We spent 3 hours at the clinic today. It's days like this that I'm so thankful we have health insurance. We make appointments at the blink of an eye. If none are available (like today) we go to urgent care. Every time I whip out those insurance cards and hand over that copay I think about all the people who don't have insurance...or who can't afford the copays.
Does that mean we're any better off? Nope. Took the kids to urgent care where they had a line and were literally giving out numbers just to get checked in. Then we were given a mask for Will since anyone coughing had to wear a mask. Then Urgent Care called over and got us in with the pediatricians office who squeezed us in for a DOUBLE even though they had no appointments available.
In short - Will seems to be fine. If his cough gets even worse - we're supposed to come back and they'll treat it. Kira's fever from Tues/Wed last week went away and now is back with a very sore (looking) throat, runny nose and cough. She's had 2 fevers within 1 week and 1 other one within the month...so they gave her urine and blood tests which confirmed what we already knew - she has a virus. They don't really do a H1N1 test. They just say it's viral and to watch her and COME BACK right away if she gets worse. So 3 hours and $30 later we still don't know more than we knew before - but we sure do feel better.
It bothers me that they don't label it H1N1. It'd be nice to give it a name. I don't know who these doctors are that are actually testing. It seems to me that for them it's less about getting an accurate count of the number of people who have this thing and more about filtering out who needs additional medical care and who can go back home.
Luckily - we were sent back home.
So I've been giving a lot of thought to the vaccinations and such but - if it's what my kids had/have - I'm thinking it's not the worst thing in the world. It seems rather typical. Maybe they don't have it. Maybe they have some other virus. Maybe it affects people differently and you really only have to be concerned if you develop secondary conditions (which is why Kira's 2nd fever in 8 days was alarming). Who knows. I have no idea.
I feel bad sending Will to daycare/school last Thursday because there are a lot of other kids there who are also sick now. If any of them have asthma - they'd likely be at a greater risk for complications.
Side Note - Just got a call from
MPIRG to donate to the health care reform cause - while I'm blogging about our health care. Very interesting. Had to donate. Now I'm supposed to call Senator Amy Klobuchar 202-224-3244 to prompt for Health Care Reform WITH a public option. Will do.
So anyway apparently this H1N1 vaccine has squalene in it. I realize I write about vaccinations a lot. It's not like I'm anti-immunizations. Will has been vaccinated for everything. (His health just went downhill fast after getting EIGHT vaccines at once - let's say that again - EIGHT - who in their right mind would do that to my kid - and how could I have let that happen). It could all be coincidence - but I doubt it. No more vaccines for that kid until his immune system has had a chance to rebound. Kira has been vaccinated for maybe 60% of what is recommended. All I want to do is
educate myself this time around about each vaccination and then make educated decisions. Only then am I comfortable either risking the vaccine's side effects to prevent a more serious illness....or risking a less serious illness to avoid sticking toxins into my kids.
I just want to know what the heck I'm saying "YES" or "NO" to. I remember blindly saying "OKAY" to whatever the doctor told us to do with Will. I didn't like it. Call me controlling. Call me whatever you want. I just want to know what the heck I'm putting into my kids.
So anyway -
Naomi Wolf posted something on facebook about the squalene in H1N1 and then I found this article. I have no idea if it is reputable or not. I just find it interesting. It makes sense to me and if my kids have/had H1N1 - then I'm thinking 1) they won't need the vaccine because then they'll be immune anyway and 2) the vaccine sounds riskier than the illness. Unless my kids have/had a different virus - then who knows. Maybe this H1N1 is a killer that we should avoid like the plague (pun not intended but intentionally left in because it is rather funny in a pandemic sort of way). Who knows. We'll just wait and see.
Let's all hope that Kira gets better instead of worse. Will appears to be in the clear and will go back to school either Wed or Thurs (more to protect others from his cough). Kira - we're still waiting to see. She doesn't feel well and now after being exposed to 3 hours of all kinds of other germs at the clinic and having a catheter put in and having blood drawn and her throat swabbed twice...she's exhausted. Poor thing.
