Flu Vaccines & Alternatives

Hepatitis A, B & C
by Barbara Dowdy

70% of the people with Hepatitis C have no symptoms.

At least five liver viruses -- Hepatitis A through E -- have been identified to date. The best known are Hepatitis A and B; for years, they were the only ones known. Hepatitis D and E are very rare. Hepatitis C now infects 4 million Americans.

Hepatitis A comes from infected food and water. The virus causes jaundice in humans and a brief illness from which one almost always recovers completely.

Hepatitis B is transmitted by blood through the use of contaminated syringes, needles, blood-sucking insects, blood transfusions, and some forms of sexual activity. Hepatitis B is extremely contagious and can cause serious liver damage. Shortly after contracting the virus, one becomes sick. Symptoms include fever, weakness, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, muscle aches, headache, abdominal discomfort and often jaundice.

Infectious hepatitis is contagious two or three weeks before and one week after jaundice appears. The feces are contaminated with the hepatitis virus. Hands and all clothes should be washed often, and bathrooms should be decontaminated frequently.

There is a vaccine for Hepatitis B. However, the vaccine is considered so dangerous that France has halted their national Hepatitis B school vaccination program. In the U.S., the vaccine has been responsible for a staggering 17,497 reported adverse reactions (from 1990 to 1998). Of these reports, 5,983 involved life-threatening health problems, hospitalizations, disablement and death. Former FDA Commissioner, Dr. David Kessler estimates that only 10% of vaccine reactions are actually reported.

Of the 3.9 million children born in 1996, only 54 children in the 0 to 1-year age group contracted Hepatitis B. The disease is so rare for newborns that they are not even mentioned on the Hepatitis Fact Sheet put out by the Center for Disease Control. Yet, law mandates these vaccinations. Why? Could it be because vaccine manufacturers are pushing for government mandated shots?

In the late 1960s, doctors became aware of a third virus that caused hepatitis following blood transfusions. In 1989, it was labeled Hepatitis C. It wasn't until 1990 that doctors were able to screen blood for the presence of this virus and, by 1992, that blood banks began testing for it routinely. Since then, the risk of contracting Hepatitis C from transfusions has been very small. However, there are 4 million Americans who were infected with the virus before 1992.

The problem is that 70% of the people with Hepatitis C have no symptoms. Most don't know they have it, yet they are carriers and thus able to transmit the virus. Unlike Hepatitis A and B, both of which makes one sick shortly after infection, the Hepatitis C virus can remain dormant for more than 20 years. During that time a person may feel perfectly well, even though the virus is already playing havoc with their liver. The most common symptoms, when they do appear, are fatigue, loss of appetite, and vague abdominal pain due to inflammation of the liver. About 20% of these cases go on to develop cirrhosis -- a serious, life-threatening and debilitating scarring of the liver that also makes the feet and belly swell and causes engorgement of arteries, which can then hemorrhage. Another development of Hepatitis C can be cancer of the liver. Hepatitis C is the main cause of liver transplants in the U.S. The only way to diagnose early Hepatitis C is with a blood test for its antibodies.

SHOULD YOU BE TESTED FOR HEPATITIS C? Doctors recommend yes, if: You have had a blood transfusion before 1992 You have ever injected illicit drugs, or shared needles or syringes --even once You received any organ transplant before July 1992 You have had a sexually transmitted disease You're a healthcare worker and may have been exposed to a patient's infected blood You've had sex with a partner who has Hepatitis C Your mother had Hepatitis C at the time of your birth You've been tattooed, manicured or had any surgery or dentistry in which you suspect the equipment used was not properly sterilized You're shared a toothbrush, razor or any other object with a Hepatitis C carrier

There is no known cure for Hepatitis C. Medicines are on the market, though they are not a cure for the virus and many have side effects. In my opinion, the best thing a person can do if they have any hepatitis virus is to cleanse and support the liver, cleanse the blood and build up the immune system.

The liver performs many functions in the body and is the cornerstone of the body's defenses and immune system. The liver controls hundreds of chemical reactions in the body through the enzymes it produces. It stores sugar and other substances and releases them when they are needed. The liver detoxifies the medications we take so they don't accumulate and poison us. Normal liver function is critical to good health.

The liver can be damaged with chemicals such as alcohol and antibiotics. It can become congested with blood when the heart is weak, and can also be infected with virtually any bacteria, virus or fungus. The liver is a favorite site from which cancers can travel to other parts of the body. Therefore, liver detoxification and cleansing should be a part of everyone's preventative health regimen.

