The Annual Flu Shot Gauntlet Begins with a Super-Snarky Study
By Daisy Luther
This year, the flu shot gauntlet has fired the starting gun with a study that makes it sound like only crazy hippies protect their children from the annual injection.
In an extremely biased article presented as news instead of opinion (which, as we’ve discussed, is the very definition of propaganda) US News reported:
The new study findings are based on nearly 9,000 kids, aged 4 to 17, whose families took part in a national health survey. The results were published online Oct. 3 in Pediatrics.
Overall, around 4 percent to 8 percent of kids had ever received an alternative therapy for “health reasons” (other than vitamins or minerals).
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It turned out that children who’d received certain CAM therapies were less likely to have gotten a flu shot in the past year.
These included kids who’d been treated through “alternative medicine systems,” such as acupuncture, naturopathy and homeopathy; or body-based therapies, like massage, chiropractic manipulation and craniosacral therapy, which is done to relieve pain and tension.
Roughly one-third of kids who’d received such therapies had gotten a flu shot, versus 43 percent of other kids, the study found.
The study authors did weigh other factors — like parents’ education levels and income — and CAM use was still linked to lower odds of flu vaccination.
It’s possible, Poland said, that parents who are drawn to alternative therapies are also more skeptical about vaccines in general.
The article fails to mention how pharmaceutical companies literally make billions of dollars from pushing ineffective vaccines and how it is illegal to hold the company responsible for a shot that injures or even kills your child – the government has a special fund for that. This means that Big Pharma has no real skin in the game and are working without any fear of repercussions. Corporate greed supported by biased science are all they have to worry about.
The Risks of the Flu Vaccine Certainly Seem to Outweigh the Benefits
The flu shot is one of those things in which the risks so clearly outstrip the benefits that I can’t imagine why anyone would subject their children to it.
While I made a personal choice not to follow the massive schedule of vaccines that are now recommended for kids, I can understand why some parents make the choice to do so. The risk of an illness that will paralyze or kill a child seems like a risk/benefit that bears more consideration.
It isn’t that no one has ever died from influenza – they have. But, all-in-all, it’s pretty unlikely. The risks of dying or suffering serious side effects from the injection could be more likely. Here’s one example of a 4th grader who became paralyzed after receiving the flu shot. A number of perfectly healthy people have died from receiving the flu shot.
More Vaccine Court Payouts for the Flu Shot Than Any Other Vaccination
Did you know that the Vaccine Court compensates more people for death or serious injury from the flu vaccine than any other vaccine? In 2014, they settled with 80 people in a period of three months over horrible reactions and deaths related to the flu shot. This means that it was proven in court that their deaths, paralysis, and neurological damage was directly caused by the injection.
What’s more, with all of this risk, the flu vaccine is largely ineffective, particularly for the demographic most at risk from complications of the flu, the very young and the elderly. In 2014, the CDC even admitted that it “might work” but still strongly advised people take the risk and get it anyway.
For more information, you can read “Five Reasons Why I’ll Never Get a Flu Shot.”
Tips for Avoiding the Flu Naturally
Instead of lining up for your injection, tap into your inner flu-shot-avoiding-hippie to keep your family healthy this year.
The absolute, number one way to avoid catching the flu is through the exercise of good personal hygiene.
- Wash your hands frequently when you are out.
- Use a paper towel to open bathroom doors and turn on taps.
- Although I’m normally not a big fan of hand sanitizer, use it during the height of flu season if you have to touch things that everyone else has been touching, like the handle of the shopping cart, door knobs, and debit machines.
- Use antibacterial wipes (or at least baby wipes) to wash your hands and wipe the steering wheel when you get back into your vehicle.
- Avoid touching your face – this welcomes germs that are on your hands into your body.
- During the height of flu season, consider taking a quick shower and changing clothes when you return home, particularly if you have been in a germ-ridden place like a doctor’s office or pharmacy.
- Make sure the kids change clothes and thoroughly wash their hands when they return home from school.
- I shouldn’t really have to say this, but….wash your hands after using the bathroom and before preparing or eating food.
If your local area is being hit hard by the flu, practice avoidance to keep your family healthy.
9. Stay home as much as possible. (Obviously, if you have work and school outside the home, this become more difficult, but avoid malls, movie theaters, and sporting events for the duration of the epidemic.)
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10. Stay away from sick people if you can.
11. Avoid eating at restaurants – you don’t know the health or hygiene habits of the kitchen staff.
If someone in your family is sick, try to minimize the spread of the illness.
12. If you or a family member are sick, stay home from work or school to prevent passing it on to others.
13. If a family member is sick, keep them isolated away from the rest of the family.
14. Use antibacterial wipes to clean surfaces that the sick person touches – doorknobs, TV remotes, keyboards, toilet handles, and phones.
15. Immediate place dishes and flatware used by the sick person into hot, soapy dishwater with a drop of bleach in it.
16. Teach children to cough into the crook of their arm instead of covering their mouth with their hands.
17. Have the sick person wash their hands frequently with soap and water to help prevent spreading germs through physical contact. If soap and water is unavailable, have them use hand sanitizer.
Some other ways to stay healthy are to use natural strategies to maximize your immune system.
18. Drink lots of water to keep your system hydrated and efficient.
19. Take a high quality multi-vitamin. (It’s expensive, but this is the best multi I’ve ever used.)
20. Take at least 3000 IUs of Vitamin D3 daily – research has shown a link between a Vitamin D deficit and susceptibility to the flu. (We use this kind, which is 5000 IUs)
21. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables (preferably organic and pesticide free).
22. Get 7-9 hours of sleep per day – a tired body has a weaker immunity against viruses.
23. Don’t smoke – this weakens your resistance against respiratory illnesses and worsens the effect on your body if you do become ill.
24. Avoid or limit alcoholic beverages.
25. Avoid or limit processed foods.
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, where this article first appeared, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at [email protected]
