You May Not Want To Get the Swine Flu Vaccine September 8, 2009

Every year in America, hundreds of children and adults suffer serious injuries caused by vaccines. It’s the reality of immunizations that does not receive enough attention. It has been well-documented over many years that vaccines cause such injuries as anaphylactic shock, encephalitis, and brachial neuritis.

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.