Good Care Feels Better

A Hidden Post-Pandemic Decline of Female Health

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 14:39:32 GMT

As women used to live longer than men even during severe famines and epidemics, a continued post-pandemic increase in female mortality and disabilities can’t stay hidden or neglected.

During the Covid pandemic in many High-Income Countries, injuries, disabilities, and all-cause mortality started to rise above expectations. In 2020, the gender gap in mortality widened due to an observed increased mortality in men. While in 2021 male health seemed to bounce back to earlier trends, mortality and disabilities in women continue to rise above earlier trends and are not expected to solve themselves soon. This might cause a fundamental and permanent change in the dynamics of the gender mortality gap.

Recent decisions on austerity measures for budgets on female health and welfare will exacerbate this hidden disaster. Instead, Public Health Experts and CEOs of insurance companies need to take their moral responsibility and turn to smart investments in female health, addressing all gender disparities, to reverse a downward spiral in global population health.

A Sudden Rise in Excess Mortality and Disabilities

In September 2024, Swiss Re published in their annual report, “Many countries worldwide still report elevated death in their population today.” This impact appears independent of healthcare system or population health. In the pessimistic model, Swiss Re would expect excess deaths to continue for another decade. There is also likely a degree of excess mortality underreporting.

CFOs from other life insurance companies confirmed that experienced mortality rates are broadly in line with this report. A skyrocketing increase in disability claimants since 2020 is another puzzling factor why CEOs of insurance companies are facing major problems with their financial model. The growth in demand is much lower, and the number of people making claims is much higher than expected. Declining revenues may soon hit the corporate bottom line.

For the first time in 80 years, the stocks from insurer Centene Medicaid plummeted in July 2025 by 41% after the insurer had to withdraw its full financial guidance because previous estimates were way off.

The analysis from insurance companies is comparable with earlier reports from Phinance Technologies , which analyzed publicly available data from the US and UK using various methods. Other independent analysts observed similar trends.

In recent years, hundreds of peer – reviewed articles discuss excess mortality and adverse events of special interest in various countries of pandemic measurements and after Covid-19 vaccinations.

Boston University just published the all-cause mortality in the US as compared to other High-Income Countries and showed that excess death rates peaked in 2021 and declined in 2022 and 2023 but remained substantially higher than pre-pandemic rates, especially in the age group 25-44 years. Mortality among US adults aged 25-44 years was 2.6 times higher as compared to other High-Income Countries.

A recent opinion from Kakeya et al. describes a significant increase in excess deaths after repeated Covid-19 vaccinations. Japan is the country with the highest per capita rate of messenger ribonucleic acid mRNA vaccination doses in the world.

A systematic review on Covid-19 mechanisms of injury and death compiled with autopsy confirmation by a physician application suggests there is a likelihood of a causal link between Covid-19 vaccines and deaths.

While there are studies that conclude there is no significant increase in stillbirths when women were vaccinated with the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine during pregnancy, a study based on VAERS data shows a significant increase. Another, not yet peer-reviewed, study indicates that Covid-19 vaccination with dose 1 during weeks 8-13 of pregnancy was associated with 3.9 fetal losses above expected for every 100 exposed pregnancies.

A study in the Czech Republic on live births of vaccinated versus non-vaccinated women demonstrated a substantially lower successful conception rate among vaccinated women than for those who were not vaccinated. The fertility rate in the Czech Republic dropped from 1.85 births per 1,000 women in 2021 to 1.62 in 2022 and 1.45 in 2023. Births in the EU fell to 1.38 births per woman. Also the US reported a historically low birth rate in 2023. Many Western countries are facing a similar problem with dropping fertility rates as the health of young women declined during the pandemic and post-pandemic economic instability.

Furthermore, maternal mortality rates accelerated at an alarming rate, especially from 2019-2022 in the US and UK, mainly caused by cardiovascular problems. The sharp spike in maternal death could not be explained by older age. Pregnancy-related maternal deaths are getting worse. In the UK, suicide remains the leading cause of direct maternal death in the first postnatal year.

Pandemic measures resulted in a collapse of women’s health and income, especially for those with the lowest wages working in healthcare, social services, education, and retail. During this period, the number of female healthcare worker suicides and fatal overdoses increased . ‘When the health of those who look out for people’s health is at risk the whole population and economy are at risk.’

Furthermore, it is well known that women respond more strongly and may experience a higher risk for complications after vaccinations. An age and sex associated difference in immune cell population might explain this. Observations from vaccination trials in Guinea-Bissau suggest increased female-male mortality ratio associated with inactivated polio and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine. There is precedent for the observation that infant girls experience increased mortality following receipt of vaccines. People in healthcare (80% women) have been recommended and sometimes mandated a yearly flu vaccine and several boosters with Covid vaccine. While not tested, a flu vaccine and Covid vaccine were mostly given at the same moment.

A recent British study among 1,745 healthcare workers showed booster vaccinations did not contribute to the protection of the healthcare workforce in a post-pandemic setting. The Covid-19 vaccination may even temporarily increase the likelihood of symptomatic infection and workday loss.

A study of a large cohort of 3805 healthcare workers in Sweden confirmed that adverse reactions after Covid 19 vaccination can lead to a substantial amount of missed work shifts that can cause organizational disturbances in staffing. Risks were found to differ by vaccine type and regimen used, age, and sex, with young female healthcare workers experiencing more adverse reactions. The recently published British and Swedish studies are in line with a few earlier studies.

Recommending a combined use of four vaccines that prior to use had not been tested together during pregnancy when the immune system is following a precious time clock for the survival of both mother and child has been a risky approach.

Clinical trials with the Covid mRNA vaccine during pregnancy have shown data with serious worries that should have been openly discussed with pregnant women. Moreover, long-term effects for both mother and child remain unknown.

After the Netherlands and the UK, the US only recently said that Covid-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy people under the age of 65 years and pregnant women. Whereas Covid-19 vaccines are still recommended for immunocompromised people, unfortunately they might be more at risk for experiencing Covid-19 infections after booster immunizations.

Although a causal relation remains difficult, the effects of repeated mRNA vaccination in combination or shortly before or after other vaccinations and/or using (psychiatric) medicine need to be elucidated. Sex differences in cost-effective harm analysis will help future decision -making.

Last week Robert F Kennedy, Jr stopped financing 500 million subsidiaries for the mRNA vaccine platform. Also the director of the NIH Dr Jay Bhattacharya wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post: “Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines.” As a vaccine for a broad public use mRNA technology has failed to earn public trust.

A Post-Pandemic Increase of Female Mortality

In nearly all populations, women live longer than men. The ubiquity of female survival advantage for all ages, even during famine or epidemics, when mortality is extraordinarily high is changing.

Unfortunately, there is limited information available on sex differences in excess mortality from major respiratory infectious diseases. A peer-reviewed study on the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy observed that gender differences in excess risk of death existed, but with a nuanced and non-consistent picture. The general finding of this study is that males up to 75 have been suffering more excess deaths as compared to females.

However, this picture is less clear-cut at older ages when more women are living in nursing homes which during the Covid pandemic showed the highest mortality rates. A study from the Netherlands on sex differences in Covid-19 mortalities skipped the data from healthcare workers and people living in nursing homes (mostly females) to confirm that male sex is a predisposing factor for severe Covid-19 independent of age and comorbidities.

Some other studies and a recent study (preprint) suggest Covid-19 did not produce lasting shifts in pre-pandemic sex differences in mortality in High-Income Countries and did not change the fundamental dynamic of the sex mortality gap. The authors observed that the male disadvantage in the Covid-19 mortality based on absolute death counts was concentrated in the pre-vaccine phase and declined over time. Relative increases in mortality were often similar between sexes, and in some cases, greater among women.

Another study on excess mortality of 561 regions and 21 countries in Europe indicate that in many European regions, where drops in life expectancy were more moderate, more pronounced life expectancy losses were found for women. The authors suggest that the degree of mortality deterioration is not necessarily linked to biological sex.

A cohort study of the overall impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mortality in France observed four consecutive years of excess mortality and a growing impact on people from 20-60s, particularly men.

Unfortunately, no peer-reviewed publications on sex differences and excess mortality cover the years 2024-2025. Yet, during the International Conference of Actuaries in 2025 Nationale Nederlanden, a Dutch insurance company, presented a continued rise in female excess mortality in the Dutch population from 2024-2025, while male excess mortality tended to decline. Furthermore, analysis showed a much higher degree of female excess mortality as compared to EU countries in general, while the Dutch male population experienced a better life expectancy as compared to EU countries.

Figure 1A Excess mortality 2024-2025 Female and Male the Netherlands

Figure 1B: Trend in excess mortality 2024-2025, female and male, in the Netherlands.

Figure 1C Trend in excess mortality 2024-2025, female/male Nl versus EU (14 countries).

(Source for all of the above images: Presentation 30 years of marketing Dutch Longevity Risk E. Tornij. actuary NN The Netherlands. Published with kind permission from E Tornij.)

The observation that Dutch females experience poorer health as compared to EU countries is in line with earlier findings. The new update on Eurostat based on data up to 2023 shows a comparable line of unfavorable healthy life years for Dutch women, being 7.8 years (57.5 versus 65.3 years) lower as compared to the mean of all EU countries. In contradiction, Dutch men 2.2 years (60.6 versus 62.8 years) experience far less difference in healthy life years as compared to the mean of all EU countries. The Netherlands is the only EU country where men experience above three years more in healthy life years as compared to women.

Also, England observed that female life expectancy dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic to the lowest among comparator countries (with the exception of the US). Working age mortality rate was 1.5% above the 2015-2019 average. In 2023 the mortality rate was 5.5% above the 2015-2019 average with most of the additional deaths being ‘deaths of despair’ (alcohol, drugs, and suicide). The observed rise in deaths is consistent with an increase in severe mental health problems. Severe mental health problems are more frequently experienced by women and those living in poverty.

A report from LSE International Inequalities Institute showed that austerity measures on healthcare and welfare from 2010-2019 in the UK decreased life expectancy for women nearly double as compared to men. Moreover, the drop in life expectancy developed progressively, indicating a lasting impact that possibly exacerbated during the pandemic and is still at play.

For other High-Income Countries sex difference analysis on excess mortality over the last year has not yet become publicly available. However, data on a continued rise in post-pandemic disabilities and injuries, a forecast for premature deaths, show a higher increase of female claimants for permanent disability awards as compared to the labor force.

The Post-Pandemic Rise in Disability Claims by Women

The article “The Truth Business Leaders Need to Face” published March 2024 documented a more pronounced rise in disabilities in women in various High-Income Countries. Unfortunately, until today the trend with a higher increase of females with disabilities continues in the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Here it is argued that the observed upward trend of a decline in female health in most age groups in the workforce continues today.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands is experiencing a 13% increase in people with disabilities in 2024 as compared to 2023. The number of employees awarded an income provision scheme for fully occupationally disabled (IVA) increased and more employees, especially females (> 60%), received an award after being partially disabled for at least two years, earning 65% or less of their former wage (WGA). Twice as many women as men are outside the labor force. Research has shown that once having been disabled, it is difficult to get back to the same level of job as previously. Furthermore, women experience more barriers to reentering the labor force.

Figure 2 The number of claimants for Working and Income according to the Labor Capacity Act in The Netherlands a. Claimants per year 2015-2024 and b. Claimants per age group. Source: Summary report UWV Centraal Beheer.

A stunning percentage of 75% of the sharp rise in claimants from 2023-2024 are females. The highest increases are in number of claimants for mental health problems (depression, anxiety, ADHD, and burnout) found in the younger age groups, 16-40 years, predominantly in healthcare and welfare, education, and public administration, with a 24% rise for females and 20% for males. Employees experiencing disabilities with physical problems are steadily declining in the years 2020-2024.

The number of healthcare workers that faced two years sick leave doubled from 2019 to 2024 among all age groups. Until June 2025 long-term illness did not decline.

An increase of people experiencing Long Covid might be another explanation for the rise in WIA claimants in 2024, mostly seen in the age group 50-60 years. The number of claimants increased from 1,500 (2023) to 4,200 (2024) with a sharp spike in the first quarter of 2024. The total number of people experiencing Long Covid symptoms officially registered are 33,429. of which 74.1% is female mostly in the working age group 35-65 years.

An IFS report on PIP analysis in the UK shows new claimants are now more likely to be female than were pre-pandemic. Across all age groups (9,000 additional claims per month amongst those 40-64 years and 7,000 additional claims per month for under 40s), there is a faster growth in new claims for women. The share of new claims made by women has grown from 55% in 2019-2020 to 58% in 2023-2024. For the 2023-2024 claims, there is a bigger share in mental health claims as compared to 2019-2020.

Figure 3 Growth and change in monthly PIP awards by age and gender, 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
Source: Health-related benefit claims post pandemic: UK trends and global context, Latimer E et al. 19 September 2024.

Sickness absence days per worker were 37 percent higher in 2022 than in 2019, which was evidence to support the argument that population health has worsened. The highest sickness rates were observed at the NHS.

Figure 4: Percentage of 16-64 year-olds claiming disability benefits, by main condition, England and Wales

Mental health has worsened since the pandemic. This is consistent with using disability benefit claims for mental health.

During the pandemic, the use of anti-depressants rose by 12% with 8.7 million people in the UK now using them.

Even pre-pandemic studies reveal that antidepressants are the most common medication for women and prevalence of antidepressant use has increased with age. The evidence is there that women who made claims for common medications had a lower socio-economic status.

Stark geographical differences in the prevalence of health-related benefit claims with richer and healthier areas having lower claim rates have been observed repeatedly. People on disability benefits are more likely to be in poverty and material deprivation than working-age individuals in general. An earlier literature review that appeared in 2017 concluded that the impact of austerity measures of policies in the UK was associated with worsening mental health and resulted in increased risk of suicide. From 2012-2019 women’s mortality rates had worsened to a greater degree than men’s mortality rates in the 20% most deprived areas in England, Scotland, and Wales.

In the US Civilian labor force, a continuous rise in females with disabilities from 2021 onwards is observed.

Figure 5: Civilian Labor Force with a disability 16-64 years.

Why the number of claims suddenly started to balloon in 2021 has puzzled many health and policy experts.

According to a study from the US Labor Statistics in 2023, more female workers with disabilities have joined the labor force from late 2021 onwards, which is explained to be a positive effect of the wider adoption of remote work. However, there might be other factors at play with an increasing number of women with mental problems and Long Covid.

Figure 6: Workers with a disability in the labor-force in the US 2009-2023.

Most of the disabled workers are employed part-time and in many cases are not covered by workplace insurance programs, but do incur higher healthcare bills. The risk to file for a full-time disability benefit is higher for this group.

In many High Income Countries, a relatively high number of people experiencing Long Covid symptoms are unable to work or only for a limited time per week. In the US it is estimated at 15 million people and in the UK 1.9 million. Symptoms (fatigue, difficulty concentration, muscle ache, shortness of breath) that are classified for Long Covid and ME/CFS may also be experienced by people with chronic symptoms/injuries after vaccinations.

