Deaths from Flu in Young Healthy People Linked to MRSA Infection
This flu season there has been lots of talk in the mainstream press about how deadly the (H1N1) flu is, and therefore we must all get the (H1N1) flu vaccine(s). What a lot of people don’t know is that it is not always the swine flu itself that is killing people. The vast majority of the people who die from swine flu have high risk medical conditions. A small minority who die are young and healthy, but are these people actually dying from H1N1 or from something else?
As of September 2009, The CDC reported that 67% of the 36 children who died of swine flu in the US also had high risk medical conditions. Among 23 children with culture or pathology results reported, laboratory-confirmed bacterial coinfections were identified in 10 (43%), including all six children who were over 5 years old and had no recognized high-risk condition. In other words, all six of these healthy children died from bacterial pneumonia, not from the swine flu itself. Among the seven children aged under 5 years who died, two had a laboratory-confirmed bacterial coinfection; neither child had a high-risk medical condition. Three out of the 8 healthy children (37%) died from pneumonia caused by an MRSA coinfection.
What is MRSA?
MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The term is used to describe a number of strains of the bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, that are resistant to a number of antibiotics, including methicillin. Drug resistant forms of bacteria are also known as “superbugs.”
A 2008 article in Infection Control Today reports that “MRSA Caused Pneumonia Deaths During 2006-2007 in Young, Healthy People.” A high number of cases of pneumonia caused by staph infections resulted in death among young, otherwise healthy patients during the 2006-2007 flu season, with more than three-quarters caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
A meta-analysis of seventy-six studies published by the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy concludes that previous antibiotic exposure increases the risk of getting an MRSA infection. As of 2008, 85 percent of MRSA infections are healthcare associated. That means that 85 percent of MRSA infections are acquired in hospitals or healthcare facilities. An article in Dermatology Nursing links the spread of MRSA with inadequate hospital hygiene practices. For example, a 2006 study published in The Journal of Hospital Infection reveals that 38% of the research sample of health professionals failed to wash their hands after contact with MRSA patients.
To help determine the role of bacterial coinfection in the current influenza pandemic, CDC examined postmortem lung specimens from patients with fatal cases of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) for bacterial causes of pneumonia. During May 1–August 20, 2009, specimens were admitted to CDC from 77 U.S. patients with fatal cases of confirmed 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1). Bacterial coinfections were found in 30% of the patients. 9% of the patients examined had MRSA. Most recently, the Journal of Infection reports that a healthy male with H1N1 died from an MRSA coinfection.
MRSA is much more deadly than H1N1, but considering how serious it is, it is largely ignored by the mainstream media. In the UK in 2008, 1,230 people died from MRSA, compared to under 200 deaths from H1N1 this season. MRSA is even deadlier than AIDS! A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), linked MRSA infection to over 18,000 deaths in the US in 2005, compared to the 16,000 AIDS-related deaths recorded by the World Health Organization in the same year. Compare those figures with the 1,200 US swine flu deaths that have occurred this season. In Canada in 2006, MRSA was responsible for 2600 deaths, compared to only 198 deaths caused by swine flu this season.
Antibiotic resistant superbugs such as MRSA, VRE, and e. coli are on the rise. The culprit: overuse of antibiotics. Like all living things, bacteria adapt to the environment. Faced with an antibiotic, a few hearty bugs survive. Those superbugs then multiply, creating a new strain that the old antibiotic can’t touch. The more antibiotics used, the more the bacteria evolve.
Luckily, there are alternatives to antibiotics. Homeopathy is a complete system of medicine that can be used for coughs, colds, flus and fevers. If you have a weak immune system, consult a classical homeopath for constitutional treatment, which will strengthen your immune system naturally. Contact the clinic for more information about constitutional treatment.
To find out how flus can be treated effectively with homeopathy, read my recent blog post: Homeopathic Remedies for Flu
Six Swine Flu Vaccine Deaths and Hundreds of Debilitating H1N1 Vaccine Side Effects
Little is known about the side effects of the brand new swine flu vaccine. Here in North America, vaccinations have only recently gotten underway. Many Europeans, however, have already received the vaccine, because the approval process for the vaccine was speedier in many European countries compared to Canada and the US. So one must look to the Europeans to see what potential side effects one can expect if one is considering the vaccination.
There have been 6 deaths so far linked to the swine flu vaccine. On October 20 The Budapest Times reported that a 64-year-old Hungarian woman died 2 days after receiving the H1N1 vaccine. She had chronic but mild heart disease.
There have been 5 deaths linked to the swine flu vaccine in Sweden, according to the Swedish paper The Local. The first deaths were first reported by Swedish paper the Aftonbladet on October 22nd: a 50-year old man with serious heart problems and a 65-year-old woman died shortly after receiving the swine flu vaccination. Further deaths were reported by a few Swedish news sources, including DN.se, last Friday October 24th: A 74-year old woman died 4 days after receiving the swine flu vaccination and a 90-year old woman also died a few days after receiving the vaccine. Edit: On October 27th another death was reported in the Aftonbladet. I will post more information once I can find an English translation. It is worth noting that more Swedish people have been killed by the swine flu vaccine than by the actual swine flu, since only 2 swine flu deaths have been confirmed so far in Sweden compared with 5 deaths in Sweden from the vaccine.
There have been over 190 reports of vaccine side effects reported to the Swedish government. It is reported by DN.se that side effects are more common with the swine flu vaccine compared to the regular flu vaccine. Edit: As of October 27th Swedish news website SvD reports that 350 Swedes have now reported side effects.
The Swedish newspaper Expressen gives personal accounts of some of the side effects that the Swedes are experiencing. Lotta Lindstrom, age 49, still feels bad a week after taking the vaccine. She had a high fever and a headache after taking the vaccine, and was forced to take a day off work. Maria Strindlund, age 27, got a severe fever and chills and was forced to take sick leave after getting vaccinated. Rebecka Anderson, 32, became “decrepit” for 2 full days following the vaccination. Five of Rebecka’s classmates also got sick from the vaccination. Jennely Ottosson, 26, was healthy before receiving the swine flu jab. Immediately after receiving the vaccination, she got a high fever that lasted 3 days and was so exhausted that she could barely walk 5 feet. At least 10 of Jennely’s co-workers also got a fever after getting vaccinated.
Canadians may be thinking “that’s unfortunate for the Swedes but our swine flu vaccine is safe.” Wrong. GlaxoSmithKline is the manufacturer of both the Swedish and the Canadian swine flu vaccines. The Swedish swine flu vaccine is called Pandemrix and the Canadian one is called Arepanrix, but they are actually the same vaccine with different names. Pandemrix aka Arepanrix contains squalene, thimerosal (mercury) and aluminum salts (among other goodies). As far as I know, the vaccine in Hungary, made by drug company Omnivest, is not being distributed outside of Hungary.
All of the people who have died from the swine flu vaccine so far have underlying health conditions. Wait a minute, aren’t these the same people that the mainstream press and government are urging to rush out to get the vaccine?! I think this vaccine is extremely dangerous for anybody with chronic health problems.
One thing that I find curious is that the press has said that seniors have more immunity to H1N1 than younger people because they were probably exposed to similar viruses in their lifetimes. Younger people are the ones who have less immunity to H1N1, so why are they vaccinating seniors at all? And it is mostly the seniors who are dying from the vaccine!