Swine Flu Concerns

Hi Prof. Nicolson,

In regards to Swine flu, what is your advice for people who are chronically ill and especially for those of us who are on pathogen killing treatments ? I would like to know if you had any additional tips (other than the regular advice) on how to avoid the Swine flu and what to do if we catch it. I am not getting the Swine flu vaccination as I cannot tolerate vaccinations and have concerns about this vaccination in the first place.

Thanks again for being here !

[Garth L Nicolson, PhD]

I feel that you are correct to be careful about the Swine flu vaccine.  Some of the vaccines that are now being tested now are being pushed into use without a full and careful analysis of safety.   The current strains of Swine flu that are making the rounds are unlikely to be life-threatening to most people, so why take the chance?

[PlateletGal]

Thank you, Prof. Nicolson. I think most people would be surprised by your answer, so I thought I would share my experience with vaccinations. Of course I have an underlying health condition but have noticed that currently, the medical field is especially warning people who are chronically ill to get the Swine flu vaccination.

Here is my part of my history with vaccinations:


My experience with vaccinations:

When I was a child, I would sometimes get warts on my fingers. I remember a physician/friend who worked with my mother, asked her if she would be willing to allow him to recruit me in one of his research studies. He wanted to vaccinate me with the mumps skin test antigen. After the first vaccination, my temp shot up to 104 degrees. I was very ill, but made a full recovery. This physician simply could not believe that the vaccination caused my reaction... so he asked my mother if she would be willing to let him try again. Well he did try again and guess what ? I had the same reaction !  The physician felt so bad that I remember he bought me a very expensive watch and came over to our house to visit me. I found out later that another one of his subjects had also had a very high fever after a vaccination.... and his research study suddenly came to an abrupt end after that.

In the early 90s, I had allergy shots for 4 allergens. After my first injection, I was told that I would have a red bump on my arm and would need to sit in the waiting room for about 20 minutes. Well, I didn't have the red bump on my arm, but I was very ill the following day after the injection. I called my allergist and he insisted that it wasn't the allergy shot that made me ill. So I was brave enough to try again.... and the same thing happened. My allergist continued to lower the dosage in the shots, but every single time I had an injection.... I became very ill the following day. Despite my allergists advice to continue on, I immediately stopped getting the allergy shots. Years later, two other allergists told me that I made the right decision.

The flu shot. The first or second time that I had a flu shot... I was told that it couldn't make me sick. That was not true. After the infection, I had a slight fever and minor flu like symptoms all week long.

[Garth L Nicolson, PhD]

I am certainly not against immunizations, but vaccines affect some people in very adverse ways, and these people have to be especially careful about vaccines.  Although for most people this may be a rare event, in some people vaccines cause considerable problems.  Everyone has to weigh the benefits/risk very carefully before taking vaccines, especially multiple vaccines given at the same time.  There is some information on our website, www.immed.org on vaccines and adverse reactions to certain vaccines. Some are safer than others, and the public needs to be informed of the risks as well as the benefits of vaccines.

[PlateletGal]

I agree with you 100% and I wish that I was able to tolerate vaccinations. As I'm sure you might imagine, I have some concerns about catching the Swine flu (or one of the regular flu strains for that matter). I've decided that I may get a Swine flu vaccination... but ONLY if the virus mutates to the point where it is very dangerous (the Spanish flu scenario) and only after the appropriate testing has been done on the vaccination. I just hope it doesn't come down to that.

[pgp380]

A related discussion, costochondritis was started.