This month’s Bulletin brings you the latest news about the flu in the United States. Multiple strains of the virus are tearing through the country, and preliminary numbers paint a grim picture– reminding us of the failures of the flu vaccine.
Meanwhile, new research offers damning evidence about the long-term negative impact of the flu vaccine. And last but not least, we’ll review brand new research on osteoblast-derived extracellular vesicles that offer new insights into the creation of bone and opportunities for new osteoporosis drugs.
2017-2018 Flu Season Is The Worst In Years
This year’s flu season has been devastating for people of all ages across the United States, where the hospitalization rate has climbed as high as 22.7 people per 100,000. And that’s just the people who have been hospitalized for the flu, meaning the rate of infection must be very high this year. So far 20 childrens’ deaths have been attributed to the flu, and officials expect that tragic figure will grow as the weeks continue.1
Reports of influenza hospitalization and deaths tend to lag, and the veracity of that reporting has been called into question, as some sometimes doctors assume flu cases without performing tests to confirm the diagnosis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will release interim figures in February. Below is a quote from the head of the CDC’s influenza division, Dr. Dan Jernigan.
Relevant Excerpt:
“The influenza A virus H3N2 has caused the lion’s share of the illness in most parts of the country this year. But recently there’s been an uptick in activity by another influenza A virus, H1N1, Jernigan said, warning that even if the season appears to have peaked, flu viruses will circulate for weeks to come and people should continue to take precautions against getting infected.
Jernigan said that people over the age of 65 are being hospitalized for flu this season more than any other population. Even people age 50 to 64 are being hospitalized in high numbers.
…
The Australian interim estimate suggested the H3N2 component of the vaccine — and H3N2 was the main virus there during their most recent winter — was only about 10 percent effective.That means if 100 people got the flu shot and all were exposed to H3N2 viruses, only 10 would have been protected.
Jernigan said it looks more like the H3N2 portion of the vaccine is performing here like it did last year, when it was 34 percent effective at preventing infection. Unfortunately, that’s about on par for the flu shot’s H3N2 component, which is the weak link of flu vaccine.”1
The ineffectiveness of the flu vaccine is clear every year, but this year’s failure is particularly striking. When 34% is hailed as better than expected, the bar is revealed to be extraordinarily low. Flu vaccines, at the end of the day, are a guessing game played by the Medical Establishment and Big Pharma.
Instead of relying on a thin margin of defense, forgo the questionable science, and take time tested steps to bolster your immune system and protect your health.
Flu Shots Shown To Depress Immune System
As if the staggeringly low prevention rate of the flu vaccine wasn’t enough reason to save your body an injection of acidifying drugs, a new study has revealed that consistently receiving the flu shot depresses the immune reaction to the very virus you’re hoping to avoid.2
Relevant Excerpt:
“A new study published in the journal Vaccine, and led by researchers from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, looked at the antibody response to flu vaccination in pregnant women and their newborns to determine how the vaccine impacts pregnant women.
“We know in normal situations flu shots help us develop antibodies to protect us from the flu virus, but when it comes to understanding exactly how vaccines impact pregnancy, our understanding has been somewhat lacking,” said study author Lisa Christian, PhD, in a recent news release.
The researchers noted that receiving a prior flu vaccine can reduce the body’s antibody response in subsequent vaccinations, and so they wanted to study the potential implications in pregnant women and their babies.”2
Here’s the most important part of the above: “receiving a prior flu vaccine can reduce the body’s antibody response in subsequent vaccinations.” When you receive the flu vaccine, it results in a reduced immune response.
Here’s an excerpt from the study itself:
“…Receipt of influenza vaccine the previous year predicted higher baseline antibody titers and decreased antibody responses at one month post-vaccination against all influenza strains.”3
This weakening of the body’s response to the flu is, of course, exactly the opposite of what the Medical Establishment and Big Pharma would like us to believe. This fact was not being questioned or tested by this study. In fact the established and accepted long- term negative effects of recurring flu vaccinations prompted the researchers to conduct this study.3 And yet, you’ll never hear a doctor disclose this negative impact of receiving a yearly flu shot.
Extracellular Vesicles Identified As Bone Regenerators
Researchers at the University of Birmingham in England have isolated what they believe to be a means of stimulating bone formation: extracellular vesicles. They are membrane-surrounded structures released by cells that facilitate intercellular communication.
The scientists experimented with using extracellular vesicles taken from mineralizing osteoblasts to induce mineralization in mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) cultures. MSCs are adult stem cells that can differentiate and give rise to adipocytes (fat cells), chondrocytes (cartilage cells) and osteoblasts (bone-depositing cells).
