Health Spectator

President Obama today declared the swine flu epidemic in this country a national emergency. Forty-six of the 50 states now have widespread flu contagion.

“It’s important to note that this is a proactive measure — not a response to a new development,” an administration official said.

“H1N1 is moving rapidly, as expected. By the time regions or healthcare systems recognize they are becoming overburdened, they need to implement disaster plans quickly,” he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the extent of swine flu contagion in the U.S. is currently on a par with the peak of the seasonal flu season, which normally doesn’t occur until at least late November and sometimes not until early March.

By declaring the national emergency, the administration enables Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health insurance agencies to waive certain requirements. This will smooth the way for doctors, hospitals and clinics to treat patients. As the flu season peaks, health-care providers such as hospitals are expected to be overwhelmed with patients.

The table below shows figures from the CDC giving the breakdown of lab-analyzed specimens for last week. Note that out of nearly 5,000 positive specimens, over 99% were Type A and approximately 70% were swine flu. This latter figure is slightly misleading, however, because almost 30% of the samples determined to be Type A were not subtyped. This means that virtually all positive respiratory specimens that were analyzed last week have turned out to be swine flu if there subtype was checked.

In case you haven’t heard, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has pending legislation mandating that non-health professionals (commonly read as police) can enter homes and force vaccination of children against the will of both the children and their parents if the governor or state health department have declared a state of medical emergency, as would occur in an H1N1 outbreak with resulting compulsory swine flu vaccinations.

The video below features a Fox newscast announcing this statute with analysis provided by Judge Andrew Napolitano, the Fox judicial consultant. That video was recorded after the bill—then Senate Bill 2028—passed the Massachusetts House of Representatives. (The bill had passed the Senate unanimously.)

For those who are opposed to compulsory vaccination, the story is pretty scary. Although adults are not subject to the same compulsory vaccination as children, they are subject to compulsory quarantine. Initially, the bill provided that the compulsory vaccination and quarantine could be performed without a warrant, and transgressors were subject to $1,000 per day in fines and up to 30 days in jail. The bill has since undergone revision as House Resolution 4271 and the warrantless provisions appear to have been removed. The law apparently still does not require that the compulsory vaccinations be given to children by healthcare professionals.

Senate Bill 2028 has become HR 4271

HR 4271 has been passed by the Massachusetts House and has gone back to the Senate, where it is expected to pass. Governor Deval Patrick has already said he will sign it.

Below the Fox newscast (which is now a bit out of date in terms of the provisions of HR 4271) we have posted an older video by way of background. Why post an even older video? Because we thought you might like to see the attitude of the legislator interviewed in this piece and understand the evolution of this particular bill. It gives an answer, we think, to a question we saw posted on another website: “Which is stronger, herd immunity or herd mentality?” (Definitely herd mentality.)

And last, but not least, we’ve posted a video recorded by Barbara Loe Fisher, who is president of the National Vaccine Information Center. This video was recorded in April, but most of the information it provides is not time-sensitive. Fisher discusses the lack of liability and other issues involved in the planned school-based vaccination programs.

Fox news broadcast after Massachusetts bill passes House

Broadcast after Senate Bill 2028 passed Massachusetts Senate

Barbara Loe Fisher, president of National Vaccine Information Center, discusses swine flu vaccination issues

The word’s been out for several weeks now: Newseek has reported that hand-washing won’t help you avoid swine flu. That sounds like the bad news, but it’s really the good news: you’re not likely to get swine flu from touching things that someone who has swine flu has touched.

The most likely way to get swine flu (H1N1) is via particles of moisture suspended in the air and known to scientists as aerosol. That means that a really good way to avoid getting swine flu altogether is to wear a face mask all the time when you’re around other people. It may make you seem weird, but it likely will keep you safe from infection.

Coughs and sneezes from the swine-flu infected are what you have to fear if you’re worried about catching swine flu.

If wearing a face mask doesn’t strike you as a lot of fun but you still want to avoid the pork plague, then we suggest you start downing vitamins D and C: at least 3 grams a day in the case of vitamin C and at least 4,000 IU of D3 a day in the case of vitamin D. Going up to 10,000 IU a day of D won’t hurt you, and you should easily be able to consume 10 grams of C daily without ill effect.

The sign that you’ve taken too much vitamin C? Diarrhea, which also happens to be a symptom of swine flu, but we’re guessing you’ll be able to tell the difference. That’s only likely to happen if you exceed 10 grams of C a day, and it may take nearly twice that—average overdose of vitamin C is around 18 grams for most people.