Here's the info from the link. This Mercola guy could be a quack - I have no idea. I'm just saying all information is good information and all discussions are good discussions.
By Dr. Mercola
According to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, your children should be the first target for mass swine flu vaccinations when school starts this fall.
[i]This is a ridiculous assumption for many reasons, not to mention extremely high risk.
In Australia, where the winter season has begun, Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon is reassuring parents the swine flu is no more dangerous than regular seasonal flu. "Most people, including children, will experience very mild symptoms and recover without any medical intervention," she said.
[ii]Sydney-based immunization specialist Robert Booy predicts swine flu might be fatal to about twice as many children in the coming year as regular influenza. Booy estimates 10-12 children could die from the H1N1 virus, compared with the five or six regular flu deaths seen among children in an average year in Australia.
[iii]“Cure the Disease, Kill the Patient”
Less than 100 children in the U.S. die each year from seasonal flu viruses.
[iv] If we use Australia’s math, a very rough estimate would be another 100 children could potentially die of swine flu in the United States in the coming year.
If children are the first target group in the U.S. per Sebelius, that means we’re about to inject around 75 million children with a fast tracked vaccine containing novel adjuvants, including dangerous squalene, to prevent perhaps 100 deaths.
I’m not overlooking the tragedy of the loss of even one child to an illness like the H1N1 flu virus. But there can be no argument that unnecessary mass injection of millions of children with a vaccine containing an adjuvant known to cause a host of debilitating autoimmune diseases is a reckless, dangerous plan.
Why are Vaccinations Dangerous?
The presumed intent of a vaccination is to help you build immunity to potentially harmful organisms that cause illness and disease. However, your body’s immune system is already designed to do this in response to organisms which invade your body naturally.
Most disease-causing organisms enter your body through the mucous membranes of your nose, mouth, pulmonary system or your digestive tract – not through an injection.
These mucous membranes have their own immune system, called the IgA immune system. It is a different system from the one activated when a vaccine is injected into your body.
Your IgA immune system is your body’s first line of defense. Its job is to fight off invading organisms at their entry points, reducing or even eliminating the need for activation of your body’s immune system.
When a virus is injected into your body in a vaccine, and especially when combined with an immune adjuvant like squalene, your IgA immune system is bypassed and your body’s immune system kicks into high gear in response to the vaccination.
Injecting organisms into your body to provoke immunity is contrary to nature, and
vaccination carries enormous potential to do serious damage to your health.
And as if Vaccines Weren’t Dangerous Enough on Their Own …
… imagine them turbocharged.
The main ingredient in a vaccine is either killed viruses or live ones that have been attenuated (weakened and made less harmful).
Flu vaccines can also contain a number of chemical
toxins, including ethylene glycol (antifreeze), formaldehyde, phenol (carbolic acid) and even antibiotics like Neomycin and streptomycin.
In addition to the viruses and other additives, many vaccines also contain immune adjuvants like aluminum and squalene.
The purpose of an immune adjuvant added to a vaccine is to enhance (turbo charge) your immune response to the vaccination. Adjuvants cause your immune system to overreact to the introduction of the organism you’re being vaccinated against.
Adjuvants are supposed to get the job done faster (but certainly not more safely), which reduces the amount of vaccine required per dose, and the number of doses given per individual.
Less vaccine required per person means more individual doses available for mass vaccination campaigns. Coincidentally, this is exactly the goal of government and the pharmaceutical companies who stand to make millions from their vaccines.
Will There Be Immune Adjuvants in Swine Flu Vaccines?
The U.S. government has contracts with several drug companies to develop and produce swine flu vaccines. At least two of those companies,
Novartis and
GlaxoSmithKline, are using an adjuvant in their H1N1 vaccines.
The adjuvant? Squalene.
According to Meryl Nass, M.D., an authority on the anthrax vaccine,
“A novel feature of the two H1N1 vaccines being developed by companies Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline is the addition of squalene-containing adjuvants to boost immunogenicity and dramatically reduce the amount of viral antigen needed. This translates to much faster production of desired vaccine quantities.”