Researchers from Yale University recently published their first observations on Post Vaccination Syndrome, a cluster of chronic symptoms that developed soon after Covid-19 vaccination. In the Netherlands the official registered number of people with PVS is 1,234 with 61.9% female, mostly 30-65 years. Real numbers might be much higher.

Different organs may be involved, especially the gut in which 70% of the immune system are located. Currently, there are many publications on chronic mental and physical diseases and cancer that might be related to a dramatic degradation of the human immune system.

A Rapid Decline of the Female Immune System

In the EU, UK, and US leading causes of death are cardiovascular diseases and cancer. During the pandemic both diseases increased in young adults. Whereas a rise in cardiovascular disease is predominantly found in men, the rise in cancer is affecting women most. This seems to be a similar story across the Western world.

In 2024 in the Netherlands, young women 18-39 years were 1.5 times more frequently diagnosed with cancer (breast cancer and cervical cancer) than prostate cancer in young men. Among the EU, the Netherlands ranks number 3 for women diagnosed with cancer.

In the UK female cancer rates are set to rise six times faster than in men over the next two decades, and trends are alarming. The title of the annual American Cancer Society Report does not calm the moods either. Cancer mortality continues to drop despite rising incidence in women; rates of new diagnoses under 65 are higher in women than men, especially for those younger than 50 years of age. The progress is jeopardized by increasing incidence for many cancer types, especially among women and younger adults, shifting the burden of disease.

In general, the 5-year relative survival rate has improved in the last 40 years. The only exceptions are uterine (endometrial) cancer and cervical cancer, whose survival rates have declined. The ACS report covers data until 2021. Trend analysis that shows young cancers are up 44%, and that new cancer patients/diagnostics are up 46% may alarm more people. Analysis by Phinance technologies on death trends for neoplasms in the UK and US indicates that from 2021 a novel phenomenon leading to increased neoplasm deaths appears to be present in individuals aged 15-44 years.

By 2035 cancer is predicted to become a leading cause of death in the EU. The WHO warns cancer cases will jump 77% by 2050.

Although viewed as distinct diagnoses, cancer and cardiovascular diseases are associated with shared risk factors and common pathophysiological pathways. A new study published in Nature suggests that sleeping cancer cells can be roused by Covid and Flu virus. With reflection to another recent peer-reviewed article published in Nature that Covid-19 mRNA booster vaccinations increase flu-like symptoms in healthcare workers, there is a serious warning.

A study on global data consistently observed Flu vaccines and Covid-19 mRNA vaccines among five drugs with myocarditis or pericarditis. Other factors such as declined access to healthcare, changes in nutrition and lifestyle behavior during the pandemic, and post-pandemic economic instability may play a role as well.

A dysregulated immune system and gut dysbiosis might be involved in many other diseases as well.

Post-2020, increased infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, turbo-cancer and unusual metastasis of colon, liver, and pancreas, muscular diseases, eye problems, neurological disorders, autoimmune disorders (80% female), acute kidney injury, Long Covid (73% female), mental health problems (> 60% female), and increased memory problems among people in their 30s and 40s are observed.

The increasing number of females living with at least one chronic condition even at a young age needs to reverse. A key indicator of chronic disease burden is the role in driving mortality and long-term care needs with a high fiscal impact.

In the Netherlands the yearly costs on disabilities have reached €28.7 billion/year. It is expected to stabilize in the next few years. However, the UK disability bill is expected to exceed £100 billion by 2029-2030.

The estimated value of health loss during Covid-19 for the US is about 48% of US GDP ($8.5 trillion). Health loss during the pandemic included premature death, long-term health impairment, and mental health impairment. Mortality cost of the pandemic has been estimated to be about 33% of the global income.

A Global Public Health Policy Towards Better Female Health

The continued rise in female excess mortality and disabilities can’t be neglected.

For decennia, Public Health Experts, policy makers, and CEOs of insurance companies have been aware of the benefits of prevention, but have rather invested in medicalization and budgeted for low healthcare and welfare worker salaries, which has hit female health in overstressed sectors the most. With declining revenue and being obliged to deliver the healthcare and quality of care insured people need and pay for, insurance companies have no escape.

Instead of austerity measures, the moral thing to do is investments for better female health that will boost a population’s health and secure economic stability that is needed most.

To start and secure an upward trend a public health policy for better female health:

Boost health, prevent and reverse disease through personalised nutrition and lifestyle using the best of ancient knowledge and modern medicine to restore the immune system.
Addressing overmedicalization and overdiagnosis of women, especially during pregnancies and pre-pregnancies.
Approved medicine without placebo-controlled trials in women will receive a box safety warning for women and is discussed by medical doctors in shared decision-making and prescription (informed consent).
Not safe and effective for women is taken seriously. Side effects of vaccines or medicine reported by women are noticed in safety systems and act upon for withdrawal of medicine from the market when proven to be a risk, not safe and effective for women.
Gender equal payments and a living salary for women in the lowest paid jobs to allow a decent independent living able to buy healthy nutrition and pay for sufficient energy and clean water supply.
Zero tolerance for mental and physical abuse of women at the workplace and in society.

Improving healthy aging is a fundamental objective of human activity and leads to lower public health expenditures. This will increase the possibility that people continue to work later into life. Many countries are facing a demographic cliff with declining birth rates. A global public health strategy to better female health is a strategy for economic stability.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

The (Lack of) Health in Young Women

carlapeeters@goodcarefeelsbetter.com (Carla Peeters) — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 21:37:06 GMT

Many countries now face a growing problem with an aging population and declining childbirths. Too many infants still die unnecessarily before the age of five years. Countries increasingly struggle to keep their economies stable. While Public Health experts communicate to focus on healthier future generations, declining health in young females is ignored. The healthiest generation with a flourishing economy is achieved by a holistic strategy addressing Young Women’s Health as a Public Health priority.

The Healthiest Generation of the World in 2040

A Federation of Organizations involved in Public Health in the Netherlands has the ambition to reach the healthiest generation of the world in 2040 . Health is aimed at all levels; mental, social, and physical. To achieve this goal, the Netherlands needs the healthiest young females of the world.

In contrast, data analysis from the Netherlands shows the opposite; the health of young women is declining fast. In other Western countries, it won’t be much better. The health of young women has worsened worldwide; it is time to face reality. Women’s bodily functioning and metabolism differ from men and need specific female-adapted health support. While many health problems in a population could be prevented when young females are supported for optimal health prior to pregnancy, this is not a priority of Public Health Agencies.

Good health for the next generation starts with a strong and resilient immune system before pregnancy and during the first 1,000 days around pregnancy, birth, and postpartum breastfeeding. Childbirth and children’s health are declining; the number of women dying during pregnancy (within 42 days after labor) is increasing, as well as the number of abortions. Without change, these conflicting trends may develop into a disaster touching all levels of society. The Public Health Future Outlook of the Netherlands predicts that close to 12 million people will have a chronic condition by 2050.

Young Women’s Health Is Declining

Around half of the young people aged 6-25 years in the Netherlands experience mental health problems. Moreover, 47% of the people aged 15-44 years are diagnosed with at least one chronic disease, with young women more often diagnosed than men. When diagnosed with a chronic disease, people work less, experience more sick leaves, and are less productive. Unfortunately, not being able to work contributes to poorer health and income.

An even larger percentage of young people (79%) still suffer from a negative impact of the pandemic, with women and lower-educated individuals hit hardest and experiencing mental problems like emotional exhaustion, stress, and hyperactivity. A recent study published in PNAS showed a faster aging of the brains of young females as compared to young males, which might be related to chronic stress exposure.

Students experience more stress than before due to worries about inflation and the high costs of living. Within the EU, the Netherlands has grown into the most expensive country to live in. Unfortunately, there is much more that is troubling the health of young females.

Increased Drug Use and a Dangerous Beauty Myth

During the pandemic, the use of antidepressants increased by 16% for those aged 16-24 years and for children. Women are prescribed antidepressants earlier and take them twice as much as men. While the positive effects of SSRI have been criticized repeatedly and women report more side effects than men, these medicines are still frequently prescribed by medical doctors.

One in four young people in the Netherlands use Ritalin or Concerta ( methylphenidate ) without a medical prescription to improve concentration and study results. Most people are unaware of the potential risks, like sudden death, that are well-known as a potential side effect. Research has shown that 5.5-22.5% of the young have used ADHD medication without a doctor’s prescription.

Furthermore, in mid-2023, a worrisome increase in NSAID like paracetamol (Tylenol or Acetaminophen) and ibuprofen use was observed, especially in young girls, increasing the risk for poisoning. The use of antibiotics like amoxicillin increased for children 0-10 years (55%) and for those aged 11-20 years with 50%. As 2023 was the first year after the pandemic with all festivals open to the public, an increased use of party drugs (like ecstasy ) among those aged 16-35 years was noticed with regularly registered symptoms of poisoning.

The online and interconnected world exposes the risk of cyberbullying among young people. Ironically, many are feeling lonelier than ever before and are struggling with their weight and self-confidence, setting them up for poor health as adults.

The beauty myth is another danger. During the years 2019-2022, the use of fillers increased by 80%, and the use of Botox doubled among young women. Exposure to microplastics, nanoplastics, and nanoparticles has increased. Furthermore, the concentration of PFAS/PFOA in Dutch drinking water is found to be above the norm and may decrease the fertility of both women and men.

On the other hand, the use of oral hormonal contraceptives by young girls diminished in the Netherlands, with only a slight increase in the use of an intrauterine hormonal device. Recent studies showed that there is an increased risk, although small, of myocardial infarction or stroke when using hormonal contraceptives. The use of an intrauterine device with levonorgestrel did not show the risk. Given the extensive and ongoing reliance of millions of young women on these drugs, ensuring their safety remains a critical responsibility of the medical community. As well as medical doctors informing young women of potential harm based on the latest scientific literature by informed consent.

Over the past 4 years, girls and young women have been exposed to repeated HPV vaccinations and Covid-19 mRNA vaccines within a short period of time, for both of which side effects in women have been reported to be more frequent and severe. Possible interactions and/or interference with these vaccines and long-term effects on the immune system and microbiome have not been investigated beforehand. Neither was knowledge available when it started in 2021 on the possible risks and short- and long-term effects when four vaccines before 22 weeks of pregnancy were introduced.

Nutritious Food Not Affordable for Many

The importance of daily consumption, as recommended by the WHO, of 400 grams of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, milk products, and eggs for a healthy life and joyful social and working life is unknown by many young people. For most of them, it has become unaffordable . (Ultra)processed foods are the cheapest satisfying foods with a well-designed composition of low-cost ingredients, sugar, fat, and salt that change the microbiome.

Home, school, commercials, social media, influencers, mobile phones, and retail environments are driving obesity and being overweight in children and adolescents, often concurrent with undernutrition and anemia.

A growing body of evidence shows that the billions of microorganisms present in our body are intimately involved in weight gain and loss and immune training and modulation, as well as overall host homeostasis. Around 33% of the population in the Netherlands does not consume fruit and vegetables daily. As of 2024, 7.1% of Dutch children live in poverty, and this number is still growing . More children might be undernourished, which is associated with impaired growth, neurodevelopment, and increased infectious morbidity and mortality.

To reverse the problem of malnutrition, the delivery of free meals has recently started at primary schools. Unfortunately, this does not make a difference for the children at secondary schools. While sending funding to developing countries to prevent malnutrition, a similar problem appears in front of our eyes in the Netherlands.

The young generation predominantly eats more plant-based foods, as it would improve climate change. Almost 30% of young women prefer to shop for vegetarian food, and 0.7% of the Dutch population is vegan. In addition, the EU introduced novel food products such as insects and worms, lab-grown meat, and Bovaer for cows to reduce methane production, which might affect the human immune system.

Almost one in five adolescents vape. Long-term effects are yet unknown. In the Netherlands, vapes with synthetic liquids that taste like cola, vanilla, apricot, etc., have now been forbidden . Although smoking is declining in adults, young women more frequently smoke than boys but drink less alcohol.

All internal and external environmental factors may contribute to weakening or strengthening the resilience of the immune system and may therefore influence the period of pregnancy, labor, nursing, and the health of mother and child for future generations.

Pregnancy Is Regulated by a Unique Complexity of the Immune System

Pregnancy is a unique immunological state. The changes of the immune system in the three stages of pregnancy (very early, mid, and late stage) are meticulously timed. In the very early stage, the immune system adjusts to prevent her body from rejecting the fetus while at the same time still being strong enough to keep out foreign pathogens. In the late stage, the body is preparing for labor, which is driven by an inflammatory response. A full-term pregnancy will follow an immunological clock . Changes in this immune profile could help to predict and possibly prevent preterm labor.

Studies show that pathologically-driven inflammation might trigger pre-term birth (before 37 weeks). In the Netherlands, 14.8% of the children born are preterm with 9.7% low birth weight for the duration of the pregnancy (Big2). Interestingly, in the case of a preterm child labor, the inflammatory reaction is more heated as compared to a full-term child labor.

Preterm birth is an important indicator of a risk for early death, chronic and infectious diseases, sepsis, stunting, and delayed neurological and brain development. This may manifest throughout one’s lifespan. Very early birth and extreme early birth occur in only 1.5% of the Dutch baby population and are responsible for 50% of the deaths of newborn babies. The number of abortions jumped in two years in 2023 to 39,000, with most by women aged 25-34 years of age. Abortion in the Netherlands is allowed until 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The number of childbirths has declined dramatically to 167,504 in 2022. That is 1.49 children per woman, with a mean age of 30.3 years. The number of women breast-feeding is also decreasing. At 6 months, women feeding breast milk lowered from 60% to hardly 30% of the young mothers.

Each year, around 661 babies in the Netherlands die. Mothers dying within 42 days after labor are around 11 persons a year with an additional 5 women dying by suicide each year, and not counting women who died from cancer. Over the past years, mothers’ deaths have been increasing worldwide, with the leading cause being heart diseases and blood clots.

Pregnant women with stress , depression , or anxiety , as well as obese women with gut inflammation and chronic disease, have altered immune systems and, as a consequence of malnutrition, have an altered microbiome. A weakened immune system suggests an increased risk for preeclampsia, high blood pressure, HELLP syndrome, gestational diabetes, preterm labor, and/or low birth weight.

‘Gut Feeling’ a Turmoil for Healthy Future Generations

The gut presents 70-80% of the immune cells in the human body. In the mucosal layer of the intestine, neuronal cells, endocrine cells, and immune cells cooperate to manage its metabolism and bodily functioning. Recent studies in mice showed villi of the mucosal layer expanding twice its volume during pregnancy and breastfeeding, slowing food passage, improving digestion for an optimal use of available nutrition.

