No Luck Finding an H1N1 Flu Shot? You’re Not Alone

Dear Ms. Shute,

In your article on Nov 6th "No Luck Finding an H1N1 Flu Shot?... You made a reference that children and young adults between the ages of 6 and 24 years of age, have little or no immunity to this flu.

Are you aware that part of the reason is due to the lack of Vitamin D3 in most people, including children and young adults. Quote, "Vitamin D deficiency is so widespread in U.S. children that it poses a huge threat to the future health of an entire generation. A new study published in the journalPediatrics paints a disturbing picture of vitamin D deficiency across the population of children aged 1 through 21."

Ms. Shute, Vitamin D is essential for healthy, active immune function. That's just one of the reasons more and more people are choosing vitamin D instead of the swine flu vaccine. Below are nineteen more reasons:

#1 Vitamin D activates your immune system to respond to any viral exposure (not just one virus).

#2 Vitamin D naturally belongs in your body.

#3 Vitamin D has been functioning as medicine in the human body since the beginning of the human species.

#4 Vitamin D is available right now and there's no shortage of it.

#5 Vitamin D won't cause your brain to swell and put you into a coma.

#6 Vitamin D doesn't require an injection with a scary needle.

#7 Vitamin D is found naturally in many foods such as sardines or salmon.

#8 Vitamin D has a perfect safety record. No one ever died from consuming it.

#9 Vitamin D is affordable. You can even get it for free (from sunlight).

#10 Vitamin D doesn't contain viral fragments from diseased animals (like vaccines often do).

#11 Vitamin D doesn't contain Thimerosal (Thimerosal contains 49.6 percent mercury by weight and is metabolized or degraded into ethylmercury and thiosalicylate. Mercury, or more precisely, ethylmercury, is the principle agent that kills contaminants. Unfortunately, mercury also kills much more than that.) Recorded studies have link Thimersol to Autism. So why would any parent subject their child to this? Plus 60% of parents are against giving their children the H1N1 shot.

#12 Vitamin D doesn't need a warning sheet describing possible side effects.

#13 Vitamin D doesn't hurt your arm when you take it.

#14 Vitamin D also improves sugar metabolism, bone density and healthy moods.

#15 Vitamin D is safe for the environment.

#16 Vitamin D doesn't contain squalene or other inflammatory adjuvant chemicals.

#17 Vitamin D works on everyone and is safe for everyone, including infants and children.

#18 Vitamin D is made in nature, not a laboratory.

#19 Vitamin D is found naturally in breast milk.

#20 You can walk, and chew gum, and generate vitamin D from sunshine all at the same time!

It would of been refreshing to have a leading news publisher state some factual organic alternatives in fighting the H1N1. But, in reality that can never happen, since BigPharma spends a lot of advertising dollars off & online to the media. And that vitamin D3 is free and or very inexpensive if bought. Which means BigPharma loses billions of dollars in revenue.

What are thoughts?

Christian of CA 11:03PM November 16, 2009

Per the author: "I was able to get FluMist for my child at a county clinic in mid-October, even though she doesn't have asthma or other chronic health problems that would have put her at greater risk of complications. All children and young adults from 6 months old to 24 years are a priority group for H1N1 vaccine because they have little or no immunity to this flu virus. But in hindsight, I wish the county had been stricter with those first vaccine clinics and restricted them only to pregnant women and children who are at greater risk than mine."

According to the CDC, the FluMist is contraindicated for pregnant women, those with asthma, or other people at greatest risk for complications from the H1N1 virus due to a weakened immune system. The mist contains a live, but weakened, form of the virus. Those at greatest risk may only be given the vaccine by injection, as that is made with a killed form of the virus. Therefore, your county health department did the right thing by giving the mist vaccine to the target population, healthy children. They should be especially conservative about giving out the flu SHOT, as those at greatest risk for dangerous complications may only use the killed virus, while healthy/non-immunocompromised people can have either form of the vaccine.

Please fact check, even when writing a blog post, as sites like Yahoo then post your article on the home page for people to read your inaccurate criticism of the supposed shortsightedness of your health officials.

For information on the two forms of vaccine, you may refer to the CDC's own guidelines for the vaccines: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/

Mary of CA 9:49PM November 11, 2009

We cannot get it all and have pretty much given up hope. But we have been using www.feelingflu.com - an assessment tool for swine flu - everytime one of my kids comes home and doesn't feel well. Our best bet is to catch H1N1 at the beginning and make sure we do everything right.

Aimee of MD 10:37AM November 10, 2009

Jimbo , in the U.S, the testing,manufacturing & distribution of any medicine ,especially one that is to combat a fast moving new virus- can't scale the hurdles set up by your BIG BROTHER.The Swiss,French,Germans are relatively unencumbered by the ballast of over-regulation ,among other things.Quit making excuses , you sound like a certain Junior Senator.

Bevo of TX 6:23AM November 09, 2009