Girl's Flu Death Happened Within Hours

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Girl's Flu Death Happened Within Hours

Posted by: Dr. Mercola
March 18 2008 | 66,801 views

When 12-year-old Jasmine Levy woke up feeling unwell, her mother gave her Tylenol and sent her back to bed. A few hours later, she was dead.

Jasmine was the first child in Minnesota to die of the flu this season; six children died of flu last year.

Jasmine had asthma and had reportedly developed a staph infection as a complication of the flu, officials said.

The news of her death prompted city officials to announce new flu shot clinics in the area. Meanwhile, a federal recommendation recently moved to expand flu shots to all kids over the age of 6 months within the next two years.

Vaccinating school-aged kids may help to stop the flu from spreading to infants and the elderly, who are most at risk, officials said.

Although health officials have acknowledged that some of the flu strains in circulation are not covered by this year’s flu vaccine, they say the ultimate goal is “universal influenza vaccination for all Americans.”

Sources:

Star Tribune February 29, 2008

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This tragic story is, unfortunately, being used for all the wrong reasons; namely to promote the “universal influenza vaccination for all Americans.”

Back in 2005, The Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously to recommend that all children between 6 months and 5 years old receive flu shots each year. Now they are trying to expand that to include children up to 18 years.

There are three major reasons why this government push to vaccinate all children, not to mention adults and the elderly, with the flu shot is so infuriating:

1. The majority of flu shots contain 25 micrograms of mercury; an amount considered unsafe for anyone weighing less than 550 pounds. And who is most sensitive to the neurological damage that has been associated with mercury? Infants and children.

2. No studies have conclusively proven that flu shots prevent flu-related deaths among the elderly, yet this is one of the key groups to which they’re pushed.

3. If you get a flu shot, you can still get the flu. This is because it only protects against certain strains, and it’s anyone’s guess which flu viruses will be in your area. It even says so right on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) own Web site:

“The ability of flu vaccine to protect a person depends on two things:

1) the age and health status of the person getting the vaccine, and

2) the similarity or "match" between the virus strains in the vaccine and those in circulation.”

There is also a good chance that if you get a flu shot, you will come down with symptoms of -- what else? -- the flu. Side effects from the inactivated flu shot include:

Soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given
Fever (low grade)
Aches

The live-virus vaccine (marketed under the name FluMist), on the other hand, can cause:

Cough, wheezing and runny nose
Sore throat
Headache
Vomiting
Muscle aches
Fever

So why would you take your chances on a flu shot that has not been proven to be effective, and that can make you feel like you’ve got the very illness you’re trying to prevent? Because the powers that be have done an excellent job of scaring people into believing that they must get a shot to stay healthy.

Health Officials, or Drug Pushers?

I don’t think it is a stretch to make this comparison, although I do believe that many people who push the flu vaccine are simply severely misguided, but not necessarily malicious. There is a very well-oiled machine at work in the United States, and its goal is to get every American to obtain a flu shot. And at a cost of $15 to $35 a pop -- you do the math. Someone is getting rich here, and it isn’t you and your family.

You see, the government is using obvious fear tactics, one of which is a gross distortion of the facts about the flu. Yes, the flu can make you feel miserable. And, yes, the flu can kill you. But the risk is not that high, particularly if you are healthy.

The CDC likes to say that about 36,000 people die from the flu in the United States each year. Meanwhile, they say from 5 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu each year, and that more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications.

But if you search a little harder, you can find the actual number of people who died from the flu in 2005, according to preliminary data (this is the most recent data that’s available).

Want to take a guess at what it is?

In 2005, 1,806 people died from influenza, not 36,000. And in 2004, there were just 1,100 flu deaths.

The statistics the CDC gives are skewed partly because they classify those dying from pneumonia as dying from the flu, which is not at all true or accurate.

Top Tips to Avoid the Flu -- Without a Flu Shot

So please do not fall for all of the hype. You don’t need a shot to avoid the flu -- in fact the shot will actually weaken your immune system, and you need your immune system working at full speed to keep you healthy. I have never received a flu shot and haven’t missed a day of work due to illness in over 20 years.

Here are the “secrets” I use to keep the flu (and other illnesses) at bay:

Get plenty of sunshine or vitamin D. Fortunately, spring is here in the northern hemisphere and most can finally have access to healthy sunshine on their skin.
Eat right for your nutritional type, including avoiding sugar
Exercise
Get adequate sleep
Address emotional stress
Wash your hands regularly (but not excessively)