Why Giving The Flu Vaccine During Pregnancy Doesn't Make Any Sense

http://www.mercola.com/2006/jul/11/why_giving_the_flu_vaccine_during_...
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP)
recommends flu vaccination during all trimesters of pregnancy.


However, according to a report published in the Journal of American
Physicians and Surgeons, this recommendation is unjustified, unwise,
and should be withdrawn.


Citing ACIP's own sources, as well as current literature, the report
based its conclusions on the following findings:
Flu infection is rarely a threat during normal pregnancy.
There is no "convincing evidence" that the flu vaccination is
effective during pregnancy.
Studies have not adequately assessed the risk of flu vaccination
during pregnancy.
Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative present in most flu vaccines,
has been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, in
humans.
Thimerosal has been linked to a number of animal reproductive
toxicities including teratogenicity, mutagenicity and fetal death.


The ACIP maintains that flu vaccinations are necessary because
influenza is more serious during pregnancy than at other times, yet
they cite only two scientific papers to support this statement.


The report concluded that since routine administration of flu vaccine
during pregnancy is ill-advised and not supported by scientific
literature, and use of thimerosal during pregnancy should be
contraindicated, the ACIP's policy recommendation should be withdrawn.


Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Summer 2006, Vol. 11, No.
2: 41-47 (Free Full-Text PDF)


Dr. Mercola's Comment:


Tragically, the influenza vaccine is now universally recommended in
the United States during all trimesters of pregnancy.


I am very grateful to the American Association of Physicians and
Surgeons (AAPS) for publishing this comprehensive review. If you have
any interest in this topic I would encourage you to review the
full-text PDF that they graciously made available for free.


The AAPS is the only professional organization I pay to belong to. I
have been a member for nearly 20 years. Membership is limited to
physicians and medical students, and I would encourage all who qualify
to consider joining this group, which is one of the loudest voices for
medical freedom in the United States.


Flu vaccines are still loaded with mercury and this will invariably
contribute to brain injury in many of the children whose mothers
receive this vaccine. This is particularly tragic because there is
just no logical reason for mothers to receive this vaccine, other than
the obvious one -- to have the drug companies increase their
bottom-line profits.


The decision to vaccinate pregnant women was based on two weak studies
that in no way support this recommendation. When you carefully analyze
the first you will find that the pregnant moms did not transfer the
flu infection to their babies.


The stinker here is that the government used the fact that there were
significant differences in complications between vaccinated and
unvaccinated pregnant women. But what were the complications? Was it
something potentially fatal like pneumonia?


No, it was merely symptoms like chest pain and other minor issues,
which could have even been related to a strong immune response
providing permanent authentic immunity to the infection. So the drug
companies and the government manipulated the results to justify the
use of this vaccine in pregnant women.


If you review the only other study used to justify this recommendation
you will find it also had similar methodology flaws.


Then there is the whole issue of whether or not this unnecessary
vaccine even works during pregnancy. The projection was one to two
women per 1,000 would be prevented from being hospitalized, but the
projections are not supported by the current scientific literature as
many other studies show that this vaccine does not work.


The primary reason for the confusion is that the researchers
frequently fail to factor in important socioeconomic factors that are
the primary reason many people develop complications from the flu.


Additionally, most symptoms of the flu are not even caused by the flu
virus, which would clearly make the vaccine worthless in these
scenarios.


So if all the vaccines did were cause unnecessary expenses, that would
be good enough reason to stop using them. However, there is a stack of
evidence that strongly supports that the mercury used in nearly all
flu vaccines is clearly associated with brain injury in children that
are born to vaccinated mothers.


Amazingly, a vaccine manufacturer, Lilly, even notes on its package
insert that the mercury they use as a preservative is "known to cause
birth defects and other reproductive harm."


So once again we have another dramatic example of how the evil
marketing geniuses put a deceptive spin on it and are able to
manipulate government policy -- not for the protection of the citizens
it is supposed to serve, but for its true masters, the multi-national
drug corporations.