Is a flu vaccine the solution to the current flu epidemic?

The deadly flu is everywhere in America right now. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all the states in the United States are reporting some kind of widespread flu activity except for Hawaii. The Washington State Department of Health alone reported 40 deaths from flu in the last week, and the death toll has climbed to a total of 109 in Washington state this week. There was a total of 181 hospitalizations in the Spokane County in January for flu, including 15 deaths. Similarly, 25 people over the age of 50 have died this season from flu in the Panhandle Health District area in Idaho. (Alexander, 2018)

Furthermore, is the flu any more deadly than the common types of pneumonia? According to the CDC publications there are 1.4 per 100,000 yearly deaths caused by the flu virus. However, pneumonia reports 15.9 per 100,000 deaths every year. These statistics beg the question: is the medical community hunting the most dangerous foe?

It is troubling to even think about the fact that the flu vaccines contain neurotoxins and heavy metals, such as mercury, aluminum, glyphosate (which is the toxic herbicide used in Roundup weed-killer and hormone disruptor) and ethylene glycol (antifreeze). Can you imagine putting all this junk into your body? The good news is that you can overcome flu without a flu vaccination. According to Ayurvedic medicine, when we do yoga, pranayama, walking, exercise, stress reduction and eat a healthy diet, we prevent many diseases. Then if you still got flu, it will be less virulent. Once in a while, we should welcome flu; that means, you have beaten up your body and it needs rest. Getting flu is also an excellent immune exercise.

Flu is a viral respiratory disease that causes fever, headache, muscle pain, cough, and runny nose. There are two types of flu strains: Types A and B. In the beginning of the flu season, the A strains are more common, and they are found in humans and animals. The B strains come later in the season, and infect only humans. The dominant A strain this year is H3N2, and it is a worse strain compared to previous years. Over 90% of the flu cases nowadays involve H3N2 strain. The CDC reports that there were 31.5 hospitalizations due to flu this season per 100,000 population (Belluz, 2018). Unlike the H1N1 strain, the H3N2 strains deeply affect the elderly and people with chronic illnesses that make them prone to infections.

Experts cannot figure out whether the strain, vaccine, or both are leading to the present flu epidemic. The vaccine is not effective, and the flu is spreading. The flu vaccines are supposed to protect the public against three or four strains of the A and B viruses that scientists believe will be common during a year. The researchers make their educated guesses on what strains and mutations will come around during a flu season, although the developers of the vaccine may choose the wrong circulating flu strain to target. Moreover, even if the vaccine is designed for the predominant virus circulating in a particular season, it will not work if your body hasn’t created a full response or if too much time passes between vaccine and viral exposure.

The question arises, is the flu vaccination effective? First of all, in the case of H3N2 strains of flu, vaccines do not work. The flu strains mutate every year, and the way H3N2 vaccine strains are grown in eggs accelerates this process. When there was an epidemic in Australia last year, the flu vaccine was only 10% effective against H3N2. It is ridiculous that the CDC continues to endorse the flu vaccine every year while it simultaneously admits that the flu vaccines do not work (Alton, 2017).

I have seen so many patients who have been vaccinated, and they still got the flu. The flu vaccine is proving to be a failure at protecting the public. What is even more alarming is the finding of a recent research study on flu vaccination transmission: An individual who has had a flu vaccination and catches a flu has a 6.3 times higher risk of infecting others as compared with an un-vaccinated flu patient (Yan, et al., 2018). Do these flu vaccines really help you and provide you the most important prevention as promised?

Here are some of my key tips for protection from flu:

·     Wash your hands frequently with clean water  and soap, particularly before cooking food, before eating, and after using the bathrooms.

·     Do not overuse antibacterial synthetic soaps, which can cause dryness and irritation. Instead, use natural soaps when you come in contact with dirt, for example.

·     Avoid using hand sanitizers. The Isopropyl alcohol in many hand sanitizers is an irritant that gets absorbed fast and can cause reactivity in body.

·     Use a facemask to cover your mouth and nose as a common practice to prevent infection transmission.

·     When sick, stay home and rest.

·     Eat healthy and nutritious foods. For instance, eat plenty of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, such as apples, grapes, blackberries, cranberries, tomatoes, and onions, which are rich in quercetin and build immunity.

·     Sit in infrared sauna. It feels relaxing and also boosts your immunity.

You can take spices such as ginger, garlic, black pepper, and turmeric to enhance metabolic and immune activity. You can also take herbs such as Amla, Guduchi, Tulsi, Licorice, Long pepper, Astragalus, and Adhatoda vasica. ( For more info. on these herbs, call RUVED at 1-800-925-1371 or visit www.RUVED.com). Alongside the herbs, you can do an intravenous therapy of Vitamin C, which is a powerful anti-oxidant and pro-oxidant. When we get a flu, our immunity becomes suppressed and overwhelmed by oxidative stress. Vitamin C works like a charm in boosting the immune system and helps fight infection naturally.

In my 38 years of practice, I got flu only about three times. I am not vaccinated either. I have outlined for you some of the basic everyday practices you can perform to strengthen your immune system. Remember, the key is to keep your immune system healthy. Of course, routine practices such as exercising, keeping yourself hydrated, having a good sleep, maintaining good hygiene practices, avoiding sugar, and taking immune-boosting supplements are critical to preventing the onset of flu.

References:

Alexander, R. (2018, January 21). Flu season worst since 2009 swine flu pandemic. Retrieved from The Spokesman-Review: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jan/21/flu-season-worst-since-2009-swine-flu-pandemic/#/0

Alton, L. (2017, December 24). Flu vaccine for 2017 ineffective against upcoming severe flu season, experts warn. Retrieved from Natural Health 365: https://www.naturalhealth365.com/flu-vaccine-season-2400.html

Belluz, J. (2018, January 22). This year's awful flu season, mapped. Retrieved from Vox: https://www.vox.com/2018/1/12/16882622/flu-season-epidemic-prevention-vaccine

Yan, J., Grantham, M., Pantelic, J., Bueno de Mesquita, P. J., Albert, B., Liu, F., . . . Consortium, E. (2018, January). Infectious virus in exhaled breath of symptomatic seasonal influenza cases from a college community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1-6.