Posted on 11/03/2009 9:03:32 AM PST by decimon
With flu vaccination season in full swing, research from the University of Rochester Medical Center cautions that use of many common pain killers – Advil, Tylenol, aspirin – at the time of injection may blunt the effect of the shot and have a negative effect on the immune system.
Richard P. Phipps, Ph.D., professor of Environmental Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, and of Pediatrics, has been studying this issue for years and recently presented his latest findings to an international conference on inflammatory diseases. (http://bioactivelipidsconf.wayne.edu/)
“What we’ve been saying all along, and continue to stress, is that it’s probably not a good idea to take common, over-the-counter pain relievers for minor discomfort associated with vaccination,” Phipps said. “We have studied this question using virus particles, live virus, and different kinds of pain relievers, in human blood samples and in mice -- and all of our research shows that pain relievers interfere with the effect of the vaccine.”
A study by researchers in the Czech Republic reported similar findings in the Oct. 17, 2009, edition of The Lancet. They found that giving acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, to infants weakens the immune response to vaccines.
Phipps’ research has tested whether production of antibodies using a cell culture system was blunted by over-the-counter pain relievers. He found that a variety of pain relievers – even though Tylenol and Advil have different ingredients -- seemed to dilute the production of necessary antibodies to protect against illness.
Many of the pain relievers in question are classified as NSAIDs or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which act in part by blocking the cyclooxygenase-2 (cox-2) enzyme. Blocking the cox-2 enzyme is not a good idea in the context of vaccination, however, because the cox-2 enzyme is necessary for the optimal production of B-lymphocytes.
Therefore, when a person takes a medication to reduce pain and fever, he or she might also inadvertently reduce the ability of B cells to make antibodies.
Phipps and colleagues also demonstrated that timing of the administration of pain relievers is important as well, according to the study published earlier this year in the journal Cellular Immunology
They exposed human cells and mice to ibuprofen, Tylenol, aspirin and naproxen (Aleve) in amounts comparable to doses commonly used by millions of Americans every day to prevent or treat pain and fever, or arthritis, or to prevent heart attack and stroke.
Treatment during the earliest stages of inflammation – or when the first signs of pain, swelling, redness or fever would occur – had the most detrimental effects on the immune system, the study noted.
The connection between NSAIDs and antibody production is still being actively pursued. Phipps said researchers believe ibuprofen, in particular, affects lymphocytes’ ability to produce antibodies.
Meanwhile, until a full clinical trial provides a clearer picture, Phipps urges regular users of NSAIDs to be aware of the risks.
“NSAIDs are one of the most commonly used drugs; they are recommended for all age categories, are prescribed for relieving transient pain or in cases of serious inflammatory diseases,” Phipps said. “By decreasing antibody synthesis, NSAIDs also have the ability to weaken the immune system which can have serious consequences for children, the elderly and the immune-compromised patients.”
The U.S. Public Health Service has funded Phipps’ studies.
URMC co-investigators on the study in Cellular Immunology include: David Topham, Ph.D., an expert in the immune response to influenza and a principal investigator in the David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, and Simona Bancos and Matthew P. Bernard, of the Department of Environmental Medicine, Lung Biology and Disease Program.
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For Media Inquiries: Leslie Orr (585) 275-5774 Email Leslie Orr
Here’s a plea to the ‘experts’ both real and imagined and the MSM....everyone go into a room, work out what is and isn’t harmful and write it down in a book. Publish the book on paper and online and STOP THE DAILY TRICKLE OF DO THIS-DON’T DO THAT!
Good as excuse as any for saying something in the flu shot doesn’t work. Maybe because it’s saline?
Common Pain Relievers May Dilute Power of Flu Shots
Do you take a pill for pain that you do have or a shot for a flu that you might get?
So what are they saying (AFTER THE FACT) You shouldn't have bothered??
This was just a big social experiment....and it cost us billions...
This is going to be about power...and the governments right to vaccinate you if it should deem it so and or isolate you against your will.....It's a nightmare!!
I also get a flu, a cold or whatever and spend the night in fever and I'm done.
This flu though kicked my butt.
I don't know about the vaccination, I now do not need it.
I will tell you this I have never been sicker in my 43 years than with this flu.
No one has yet demonstrated that flu shots do anything. It’s all rumor and anecdotal. I did read an article years ago where some university did a survey and found that flu shots are no more effective than placebo. Unfortunately I didn’t save it and can’t remember the name of the U. There’s big $ in vaccinations. We need scientific data not opinions of people who profit from the crisis.
You had H1N1? If so then did the medicos confirm it was H1N1?
I think there are several preventatives that work much better in combination:
1. Wash hands frequently with warm water
2. Eat nutritious foods, and make sure you have the RDA of vitamins, specifically A,C, and D.
3. Excercise outside regularly, but know your weather limits (it’s too cold for me at cloudy 32 and sunny 30)
4. Make sure you are getting 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep a night. Meditate, or look in to medications if necessary to get your sleep.
One thing I don’t like about immunizations is that some people think the are invincible and don’t practice other preventions or don’t believe they really have the flu, go out in public and pass it around.
"There are three "arms" of the immune response, Lee says. The first are antibodies, which are also known as immunoglobulins. Produced by white blood cells, they identify and attack bacteria and viruses. The second are killer T cells, which can tell when a cell has been infected with a virus and then attack it. The third are mucosal antibodies, which live in the mucous membranes in the nose and mouth and defend against the virus there.
Most vaccine from killed virus
There are two types of vaccine available against both seasonal and H1N1 flu. About 80% is in the form of shots made from killed virus. FluMist nasal spray, which makes up about 20% of the H1N1 vaccine supply, uses live, weakened virus to provoke an immune response.
The live but weakened ("attenuated") virus creates all three immune responses, Lee says. "You can almost treat the FluMist as a natural infection," Lee says. The shots only provoke an antibody response. "
Ping
He said for 7 days you will be contagious and seven days after that people can incubate, day 14 my wife got sick and I mean so sick her doctor, our neighbor said stay home.
Nasty virus.
Shoot, there goes my yesterday’s H1N1 immunization!
Hygiene in general is much much worse than it was decades ago. After the discovery of antisepsis and before the rise of antibiotics people were cleanliness fanatics. My older aunts and mother (they were raised in the 20’s) were house cleaning freaks. That was the most effective method they had to prevent illness and ensure that their children lived in addition to the few workable vaccinations of the time.. small pox, etc.
Today I see so many people who don’t keep clean it’s like an epidemic. They think that since we have so many medical weapons that they can be lazy. We are going to learn sometime that laziness in hygiene will be disastrous as the prevalence of superbugs becomes greater. Tuberculosis is on the rise because we can’t isolate anyone thanks to the campaign to protect the spreaders of HIV... homos.
Talk about rumor and anecdote.
Oh really. So you have actual scientific data on the subject?
Thanks.
Go back for a refill.
Larry King had a couple on whose daughter "died from H1N1". She actually died from sepsis after she was sent home. She had a sustained low-grade fever. Her Mom kept giving her Tylenol and Motrin every time she got a fever. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, her daughter had a secondary infection that ravaged her in 24 hours. It wasn't out of nowhere. The drugs crippled her body's ability to fight the virus, and then the bacteria. LET YOUR CHILDRENS' FEVER PLAY OUT. Anything under 104 should not be a cause for concern, unless your child has a history of febrile seizures.
I do not mean to blame the parents. There is mucho ignorance out there, much of it fed by drug companies and robotic pediatricians.
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