Well, since the hysteria that has swept the world since the H1N1 virus first came to public attention last winter, I have been shaking my head. Now it dominates the news everyday and I have to question what exactly is going on...
From the very beginning I was not afraid of this virus. For one, I don't believe in germ theory. Evidence shows that we all have bacteria, viruses, cancerous cells, etc in us, on us, around us all the time. Normally our immune systems function to keep us healthy. When our immune system is depressed, through stress of some kind, either psychological or physical, or we are tired and worn out, then we are susceptible to infection. Studies have shown that those who are exposed to bacteria have healthier immune systems. Surely this mass fear fanned constantly by the media contributes more to depressed immune systems... This article expresses well what I have long believed.
When Kaetlyn was a baby, I came to the conclusion to stop vaccinating. Eryn had her shots to age 5 and Kaetlyn had her first set at 4 months. Andrew and Rhiannon have never been vaccinated. And you know what? Out of our family of 6 - 4 of us have been vaccinated and we all have some kind of auto-immune disease. Dean has asthma and severe allergies. I have hypothyroidism, Eryn has allergies and Kaetlyn has diabetes. Andrew and Rhiannon have none of these things. Of course, I know this is much too small of a sample size to be statistically significant. But it does make me wonder... I think we are doing dangerous damage to our immune system by these vaccinations. I think we need to be sick sometimes to strengthen our immune system.
And there has never been a longterm, statistically significant study looking at the possible side effects of vaccinations or even the effectiveness of them. For their efficacy those who promote vaccines site the fact that diseases like small pox and polio have now been almost eradicated. However, they fail to look at the big picture - like the fact that those diseases were already declining when vaccinations were started. That is called a co-relation and it is not proof. In fact, other diseases have also disappeared that we have not vaccinated for - like scarlet fever and bubonic plague. The fact is that the human immune system adapts over time and develops immunities naturally. Although what is happening now that we are not allowing it to do its job?
Right now in the media they talk as though the flu vaccine has a 100% track record for preventing the flu. Although I am sure everyone reading this post knows someone who has been vaccinated for the flu in the past and got it anyways. This is a very well written article about the usefulness of the vaccine.
Of course talking about children dying and healthy young athletes succumbing to the H1N1 is enough to strike fear in any parent's heart. However, it is just another way we are manipulated by the mass media that it is almost impossible to escape these days. It is news that is way out of perspective. Like if we saw a comparison with how many children die everyday from all causes and then looked at how many are dying from H1N1 we would see a bit more of a balanced picture. And if we looked at just how many children are not dying, who are healthy, maybe we could relax a little. And what if you knew that some of the children who have died for the H1N1 virus were even vaccinated against it? Maybe we could start hugging and shaking hands again...
And I have to ask myself, who is benefiting from all of this? The pharmaceutical companies are making money hand over fist. Their making a killing on this mass hysteria. Doesn't it make you scratch your head just a little bit? While stories about the side effects of the vaccine or the ineffectiveness of it just don't hit mainstream media.
Myself, I would love to turn the radio on and listen to something else other than the H1N1 virus! Enough already!
If you are interested in more about the vaccine, you can find links to several articles here. And you have to check out this article and ask yourself what they know that we don't.
4 comments:
i felt the exact same about the scare going on right now! and you know, every year i got the flu shot i got the flu...just saying. and i decided not to give owen vaccinations after reading up about it, but have been unsure of my decision since then because of what the doctors and nurses have been telling me. now i feel more confident about it. thanks.
i'm pretty sure they want me to talk about it on the radio... they have a big thing on the website about the vaccinations and things. i really don't want to. i want to talk about how silly i think all of it is. people are just ridiculous.
i also read an article in the paper that said only 30% or something of bc residents were planning on getting vaccinated. and even less were worried about themselves or a loved one getting the virus.
it has been blown WAY out of proportion.
actually, scarlet fever is just strep throat with a rash and is still around. i spoke to my dr about h1n1 and she said that she'd gotten it 6 weeks prior and still had a cough so bad that she threw up regularly. she also said that she had seen 6 people that morning with flu symptoms and they all tested positive for h1n1. she said it was the only flu virus going around and that everyone would get it this year because it is so prevalent. she did say that for some people the only symptom is a runny nose...she said if she had kids, she would vaccinate them and that the risks of complications from h1n1 are a thousand times higher than the risk of complications from the vaccination.
Hey Katie, the thing is that the vaccine is not especially effective at preventing the flu and the longterm health effects of being vaccinated have never been properly studied. Also, I think you might have some misinformation. According to CBC Dr's offices are not allowed to test for H1N1, only if you have been admitted to the hospital. Also, the H1N1 test takes 48 hours so there is no way she could have had test results from that morning. Another interesting fact is that those who are not vaccinated but develop immunities by getting the flu occasionally, have more resistance to the flu than those who are vaccinated.
But of course, we each have to make these decisions for ourselves and our families - and we each should listen to our gut feelings about it, I think. Thank God we live in a place where we have that freedom!
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