Haiti, Cholera Epidemic and What Was Done Right

 This article appeared in Dr. Mercola. com. An interesting read.

A cholera epidemic broke out in Haiti October 2010, sickening over 100,000 Haitians while killing over 2,000. This epidemic no doubt is related to the January 12, 2010 earthquake that hit that country, wiping out water and sanitation networks that served as protection against this kind of disease.

In the case of this cholera outbreak, public health officials have opted not to pursue a vaccination strategy, due partially to a limited worldwide supply of cholera vaccines combined with a large population at risk .

Haiti has nine million people and only 150,000 to one million doses of the vaccine exist, but they are also in part motivated by the fact that the vaccine provides very little protection right away. It requires several doses before any meaningful protection is offered.
Health officials have rightly instead focused their limited resources on cleaning up the water supply in Haiti.

In other words, they are going after the source of the disease instead of trying to manage the population's exposure through ineffectual vaccines. This is the kind of public health care management that makes a lot of sense to me.

After all, a clean water supply will dramatically cut down the population's exposure to deadly pathogens now found in the tainted public water.

If only the U.S. was this enlightened!

In the U.S., we may not face this particular water-borne bacterial disease (but some bacteria and cysts like crytosporidium DO survive water treatment facilities and occasionally cause local outbreaks), but our method of fighting public health battles has largely become a public health policy of over-vaccination or popping pills to treat symptoms in response to any health threat,.
Rather than focusing on the natural way to actually prevent diseases .– building a healthy immune system and embracing simple healthy lifestyle choices.

What is Cholera?

Cholera is a bacterial infection of the small intestine that is spread by contaminated food and water. The primary symptoms are diarrhea and vomiting, which can quickly lead to serious dehydration.

This infection can also be transmitted through shellfish and plankton, and in developed nations the most common cause of cholera is eating contaminated seafood.
Cholera is rarely transmitted from person to person, but rather the infection spreads when untreated human waste gets into drinking water supplies like groundwater or natural bodies of water.

This is also how seafood like shrimp can become contaminated by the bacteria, and pass it back to humans through the food chain. Contaminated drinking water is most likely the cause in Haiti, as their waste and sanitation systems were decimated by the recent January 2010 earthquake.
This disease can be life threatening because the vomiting and diarrhea associated with it can lead to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. The bacteria responsible for this disease is one of many pathogens that can survive the acidic conditions of your stomach and ultimately reach your small intestine, where colonization begins.

Three to five million people worldwide contract cholera each year, and about 100,000 to 120,000 people die from it.

The Trouble with the Cholera Vaccines

There are only two brands of cholera vaccine in the world: Dukoral that costs $40 and Shanchol (introduced last year) at $6 a dose.

Only the $40 a dose version is approved for use by the World Health Organization, so governments would be most likely be required to purchase that version of the vaccine.
So one of the problems with the new cholera vaccines is they are expensive, because it takes more than one dose for a person receive much protection and it takes three doses in children who have a lesser developed immune system.
Another problem with the newer cholera vaccines is they take up to three weeks to provide any significant protection at all.
According to a recent article in the NY Times:

"Until recently, cholera vaccines were little used. Older injectable ones protected less than half of those who were given them, and protection waned after a few months.
The new vaccines are oral, making them easier to give, but they require two doses at least a week apart in adults and three in children and start providing protection a week later."

Additionally , the injectable form of the cholera vaccine did not work more than half the time (25-50 percent are the figures for this particular vaccine's effectiveness) and provided very limited, short-term protection. The vaccine also is not effective against transmission of the disease.

Maybe one of the real messages of this unfortunate cholera outbreak in Haiti is blowing open the secret long hidden by the drug companies pushing their vaccines: Namely that vaccines are not as efficacious as the drug industry wants you to believe, and they do not last for very long intervals when they do work at all.
All vaccines require booster shots after a few years if they are to have any chance of remaining effective, and with each booster shot also comes the continuing chance for an adverse reaction.
Why isn't this information publicized during the rush to vaccinate our children against more and more diseases -- diseases that they can better fight off in the first place by building a strong immune system?

Other Alarming Facts about Vaccines

Vaccines are known to carry risks of very serious side effects, which must be clearly labeled on by the manufacturers for everyone, including parents of infants, to view.
However, in actual practice many parents are never shown the manufacturers inserts and never told by their doctors the full extent of the risks and complications associated with even the "safest" vaccines.

