No Thanks

I have received my fair share of flu shots in my life. I used to get one every year in fact. But the more I learned about them and the more family members who do exorbitant amounts of research told me about them, I decided that flu shots, or vaccines of any kind, are no longer something I want coursing through my body. For me, the benefits do not outweigh the risks.

I’m not going to get up on my soap box and tell you why you shouldn't get a flu shot, I’m just going to share a few things that I have learned, things that have convinced me not to get one.

First of all, they are filled with all kinds of chemicals and preservatives that I would rather not be exposed to. Here is a list of ingredients I got from Dr. Mercola’s website: (the quote following the list is also Dr. Mercola)
• Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
• Phenol, also known as carbolic acid (this is used as a disinfectant, dye)
• Formaldehyde, a known cancer-causing agent
• Aluminum, which is associated with Alzheimer's disease and seizures and also cancer producing in laboratory mice (it is used as an additive to promote antibody response)
• Thimerosal (a mercury disinfectant/preservative) can result in brain injury and autoimmune disease
• Neomycin and Streptomycin (used as antibiotics) have caused allergic reaction in some people.

“Vaccines are also grown and strained through animal or human tissue like monkey kidney tissue, chicken embryo, embryonic guinea pig cells, calf serum, and human diploid cells (the dissected organs of aborted human fetuses as in the case of rubella, hepatitis A, and chickenpox vaccines).”

No thanks.

Second, the Center for Disease Control and other government agencies, I believe, use scare tactics on the public and frankly I think that is just rude. Particularly with the new H1N1 vaccine coming out, I’m deeply concerned about the safety of the flu shots they stand behind, especially one that is so brand spanking new. The side effects from the H1N1 vaccine can be worse than the actual flu which in most cases is just a bad cough and some other mild flu symptoms.
Now, I tend to be a little conspiracy theory prone, but I truly believe that they use scare tactics to make money. The more people get flu shots, the more money the vaccine companies make and the more they line the pockets of the people at the CDC or lobbyists pushing the drug companies’ agendas.

We’ll use Olive as an example. When we first got her, I did all kinds of research on vaccines for dogs. Now, I think dogs need a certain number of vaccines because, for instance, they eat rabbit poop in the back yard all the time. I mean….Olive never does that of course, she’s perfect, but other dogs do I’m sure. And they need to be protected against Rabbis of course. Based on the research I did, dog vaccines last anywhere from 5-7 years, far longer than the “every year” recommendation that the vet will give you. I actually spoke to my vet about this and he said my findings were true, but because the drug companies put “every year” on the box, that’s the recommendation they have to give. Do you know how much money they would lose if they switched the box to read, “every 5-7 years” ?! My conclusion is that money definitely takes precedent over safety for the drug companies supplying the vaccines. I don’t know about you, but that scares me.

So based on what I have learned over the last few years, we choose to say NO THANKS to the flu shot and other vaccines.

Hopefully we will always have the right to say NO THANKS to things that we believe are harmful and unnecessary.