If you ever have the chance to catch Viktoras Kulvinskas give a seminar. DO IT.
From a Pediatrician:
Many of you are contacting me regarding the swine flu vaccine and whether you should give it to your children. The Collier County Health Department, the Collier County Medical Society, the Collier County School System and a handful of pediatricians are sending a letter to the parents of every Collier County Public School student advising them to allow their child to be vaccinated by the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine. Please read the following before you agree to this institutional request so you are fully informed. The last time the government approved the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine was in the late 1970s and this vaccine was pulled off the market for causing Gullian-Barre Syndrome, an ascending partial-to-total paralysis that may result in death. http://www.cdc.gov/
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on September 15, 2009 that it has approved four vaccines against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. This affirmation means the “FDA has approved the manufacturing oversight, product quality testing and lot release procedures of the H1N1 vaccine.” This does not mean that the vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective in various groups, i.e. pediatric population, pregnant women, nursing mothers, people with asthma, the elderly and healthy adults. Per the CDC and the FDA, the safety and efficacy of the vaccine is being researched and results will be available in the “near future.” http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/
So when is the “near future?” The National Institute of Health website detailing the government’s research trials shows that all the H1N1 vaccine safety trials are only in Phase II out of four phases. The estimated date of completion to show whether or not the H1N1 vaccine is safe is June 2010. http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/
Regardless of the lack of scientific evidence of the vaccine’s safety, the CDC recommends that the H1N1 (swine) vaccine should be initially administered to persons in the following five target groups (order of target groups does not indicate priority):
· pregnant women,
· persons who live with or provide care for infants aged <6>
· health-care and emergency medical services personnel,
· persons aged 6 months--24 years, and
· persons aged 25--64 years who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
The CDC is making this statement since the regular influenza vaccine is preferentially given to these groups first. Additionally, the safety of the regular seasonal influenza vaccine is not studied each year but rather the government relies on past research of the same vaccine to support the safety and efficacy of the current year’s vaccine. For instance, the research supporting the safety for the 2009 Fluzone vaccine for young children is based on the 2003-2004 formulation of Fluzone vaccine. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/
These recommendations are safe for the regular seasonal flu vaccine yet worrisome for the H1N1 vaccine. Further complicating this issue is the fact the Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine Package Insert states this vaccine is Category C for pregnant women and nursing mothers. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/
The H1N1 flu has been in town for several weeks and I have diagnosed plenty of cases. Many of us pediatricians have commented to each other how mild this illness has been. Everyone in my practice has recovered without incident except for one little girl with bad asthma who had to be hospitalized. Unfortunately the National Institute of Health has not started to recruit participants to study the safety and efficacy of an H1N1 influenza vaccine in people with asthma. http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/
The health department, the school system and the medical society are trying their best to help protect you and your children. Hopefully you can see that the request to vaccinate you and/or children against the H1N1 virus is poorly planned at best. The time to administer a vaccine is only after it has been adequately tested unless there are compelling and urgent reasons to do otherwise. My job as a pediatrician is to be a spokesman for the disenfranchised. This role includes calling out any agency for attempting to make what is scientifically uncertain re-categorized as scientific certainty.
I hope this vaccine is safe since it is being administered to so many people without adequate safety studies as a result of much media hype. I just want to make sure that you are fully informed before putting yourself or your family in potential jeopardy. But then again – it may save your life.
Please pass this email on to everyone you know so they may be informed as well.
Thanks,
Dr. T
Campaigning for Organic Integrity in Bodycare Products
Due to this lax regulation, many personal care products have the word "organic" in their brand name or otherwise on their product label, but unless they are USDA certified, the main cleansing ingredients in particular are usually made with conventional not agricultural material, combined with petrochemical compounds.
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