The intestinal mucosal layer is strongly connected to various stages of pregnancy with altered gut microbiota, metabolites, and cytokines. These bioactive metabolites modulate and change the ‘innate’ and ‘adaptive’ immune system. Together, the microbial composition and the mucosal layer of the intestine determine long-term health. Mothers’ intestines influence the biodiversity of the microbiome and the resilience of the immune system, which is transmitted to the baby during pregnancy, labor, and nursing. Earlier periods in life facing hunger, extreme stress, or severe diseases may influence health during pregnancy and may transmit to the baby throughout one’s lifespan and even with intergenerational effects.

Specific nutrients may have positive effects during pregnancy, labor, and nursing. Sufficient vitamin D , present in sunlight, nutrition (fish, milk products), or supplements, is a prerequisite during this precious time in life for both mother and child.

For young women who wish to become pregnant, it is important to learn how to balance the immune system and the microbiome. The immune system of young women could be the most important regulator of the healthiest generations and a population’s workability and income.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

The Alarming Increase in Female Healthcare Worker Suicide

carlapeeters@goodcarefeelsbetter.com (Carla Peeters) — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 21:30:56 GMT

The increasing number of suicides and fatal overdoses of women healthcare workers has accompanied rising sickness, disability, and women leaving the sector. The total social and economic costs of a workforce in despair are yet unknown. A shortfall of 10 million healthcare workforce (of whom 80-90% is female) is projected by the WHO for 2030 and is of critical concern.

When the health of those who look out for people’s health is at risk, the whole population and economy are at risk. This is an emergency of unprecedented scale that needs attention at the highest Public Health level. Humanity and nutrition instead of medicalization as a coping strategy urgently needs to return in the healthcare sector.

Alarming Warnings by Healthcare Workers in Despair

Recent studies noticed death by suicide and the risk for fatal drug overdose among women in healthcare is much higher as compared with the general population (1-10). It is not only female physicians, but the risk is even higher for nurses and other healthcare workers, especially for those with the lowest-paid jobs and heaviest mental and physical workload who have been most stretched to the limits (7). Worldwide over the last several years thousands of healthcare workers have died by suicide or fatal overdose leaving family, friends, and the workplace in shock and grief.

Suicide and self-harm have substantial social and economic costs (12). One death by suicide was calculated in the UK to cost the economy an average of 1.46 million pounds (13). In 2022 more than 360 nurses attempted suicide, and 72 medical professionals took their own lives in 2020 in the UK as data from the Office of National Statistics indicate. Analysis of mortality data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2018 identified 2,374 suicides among nurses, 857 among doctors, and 156,141 in the general population. However, the number of death by suicide or fatal overdose is grossly underreported. The WHO reports that over 50% of suicides happen under the age of 50 years (14). To address this avoidable burden, a better understanding of effective and non-effective strategies is paramount.

Even before the Covid pandemic started women in healthcare reported substantial workplace stressors (9-11, 15-16). The past four years have put additional strain on women’s health. This is especially true for those women working as front-liners and first responders in highly demanding stressful situations. Increased complexity of care, understaffing, long working hours, additional bureaucratic tasks, moral injury, diminished autonomy, lack of decision-making ability, and low-paid jobs take a burden on their health.

Moreover, women routinely face tougher challenges at work and at home such as institutionalized barriers to career advancement as well as additional pressure for domestic labor by frequently being a caregiver for children and/or parents (9). In all parts of the world healthcare workers are at high risk for violence with 8-38% suffering some sort of violence form in their careers. In 2023 for the first time in history, 75,000 healthcare workers in the US went on strike (17).

Women are more frequently diagnosed with burnout, major depression, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, ME/CFS, and Long Covid. Long Covid is more prevalent in healthcare workers (11,18-20). These diagnoses of chronic illnesses have many symptoms in common that are known to exacerbate the risk for suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, and suicidal completion beyond occupation and established risk factors such as socioeconomic status and education (7-8,20-24).

An Epidemic of Emotional Trauma and Distress

Healthcare workers are trying to hide their symptoms by pushing themselves to work despite extreme pain, fatigue, memory inconsistency, exhaustion, and grief of not being able to deliver the quality of care patients need. Being overstressed and with long-term understaffing, healthcare workers hardly take time to eat a nutritious meal.

Many have become undernourished, and sleep-deprived. Potential disparities in help-seeking and healthcare access might manifest in non-medical use of prescription drugs among some healthcare workers, which has implications for workers’ safety and well-being (25). Many of the medicines used by healthcare workers might be unprescribed and unnoticed (1-8, 23).

Toxic Cocktails: A Danger for Women’s Health

Suicides among the healthcare workforce often take place at work. The most frequently used method of suicide is overdose or poisoning (1-8). New studies suggest that most overdoses are caused by psychiatric drugs and multiple medications in their system. Co-administration of antidepressants and opioids deliberate or unplanned is common. Women are more likely to be prescribed and take medication like antidepressants and birth control pills and seem to be more sensitive and experience drug side effects than men. Pharmacokinetic interactions may increase the concentrations and severity of side effects of antidepressants (27-28).

Studies demonstrate potential side effects of psychiatric drugs and opioids as insomnia, burnout, fatigue, anxiety, pain, and suicidal thoughts (21-25). The risk of opioid-involved overdose death was nearly twice as high experienced by healthcare support workers such as nursing home workers and home health aides as compared to other healthcare workers in the sector (7).

The interaction and side effects of the use of multiple medicines and concentrations are mostly unknown. This is especially true for women as most drugs have been poorly studied in women. Some medicine might even have more disastrous side effects than any benefit as seems to be the case for psychotropic medicine (26). Moreover, interactions of psychotropic drugs with immunosuppressive capabilities and Covid-19 mRNA vaccines have been reported (17).

Furthermore, pandemic measures that have been mandated for healthcare workers including long-term wearing of medical facemasks (with potential inhalation of toxins) and repeated Covid-19 vaccinations with women reporting more side effects than men (30-31) might have exacerbated potential risks. Recent publications repeatedly reported a global burden of absenteeism related to Covid-19 vaccine side effects which could negatively impact the strained healthcare system and jeopardize patient care (32-33).

Medicalization as a Coping Strategy

During the pandemic, prescription of antidepressants and use of other over-the-counter medication like acetaminophen (paracetamol) which is often advised to temper vaccine side effects, has grown substantially. Although harmless in low doses, acetaminophen has direct hepatotoxic effects when taken in overdose or a wrong combination and may cause acute liver failure. Accidental or unintentional overdose usually occurs in patients who have been fasting, or are critically ill with a concurrent illness, alcoholism, malnutrition, or have preexisting chronic liver disease (34).

Acetominophen (single or combination products) is one of the most used medications in the United States with 25 billion tablets sold in 2016. It is expected that treatment of trauma ailments and increase in chronic illness will fuel the market sales from $9.8 billion in 2022 to $15.2 billion in 2033. However, after a report showed 8,700 poisonings with high rates of hospitalization and liver injury in 2019-2020 with a sharp rise among females, the Australian medicine regulator is considering restrictions on who can buy paracetamol (35). In Sweden, the sale of acetaminophen in supermarkets was banned in 2015 after they experienced an overdose hike. Increased use of over-the-counter and controlled drugs may fuel a rise in acute liver failure.

Awareness of potential unintentional irreversible harm is highly needed among healthcare workers and the public, as many new drugs and vaccines have been introduced since the pandemic.

Drug Theft and Diversion

Job stress and occupational burnout have been associated with increased risk for opioid use disorder which in turn can increase risk for overdose. Those who prescribe or administer medication have ready access to opioids and other controlled prescription drugs. Drug theft and diversion of controlled drugs in hospitals and nursing homes appear to have accelerated worldwide, bringing healthcare workers and patients at risk (36-38). Taking prescription medicine at work, almost 100 healthcare workers have been fired in The Netherlands. Moreover, the problems with understaffing in the Dutch healthcare sector have introduced the use of falsified certificates with people from illegal drug networks entering healthcare organizations pushing the system to more errors and deficits (39).

Increasing stress at work and too many night shifts in a row have contributed to a 70% increase in medicine thefts. Almost 50% of calming and sleeping pills were not delivered to patients putting them at risk for suboptimal treatment or contaminations and errors (40). Drug use may gradually become an attractive and convenient coping mechanism. Although professionals often think knowledge of the medicine may control their use, dependence may slowly develop. Many impaired healthcare workers feel guilt and despair and suffer from physical and mental problems and may be indifferent to the risk of overdose (38)

A Return to Humanity in Healthcare

The problem of the rise in sudden (un)intended death of healthcare workers comes against the background of increasing long-term sick leaves, permanent disabilities, and hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers leaving the sector, choosing for less stressful and better-paid jobs.

This is an unprecedented sign by dedicated women for no longer willing to work in a toxic and overstressed environment with underpaid complex tasks for often severely ill patients. The healthcare system is facing increased clinical error rates and liability exposures while adversely impacting patient satisfaction and organizational reputation. This may develop into a catastrophe when Public Health Officials do not take responsibility for a highly needed change ensuring that the workforce has the tools and resources needed to turn the wheel.

Hard times may turn positive when CEOs and insurance companies start to embrace the idea that quality of care and reputation starts with a healthy, fair-paid workforce, gender equity, and a working environment choosing for humanity and good nutrition. A vital well-nourished empowered healthcare workforce that is occupied to guide people to health and work will be a win for all.

An emergency to protect children’s health

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 08:49:10 GMT

Children’s Health: By the Numbers

Last month, a young student at Eton College died at the age of 17 years while playing games at the College fields. Unfortunately, this sad event is not an isolated incident . During the same week, a different young football player collapsed in 3 separate world football games. As a stunned commentator said, “World football, unfortunately, has been subject to so many distressing scenes on the pitch over the last few years.”

Investigations are urgently needed if we are to cultivate healthy generations by 2040. Trends and observations for children (0-14 years) reviewed in this article confirm that the health of the young population is deteriorating. Unfortunately, until now the sharp decline in children’s immune systems is not capturing the attention of experts and public health authorities.

To rescue children’s health, this needs to be viewed as an emergency. Policies for any poorly investigated drugs or vaccines with serious risks for harmful side effects could be halted until safety and effectiveness are demonstrated through analysis by independent parties.

For a healthy, balanced, and economically flourishing country, the best return on investments will be from programs aiming to support women’s health during pregnancy and children’s health.

Increased Mortality in Children 0-14 Years

The latest numbers on trends in excess mortality on Eurostat , the UK , and the US for children in the age 0-14 years as analyzed by Phinance Technologies can no longer be neglected.

Phinance Technologies estimates excess mortality by computing deathrates relative to a given baseline, rather than by changes in deaths. This significantly improves the accuracy of changes in mortality. The method 2C, as used in figures presented in this article, estimates excess death rates by computing relative to a baseline that is the continuation of a previous trend in excess deaths. The analysis aims to significantly improve accuracy on excess mortality.

Several countries analyzed over the past four years have noticed increases in excess mortality for all ages. Among them are the Netherlands, the US, the UK, and Bulgaria. These are facing a remarkable increase in excess mortality in children 0-14 years in 2021-2023. On the other hand, far less or no excess mortality in children 0-14 years is observed in countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Belgium.

In January 2024 Eurostat Excess mortality statistics reported the highest rates of excess mortality in the Netherlands, followed by Denmark. Ten countries, among them Bulgaria, recorded no excess deaths. Excess mortalities in Eurostat figures are shown in percentage difference versus average monthly deaths 2016-2019 (method 1).

Results on Excess Mortality the Netherlands, the UK, and the US

Data analysis on excess mortalities analyzed by Phinance Technologies are presented in Figures (1-5).

Figure 1A Excess deaths for age group 0-14 the Netherlands (method 2C)

Figure 1B Excess deaths for age group 10-14 The Netherlands (method 2C)

The highest trend in more deaths than expected was found for the youngest age group 0-14 years (Figure 1A).

Figure 1B shows that the Netherlands is facing a public health problem, especially for the age group 10-14 years with a rise in excess deaths more than expected from 2020 onwards, up to a staggering 60% in 2023. In the age group 0-14 years, fewer deaths were observed in 2021 and 2022 than in 2020, but the year 2023 showed 15% more excess deaths than expected (Figure 1A).

Irrespective of the analysis method (1, 2A, or 2C), each used all computing methods of data for the group 10-14 years and showed a trend in more deaths than expected in the years starting in 2020 to 2023.

UK

Figure 2A : Excess deaths for age group 1-14 UK (method 2C)

Figure 2B : Excess deaths for age group 0 UK (method 2C)

In the UK , excess deaths are up a staggering 22% among 1-14 years old in 2023 (Figure 2A). In 2020, there were 9% fewer deaths. In 2021, there were 7% fewer deaths than expected. In 2022, there were 16% more deaths and in 2023, there were 22% more deaths than expected. Figures from the Office of National Statistics show about 10% more deaths than expected across all age groups.

The UK is the only country reporting an increase in more deaths than expected for newborn babies 0-1 years from 2021 onwards, with 24% more deaths than expected in the year 2023 (Figure 2B).

The highest increase in child death in 2021-2023 was observed in the most deprived quintile of the UK and among black, Asian, and other populations.

USA

Figure 3: Excess deaths for age group 0-24 USA (method 2C)

In the US, an increase in more deaths than expected is seen for the age 0-24 years in 2020-2023 (figure 3). As compared to other age groups in 2023, the highest number of more deaths than expected was found for the age group 0-24 years. Unfortunately, specific analysis 2020-2023 for the age 10-14 years is not available for the US.

The VAERS analysis update from 23-2-2024 showed children aged 6 months to 17 years had 192 reported deaths, 90,288 reported injuries, and 11,160 children not recovered from their injuries.

Analysis of VAERS data on all vaccine deaths from 1988-2021 demonstrated that Covid vaccine deaths in one year are equivalent to deaths from all other vaccines .

The recently forced release of hidden CDC data showed that among all age groups, hundreds of thousands of Americans sought medical assistance after a Covid-19 vaccination. The data showed 37,231 reported deaths, 214,906 reported hospitalizations, 1,630,913 adverse event reports. and 2.5 million people reported having to miss schoolwork or other normal activities.

A Mystery

Why some countries observe in children 0-14 years more excess deaths than expected while other countries see fewer deaths than expected is still a mystery.

In 2023, Western ‘rich’ countries with a qualified and expensive healthcare system (the Netherlands) observed more deaths than expected while others (Belgium) reported fewer deaths than expected in children aged 0-14 years (Figure 4).

Figure 4 : Cumulative weekly Excess Deaths for year 2023 Belgium (Method 2C)

Bulgaria observes more deaths than expected for children 0-14 years in 2021-2022-2023. The highest increase in more deaths than expected for all age groups was observed in 2021 (data not shown).

In the EU, Bulgaria is a country with the cheapest healthcare system and lowest life expectancy. In the elderly population, there is low Covid-19 vaccine coverage. However, in contrast to all other age groups, the country noticed more children dying than expected in the youngest age 0-14 years (Figure 5).