Barbara Dowdy is a nutritional consultant, Iridologist, Muscle Response Monitor technician, clinical hypnotherapist and Reiki Master. She lives in Fairbanks and can be reached at (907) 457-8880.

Hepatitis B Vaccine:
The Untold Story
by National Vaccine Information Center

 

Hepatitis: An inflammatory process in the liver… Hepatitis A has an incubation period of about 2 to 6 weeks. Hepatitis B has an incubation period of about 6 to 25 weeks. Only Hepatitis A is common in children. Merck Manual, Sixth Edition.

The following excerpts are from "Hepatitis B Vaccine: The Untold Story" by the NVIC. To view the complete version online, see the NVIC website at www.909shot.com.

In increasing numbers, parents across the country are contacting the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) to report opposition to regulations being enacted by state health department officials that legally require children to be injected with three doses of hepatitis B vaccine before being allowed to attend daycare, kindergarten, elementary school, high school or college. Simultaneously, as more schools and employers bow to pressure from government health officials and require individuals to show proof they have been injected with hepatitis B vaccine before being allowed to get an education or a job, reports of serious health problems following hepatitis B vaccination among children and adults are multiplying.

Hepatitis B Not A Killer Disease For Most - Symptoms of hepatitis B disease include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, low grade fever, pain and swelling in joints, headache and cough that may occur one to two weeks before the onset of jaundice (yellowing of the skin) and enlargement and tenderness of the liver, which can last for three to four weeks. Fatigue can last up to a year. According to Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (1994), in cases of acute hepatitis B "most patients do not require hospital care" and "95 percent of patients have a favorable course and recover completely" with the case-fatality ratio being "very low (approximately 0.1 percent)." Those who recover completely from hepatitis B infection acquire life-long immunity. Of those who do not recover completely, fewer than 5 percent become chronic carriers of the virus with just one quarter of these in danger of developing life threatening liver disease later in life, according to Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease (1994), a medical college textbook.

Federal Recommendations Become State Laws - Because vaccination requirements are controlled by states and not the federal government, in order for federal health officials to achieve their goal of a 100 percent vaccination rate with new vaccines marketed by drug companies, they must persuade states to turn federal vaccine policies into state law. And, because during the past 50 years, most state legislatures have completely turned over the power to mandate vaccines to state health department officials, very infrequently do state legislators take a vote to approve the mandating of a new vaccine such as hepatitis B. So, while American children born in 1948 were only required by state health officials to show proof of smallpox vaccination to enter school, American children born in 1998 are required by most states to be injected with 33 or 34 doses of 9 or 10 different viral and bacterial vaccines to enter school, including three doses of hepatitis B vaccine.

Federal Health Officials Give State Health Officials Money To Force Hep B Vaccination - Following the 1991 CDC recommendation for universal use of hepatitis B vaccine by all children, state health department officials began issuing mandates requiring children to show proof they have been injected with three doses of hepatitis B vaccine in order to attend daycare or school… To encourage states to mandate use of hepatitis B vaccine by all children, federal health officials at the CDC give grants and other financial incentives to state health departments to reward them for promoting mass vaccination. Since 1965, the CDC has given state health departments hundreds of millions of dollars through categorical grant programs to promote mass use of federally recommended vaccines. At the same time, if state health officials do not show federal health officials proof they have attained a certain vaccination rate in their state, federal grants to state health departments can be withheld.

In 1993, the Comprehensive Childhood Immunization Act of 1993 was passed giving the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) the authority to award more than $400 million to states to set up state vaccine registries to tag and track children and enforce mandatory vaccination with federally recommended vaccines, including hepatitis B vaccine. The Performance Grant Program rewards a state with either $50, $75 or $100 per child who is fully vaccinated with all federally recommended vaccines, including hepatitis B vaccine and, in 1995, DHHS Secretary Donna Shalala gave the states the power to approve a newborn's social security number in order to set up vaccine tracking registries in more than half the states. The CDC plan is to hook up the state vaccine tracking registries in order to create a de facto centralized electronic database containing every child's medical records.

Hep B Vaccine Injuries/Deaths Reported In VAERS - Even though fewer than 10 percent of all doctors report health problems following vaccination, there are more than 16,000 reports of hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following hepatitis B vaccination that have been reported to the U.S. government Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) since July 1990. 

 

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is a national, non-profit, educational organization founded in 1982 and dedicated to preventing vaccine injuries and deaths through public education. NVIC supports the right of American consumers to make informed, independent vaccination decisions for themselves and their children. For more information, call 1-800-909-SHOT or visit their website at http://www.909shot.com