Doctor Recommends Avoiding Flu Shot, Taking Vitamin D Instead
A cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington recommends avoiding the flu shot and taking vitamin D instead. Donald Miller, MD, says “Seventy percent of doctors do not get a flu shot.”
Health officials say that every winter 5–20 percent of the population catches the flu, 200,000 people are hospitalized, and 36,000 people will die from it. The National Vital Statistics Reports compiled by the CDC show that only 1,138 deaths a year occur due to influenza alone, and more than 34,000 of the “36,000″ flu deaths are what officials estimate are “influenza-associated” pneumonic and cardiovascular deaths.
There is also a lack of evidence that young children benefit from flu shots. A systematic review of 51 studies involving 260,000 children age 6 to 23 months found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo (Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006;1:CD004879).
A randomized trial found that the incidence of influenza in infants whose mothers had a flu shot during their pregnancy was 4%. The incidence of flu in infants whose mothers did not have a flu shot was 10%. (NEJM 2008;359:) In the study, flu shots reduced the relative risk of influenza illness in infants by a seemingly impressive 63%, yet only 6 out of 100 infants actually benefited from the shot. The other 94 received no benefit – 4 got influenza anyway – and all are at risk from being harmed by the vaccine, particularly from the mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde in it. - Donald Miller, MD
Flu shots contain a number of substances which may have adverse effects on health, especially for children:
- » See also: The Joy of Green Cleaning by Leslie Reichert
- » Get Eco Child’s Play by RSS or sign up by email.
- Mercury: Two-thirds of the vaccines made for the 2008–09 flu season contain full-dose thimerosal, an organomercury compound, 49% mercury by weight. It is used to disinfect the vaccine. Each of these flu shots contain 25 micrograms of mercury, a mercury content of 50,000 part per billion, 250 times more than the Environmental Protection Agency’s safety limit. Mercury is a neurotoxin, with a toxicity level 1,000 times that of lead.
- Formaldehyde, a known cancer-causing agent is used to inactivate the virus.
- Aluminum, added to promote an antibody response,is a neurotoxin that may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
- Other additives in the flu vaccine include:
- Triton X-100 (a detergent)
- Polysorbate 80
- carbolic acid
- ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
- gelatin
- various antibiotics such as neomycin, streptomycin, and gentamicin that can cause allergic reactions
So why does the CDC push the flu shot every year?
The CDC’s 15-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) makes recommendations each year on who should be vaccinated. Almost all the ACIP members who make these recommendations have financial ties to the vaccine industry.
Hmmm… Big money influencing public health policy.
The CDC put out a 7 part Recipe to increase demand for the flu vaccine:
- Influenza’s arrival coincides with immunization “season” (i.e., when people can take action)
- Dominant strain and/or initial cases of disease are:
– Associated with severe illness and/or outcomes
– Occur among people for whom influenza is not generally
perceived to cause serious complications (e.g., children,
healthy adults, healthy seniors)
– In cities and communities with significant media outlets - Medical experts and public health authorities publicly (e.g., via media) state concern and alarm (and predict dire outcomes)–and urge influenza vaccination.
- The combination of ‘2’ and ‘3’ result in: Significant media interest and attention, Framing of the flu season in terms that motivate behavior (e.g., as “very severe,” “more severe than last or past years,” “deadly”)
- Continued reports (e.g., from health officials and media) that influenza is causing severe illness and/or affecting lots of people – helping foster the perception that many people are susceptible to a bad case of influenza.
- Visible/tangible examples of the seriousness of the illness (e.g., pictures of children, families of those affected coming forward) andpeople getting vaccinated (the first to motivate, the latter to reinforce)
- References to, and discussions, of pandemic influenza
Vaccination demand, particularly among people who don’t routinely receive an annual influenza vaccination, is related to heightened concern, anxiety, and worry. For example:
- A perception or sense that many people are falling ill
- A perception or sense that many people are experiencing bad illness
- A perception or sense of vulnerability to contracting and experiencing bad illness.
- Some component of success stems from media stories and information that create motivating (i.e., high) levels of concern and anxiety about influenza.
Great… more fear selling more vaccines.
Dr. Miller’s stance on Vitamin D and health:
The U.S. government and its citizens currently spend $2,000 billion dollars ($2 trillion) on “health care,” i.e., sickness care, each year. The cost of taking a 5,000 IU supplement of vitamin D every day for a year is $22.00. The cost for 300 million Americans taking this supplement would be $6.6 billion dollars. The number and variety of diseases that vitamin D at this dose could prevent, starting with a 50 percent reduction in cancer, is mind-boggling. If everyone took 5,000 IU/day of vitamin D, the U.S. “health care” industry would shrink. It would no longer account for 16 percent of the gross domestic product.
The increased number of deaths that occur in winter, largely from pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases, are much more likely due to vitamin D deficiency than to an increased prevalence of serologically-positive influenza virus (which also results from vitamin D deficiency).
Read the full flu vaccine article at LewRockwell.com
And another doctor is against everyone getting the flu vaccine:
P.S. Due to the large number of comments accusing me of being irresponsible, I am adding this caveat: Ask your health provider (MD, Naturopath, or other professional) about flu shots, and make your decision based on that. This blog does not dispense medical advice. The point of the article is to show that there are conflicting opinions about vaccines, flu shots, and other medical treatments.
Image: NathanF at Flickr under Creative Commons License
I have been on Vitamin D for over a year. I believe in the vitamin D because I have not been sick at all. As the flu hits, I believe I am in better condition because of Vitamin D.
I will never get another flu shot since I had an adverse effect in the 80s and was sick for 2 weeks. There will always be another virus or bacteria that some people will get and some will die. The herd will always be culled one way or another–happens to every species. Especially one that has too many members for the environment to support. I’d rather see money spent on keeping the population down world wide. Instead, people watch TV shows that glorify having 8 or 17, 18 kids. It’s sad when people die, but that’s life.