The baseline question for the study was whether by introducing more of these tiny transporter vesicles, more bone mineral matrix would be produced.4
Relevant Excerpt:
“The study, which is published in Scientific Reports, has found that vesicles produced by stimulated cells outperform the current gold standard, BMP-2 (Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2). Bone fractures place a heavy burden on healthcare systems across the world, with osteoporosis alone causing 8.9 million fractures each year. The group believe that this could be a new approach for the regeneration of bone, teeth and cartilage.
The technique uses extracellular vesicles derived from mineralizing osteoblasts – cells that synthesize bone – to enhance tissue regeneration. When these, and a source of phosphate, were added to mesenchymal stem cells, mineralization occurred indicating that the stem cells were heading towards forming bone. Impressively, the technique beat BMP-2 treatment, which uses a growth factor that is important to the development of bone and cartilage to stimulate repair.”5
The applications of this new research are not yet clear. As more information emerges on the behavior of extracellular vesicles and their role in the creation of new bone,t their function will become clearer.
Big Pharma will undoubtedly be looking to this research as a potential source of new osteoporosis treatments, claiming to have produced another wonder-drug. Savers know that there is no miracle pharmaceutical.
As the Save Institute monitors this emerging frontier in bone-formation research, we will keep you informed.
Whether it’s flu-vaccines or osteoporosis drugs, the Save Institute stands by its drug-free protocol, detailed in the Osteoporosis Reversal Program. You have a wealth of tools – diet, exercise, and daily behaviors – that you can use to stay healthy, have strong and fracture-resistant bones. Don’t forget about the power you hold!
Till next time,
References:
1 Helen Branswell. “Flu season is shaping up as one of the worst in years, officials say” STAT. Jan 12, 2018. Web: https://www.statnews.com/2018/01/12/flu-season-cdc/
2 Einav Keet. “Despite Weakened Antibody Response, Annual Flu Shot Protects Pregnant Women & Infants.” Contagion Live. Aug 07, 2017. Web: https://www.contagionlive.com/news/despite-weakened-antibody-response-annual-flu-shot-protects-pregnant-women-and-infants
3 Lisa M.Christiana et al. “Effects of prior influenza virus vaccination on maternal antibody responses: Implications for achieving protection in the newborns.” Vaccine. Volume 35, Issue 39, 18 September 2017, Pages 5283-5290. Web: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X17306862
4 O. G. Davies, S. C. Cox, R. L. Williams, D. Tsaroucha, R. M. Dorrepaal, M. P. Lewis & L. M. Grover. “Annexin-enriched osteoblast-derived vesicles act as an extracellular site of mineral nucleation within developing stem cell cultures.” Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 12639 (2017) Web: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-13027-6
5 Alex Dale. “British Scientists Regenerate Bone By Mimicking Nature.” Labiotech.eu. Sept 10, 2017. Web: https://labiotech.eu/bone-regeneration-bone-vesicles/
My Polish grandma had us eat the room temperature onion juice after the onion broke down inside mashed garlic & honey. We refrigerated it for the next day & then tossed it. I did this with my grandchildren who had the flu this Christmas in Portland. We all took it & did NOT get sick! The 2 teenagers said it helped them get over their flu. Sadly our Thanksgiving newborn #6 grandson got the flu & ended up in the hospital 5 days. Onions can turn poisonous when aged due to a bacteria.
I get another email from Dr. Mercola MD on health issues. You might want to read this article he sent to me about the flu and sepsis. It was very interesting and might have something to do with your article above. Thanks, Dorothy
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/02/01/how-influenza-can-lead-to-sepsis.aspx
I was very proud of bone strength compared to other 65 yr olds Then I had intra radiation therepy . bone density plummeted I was given aramotase drug, over a period of four years no improvement . then I read your articles , threw tablets away and discharged , myself from endocrinolagist.
Followed your exercises and diet , for past year
had a bone scan last week no evidence of oestioporosis . Thank you Vivienne .
regards Sheila
Thank you, Ita.
The article states:
However, prior maternal vaccination did not significantly affect either maternal antibody levels at delivery or antibody levels transferred to the neonate.
This means that there were no significant effects!!!
I could not find the article regarding flu vaccines weakening the immune system at Contagion Live. I have worked in clinical trials for decades and you must be very careful to know all of the information you are sending out Vivian. A “study” with a few people is not a clinical trial with hundreds of subjects that represent the population as a whole. It is very irresponsible of you to send this out .
