Natural Health Newsletter

Randall Neustaedter OMD

Flu: What is all the hoopla?

First SARS, then monkeypox, now the flu. How far can the media go in stirring up public hysteria and fear of diseases? Answer: as far as drug companies tell them. “Jump,” say the drug companies. “How high?” say their media cohorts. “High enough to sell all our new flu vaccine.”

First the media conjure up a deadly flu epidemic, a killer flu that spares no one. Children die in Colorado. A policeman falls in his tracks in San Francisco. Everyone knows someone with the dread disease, and the death toll mounts. Is this year’s flu any worse than other years? Probably not.

Then the flu shots disappear. A shortage is announced. What can the fearful public do? Thank goodness we still have that new live-virus nasal vaccine waiting for just such a crisis. The fact is that the public had already rejected the expensive new vaccine. Only 400,000 doses of Flumist had been sold prior to the media hoopla over the killer flu. And the manufacturer expected that most of those doses would be returned unused. Those fortunes changed when the killer flu hit and no one could get the injected vaccine. Now the drug company in question stands to make a hefty profit at $70 per dose for millions of doses. And insurers like Aetna and Cigna have miraculously changed their collective minds and decided to cover the expensive new vaccine after all. Everyone wins, except you. Because you are the unwitting victim of this media manipulation and drug company exploitation.

Here is the punch line. The vaccine does not contain the virus they say is causing this flu. Last year it was too difficult to isolate and culture the Fujian virus strain and they omitted it from the vaccine. Therefore both vaccines are ineffective in preventing the Fujian strain that the CDC insists is causing the current epidemic.

Amid all of this media circus, no one mentions the adverse effects of the flu vaccine, the cases of paralysis, the spread of the three live viruses contained in Flumist from the vaccine recipient to everyone within a four foot radius of that person’s sneeze, and the symptoms of the dreaded flu caused by the vaccine itself.

I do not recommend that anyone get a flu vaccine. Whether you are eight months old or eighty, the vaccine will not help you. Whether you have asthma or emphysema, the vaccine will not prevent further disease. It may in fact cause a significant deterioration in your heath.

Here are some ways to avoid getting sick. Get plenty of rest. Take vitamin C (1,000 mg) and zinc (25 mg). Exercise regularly despite the cold weather. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables for their vitamin/antioxidant content. If your immune system is weakened and you get frequent colds or have allergies or asthma, then consider taking colostrum (1 tspn twice a day), or an astragalus formula to boost your immunity. Children can take half the adult dose. See your local homeopath, naturopath, or oriental medicine practitioner for treatments that will fortify your system based on your own unique requirements.

If you get a cold or flu symptoms, then increase the vitamin C to 4-6 grams, take Echinacea (liquid extract is best, two droppers three times per day), take vitamin A (20,000-40,000 IU per day), get the correct homeopathic medicine for your symptoms, and take a Chinese herbal formula such as yin chiao jin or a similar formulation based on your symptoms.

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