The Health Forum

A place for open discussions – with no cover ups – about health issues

by Richard Seah

I am so upset. I was so excited to be pregnant after trying for a year. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I joined this birth club and I was due June 25th. We have two healthy boys with no history of miscarriage. Everything was going great. Last Monday, I got the H1N1 vaccine thimerosal reduced (mercury reduced for pregnant women). On Tuesday morning, I started cramping and on Wednesday I started bleeding heavily. My hcg (a glycoprotein hormone produced in pregnancy) was 50 on Wednesday and I was almost 6 weeks along so it was low. They still thought that I might be pregnant but on Friday my hcg was down to 22. I am an emotional wreck. I feel like I had a healthy baby and I caused this by getting the H1N1 vaccine. My doctors pushed it. I researched online and there have been many miscarriages after the H1N1 vaccine but they haven’t been reported since it is hard to say what caused the miscarriages. I hope that I did not cause this. I wish everyone the best.

My heart goes out to you as i recently miscarried as well and was due in june. i had a healthy heart beat at 6wks. then at 7.5 wks my son got the h1n1 mist vaccine which has live vaccine in it. the nurse said to be careful b/c it could technically spread if he rubbed his nose and touched a surface etc. the next night i miscarried and 5 days later was diagnosed with h1n1. i work from home, kids are home, hadnt been anywhere during that time. so the chances that it is all related are very high. the flu mist vaccine warns for immunocompromised patients (which includes prego) to stay away from recipients of the flu mist for 21 days.

I got the flu vaccine (regular not H1N1) at 8 weeks pregnant. Three days later I miscarried. I am not going to get the H1N1.

I got both vaccines on Thursday. I was 9 weeks pregnant. I miscarried on Sunday. I was told by several doctors to get these vaccines. Now I wish I followed my gut feeling and not get them at ALL!

i work in a hospital like setting and was told ‘the benefits outweigh the risks” 1 a.m. I got the vaccine, 3 a.m. i started bleeding and craming, 3 p.m. miscarried. you decide

And so on. And so on. Lots of personal stories such as these have been appearing in blogs and online forums across the United States – and most probably in other countries as well. This lot was compiled by Organic Health.

The details vary. Some miscarried early in their pregnancy, some miscarried late and gave birth to still borns. Some miscarried within hours of receiving the H1N1 (or seasonal flu) vaccine. Some miscarried a few days later.

Yet the common themes are all too clear. ALL miscarried shortly after receiving vaccination. ALL were told by their doctors that the miscarriages had nothing to do with the vaccination. They were just “coincidences”.

Yet how do doctors know??? that the miscarriages were not linked to the vaccines when none of the vaccines had been tested on pregnant women. On what basis do doctors assert that the miscarriages were not caused by vaccination? Just because they learned in medical school that vaccines are safe?

As long as doctors dismiss such cases, they will never get investigated. And there are lots more cases that go unreported and unvoiced. With the victims just suffering in silence. It has been estimated that for every one reported case of adverse vaccine side effect, there are at least another 10 cases that go unreported.

And so any reports linking vaccines to miscarriages will forever be classified as “anecdotal”. They will always remain “unscientific”. Because science never got involved. Only the pig-headed refusal to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, there are too many “coincidences”.

Yet there is a point in reporting. Whether you miscarried or suffered any other adverse effect, whether or not your doctor believes it was caused by the vaccine, as long as you believe so, you are strongly encouraged to report it to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Or tell us. Or anybody else.

TELL THE WORLD. In the past, if your doctor brushed you off, that was the end of the story. You go off and cry in bitterness but there was nothing much else you could do.  Today, with the Internet, YOUR STORIES WILL BE HEARD. By someone, somewhere. You could help save a few miscarriages. And a few lives!

by Richard Seah

Cases of anaphylaxis – severe allergic reactions – in Canada following H1N1 vaccination are much worse than originally reported.

Early reports said there were six cases. This was enough to raise alarm bells and to have vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKilne recall a batch of vaccines associated with the cases. The batch contained 170,000 doses, of which about 150,000 doses had been administered. This meant that the incidence of anaphylaxis was 4 in 100,000, which is about 13 times the expected incidence of just 0.32 in 100,000.

Now, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has confirmed that there were, in fact, 24 cases of anaphylaxis, including one death of a man in his 80s. This means the incidence rate is actually 16 in 100,000, or about 50 times higher than expected!

Not surprisingly, PHAC Head Dr. David Butler-Jones was quick to divert blame from the flu vaccine, but to point out that the person who died had other medical conditions. This has been the typical response of pro-vaccine doctors and government health officials whenever an adverse event follows vaccination.

“It’s important to remember that just because a medical event follows vaccination, it may not have been caused by the vaccination; it may have been caused by other factors, as unfortunate events continue to occur with or without vaccine,” Dr Butler-Jones told a news conference.

