One-Minute tutorial on the flu

Every time I post something about the flu or flu vaccination there are a lot of hits.  So give your audience what they want!  I found this a short and simple video that does a nice job explaining the influenza virus.

The recommendation that all Americans be vaccinated against the flu is modestly controversial.  I say modestly controversial because the vast majority of Americans have little idea how vaccinations work and thus participate with some hesitation and fear.   The argument typically made for vaccinating is based upon the paradigm aptly called "Herd Immunity".  

 "The oft-parroted sound bite – “we need herd immunity”- implies that if ninety five percent of the population can become “immune” to a disease via vaccination, target immunity levels will be met and diseases will either be eradicated or controlled."

Now, the idea of heard immunity makes sense on paper but does it hold true in reality? 

Lets look at Measles and Chicken Pox:

"Before vaccines, outbreaks of measles were observed in 2 to 3 year cycles, and 95% of the population developed immunity by the age of fifteen.

 The original idea that vaccination could strengthen the herd’s immunity, assumed that there was only one clinical event, and that one natural exposure equated life -long immunity. But this was not the case back when the diseases circulated freely. Vaccinators miss the point that the body defends most efficiently as a result of ongoing re-exposure. They try to mimic this with boosters. But the vaccination plan leaves the elderly(due to vaccine-induced immunity being short-lived and antigens taken out of circulation) and the very young(due to lack of transferable maternal immunity) more vulnerable to several diseases that were not a threat to them before vaccination.

 In the case of chicken pox, vaccination renders the elderly more apt to shingles infections, because the herd has now lost the continued and benign re-exposures to children with chicken pox."

 Reference: “Herd Immunity.” The flawed science and failures of mass vaccination, Suzanne Humphries, MD

International Medical Council on Vaccination

In some work environments the participation in the flu vaccination is mandatory.  Hospitals attest to the ethical responsibility that their workers have to not contract the virus and contaminate the immuno-suppressed population that they serve.  Recently, some hospital employees have chosen to quit their jobs rather than receive the flu vaccination.  

In the past two months, at least 15 nurses and other hospital workers in four states have been fired for refusing to get a flu shot, and several others have resigned, according to affected workers, hospital authorities and published reports.
That figure includes seven employees at IU Health Goshen Hospital in northern Indiana and a longtime critical care nurse in suburban Chicago, some of whom said they resented being required to get the shot and had rights of their own. Others refuse because of egg allergies or other medical reasons.
Some hospitals argue that health care workers have an ethical obligation to get the shot to help protect themselves, and therefore their patients, from getting the flu, although most allow for some exemptions.
The most recent federal data available shows that as of November, about 63 percent of U.S. health care workers got flu shots. That’s an increase from previous years, but the government wants that figure to be at 90 percent by 2020.

Read the entire Article: Fired worker sues Ohio hospital over flu-shot requirement

Columbus Dispatch

Some will be infuriated by the moral stand these employees have taken.  Others will understand the conundrum these individuals face and the tough decision they made to not put into their bodies that which is not natural and some feel unsafe.  The dialogue is important and of course not finished. 

Work Smarter; Not Harder!

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.marconchiropractic.com