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fall flu update: hini-shot news
By | August 25, 2009
Q: Dr Leigh, Will you do a piece on this swine flu vaccine thing? Already I am getting the e-mails about how the vaccines are too untested and contain dangerous stuff and that schools are going to be trying to force all kids to get vaccinated, etc. Do you have the scoop?
A:
…as you know, dear readers, i’ve been promoting the use of “hini” (rhymes with “bikini”) to refer to H1N1, the “new flu” a.k.a. “swine” flu (note: all flu is swine flu! and duck flu! it’s a segmented-RNA-genome thing…) – mainly because it rolls off the tongue so much more gracefully than does “Novel Influenza A H1N1″.
selected google headlines about the development of the hini-flu shot:
Natural News: Swine Flu Vaccine Dangerous And Untested
Vaccine May Be More Dangerous Than Swine Flu
Swine Flu Vaccination Poses Serious Threat to Your Health
Ten Things Your Not Supposed to know about the Swine Flu Vaccine
Prison Planet: 12,000 U.S. Children To Be Swine Flu Vaccine Guinea Pigs
Secret Letter Warns of Swine Flu Vaccine Nerve Disease Danger
Swine Flu Vaccine will Kill You First
favorite terms used in these reports:
terrifying
devastating
debilitating
attacked
stricken
deadly
fatal
…to refer to the shot, not the virus. people, this is hysteria! the rumors on the internets include:
~~ the shot is made from HIV-contaminated african green monkey cells.
~~ the vaccine corporation created the pandemic in its lab 10 miles away from “ground zero” in mexico, when it wasn’t busy also trafficking underage “sex slaves” and poisoning innocent farmers.
~~ the shot combines with spanish flu and bird flu to form a superflu, vaccine patents for which for which the corporation already owns.
~~ the shot causes gulf war syndrome and 12 other chronic diseases, as well as guillain-barre paralysis and, weirdly, typhus.
~~ the shot kills rats and guinea pigs in lab settings and/or the shot has not been tested in lab settings at all, but will simply be given to the general population – at gunpoint.
…along with the usual “MERCURY POISONING is the real name for it. Flu shots are full of that shit. All vaccines are.” [pardon the language]
…and “The U.S. government decided they needed to launch a covert population control measure that could reduce the population while deflecting blame for the deaths. The obvious choice for this was a viral pandemic… But killing off a lot of people isn’t profitable enough all by itself… That’s where the vaccines come into play… Billions of dollars get funneled to powerful corporations… The pandemic outbreak itself allows government to declare a State of Emergency where yet more rights and freedoms can be stolen away from the People.”
tons of fun for everyone.
fast facts about the shot:
1. no mercury: “Single-dose syringes will be thimerosal-free… inhaler sprayer vaccine products will also be thimerosal-free.” [actually, all vaccines are available without mercury, except for snake and black widow spider antivenin.]
2. no adjuvant: “Both live-attenuated and inactivated influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine formulations will be available initially; as with seasonal influenza vaccines, neither of these vaccines will contain adjuvants… Several vaccines containing an adjuvant also are being studied but probably will not be available.” [squalene, the adjuvant (immunity booster) in question, is produced normally in human liver, and is commercially purified from fish oil. "One published report suggested that some veterans who received anthrax vaccines developed anti-squalene antibodies and these antibodies caused disabilities. It is now known that squalene was not added to the vaccines administered to these veterans."]
3. no paralysis: “There are no signs of increased risks of side effects from the swine flu vaccine when compared to the yearly flu shot… The 2009 swine flu vaccine is different from the 1976 version in that it doesn’t use the whole virus.” [the risk of guillain-barre paralysis from a flu shot is 1 in 1,000,000.]
4. no shots at gunpoint: these folks seem to refer to the bush administration’s Executive Order 13295, “providing for the apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of suspected communicable diseases.” it allows for a quarantine order, not a “shots at gunpoint” order. pretty standard stuff, and pretty popular back in 2003 (when “mission accomplished” was declared), as i recall.
