The Facts
Homeland Security publishes the following: (Quote) “|During a typical year in the United States, 30,000 to 50,000 people die as a result of influenza viral infection. Frequently cited numbers are 20,000 deaths each year. About 5-10% of hospitalizations for influenza lead to fatal outcome in adult. Pandemic years are associated with many more cases of influenza and a higher case fatality rate than that seen in seasonal flu outbreaks.........It is common to encounter clinical attack rate ranges for seasonal flu of 5% to 15%. For pandemic flu, clinical attack rates are reported in the range of 25% to 50%.” (end quote).The CDC Says, “Take 3 Steps To Fight The Flu".
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges you to take three steps to protect yourself and others from the flu: A yearly vaccination, antiviral prescription drugs and some common sense precautions like washing hands and avoiding close contact with sick people.In its Vaccine Safety Datalink the CDC insist vaccination is a safe procedure. The statement is followed by a list of references to publications negating or downplaying possible side effects of vaccination like seizures, aseptic meningitis, anaphylaxis, inflammatory bowel disease, autism, asthma, diabetes type I, multiple sclerosis, ischemic stroke, However there are numerous publication indicating vaccination is not always without side effects and adverse reactions; A search in Google with the key words "Flu" and "side effects" produces more than 600 references on the topic and a search at the scientific information web site Scirus shows more than 100 publications warning of possible side effects of the flu vaccination.
Comments from the Longevity Institute
The short outbreak of the “swine” virus in Mexico is a reminder that we have to protect ourselves the best way we can from the next seasonal flu, now that a new mixture of two viruses has emerged that may become more virulent than what we have been exposed to previously.Then we have a question: "Is the flu vaccination the best way to protect ourselves?"
The question arises not so much from the possible side effects of any vaccination than from the fact that the flu virus is one of the most versatile viruses because it has that inherent capacity to mutate very fast. Such property entails that the virus that may hit you has had plenty time to evolve from and become different from the virus used to produce the vaccine. With a flu shot you may become immune to the virus that was used to produce the vaccine, but perhaps not to the virus that is invading you !
The question now becomes: " How to immunize against the invading virus?"
There is a natural and inexpensive way to do it
With Vitamin D
Have you ever wondered why flu outbreaks always develop in the winter? The fact has puzzled researchers for a long time. The reason may well be winter is a time when people have less sun exposure and make less vitamin D.The hypothesis is supported by research; There is a causal link between vitamin D deficiency and the flu and people with low vitamin D levels have more upper respiratory infections.
The hypothesis of a causal link between vitamin D deficiency and flu is also supported by clinical observations like the report by Dr J.J. Cannell MD describing what happened in his ward during a flu epidemic episode. (quote): ". ..as the epidemic progressed, I noticed something unusual. First, the ward below mine was infected, and then the ward on my right, left, and across the hall - but no patients on my ward became ill. My patients had intermingled with patients from infected wards before the quarantines. The nurses on my unit cross-covered on infected wards. Surely, my patients were exposed to the influenza A virus. How did my patients escape infection from what some think is the most infectious of all the respiratory viruses?... ... All of the patients on my ward had been taking 2,000 units of vitamin D every day for several months or longer." (end quote)
Vitamin D appears to be a potent anti-infectious agent. It is now well established that the cells of the immune system have receptors for 1,25-(OH)2D3, the end product of vitamin D intake or of sun exposure, and the role of vitamin D in immunity is beginning to be defined. Quite recently, three independent groups have reported that vitamin D triggers the release of these powerful natural antibiotics called antimicrobial peptides. It appears now vitamin D might be, in effect, a potent antibiotic.
And With Selenium
Back in 1978, Professor Gerhard N. Schrauzer was the first to publish that a selenium supplementation of the host inhibits virus replication. In his experiment with a strains of mice exhibiting a normal incidence of virus induced mammary adenocarcinoma of 80-100% the tumor incidence was found to drop to 42% if animals of the same strain were kept on a diet containing 0.45 ppm of selenium. The "viral selenoprotein theory." of Prof. Schrauzer entails that certain viruses interact directly with selenium in the host cells by incorporating selenium into viral genome proteins that down regulate viral replication. In a selenium deprived host unrestricted viral replication may overwhelm immune response. In a host with adequate selenium viral replication is much slower allowing the immune system time to build an efficient defense.Never disproved, the theory of Professor Schrauzer is now endorsed by others. Today it is admitted that the spread of avian influenza over the world is related to local selenium deficiencies.
In China the spread of avian flu occurs in low selenium areas.
The theory of Prof. Schrauzer is supported by the description of a gene in the flu virus down-regulating viral multiplication, a gene that needs selenium to stay active. In animal experiments selenium deficiency results in greater damage in mice infected with the influenza virus.
Recommendation from the Longevity Institute
Increase your resistance by taking daily a good mix of minerals and vitamins inclusive 2,000 IU of vitamin D and add to it 100 micrograms of selenium per 60 lbs bodyweight with a maximum of 300 micrograms per day. It is recommended to start this regimen three months before the possible onset of the next seasonal flu epidemic.Vitamin D will boost your overall immune response and, if you are hit by the flu virus, the selenium shall slow down the viral replication in such a way as to let your immune system immunize you against the invading virus.