For children under 18 months of age, vaccinations are mandatory in Bulgaria. Severe Covid-19 infections in the age group 0-14 years are rare. The cause for more deaths than expected is unknown.

Figure 5 : Cumulative weekly Excess Deaths for year 2023 Bulgaria (Method 2C)

The difference among countries in more children dying than expected needs further exploration. From an ethical point of view, it is expected that all countries report all death cases to EU data platforms that are officially used for statistics on excess mortality and comparative analysis between countries. To improve future public health policies, it is highly important that accurate and reliable numbers and methods (estimating changes in mortality) are used for lessons to be learned.

Based on current data, there is a serious warning on the devastating degradation of the children’s immune system. The percentage of immunocompromised children in the worldwide population is rising. In countries with more children dying than expected, public health authorities have a responsibility to urgently investigate possible causes.

More Immunocompromised Children

The biggest public health threat is not a virus but a weakened immune system, as explained in an October 2021 publication. Unfortunately, this is experienced today.

No one can deny that young women and children have been hit hardest during the pandemic.

Over the past four years, women and children have been exposed to more stress, fear, loneliness and anxiety, increased use of medicine (antidepressants, psychotropic medicine, NSAID, antibiotics, immune suppressive, cancer medication), poverty, and vaccinations.

Pregnant women, children, and adolescents are more susceptible to intoxication.

Pregnancy

It is the first time in history that most Western countries recommended three vaccines for pregnant women: mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, DTaP (a combined Diphtheria Tetanus acellular Pertussis) vaccine, and a flu vaccine. In December 2021, the UK prioritized pregnant women for Covid-19 vaccinations or booster injections. A blog at GovUK says it is fine to have the vaccinations at any stage of the pregnancy. The vaccines meet strict safety and effectiveness checks. On March 27th 2024, the Health Advisory Board in the Netherlands decided that a Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women is no longer recommended .

Long-term effects are not known. Results from clinical trials with lipid nanoparticle and pseudouridine modified mRNA Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant women have long been hidden from the public. Just recently, investigations of the many pages of Pfizer documents released under court, analyzed by Dr. Naomi Wolf and her team, have shown the risks for the harm on the human body and the reproductive system. A research letter published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology suggests a transplacental transmission of the Covid-19 mRNA post-vaccination to fetus and baby. Two studies suggest that vaccination during the first trimester of pregnancy produces a greater rate of developmental problems as compared to vaccination during the third trimester. Moreover, mRNA vaccines could have negative effects, increasing the risk of unrelated infections.

Recently, safety concerns put a stop to a maternal RSV vaccine study . They observed 151 more preterm births and 10 more neonatal deaths in the vaccine group. The Health Council in the Netherlands just advised to protect all children against RSV through the national vaccination program. Vaccination of pregnant women is one way to protect the children.

DTaP vaccinations during pregnancy are stated to be safe and effective for the fetus and the mother, as these are not live attenuated vaccines. However, a study with an acellular pertussis vaccination in mice impaired the cellular immunity to Bordetella Pertussis infection in the offspring.

A more than 4,000% increase in miscarriage was found when in 2009-2010 both a pandemic (A-H1N1) and seasonal flu vaccine were administered during pregnancy. A systematic review on the safety of influenza vaccination during pregnancy concluded ‘evidence with very low certainty suggests that seasonal influenza vaccination during pregnancy is not associated with adverse birth outcomes or maternal non-obstetric Severe Adverse Events.’ The low potential benefits (10-60%) of the current flu vaccines have been confirmed in Why flu vaccines so often fail in Science : ‘ This immunization program has been predicated on assumptions on top of assumptions .’

Moreover, in the Netherlands 3 out of 4 pregnant women use medicine without knowing if the doses of drugs used during pregnancy need to be different. In April 2024, a platform was introduced for information on the use of medicine during pregnancy. Interactions by medicine and vaccinations on mother, fetus, and baby in the short and long term, as discussed in ‘The collapse of women and work,’ have not been widely studied. A negative interaction of medicine and Covid mRNA vaccines on the human gut microbiome has been found.

Children

An imbalance of the human gut microbiome (gut dysbiosis) is an optimal situation for opportunistic pathogenic bacteria to multiply and a risk to pass a maximum tolerated toxin level into the fetus and child. The damage can vary: infectious disease, invasive bacteremia to chronic diseases, cardiac vascular problems, cancer, early aging, or a sudden death.

Whether or not there has been a confounding of a correlation between the new Covid-19 vaccines and more deaths than expected in children 0-14 years is difficult to assess. Personalized data of the medical history of children would be beneficial to better understand what the ultimate causes of a fatal complication in immunocompromised conditions are.

A recent article from the CDC argues that there is no relation between the vaccine and sudden death in young people. However, a much larger Korean study found 19.8% of severe vaccine-related myocarditis in all vaccine-related myocarditis. The authors concluded that sudden cardiac death should be closely monitored as a potentially fatal complication of the Covid-19 vaccination.

A self-reported physician-diagnosed study in Saudi Arabia found cardiac complications one month to one year post-mRNA vaccination in 27% of individuals who participated. In a Japanese study , increased age-adjusted cancer mortality was observed after a third dose of mRNA lipid nanoparticle vaccine during the Covid-19 pandemic. A population-based study among Danish adolescents of 12-17 years showed that myopericarditis after a Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA Covid vaccination occurred more frequently as compared to US reports.

Unfortunately, in a study with 29 vaccinated children (5-11 years), markedly reduced immune responses were found to pathogenic bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus 28 days after the second doses with Pfizer.

There have been publications that support the recommendation that both children with an underlying medical condition and otherwise healthy children receive an mRNA Covid vaccine. However, there are also publications that conclude that the benefits of the Covid-19 vaccination program for children may not outweigh the risk.

Last week, a leading WHO vaccine expert testified in a lawsuit in Finland. She advised against Covid vaccine passports, as the vaccines did not stop transmission and gave a false sense of security and that this was known in June 2021.

Whereas children 0-14 years had proven long-term and robust natural immunity by early 2021 and it was known that serious infections with SARS-CoV-2 virus are very rare, in numerous countries children were indirectly forced to be vaccinated to participate at schools and sports, travel, or go out.

The introduction of the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine meant one, two, or three extra injections in young children on top of the normal childhood vaccination program. The number of children vaccinated per country varies. Studies on if, when, and how the new vaccines could best be introduced within this standard program were not available or poorly studied.

Moreover, a systematic review on observational childhood vaccination studies has found that the reception of DTP may be associated with an increase in all-cause mortality. Also, a peer-reviewed article on Guinea Bissau found that after the introduction of DTP, there was an increased overall mortality in all studies.

The article, ‘Vaccinology time to change the paradigm?’, an open and transparent reflection on the existing vaccine paradigm , noted that non-live vaccines enhance the susceptibility of girls to unrelated infections.

In the Netherlands and the UK , whooping cough pneumonia has increased far above levels in previous years, especially in the age group 5-14 years. In February-March 2024, 4 babies diagnosed with whooping cough died in the Netherlands. In previous years, this was one to two babies per year.

For children aged 0-4 years, acute otitis media, acute upper respiratory tract infections, jaundice, and gastro-intestinal problems have increased the past two years. Overall, in many countries sickness in children is increasing. It can be whooping cough, hepatitis , adenovirus , MISC, measles , Bird Flu , or disease X . Among the chronic diseases: anxiety, depression, chronic pain, cancer, and diabetes are expected to rise the most.

Unfortunately, as with Covid-19, the data presented on dashboards are mainly filled by data from inaccurate PCR tests . A recent case in court in Portugal decided that results of a PCR test without seeing a doctor are not sufficient for diagnosis.

People with immunocompromising conditions are more vulnerable to a complex infection and inflammation (chronic disease). Though overall patient survival has increased, pneumonia is the most common invasive infection in immunocompromised patients and continues to carry a high mortality and morbidity rate. Possible mechanisms for how opportunistic pathogenic bacteria take over in an impaired immune system is explained via the dramatic degradation of the human immune system.

Vaccinating Immunocompromised Children is Not Without Risk

Immunocompromised individuals may not mount as strong an immune response as healthy individuals. During the pandemic, multiple booster doses have been recommended for immunocompromised individuals and as a result may have become at higher risk for breakthrough infections where they contract Covid-19 despite booster vaccinations.

Recent research has shown that multiple doses of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines may result in higher levels of IgG4 antibodies or impaired activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. An impaired immune system becomes more vulnerable to infections and inflammation.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of reliable information inferred from long-term studies to evaluate the safety and efficacy of repeated booster doses in risk populations. Even for healthy individuals, repeated vaccinations with the lipid nanoparticle N1 methylpseudouridine mRNA may have resulted in an impaired immune system and a higher risk for cancer or infectious diseases.

Overall long-term effects of childhood vaccination programs in immunocompromised malnourished children have been poorly studied. Even in the absence of infection, malnutrition is generally a pro-inflammatory disease.

Since the introduction of the acellular Pertussis vaccine, it is well known that despite widespread vaccine coverage, the number of cases of pertussis reported in high income countries has increased , with a characteristic peak every 2-5 years.

It is worth reflecting on the statement that Pertussis is rising due to declining vaccine coverage . Impaired immune systems have been observed after the third through fifth injection with DTaP vaccine.

Moreover, many studies have shown that the acellular subunit Pertussis vaccine does not stop transmission. Vaccinated children or immunized healthy adults can carry high numbers of Bordetella Pertussis colonies. Still, experts and politicians are arguing for compulsory DTaP vaccination to prevent transmission. Vaccination ad campaigns to boost childhood immunizations are back.

Countries may use DTaP vaccines with different formulations, detoxification methods, and doses, and they may differ in schemes for the childhood immunization programs which may influence immunogenicity and side effects. For example, a detoxified Pertussis Toxin vaccine has been used for more than fifteen years by Denmark and Sweden in preventing whooping cough, resulting in low child mortality. Both countries were cautious early in the pandemic to vaccinate healthy children with Covid-19 mRNA vaccines and have low to no excess deaths in the young age group.

The sequence of injections of various vaccines or vaccines given on one day may have a different influence on healthy children as compared to children with a medical condition. Local and demographic factors may influence safety and efficacy patterns, as well as decision-making and nuanced understanding of how the interventions influence the body’s homeostasis.

A risk for an impaired immune system and a gut dysbiosis is the exacerbation of toxin producing opportunistic pathogenic bacteria like Bordetella Pertussis and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Especially babies are at the highest risk for serious disease and sudden death.

Several pathogenic viruses, including adenovirus, rhinovirus, and influenza have been detected in the airways of patients and infants with confirmed pertussis. Pertussis toxin may suppress the early innate host response needed to control virus infection. Intact and balanced gut microbiota inhibits the colonization of Bordetella Pertussis in the lungs.

There is much to be learned from a traditional way of life with fewer chemical therapeutic interventions. Amish children seem to be less vulnerable to infections and allergies.

Better strategies or therapeutics need to be developed to alleviate diseases in children.

Stop the Mania, Let the Children Play

Without a change in policy, a decline in skyrocketing sickness in the children 0-14 years and a turn to fewer deaths are not expected.

It is time for reflection for anyone following or spreading news outlets and advertisements , or else we will suffer another mania and era of politicised science driven by the same mistakes that already dramatically harmed us.

Japan has learned and has turned to saving children’s health, protecting bodily autonomy, and establishing a flourishing economy.

The strategy of forever adding chemical interventions is not without risks. It is not always known if a child is immunocompromised with the risk for a wrong intervention at the wrong time that could develop into a severe disease or become fatal. Nuances, dialogue, and shared decision-making may be a way to restore trust.

The choice for humanity is to support pregnant women and children with affordable, high-quality, traditional, and nutritious food and let children play.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

The Truth Business Leaders Need to Face

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 13:20:52 GMT

A silent disruption of population health and human potential is causing a decline in economic growth and increased poverty worldwide. The number of citizens losing trust in leaders from public-private partnerships that ruled and mandated public health and climate policies and are responsible for eroding human capital is rising.

Recovery via improved investments is urgently needed. Creating healthy generations and rebuilding a flourishing economy both require trusted independent business leaders from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who uphold finding truth and not doing harm as bedrock principles.

Human Capital is the Key Driver of Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction

Every business leader and politician knows that absence and poor mental health drain business.

The true problem business leaders need to face is the increase in unexpected deaths at all ages, a rise in frequent and long-term sick leave, and more people experiencing lifelong disabilities. Together, they lead to a considerable loss in productivity and high costs, a rise in bankruptcy of small and medium enterprises, and an increasing number of people in poverty.

Analysis of a Covid-19 Policy Score Card in the US shows a negative health effect for about 10% of the population and 30% of the civilian labor force. Business analysts are warning that this alarming negative trend is expected to continue over the next several years.

Moreover, those under 25 years of age, who will make up 90% of the prime-age workforce in 2050, experienced at critical moments in the lifecycle a derailing of developments by lockdowns and school closures. This amounted to a hidden but massive loss of unmet potential with a decline in lifetime earnings as high as $21 trillion globally.

The economic loss by the disastrous Covid-19 pandemic response and unneeded climate measures will exceed far beyond the $16 trillion virus . Soon, human capital will be the number one topic in risk management for business owners and investors for years to come.

Skyrocketing Sickness Hits the Heart of Business

Sickness hasn’t been this prevalent in decades. Independent investigators and insurance companies all point to similar observations, noticing a sharp decline in general health and well-being and an increase in sudden unexpected deaths of people in the workforce since 2021. According to Randstad 1.27 million employees miss work every day. The absenteeism rate rose to 6% in Q3 2023.

The growing number of people not able to work because of long-term illness is reflected in the economic data of many countries. Moreover, mental health problems among the youth have almost doubled.

Insurance companies in various EU countries, the UK, and the US have started to sound the alarm bell over the risk of recession and an increasing number of businesses that face bankruptcy due to high costs of human capital and poor performance.

Switzerland

Switzerland had a previous low sick leave rate of 2.4 days per year. This has changed. In the Swiss economy, absence from work due to mental illness has reached a record level and is 20% higher as compared to the previous year. Never have absences due to mental illness, burnout, post-traumatic stress syndrome, fatigue syndrome, or Long Covid syndrome been this high, with young people affected disproportionately. In the 18-24 age group, seven out of 10 people who are unable to work suffer from mental illness. This is four times higher than 25 years ago. These data reflect a structural trend.

A survey by AXA Insurance among SME found that almost two-thirds are confronted with absenteeism due to mental health issues. Workplace absenteeism weighs heavily on the activities of companies.

Extended employee absences can have detrimental consequences for the company’s operation. Among the most frequent repercussions are overtime and increased workload from the remaining staff (54%), costs related to recruiting additional personnel (38%), loss of production or failures in services (37%), and costs related to continuous salary payments.

