Get your flu shots -- and ignore Bill Maher

I just want to endorse Linda Bergthold's recent HuffPo column about Bill Maher. Maher is a funny guy who often displays a sharp intellect. On matters of public health, however, my view of him parallels President Obama's opinion of Kanye West.

As Bergthold notes, there is a lot of good evidence out there indicating that seasonal flu and H1N1 immunization are safe and valuable to protect the public health. There is also a lot of misinformation out there from misguided celebrities among others. Dubious claims sometimes even find their way onto Huffington Post. You should enjoy these web pages and learn from many fine columnists, including a huge number of bona fide public health experts. You should always remember, however, that venues such as this one are not positioned to provide authoritative or scrutinized medical advice regarding vaccines and other matters. You should certainly remember that sincere and passionate celebrities such as Bill Maher and Jenny McCarthy don't always get things right.

A far more credible source, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports the obvious: By getting a flu shot, you are protecting your health. You are also protecting others, including elderly people and those with immune system challenges in your community. You are saving lives.

 

 

Comments

[Karen Kevra]

Bill Maher is taking a lot of heart over his position on vaccines and I am pleased to see the debate that has been sparked by his conviction.

There so much more to this than vaccinations. As the mother of a son who means the world to me, it is my desire to protect him and do what is best for him including raising him with a strong awareness of a healthy lifestyle. Many are running to be the first in line for the swine flu vaccination but how many parents question what the vaccination is made out of? The CDC admits that the inactivated vaccine contains thimerosal, which may be related to autism. It also contains mercury. These are not substances I want in my child's body in even the smallest of doses. And what effects with these toxic ingredients have now and down the road?

The vaccination begs some huge questions--Are we better off doing all we to strengthen our immune systems (on our admittedly poisoned planet)? Or should we vaccinate out of the fear of a virus which we may or may not contract?

Fortune 500 lists two medically related industries among its top 4! Our immensely profitable health care system needs to chart a path toward encouraging health rather than treating sickness. But in the meantime let's carefully consider our health care choices and put pressure on the medical establishment to reveal the facts so we can make truly informed decisions.

[pdxskeptic]

I just want to point out a few things: The vaccine does not "contain" any elemental Mercury at all. Zilch. The flu vaccine contains extremely minute quantities of thimerosal which is a Mercury compound. Saying Thimerosal "contains" Mercury is disingenuous, it would be like saying salt "contians" chlorine or water "contains" Hyrdogen. Thimerosal mostly leaves the body as it came in: as thimerosal with a small amount either being metabolized or simply degrading to Ethyl Mercury, a toxic substance but it does not bio accumulate or cross the blood brain barrier like elemental Mercury does or like Methyl Mercury or Mercury Sulfides. At no point in this process is the human body exposed to elemental Mercury. Again, Mercury and Ethyl Mercury are two different things completely with very different toxicology.

Secondly and more importantly, it is a completely false and misinformed to state that thimerosal "may be related to Autism" . Numerous and extensive epidemiological studies have clearly shown zero correlation between Autism Spectrum Disorder and vaccines including vaccines containing thimerosal. It is sad to see you repeat the misinformation of Jenny McCarthy and Bill Maher here. A more reliable source for information is the National Academy of Sciences which did a meta analysis of the various studies attempting to find a link between ASD and other disorders and vaccinations. Please don't repeat the nonsense of Bill Maher as if it were true.

[larned]

This is the current assessment of the risks of H1N1:
"Although it remains unclear how frequently the virus makes people seriously ill, recent reports from Mexico, Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand indicate that perhaps 1 percent of patients who get infected require hospitalization. Between 12 to 30 percent of those hospitalized need intensive care, and 15 to 40 percent of those in intensive care die."
People are willing to forgo this vaccine when there is a 1 in 100 chance that they or their child will end up in the hospital due to H1N1, possibly in critical condition, yet they obsess over a 1 in a million chance they will get Guillain-Barre Syndrome from the vaccine. You can also get Guillain-Barre from the flu itself. The odds of getting GBS as a result of bacterial food poisoning from eating undercooked chicken are about 1 in 100,000. Maybe the anti-vaccine folks should start boycotting KFC.
Half the people being hospitalized with severe cases of H1N1 are healthy young people, as are 30 % of the people dying from it. Don't think you or your children won't be the 1 in 100 because you are healthy.