According to the National Vaccine Information Center, an independent clearinghouse for information on vaccines and diseases to use in making informed vaccine decisions, the following information is a list covering the manufacturers' description of the possible side effects of one DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine, called Tripedia:

• Commonly Reported Adverse Events: Fever, irritability, fussiness, drowsiness, anorexia, vomiting, and swelling/tenderness at the injection site.
• Other Serious Reported Adverse Events: Hypotonic/hyporesponsive (collapse) episode; persistent crying for 3 or more hours; febrile and afebrile convulsions (seizures); deaths attributed to SIDS; enteritis; Leigh Syndrome; adrenogenital syndrome; nodule/formation of abscess at site of injection; anaphylactic reaction that can include hives, swelling of mouth, difficulty breathing, and hypotension or shock; arthus-type hypersensitivity reaction; peripheral mononeuropathy and cranial mononeuropathy; brachial neuritis; Guillain-Barre syndrome and demyelinating disease. After licensure (post-marketing), adverse event reports include idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura; SIDS, anaphylactic reaction; cellulitis; autism; convulsion/grand mal convulsion; encephalopathy; hypotonia; neuropathy; somnolence and apnea.
  

In other words, according to the manufacturer, the vaccine itself may cause vomiting, anorexia, convulsions, partial paralysis, autism, seizures or death.
Which are all, by the way, either non-existent or at best mostly very extremely rare complications (at least in Western nations, where dying of a childhood disease has become a very rare event) of the actual diseases that most vaccines are meant to give protection against.

What to Do if You are Forced to Receive a Vaccine

With mandatory vaccination laws being aggressively enforced in states like New York and also in California, it's best to have a primer on what to do if you are ever forced to receive a vaccination.
The following list of options was composed by Dr. Russell Blaylock as a way to help reduce the effects of reactions to influenza (flu) vaccinations. Do not use these suggestions if you have influenza or symptoms of the flu itself. These are just general observations and options, not medical advice. You should work with your doctor for a specific program in consideration of your own medical history and any medications you are currently taking.

Treatment for Toxic Vaccine Exposure

• Place a cold compress on the site of the injection immediately after the injection and continue this as often as possible for at least two days. If symptoms of fever, irritability, fatigue or flu-like symptoms reoccur -- continue the cold compresses until they abate. A cold shower or bath will also help.
• Take krill oil as a source of animal based omega-3 fats.
• Curcumin, quercetin, ferulic acid and ellagic acid as a mixture -- the first two must be mixed with extravirgin olive in one teaspoon. Take the mix three times a day (500 mg of each)
• Vitamin E (natural form) 400 IU a day (high in gamma-E)
• Vitamin C 1000 mg four times a day
• Astaxanthin 4 mg a day
• Zinc 20 mg a day for one week then 5 mg a day
• Avoid all immune stimulating supplements (mushroom extracts, whey protein) except beta-glucan -- it has been shown to reduce inflammation, microglial activation and has a reduced risk of aggravating autoimmunity, while increasing antiviral cellular immunity.
• Take a multivitamin/mineral daily (one without iron -- Extend Core)
• Magnesium citrate/malate 500 mg of elemental magnesium two capsules three times a day
• Vitamin D3:
  
  All Children -- 5000 IU a day for two weeks after vaccine then 2000 IU a day thereafter
  Adults -- 20,000 IU a day after vaccine for two weeks then 10,000 IU a day thereafter
  Take 500 mg to 1000 mg of calcium citrate a day for adults and 250 mg a day for children under age 12 years.
  
• Avoid all mercury-containing seafood
• Avoid omega-6 oils (corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, canola and peanut oils)
• Blenderize parsley and celery and drink 8 ounces twice a day
• Take Jatoba tea extract (add 20 drops in on cup of tea) one day before the vaccine and the twice a day thereafter.

How to Naturally Strengthen Your Immune System

The natural way for your body to fight not just bacterial illness, but also pathogenic viruses and fungi is to maintain and support a strong immune system, your body's defense system against all harmful invaders. Some tips for strengthening your immune system can be found here and include the following:

• Have tools to address your stress. Your children may have more stress in their school settings than you realize. And when they’re not happy, you know how that affects you… Energy psychology tools like EFT LINK are very useful here.
• Get exercise. Exercise is one of the BEST strategies to improve immunity, via the increased circulation and blood flow delivering nutrients farther and wider throughout your system.
• Sanitation. Washing hands is a key to good immune health.
• Care for your digestive tract. Scientific research shows that 80% of your immune system resides inside your digestive tract. The best strategy you can use and encourage your children to use is to take a high-quality probiotic to support their digestive tract.
• Eliminate sugar from your diet.  Especially when you feel the effects of illness coming on, the first thing you want to do is eliminate sugar.
• Get a good night’s sleep. Getting a restful night of sleep is one of the best defenses you can give your body to help strengthen your immune system.
• Eat a good diet.  Eating whole, organic foods as much as possible will give your body the nutrients it needs to maintain a strong immune system.
• Eating based on your nutritional type. Now offered completely free on my website. Knowing your nutritional type will help you eat optimally for your unique biochemistry and genetics – and achieve your best health.