5. doctors are not trying to kill you. really. we’re not.
i believe i am on record as being against the flu. i have an attitude problem with segmented RNA genomes (40-50 mutations yearly?!), i’ll admit. i do not like their unpredictability, sudden virulence appearing as if out of nowhere. and i have also mentioned that i am not against shots; au contraire, where disease has not already been prevented, i think recruiting our immune systems is one million times better than trying to find an antibiotic with the right stuff. so… do i think it’s a good idea to get the hini flu vaccine? i do.
the other day i was waiting in line at a pharmacy. a young boy, maybe around 7 or 8 years old, was saying solemnly to his young mom, “i think people are making too much of a big deal out of the swine flu.” and his mom answered respectfully, “i think so, too.” dr leigh, on the other hand, thinks people should make a bigger deal out of all flu! i don’t think any of us should be dying from the flu! ever!
from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Report To The President On US Preparations for the 2009-H1N1 Influenza (August 7, 2009), Chapter 3:
~~ Our current knowledge is that… a higher proportion of the population is likely to become infected (perhaps 40 to 60 percent for pandemic flu versus perhaps 5 to 20 percent for seasonal flu).
~~ One plausible scenario is that… 1 or 2 out of every 2,000 Americans might be hospitalized. Cases requiring mechanical ventilation or intensive care could reach 10 to 25 per 100,000 population, requiring 50 to 100 percent or more of the total ICU capacity available in the United States.
~~ Substantial absenteeism* from work and school could occur, as sick children stay home, schools with large outbreaks close, and parents are forced to stay home either because of their own illness or to take care of sick children. Key members of the social infrastructure, such as police officers and firefighters, are increasingly home ill. Exposure of healthcare workers to sick patients is continual.
~~ [by the end of the season,] Between 30,000 and 90,000 people would have died, the majority of them under 50 years of age.
~~ We assume that vaccine administration will commence around the peak of the pandemic, with substantial population-level immunity occurring only 2 to 8 weeks after the peak. In this case, vaccination will have limited value in reducing transmission. (!!!)
*regarding absenteeism and its discontents: in kansas, at the university at lawrence, 47 kids got hini flu in the first 4 days of classes. this meant that teachers, in the first “getting to know you” week of classes, had to set up plans to keep sick students out of class; the school had to move healthy kids out of their dorm rooms; the food service had to arrange for delivery of meals to dorm rooms, for sick kids. college health services across the nation are setting up separate flu-symptom waiting rooms; sports teams are making plans for separate sick-player transportation from away games; campus cleaning staffs are being given extra chores to keep doorknobs, phones, vending machines, and computers sanitized.
can you even imagine the hassle? above and beyond how dreadful a person feels when they have the flu (or how much it costs to be hospitalized on a breathing machine). oregon’s public health director compared it to getting ready for a hurricane to hit the coast, “but in slow motion.”
infectious disease sucks!
so yes, i would urge my own loved ones to get “the jab,” as they call it in britain.
and yes, i still think you should wash your hands, wash your kids’ hands, avoid crowds, eat your veggies, get plenty of sleep, and take your vitamin D (and floss – but that’s a different issue).
Topics: Uncategorized | 12 Comments »
October 20th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Dr-
I work for a hospital and have a toddler and infant at home and am also currently breastfeeding and was told today by my occupational health clinic that there was not mercury free shot available to me- i can take the mist which is however the shot is not and unfortunately neither of my children can get the mist – my pediatrician’s office doesnt have the shot form and the local health department does but the nurse there told me today that the shots there contain 25 micrograms of mercury in the shots that both of my children would be receiving and considering the CDC is recommending my children to receive two shots each a month apart I am concerned about the accumulative affects of the mercury in the HINI vaccines-
October 20th, 2009 at 11:31 am
i sympathize! you have several different issues here.
if your occ-health clinic didn’t order any single-dose shots, you can go to a clinic that did (urgent-care center?). try asking your county public health department when the preservative-free, single-dose shots are expected to be available.