This is what Barbara Fisher, Co-founder & President of the US National Vaccine Information Center, has to say about such responses. Speaking in 2001 about the Prevnar PCV7 vaccine (for pneumonia) being approved in spite of several babies dying during the vaccine trials, she said: “What’s scientific about that? That every time something bad happens after vaccination it’s ‘coincidence’? That’s not science, that’s politics.”

Anaphylaxis develops quickly, usually within minutes of being exposed to a substance (most commonly food, insect stings and drugs/vaccines) that the person is allergic to. Symptoms include breathing difficulties, weak but rapid pulse, sudden drop in blood pressure, swollen lips / tongue / throat that makes breathing and swallowing difficult, hives. vomiting, anxiety, feelings of “impending doom”, etc. Immediate medical treatment is needed, failing which the person may lose consciousness and die.

Such severe allergic reactions are rare but have happened before. Some years back, when Australia rolled out its HPV vaccination programme (against cervical cancer), it also recorded a higher than normal anaphylaxis rate of 2.6 in 100,000.

However, nobody seems able to explain how anaphylaxis might be associated with ONE BATCH of vaccines but not others, which was apparently what happened in Canada. When asked about that by a Canadian newspaper, Dr John Treanor, a flu vaccine expert at the University of Rochester, New York said it is “a difficult question to answer”.

by James Ong

Reproduced below is the text of my letter to Dr. Hariharan, after learning, with great surprise, that only two vaccines are really compulsory.  I am aware that when parents are enrolling their children into Primary One, the schools do check that the children have completed their vaccinations according to the National Childhood Immunisation Programme.

So, it’s getting complicated.  MoH says eight of the ten vaccines are not mandatory but MoE has the right, it appears, to refuse school enrolment for any child who did not complete all his vaccinations.  Does this mean that parents who refuse any or most of the other eight vaccines for their child have to home-school their kids or find a private school willing to take them?  There seems to be no justice in all this.

Dear Dr. Hariharan,

Thank you so much for your reply to my emails, on behalf of the Health Minister.

I am quite relieved that the PCV-7 and many other childhood vaccines are not compulsory in Singapore. It has renewed my faith that the Ministry of Health honors parents’ right of medical freedom. As I have stated in my first email, the prevention (PCV-7) appears to be more dangerous than the disease itself, based on the clinical trials and US VAERS data.

At the same time however, I am concerned that many parents in Singapore are not aware of their rights. Parents are routinely “coerced” into vaccinating their children according to the immunization schedule. I believe the general public is of the impression that they have to vaccinate their children with all the vaccines in the Childhood Immunization Program or risk certain repercussions.

I would like to offer the following feedback and suggestons which I hope the MoH will look into seriously:

1. MoH should publicly clarify in the local newspapers and on its website and the HPB’s website that only two vaccines – measles and diphtheria – are compulsory by law; the rest are entirely voluntary.

2. Parents should be made aware that they have a legal right to delay or postpone even compulsory vaccinations like measles and diphtheria. This can be covered in the same announcement stated in point one above.

3. Doctors, nurses and hospitals should not “coerce” or unduly influence parents into vaccinating their children with non-compulsory vaccines. I was told that newborns are not permitted to leave the hospital until the BCG and Hep B jabs are given. As far as I am aware, parents are hardly ever consulted whether they would agree to have their children vaccinated. The vaccines are just routinely given as if they were a must.

4. MoH should ensure that there is no discrimination by publicly-run schools or kindergartens against children who have not been vaccinated with the non-compulsory vaccines. It is my understanding that the MoE requires all the recommended vaccinations to be completed before a child can be enrolled into Primary One. I hope that the MoH and MoE can work together to ensure that no child is discriminated against just because of incomplete adherence to the recommended childhood vaccination schedule.

5. Parents should be given all the facts regarding the risks vs. benefits of each vaccine and asked to sign a consent form before the vaccine is given.

6. After any vaccine is given, parents should be advised to observe their child for at least 30 days to see if there are any adverse reactions and notify the HSA immediately (with a hotline number given) by means of a formal reporting system and to seek medical help if necessary. This advisory should be in the form of a printed handout. An online notification system should also be developed as soon as possible to facilitate online reporting. Parents should also be advised as to their legal right to claim damages should there be a serious adverse reaction following vaccination. Who is responsible? The clinic, vaccine supplier or the MoH?

7. Since only the measles and diphtheria vaccines are compulsory, MoH should ensure that single vaccines for measles and diphtheria are available at all polyclinics and private clinics, to meet the demand by parents for these single vaccines. I feel that parents should not be forced to have their children vaccinated with 3-in-1s like MMR and DtaP just because there are no alternatives?

8. MoH should put in more effort to educate parents on how to build their children’s immunity, beyond just a balanced diet, sleep, exercise and personal hygiene. The officers responsible for infectious disease policy and control should read books like “Beyond Antibiotics” by Dr. Michael Schmidt and “Herbal Antibiotics” by Stephen Harrod Buhner and then teach the public how to prevent infectious diseases through all natural means possible and improve the chances of a speedy, uncomplicated recovery should their child succumb to the disease, by fortifying the immune system. This should apply to all the other diseases now covered by the Childhood Immunization Program – mumps, rubella, tetanus, polio, Hep B, etc.