[v]Novartis’s proprietary squalene adjuvant for their H1N1 vaccine is MF59. Glaxo’s is ASO3. MF59 has yet to be approved by the FDA for use in any U.S. vaccine, despite its history of use in other countries.
Per Dr. Nass, there are only three vaccines in existence using an approved squalene adjuvant. None of the three are approved for use in the U.S.
What Squalene Does to Rats
Oil-based vaccination adjuvants like squalene have been proved to generate concentrated, unremitting immune responses over long periods of time.
[vi]A 2000 study published in the American Journal of Pathology demonstrated a single injection of the adjuvant squalene into rats triggered “chronic, immune-mediated joint-specific inflammation,” also known as rheumatoid arthritis.
[vii]The researchers concluded the study raised questions about the role of adjuvants in chronic inflammatory diseases.
What Squalene Does to Humans
Your immune system recognizes squalene as an oil molecule native to your body. It is found throughout your nervous system and brain. In fact, you can consume
squalene in olive oil and not only will your immune system recognize it, you will also reap the benefits of its antioxidant properties.
The difference between “good” and “bad” squalene is the route by which it enters your body. Injection is an abnormal route of entry which incites your immune system to attack all the squalene in your body, not just the vaccine adjuvant.
Your immune system will attempt to destroy the molecule wherever it finds it, including in places where it occurs naturally, and where it is vital to the health of your nervous system.
[viii]Gulf War veterans with Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) received anthrax vaccines which contained squalene.
[ix] MF59 (the Novartis squalene adjuvant) was an
unapproved ingredient in experimental anthrax vaccines and has since been linked to the devastating autoimmune diseases suffered by countless Gulf War vets.
[x]The Department of Defense made every attempt to deny that squalene was indeed an added contaminant in the anthrax vaccine administered to Persian Gulf war military personnel – deployed and non-deployed – as well as participants in the more recent Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP).
However, the FDA discovered the presence of squalene in certain lots of AVIP product. A test was developed to detect anti-squalene antibodies in GWS patients, and a clear link was established between the contaminated product and all the GWS sufferers who had been injected with the vaccine containing squalene.
A study conducted at Tulane Medical School and published in the February 2000 issue of Experimental Molecular Pathology included these stunning statistics:
“ … the substantial majority (95%) of overtly ill deployed GWS patients had antibodies to squalene. All (100%) GWS patients immunized for service in Desert Shield/Desert Storm who did not deploy, but had the same signs and symptoms as those who did deploy, had antibodies to squalene.
In contrast, none (0%) of the deployed Persian Gulf veterans not showing signs and symptoms of GWS have antibodies to squalene. Neither patients with idiopathic autoimmune disease nor healthy controls had detectable serum antibodies to squalene. The majority of symptomatic GWS patients had serum antibodies to squalene.”
[xi]According to Dr. Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., a former principle research scientist for the government of Australia:
“… this adjuvant [squalene] contributed to the cascade of reactions called "Gulf War Syndrome," documented in the soldiers involved in the Gulf War.
The symptoms they developed included arthritis, fibromyalgia, lymphadenopathy, rashes, photosensitive rashes, malar rashes, chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, abnormal body hair loss, non-healing skin lesions, aphthous ulcers, dizziness, weakness, memory loss, seizures, mood changes, neuropsychiatric problems, anti-thyroid effects, anaemia, elevated ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Raynaud’s phenomenon, Sjorgren’s syndrome, chronic diarrhoea, night sweats and low-grade fevers.”
[xii]Post Vaccination Follow-Up Might as Well Be Non-Existent
There is virtually no science to support the safety of vaccine injections on your long-term health or the health of your children. Follow-up studies last on average about two weeks, and look only for glaring injuries and illnesses.
Autoimmune disorders like those seen in Gulf War Syndrome frequently take years to diagnose due to the vagueness of early symptoms. Complaints like headaches, fatigue and chronic aches and pains are symptoms of many different illnesses and diseases.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for vaccine purveyors and proponents to look seriously at the long-term health consequences of their vaccination campaigns.
