The problem is that maintaining our children in a hyper-clean state prevents their immune system from functioning effectively and can cause autoimmune system disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Type 1 Diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma and allergies.

Scientists liken infants’ immune systems to unprogrammed computers that need instruction. Exposure to organisms trains our developing immune systems and provides that instruction. Exposure to organisms gives infants’ immune systems ‘practice’ but also allows it to learn what not to respond to. If our immune system never learns what not to respond to, it could mistake our own tissues for a dangerous organism and an autoimmune disorder is born.

Babies instinctively put everything in their mouth for a reason, they need exposure to many different organisms. The average human harbors 90 trillion microbes which contribute to our health. Young immune systems have a lot to learn in a short period of time so that it doesn’t kill off the helpful organisms along with harmful ones.

For more information, read Dr. Mary Ruebush’s “Why Dirt Is Good.” Another potentially important consequence of living in a hyper-clean world is that humans rarely harbor intestinal worms any more. While that sounds like a great thing to me, researchers have used harmless intestinal worms to both prevent and reverse autoimmune diseases. Dr. Joel V. Weinstock and Dr. David Elliot are at the forefront of this research.

They point out that children who grow up on farms are frequently exposed to these harmless worms and as a result are much less likely to develop allergies and autoimmune disorders. The doctors suggest allowing your children to have “two dogs and a cat” so your children’s immune system can benefit from exposure to a large array or organisms.

Circumstantial evidence exists to link vaccines with other serious illnesses and conditions such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), and autism. GBS is why you might want to think twice about receiving the swine flu vaccine due out this fall. GBS is a brain disorder that attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis including the inability to breathe, and can be fatal.

Recently, England’s health department warned neurologists to be on heightened alert for an increase in GBS associated with the swine flu vaccine. They have cause for concern. A swine flu vaccine administered in America in 1976 coincided with an outbreak of GBS among those who received the vaccine.

In fact, more people died from GBS than from the swine flu. No one knows what causes GBS so some scientists dispute that it is caused by a vaccine. However, the circumstantial evidence was so strong that the U.S. withdrew the vaccine and was forced to pay millions to those afflicted with GBS.

One statistical study that looked at the 1976 outbreak found that the swine flu vaccine increases your chances of developing GBS by eight times. However, those chances are still small. Of the 40 million people who received the vaccine in 1976, 80,000 people contracted GBS and 25 people died from it.

While the chances are small of developing GBS, the possibility requires you to undertake your own risk analysis. GBS can be deadly. So can swine flu. Do your research and determine which choice is best for you.

Your risk of dying from swine flu once you contract is is about 0.4 percent – very low. It’s slightly higher than the regular flu but still lower than the 2 to 3 percent fatality rate of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

However, pregnancy and obesity are large risk factors that increase your likelihood of dying from swine flu. About half of people who have died from swine flu have been pregnant or had other health conditions, especially diabetes and conditions linked with obesity.

Today’s swine flu vaccine is slightly different that that of 1976, but no testing has been done on human adults or children

GBS attacks the lining of the nerves, leaving them unable to transmit signals to muscles effectively. It can cause paralysis that mostly affects the hands and feet. In serious cases, patients need to be kept on a ventilator, and it can be fatal.

Death is caused by paralysis of the respiratory system, causing the victim to suffocate.