9. MoH should evaluate the use of natural medicines for the treatment of infectious diseases in light of the growing resistance of many types of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics and the threat of dengue fever, HFMD, chikungunya disease, H5N1 bird flu, H1N1 swine flu and SARS. It is an accepted medical fact that many antibiotics are fast becoming powerless against drug-resistant bacteria.

10. MoH should rename the “National Childhood Immunization Program” as the “National Childhood Vaccination Program” because vaccination is not synonymous with immunization. People should not be complacently led to believe that they are immune from a disease just because they have been vaccinated against it. Vaccines are not 100% effective and do not confer lifelong immunity. For instance, a child can still be infected with invasive pneumococcal disease caused by other strains of bacteria not covered in the PCV-7.

Further to the above, I would like to request MoH to provide answers to the following questions:

1. Why the oral polio vaccine is still being given when it has already been replaced in many countries by the injectable form which is safer. Oral polio vaccine was responsible for causing several cases of polio in the West.

2. Are there still any routine childhood vaccines that contain thimerosal or ethylmercury as preservatives (these have been banned in many Western countries)?

3. If all childhood vaccines are thimerosal- or ethylmercury-free now, when were they removed from childhood vaccines? MoH should provide a timetable showing the dates they were removed.

4. In view of almost universal coverage for the BCG, Hep B, MMR and DtaP vaccines, why are there still significant numbers of cases of tuberculosis, measles, hepatitis B, mumps, rubella and pertussis in Singapore each year?

Finally I wish to personally testify that I have not consumed a single antibiotic, antiviral or medical drug (except for an antifungal medication once for a bad foot fungal infection) over the last eight years. I am confident that thousands of Singaporeans who know how to support their immune system naturally also share the same experience. I am pleased to enclose herewith several papers showing the power of natural medicines such as elderberry, zinc, vitamin C, oregano, cumin, sage and cinnamon against viral and bacterial pathogens for your review. There is evidence that such natural medicines are also effective against HFMD, dengue fever, chikungunya disease, chicken pox and rubella.

Best regards,

I await Dr. Hariharan’s reply.  It looks like parents may have to address their concerns to the Ministry of Education as well.

by James Ong

The day following my second letter of appeal, Dr. Hariharan Subramony sent me a reply on behalf of the Minister for Health.  Reproduced below is the full content of the letter:

Dear Mr Ong

We refer to your email to Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Health, dated 19 Nov in which you raised various points on vaccine safety. We thank you for your feedback, and would like to provide the following information.

The National Childhood Immunisation Programme is a recommended schedule of vaccinations for infants and young children aimed at preventing dangerous diseases which may result in significant morbidity or mortality. These diseases include diptheria, measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, tuberculosis and pneumococcal disease. The safety and efficacy of a vaccine is reviewed by MOH’s Expert Committee on Immunisation before a decision is made to include that vaccine in the NCIP.

With respect to this statement in your email : “…….there has been no response from your Ministry regarding the concerns raised about the decision to make pneumococcal vaccination compulsory for all children under the age of five”,

we would like to clarify that of the vaccinations included in the NCIP, only 2 (measles and diptheria) are compulsory. The remaining vaccinations, including pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), are recommended, but are not compulsory by law.

Possible side-effects after PCV vaccination include reactions at the injection site (eg pain, redness, swelling) and fever. These are generally self-limiting. So far, no serious reactions have been causally linked to this vaccine. In Holland, authorities have banned a batch of Prevnar following the deaths of 3 babies who received Prevnar. However, a definite link between the use of Prevnar and the deaths has not been established, and other batches of Prevnar continue to be used in Holland. In Singapore, adverse reactions to vaccines are monitored by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA). If there is any evidence to suggest that a vaccine is unsafe, HSA and MOH will provide appropriate guidance.

Invasive pneumococcal disease is a serious disease. Between 2000 and 2008, there were a total of 157 deaths from invasive pneumococcal disease in Singapore, of whom 5 were under the age of 5 years. Neurologic sequelae may occur among those who survive. Vaccination against pneumococcal aims to minimise the mortality and morbidity associated with the disease. Nonetheless, no vaccine can be guaranteed to be 100% effective or to be totally free of side-effects. The decision whether or not to vaccinate a child with PCV should be made in consultation with a medical practitioner, and an understanding of the risks associated with the disease, and the potential risk of vaccine-related adverse reactions.