The book “Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies” documents scientific studies, which challenge the current medical-pharma-CDC dogma asserting the effectiveness of vaccines including influenza. I recommend this book to everyone.
For example, annual vaccination for flu each year over multiple years for common strains, reduces protective immunity for more dangerous strains in children and infants; see Lancet Infect Dis 2009 Dec; 9 (12): 784-88.
Four Canadian observational studies found the same thing eg. previously vaccinated had significantly increased risk of severe pandemic influenza compared to unvaccinated (p. 66, study no. 63 in Miller paperback).
Separately, in the Miller book, it shows that mice studies wherein vaccinated mice died while unvaccinated lived when exposed to lethal influenza strains.
Not to mention that Pediatrician Dr Paul Thomas (author of “The vaccine friendly Plan” guiding parents on vaccines) finds that his unvaccinated patients are the healthiest of his patients due to robust immune systems compared to the vaccinated.
When you challenge Vivian based on”science” the science you are citing is largely discredited, as the big PHarma and CDC Studies only publish positive results and hide those with negative or harmful results, or are fraudulent by design.
For example, in many of these studies, the placebo or control group does not use a true inactive placebo, instead a previous vaccine or injection of aluminum adjuvant is used as the placebo in the control group, rendering the “side effects” as no different. Whereas, if using an inert inactive placebo which is the research gold standard, significant adverse reactions would have to be reported in the treatment group.
Thank god for the internet, which allows those who want answers to find out the truth about health versus money motivated treatments that do more harm than good.
Lastly, where is the informed consent? Doctors absolutely lie every single time by omission as they do not advise patients that jaw bone death (necrosis) is a side effect of Reclast, or that vaccines can cause lifelong neurological damage or even death in infants.
When was the last time the doctor ever gave anyone the actual manufacturer printed insert to a drug or vaccine, prior to treatment? If they give you anything it is a manufacturer’s brochure touting benefits, while putting adverse effects somewhere on the back or at the bottom in small unreadable print.
We are living in the dark ages of allopathic pharmaceutical driven medicine, which is becoming more and more discredited as a huge scientific fraud in the face of terrible declines in the health of our people in all age groups.
Finally, do not chastise me or Vivian or anyone else as unknowlegable about science and medicine. We have a right to an informed opinion via research studies and books we have read, and yes, anecdotal stories of real life experiences, formerly called case or observational studies in medicine. I for one have had a tremendous education through the master degree level, but I think a mother watching a child turn from intellectually active to autistic after a vaccine, is to be listened to as a valid observation.
Does doctor know best? I do not think so.
Correction. The strains in the vaccine don’t mutate, but the strains in the environment do.
I am an RN and a WIC IAP Immunization nurse. Getting the flu shot does not weaken your immune system! Influenza vaccine is composed of the 2 most prevalent and/or dangerous strains of influenza A and B. The vaccine absolutely protects against those strains. Unfortunately, the influenza vaccine can mutate into other strains. If you get a strain that is not included in the vaccine, it would not protect you from that strain as it isn’t in the vaccine. Also, if you don’t get vaccinated you would not be protected from any of the strains of influenza. This is where you are leaving yourself wide open to the influenza virus. The influenza vaccine is not 100% effective against influenza, because of the other strains floating around that are not in the vaccine. But at least you are protected against the 2 A and B strains, which are the most dangerous.
Please do not continue to spread this disinformation. As a nurse, you should know better!
See my comments above regarding flu vaccine studies, which show previous season vaccinations are associated with ineffectiveness of current season’s vaccination.
Even the CDC does NOT assert high effectiveness of flu vaccines, the range is typically around 10% depending on the accuracy of the guesstimate on which strains will circulate in the current season.
One would thing nursing education would include this information….
Another major issue, we do not know the level of brain damage we risk from high levels of aluminum in flu vaccines as well as mercury in all multi dose flu vaccines.
If you opt to vaccinate for flu, insist on single dose type not multi dose source. Mercury is one of the most toxic substances to the human species.
Take high levels of vitamin C and you boost your immunity to all types of infections and alternatively detoxify from vaccine ingredients.
Hi Vivian,
Thank you, thank you. I have never gotten a flu shot and won’t ever. I knew a gal who hadn’t been sick for years and was talked into getting one. She was sicker than she had ever been. I know some folks are believers but maybe they are that 10% but most of us aren’t. I don’t like introducing chemicals into my body that don’t belong and probably won’t work to keep me well. I rarely get sick, even with a cold but I eat healthy and do lots of outdoor active stuff. Thank you for reinforcing my own beliefs about the outdated flu shot that can’t keep up with this years strain anyway.