[tarowig]

Excellent post. Nice to see some common sense perspective laid out!!

[PRISMGANG]

Correction to the title of one of Dr. Lanctot's books - It is "Vaccination the Silent Genocide"

[PRISMGANG]

Having researched the subject of vaccines for many years (after reading a quote from a medical journal about the smallpox vaccine causing leukemia), I uncovered a lot more information that is covered up, lied about, and misrepresented to the public.
Those who are trying to discredit Bill Maher on vaccination are either shills for the pharmeceut­ical/agrib­usiness/oi­l/biomedic­al "research" conglomerate, or they are seriously misinformed.
It was disturbing to see Chris Matthews shout over Bill while he was trying to give the TRUE statistics on the polio vaccine.
The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Act (which was put into place to take the burden of paying the damages on lawsuits OFF OF the pharmaceutical companies and put it ON THE TAXPAYERS) admits DPT shots cause a litany of things that are not reported to the public, for instance, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Type 1 diabetes, neurological damage, and seizures. This is just a tiny part of the deception.
Bill should have REAL vaccine experts on his program, like Dr. Harold Buttram, author of "Vaccination and Immune Malfunction," Dr. Guylaine Lanctot, author of "The Medical Mafia," and "Vaccination, the Silent Killer," (for which the medical mafia has gone after her license - how dare she tell on them!), Dr. Archie Kalorkerinos, author of "Every Second Child." That's just for starters. Don't want to take up a lot of space right away.

[mofmars333]

SOS

Here's my "Open Letter to Media" in part.

See the entire content demanding truth & fairness in reporting by clicking either of the two following links.

Join & stand with activists & save your family from mandated flu vaccines that may be coming your way.

Join the healthcare workers;

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NY-Vaccine-Strategy-Forum/message/1274

Join hundreds of group owners, patriots & citizens;

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WETHEPEOPLE_UNITED/?yguid=386499233

Do your part & help save our children. Google for emails of your favorite news anchors & networks & send your own message!

"Open Letter to Media***This is really big & so should coverage of the rally be"

You'll find details of upcoming rally below in this communication.

First, a word from the sponsors;

Drug Giant Merck – "Destroy" Critical Doctors "Where They Live

"Court evidence now available on-line at the University of California library shows drug giant Merck systematically targeted "hit-lists" of doctors to discredit, neutralize or destroy critics of the safety and effectiveness of
Merck's drugs."

This also included Andrew Wakefield who's a British medical doctor who put children's health & safety over autism & the MMR vaccine before his career & has been hounded by big money ever since.

[mofmars333]

Well people, truth's out big time & those working to deny the facts will soon be needing to find another line of work as big pharma will now be forced to revamp & get back to having the well being of our nation at heart.

Be sure & see this link;

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/

It's from the below articles that exposed "Merck" & vindicated the honorable Andrew Wakefield.

It has oodles of articles & reports of fact that have buried this vaccination matter in truth, to the point there will be no recovery in keeping up with the status quo.

We are on the road to recovery.

We can now begin to right the wrongs that will lead to the healing of our nation & ripple out to benefit the world.

[mcgerm]

My son's elementary school has 70 kids out of 310 absent today for the flu. When we called our doctor last week for him to get a flu shot we were told only Medicare/Medicaid patients were getting shots. Apparently the fed’s issued an order to secured their supplies first before any private entities. So… what is the moral of the story here? I need to quit my job and go on public assistance so my kids can go to the front of the queue for flu shots. This is a perfect example of why we need less government in the health care marketplace, not more.

[Joe VanMyers]

I saw the exact same comment on the Chicago Tribune site - which PR firm you working for?

[mofmars333]

Drug Giant Merck – “Destroy” Critical Doctors “Where They Live

"Court evidence now available on-line at the University of California library shows drug giant Merck systematically targetted “hit-lists” of doctors to discredit, neutralise or destroy critics of the safety and effectiveness of Merck’s drugs."

This included Andrew Wakefield who's a British medical doctor who put children's health & safety over autism & the MMR vaccine before his career & has been hounded by big money ever since.

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/merckdestroydoccritics/

[jcause28]

Great article. Keep it up!

[mofmars333]

Wakefield was framed just as we thought!