Regards

In Dr. Hariharan’s own words, no vaccine can be guaranteed to be 100% effective or to be totally free of side effects.  Parents beware!  What came as a real surprise to me and I am sure, to many parents as well, is that only two vaccines are compulsory by law – measles and diphtheria.  You will get fined if you do not vaccinate your child with these two vaccines.  The fine can be as high as $10,000 and could carry jail sentences as well.  The rest of the ten vaccines are only recommended.  I wonder how many parents are aware of this.  Isn’t it true that children are routinely vaccinated with all the prescribed vaccines according to schedule?  I doubt parents are ever told their rights and asked if they would like to postpone or refuse any vaccines for their children.  So I wrote another letter, this time addressed directly to Dr. Hariharan.  This will be in the next post.

by James Ong

Here is the second letter that I sent to the Minister for Health, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, after having waited for seven days without reply:

Dear Minister Khaw,

I am rather concerned that despite my email of November 12 (sent a week ago), there has been no response from your Ministry regarding the concerns raised about the decision to make pneumococcal vaccination compulsory for all children under the age of five. As the safety of innocent babies are at stake here, I would expect the Ministry to respond swiftly to these queries.

A recent special report by Generation Rescue (USA) revealed that countries that have fewer mandatory vaccines have much lower rates of autism. It is pertinent that Iceland and Sweden, which lead the world in under-five mortality rates, have far fewer mandatory vaccines than the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand (countries cited by the Ministry as partial support for the decision to introduce compulsory pneumococcal vaccinations here). A copy of the report is enclosed.

Also enclosed is a document of the findings by the US House of Representatives Subcommittee hearings on vaccines and their risks. There is strong evidence that vaccines are responsible for epidemic levels of autism in the USA and other developed countries.

Autism now affects roughly 1 in 600 children in Singapore today. It is the leading cause of disability among children here. Has the MoH ever considered that vaccinations could have contributed to this problem and conduct a thorough investigation into the causes?

As all vaccinations carry risk of injury (despite what the MoH says), parents should be given all the facts – the scientific studies relied upon, the declaration of any potential conflicts of interest among the panel of experts, risk-benefit analyses done, etc. In the USA, investigations have revealed that the experts that sit on immunization committees do, on occasion, have links with manufacturers of vaccines or stand to gain financially if the vaccines were approved for mass use, which may have influenced their decisions.

The Expert Committee presupposes that a vaccine such as Prevnar is the only weapon in preventing this disease. That is because they received their training only in conventional medicine. In truth, many knowledgeable parents know that if they breastfeed their babies for 6-12 months, feed their children with nutritious foods and fortify their diets with supplements (cod liver oil, multivitamins/minerals, probiotics, colostrum); do not send them to daycare centers at a young age, and exercise good hygiene and sanitation at home, their children are at a very low risk of contracting invasive pneumococcal infection. These parents should not be forced to vaccinate their children.

All parents do have a constitutional right of life and personal liberty and religious freedom to choose what is best for their children. The right to make an informed choice/refusal is a universally-accepted medical ethic.

I do look forward to hearing from your Ministry soon regarding this matter.

Meanwhile, I urge that healthcare policy makers watch this video documentary, Vaccine Nation, that dispels the myth that vaccines are safe or is the answer for control of infectious diseases:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6531447125053615129&ei=trAES5SNM5S8wgP82LmICg&q=Vaccine+Nation#

Another important video is “Vaccines: What the CDC Documents and Science Reveal” by Dr. Sherri J. Tenpenny. It is available from www.amazon.com.

Best regards,

You can get a copy of the Generation Rescue Special Report and Report of the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness Hearing (which lasted three years) by going to:

http://www.generationrescue.org/documents/SPECIAL%20REPORT%20AUTISM%202.pdf

http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/burton.pdf

You will learn about the dangers of mercury in vaccines; yet children were routinely injected with thimerosal-laden vaccines until 2002, when most of the children’s vaccines became mercury-free.  Most flu vaccines still contain thimerosal.

by James Ong

In late October 2009, the Ministry of Health (MoH) announced that it had adopted the recommendation of the Expert Committee on Immunisation and included pneumococcal vaccination as the tenth vaccine in the National Childhood Immunisation Programme.  Parents can draw on their Medisave, Baby Bonus or Child Development Account to pay for the three shots of vaccines, which will cost them slightly over $500 in total.

As the announcement was silent on whether parents have the right to opt out of the vaccine, I was rather concerned that children are now to be given a total of 16 shots by the time they are two.  Vaccines have been implicated in the dramatic rise in autism and neurological and learning disorders seen in children around the world.  Further, vaccines have been known to cause severe adverse reactions, even death and permanent disability.

By the way, it should be borne in mind that the money in parents’ Medisave, Baby Bonus and Child Development Accounts are their money.  So, it is as if the MoH wants you to vaccinate your children but you have to pay for them!  This is the same scenario with the Hepatits B vaccine, which costs roughly the same amount.

I did some investigations on the incidence and severity of invasive pneumococcal disease (PD) in Singapore and the risks versus benefits of the current PCV-7 vaccine (the number 7 indicates that is meant to deal with only 7 strains of bacteria that causes invasive PD), which carries the trade name Prevnar.  What I found shocked me and you will find out why by reading the letter below.

