In April, the U.S. Departments of Health and Homeland Security declared the spread of swine flu a national public health emergency. In June, the World Health Organization (WHO) upped the warning to a level 6: a pandemic. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) followed suit and their declaration of a public health emergency has both liberating effects on drug company practices and a limiting effects on our rights.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the "fast-track" creation of experimental drugs and vaccines, meaning these drugs do not have to go through the normal testing period for safety.
This emergency status absolves drug companies of legal responsibility if negative side effects should occur with the use of the drugs.
Legislators, in some states, are passing laws that will allow state officials to enter homes and businesses without consent, investigate and quarantine people, make the administration of the vaccine mandatory and ban the free assembly of citizens.
Scary Numbers
The projected numbers being used to scare people about the swine flu has everyone worried, but how realistic are they?
The WHO reports that, since April 2009, there have been 2000 deaths worldwide due to swine flu, a mortality rate less than the number of lives the ordinary flu takes. Seasonal flu has taken 13,000 lives since January.
A recent poll in New York City found that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have been infected with H1N1, the strain number that the swine flu is known as, yet only 0.1% needed hospitalization.
Although the spread of swine flu has been swift, its symptoms have decreased in severity. The majority of cases are mild, less severe than the seasonal flu, and most people recover after a few days.
Margaret Chan, WHO's director general, cautioned that people shouldn't overreact to the word "pandemic." A pandemic is defined by how fast a new virus spreads, not how severe it is.
More revealing is the fact that 80% of the flu-like illnesses people experience are not caused by the flu itself. Much of the sickness we experience is due to secondary bacterial infections such as strep.
Scientists have found that during the 1918 flu pandemic that killed so many (50-100 million,) Streptococcus pneumonia was at fault for the majority of the deaths. Since strep is much easier to treat today, a pandemic is less likely to be as severe.
Ed Hsu, a professor of public health informatics, is critical of WHO's decision to declare a pandemic.
"I think that WHO could serve the world health better by providing a more evidence-based, sensible 'benchmark' of H1N1 infection."
Hsu says that the 2-billion infection figure projected by WHO does not take medical and health-treatment improvements into account and that his own research suggests the rate of swine flu infection in the US may have already stabilized.
"One could reasonably question the reliability of WHO's statement of mass infection," Hsu asserts. "By making such statement without strong backing, WHO may risk putting its accountability on the line."
Mike Adams, Natural News editor and author of The Bird Flu Hoax, does some number-crunching on swine flu statistics. He claims, that if the vaccine being produced were 100% effective, 200,000 people would have to be vaccinated to prevent 1 death. He also points out that more than one person in 200,000 will die from the vaccine itself and that your chances of being struck by lightning are 40x higher than of having your life saved by the swine flu vaccine.
Adams points out that President Bush predicted 2 million Americans would die of the bird flu and that instead, only 257 people have died from H5N1 worldwide since 2003.
The swine flu first struck in 1976 and a pandemic was predicted then as well. After mass vaccinations, 25 deaths, hundreds of cases of Guillan- Barré syndrome (a disorder in which the body attacks its own nerve cells), and $1.3 billion in claims...the pandemic never came to be.
Pharmaceutical Gain and the "Fast-track"
The pharmaceutical industry will make billions off the production of swine flu vaccines and drugs. Tamiflu sales tripled in the early part of 2009 to $931 million and they are expected to reach $1.86 billion by the end of the year. Mike Adams calculates the swine flu shot at $25 each. The 600 million doses expected to be administered by October will tally up to $15 billion.
Mike Adams believes that swine flu drugs and vaccine side effects will produce even more revenue for companies as more drugs will be needed to combat the fallout in upcoming years.
The FDA drug-testing and approval process usually involves clinical trials and takes about 12 years. Recently, corporate lobbying shortened that time period to about 9 years. The swine flu vaccine? It will be tested for less than 3 months.
The vaccine industry had never been a profitable choice for pharmaceutical companies before now. Pressure for low prices (considering their wide-spread intent) stalled research and investment in vaccines.
In the last 5 years, Homeland Security-inspired terror over biological warfare, diseases such as SARS and the bird flu, and "fast-tracking" has led to increased financial interest in the production of vaccines.
"Fast-tracking" does away with the protocol that requires years of clinical testing on large populations of test subjects. The swine flu vaccine (as is every year's new flu vaccine) is not considered a new drug but a "strain-change" or amendment to an already existing vaccine (the standard flu shot).
Vaccine Effects
A survey of 216 general practitioners found that up to 60% would choose not to get the swine flu vaccine, reporting concern over the lack of trials sufficient to guarantee its safety.
Health officials claim that normal testing periods can't be done in time to protect us from the swine flu's projected seasonal hit.
