Each year, around this time, I am asked the same question: Should I get the flu shot? Instead of rewriting my answer again, I am just going to repost a blog I wrote almost exactly two years ago… it was geared at both the swine flu shot (remember that drama?) and the regular old flu shot. My opinion hasnt changed much.

There's so much hype about the swine flu. And, over the past two weeks I have constantly been asked by my patients, friends and family members:

Should I (or my children, my family members, my dog, etc) Get The Swine Flu Vaccine?

For those of you who have asked this question of me, you know my answer is a very confident: I don't think so.

There's no need. There's no proof that the swine flu vaccine nor the flu vaccine actually make any difference in one getting sick. Nor is it likely that the vaccine you are getting contains the virus you may be exposed to if you by chance are exposed. And, lastly the vaccine contains toxic–insanely toxic– levels of mercury (aka thimerosal) and other known carcinogens and neurotoxins like formaldehyde and aluminum.

Yes, the Swine Flu virus is spreading and I understand the fear surrounding it. I do. And believe me, I don't want anyone getting sick from the virus. But, I just want to point out the following:

The number of Swine Flu cases have been severely overestimated. In fact CBS conducted a 3 month long investigation that confirmed majority (83-97%) of the people that were diagnosed with Swine Flu by their doctors, actually–after their samples were actually tested for Swine Flu and or the flu–did not have Swine Flu. In fact, most of them didn't even have the flu.

As of the World Health Organization's latest Swine Flu update, the number of deaths that have occurred, WORLDWIDE have been around 1%.

The children who have died from the Swine Flu have had other preexisting illnesses–mainly severe neurological diseases and asthma. Of course, that doesnt take away from the fact that their deaths were terribly tragic.

As it stands, more than 50 percent of health-care workers say they do not intend to get vaccinated for swine flu and don’t routinely get their shots for seasonal flu, in part because many of them doubt the vaccines’ efficacy.

The safety of the Swine Flu vaccine has yet to be seen as it was not adequately tested.

And, when talking about the flu vaccine in general, Shannon Brownlee, the author of Overtreated, stated in the article, Does The Vaccine Matter, she published this month:

The history of flu vaccination suggests other reasons to doubt claims that it dramatically reduces mortality. In 2004, for example, vaccine production fell behind, causing a 40 percent drop in immunization rates. Yet mortality did not rise. In addition, vaccine “mismatches” occurred in 1968 and 1997: in both years, the vaccine that had been produced in the summer protected against one set of viruses, but come winter, a different set was circulating. In effect, nobody was vaccinated. Yet death rates from all causes, including flu and the various illnesses it can exacerbate, did not budge. Sumit Majumdar, a physician and researcher at the University of Alberta, in Canada, offers another historical observation: rising rates of vaccination of the elderly over the past two decades have not coincided with a lower overall mortality rate. In 1989, only 15 percent of people over age 65 in the U.S. and Canada were vaccinated against flu. Today, more than 65 percent are immunized. Yet death rates among the elderly during flu season have increased rather than decreased.

Reread the above paragraph so that the point really sinks in.

There are many more points to this debate that should be taken into consideration. Check out Dr. Mercola's website for up to date, educated and eye-opening Swine Flu alerts.

My general recommendation's to keep you and your family healthy this flu season are:

Sleep 7-8 hours each night
Eat garlic daily (it's an amazing anti-viral agent)
Take at least 1,000 mg of vitamin C daily
Load up on Cod Liver Oil daily (1,000- 2,000 mg daily)
Be sure to get in 1,000-2,000 iu of Vitamin D daily (keep in mind: cod liver oil does contain naturally occurring vitamin D)
Eat healthy, wholesome foods (avoid processed and sugar-laden foods)
Wash your hands regularly
Exercise

And, this is very important, if you or your child or loved one shows signs or symptoms of a flu, get to your doctor and treat it. Pretty much any patient presenting with even a smidgen of a flu-like symptom is being treated as if they have the Swine Flu.

In my opinion, we should first vigilantly work to prevent getting an illness and only when and IF we get sick, then treat it.

On the other hand, if not vaccinating yourself or your children is going to cause you an enormous amount of stress or conflict, then just get it. But, I really don't think you need to. Just my two cents.