I therefore wrote an appeal letter to the Minster for Health, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, asking him to make the vaccine entirely voluntary.  Reproduced below is the letter in its entirety:

Dear Minister Khaw,

It is regrettable that the Ministry of Health has made pneumococcal vaccination compulsory for all children under the age of 5. This makes a total of 15 vaccine shots by the time a child is two.

Based on the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) own studies, the incidence of hospitalization for invasive pneumococcal infection is below 0.04 percent for children below five. For children aged 5-14, it is 0.0124 percent. Since 2000, there have been only seven deaths (less than one a year).

The only large-scale clinical trial on the Prevnar pneumococcus vaccine, involving some 17,000 children, resulted in at least 12 deaths. Side effects included seizures, irritability, high fevers, vomiting, swelling and anaphylactic shock.

Since the vaccine’s introduction in the US, there have been more than 28,000 adverse events reported, more than 12,000 of which were serious, including 558 deaths, 555 life-threatening situations and 238 permanent disabilities (as of November 11, 2009). Evidently, the prevention is more deadly than the disease!

Recently, 3 babies died in Holland within two weeks of receiving the Prevnar vaccine, causing the Dutch health authorities to ban the particular batch of vaccines used.

Moreover, Prevnar covers only seven types of bacteria. With vaccination, more people are now affected by about 80 other types of bacteria that cause pneumonia. There will be greater problems ahead.

Vaccines are being made compulsory by heath authorities because antibiotics are no longer effective, as the overuse of antibiotics (in medicine and farming) has led to bacteria developing antibiotic resistance. Conventional medicine is fast running out of options, yet doctors and the MOH do not explore safer, natural alternatives: breastfeeding, good diet, exercise, sunshine, fresh air, sleep, hygiene and sanitation (in homes and childcare centers), dietary supplements, herbs and aromatic essential oils.

According to the WHO and UNICEF, the best solution to infectious diseases is an adequate diet (for infants, that includes breastfeeding) with good sanitation and hygiene. In many third world countries, Vitamin A, zinc and iron supplements have achieved excellent results in combating infection.

I need to reiterate that all of the above assertions and statements are based on either reliable media reports or the scientific literature.

We need greater transparency. How were the members of the Expert Committee on Immunization selected? Have they any financial ties (present or previous) to pharmaceutical companies that manufacture vaccines, e.g. research grants, Board positions, etc? What are the studies they relied on? Have they considered why other industrialized countries have not made the vaccine compulsory? Will the ministry be setting up an independent agency to monitor adverse effects of the vaccine?

Children are gifts from the Divine, not the offspring of the State. Compulsory vaccinations deny parents their Divinely-given and fundamental human right to choose what is best for their children. This, I feel, is morally irresponsible, especially when the recommendations are based on shadowy science and the vaccine subjects their children to a measurable level of risk of serious injury or even death. The vaccine is freely available to the public and they can use their Baby Bonus or Medisave to pay for it. Why not just keep it that way?

Finally, I need to point out too that there is no universal consensus among scientists on the value of vaccinations in the prevention of infectious diseases. There is however overwhelming consensus that proper nutrition, clean drinking water, food safety, hygiene and sanitation have done more to prevent the spread of such diseases than vaccines. And for this, we have to thank our civil engineers, food safety and environmental health officers.

I therefore urge the Minister to call for a comprehensive review of the decision to make the pneumococcal vaccine compulsory.

Best regards,

I waited for a week and did not receive any reply from the Minister.  So I followed up with a second letter, as a chaser.  Please see the next post for the contents of the second letter.

by John Yeo

A mum walked into my office this afternoon as usual, with her son for his regular neurofeedback session. Only today, he was wearing a N95 face mask.

“He has H1N1” said the mum. “Oh!” I said. My first thought was: should I call the Ministry of Health (MOH) and get the whole place shut down? If this had taken place six months ago, at the height of the H1N1 mania, I would have had to undertake a forced 7-day vacation in a holiday chalet. Fortunately, this is end November of 2009 and the MOH has finally come to its senses with all the temperature taking, contact tracing and quarantining e.t.c.

The mum said: “I can’t believe he has H1N1. He looks fine to me and he wanted to come for neurofeedback. Yes, the first day, he vomited. Then he developed a mild 37.5 degree fever the next day. That’s it! I thought H1N1 was much more serious, you know, like there is no cure and you are likely to die.”

She was still standing by the doorway with the boy pulling towards my desk but restrained by his mum. I said: “Please sit down. I am not afraid.” The boy broke free of his mum’s grip and moved to take his usual chair, ready for the therapy.

While preparing the boy for therapy, I continued talking to the mum. I said I had not been vaccinated and don’t intend to. I told her that in fact, I might have already caught it but no one will ever know. That is because I am not in the habit of visiting the GP for every little cold, which is what the H1N1 is. So I might have already caught it, rested and recovered without anyone ever knowing about it.

