From the Hahnemann Clinic for Heilkunst about the recent pandemic fears about H1N1 Flu:

Myth:  The only protection against the flu is vaccination and/or anti-viral drugs.

FACT: The flu virus mutates quickly and it is very difficult to predict in advance which strain will be active in a flu season. It then takes at least 3 months to develop a flu vaccine based on that strain.

A vaccine probably would not be available in the early stages of a pandemic. When a new vaccine against an influenza virus is being developed, scientists around the world work together to select the virus strain that will offer the best protection against that virus, and then manufacturers use the selected strain to develop a vaccine. Once a potential pandemic strain of influenza virus is identified, it takes several months before a vaccine will be widely available. If a pandemic occurs, it is expected that the U.S. government will work with many partner groups to make recommendations to guide the early use of vaccine. (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/pandemics.htm)

 Thus, annual vaccines may not be for the particular strain and so be rendered useless.

Even where the right strain has been used for the vaccine, there is little testing possible for the vaccine compared to other vaccines, where more rigorous testing is required prior to putting it on the market.

The effectiveness of the flu vaccine is estimated at anywhere from 3-65%, based on very unreliable statistics. For 2003-4, it was estimated at 3-14%

(http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5301a3.htm#tab2)

In vaccine testing, there is no true control group so that all cases where people do not contract the flu is seen as being due to the vaccine. However, even naturally, only a small percentage of people (under 5%) come down with the flu in the first place.

The small number of people who actually contract the flu, and then the very small incidence of death (less than one half of one per cent) underlines that the key to flu protection lies with the immune system. However, this is mentioned nowhere on government or other semi-official sites. For a healthy person who has not been immune-compromised by drugs, prior illness or vaccinations, there is nothing to fear from the flu.

There is no attempt to boost innate immunity, which can be accomplished with high doses of vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and zinc. Selenium even blocks the mutations that cause the most mortal form of the flu. [J American College Nutrition 20: 384–88S, 2001; FASEB Journal 15: 1846–48, 2001; Journal Nutrition 133: 1463–67S, 2003]

Sambucus simpsonii, the botanical name for elderberry capsules and syrup, is well documented in the medical literature to be an effective remedy against the flu. [J International Med Research 32:132–40, 2004; Israeli Medical Assoc Journal 4:919–22, 2002; European Cytokine Network 12:290–6, 2001; J Alternative Complement Medicine 1:361–9, 1995]

In a pinch, there isn’t a virus that has been able to withstand allicin, the active ingredient produced when a fresh clove of garlic is crushed. [Planta Medica 58:417–23, 1992]” Bill Sardi, Health Writer (http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi52.html)

Myth: We are due for another devastating pandemic that will kill millions.

FACT: This charge rests on false figures and empty assertions. The evidence seems to point to the fact that what changes an annual flu season with its 200 or so deaths to one with greater deaths is either a) a significant mutation (mutagenic shift) compared to a minor one (mutagenic drift), or b) prior vaccinations and drugs that weaken the population.

It is curious to say the least why, since about 1999, the US government (and that of Canada) have been widely and heavily promoting annual flu shots, even making them free, when the vaccine manufacturers have agreed to make such vaccines available because of an immunity from prosecution for any vaccine injury. This might be remotely justifiable where the number of deaths, actual and potential, was as high as claimed, but the government’s own statistics show that flu deaths are one of the least significant causes of death annually. Far from being restricted to those over 65 (where the majority of deaths occur, even though still very small), the current flu vaccine campaigns are targeting the entire population.

As always, consult your family physician, Health Canada and Naturopathic Doctor.

Be smart. Be well. Stay alive.