How wonderful - the folks who brought us Vioxx that killed off over 60,000 people and lied to us for years about its safety, the folks who will soon be facing another major scandal over Fosamaz and the lovely folks who are killing and maiming our school girls with Gardasil have another vaccine for us.
One wonders what the real side effects from the vaccine are, given that in the actual trials Merrck compared people they injected with the real vaccine to those who were injected with a "dummy vaccine" in the placebo group.
Don't let that word placebo fool you, folks. When MSG was tested and declared safe the placebo used was Aspartame, thus enabling manufacturers to claim that MSG was as safe as a placebo. In the Gardasil trials it turns out that the "dummy vaccine" Merck used for the placebo groups, instead of a harmless saline solution one might suppose, actually contained aluminum, polysorbate 80 and sodium borate - three decidedly dangerous components.
But hey, it allowed Merck to say that the side effects were similar and thus Gardasil was safe. Tell that to the parents of all the girls who been killed or permanently injured by Gardasil. I guess now it will be the children of elderly parents who are told that the deaths and injuries from Merck's new vaccine can't be due to the vaccine because it was proven to be as safe as a "placebo".
And here's a real topper: guess what one of the ingredients in the new vaccine is. None other than MSG. Any bets on whether or not MSG was also in the "dummy vacciine" given to the placebo group?
Noteworthy: Though overall side effects were reported to be similar between the real vaccination and placebo groups, the vaccinated groups had from 25 to 29% greater incidence of congestive heart failure or pulmonary edema and no long term studies have been done to compare side effects for the two groups nor to compare side effects for those vaccinated versus those who have received no vaccination.
Other snippets from the FDA's official Zostravex information page:
Do not administer Zostavax to individuals with a history of primary or acquired immunodeficiency states including leukemia; lymphomas of any type, or other malignant neoplasms affecting the bone marrow or lymphatic system; or AIDS or other clinical manifestations of infection with human immunodeficiency viruses. Zostavax is a live attenuated varicella-zoster vaccine and administration may result in disseminated disease in individuals who are immunosuppressed. Do not administer Zostavax to individuals on immunosuppressive therapy.
Transmission of vaccine virus may occur rarely between vaccinees and susceptible contacts.
Vaccination with Zostavax may not result in protection of all vaccine recipients.
The overall incidence of vaccine-related injection-site adverse reactions was significantly greater for subjects vaccinated with Zostavax versus subjects who received placebo (48% for Zostavax and 17% for placebo).
The most common side effects that people in the clinical studies reported after receiving the vaccine include:
redness, pain, itching, swelling, warmth, or bruising where the shot was given.
headache.
The following additional side effects have been reported in general use with Zostavax:
allergic reactions, which may be serious and may include difficulty in breathing or swallowing. If you have an allergic reaction, call your doctor right away.
fever
hives at the injection site
joint pain
muscle pain
rash
rash at the injection site
swollen glands near the injection site (that may last a few days to a few weeks)
The following additional adverse reactions have been identified during post-marketing use of Zostavax.
Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders: rash
Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders: arthralgia; myalgia
General disorders and administration site conditions: injection-site rash; injection-site urticaria; pyrexia; transient injection-site lymphadenopathy
Hypersensitivity: hypersensitivity reactions including anaphylactic reactions.
At the end of the day, the best way to prevent shingles outbreaks is the same as the best way to prevent HPV and cervical cancer and the best way to prevent just about anything vaccines are designed for: Build a strong natural immune system, avoid toxins and stress and otherwise eat and live healthily.
For specific natural suggestions for preventing shingles, see: