Flu Season is here.

It seems everywhere you go nowadays there are signs for Flu Shots as it is "Flu Season". We thought it might be a good time to take a look at the following questions which are probably never asked by the patient, nor is the information offered by the professional when getting a flu shot.

1. What is the brand of vaccine being injected? This is important so that you can answer the second question namely:

2. What are the ingredients in the vaccine?

A list of the ingredients and how the vaccine was made can be found at this CDC resource page for Health Practitioners.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccines.htm

Most seem to be made from an egg culture but Flucenax is grown from a Cell Line consisting of dog kidney DNA, specifically from a Cocker Spaniel.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/cell-based.htm

Several of the flu vaccines also contain Thimerosal and Mercury. Detailed ingredients can be found by going to the individual product sheets for the vaccines.

3. What is the recommended dosage of the vaccine and is the vaccine administered according to weight or size of the individual?

The short answer is No. As noted on the CDC page above on vaccines:

"for Afluria Quadrivalent, children aged 6 through 35 months should receive 0.25mL per dose. Persons ≥36 months (≥3 years) should receive 0.5mL per dose. † for Fluzone Quadrivalent, children aged 6 through 35 months may receive either 0.25mL or 0.5mL per dose. Persons ≥36 months (≥3 years) should receive 0.5mL per dose."

So a 3 year old child that weighs possibly 30 lbs gets the same dosage as an adult person weighing 200 lbs.

From the CDC links above, you can dive in and look at the statistics for adverse effects per vaccine, the efficacy rates etc.

At the Vermont Salt Cave Spa, we firmly believe in using food as medicine and utilizing the traditional herbs that have been around for millennia. To this end, we have a complete line of all natural elixirs, tinctures, teas and more to help with both preventing and treating flu and cold symptoms in a very holistic manner. Of course it goes without saying that we are not offering medical advice and one should always check with their doctor before embarking on any treatments.