Germany

Germany’s true economic disease, recession , includes rising sickness and declining productivity. In 2023 each employee had 19.4 days of sickness leave, almost equal to one month per employee and two times higher than in 2010. The highest increase was observed in 2022 and 2023. Filling open vacancies has become a headache for each business owner.

Source: tagesschau 20.00 uhr 26.01.2024

A recent study of the Kielerinstituts fur Weltwirtschaft observed that the increasing number of sick days cost the German economy between €27 billion and €42 billion per year. The number of sick days per employee increased from 8.5 days in 2020 to 11.3 in 2022 to 19.4 in 2023. The highest percentage of sick leaves is caused by respiratory diseases, followed by mental diseases (3.6 days/employee), and muscle disease and back pain (2.8 days/employee). In 2023 corona declined from 50% in 2022 to 34% of sick days.

According to AOK, absences due to mental illness have increased 48% since 2022, and this type of sick leave is associated with much longer periods of absence. In the study, a significant proportion in Germany complained that they were overburdened and stressed at work, with 78% complaining of exhaustion, anger, and annoyance, and 66% complaining of listlessness.

Remarkably, many young people between the ages of 18-29 years are more frequently sick than they used to be. One would expect this generation to be more resilient and with stronger immune systems. Some suggest they might stay home while still being fit enough to work. Unfortunately, a rise of mental health problems in Generation Z is seen in all countries evaluated in this article. Risk management should pay more attention to the unprecedented rise in mental problems in this age group.

UK

Although the UK has consistently been a strong performer internationally in terms of working-age participation, its post-pandemic rise in inactivity stands out. The UK is facing a recession due to unneeded pandemic and climate measures that eroded human capital. This is a hidden crisis that can no longer be ignored.

A recent report has found that workplace absences soared to the highest level in over a decade. It found stress to be a significant factor for both short- and long-term absence.

A staggering 2.6% of total working hours were lost in the UK last year, amounting to 18.6 million days off work and costing the UK economy £14 billion annually. UK employees are two whole days more absent than they were before the pandemic, with an average of 7.8 days per employee per year.

The number of people saying they are economically inactive due to long-term sickness is now 2.8 million (1.5 million women and 1.3 million men), an increase of more than 200,000 in the past year and 700,000 since the pandemic started in 2020. This is the number of working-age adults who are not at work or looking for jobs. Women are more likely to be in low-paid jobs and suffer the impact of austerity .

Analysis of trends in disabilities in Personal Independence Payments data by Phinance Technologies shows an upward trend for chronic and infectious diseases in most age groups.

Source: Ph inance Technologies

Moreover, the UK is facing significant problems in recruiting and retaining staff in the health and care sectors. Health reasons are increasingly a cause for staff to leave the NHS. The reported monthly sickness absence rate at NHS was 29% higher in 2022 than in 2019 (5.6% versus 4.3%). This equates to some 27 million days across 2022, which is on average 75,500 full-time equivalent staff, including 20,400 nurses and 2,900 doctors.

Reasons for NHS sickness absence are most prominently mental health problems. Mental health problems cost the UK economy £118 billion annually. This equals 5% of GDP.

Reasons fo r sickness absences, average number of sick days per month 2019 and 2018

Also in other UK public sector groups, the sudden rise in sickness absence started in 2021.

Changes to sickness absence rates across specified UK public sector groups (2015 baseline 28/6/23)

High absence levels and poor retention are both causes of and caused by increased pressure on services. The NHS risks getting stuck in a vicious cycle while 7.6 million people are on the waiting list for diagnosis and treatments. The NHS is putting patients at risk by letting 335 staff including doctors do their jobs from abroad.

Leaving people sick without diagnosis or with delayed diagnosis and treatments will result in higher healthcare expenditures and prevent employers and employees from engaging in other businesses, as they are stuck with high costs and are at risk for severe disease and even death.

Sickness absence rates are known to be related to season, infectious disease outbreaks, job satisfaction and employee engagement, workload over previous years, effort-reward imbalance, socioeconomic status, and gender. The latest report from the UK Health Security Agency shows that 70% of frontline healthcare workers refused the Covid-19 booster vaccine in 2023/2024.

In February 2024, hospitals experienced more pressure with three times more flu patients than last year. Primary care noticed a 9% increase in appointments in December 2023 as compared to pre-pandemic. Much of primary care is via e-health contact.

A continued weakness in productivity at work seen by most economists is the biggest long-term challenge to living standards in Britain. As shown in a recent study of health and well-being in Irish companies , workplaces are becoming more stressful with mental absenteeism rising.

Business is growing increasingly concerned about higher levels of inactivity and their economic impact on growth and inflation. Wages are rising because of skills shortages, which affect both employers and individuals. With more than 900,000 job vacancies and unemployment below 4%, the UK has a problem that won’t be solved without change.

The Netherlands

The Dutch insurance company Nationale Nederlanden calculated that in the year 2022, Dutch people were more frequently (1.5 times) and for more days sick (9 days/year) from work than ever before. From Q1 to Q4 2022, levels of sickness were increased compared to 2021 and 2020.

In 2022, the costs for the Dutch economy were €27 billion, €9 billion more than one year earlier. For the first time, the mean sickness percentage crossed 5%; in 2020, sickness percentage reached 4.7%, in 2021 4.9%, and in 2022 5.6%. Sickness percentage increased faster for women, being 1-2% higher as compared to men. Women were more frequently ill and for more days. The highest percentage of women at work is found in the Dutch healthcare sector, which is also the sector with the highest sickness rate. Analysis showed that low autonomy and high-stress level/pressure contribute significantly to absence, accounting for 2.9 million days of sick leave with mental health problems annually and costing €1 billion/year.

Recent investigations of the Dutch Trade Union Movement FNV reflected misbehavior at the Ministry of Healthcare and several other organizations in healthcare with employees feeling shut out, censored, and unsafe.

Percent age of illnesses 2020-2021-2022 men, women, and total

As in many other countries, mental health has worsened in the Netherlands at all ages from 2021 onwards, with the highest increase in ages 18-24 years and more for females than men. The number of young people who need to use invalidity benefits increased by 13% in 2021 and this trend is not going to reverse soon, as there is an expected increase of 30% per year for years to come.

In 2022 social security costs were €22.7 billion and are expected to rise to €1,8 billion in 2023. This is a skyrocketing increase as compared to 2022’s €93 million rise. The reason for this is still unclear.

Nearly half of the young people in the Netherlands are impacted negatively by the pandemic. The suicide rate of young people under the age of 30 in Amsterdam went up 40% in 2023.

Mental unhealthiness

Unfortunately, Dutch healthcare, as well as the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) which is responsible for the invalidity benefit system, is facing a shortage of well-qualified employees. This has resulted in increasing waiting lists, holding sick people in uncertainty and desperation. In the worst-case scenario, young people are pushed into lifetime invalidity benefits due to insufficient time for accurate medical assessments.

As observed in a recent report by the ESB , the Netherlands is facing an ongoing trend in low productivity, far lower as compared to Switzerland, Denmark, and Sweden. The economic analysis thus far neglects to refer to the declining health status of the population. There is a rising number of people in poverty expected to reach 5.7% of the population in 2024. The authors of the report relate the decline in productivity to a transfer of high-productivity jobs to low-wage and low-productivity jobs and to more people starting to work as freelancers who are less productive as compared to large corporations.

In January 2024, a 60% increase in bankruptcy of small and medium enterprises as compared to the same month in the previous year was observed. The rising trend in bankruptcy started in 2022. Almost 25% of the healthcare providers (who report continuous sickness absence > 8%) in long-term care (especially those for people with disabilities) expect negative financial results at the end of this year.

Will the Netherlands be the next country facing recession?

US

For the general US population aged 16-64, from 2/2021 to 1/2022 the absolute numbers of the increase in disabled individuals amounted to about 1.460 million. Of those, 1.366 million were in the civilian labor force, and only 9.4% were not in the labor force.

A declining trend in absence rate was observed from 2002-2019 for both men and women. Increases started in 2020 (3.6%) and in the consecutive year, 2021(8.6%), and the largest rise occurred in 2022 (28.6 %). This was higher than the 2019 rate and a 50% rise in lost work time rates. Again, absence rates are higher for women than for men.

Absence rates 25-64 years old deviations from 2002-2019 trend

Like in many other countries, mental health in the US is a rising problem. Over 21% of the adults in the US experience mental health problems. This is 50 million Americans. On average 6% of youth (12-17 years) with major depression do not receive mental health services, and 55% of adults aged 18 and older did not receive treatment. Healthcare workers are receiving confidential mental health treatments.

In the US in 2021 and 2022, for the civilian labor workforce of 148 million , there was a 23% excess mortality relative to the expected baseline. In absolute numbers, this represents about 310,000 deaths. An estimated 1.36 million individuals aged 16-64 who are actively engaged in labor became disabled.

Even before the pandemic, 100 million people in the US who had a good paying job when they got ill now live with disability debt. Over 47% of persons with disabilities in the EU cannot pay their bills. The Human Rights report “Right to Work’ reveals the persistent gap in access to quality employment for persons with disabilities.

According to Edward Dowd , founder of Phinance Technologies, who posted on X the US Covid Policy Scorecard Human Cost for the year 2020: 458,000 all-cause excess deaths and zero excess disabilities from the trend. For the years 2021-2023 there are approximately 1.1 million all-cause excess deaths and 3.5 million excess disabilities from trend (population 16-64 years) and 28 million injuries with lost work time.

Rise in Disabilities Related to More Deaths

For the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, excess deaths have been investigated by Phinance Technologies in the period 2020 to 2023 and others . Depending on the excess mortality methods used, the profile varies per age group.

Correlation analysis by Phinance Technologies showed quite a strong relation between the rise in disabilities and excess deaths for the US. An 84% rise in excess deaths was observed in the age group 25-44 years.

Dowd stated in an official roundtable in the US: ‘It is not possible to hide dead people.’ Dowd referred to One American CEO Scott Davidson, who revealed in a Chamber of Commerce meeting that he had seen 40% excess mortality for ages 25-64 years. More independent analysis in the US found an increase in sudden and unexpected deaths starting in 2021.

Governments in various countries have started to introduce new methodologies for modeling excess deaths. The ONS in the UK recently changed the methodology on excess death figures that modeled far fewer excess deaths in the past three years as compared to the previously used method. Even with these changes , there are still 11,000 excess deaths in 2023 and 43,500 in 2022 when Covid was only a minor player.

Moreover, the rising absence sickness, disabilities, and decline in productivity are another reflection on the decline in population health.

The increase is observed in all ages in the year 2021 when Covid-19 vaccines were rolled out, with the strongest signals in deaths and disabilities in the 15-44 age group with malignant neoplasm in the UK. The UK saw an unusual spike in middle age death (35-39, 40-44 years) in the first half year of 2023. According to a Bloomberg Intelligence Report , members of the public have been increasingly dying from heart failure, strokes, blood clots, and various forms of rapidly emerging cancers. If sustained, this could impact the pricing of all pension and life insurance companies.

Although a direct correlation has not been proven yet, in the past year more peer-reviewed studies have shown a risk for an increase in infectious diseases upon repeated injections with Covid-19 mRNA vaccines and an increased risk for adverse reactions .

A new peer-reviewed study that involved 99 million people over 8 countries identified potential links to conditions in the brain, the heart, and the immune system. Analysis of VAERS data on all vaccine deaths from 1988 to 2021 demonstrated that Covid vaccine deaths in 1 year are equivalent to deaths of 94 other vaccines in 33 years. More medical doctors started to question the safety and effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in public.

UK MPs say that medicine regulators failed to flag Covid vaccine serious side effects. They believe that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was aware of heart and clotting issues in February 2021 but did nothing to highlight problems for several months. In 2022 Dr Maryanne Demasi published an investigative report in the British Medical Journal called ‘From FDA to MHRA are drug regulators for hire?’ calling for an independent drug and vaccine safety board. Will there be an inquiry into Covid vaccine safety soon?

Lockdowns , long-term wearing of facemasks , continuous stress and anxiety , and Covid-19 vaccines may all have contributed to the degradation of the human immune system . An increased risk of opportunistic pathogenic bacteria taking over a precious balanced immune system results in a systemic invasive bacteremia that may cause chronic diseases, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and sudden deaths.

The possibility that mRNA Covid-19 vaccines impair the immune system needs careful consideration per person. This is also why (repeated) vaccination could never be mandated or injected without informed consent. Moreover, a recent peer-reviewed article indicated that bivalent vaccines demonstrated moderate (29%) to negative efficacy. The association of increased risk with more prior vaccine doses was unexpected.

Recently, the FDA and CDC have confirmed that the Covid-19 vaccines do not prevent transmission of infection, so any mandates need to be stopped immediately and should be prevented forever. Mandates are unlawful under the Human Rights Act as was declared by the Supreme Court of Australia. Also in New Zealand, the Court of Appeal made a significant ruling that upheld a previous High Court Judgement that the Defence Force’s workplace Covid-19 vaccination mandates are unlawful . Moreover, the South Australian Employment Tribunal has ruled that employers are responsible for compensating employees who acquire vaccine injuries from work directives.

A Broken Society

Increasing uncertainties and pressure during the past four years have fueled fear and anger from various corners of society all over the world. The many protests from farmers to young doctors , supported by a growing number of citizens, are expressing how people feel. Being unheard of for well-based comments on unfeasible policies written behind desks and pushed into society as the only truth, low prices, effort-reward imbalances, and rising costs of food and energy are the main motivations for people to stand up for autonomy and freedom.

The whole population from children to elderly people is experiencing a dramatic degradation of the human immune system that can no longer be ignored.

Moreover, due to an overstressed and collapsing healthcare system , patients in many countries are facing increasingly long waiting lists for highly needed care. Quality and safety of healthcare are declining with more risk for misdiagnosis and unnecessary harm, with women and minorities most at risk.

At the same time, more children show permanent absenteeism from schools. In the OECD interim February Outlook ‘Strengthening the Foundation for Growth,’ it is stated that the impact of lockdown on children’s education during the Covid pandemic may have set economic growth 40 years back. Also, the immune system is less developed than it used to be, resulting in more children facing serious infectious diseases . In just three years, child mental health cases soared by 50% .

For elderly people, the availability of nursing home rooms and home care is becoming a huge problem due to the high sickness and retention rates in this sector. At the same time, there are more aging people now than before. Moreover, doctors, patients, and caregivers are confronted with a shortage in medical supportive materials and medicine, resulting in more emotional and often physical stress.

Care and education assistance are becoming a problem for family and community members. Voluntary unpaid work, most frequently delivered by women , is another responsibility that fills the priority list of the working-age population. This leaves them at increased risk for burnout, mental health problems, or other chronic diseases.

Moreover, the pandemic, climate measures, and a cost of living crisis have increased austerity and have driven an alarming number of people to the brink of poverty, even for healthcare employees in low-wage jobs with small contracts. Worldwide, policies have driven 70 million more people to extreme poverty . Malnutrition, undernutrition, and cold are the main drivers of severe disease and death, with increasing pressure on the exhausted healthcare and social system. This is a downward spiral that urgently needs a U-turn to save human capital.