As a matter of fact, I have not visited a GP in more than 15 years, preferring my Vitamin C, zinc, hydrogen peroxide bath, acupuncture and homeopathy to handle any minor (or major) flu. I have never been out sick for more than a day or two since.

She said: “I now think the media has overplayed this whole H1N1 thing. This is too much, all that scare, for nothing.” I asked if she was afraid and she said no. The doctor had given the boy a 5-day course of Tamiflu. This is the 3rd day and she noticed he was a little more hyperactive, perhaps from taking the drug.  She was thinking of stopping the drug after I told her there were reports from Japan that some kids had committed sucide after taking Tamiflu.

She and her husband were also given a preventive course of Tamiflu. I thought Tamiflu is not a vaccine and does not prevent H1N1??!! Where is the evidence in “evidence-based” medicine? But I’ll bet you this is also known as “generally acceptable medical practice” and the doctors would testify in court for each other if something went amiss.

I asked her what about the house maid? Was she prescribed Tamiflu as well? No, not at $50 a pill! The maid will just have to make do with a mask and go about her daily chores…social status does have its privileges. In any case, the maid refused the mask. She was reported to have said: “No need lah! Look like Ultraman! Look at the boy, nothing lah!”

Less educated she may be but I thought the maid had more common sense and freedom than her employers. I think no one can truly be free until one is free from fear, particularly the fear created by others for their own benefit.

The bishops of the middle ages were able to create enough fear of eternal damnation in the hearts of the monarchs to harness considerable political privileges. The modern day medicine men too are able to create fear in the hearts of politicians and citizens to gain considerable power and wealth. To exorcise ourselves from the curse of the modern medicine men, we need to go out to seek the truth. The truth shall set us free.

by Richard Seah

The new H1N1 swine flu vaccine is being rejected by people across the world, even as governments, working with pharmaceutical companies, continue to push for their populations to get vaccinated with assurances that the vaccine is safe. Many people are simply not convinced about the safety of this vaccine. In addition, Internet access has given more people access to information about flu vaccine dangers.

And so, in the two months since the H1N1 swine flu vaccine was introduced at end-September 2009, reports have come in from around the world that only a small percentage of people say they would be receiving the flu shots.

In the United States, a poll by McClatchy-Ipsos show that just 52 percent of Americans say they’re likely to get the swine flu vaccine – 33 percent say they’re very likely while 19 percent say they’re somewhat likely. A more recent survey conducted by Washington Post / ABC News when the flu vaccine became availble in late September 2009 showed that 62 percent will not accept it.

In the United Kingdom, more than half of Britons being offered vaccination against H1N1 flu are turning it down. Pulse, a trade newspaper for doctors, polled 107 doctors and found many saying there was widespread resistance from patients and on average only 46 per cent of those offered the vaccination agreed to have it. Doctors reported particular difficulties in persuading pregnant women to be vaccinated against the virus. Said Dr Chris Udenze, a family doctor based in Nottingham, central England: “In all the pregnant women we’ve offered it to, I think only about one in 20 has agreed.”

In Germany, the government has ordered 50 million doses of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine and is offering it free to Germans. Yet only 10 percent of the vaccines have been taken up so far, and only 13 percent of Germans say they would get themselves vaccinated. This is despite the fact that Germans are generally open to flu vaccination and about 24 percent of Germans regularly vaccinate themselves against the seasonal flu.

Yet as recently as July 2009, 51 percent of Germans said they would get the flu shot. The dramatic fall off in willing recipients follows revelations that government officials, the German military, police and members of pandemic crisis committees will receive a non adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine, while the general public will only be offered the GlaxoSmithKline Pandemrix shot, which contains the adjuvant squalene and the preservative,  thimerosal.

In Poland, Health Minister Eva Kopacz has rejected the swine flu vaccine for her country, saying she would not allow millions of Polish people to be given an untested vaccine. Minister Kopacz, who practised as a family doctor for 20 years before she became Health Minister, told the Polish Parliament on 5 November that as Health Minister, her first duty is to act in the best interest of the people, not in the interest of pharmaceutical companies.

Eva Kopacz also alluded to irregularities in the negotiations between pharmaceutical companies and governments, saying the Law Department has “20 points of doubts” regarding the proposed agreement for vaccine sales to the government.

In Italy, Deputy Health Minister Ferruccio Fazio and the Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno have both personally decided against vaccination. And a recent survey showed that six out of 10 Italian family physicians do not prescribe the H1N1 vaccine for their patients, particularly those with heart diseases.

In France, a September 2009 survey by the French National Union of Professionally Qualified Nurses show that 65 percent of all nurses will refuse the swine flu vaccine over safety concerns, Of the 4,107 nurses polled, only 26 percent said they will accept the H1N1 vaccine while a further 9 percent were still undecided. The protests of nurses appeared to have influenced the French Health Minister, who said she might drop plans to give vaccines with adjuvants to pregnant women. As of 5 November, about two weeks after H1N1 vaccination began in France, only 0.1 percent of French citizens had been vaccinated and the French Health Minister has described the vaccination campaign as “timid”.