do you live in nashville? my understanding is that that area has not yet received their shipments, except of the flu-mist. from the tennessean:
“The public can track where the H1N1 vaccine is available on the state Health Department Web site at http://health.state.tn.us by clicking on the “flu shot locator” link under information about the virus. The new locator, which launched Friday, gives hours of operations for clinics, locations and types of vaccine available… The Health Department is trying to gauge how much vaccine it will need, which form – the mist or the shot – the public prefers and who wants to get it.”
if you prefer thimerosal-free shots, you should be able to get access to them – it just might take a little while to cut through the red tape.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:07 am
I have a primary immune deficiency, (CVID) I recently got the flu shot, when can I safely get the HINI shot. I have heard that there should be a 3 week gap.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:16 pm
good question! i do not know the answer. common variable immune deficiency is, by definition, variable, and i can’t say how much immunity your particular system will mount from the vaccine. my understanding is that in cvid in general, folks get antiviral meds when they are exposed to active cases of flu. in the public at large, most folks are able to get both shots at once, but i don’t know how your personal immune profile will respond to either shot. this is a good question for your primary doc or infectious disease consultant. in particular, if you have close exposure to someone with h1n1, do call your primary doc right away and ask if you are in a group that should get preventive tamiflu/relenza.
thanks for asking!
October 29th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Dr. Leigh,
I have a child that has asthma and we have been directed by our pediatrician not to give him the mist but he needs to get the shot. So if I understood your previous answers the single dose shots do not contain the mercury/thimerosol preservative??
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
is there a difference in effectiveness or side effects in the shot form or the mist? I understand the mist is a live vaccine, does that make it more likely to have side effects?
November 6th, 2009 at 8:01 am
here is the cdc information sheet about these two vaccines: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/vaccine_keyfacts.htm
since vaccines work by inducing an immune response, and many symptoms of illness are ’side effects’ of immune responses, so vaccines can make you feel like you’re getting sick. this is not the same as having an infectious disease with its associated complications, etc. the cdc says the nose spray has more noticeable side effects, although it doesn’t make your arm hurt. both have been tested extensively for effectiveness and found to be effective. at first, there was a question about whether one dose would be effective for grownups. testing showed it was, including pregnant grownups. kids need 2 doses a month apart, because their immune systems aren’t as well developed as (they haven’t been exposed to as many germs as) us adults. like i said, this is what has been shown to be effective.
November 6th, 2009 at 8:15 am
tim,
correct.
note: due to public concern, as you know, the goverment outlawed thimerosal in children’s shots while reviewing and conducting studies of side effects of shots. no evidence was found, during that very extensive investigation, that thimerosal in shots was dangerous to children or fetuses. kids are more at risk from eating fish than from getting shots, in my opinion – and more at risk from flu, than from thimerosal-containing flu shots. see http://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/safetyavailability/vaccinesafety/ucm096228 for the whole story.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:56 am
Has anyone ever died as a result of taking the hini shot
November 15th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
My 6 yr and I both got the H1N1 shots. Two days after, she developed a fever (103.4 average) and a raspy cough. She also complained of her knee aching terribly. She showed no signs of fighting any illness prior to getting the shot. Earlier this year, about 8 months ago, she had a ruptured appendix which took some time to fully recover. I am worried that perhaps I should not have given her the shot? Is it possible that these are side effects from the shot? If so, do you have any suggestions? Right now, we are going on the second day of high fevers. I will take her to my pediatrician’s office tomorrow, if it continues.
Thank you for your education and help!
Tricia
November 16th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
hi! whenever a child gets a high fever, calling your family doctor is always the best policy. so i agree with you – call the doc!
there’s no evidence of anyone catching the flu from a flu shot. however, rates of flu have been very high. it’s very likely that your child was exposed before immunity from the shot had time to develop.
please consider reading my more recent posts on the flu for more information!
good luck!
November 16th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
i don’t believe so.