Author of “The Rise of Tyranny” and “Restore The Republic” and “Global Censorship of Health Information” October 1, 2012
Each year about this time public health authorities urgently call for universal influenza vaccination, leading the public to believe that every man, woman, and child should proceed, herd-like to various medical and pharmacy loci for inoculation or face a flu epidemic comparable to those in the past that killed thousands. One would think with pharmacies nationwide offering the vaccine and public authorities touting its benefits that flu vaccination is a proven, reliable, and safe means to prevent the flu. Think again. Among the false propaganda messages disseminated by our governments is the representation that the flu vaccine will protect Americans from the flu. Years from now as medical science advances, we may well look back at the decades during which these governmentally prodded gatherings for mass vaccination took place with either horror or bemusement.
To get to the bottom of the flu vaccine efficacy question, I turned to one of the nation’s most respected immunologists; he is also one of the nation’s most respected oncologists: Dr. Charles B. Simone (see http://DrSimone.com). Dr. Simone is a National Cancer Institute trained medical and radiation oncologist and immunologist. He has treated many national and international luminaries, like Vice President Hubert Humphrey and leading pols from Europe and heads of state in the Middle East, members of Congress, and ordinary folks too. He has developed new cancer drugs and methods of treating cancer. He has published extensively, and in the peer-reviewed literature. He advised President Reagan on cancer prevention. He has testified before Congress on repeat occasions. He is a remarkable diagnostician, scholar, and healer. His bedside manner elevates patients’ spirits and sustains them in the hardest of times. He is a tireless practitioner, driving himself to the nth degree in order to provide the best possible care for ailing patients. Because he is a person of impeccable credentials, intelligence, integrity, and sincerity, he is among the very best to question concerning the efficacy of the flu vaccine. I share with you his candid answers to my questions concerning the flu vaccine.
Dr. Simone explains that there are “more than 200 viruses that cause influenza and influenza-like illness,” yet, “at best, flu vaccines might be effective against only influenza A and B, which represent about 10% of all circulating viruses that cause the flu like syndrome.” Dr. Simone explained that the flu vaccine generally does not prevent the flu in babies, in adults, or in the elderly. He relies on data compiled from the Cochrane Collaboration and the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal (http://thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(11)70295-X/abstract… ). He explains that the flu vaccine is generally of little or no efficacy in the populations public health authorities most urgently demand be vaccinated:
- “Not in Babies: 51 studies involving 294,000 children aged 6 -24 months found there was ‘no evidence that injecting [them] with a flu shot was any more effective than placebo.’ In children older than 2 years, it was only effective 33% of the time in preventing the flu. [Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews. 2 (2008)].
- Not in Adults: 48 reports including 66,000 adults: ‘Vaccination only reduced the risk of influenza infection by 6% and reduced the number of missed worked days by less than one day (0.16).’ Cochrane 1. 2006.
- Not in the Elderly: 5707 articles screened, 64 studies used in 98 flu seasons: ‘Evidence for protection is lacking.’ Lancet and Cochrane.”
In short, precious few Americans experience any protective effect from the flu vaccine.
The next question that logically arises is whether the flu vaccine is dangerous. Dr. Simone explains that indeed in specific cases flu vaccines have caused injury, including “serious harms such as narcolepsy and febrile convulsions, and even a neurologic disease called Guillain Barre.” The public health authorities do not spend much time or effort informing Americans of those cases. The incidence of harm does not dissuade public health authorities from mounting year after year an aggressive campaign to induce more and more Americans to be vaccinated. They do that aware that as more of us become vaccinated, chances are the numbers of people suffering flu vaccine related injuries will increase.
Dr. Simone reveals that far from simply failing to inform, public health authorities join with others to manipulate the evidence. He states that “the Corchrane reviews show that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin” but Dr. Simone finds “evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies.”
Mercury is a toxin, of course, but mercury is present in several forms of the flu vaccine. A form of mercury called thimerosal, and even mercury itself, appears in some flu vaccines as a preservative. Dr. Simone directs those curious about the presence of those toxins in vaccine products to visit the FDA’s web site to see for themselves (http://fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/UCM096228#t3… ). For its part, and without the benefit of conclusive scientific proof, FDA represents to the public that the mercury in vaccines is harmless, but that position is certainly not uncontroversial. In any event, Dr. Simone explains that not all flu vaccines lawful for sale to the public contain thimerosal and mercury, which begs the ultimate question: If vaccines can be lawfully made without those toxins, why in the world are the manufacturers making them with them?
Given the absence of flu vaccine efficacy for such large segments of the American population, why then do public health authorities on the federal and state levels aggressively campaign in favor of universal flu vaccination? Why do they convey the false impression that nearly everyone vaccinated will be protected from the flu, when in fact very few will experience any benefit and some may be harmed? “Governmental agencies like the FDA and CDC employ scientists but are led by politically appointed people who ultimately approve medicines including the flu vaccine,” explains Dr. Simone. “Scientists should guide our science policies and not politically appointed people. The weakest among us, the very young and the elderly, need the most protection because they contract the most complications, and they are virtually unprotected by vaccination.”
If we choose not to have the flu vaccine administered either to ourselves or our children, we become increasingly subject to a medical, public health, and media trifecta that vilifies and condemns us as ignorant and dangerous. The trifecta blames every non-conformist for any increase in influenza or any death experienced by influenza anywhere in the United States. The trifecta depends on a grossly false causation analysis. Moreover, even were one to presume the flu vaccine one hundred percent efficacious, the trifecta explains that universal vaccination is the only way to ensure adequate protection, yet no public health system–with the exception of one administered by a brutally authoritarian state–could compel every American to be vaccinated.
That is because, at root, the issue of vaccination is a fight over individual liberty and sovereignty, and there are those who will never submit except by force to the demands of the state. No government on earth should have the power to compel competent adults to receive medication. Individual liberty means very little indeed if we have no right to refuse receipt of unwanted medical treatments, even if the state presumes the medication necessary to protect us or others. It is precisely that kind of medical tyranny that one of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Rush, decried.
There is an alternative to that highly paternalistic and intrusive approach. If one has a communicable disease that threatens others, certainly the law can compel that person to avoid interaction with others while contagious. Indeed, during any future contagion, the law can restrict the right of the infected to be in public places and can compel the quarantine of those infected. In the last analysis, good sanitation measures and a sense of occasion go much farther in protecting others than the largely ineffectual flu vaccine.
To avoid flu transmission, Dr. Simone recommends hygienic measures, healthy lifestyles, and consumption of dietary substances associated with healthy immune system function. He recommends “frequent decontamination techniques of washing hands, face, and proper sinus hygiene.” He recommends “hydrogen peroxide gargle.” He recommends “proper hydration.” He also recommends daily consumption of a good multiple vitamin, 50 mg of zinc once a week, and supplementation with quercetin, vitamin D3, resveratrol, and vitamin C. He suggests that drinking green tea may be helpful as well due to the catechins in the tea.
Charles B. Simone,, M.D. is an Internist (Cleveland Clinic 1975-77), Medical Oncologist (National Cancer Institute 1977-82), Tumor Immunologist (NCI 1977-82), and Radiation Oncologist(University of Pennsylvania 1982-85), and is the Founder of the Simone Protective Cancer Institute (1980). Simone Protective Cancer Center 123 Franklin Corner Rd. Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 609-896-2646