Avoiding the Flu this Winter

Citizens are urged to get their annual flu shot before the flu season peaks between December and March. But should you? Citizens need to know about the risks inherit in taking flu shots. Flu vaccines contain foreign proteins that can cause anaphylactic shock. They contain the carcinogen formaldehyde, as well as powerful nerve poisons such as mercury and aluminum salts.

Yet flu shots are promoted for women who will be in their second or third trimester of pregnancy during flu season, people 65 years or older, nursing home patients, infants with health problems such as asthma, people with long-term diseases such as HIV or heart disease, children or teenagers taking aspirin, and people who are around the elderly or people with health problems. Ironically, these groups of people are also the most vulnerable to an adverse reaction to vaccines because their immune systems are already compromised.

Health Canada officials admitted the vaccine for the 2000 01 flu season had adverse effects serious enough to hospitalize more than 1,000 people with respiratory problems, including chest tightness, difficulty breathing, and wheezing, within 24 hours of receiving the vaccine. The US vaccine injury compensation program, instituted in 1987 to protect vaccine manufacturers from bankrupting injury claims, to date has paid out more than US $1 billion, representing only 10 per cent of claims. Clearly, vaccines are not as safe as the public is led to believe.

We can protect ourselves from flu viruses in ways that are far more safe and effective than vaccines. Naturopathic physicians recommend a high-alkaline whole foods diet. A variety of salads incorporating many kinds of organic leafy greens is also recommended. Daily supplements of vitamin C, n-acetyl cysteine (NAC), vitamin A from fish liver oils, vitamin B complex, selenium, and zinc all help to boost immunity. Herbs such as echinacea and elderberry extracts have proven antiviral activity.

Vitamin C has an established track record, proven in more than 1,200 scientific references, as a powerful antiviral agent in fighting colds and flu, either through prevention or by reducing the symptoms. The late Emmanuel Cheraskin, MD, DDS, contends that most of the free radical activity generated during the disease process can be prevented by supplementing with massive doses of vitamin C three to six grams or more taken in divided doses throughout the day. These doses should be taken in the form of calcium or sodium ascorbates, which are mineral salts of vitamin C that buffer the acidity of the pure ascorbic acid.

Robert Cathcart, MD, states that if the disease is severe enough, it should be treated with massive concentrations of intravenous sodium ascorbate followed, when the patient is better, with bowel tolerance doses of ascorbic acid or mineral ascorbates.

To find a medical doctor who can and will administer intravenous vitamin C, in Canada or elsewhere, contact the American College for Advancement in Medicine, 204 23121 Verdugo Drive, Laguna Hills, CA 92653 USA, fax 949-455-9679 or email info@acam.org.

Adverse effects, including chest tightness, difficulty breathing, and wheezing, may appear within 24 hours of receiving a flu vaccine.