Most flu vaccines are produced in chicken eggs and the swine flu vaccine is only growing half as fast as other vaccine viruses. Faster mediums than the chicken egg do exist, but research investments hasn't investigated these fully. Instead, the outdated chicken egg method is the method that technology companies have already invested in.
This has led to the application of adjuvants, compounds used to boost the immune response and so require less of the vaccine to work.
Squalene is an adjuvant added to vaccines. Squalene is recognized by the body as an oil molecule native to your brain and nervous system, Dr. Joseph Mercola explains. You can consume it in olive oil and your immune system will recognize it and make use of its antioxidant properties.
When you are injected with squalene and a virus strain (skipping the digestive line of defense), your immune system is kicked into high gear and attacks all of the squalene in your body.
The use of squalene in anthrax vaccines on US soldiers led to the development of the autoimmune diseases known as Gulf War Syndrome.
Symptoms included:
Abnormal body hair loss
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Anemia
Anti-thyroid effects
Aphthous ulcers
Arthritis
Chronic diarrhea
Chronic headaches
Chronic fatigue
Dizziness
Elevated Erthrocyte Sedimentation Rate
Fever
Fibromyalgia
Lymphadenopathy
Memory loss
Mood changes
Multiple sclerosis
Neuropsychiatric problems
Night sweats
Non-healing skin lesions
Photosensitivity
Rashes
Raynaud's phenomenon
Seizures
Sjorgren's syndrome
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Weakness
The first swine flu shots are destined to go to at-risk populations such as children, pregnant women and those with chronic health conditions. The adjuvants in this vaccine will lower immune function and leave these people at greater risk of side effects.
Guillan-Barré Syndrome (GBS)
The UK government has sent senior neurologists a warning that the swine flu vaccine has been linked to the nerve disease Guillan-Barré Syndrome (GBS).
Back in 1976, during the first outbreak of the swine flu, 40 million people in the U.S. were vaccinated. 500 people developed Guillain-Barré syndrome and 25 people died. Normally a temporary condition, 5-6% of sufferers die from GBS.
In GBS, the body is triggered to attack the lining of its own nerve cells and causes muscle weakness, paralysis and inability to breathe.
In 1976, more people died from the swine flu vaccination than did from the flu itself. The vaccine increased the risk of contracting GBS by eight times.
Tamiflu Effects
Some people are planning on holding off on the swine flu vaccine (though whether we will have choice in this matter or not is still unclear), and staving off swine flu symptoms with Tamiflu.
Originally concocted to battle the bird flu, Tamiflu has a host of side effects that mimic the symptoms of the swine flu such as nausea, diarrhea, headache and fatigue.
Tamiflu has been banned in Japan and only reduces the duration of a flu infection by 1-1 ½ days.
Tamiflu causes side effects in over half the children who took the drug including:
Brain infections
Convulsions
Delirium
Delusions
Nausea
Neuropsychiatric effects such as an inability to think clearly, nightmares and "strange behavior"
Sleep problems
Stomach cramps
14 deaths
A very significant side effect of Tamiflu has been antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic Resistance
Vaccines give us a temporary immunity to viruses while the immunity you can gain after recovering from a bout of influenza is much longer-lasting. In fact, what's intriguing about the swine flu is that older people, those that are normally more susceptible to the flu, seem resistant.
Scientists propose that this is due to natural immunity and antibodies that older adults have acquired by recovering from similar strains of influenza.
Our children, however, haven't been able to acquire natural immunities. Annual flu shots have been a common occurrence for the young and old alike.
Japan and Denmark have both reported cases of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu viruses. Prophylactic use of the drug (low doses meant to ward off risk of contracting the swine flu) has resulted in a new strain of the virus.
Before now, the swine flu virus hasn't had to mutate. The widespread use of antibiotics may propel it to become a superbug.
The normal seasonal H1N1 virus has become almost entirely Tamiflu-resistant in just over 2 years.
The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention warns that little evidence exists to support the use of such delaying tactics with the flu and other scientists warn that "it is not yet clear whether large-scale prophylaxis is justified, given the potential risks of high-level resistance developing."
Dr. Josh's Action Steps:
1. Don't get an injection of a vaccine that is virtually untested or take drugs that lower your long-term immunity and contribute to the evolution of superbugs.
2. Instead, bolster you immune system naturally by:
Eliminating sugar and processed foods
Taking 1 clove of raw garlic daily
Supplementing with a high quality probiotic
Increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D
Getting plenty of sleep
Using stress-busting techniques
Exercising
3. If you do get the flu, (swine or otherwise):
Get plenty of rest
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
Eat or juice raw vegetables
Don't give children aspirin
For more information, visit http://www.JoshAxe.com
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