Hi IWantAnguish...
Is that worth a taking a vaccine with mercury and squalene?
Can you provide a citation for this?
As for me, I am certainly praying that my wife and I will remain healthy. However, I see no problem with taking vaccines -- including the current swine flu vaccine. I have studied this quite a bit...and even more intensely since the last thread about the matter. I was preparing a list of the sources, facts, myths, and rumors. I still might try to get it together (but I have been a bit busy). I also have a Christian friend from college who now works as a senior scientist at a pharmaceutical company in the Research Triangle (just up the road from Krispy). He was one of the leads in the development of one of the main swine flu vaccines. He said that they are aware of the rumors about the vaccine, and are doing their best to "answer those concerns and debunk many of the misstatements." One of the claims -- that "[i]the doctors and scientists who created the vaccine have not taken it themselves[/i]" -- is simply untrue. My friend explained that every scientist on his team has taken the vaccination.
As far as many of the myths about the swine flu vaccine, the US Department of Health and Human Services actually [url=http://www.flu.gov/myths/index.html]set up a website[/url] to address many of the rumors. The CDC [url=http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/updates/thimerosal.htm]also opened up a website[/url] to answer concerns, rumors and misconceptions about Thimerosol (although this website was opened much earlier because this was used in flu vaccines for decades).
I actually work for a biotech company that designs devices for medical (mostly cancer) treatment. Part of my job is to analyze, criticize and review data that is used in academic, scientific, medical and engineering journals before they are published. These are peer reviewed research articles, which are not biased one way or the other. As a result, they include the evidence and a great amount of scrutiny. As part of my job, I have access to most articles included on PubMed and other medical research databases. Thus far, I haven't found a single article that validates many of the rumors included in anti-vaccination articles. Of course, I am still looking. However, the vast plethora of articles on vaccinations (including influenza and H1N1 vaccinations) conclude that these vaccinations are safe and effective.
I would urge those who are hesitant toward vaccinations to [u]always[/u] remain hesitant about any medical vaccination or treatment. Honest and sincere research is the key toward a greater understanding of such things. I urge individuals to NEVER take a vaccination or a treatment unless they have thoroughly reviewed it. At the same time, I would also urge believers to not be given over to rumors. There are plenty of rumors that are being uttered within the context of the discussion in many (if not most) of the anti-vaccination websites. If you are going to make a statement about such matters, it would be helpful to include a citation from where you gathered this information. A good citation is NOT an article in an anti-vaccination website. Rather, it would be much better to gather the source. Thus, a good article would be the credible, peer-reviewed sources from which the anti-vaccination articles based its conclusions.
Anyway, I might still gather some information together and include it here. Unfortunately, I cannot provide any of the articles from the medical database (contained at PubMed, etc...) since they must be personally purchased (and they are extremely expensive). I do urge anyone else who has a research-level PubMed account to search through these articles for themselves.
I will say this too. The swine flu vaccination is no more dangerous than the flu vaccination taken by millions of individuals (and more than a billion people) last year. The oft-criticized preservatives are included in several major vaccinations. The swine flu vaccination is comprised of exactly the same makeup of every flu vaccination for over a decade, with the exception of the strain of flu that is targeted. Many researchers have examined the accusation that vaccinations containing Thimerosal are linked to autism. So far, every major attempt to ascertain just a link literally could find no valid link whatsoever. While reported diagnoses of autism have increased dramatically since 1990, the cause for this has yet to be ascertained (including the possibility of previous underreporting). In addition, this preservative has been used in many other vaccinations (and even even anti-venoms) too.
Like many other believers, I feel that vaccinations are perfectly acceptable measures of preventive medicine. They have effectively eliminated many dreadful diseases from the nations where vaccinations are readily available (or even mandatory). Polio, smallpox, diphtheria and many others have been all but eradicated by vaccinations. There is a serious concern that H1N1 could mutate slightly and become just as dangerous as the 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 Million people on Earth and effected 500 Million people. A third of the people living on Earth at the time contracted the flu...and one out of every 10 who contracted it died. This vaccine has been shown to be effective against the swine flu.
It is up to the person regarding whether or not they want to accept the vaccination. I suggest that one would not only access the supposed risk of taking the vaccination, but also the risk of not taking it as well. Of course, as children of God, we should remain in prayer as well. We should not fear the "terror by night" (Psalm 91:5). At the same time, I think that we should be good stewards of this earthly Temple of the Holy Spirit.
