Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Thinking of getting a flu shot?

What do you know about flu shots? I did a few minutes research on Internet and found the following out:

Flu shot image - Fox News
  1. There were 128,000,000 flu shots given last year in the US alone.
  2. Current prices for the shot can be calculated fairly easily as follows. (These are NOT bulk purchase prices which may well be lower):
    • 10 flu doses - $15.38
    • 10 disposable needles & syringes - $4.59
    • 200 alcohol prep pads - $3.49
    I make that $2.01 per shot or less.
  3. If you buy the shot in the US most places seem to charge $20.00. That's a healthy $17.99 profit.
  4. The drug companies stand to make $250 million in sales from the flu shots in the US assuming the same number of people get one this year.
  5. Assuming just one in ten flu shots is bought, Doctors and pharmacies will make $230 million from flu shots alone. They do give away the other 9 free right?
  6. The CDC is keen on everyone getting a flu shot.
  7.  Flu vaccine can be obtained in large bottles with multiple doses to bring costs down. These large bottles contain a preservative which contains mercury. The other single dose vaccines do not contain mercury.
  8. Mercury is an accumulative poison.
  9. The CDC says 5 to 30 percent of the US population will get the flu each year.
  10. Other sources say 3% get the flu each year
  11. Some sources say just 2 out of every 100 people will not get the flu because of a vaccine. Since 3% would normally get the flu the manufactures claim a 66% prevention rate.
  12. 590 out of every million pregnant women who have a flu shot will abort. However getting flu can cause an abortion too but no-one quotes figures on that that I can find.
  13. The number of people who have unpleasant side effects from the flu shot exceeds the number who get the flu.
  14. Flu can kill you
  15. People have died from the flu shot.
  16. They put MSG in the nasal spray version of the vaccine which can cross the blood/brain barrier and cause brain problems
  17. The spray vaccine contains a live virus which could give you the flu but is very unlikely to do so. 
  18. Statins don't mix well with flu shots.
  19. A recent report found the flu vaccine was ineffective for those under 2 and for the elderly.
  20. Those who get the flu shot and who still get flu have a much greater risk of being hospitalized from it.
Now I'm not a doctor or medically qualified. It seems to me some doctors in the US have an interest in promoting flu shots though. There are doctors on both sides of the get vaccinated/don't get vaccinated argument.

One doctor, very much against the annual flu shot is Dr Mercola. He cites evidence that there are more effective prevention methods than flu shots. His suggestions also help prevent or lessen the effects of other flu like diseases such as the common cold.
  • Vitamin D can be 4 to 10 times more effective. The best results coming from people who got vitamin D by exposure to sunlight. Failing that krill oil, fatty fish such as tuna, mackerel, and salmon are good sources. Take as a prevention.
  • Garlic. Take as a prevention.
  • Zinc supplements - Up to 50mg per day but only when you have symptoms of cold or flu.
  • Vitamin C. Take as a prevention but step up the amount if you have symptoms
Can someone who knows more about this than I do explain why we should or shouldn't get a flu shot?