Every October we are urged to have the influenza (flu) vaccine. We receive ours at a local hospital health fair. Many hospital health fairs offer it for free. While attending our local hospital health fair, I stopped to talk to someone I knew. My husband continued to walk by. I was asked “Did he have the shot?” I said yes, we both did. My husband works in many different hospitals and labs. His employer requires that their employees have this vaccine yearly. He has to have a form signed to pass onto his employer. Most hospital employees, as well as their volunteers, are required to have this vaccine.  I knew there was a hot debate over vaccines. Many books are written about it. We have never had problems or side effects from it. Or any other vaccination. However, I decided to look into this controversy.

It is my personal observation that when a controversy exits so does assumption. Putting a fear over the controversial issue. Yes, people can have side effects to vaccines as well as medications. Yet more and more children aren’t being vaccinated. If people aren’t near a free hospital health fair, many parents can’t afford this type of illness prevention.  Not being vaccinated is also part of religious practices. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the percentage of U.S. children under 2 years old who haven’t received any recommended vaccinations quadrupled in the past 17 years.

Among children born in 2015, 1.3 percent had not received any of the suggested vaccinations, according to an analysis from 2017 data. This was reported by the Washington Post. It wasn’t said what side effects occurred from not having the vaccine.

Amanda Cohn, a pediatrician and CDC’s senior advisor for vaccines explained that “If the same proportion of children born in 2016 haven’t received any vaccinations, about 100,000 children who are now less than 2 years old aren’t protected against 14 potentially serious vaccine-preventable diseases.”

Florida state health officials confirmed that one child died after contracting the flu. The unidentified child tested positive for the influenza B virus and died between September 30 and October 6, 2018.

During the 2017-18 flu season, eight children died from the flu. None of them had received the flu vaccine, according to officials at the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Epidemiology. Because of privacy concerns further details weren’t given. So far, the highest number of deaths of children who died from the flu in recent years occurred  in 2009-10 numbering 282.

Some might say that our governmental health agencies such as the CDC are biased. But they do report facts. Deaths are public record. There is accurate data about flu deaths in children because states are required to report this information to the CDC. For adult flu-related deaths, there is a yearly estimate based on validation methods of population health. However, some public organizations use estimates that include pneumonia or flu-related complications, while some do not include these in the number of flu deaths.

Most deaths are caused by complications from the flu, including pneumonia or a secondary bacterial infection of the head or brain. Younger children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems are at greater risk. Children who have asthma, diabetes or other chronic medical conditions are more susceptible to acute respiratory difficulties resulting from the flu infection. Yet, even healthy children without any underlying medical conditions or immune deficiency can get a severe flu infection. These infections can advance rapidly or can cause prolonged illness potentially resulting in death.

The CDC recommends getting 29 doses of 9 vaccines (plus the yearly flu shot after six months old) for kids aged up to 6 years of age. No U.S. federal laws mandate vaccination, but all 50 states require certain vaccinations for children entering public schools. Most states require certain vaccinations for children entering public schools. Most states offer medical and religious exemptions; and some states allow philosophical exemptions.

Proponents say that vaccinations are safe and one of the greatest health developments of the 20th century. They point out that illnesses, including rubella, diphtheria, smallpox, polio and whooping cough, are now prevented by vaccinations and millions of children’s lives are saved. They claim that adverse reactions to vaccines are extremely rare.

Opponents say that children’s immune systems can deal with most infections naturally, and that injecting questionable vaccine ingredients into a child may cause side effects, including seizures, paralysis, and death. They say that numerous studies prove that vaccines may trigger problems like autism, ADHD, and diabetes. Yet other research say that children have died without getting the flu vaccine as mentioned above. I wonder if these conditions already started before having the vaccine. Or any vaccination?

Elimination of any disease means that the disease is not present in a region, while eradication means that the disease does not exist anywhere globally. Smallpox was declared globally eradicated in 1980, the first and only disease to be eradicated thus far. Polio was declared eliminated in the United States in 1979 and in the Western Hemisphere in 1994.

The World Health Organization states that eradication and elimination is the product of vaccination programs that promote high rates of inoculation, while those opposed to vaccination state that better sanitation and clean water led to the elimination of the diseases.

I asked my functional medicine doctor why he thought vaccinations are dangerous in adults as well as children. He said, “the main difference is the end product risk. In children since their nervous system is still developing it affects their ability to develop normally which is why we see the tendency towards central nervous system issues (Autism, Aspergers, Motor Ticks, etc.) and various processing disorders. In adults it affects another portion of the same systems but since its developed it manifests as things like Guillian-Barre syndrome or other disorders related to demyelination.” He provides specific tests to determine toxic overload that any of us might have accumulated.

The data on the association between Guillian Barre Syndrome (GBS) and the seasonal flu vaccination are variable and inconsistent across the flu season. If there is an increased risk of GBS following the flu vaccination, it is small, on the order of one to two additional GBS cases per million doses of flu vaccine. This is according to the CDC. People can develop GBS after having the flu or other infections such as Epstein Barr virus. To study whether a new vaccine might be causing GBS, the CDC would compare the usual rate of GBS to the observed rate of GBS in persons getting vaccinated.

In a report from JAMA it said that from 1990 to 2003 the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) rates of GBS after influenza vaccination decreased. The long onset interval and low prevalence of other preexisting illnesses are consistent with a possible causal association between GBS and influenza vaccine. These finding require additional research, which can lead to a fuller understanding of the causes of GBS and its possible relationship with influenza vaccine. This came from JAMA’s 2004, November 24;292(20):2478-81 issue.

Flu vaccines contain numerous ingredients in very small quantities. They often include a deactivated flu virus. Each of the ingredients work together to ensure that the vaccine is safe and effective. The ingredients are updated every year. Trying to find the right mix of ingredients to fight the strongest flu season is very hard to predict.

Different forms of the flu vaccine can have slightly different ingredients. It is also available as a nasal spray as many people fear needles.

The nasal spray contains live viruses that have been weakened and are therefore not harmful. The CDC did not recommend the use of nasal spray for the 2017-2018 flu season.

Bottom Line

The bottom line to all controversy is to get checked out by your medical doctor or an alternative medical professional. We are all biologically different. We are all subject to many different toxins and bacteria. We live with them in our environment, inside our homes and out! What one person or a group of people react too isn’t the case for everybody!

It is my personal opinion that we need to go beyond any organization that generates what might become controversial issues. It is crucial to find the underlying cause of how you or anyone will react to injections or other types of medications. If at all possible work with your doctor, mainstream medical and/or alternative. There may be tests available that might narrow down our risks! We need to know how we will react, not the total population.