In Hong Kong, research conducted by the University of Hong Kong and published in the British Medical Journal found that more than half of doctors and healthcare workers in public hospitals repeatedly say they will not get themselves vaccinated against the flu. Their stance did not change even when the WHO raised the flu pandemic alert level from 3 to 5, declaring a flu pandemic.

In China, as in Germany, there has been a dramatic fall in the percentage of people willing to take the swine flu vaccine. A poll, conducted by China Daily and news website sohu.com found that only 30 percent of 2,000 respondents said they would definitely get the shot. Over 54 percent of the respondents rejected the vaccine outright. The latest survey indicates a seismic shift in popular opinion from just two months ago, when 76 percent of people in China indicated that they would opt for inoculation. The primary reason given for the turnaround is a general worry over the quality and reliability of the vaccine.

In Kuwait, despite the highest rate of H1N1 infection in the Middle East, the first batch of H1N1 swine flu vaccine is said to be “virtually untouched”, with Kuwaitis reportedly influenced by Internet posts about the dangers of flu vaccination. Kuwait Times attributed the concerns to the health website mecola.com.

Kuwaitis are also worried that the flu shot would make them impotent. A Kuwaiti identified as Mohammad was quoted in Kuwait Times saying: “Yes, it is very alarming. I am afraid because I don’t want to be impotent after taking the vaccine. I still want to be sexually active and make babies.”

Adding to the worries, the Kuwaiti Social Affairs and Labour Minister Mohammad Al Affassi was hospitalised soon after he received the H1N1 swine flu vaccine. His colleague, Health Minister Helal Al Sayer denied any links with the flu shot, and said: “Dr Al Affassi was admitted into hospital for exhaustion from overwork and his condition has nothing to do with the swine flu vaccination.” Al Affassi reportedly felt uneasy after he watched a football match in which a Kuwaiti team won the Asian Cup!

Meanwhile, in Singapore… well, the local press neither conducts polls nor makes any effort to find out how many people are getting vaccinated. They just wait for the Health Ministry to make announcements.

by Richard Seah

Poland’s Health Minister Eva Kopacz, a qualified family medical doctor with more than 20 years of experience, has rejected the H1N1 vaccine. She told the Polish Parliament that she will not authorize the use of vaccines that have not been adequately tested for safety, on millions of people in Poland.

Three cheers to her, for having the courage to go against what the rest of the world’s governments are senselessly doing, simply following each other so that they (believe they) won’t get into trouble since everyone else is doing the same thing. She rightly points out that she is acting in the best interest of her citizens, not in the interest of pharmaceutical companies!

Her closing quote is a gem: The Polish nation is very wise, Poles can tell the truth from lies very precisely. They can also tell what is an objective situation and what is just a game.

Below is her Parliament speech:

I would like to say that my priority during my 20 odd years of my GP practice was “First of all do not harm,” I took that rule with me to my Health Minister Office.

In situations when I was to recommend a medicine to anybody, I believe just like any other practitioner, I would think: would I give it to my elderly mother, my child?

And exactly such thoughts make me very cautious about double checking the information regarding a medicine that the Health Ministry is to recommend to every Pole – to millions of Poles that have no medical education that a Minister has, that an expert, professor Brydak has, an expert that has been working on the flu for over 40 years. He works in one of 189 flu research centers that are in the world, one is in Poland. Can we today be accused of lack of knowledge about the flu? Can one question an opinion of a professor that has been working on the flu for over 40 years, and not just on one type of flu, that has published hundreds of articles on the subject?

I have just one fundamental question: do we want to fight the flu pandemic?

Today we have knowledge about enclosures in agreements that other governments of wealthier countries have signed with vaccine producers.

Also we know what was proposed to Poland. Due to negotiations being in progress I can’t tell you everything today, but I can tell you one thing: our Law Department found at least 20 points of doubt in the agreement.

So what is the Health Minister’s duty? To sign agreements that are in the best interests of the Polish people, or to sign agreements that are in the best interests of the pharmaceutical companies?

I know that there are 3 vaccines available on the market today, of 3 different producers. Each has a different amount of active substance and yet strangely they are all treated the same. Therefore isn’t it fair enough for the Health Minister and health experts to have doubts about it? Maybe the one with trace amounts of active substances is just a “holy water” that we are supposed to think can cure flu? Are we supposed to pay for that?

We have an example of Germany that bought 50 million jabs, only 10% have been applied so far. Only 13% of Germans want to take this “miraculous cure” today. But it’s peculiar because the Germans have a very high percentage of vaccine takers, so when in Poland for 1000 people only 52 will take a seasonal flu jab, in Germany there will be 238 per 1000 (23%). So what is happening when only 13% of Germans want to take the swine flu vaccine and not 23% of the population as usual with the seasonal flu vaccine? Their government bought the vaccines and offered them for free and they don’t want it. What happened?