"Dr Andrew Wakefield Demolishes Ignorant US Vaccine Lobby"

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/andrew-wakefield-demolishes-ignorant-us-vaccine-lobby/

Sunday Times’ Discredited – Wakefield’s Autism Research Verified

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/wakefieldreplicated/

"UK Press Complaints Commission Orders Sunday Times “Remove MMR Journalist’s Stories” on Dr. Wakefield from Paper’s Web Site"

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/briandeerdowninflames/

"Sunday Times Defies Press Complaints Commission – News Releas-Sunday Times’ Stories Collapse In GMC Wakefield Prosecution"

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/sunday-times-stories-collapse/

"Sunday Times Defies Press Complaints Commission
Paper Notifies Media Oversight Agency that it Will Not Remove from its Website False Stories about MMR and Dr. Andrew Wakefield"

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/stdefiespcc/

"Sunday Times’ London Editor Must Quit Over False “Wakefield MMR Data Fixing” Story"

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/sunday-times-editor-must-quit-over-false-wakefield-mmr-data-fixing-story/

[jcause28]

Can you do anything else besides spam boards with copy and paste nonsense from personal blogs, youtube videos and websites that clearly have an agenda? I mean really, show us the peer reviewed journals.

[mofmars333]

Of course, we all have agenda's, don't we?

My agenda is in all honesty because of so many children being injured, diseased & killed as the lies run rampant & are ignored.

It's my own work so to heck with your cut & paste accusation.

"peer reviewed journals?"

Anyone can google, "common practice to fake studies and pay doctors to put their names on them"

Between Andrew Wakefield being vindicated by law & honest studies on our horizon, you guys shilling will have to find something else to do.

Because;

FINALLY!

THE CALVARY HAS ARRIVED.

NVIC Launches Research Fund To Study Health & Vaccination

http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/October-2009-(1)/NVIC-Launches-Research-Fund-To-Study-Health-Vacc.aspx

Help by passing this good news on to everywhere you can, people.

[Joe VanMyers]

The repeated assertion that thimerosal is without risk is a weak appeal to the power of consensus. That's all it hinges on. And have we even enough experience to reach a consensus on the other ingredients in the shot - - - injected nonxynol-9, anyone? I would refer interested parties to note what Michael Crichton, M.D. has to say on the fallibility of consensus-­as-science­. Is it really right to place a bet on the health of children and pregnant women by the power of consensus?

"I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had. Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus. "

[mofmars333]

"Washington Health Department Suspends Mercury Restrictions for Swine Flu Vaccine"

Can you believe this one?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/17/Washington-Health-Department-Suspends-Mercury-Restrictions-for-Swine-Flu-Vaccine.aspx

[mofmars333]

This article will help to make an informed decision about the risks and benefits of getting the fku vaccination.

If anyone's confused about getting the flu shot all they have to do is look here.

http://www.thevaccination.com/article/2/Should-I-get-the-new-H1N1-vaccine.html

Pass it everywhere folks & do your part to help educate the masses.

[mofmars333]

PHONE CALL PROOF MANDATORY VACCINATIONS USA Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msdj6HL-XRw&feature=related

PHONE CALL PROOF MANDATORY VACCINATIONS USA Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmxpgN2dRjk&feature=related

[mofmars333]

Dr. Gary Null was one of many speakers at the rally in New York where health care workers came out in protest against mandatory vaccines;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ6ZVL_0yD4&NR=1

He has a lawsuit against the FDA & it's being handled by attorney Jim Turner;

http://stevenjohnhibbs.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/lawsuit-being-filed-against-the-fda-to-stop-swine-flu-vaccinations/

Dr. Null is responsible for the great tool in form of video that's been educating & opening the eyes of the masses. "Vaccination Nation" The Directors cut;

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=6531447125053615129&ei=pxhBSv2YD5bAqwKtwfGVBQ=vaccines%2Bdangers&hl=en#

People used to believe in blood letting until they realized the uselessness & danger to it & here we are again, making the same mistake only this time it's with vaccinations. Many doctors, past & present have been trying to tell us of the stupidity of injecting toxins into our bodies that compromise the immune system & injure & kill our children. They're responsible for the sick nation of adults we've become, too.

DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS CONDEMN VACCINATION

http://www.vaccinationdebate.com/web3.html

Pass this everywhere & help wake up those still in the dark.