But it shouldn’t take nearly that much to keep you healthy. And as we said, 10,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day should be more than enough to ward off the flu.

By the way, don’t give up on hand washing. It may not make any difference against swine flu, but for seasonal flu and colds, it likely will. And there are myriad other infections you can get from not washing your hands.

They’re all best avoided.

The things they try to slip past you. We were catching up on our reading in the general press, in particular reading a piece in the New York Times about New York state requiring its health care workers to get both seasonal and swine flu vaccines, which has the unions of the health workers up in arms. And there it was, in the Times:

Immunologists generally agree that real protection against any disease requires vaccination rates over 90 percent. But because rumors always circulate and many people fear needles, voluntary acceptance never gets that high.

Nice try, NYT. “Real protection against any disease requires vaccination rates over 90 percent”? (Italics mine.) Does that mean real protection as opposed to the illusory protection we get from vaccines otherwise?

Obviously our NYT reporters are confusing issues here. They refer, we think, to so-called “herd immunity,” which, the story goes, requires over 90 percent vaccination rates to protect the remaining 10 per cent or fewer who are unvaccinated from being exposed to the disease. In other words, if you don’t get vaccinated and over 90 percent of the total population does, your chance of getting the disease drops to a rate comparable to that for people who did get vaccinated. That’s assuming, of course, that the vaccine really works and people really do derive immunity from it, both increasingly dubious assumptions these days.

That, apparently, is what the New York Times considers “real protection.” But, as the main thrust of the Times story clearly demonstrates, 58% of health care workers across the country disagree with that analysis and choose not to get vaccinated against the flu—H1N1 or otherwise.

Editor’s note: Today through Sunday (October 2-4) is the 4th International Public Conference on Vaccination, held at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Reston, Virginia. For more information, consult the National Vaccine Information Center Website.

Currently, only two anti-virals are known to be effective against H1N1 pandemic swine flu: Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir). If not used sparingly, these too could become ineffective, the CDC has warned.

Both drugs can be used to prevent viral infection under the right circumstances, though the protocol currently recommended by the CDC is to use these drugs in this manner only to protect pregnant women, people undergoing chemotherapy, and similar groups who are known to be at higher risk of death from swine flu.

Recently, the doctor at a camp in North Carolina decided to immunize 600 campers by using Tamiflu. The result: two girls caught swine flu anyway, and tests showed that their strain had developed Tamiflu resistance.

Tamiflu is approved by the FDA for “treatment of uncomplicated acute (mild) illness due to influenza infections in patients 1 year and older who have been symptomatic for no more than 2 days.” The drug is also approved for prevention of influenza in patients 1 year of age and older. On August 4, 2009, the FDA commisioner released an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Tamiflu because of the Public Health Emergency that was declared in the wake of the H1N1 (swine flu) epidemic.

That EUA enabled use of Tamiflu to treat and prevent influenza in patients less than 1 year of age. The EUA also allowed for use of Tamiflu at later time points (that is, in patients symptomatic for more than 2 days) and in patients sick enough to require hospitalization (severe illness).

Those seeking more information on the EUA and the current regulations surrounding the use of Tamiflu can find it on the CDC website.

With all the news about the autism epidemic and talk of mandatory flu vaccinations this fall, many parents and parents-to-be are distraught at the notion that their children will have to be vaccinated. What to do?

Here is sound advice from Leila Masson, MD, MPH, a pediatrician who specializes in autism. She covers pre-natal issues as well as how to care for your child during those critical first years.

We’ve said before that while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other sources refuse to acknowledge vaccines as a cause of autism, the anecdotal evidence alone can be overwhelming. And that’s before we even get to those few studies that actually have addressed the issue.

Green Diva Mom Eleni Prokopeas

Here is the story of a mother of three whose second child became autistic after receiving his vaccinations at the age of two. It began with a high fever the night of the vaccination and went down hill from there. But despite her doctors’s inability to help her son, Eleni Prokopeas developed her own 10-step protocol to overcome autism. By the age of six, her son was functioning normally again.

Click here to hear Eleni Prokopeas tell the whole story while you browse our site. She tells how the autism came about, then about her efforts—ultimately successful—to cure it. (The audio file will open in another tab or browser. Return to this tab or browser and you can continue browsing the site while you listen.)

You can find out more about Eleni Prokopeas and her 10-step protocol for cure here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged what regular readers of Health Spectator already knew: that the “new” H1N1 swine flu has a tendency to devastate the lungs in at least a significant portion of the people it infects. We reported on July 23 that University of Wisconsin virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka had found H1N1 produces more severe lung lesions than seasonal flu in non-swine mammals.

