December 1998 News Letter

Flu Vaccine - Friend or Foe?

Today’s media is flooding us with information and programs to get that flu shot. But is is really safe?

What is in a flu vaccine anyway?

• Formaldehyde: a known cancer causing agent Thimerosal: (a mercury derivative) used as a preservative in the vaccine, can cause brain injury and autoimmune disease. Also this vaccine is propagated on Chicken embryo cells.

  The problem with using animal cells is that during serial passage of the virus through the animal cells, animal RNA and DNA can be transferred from one host to another and undetected animal viruses may also slip past quality control testing procedures as in 1955 through 1961 with SV40 which stands for Simian Virus #40 (meaning the 40th virus found) which has oncogenic properties (cancer causing) in 1995 a team of Swiss scientist discovered an enzyme, reverse transcriptase (keep in mind reverse transcriptase copies RNA and DNA and is associated with retroviruses) in MMR vaccines and some influenza vaccines that had been propagated in chicken embryos.

How Safe are Flu Vaccines?

• We have all heard of the Swine Flu vaccine disaster of 1976 that left over 565 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome paralysis, as well as other neurological problems and many unexplained deaths among recently vaccinated elderly.

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• Although vaccine manufacturers try to say todays vaccines do not carry the same risk of Guillian-Bare Syndrome as with the Swine Flu vaccine, many cases are still occurring after flu vaccines as well as other neurological problems. In the early 80’s Dr. John Seal of the national Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease was heard stating that “We have to go on the basis that any and all flu vaccines are capable of causing Guillain-Barre”. Flu vaccine product inserts do state that individuals who have a history of Guillian-Barre syndrome have a substantially greater likelihood of subsequently developing Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
  
  
• In 1970 Rosenberg, G.A. in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine wrote about meningoencephalitis being reported as a result of influenza vaccines. He then goes on to describe a case of a patient in which meningoencephalitis developed 12 days after vaccination with a purified influenza vaccine.
  
  
• In an article published in the British Medical Journal in 1971, Wells warns that influenza vaccines may be complicated by a neurological illness. He also presents cases along with a summary of seven other cases.
  
  
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• Other reactions that have been associated with past influenza vaccines are fever, Malaise, Myalgia, hives,angiodema, allergic asthma, systemic anaphylaxis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, encephalopathy, optic neuritis, brachial plexus neuropathy, many different types of paralysis, myletitis polyneuritis (including cases of polyradiculitis, polyradiculomyelitis, and polyganglioradiculitis) Ataxia, respiratory infections, gastro-intestinal problems, eye problems, Allergic thrombocytopenia etc.