Bridging the Divide

Tomorrow’s businesses that will survive the upcoming catastrophe worldwide will be led by trusted business leaders who understand that profit is a result of investments in human capital.

While alarming signals have been there for more than two years, many business leaders are neglecting their ‘gut’ feelings and are choosing continuous improvisations instead of working on a long-term strategy. The focus is short-term: a contract over the Green Deal, mergers and acquisitions, technology-based innovations, and/or moving business to low-wage countries with less absence and less stringent climate rules. They hoped times would turn for the better as soon as the pandemic was over.

In the end, there will be no escape: tomorrow’s C-suite risk management will shift the framework of each business leader to investments in creating belonging and employee health and well-being as a priority.

An increasing number of people are seeking a transformation for a healthy future. They prefer to work for companies led by supportive, transparent leadership. They seek a culture that stimulates interdependency and autonomy, where people dare to come forward and influence decision-making.

Leaders who love to guide uncertainties and rebuild societies will succeed. These leaders strive for open and respectful communication and do not avoid a dialogue on the effects of pandemic measures, climate-neutral policies, and the cost-of-living crisis. They take responsibility for mitigating the use of toxic words, stimulating free speech, bridging the divide, and creating belonging. They offer excellent salaries and stimulate eating natural nutritious food and a healthy lifestyle.

Moreover, it will be leaders who create opportunities to rehire former employees who have been excluded for choosing bodily autonomy and/or different well-argued opinions. They will support and invest in employees with disabilities via programs that will help them return to their own work and ensure that they are not shut out into low-wage jobs or unpaid voluntary work.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

The Global Wave of Childhood Pneumonia

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 11:15:06 GMT

The news that Northern China is dealing with a mystery pneumonia outbreak in children was headlined in many news outlets worldwide. Chinese health officials failed to alert the world about a former novel coronavirus outbreak in 2003 (SARS) and 2019 (SARS-CoV-2). The WHO has stated: Chinese authorities claimed there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens or unusual critical presentations so far, but only multiple known pathogens.

It’s not only China that is dealing with increasing numbers of respiratory illnesses. The Netherlands and Denmark reported a sharp rise in pneumonia and whooping cough in children, while England is noticing a brutal cold virus in adults and children and Argentina reported a strep A breakout. Most recently in the US, a childhood pneumonia outbreak, dubbed white lung syndrome, has been reported.

The culprit of the higher number of people affected at the start of this winter is most likely a dramatic degradation of the human immune system, which is a moresuitable environment for many opportunistic pathogens from bacteria to fungi to viruses to take over in human microbiota dysbiosis.

The past years many people, and especially children, have lost their previous mental and physical strength. Chronic fear, anxiety, and pandemic measures have changed lives and driven more people into disabilities, poverty, and/or homeless, leaving them lonely, in hunger, and in cold. These conditions cause risk for pneumonia and sepsis.

The remarkable sudden fall in usual winter pathogens by pandemic measures needs investigation, as does the mysterious rise in pathogens that varies among areas. Immunity debt as the cause of a rise in respiratory illnesses remains questionable.

In time, treatment for pneumonia and sepsis is crucial as theymay cause death in a few days. As healthcare systems are overstressed with many at the brink of financial and organizational collapse and the number of people needing hospital and primary care is yet in pre-winter season much higher than in previous years, public health is in real trouble.

There is no other way out than immediate actions to secure the availability of sufficient healthcare staff, safe and effective antibiotics, and/or effective natural treatments for early treatment. At the same time, restoring health to strengthen the immune system with affordable nutritious food and warmth is urgently needed for healthy generations.

Last month, local media reported that hospitals nationwide were seeing an increase in infections, with clusters of cases often emerging in schools and nurseries. Especially in the Northern part of China in cities Beijing and Lianiong, children’s hospitals were crowded with parents waiting for long hours for treatment of sick children with unusual symptoms that included inflammation in the lungs, high fever, and no cough. Many developed pulmonary nodules.

Sources of Epoch Times News reported children with white lung syndrome (Chest scans showing diffusely damaged lungs) were seen. This can be a result of infection by Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp).

A report from ProMed – a large publicly available surveillance system which monitors human and animal disease outbreaks worldwide – in mid-November alerted about the widespread outbreak of an undiagnosed respiratory illness. Up to now there are only a very few critical cases and no related deaths so far. The average number of days for patients in the hospital is around 14 days.

Official data provided indicate an increase in cases in Influenzavirus (flu), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Adenovirus since October while a rise in Mycoplasma pneumonia (Mp) known as walking pneumonia was noticed since May. Symptoms of walking pneumonia-which generally affects young children-include sore throat, fatigue, and a lingering cough that can last for weeks or months. In severe cases this can develop into pneumonia. Before Covid, Mp tended to cause major outbreaks every three to seven years in China.

Physicians noticed that patients with multiple pathogens coexisting and lobar pneumonia, which affects one or more sections, is more frequently observed. Unfortunately, there is a fear of a growth of antibiotic resistance as more than 80% of Mp in children hospitalized in China is already macrolide-resistant. Antibiotic use in China accounts for half of worldwide antibiotic consumption, which mainly takes place in outpatient and community settings and often unnecessarily for self-limiting, community-acquired infections.

Chinese officials and scientists argue that the trend seen in China follows other countries, where strict pandemic restrictions led to weakened population immunity following years of suppressed transmission. In Taiwan, Mp is still circulating at low levels making up less than 1% of flu-like illnesses diagnosed in Taiwanese hospitals. But waves of respiratory diseases have been high after reopening and lifting pandemic measures in many countries all over the world.

The Netherlands

Soon after reporting on the uptick of childhood pneumonia in China, the Netherlands reported unusually high numbers of children hospitalized with pneumonia from unknown origin. Among the age 5-14 years, pneumonia is two times higher than the highest level reached last year. The number of children with pneumonia in the age 0-4 years is rising as well. The Dutch National Public Health Institute reports that there doesn’t seem to be a relation with the outbreak in China. Last week, the Netherlands reported more children with pneumonia and a rise of whooping cough , Bordetella pertussis (Bp), which is now higher than three years ago.

Denmark

On November 29 the Staten Serum Institute (SSI) reported Mp infections have reached the epidemic level, with an increase that started in the summer but has risen significantly over the past 5 weeks. In May and June (SSI) reported an increase in whooping cough with a proportion that was much larger than before the pandemic. An infant died from it this summer. Whooping cough, also called the 100-day cough, with only low fever doesn’t usually cause a danger for older children and adults. Whooping cough typically occurs with increased frequency every three to five years. The previous epidemic was in 2019/2020.

Norway is also experiencing an increase in whooping cough, while cases have plumped during the Covid pandemic. It is expected that cases will rise in the coming year as the current acellular pertussis vaccine is less protective than the previous whole cellular vaccine. Norway is arguing to introduce vaccinating pregnant women and repeating vaccinations every ten years.

US and UK

Recently US officials announced flu cases are on the rise, and RSV infections may be peaking in the next week or so. RSV is a common cause of mild cold-like symptoms, but it can be dangerous for infants and older people. Reports came from Ohio and Massachusetts about white lung syndrome . Currently Covid-19 causes most hospitalizations and deaths among respiratory illnesses. In April 2023 the US reported Strep A infections remained 30% higher than the pre-pandemic peak in 2017. Argentina is reporting a Strep A outbreak.

Since August, 145 cases of pediatric pneumonia have been reported. Most of the children recovered at home with antibiotics, but infections have been more severe than in previous years. Illnesses were caused by various common bacteria or viruses (Covid-19, flu, RSV, and Mp).

Dr Mandy Cohen, head of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, stated that there has been zero evidence of this outbreak being connected to other outbreaks either statewide, nationally, or internationally. Today we believe this is not a novel pathogen. Advice from officials is to stay at home when ill, wash hands, cough in the elbow, and stay up to date with vaccinations. In several places mask mandates have been reintroduced.

Last week the newspapers in the UK reported a brutal cold virus , whose symptoms are worse than any winter bug, is sweeping the UK this month, leaving sufferers bedbound for days and housebound for weeks. The virus has symptoms, including fever headaches, blocked noses, coughs, and fatigue.

This flu-like season arrives in many countries in times of a collapsing and exhausted healthcare system with increasing shortages of medical staff as compared to the previous year.

The ‘Immunity Debt’ Question

A trend chart of emergency hospital admissions of pneumonia in the UK, shows that while cases went up 50% the previous ten years, they suddenly dropped in 2021 . In 2019 charities said the current figure was equivalent to six children being taken to the hospital every hour. Admissions were highest in the most deprived areas of England.

Analysis of UK data for all children aged 0-14 years admitted to NHS hospitals in England with an infection from 1 March 2-17 to 30 June 2021 found substantial and sustained reductions in hospital admission for all but one of the 19 infective conditions studied, while childhood immunization programs had been disrupted and emergency department visits delayed.

Reductions were similar across all UK geographical regions, and ethnic groups, as well as among children with existing conditions who are at greatest risk of severe illness and death from infection. The authors of the article as well as an editorial at the British Medical Journal argue that the indirect effects of behavioral changes and societal strategies overall on children’s health are substantial, concluding that some pandemic measures like mask wearing had positive effects, although temporary. The authors recognized that school closures came with significant social and economic costs that are likely to increase health disparities .

While in contradiction with their observations, it was noted that the proportion of children admitted for pneumonia who died within 60 days increased. More recent data also indicate that some respiratory infections increased to higher levels than usual after May 2021. Strangely, there were more amoxicillin prescriptions during the summer of 2021 in the UK than in previous summers.

In the Netherlands a strong increase (28%) in amoxicillin use was observed in 2022 as compared to 2021, while also 2021 showed an increase in antibiotic use as compared to the previous year. Antibiotics prescription is highest for elderly people (> 75 yrs) and relatively high for children (0-10 yrs).

Dynamics of increasing childhood infections seem comparable in other countries, albeit for different pathogens. In December 2022 the WHO reported an increase in invasive Group A streptococcal infections among children under 10 years of age in Europe including fatalities. In France and the UK the number of iGAS (infections usually cause mild illness including sore throat, headache, and fever, along with a fine red rash) in children has been several fold higher than pre-pandemic levels for the equivalent period of time. Observed increases reported to the European Centre for Prevention and Disease (ECDC) followed a period of reduced incidence of infections with GAS during the Covid Pandemic.

In a race to control a tripledemic with a spike in RSV Covid and flu, hospitals in the US were close to brink in 2022. During several periods in 2021 and 2022 the US had consistently experienced RSV infections and related bacterial infections. In December 2022 RSV hospitalization was seven times higher than it was in 2018, the last full season before the pandemic.

In the US important medical supplies have been repeatedly unavailable for purchase, with a national shortage for the antibiotic amoxicillin leaving parents in stress. In 2014 a WHO guideline for treatment of lower chest indrawing pneumonia with oral amoxicillin on an out-patient basis was released. Unfortunately, the US, Canada , and the EU have made themselves vulnerable and dependent on production of medicine by China.

Even in wealthy countries, one in 56 babies who are born on time and are otherwise healthy will be hospitalized with RSV during their first year of life, although severe infection is seen most in premature infants and children with comorbidities. There are no drugs. Supplemental oxygen, intravenous fluids, or mechanical ventilation are needed until they get better. Having sufficient intensive care beds is crucial as the case fatality rate in untreated children with pneumonia is high, reaching 20%, and death can occur as early as 3 days after illness onset.

Many countries including China are facing worse flu-like illness symptoms and pneumonia than in any previous winter, while until today no novel pathogen has been identified as the cause of the symptoms. The reason for an uptick of common pathogens in China causing more severe symptoms this winter season is explained by many officials and scientists as because of ‘immunity debt.’

However, the pandemic measures in the Netherlands, Denmark, the UK, and the US have been lifted before the previous winter season started, whereas this year infection rates with common pathogens are more severe and higher as compared to the 2022/2023 winter season.

A Mystery of Diagnosis

The reported sharp drop in emergency hospital admission for pneumonia in children in 2021 in many countries is remarkable. It is hardly possible to find explanations that the immune systems of deprived children who are at the highest risk for pneumonia and sepsis could strengthen during lockdowns, school closures, wearing masks, disrupted immunization schemes, delayed visits to medical doctors, and increasing poverty.

Massive scientific literature supports the devastating effects of pandemic measures that come at high costs for children’s immune system and mental (depression, learning disabilities) and physical health that will take years or even generations to recover.

New studies found masks are linked with Covid infections , exposure to toxic compounds , and pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Finally a recently published systematic review on child mask mandates for Covid-19 in the BMJ concluded that ‘the current body of scientific data does not support masking children for protection against Covid-19.’ Children have been exposed to more disruptive circumstances as has never been seen before. The number of children in poverty has doubled during one year in the US.

After a 12-day visit in the UK this autumn, the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty stated: ‘UK government policies continue to entrench poverty and inflict unnecessary misery on millions of people.’ Unfortunately, all are cumulative, contributing to disrupt the precious human microbiota of children.

The cities Beijing and Lianiong, reporting high childhood pneumonia rates, followed the most stringent zero Covid policies in the world with quarantine camps built outside the city where people were isolated for up to 40 days with poor food and sanitation. In addition, in-house masking , use of disinfectant, fear, and anxiety for forced isolation in camps could have contributed to weakening children’s developing immune systems.

The dramatic degradation of the human immune system with an increasing risk for infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and sudden death especially for children and young adults can no longer be ignored. Humanity Project Reports from Phinance Technologies, based on official data, are demonstrating alarming levels of excess mortality in children and young people in the UK, the Netherlands, and other European countries that started in the summer 2021 and continued to increase in 2022 in most age groups.

In 2022 the WHO sounded the alarm for a mysterious rise in acute hepatitis . While an adenovirus infection was thought to be responsible, no specific pathogen could be identified for all cases.

Mixed viral and bacterial infections are common. However, bacterial infections are frequently underreported. Efforts to identify clinical features to better diagnose bacterial pneumonia have not been successful thus far. There are no reliable signs or symptoms that differentiate Mp infection in Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) from other etiologies. Additionally current diagnostic tests do not reliably distinguish between Mp infection and carriage. Moreover, inclusion criteria of certain tests might be a subjective judgement of pediatricians.

Since the end of 2015 increased incidence of Mp infections have been reported across Japan, China, and England. But data obtained by the first global prospective surveillance study suggest Mp was the only absent respiratory pathogen after long periods with discontinued pandemic measures worldwide while during the same period infections with other pathogens resurged, indicating increased community transmission.

If Mp would resurge, it is suggested that it might affect the world population which has not been exposed to Mp for the past 3 years and result in an increase in rare severe disease and extrapulmonary manifestations. In the surveillance, Mp was not detected by a direct method, often used in pre-pandemic periods, but PCR tests or antibody tests. broad use of Covid-19 PCR tests for surveillance that showed it is difficult, depending on the Ct threshold used, to distinguish between infectious and an asymptomatic carrier.

It starts to be more complex as Chinese researchers state the clinical diagnostic standard for pertussis is not specific in China and differs among age groups. Similar to Mp, a high prevalence of macrolide resistant Bp was found in China in 2014-2016.

There are many differences in testing and treatments among countries and even among areas . A research project among Nordic countries on childhood vaccines, antibiotic prescriptions, and hospitalizations showed widely diverging practices and results. Protocols, transport medium, and methods may differ. It can affect the detection rate, and colder climate can be another reason. For example, Mp infection positively correlates with temperature. Infection rate of Mp gradually increased with the increase in the minimum temperature. Sp is also a seasonal phenomenon.

During the pandemic, coinfections with bacterial pathogens have been underestimated due to limited testing and a low sensitivity of the tests used. Retrospective research suggests that rates of mortality, ventilatory support, and length of hospital stay were significantly worse in patients with a coinfection of SARS-CoV-2 and Mp. A German study showed an increase in respiratory viruses not being SARS-VoV-2 and coinfections with Sp in 2021. In the second half of 2021 near pre-pandemic levels were reached for patients > 60 years. Previous studies showed if Sp coinfection was present; this was associated with a high case-fatality.

To reduce childhood deaths early identification and prompt treatment are essential. The absence of more specific diagnostics for pneumonia hinders both the rational application for treatments and appropriate antibiotic stewardship. As it is clinically impossible to differentiate viral from bacterial pneumonia, prompt treatment of clinical pneumonia with antibiotics will remain a priority for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the backslash is that treatment with antibiotics will disrupt the childrens’ microbiome/immune system and if not treated well increase a risk for future chronic diseases.

A Call to Action to Save Children’s Lives

Childhood pneumonia is known to be an important leading cause of death of children in mostly developing countries and deprived areas, and for children with comorbidities. Despite the many programs initiated to reach near zero ventilator-associated pneumonia, the world post-Covid pandemic is facing an alarming rise in childhood pneumonia. A recent paper showed that socioeconomic deprivation, comorbidity, learning disabilities, and a history of extensive antibiotic exposure are associated with developing non-Covid 19 related sepsis (sepsis occurs when the immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage our own tissue) and 30-day mortality in England.

Opportunistic pathogenic bacteria like Streptococcus is one of the pathogens that could possibly play an important role. Although childhood pneumococcal vaccines are available, increased risk of infection often with serotypes that are not covered or escape vaccines are seen in children most at risk . Moreover, repeated use of antibiotics may have disrupted a child’s microbiota that may increase the risk for long-term health impacts.

Chinese researchers recently suggested a relation of human microbiota dysbiosis and bacteria like Streptococcus and Prevotella and the potential to predict prognosis of infectious diseases. The immune system and children’s microbial dysbiosis and the role of opportunistic pathogens are an emerging field of discovery. In a previous article published at Brownstone Institute a hidden role of Sp in pandemics and human microbial dysbiosis and diseases has been explored.

For many children time will be too short to await research for the whole picture to solve. Each mandated intervention from mask mandates to vaccine injections without a check on the child’s health condition and informed consent could be the final drop to exacerbate the disbalance of the microbial population into severe disease, sepsis, or sudden death.

For Public Health Authorities and medical doctors, this is an urgent call to acknowledge the risks of mandates and disruptive effects of poverty, malnutrition, hunger, cold, fear, and anxiety on the child’s immune system/microbiota. From history it is known that early treatments for imbalances are the best way to keep a precious balanced child’s immune system, a prerequisite for healthy generations.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

The Dramatic Degradation of the Human Immune System

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 11:13:07 GMT

In many countries worldwide over the past three and a half years the health and financial situation of the population has been falling downhill in a way that has never been seen in the past decades. Trend analysis shows increasing numbers of excess mortalities in all ages and a steep rise in a decay of people’s health and workability, especially women. Pandemic measures, repeated vaccinations and a rising number of people including children and pregnant women suffering from hunger have weakened people’s immune systems.

Impaired immune system conditions due to a disrupted gut microbiota and increased exposure to oxidative stress can stimulate S. pneumoniae to switch from a commensal bacterium to an opportunistic and harmful micro-organism that may result in pneumonia, myocarditis, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and even sudden death.

To turn around the ongoing negative trend in health and life expectancy any forced ‘one-size-fits-all interventions’ that may cause a collapse of a weakened immune system need to be halted. Without any positive change in current public health policies, millions more adults and children will die from pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease in the next decades. No other infection can cause this number of deaths.

Instead, a safe, affordable, and effective intervention by a population-wide vitamin D supplementation, a known effective antioxidant and immunomodulator that can prevent dangerous pneumococcal infections is urgently needed.

In general, public health authorities and governments could better invest in and choose interventions that prevent malnutrition and extreme poverty. Strengthening the population’s immune system will decrease the demand for healthcare and contribute to a healthy world for all.

Trend analysis demonstrates the population’s weakening immune systems

Worldwide data have shown a continued period of excess mortality as compared to pre-pandemic periods. According to the OESO covering a total of 1.2 billion inhabitants’ excess mortality in 2022 was 1.2 million. Reports of July 2023 show excess mortality continued to vary across the EU. Among them Sweden had the lowest excess deaths recorded.

A preprint study suggests that all-cause mortality during the first nine months of 2022 increased more the higher the 2021 vaccination uptake associated with monthly mortality increase in 2022 by 1,105 percent. Analysis of all-cause mortality rates in Japan and Germany found a highly significant increase from 5 and 10 percent in mortalities in 2021 and 2022 (2005-2022). For 96.5 percent excess mortality was seen in the vaccinated .

Interim analysis of Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control described an apparent decrease in vaccine effectiveness for all age groups after 4 months of booster injection due to either the impact of waning immunity alone or to immune escape properties of a new Omicron variant. Recent data showed that the risk for infection increased with the number of injections with the Covid mRNA vaccines.

Whereas Covid-19 vaccines were meant to protect people with a weakened immune system for severe Covid-19, people with various diseases and on different medications reacted differently, depending on the medicine used and type of diseases. Most of the time people with a weakened immune system were advised to take more frequently repeated injections to respond better. Although, opinions on frequent booster vaccinations and how to proceed after Covid-19 infection differed widely in January 2022.

Also, the European Medicines Agency has warned that repeated Covid booster doses could adversely affect the immune response. Moreover, booster doses could contribute to viral mutations against the acquired immunity with higher transmissibility, leading to longer-term vaccine resistance and potential adverse effects on morbidity and mortality.

‘Vaccine exhaustion’ after repeated vaccination seems to be of increasing relevance to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although a steady decline in antibodies following Covid-19 vaccination is often used as a justification for repeated vaccination, the immunogenic effect of repeated vaccination depends on the age and the immune response of individuals. The same number of doses might be insufficient for some but excessive to others. As immunity acquired from Covid infection is as protective as vaccination against severe illness, concerns for booster vaccination about their effectiveness, sustainability, and possible dangers should be taken seriously.

For almost two years, peer-reviewed articles on how Covid-19 vaccines could destroy the immune system and cause harm often referred as Vaccine Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (VAIDS) have been ignored.

Concerns on VAIDS support the reports from Phinance Technologies, with trend analysis on excess mortality, disabilities, and loss of productivity in the UK, the US, and Australia in 2021 – 2023. Deaths per 100k were trending down before 2020 and are trending up since 2020 with 3 deaths/100k higher than 2015-2019 for ages 15-44 years with highly statistically significant signals (black Swan events). Moreover, the rise in disabilities is trending up 4x more than deaths in 2022 from UK PIP for various chronic diseases including cancer and myocarditis. A worrying 2.6 million are out of the workforce due to long-term sickness in the UK. Increases in excess mortality on c ardiovascular diseases aged 15-44 years were up 13 percent in 2020, 30 percent in 2021 and 44 percent in 2022. These strong data can no longer be ignored as next year a further increase can be expected.

The timeline report on Epoch Times on myocarditis and Covid-19 vaccines showed how the CDC missed a safety signal and hid a warning. An increasing number of peer-reviewed studies on myocarditis and pericarditis and even Sudden Cardiac Death after Covid-19 vaccination have been published. Even a cardiovascular assessment one year later shows a potential long-term effect of Covid-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis on exercise capacity and cardiac functional reserve during stress. A higher risk for myo/pericarditis cases was detected in those who received mRNA Covid-19 vaccinations compared with unvaccinated individuals in the absence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Mild asymptomatic myocardial inflammation could be more common than ever expected. Moreover, recently the presence of mRNA vaccines has been detected in the heart up to 30 days from vaccination.

Even for children aged 0-14 years excess mortality is observed in the UK and EU countries from the second half of 2021. And Naomi Wolf recently reported that US maternal mortality increased sharply in 2021. A recent preprint showed the negative impact of Covid vaccines on pregnancy outcome and menstrual function. Post-vaccination neurological symptoms showed a substantial overlap with Long Covid symptoms.

While the past four years’ billions of tax money has been spent with the aim to protect the population from mortality or disease, official data show the opposite suggesting an ineffective, unsafe , and even harmful policy. Unfortunately, in several countries public authorities and governments have started to recommend a booster vaccination (6 ^th injection) without informed consent. Even if analysis of a cohort of healthcare workers showed more absence due to side effects after a second injection, people are advised to take another booster. Moreover, the new Covid vaccine variant has not been tested in humans.

A possible relation of repeated Covid-19 mRNA injections with the downward trend on population’s health, workability, income, and life expectancy has not yet been investigated by Public Health Institutes and or communicated to the public. Remarkably, England JCVI said only at-risk groups and those aged 65 and over should be offered vaccines despite fears for overwhelming healthcare this winter.

Even when a paper on respiratory viruses acknowledged that current vaccines could not protect against infections and severe diseases, worldwide governmental flu and Covid-19 vaccine campaigns for the next autumn/winter season proceed, while recent obtained data from the CDC have now shown 77 percent of the hospitalized patients in 2020 did not have Covid as a primary cause.

The hidden role of Streptococcus pneumoniae in pandemics of respiratory viruses

In the context of a respiratory virus pandemic, it is important to acknowledge that a distinction between viral and bacterial infections is not clear in the literature. During the Covid-19 pandemic Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) was wrongly presented as a new disease . For years ARDS or cytokine storm is known as a potential risk for people with a weakening immune system, especially during cold seasons. During viral infections coinfections with other pathogens, especially with Streptococcus pneumoniae have been reported repeatedly.

Pneumococcal infections were a major cause of influenza-associated pneumonia and death among both military persons and civilians in the 1918 pandemic. Eighty percent of pleural fluids of patients with pneumonia yielded bacteria.

Also during the H1N1 2009 influenza pandemic pneumococcal coinfection was found as the most common cause of death with 30 percent of patients without symptoms of pneumonia and 50 percent could only be diagnosed with an urinary antigen test. Pneumococcal coinfected patients showed a higher severity of disease with lower O2 saturation, higher acute phase serum levels , high humoral IgG4 subclass antibodies and more frequent admission to Intensive Care Units (ICU) indicating higher risks of mortality. Twenty-nine percent of the patients who died from infection with H1N1 influenza had evidence of bacterial infection with pneumococci predominantly of types not present in the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Unfortunately, from the second half of 2021 studies in the UK , Switzerland, and Germany reported a reemergence of Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) by S. Pneumoniae in children younger than 15 years of age and elderly people, with higher coinfection rates as reported for influenza, and compared to the first period in the pandemic and pre-pandemic levels both in Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 CAP patients. This could portend an increase of pneumococcal infections across all age groups while coinfections with other non-Covid-19 viruses did not change. When viral and S. pneumoniae infections occur together, infections appear to be associated with severity of COVID-19 as well as poorer outcomes.

In many countries pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) is part of the governmental vaccination programmes for young children and elderly people. Unfortunately, effectiveness of the vaccines against secondary pneumococcal infections remains controversial . Residual disease caused by persistent vaccine type serotypes and non-vaccine serotypes remain substantial. Effectiveness varies by serotype and vaccine and PCV13 effectiveness was observed to decline with time after booster vaccination.

Moreover, the percentage of cases with underlying risk factors (chronic lung disease, cancer, heart disease. e.a.) increased by 50 percent in the late PCV13 period. Current pneumococcal vaccines confer incomplete protection against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Several hundred variants of capsular serotypes complicate the development of effective vaccines and successful pneumococcus protein-derived vaccines have not yet become available. Growing levels of bacterial resistance have troubled effective treatments.

Clinicians need to have an increased awareness for coinfections or superinfections of viral infections with pneumococci, especially as CAP or IPD may continue to increase. Underestimation of pneumococcal CAP might occur because often a low sensitivity of the standard of care culture methods is used instead of the more accurate urinary antigen testing.

The importance of bacterial superinfection of the lung as a contributor to death in patients with Covid-19 has been underappreciated thus far. A study published in May 2023 found that pneumonia that does not resolve was a key driver in patients with Covid-19. Bacterial infections may even exceed death rates from the viral infection itself. The study highlighted the importance of preventing and looking for and aggressively treating secondary bacterial pneumonia in critically ill patients with severe pneumonia including Covid-19. Six months afterwards 60 percent of hospitalized patients showed abnormalities in multiple organs , especially the brain and lung and higher rates of heart-related risks including irregular heartbeats, heart attack, and stroke. In autopsy analyses a range of abnormalities, particularly in the way heart cells regulate calcium were found.

Long Covid symptoms, though still poorly defined , could be linked to a S. pneumoniae infection. Long-term mask-wearing could cause overgrowth of S. pneumoniae, which is a facultative anaerobic bacterium with increasing growth opportunities in low O2/ CO2 rich conditions.

Overall it is important to keep in mind that a latest age-stratified analysis found a much lower pre-vaccination Infection Fatality Rate of Covid-19 (0.03 – 0.07 percent) in the non-elderly population globally than previously suggested. Large differences were observed between countries and may reflect differences in comorbidities and other factors. It seems that ‘The biggest Public Health threat is not a virus but a weakening immune system .’

The opportunity for harmful behavior of Streptococcus pneumoniae in weakened immune systems

A possible role of a disseminated Streptococcus pneumoniae growth in relation to sudden death, myocarditis, pericarditis, skin problems, autoimmune diseases, and cancer has been described. Clinical signs, symptoms, and physical examination findings alone cannot distinguish S. pneumoniae disease from infections caused by other pathogens. The common resident in the upper respiratory tract is usually asymptomatic in healthy individuals. Higher carriage is found during winter seasons and often in crowded areas like childcare. While the overall attack rate of the pneumococcus is low, it is the leading cause of infectious deaths worldwide.

