Natural Female Hormone Care - About the 2015 Flu Vaccination Season

                                                                                   Pamela Levin, R.N.
                                                                                                                              Copyright 2013
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 All Rights Reserved
Pamela Levin is an R.N., an award-winning nutritional journalist and author with 500+ post-graduate hours in clinical nutrition, herbology and applied kinesiology. In private practice 42 years, she has worked extensively and effectively with female hormone issues and has shared her expertise with colleagues and lay audiences in 10 countries and four continents.

With the flu vaccine season upon us, practitioners are often called on to answer one of their clients’ top vaccine concerns, namely , “What’s in it?”

The problem is that a complete listing of the various ingredients in vaccines is not possible to acquire. Here’s why:

First, manufacturers are not required to report certain ingredients if they exist below a certain legally-defined threshold. For example, Thimerisol, an ingredient in multi-dose vaccines, which contains the cumulative neuro-toxin mercury, requires no reporting if below that legally defined threshold.

Second, due to poor checks and balances in manufacturing, vaccines may have many contaminants that were not intended for inclusion when manufactured. For example some industry insiders continue to report bacterial contamination in vaccines cleared for distribution.

Third, some vaccine manufacturers change their product contents prior to release.

That said, it is possible to know some of what they contain. All the various brands of the 2015-2016 trivalent flu vaccines contain:

1. An Influenza A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus
2. An Influenza A/Switzerland/9715293/2013 (H3N2)-like virus
3. An Influenza B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus. (This is a B/Yamagata lineage virus)
4. If it is quadrivalent, it also contains an Influenza B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus).

What follows is a list of the current (2015) flu vaccines, the other known substances used in their manufacture and ingredients listed by the manufacturer:

Vaccine Brand	Ingredient List
Influenza (Afluria)	Beta-propiolactone, thimerosol (multi-dose vials only), monobasic sodium phosphate, dibasic sodium phosphate, monobasic potassium phosphate, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, sodium taurodeoxycholate, neomycin sulfate, polymyxin B, egg protein, sucrose.
Influenza (Agriflu)	Egg proteins, formaldehyde, polysorbate 80, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, neomycin sulfate, kanamycin, barium.
Influenza (Fluarix) Trivalent and Quadrivalent	Octoxynol-10 (Triton X- Į-tocopheryl hydrogen succinate, polysorbate 80 (Tween 80), hydrocortisone, gentamicin sulfate, ovalbumin, formaldehyde, sodium deoxycholate, sucrose, phosphate buffer.
Influenza (Flublok)	Monobasic sodium phosphate, dibasic sodium phosphate, polysorbate 20, baculovirus and host cell proteins, baculovirus and cellular DNA, Triton X-100, lipids, vitamins, amino acids, mineral salts.
Influenza (Flucelvax)	Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell protein, MDCK cell DNA, SRO\VRUEDWHFHW\OWULPHWKO\DPPRQLXPEURPLGH ȕ -propiolactone, phosphate buffer.
Influenza (Flulaval) Trivalent and Quadrivalent	Thimerosal, formaldehyde, sodium deoxycholate, egg proteins, phosphate buffer.
Influenza (FluMist) Quadrivalent	ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed porcine gelatin, arginine, sucrose, dibasic potassium phosphate, monobasic potassium phosphate, gentamicin sulfate, egg protein.
Influenza (Fluvirin)	Nonylphenol ethoxylate, thimerosal (multidose vial–trace only in .refilled syringe), polymyxin, neomycin, beta-propiolactone, egg proteins, phosphate buffer.
Influenza (Fluzone: Standard (Trivalent and Quadrivalent), High-Dose, & Intradermal)	Formaldehyde, octylphenol ethoxylate (Triton X-100), gelatin (standard trivalent formulation only), thimerosal (multi-dose vial only) , egg protein, phosphate buffers, sucrose.

In case you wonder why some of these substances are used, check the following list of ingredients and their uses:

Ingredient	Uses	Ingredient	Uses
Egg albumin	Type of protein found in egg that the vaccine is grown in.	Octyphenol ethoxylate	Surfactant used to bring two different compounds together. Commonly used in cleaning agents and textile manufacturing.
Arginine	A common protein found in the body.	Phosphate Buffers (disodium, monosodium, potassium, sodium dihydrogenphosphate)	Formed from phosphorus (naturally found in diet and body)and used to maintain pH levels.
Beta-propeiolactone	Used as a disinfectant to maintain sterility. Considered a carcinogen.	Polyethelyne Glycol	A synthetic resin used as a solvent.
Calcium Chloride	A simple mineral salt used to help control temperature.	Polymyxin B	Antibiotic used to prevent bacterial growth.
Egg protein	Self-explanatory.	Polyoxyethylene9-10 nonylphenol	Surfactant used to blend compounds.
Formaldehyde	Common precursor to make resins in the textile industry. Used to inactivate live viruses. Considered a carcinogen.	Polysorbate 80 or Polysorbate 20	Surfactant and emulsifier used to bring compounds together.
Gelatin	Gelling agent. Commonly found in animal byproducts like the hoofs of horses.	Potassium chloride	Salt normally found in the body.
Gentamicin	Antibiotic used to prevent bacterial growth.	Sodium chloride	Salt compound normally found in the body.
Hydrocortisone	A steroid commonly used to treat skin irritation.	Sodium deoxycholate	Bile acid used as an emulsifier to bring compounds together.
Latex	Found in the top of the vaccine where the needle punctures. It's a rubber.	Sucrose	Sugar.
Monosodium Glutamate	MSG - a compound people are advised to stay away from in packaged food. Used to help stabilize the vaccine when it's exposed to light, heat, acidity, or humidity.	Thimersol (Mercury)	Toxic metal used to prevent contamination in multi-dose vials.
Neomycin	Antibiotic used to prevent bacterial growth.	Tocopheryl hydrogen succinate	A form of vitamin E used to prevent oxidation.
Octoxynol-10	Used as an emulsifier/surfactant/detergent.

To update your information or check for yourself, these two resources are useful:

Further, you may be called upon to answer whether or not someone should get the vaccine in the first place. This can place you in a difficult situation legally if your advice is different than that of an M.D. Some health practitioners find quoting others who have different opinions to be helpful. For example, here’s what Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center says:

"If vaccines are safe and effective for everyone, then those, who choose to get vaccinated
should have nothing to fear from those who choose not to get vaccinated.

If vaccines are not safe and effective for everyone, then it is unethical to require anyone
to get vaccinated without their voluntary, informed consent.”

Since no one wants to get sick, people often want to know what they can do to avoid getting the flu, whether or not they receive the vaccination. The answer is to strengthen their immune system.

Last, you may be called upon to provide a post-vaccination support. While the best results are obtained by designing individualized protocols, the following are often included:

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Note: An entire section of the Natural Female Hormone Care online lesson series is devoted to this vital topic along with a host of others that are central to providing the truly holistic and therefore effective health care women need. For more information, go to [Affiliate product link] [Your Clickbank link].