What Are the Side Effects of the Flu Shot?

One of the most debated topics around the flu shot is whether or not the vaccine causes you to get sick.  The CDC and medical professions are adamant that it doesn’t. However, the following points are enough to consider that their statement might not be made with absolute truth nor transparency.

1. The flu shot suppresses our immune system which means that we are susceptible to all other viruses. This is why experts say that “the flu shot” didn’t cause us to get sick…because it’s indirect.  Our lowered immune system technically enabled the other illness to penetrate our cells. Therefore, in the eyes of the “experts,” the flu shot didn’t cause you to get sick. It’s a correlation instead. So why isn’t anyone clear about that?
2. The flu shot contains other adjuvants. It’s unclear (and not studied) whether or not the ingredients have adverse affects. But we know that people get the flu shot and then get sick soon thereafter.  So, technically, the influenza virus might not have made them sick, but the adjuvants within the shot might have. Since the science and data is severely lacking, we don’t really know what the definitive answer is here. We can look at all of the ingredients and get a better picture of what might be the cause.

Side Effects

1. The list via a recent article on Dr. Mercola has a litany of side effects like: miscarriage, ineffectiveness of repeated vaccinations
2. The following are references listed on the National Vaccine Information Center’s website:
   • Kwong JC, Vasa PP et al. Risk of Guillain Barre Syndrome after seasonal influenza vaccinations and influenza health care encounters: a self-controlled study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 2013; 13(9): 769-776.
   •  GBS Flu Vaccine Reaction Leaves Nurse A Quadriplegic. National Vaccine Information Center Oct. 31, 2011.
   • CDC. Guillain-Barré syndrome and Flu Vaccine. Nov. 2, 2017.
   •  Van den Berg B, Bunschoten C et al. Mortality in Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Neurology 2013; 80(18): 1650-1654
   • Institute of Medicine Committee to Review Adverse Effects of Vaccines. Adverse Effects of Vaccines Evidence and Causality. Influenza Vaccine. pp 293-420.  Washington, D.C. The National Academies Press 2012.
   • CDC. Flu Vaccine Safety Information: Do flu vaccines cause any side effects? Oct. 5, 2017.
   • Department of Health and Human Services. Advisory Committee on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV) Meeting.Mar. 3, 2011.
   • HRSA. Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Data and Statistics. Aug 8, 2018
   • Skowronski DM, Chambers C et al. Interim estimates of 2014/15 vaccine effectiveness against influenza A(H3N2) from Canada’s Sentinel Physician Surveillance Network, January 2015. Euro Surveill. 2015 Jan 29;20(4).
   •  Yourex-West H, McIntosh S, Canadian study finds flu shot could increase risk of getting sick. Global News. Jan. 30, 2015.
   • CDC. Flu Vaccination & Possible Safety Signal. Sep. 13, 2017

Additional studies

Temporal Association of Certain Neuropsychiatric Disorders Following Vaccination of Children and Adolescents: A Pilot Case–Control Study. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00003/full

Conclusion
Vaccination May Increase Risk of Psychiatric Childhood Disorders.
Children were 80% more likely to suffer anorexia nervosa if the had received any vaccine in the last 3 months. Influenza vaccinations during the prior 3, 6, and 12 months were also associated with incident diagnoses of anorexia nervosa, OCD, and an anxiety disorder. The Hep A, Hep B and meningitis vaccines were associated with at least a 40% increased risk for neuropsychiatric disorders including anorexia nervosa, tics and OCD. Children with anxiety disorder were more likely to have received the influenza vaccine in the previous 12 months. Children with tic disorder were more likely to have received an influenza or a meningococcal vaccine in the previous 6 or 12 months.

Assessment of temporally-related acute respiratory illness following influenza vaccination.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29525279

Paraphrased conclusion (since it’s filled with medical jargon that might not make sense):

• The vaccinated were 65% more likely to get a respiratory infection than those that did not get a flu shot.
• There are over 200 respiratory viruses other than those viruses that are deemed influenza, and they are just as virulent as the flu.
• The flu shot does not even offer any protection against the 2-3 strains of influenza, all while greatly increasing your chances of any of the 200 other respiratory infections.
• It can also cause paralysis, death and neurological damage.

This list is a good start and I’ll add to it as additional articles arise. I want you to have enough information to sink your teeth into before you make your decision.  Current flu shot marketing suggests only the most common of adverse affects that resemble the common cold or the flu itself, yet fail to identify ALL.

Check out the articles in this series:

Trish