Every year, doctors and health experts warn that the flu vaccine is the best protection against dangerous strains of the influenza virus. But despite talking the talk, 60% of doctors decline the flu shot themselves, while others refuse to vaccinate their own children. Why are so many doctors avoiding the flu shot?
What Doctors Say About the Flu Shot
When asked why they didn't get the flu shot, most doctors responded with a list of excuses: "I was too busy," or "It was inconvenient with my full schedule." Medical professionals are encouraged to promote flu vaccines, so it's rare to find a doctor who will speak out against the ingredients that go into vaccinations… and their side effects.
The Flu Shot and Vaccine Side Effects
There has been an outcry for many years against one of the preservatives used in vaccinations: thimerosal or merthiolate, a mercury compound that has been linked (although the link is hotly contested) with autism and autoimmune disease. Vaccine manufacturers in the United States and Europe are beginning to phase out this dangerous preservative, but it is still present in many vaccines.
Flu shot preparations may also contain egg ingredients, peanut derivatives, and other food ingredients that are highly allergenic – without this information being disclosed to patients or even to doctors.
Many of the flu vaccine's most fervent supporters will admit that they used to suffer a week-long cold a few times a year before the vaccine – and since they started getting the vaccine every year, they get one very intense cold that lasts three weeks or a month immediately after the flu shot.
Vaccinations and Autism Fears
The most pervasive fear around flu shots – and vaccinations in general - is the autism risk, which has been widely publicized but continues to be denied by the medical institution and pharmaceutical companies. Despite the lack of verified scientific information on the subject, MSNBC reports that the "autism fear is [the] biggest issue" for parents who choose not to have their children vaccinated.
Although medical experts and proponents of the flu shot maintain that the link between autism and vaccinations has been disproven, the truth is that studies correlating the incidence of autism in more and less highly vaccinated populations have never been done.
The studies that have been done were conducted by drug companies, with the explicit goal of dismissing the claims that vaccines are dangerous. The research that would set parents' minds at rest on the subject does not exist yet.
Many holistic health professionals believe that vaccines damage the immune system, acting as an immunosuppressant which hinders the natural immune system response and contributes to immune system disorders. This idea remains controversial, with some doctors suggesting that people with autoimmune disease, heart, liver and kidney disease should be first in line to get the flu shot – while other experts maintain that these people are most likely to be harmed by flu vaccines.
Sources
- Barnard, Jeff, "Don't vaccinate? Doctors paying to hear views," MSNBC.msn.com, 9 January 2009.
- Chitale, Radha, "Docs Talk the Talk, But Do They Take Flu Shots?" ABCNews.go.com, 9 December 2008.
- Roan, Shari, "Swine flu 'debacle' of 1976 is recalled," LATimes.com, 27 April 2009.
- Sullivan, Sarah F., "Many Doctors Push Flu Vaccine, Don't Get It Themselves," AssociatedContent.com, 9 December 2008.
Victoria Anisman-Reiner - Victoria Anisman-Reiner is a freelance writer with extensive experience in holistic health care and animal training.
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