| Swine Flu Update Nov. 2009 | |
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FLU SEASON UPDATE Greetings to all the friends of Riffe Medical Center, Inc. A lot has happened in the health arena since I last wrote to
you. The House of Representatives has
passed the largest health bill in history and now the Senate is on the verge of
debate and a vote. This bill, if it
passes, will effect US healthcare for generations to come. There is a lot to like and a lot to dislike,
but I won’t open that can of worms. The
economy has allegedly begun showing some signs of recovery, but if it is I
don’t think we here in The flu season has begun early and there is something new in
the media every day, including here in our local news. The CDC recently came out and declared that
millions had been infected with the swine flu, and that 4,000 had died as a
result. How they came to that number is
not entirely clear. However, that number is a far cry from the original
estimate that 90,000 would die from the swine flu. There have been up to 19
deaths in However, I’d like to point out a few things that tell a very different story. Virtually every reputable virologist, an expert in the study of viruses, has stated emphatically that the H1N1 virus is fairly mild. The southern hemisphere was in their winter while we were sunning ourselves this past summer. What this means is that we can use their flu experiences to gauge what our winter flu season will be like. So what happened in the southern hemisphere? In short, not a lot, it was pretty much a routine flu season, and in fact may have been milder than normal. In August of this year the CDC stopped testing for the swine flu and declared that any flu like illness must be due to H1N1. This made sense to them because they had already declared along with the World Health Organization that we are in a terrible global pandemic. That is rather curious since the WHO changed the definition of a pandemic just before that declaration, so that they could actually call this a pandemic. Under the previous definition, we were not in a pandemic. Hmmmmm! Interesting, is it not? When something doesn’t make sense, ask yourself who stands to benefit from something like this? I’ll let you speculate on that, but just follow the money. In addition, many of the state health departments (but unfortunately not our own), did not agree with the CDC’s call to stop testing for swine flu. Several of them continued testing and what they found is rather fascinating. They discovered that up to 90-95% of all cases that were labeled “Swine Flu” were NOT swine flu. In fact they weren’t even the regular seasonal influenza. So just what is causing all this illness? We may have the answer thanks to the Children’s What, you may ask, is the Rhinovirus? In short this is one of about 30 or so causes of the common cold. It seems that it has turned rather virulent of late. Rhino refers to the nose, that’s why doctors refer to the sniffles as rhinorrhea. As I wrote before, the main factors in protecting yourself are good hygiene practices. Lots of hand washing, using disposable tissues, coughing into your sleeve, using alcohol based hand washes, etc, etc. So this brings us back again to the H1N1 vaccine that is being pushed rather vigorously. In the past month the local daily newspaper ran an editorial from the Tacoma News Tribune that essentially said if you DON’T get the swine flu vaccine, then it is your fault that we are in a pandemic that is threatening to wipe out mankind. Everyone, including politicians, is urging us all to get vaccinated. You have heard it stated many times that testing has been quite thorough and that the same methods used for the regular flu shot were used in this vaccine. What they haven’t told you is that the actual vaccine they are giving is not the same as the vaccine they actually did the testing on. In the retail business that’s called the old bait-and-switch, which is universally considered unethical. Several years ago mercury in the form of thimerosol was banned from vaccines where it was being used as a preservative. Mercury is not good for you. However, in order to crank out the 200 million vaccines the government ordered, the feds temporally waived the ban on thimerosol so the drug companies could meet the demand. The urgency was required in order to prevent the human race from falling into extinction. There is some evidence that the H1N1 vaccine only provokes
an immune response in 48% of those vaccinated.
It appears that those who suffer the greatest effects from the swine flu
have several risk factors. The vast
majority of ICU patients and those who died from swine flu have some
significant underlying medical problems that predispose them to having
complications. Many are obese and most
are smokers as well. It also appears
that the swine flu virus is not what caused the deaths, but rather a secondary
bacterial infection on top of the virus.
Just this morning there is a report of a recall of H1N1 vaccine in So ask yourself a few questions. If the swine flu is a rather mild illness, if the actual cause of most of the “flu” cases are not due to swine flu, if it seems that the illnesses are actually due to a ramped up Rhinovirus, if the vaccine being administered is not the same one that was tested, if the flu season in the southern hemisphere was milder than predicted, if the deaths due to swine flu are vastly overstated, if this year’s swine flu vaccine has thimerosol in it…do I really need to fear the swine flu and do I really need to get the swine flu vaccine? That is a question only you can answer for yourself. The next question seems obvious. How do I protect myself and my family from whatever it is that is out there causing illness? By doing the same things I suggested in my last posting 1. Good hygiene 2. Lots
of hand washing or alcholol based gels/washes 3. Get
plenty of sleep and eat healthy 4. Drink
plenty of liquids 5. Keep
your hands off your face…they only way for any flu or cold virus to enter your
body is through your mucus membranes…eyes, nose and mouth. 6. Vitamin
D That’s right, Vitamin D. There is increasing evidence that Vitamin D may protect and even fight against the flu virus. Think about this for a moment…our vitamin D levels are lowest in the winter due to the least amount of sun exposure on our skin. When do the cold and flu seasons hit? Summer? No! In the dead of winter. Doses that may be helpful range from 4,000 to 10,000 per day. Talk to your doctor to be sure you have no contraindications to taking that much. If that’s me, come on in and we can discuss this in detail. If it’s not me and you would like to discuss it, come on in anyway and we can get to know each other. And finally, health “authorities” have declared as of One last item…the health bill that is being considered has a
provision for a 20% reduction in brand name drug prices to help make medicines
more affordable. That’s great news,
right? The bad news is that this past
month we have seen the largest one month drug price hike in a long time. What was the price hike? How does 28% strike
you? So when we get that 20% discount,
we will have made no real progress. See
reference #8 below. I hope this has been helpful to you and not too long. As my valued patients, I want you to have the best information available so you can make informed decisions about your healthcare. If you are not a patient of Riffe Medical Center, Inc, we would love to meet you and help you with your healthcare.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving. You may forward this on to friends and family. However, you may not pass this on to anyone in the media, without explicit written permission by yours truly. To Your Good Health, Kevin W. McCurry, MD Riffe Medical Center, Inc. 360-983-8990 References
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