My grandmother lived in the country and my mother and her brothers all lived in louisiana and never ever got a flue shot this is over 100 years ago….my people hardly went to the doctor….they got sick and got better..did they need a flu shot…??
I have been having some CFS issues lately. So i’ll be increasing my vitamine D intake and getting the “flu mist” form of the vaccine. I think they say that one is safer.
I’m surprised at some of the reactions to the information given by Dr. Donald Miller. Of course, any intelligent person would want to sift through ALL the information from many sources before making a decision. I checked Dr. Millers’ credentials and they are impressive: Professor, surgeon, Dartmouth, Harvard educated. Dr. Miller provides ADDITIONAL information for people to make informed decisions. In fact, it gives people an opportunity to check facts on both sides of the issues and to ask appropriate questions of their physicians. The Hippocractic oath state, “…never do harm…” depending upon which translation. If they don’t have the data for you, then continue to investigate! When patients start asking their doctors tough questions, and look on them as partners in their health, we’ll all benefit. Perhaps that is why you can now find vaccines without thimerosal today. Isn’t that what taking personal responsibility for your health and partnering with your health care providers in achieving optimum health should be about? The more information a person has, the more likely he/she is able to make the best decision for himself/herself and family. My experience with doctors has been that they welcome the patients’ input and want to dialogue about prevention, treatment, health options, etc.
I agree with the Vitamin D principle - BUT your analysis of the flu vaccine’s components is shrill and hysterical.
I have no idea who you chose to list biologically irrelevant agents such as Polysorbate 80 (used widely throughout medicine, BTW) and then place comments such as “detergent” and “antifreeze”. Ethylene glycol is indeed used in high concentrations as car antifreeze, but that doesn’t mean low concentrations are dangerous.
Medicine 101 says that the “dose makes the poison”. Common table salt will kill you if I make you consume or inject enough of it; but removing even a small percentage of it from your body will make you die a horrible death. I’m sure if I injected 400,000IU of Vitamin D into you, you would die terribly as well.
So let’s take ANOTHER look at this list of ingredients:
- Thimerosal - agreed, organomercury compounds are to be avoided on general principle, and are a source of concern to me. However the fact still stands that adults given thousands of times the organomercury dose have exhibited no noticeable ill-effects. You consume organomercury compounds in foods, water and air every single day - your body CAN get rid of low amounts, and does. The point is just not to cross the threshold.
FYI, many studies done on this subject have been unanimous in finding no causal link between vaccine-strength thimerosal and illness. Howewer, thousands of people die each year from not being immunised, partly from their fear of “mercury in my injection”. Oh, and evidence is also mounting that each ‘flu infection you get aggravates longterm congnitive and biological decline. Which is worse, d’ya think?
- Gelatine?! Oh no! It’s NEVER in this vaccine… what, you mean gelatin i.e. collagen, keratine and proteins of which most of your skin and body is made? Shock! Horror!
- Various antibiotics… yup, can cause an allergic reaction, but dude I would certainly prefer my injection NOT to have unknown nasties in it, wouldn’t you? Or are you the type of guy that likes to inject with a rusty needle too? Of course, we could choose to fear the (very) low risk of a reaction, but then see the possible consequences in my point above. FYI my mother is one of the most antibiotic-allergic people around; gets lots of vaccines as she travels a whole lot; and she hasn’t had an issue yet…
- A detergent? Oh no! Sounds creepy, until you realise that you’re using the word “detergent” in its chemical meaning and not the popular meaning. No, it doesn’t mean you have Tide in it. It means you have a surfactant in it. FYI your body is adept at making “detergents” for its own use as part of normal functioning. In this case, the “detergent” is a very commonly used product widely regarded as biologically inert.
- Ditto the surfactant Polysorbate-80.
- Carbolic acid… so harmless that even homeopaths recommend it as a solution!
So… apart from the use of thimerosal, your house of cards just came crashing down. Dude, I am totally in agreement about your general idea… but your argument is not helped when you abuse buzzwords and sow misinformation.
Knowledge is power; fearmongering is just fearmongering.
I don’t think this provides an accurate risk/benefit analysis of vaccines. And anyone that goes on about HIV NOT causing AIDS loses me. That person is not credible in any fashion whatsoever.
However, what most disturbs me about this blog–where is the evidence that vitamin D3 prevents flu? I’m all for use of micronutrients and use them. But I want evidence, not just unsubstantiated claims, particularly from an AIDS denialist.
Hi, I am not a dr., but I think the dr. is right, maybe then I will get the flu shot when it is properly researched and not loaded with so much mercury and additives.
Rationale, why is CDC pushing everyone to get the flu shot?
I think it is about money and not the protection of anyone. I think someone or something has panic the world governments and now everyone is suppose to get the swine flu shot. I think the public should write to their government officials and tell them to do a better job on researching the flu shot before it is introduced to children, young adults.
I am concerned citizen thinking we are doing more harm than good, so here is another scenario from me; maybe the swine flu shot is going to make a generation of retards, so they will follow the government’s agenda. Anyways that is what I think, so do not take the flu shot, because there is already too much additives in our bodies and the swine flu shot in our bodies will just overload you and me and make us more at risk of getting sick.
Ben a concerned citizen
in reviewing the comments, let anyone who wants a ’shot’ to get one,,,then they are ‘protected’ right? So, they should not be upset that I will not assume the 100% risk when I decide not to put toxins and who knows what else in my body or my family’s bodies, VITAMIN D makes a lot of sense and the CDC recently admitted that is does help prevent flu furthermore:there is big money in the ’shots’ do not kid your self!