Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

If you watched the videos above in their entirety, you got to see several propaganda-like ads for the swine flu vaccine from the 1970s. Those ads are quite chilling … not because of their talk of the approaching swine flu epidemic, but because of their obvious intention to scare Americans into taking a swine flu vaccine that ended up being far worse than the disease itself.

This swine flu scare first occurred in 1976, right before I entered medical school and I remember it very clearly. It resulted in the massive swine flu vaccine campaign discussed by 60 Minutes.

Do you happen to recall the result of this massive campaign?

Within a few months, claims totaling $1.3 billion had been filed by victims who had suffered paralysis from the vaccine. The vaccine was also blamed for 25 deaths.

Several hundred people also developed crippling Guillain-Barré Syndrome after they were injected with the swine flu vaccine. Even healthy 20-year-olds ended up as paraplegics.

And the swine flu pandemic itself? It never materialized.

Fast-forward over three decades later, and now in 2009 there is similar vaccine propaganda brewing.

A New Swine Flu Vaccine is Coming

In June 2009, the World Health Organization raised the level of the swine flu pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6, their highest warning level that indicates a pandemic capable of widespread human infection.

As I predicted in my first swine flu alert (which was the most popular one I ever published), a fast-tracked swine flu vaccine was promptly ordered, and will be available as early as this month.

Although many governments and health organizations are probably celebrating this feat, just as they did back in 1976, you have no reason to join in the festivities. In fact, you have good reason to fear being exposed to this new swine flu vaccine more than the swine flu itself.

You are virtually guaranteed that no safety evaluations will be performed prior to the reckless unleashing of this untested vaccine, and if history repeats itself (as it so often does), it could potentially be the cause of countless permanent injuries and deaths.

Making matters worse, there is a campaign underway to turn schools into virtual vaccination clinics, and children will be the first to be injected with experimental swine flu vaccines.

As in the past, health officials are positioning this mandatory vaccination as a panacea to prevent “explosive outbreaks” of the swine flu. But if you dig even slightly below the surface you easily find that the swine flu is often times very mild.

Should You be Afraid of the Swine Flu Pandemic?

Now that the swine flu is officially being called a pandemic, it conjures up images of overflowing hospitals and people wearing protective masks just to avoid becoming the next statistic.

In reality, the word ‘pandemic’ only means that a new virus is spreading across the world. It says nothing about its level of physical danger. That level of severity, according to The World Health Organization, is only “moderate.” And they go on to say:

“On present evidence, the overwhelming majority of patients experience mild symptoms and make a rapid and full recovery, often in the absence of any form of medical treatment.

Worldwide, the number of deaths is small. Each and every one of these deaths is tragic, and we have to brace ourselves to see more. However, we do not expect to see a sudden and dramatic jump in the number of severe or fatal infections.”

To put matters even more into perspective, the swine flu has claimed a mere 429 lives WORLDWIDE (as of July 15), while the regular flu (not the swine flu) has allegedly killed 13,000 in the United States since January (although there is strong support that even these types of figures are grossly exaggerated to increase vaccine sales).

So the fact remains that the regular flu at this point in time is FAR more dangerous than the swine flu, and were you worried about the regular flu before the media started hyping up this exotic new “killer flu”?

Just like in 1976, today there is clearly a lot of fear-mongering going on, fear-mongering that has a noticeable subplot — preparing you for draconian measures to combat a future pandemic as well as forcing you to accept the idea of mandatory vaccinations.

This is not the time to fall for hype. These public scare-tactics are designed to make money, not protect your health.

So I urge you to review the vast supply of information available on the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) Web site, and join Barbara Loe Fisher in her urging to take action against the potential threat of mandatory swine flu vaccinations.

You may also be interested in an excellent, free webinar coming up on July 20: How to Write A Valid Waiver for Vaccines.

This free webinar from Dr. Mayer Epstein will help you learn about philosophical, medical, and religious objections to vaccines. You can find out more and sign up here.

Attend Major Vaccine Conference in Washington DC

This October the National Vaccine Information Center is putting together a host of the top speakers in the world on this topic. They only put on this conference every few years. If you have any interest in this topic I strongly encourage you to attend. I will also be speaking there. Read more about it here.

It’s imperative that you educate yourself about vaccinations, influenza, vaccine risks, and the public health laws in your state, so you know what you’re up against, especially if you have children that attend public schools.

You need to find out what your rights and options are under new public health laws that may require you and your children to get vaccinated or be quarantined.

If You Really Want to Avoid the Flu …

Staying healthy and avoiding all types of flu has nothing to do with getting a vaccine and everything to do with leading a healthy lifestyle.

I have not caught the flu in over two decades, and you can avoid it too by following these simple guidelines, which will keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you’re far less likely to acquire the infection to begin with.

1. Optimize your vitamin D levels. As I’ve previously reported, optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the absolute best strategies for avoiding infections of ALL kinds, and vitamin D deficiency is likely the TRUE culprit behind the seasonality of the flu — not the flu virus itself.

I would STRONGLY urge you to have your vitamin D level monitored to confirm your levels are therapeutic at 50-70 ng.ml and done by a reliable vitamin D lab like Lab Corp.

If you are coming down with flu like symptoms and have not been on vitamin D you can take doses of 50,000 units a day for three days to treat the acute infection. Some researchers like Dr. Cannell believe the dose could even be as high as 1,000 units per pound of body weight for three days.

However, most of Dr. Cannell’s work was with seasonal and not pandemic flu. If your body has never been exposed to the antigens there is chance that the vitamin D might not work. Your best bet is to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D around 60 ng/ml.

2. Avoid Sugar and Processed Foods. Sugar decreases the function of your immune system almost immediately, and as you likely know, a strong immune system is key to fighting off viruses and other illness. Remember that sugar is present in foods you may not suspect, like ketchup and fruit juice.

3. Get Enough Rest. If your body is overly fatigued it will be harder for it to fight the flu. Be sure to check out my Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep for some great tips to help you get quality rest.

4. Have Effective Tools to Address Stress. If stress becomes overwhelming then your body will be less able to fight off the flu and other illness.

If you feel that stress is taking a toll on your health, consider using a tool such as the meridian tapping technique, which is remarkably effective in relieving stress associated with all kinds of events, from work to family to trauma.

5. Exercise. When you exercise, you increase your circulation and your blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of finding an illness before it spreads. You can review my exercise guidelines for some great tips on how to get started.

6. Take a good source of animal-based omega-3 fats like krill oil. Increase your intake of healthy and essential fats like the omega-3 found in krill oil, which is crucial for maintaining health. It is also vitally important to avoid damaged omega-6 oils like trans fats as it will seriously damage your immune response.

7. Wash Your Hands. Washing your hands will decrease your likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or to other people. Be sure you don’t use antibacterial soap for this — antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good. Instead, identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to.

8. Use All-Natural ‘Antibiotics’. Freshly crushed garlic cloves work like a broad-spectrum antibiotic against bacteria, virus, and protozoa in your body. And unlike with antibiotics, no resistance can be built up so it is an absolutely safe product to use. However, if you are allergic or don’t enjoy garlic it would be best to avoid as it will likely cause more harm than good.

Other all-natural antibiotics include olive leaf extract and oil of oregano.

9. Avoid Hospitals and Vaccines. In this particular case, I’d also recommend you stay away from hospitals unless you have an emergency, as hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds, and could be one of the likeliest places you could be exposed to this new bug.