Can those facts make us have second thoughts about buying the vaccines or not? Second thoughts about introducing a medicine that is kind of secret?

There are websites on which vaccine producers have an obligation to publish so-called post-vaccine unwanted side effects. The vaccinations in Europe started on 1st October 2009. I would like you to visit any of these websites and find any unwanted side effects. The slightest thing, at least one, like allergic skin rash. That can happen even when using the safest medicine. There are none on those websites. A “perfect” medicine?! And since this is so miraculous, then why don’t the producing companies want to introduce their medicines to the free market and take responsibility for them? Why wouldn’t they say: “Wonderful, safe medicine, therefore I will take responsibility for it, I will introduce it to the market and everything is clear and transparent,” instead of dropping the weight on us, the buyers.

We do not have clinical test results, no detailed ingredients and no information about side effects. The vaccines are now in the 4th stage of very short tests and we still do not have this information. Also the sample size has been very little, one kind of vaccine was tested only on 160 volunteers aged 20-60, all healthy. Another kind of vaccine tested on 600 volunteers aged 18-60, all healthy. Is this good enough, especially for us doctors present in the room? It is not good enough for me.

I want to be sure enough to recommend this vaccine. We are not out of the line for the vaccine, during the negotiations we want to take that time and use it to find out as much as we can about the vaccine. Then if the pandemic committee will accept this vaccine, we will buy it.

Also there are 1 billion people with seasonal flu worldwide every year. 1 million people die of seasonal flu worldwide every year. And this hasn’t been going happening for a year or two, but for a very long time. Has anybody anywhere announced a pandemic because of seasonal flu? And the seasonal flu is much more dangerous than swine flu, there are many deaths and severe complications. Was there any pandemic announced? Those who are pushing me to buy the vaccines, I ask you: Why didn’t you scream and shout last year, 2 years ago and in 2003? In 2003 there were 1,200,000 Poles who had seasonal flu! Did anybody shout, here in this room: “Let’s buy vaccines for everybody!” I can’t recall such a thing.

And finally I would like to say only one thing: The Polish nation is very wise, Poles can tell the truth from lies very precisely. They can also tell what is an objective situation and what is just a game.

by John Yeo, 17 Nov 2009

The Straits Times in Singapore today (17/11/09) carried a photo of the Health Minister getting the H1N1 vaccine shot. My colleague James Ong had written to him two weeks ago to warn him of the dangers of vaccination. Obviously he has either not received the letter or he has great faith in the medical system. Like everyone else, we are led to think that the vaccine is completely safe and effective.

I am so glad he has not made the vaccine compulsory for the general population. However, I am not sure if certain front line professions like nurses and NS men are effectively not given the choice not to receive the vaccine. According to a survey by the French national union of professionally qualified nurses, 65% of all nurses in France will refuse the vaccine over safety concerns.

However, the public is scared, thanks to the media and the way public health organisations have painted the picture. What should we do? Nothing really, if you dare. Many prominent doctors have been saying that H1N1 is just another flu with relatively mild symptoms. However, fear has been put into everybody’s mind that what if the virus mutates and the symptoms become worse?

For this, we can look towards the experience of the last major influenza pandemic of 1918. Hundreds of million of people were affected severely, with total deaths estimated at between 20 million and 100 million. This was a real pandemic, not the one declared by World Helath Organisation (WHO) which is a “technical” pandemic. Here, the numbers are there but the symptoms and death rates lack the seriousness to warrant the emotive word “PANDEMIC”. Many are still questioning why the WHO was so eager to press the panic button.

An article published in the Journal of the American Institute for Homeopathy May, 1921 recorded some statistics. (Julian Wilson Archives)

Dr. T A McCann, Ohio reported a death rate of 28.2 percent in 24,000 cases of flu treated with conventional medicine. Another group of 26,000 patients suffered only 1 percent death rate when treated with homeopathic medicine. This success rate was repeated in another situation. A Dean WA Pearson of Philadelphia Hahnemann College reported that of 26,795 cases of flu treated with homeopathic medicine, only 1 percent death rate was recorded.

Homeopathic medicine are made mainly from plants and minerals and diluted many times. The homeopath matches the individualized symptoms of the patient to the characteristics of the medicine in a “like cure like” manner. The medication stimulates the immune system of the patient to deal naturally and effectively with the flu.

In conventional medicine, drugs are used to kill the virus or bacteria. It is hoped that by killing off enough of the bugs, the disease will leave the body. If not, a stronger dose will be administered. Often, such “strong arm” tactics can succeed in killing off the disease but leave the patient weak and vulnerable to other complications.

Those who choose to treat illnesses with drugs are basically opting for the “strong arm” approach. As shown in history, more than one in four influenza patients eventually died using this kind of approach. Those who choose to treat influenza with homeopathy suffered only one death in 100. The choice is yours to make, provided the people in power allow that choice.