Pam
I had the flu every year until I started getting the flu vaccine. Since then, I have not had the flu, and I am very grateful. Personally, I know 9 people who have been very sick with the flu, and all of them had refused the flu vaccine. My husband got the flu, but had a much milder case because he had had the vaccine. So, I am a strong believer in the help the vaccine gives.
I agree with you Vivian – I am 80 and used to get the flu shot years ago up until about 50 then stopped because………. every other year or so I would get the flu in the winter anyway but it was always a NEW strain that was not included in the previous vaccine. I have had a bad case of the flu only once since without shots. It has been reported over and over from many sources and on the news that this last vaccine did not include the strain we are dealing with now. I’ll take my chances, pray a lot and take precautions. Thanks for all your articles.
I appreciate the information on bone health. However, I find some information biased, such as reporting on one negative study on flu vaccine in one subgroup. Please present comprehensive referenced information, or none at all.
I once told my father (who was a GP) that I would rather have the flu than to take the flu vaccine. That, however, was before I had the flu. I missed, I believe, ten days of school and felt worse than I have ever felt–either before or since. I have had the “shot” every year since then and have not had the flu again, even though I was exposed to young children as a teacher for about 30 years. I am a type 1 diabetic, living alone, and I shudder to think about what would happen if I had the flu again.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Mary. 🙂
Vivian, please include citations with links backing up your claims when you write articles that purport getting the flu vaccine is harmful. Claims like yours that vaccines are harmful is why we see cases of polio and measles on the rise due to parents forgoing these vaccines, and the flu vaccine, no less.
I think it is best that you just stick with what you know best which is bone health.
Rob, as I responded to Richard below, please refer to the various citations under “References” at the bottom of the article.
To your comment –
Rob, as I responded to Richard below, please refer to the various citations under “References” at the bottom of the article.
I did look at the website and saw no article. Extremely irresponsible. Perhaps this organization should be reported to the Medical Society.
I fully expect when you introduced a “new study”, you include the link to the original study rather than have me just believe what you claim.
I expect to be given the link to the study that led to this conclusion:
As if the staggeringly low prevention rate of the flu vaccine wasn’t enough reason to save your body an injection of acidifying drugs, a new study has revealed that consistently receiving the flu shot depresses the immune reaction to the very virus you’re hoping to avoid.2
Hi Richard,
If you’ll take a look under “References” at the bottom of the article, you’ll see the following citation connected to the quote you posted that includes a link:
Lisa M.Christiana et al. “Effects of prior influenza virus vaccination on maternal antibody responses: Implications for achieving protection in the newborns.” Vaccine. Volume 35, Issue 39, 18 September 2017, Pages 5283-5290. Web: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X17306862
I had a bad case of the flu in 2001. It lasted for ten days for me. I was practically incapacitated, had a high fever, much coughing, and felt like I had been run over by a Mack truck. It was then I decided to start getting the flu vaccine every year. I did just that and haven’t gotten the flu since. I don’t even seem to get colds either…maybe one in three years. I am 70 and want to protect myself. If I were to get the flu in spite of getting the vaccine, my case of the flu would be a lighter case. That is important to me.
I will continue to get the vaccine and any other vaccines my doctor suggests that I need. I realize some people have stopped getting vaccines for their children and themselves because of “reports” like this and now we are starting to see some of these illnesses raise their ugly heads…things we thought were eradicated. I lived through the time when polio was prevalent. I saw people in iron lungs on the news. I saw children on crutches and in wheelchairs and, even as a child, polio was on my mind. The Salk vaccine came out and my parents made sure I was one of the first in line for the vaccine. Even though it was in shot form, I couldn’t wait to get it! I not only had the Salk vaccine, I also was given the Sabin oral vaccine in school. And these vaccines stopped polio in its’ track.
So I’m a great proponent of vaccines. I had to tell my story. I think suggesting people not get the flu vaccine could be dangerous. If someone listens to your advice and contracts the flu and gets very sick or possibly even dies, it would be a possible preventative death which would be quite horrible.
Thank you for sharing, Sherrine. As always, we believe that it is your choice as to whether or not you receive any vaccination. We post reports of this nature so that people can make an informed decision. 🙂
Thank you, Vivian. I just felt I needed to show the other side of the coin. You are absolutely correct in that we all need to make informative choices for ourselves. Have a good day!
Thanks again Vivian for a wonderful, timely report! Healthier we are at the front end, makes it easier to deal with all illnesses when they come on!
You’re welcome, Terry! Stay healthy. 🙂