagues.  But, with all the recent outbreaks and media coverage on the subject I thought I’d look a little closer at some of the research. Here’s what I found out:

Flu Vaccine Inherent Risks

There are always risks involved in getting any vaccination, you are after all injecting a small amount of the virus into your body. This can end up impacting your immune system or even give you the virus. I work hard to keep my immune system functioning optimally: I choose not to expose it to things that will knock it down or knock it out.

“Other Ingredients” in Flu Vaccines

Did you know there are other ingredients in a vaccine?  The “other” ingredients are also known as adjuvants. I looked at the package insert for two different well known brands (Agriflu by Novartis and Fluarix by GlaxoSmithKline) and one Material Safety Data Sheet for a common adjuvant manufacturer (AddaVax). Here’s what’s in there:

• Detergent, formaldehyde, preservative, hydrocortisone, antibiotic like gentamicin, kanamycin and neomycin, ovalbumin, embryonic hens eggs, barium, and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (I’m not sure what this last one is exactly, but a safety warning mentions that it is a skin and eye irritant and harmful if swallowed).
• The Material Safety Data Sheet mentions that protective gloves and eyewear must be used and that you should avoid contact with skin, eyes and clothing.
• The toxicological and ecological warnings say “no data available”.
• The syringe itself contains latex.

What can you do?

I could go on and on (this doesn’t even touch on all the side effects reported), but I don’t feel that toxic chemicals and virus strains grown on chicken embryos belong in my body. If your doctor recommends that you get a flu vaccine, I challenge you to engage in some discussion about the ingredients and give some thought to what you are really injecting into your body and the bodies of our children.

Finally, there are a lot of things you can do to boost your immune system naturally and ward off cold and flu symptoms. I recommend you keep some good homeopathic remedies on hand for when you are feeling like you are “coming down with a bug.”  These medicines are extremely effective when taken at the first signs of cold or flu symptoms. I’ve had a lot of success with Boiron and recommend their products:

1. Oscillococcinum
2. Coldcalm
3. Sinusalia
4. Roxalia
5. Arnica 30C (pellets or gel, not pictured)

If you have any questions about these products, or would like to pick some up to have during this cold and flu season, just reply to this newsletter and we will gladly have some available for you!

Yours in health
Dr. Michelle