The WHO currenlty puts the fraction of patients who need intensive care as a result of direct lung infection as high as 15%. Should the same prove true in the U.S. as the new wave of flu strikes this fall, it could put a strain on medical facilities.

The other distinctive trait of the new flu is its tendency to strike harder against the young. Whereas the elderly are normally most affected by seasonal flu, WHO is reporting that H1N1 infection is 20 times more common in the 5-to-24 age bracket than in those over 65. Some believe that the elderly have some natural resistance to the new flu from having been exposed to similar strains in the past. Others attribute the vulnerability of the otherwise healthy to the disease causing a so-called “cytokine storm,” which is an extreme reaction on the part of the immune system that causes more harm than the virus itself. Those with stronger, healthier immune systems are more likely to be severely affected, the reasoning goes.

Although WHO is also reporting a greater susceptibility to new flu among minorities and indigenous populations in South America, it is not clear whether a similar prevalence will result here in the United States. In other countries, the disparity may be the result of differing social conditions and medical care.

The 1976 swine flu epidemic and consequences

Americans will have some serious thinking to do as the time approaches to get vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu, which is expected to resume its ravages here in the fall.

On the one hand, judging by the flu’s sojourn in South America, it could be getting worse. It has infected turkeys in Chile, which is not a good sign. The flu could pick up virulence if it combines with one of the nastier bird flus such as H5N1, which has been making the round of flocks in Asia.

So all we need is a bit of commerce between Asia and South America—or for that matter, simply someone coming into contact with birds in both places—and we could be seeing a nastier version of the bug coming at us once the leaves are gone.

On the other hand, the vaccine itself would appear to have little to recommend it.

In America we tend to put immense faith in these meager protections offered up by the health care industry. We just assume—until proven otherwise—that flu vaccines work and are outraged when presented with evidence that they do not. And we are all the more outraged when we or one of our loved ones winds up stricken with some unforeseen illness resulting from their use, some of which can be life changing—such as Guillain-Barré, for example.

Guillain-Barré syndrome is one of those afflictions you can live without—believe me. At its most severe, it kills by paralysis—the victim is simply unable to breathe. Given prompt care (and, if indicated, the use of a ventilator) one has the possibility of full recovery—or not. Some patients end up quadriplegics, some with the partial use of their legs—it all depends. On what, no one knows.

Unfortunately, the way the game is played, at the first sign of a possible epdemic—pandemic, in this case—the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department has the option of providing incentives to drug companies for developing vaccines. There’s the rub.

In this case, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius gave it all away at the first breath of national emergency: there will be no penalities for drug firms who kill or maim either with the swine flu antigen itself or with the accompanying adjuvant. Unless you can prove they deliberately tried to kill your child or loved one, you can’t touch them.

Good luck with that.

So, the full responsibility for whatever happens will be on you. No one to sue, no recourse. And unless by some miracle the Democrats grow a sense of purpose and actually push through a single-payer healthcare package, your insurance probably won’t cover the consequences, either. So you’re on your own.

Better weigh the known severity of the flu carefully before even considering that shot. Unless it starts killing a sizable percentage of those afflicted and you happen to fall into a category that is particularly vulnerable, taking a pass may be the best option.

Even if you catch the flu, chances are it will be no worse than flus you have had in the past—an unpleasant experience for several days, perhaps even a few weeks—but then, forgotten.

At present, despite seemingly high numbers, the flu has not really been all that virulent. We’ve seen 522 confirmed deaths in the U.S. as of August 20, but given more than a million estimated cases, that isn’t a huge number.

We personally have little faith in a rapidly devised vaccine for which the manufacturers aren’t willing to take full responsibility. Most of the swine flu vaccines we’re being promised will employ adjuvants (additives designed to inflame your immune system to heighten immune response) that are either already known to be dangerous or have not been approved by the FDA for regular use. They’re permitted only under the emergency provisions of HHS/FDA regulations.

So paying close attention to your diet—lots of fresh organic vegetables, wild-caught fish and pasture-grazed meats—should keep you at your best. Make sure you take adequate vitamins A, C, D, B6, magnesium, zinc and selenium. (For men especially, don’t overdue the selenium.) A healthy immune system is always your best response to the possibility of infection.

Remember that vaccines, in the end, do nothing more than use your immune system to prevent disease.

We think nature’s way of going about that may be just as good or better.