Infections primarily occur in the very young and old as their immune systems are underdeveloped or waning, respectively. Every year 12 million children are hospitalized for severe pneumonia requiring urgent oxygen treatment to survive. Pneumonia is concentrated in the most deprived and marginalized children with a poor nutritious status and a weakened immune system. At least one child dies from pneumonia every 39 seconds , which is 800,000 per year and accounts for more deaths than any other infectious disease worldwide. Sudden death in infancy has been related to bacterial infections. A systematic review observed a dose-response relation of sudden unexpected death and socioeconomic status.

Unfortunately, malnutrition and the threat of famine worldwide is rising. A recent UN report on the direct and indirect effects of Covid-19 pandemic and response said it killed 228,000 children in South Asia and a sharp increase of more than 20 percent in maternal deaths.

Especially elderly people and immunocompromised individuals are at increased risk for developing Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD), when the bacteria spreads from the nasopharynx to other parts of the body including the lungs, blood, and brain. Once in the bloodstream pneumococci disseminate widely into many organs where the bacteria can bind.

While much has been written on pneumococcal pneumonia, recent studies have shown that S. Pneumoniae is able to invade the myocardium and kill cardiomyocytes. One in five persons with pneumonia in hospital experience cardiac complications and for those with pneumococcal bacteremia adverse cardiac events in convalescence is a risk factor for up to ten years. The interactions between pneumococcus and the heart are an emerging field .

The virulence determinants of the pneumococcus that mediate the greatest inflammation and cytotoxicity are the pneumococcal cell wall, pneumolysin, hydrogen peroxide, and some other secreted products like peptidoglycan. The cell wall of the pneumococcus is inhibitory for cardiac contractility. The pneumococcus toxin, pneumolysin , has multiple interactions with the host leading to extensive spread of disease, intense inflammation, abundant cell damage, and necrosis, decreasing the bactericidal function of mast cells and the opportunity for bacteria to cross into the bloodstream.

Pneumolysin disrupts Ca2+ signalling due to pore formation even if cells are not immediately killed. The effects of hydrogen peroxide contribute to mitochondrial damage of neurons and cardiac damage. Hypoxia and hypotension with arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, myocarditis, pericarditis, and congestive heart failure can be found. Cardiac complications may occur because of poor oxygenation status at a time of increased myocardial demand and/or because of unintended effects of antimicrobials or other medicine.

Pneumococcal bacteremia with metastatic infection and meningitis is responsible for significant mortality, particularly in the elderly where rates may be as high as 60 percent and 80 percent respectively. The bacteria are also known as a contributor to end stage renal disease in both children and adults.

People that survive pneumococcal meningitis often experience permanent neurological sequelae with defects in memory and learning because of neuronal damage by pneumolysin and hydrogen. If the pneumococcus enters the middle ear, the pneumolysin strongly contributes to cochlear damage and hearing loss. Bacterial products encountered during pregnancy may be associated with cognitive disorders in children.

Diversity gut microbiota protective in infections and vaccine side effects

The influence of gut microbiota on a diminished capacity to phagocytose and killing by alveolar macrophages of S. pneumoniae was demonstrated in a study with microbiota depleted mice . Findings of the study support the protective role of the gut microbiota against organ failure during S pneumoniae induced sepsis. Alveolar macrophages are thought to be the first line of defense in case of pathogen invasion towards the lung. Gut microbiota has been shown to regulate immune defenses against infection of the upper respiratory tract

with influenza A virus. The role of the gut microbiota became even more evident by a report that described successful treatment with lactobacillus rhamnosus in critically ill patients with ventilator associated pneumonia. Probiotic prophylaxis was also effective to prevent ventilator associated pneumonia in children on mechanical ventilation.

Large communities of intestinal microbes not only contribute to a local host defense against infections but also modulates responses at systemic sites. Mice depleted with microbiota before infection with S Pneumoniae showed enhanced liver and hepatic injury. A difference in microbiota composition in the Upper Respiratory Tract between young and elderly mice showed more diversity in young mice and faster clearance to baseline.

Risk for invasive pneumococcal disease is much higher for patients with inflammatory bowel disease or other comorbidities and/or use of multiple medicines that modulate the gut microbiota. In older hospitalized patients polypharmacy but not multimorbidity and frailty was significantly associated with gut dysbiosis. The severity of dysbiosis was able to significantly predict death after a two-year follow-up. An English Longitudinal Study on Ageing found that older adults with polypharmacy were at higher risk of all-cause mortality and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases as compared with those who did not take medication.

Recent studies indicate that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is thought to be the cause of most cardiovascular diseases , including coronary heart disease, hypertension, arrhythmias, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death. Gut microbiota dysbiosis can induce an inflammatory response and affect the metabolism of bioactive molecules, resulting in systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. These changes promote the development of artherosclerotic plaques and increase the risk of thrombosis and cardiovascular events.

A decline in biodiversity of the gut microbiota in the genus Bifidobacteria is observed with inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, neurological disorders C. Difficile infection, and recently severe Covid-19 infection (ARDS). Patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection possess significantly less bacterial diversity with lower abundance of Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium and increased abundance of Bacteroidetes as compared to those with lighter symptoms.

A direct association was observed between severity of Covid-19 disease and Bacteroides abundances. A large cohort from the US showed that digestive symptoms were associated with patients that showed 70 percent risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. Patients with GI manifestations like diarrhea were related to longer disease duration.

Preliminary data showed a persistent damage to the gut microbiome with a decrease in Bifidobacterium following the messenger RNA SARS-Cov-2 vaccine. The decline in Bifidobacterium after vaccination might explain the higher risk for a SARS-CoV-2 infection after each mRNA booster injection. Analysis of US nursing homes data proves the vaccine made it more likely for the elderly to die. A recent study with the BNT162b2 Covid vaccination in children observed altered cytokine responses to heterologous pathogens that can persist up to six months after vaccination. However, it is not clear whether these changes provide protection against other infectious diseases.

Studies suggest there is a bidirectional relationship between the gut microbiota and the Covid-19 vaccine and the varying components of the microbiota either enhancing or reducing the vaccine efficacy. Unfortunately, recent UK numbers showed that 96.5 percent of excess mortality occurred in vaccinated individuals.

Food insecurity and malnutrition may be linked to microbiota immaturity and/or dysbiosis. The nutritional status may affect Covid-19 vaccine efficacy by modulating the immune system and influencing inflammations and oxidative stress. With many people facing a weakened immune system , disrupted microbiota, and increased oxidative stress any ill-considered intervention could be fatal by a final toxic attack of Streptococcus pneumoniae on the body’s immune system.

A threatening food insecurity worldwide due to war and climate change policies will exacerbate the risk for severe infectious and chronic diseases. During the pandemic the number of people and children in extreme poverty rose from 70 million to 700 million. Moreover, collapsing healthcare systems will not be able to cover a demand for increased care and rising numbers of morbidity and mortality.

Continuing the same policies will make the UN Decade for Healthy Ageing 2020-2030 and Zero Hunger in 2030 a farce and will maximize public distrust.

The urgent need for a population wide Safe Affordable Effective Intervention

At the start of the pandemic the scientific literature on the protective effects of Vitamin D3 for prevention of seasonal pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome has been ignored and disputed by many medical doctors, scientists, experts, and politicians with the argument that more research would be needed before general recommendations can be made. However, cost-effective harm analysis shows even a small decrease in infections could justify such an intervention.

Data from Israel , Spain , and Belgium showed that low vitamin D plasma 25(OH)D levels appear to be an independent risk factor for Covid-19 infection, and hospital mortality . Patients with vitamin D deficiency had greater prevalence of raised biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases .

Vitamin D deficiency with a 25(OH)D concentration below < 30 nmol/l should be avoided wherever possible as it dramatically increases the risk of excess mortality , infections, and many chronic diseases i.e pneumonia, sepsis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, muscle, and bone health. In some countries approximately 80 percent of individuals are affected by vitamin D deficiency. Around 66 million people in the EU show serum vitamin D levels < 50 nmol/l . Hypovitaminosis of vitamin D impairs mitochondrial functions and enhances oxidative stress and systemic inflammation. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked with gut dysbiosis and inflammation and associated with worse outcome of diseases. A synergistic effect of vitamin D3 and Bifidobacterium has been demonstrated in reducing the severity of bacterial and viral infections via suppression of inflammatory responses and blocking translocation of bacteria.

Unfortunately, up to now nothing has changed to protect the global population from vitamin D deficiency despite the consensus that vitamin D has a host of immunomodulatory effects which may be beneficial in the context of Covid-19 and low levels of vitamin D can result in dysfunction of crucial antimicrobial effects. Vitamin D deficiencies predispose children to respiratory infections.

Recent studies demonstrated the crucial role of vitamin D above 50 nmol/l at all times a year in protection against pneumonia or ARDS and prevention of hospitalization, with better protection than Covid-19 vaccination or flu vaccination and with less side effects. A protective role of vitamin D supplementation in the regime of patients with Covid-19 was indicated. Vitamin D supplementation given at a daily maintenance as an antioxidant and immunomodulator may prove a relative simple applicable intervention to modify an important risk factor for a waning immune system, beneficial in improving resistance to overall respiratory infections by S. pneumoniae, and/or SARS-CoV-2 virus variants and/or pathogen X.

In face of new winter seasons with an increased risk for ARDS and a collapsing healthcare system , a strategic investment and support in the health of citizens all times a year with protective vitamin D serum levels (at least 50-100 nmol/l) is a safe, affordable, and cost-effective investment. This will be a much safer and effective way forward to contribute to a world with healthy aging, zero hunger and reducing pneumonia.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

The Future of Traditional Farming and Healthcare in the Netherlands

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 11:08:47 GMT

The Netherlands has been chosen as a pilot area in the EU to be climate neutral with a transition in protein food and a transformation of healthcare into a telemedicine, data, and AI-driven connected system approach led by Public Private Partnerships. A closure of 55-70 percent of traditional farming is foreseen to be replaced by tech-driven vertical farming, gene-edited crops, edible insects, veganism, 15-minute cities and a CBDC passport covering personal health data.

Citizens will pay for the transition by increasing prices for energy, food, healthcare services, and insurance.

A U-turn of these EU-driven policies is highly needed. Health and wealth have been decreasing in the past years due to pandemic measures, inflation, and recently implemented policies. The Netherlands, famous for farming and innovations, can best win this challenge to re-establish healthcare driven by traditional farmers producing nutritious whole food that prevents famine, improves the soil and the immune system for healthy lives.

Dutch Farmers will no longer accept harmful policies

The Netherlands, a small country conveniently situated within the EU, has been economically growing by generations of farming and fishing. In July 2022 the Dutch policies on farming led to the article No farmers No Food No Life .

Large demonstrations initiated by farmers and fishermen took place in July 2022, November 2022, and March 2023 in The Hague and Brussels respectively, which received much attention worldwide. Now, half a year later an even bigger demonstration initiated by Dutch farmers took place on June 29,2023 in The Hague. Farmers and citizens have drawn the line.

The new policies pushed forward by politicians in Rutte IV could be disastrous for farmers and humanity. This will not only affect the Netherlands. Changes in farming in the Netherlands, being the second largest export country for food, will affect many people worldwide .

Last week the negotiations with farmers and agricultural society on the Agriculture Agreement IN MOVEMENT to meet the governmental goals for climate change on CO2 and Nitrogen reduction in 2040 collapsed. In the draft Agreement a 25-30 percent reduction of farmers and cattle and loss of agricultural fields is foreseen in 2035.

It could even be a reduction of 55-70 percent of farmers to transform the Netherlands together with Flanders and North-Rhine Westphalia in one region ‘Tristate city’ “a large green world city with 30 million inhabitants.” This is a concept that was introduced in 2016 as a marketing strategy, established as a place brand, and initiated by the private sector . The concept was found by visiting emerging markets in China. The opinion of thought leaders is that it will be a success, but there is no way of knowing this would be the case.

When the new agreement is signed farmers need to fulfill 122 measures ; most of them will not be able to meet them. Farmers are warning that if the eighth EU Nitrogen rule will be forced for the ability to grow vegetables and fruit, it will be impossible to continue farming. This year the use of certain crop protection spreads has become restricted in the Netherlands while other countries are allowed to use it. A 40 percent reduction in yield is expected.

The only way out for farmers seems to be to accept the offer by the government to sell their ownings for 120 percent of the value with a restriction not to be allowed to start another farm within the EU area. Many farmers still refuse the offers made. ‘Even when they pay 400 percent of the value I won’t leave, my son is going to be the next generation farmer.’

The draft agreement does not present information on effects on farmers’ income and consumers’ behavior. The advisory report from Wageningen University and Research (WUR) writes that they cannot advise on this topic as they do not have the information. With the reduction of cattle, farming land and a transition to regenerative farming they will be able to meet the goals on climate change. However, 30,000 jobs will be lost and €6.5 billion of added value .

Remarkably, the role of Rabobank (originally derived from Boerenleenbank, a cooperative owned and run by farmers) which has been pushing investments by farmers for large-scale farming, while knowing for 30 years this strategy could harm the environment, has been kept out of the N2 debate in the Netherlands. A report published by Greenpeace explores the role of Rabobank. The minimum Rabobank (a bank for actively accelerating transitions for food, climate and finance) can do says Greenpeace is to contribute €3.1 billion in the N2 Fund.

A catastrophic power by a Culture of Climate Hysteria

Recently Rob Jetten, the Dutch minister for Climate and Energy Policy presented in parliament the net zero CO2 and nitrogen plan, which will cost €28 billion and would result in a 0.000036 degree Celsius reduction in temperature in 2050. A harmful and unrealistic plan for a problem that even does not exist.

There is no climate emergency, over 500 eminent experts wrote in 2019 in an open letter to the United Nations. A research paper by Skrable et al, in Health Physics in 2022 concludes the increase in total CO2 due to the use of fossil fuels was much too low to be the cause of global warming. Another group of researchers found ice around Antarctica Thwaites Doomsday was eight times thinner around 8,000 years ago.

Furthermore, the Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 2022, John F Clauser, says it is clear; there is no climate crisis. Climate crisis is based on scientific corruption, pseudo-science. Similarly, Greenpeace co-founder Dr Patrick Moore explains in his speeches ‘Carbon dioxide is the currency of life and the most important building block for all life on earth. It is not responsible for global warming. The whole debate on climate change is a fabrication.’

The European Court of Auditors stated in a recent report, ‘It is not clear if the suggested measures will be supportive to meet the climate goals.’ Probably the EU will not be able to meet their sustainability goals to reduce CO2 emission in 2030 by 55 percent. Unfortunately, the EU committed that they will be the first worldwide to be climate neutral. In the near future every EU citizen will have to pay for CO2 emissions via house, car, and company.

Gripped in a culture of climate catastrophism , society seems to allow to rip the work of generations of farmers and thousands of cattle being slaughtered while the real consequences are unknown and threatens us all.

What is also conveniently overlooked in the climate debate against cows is the carbon cycle . CO2 is absorbed by grass during photosynthesis. Cows eat the grass produce methane-which is released into the atmosphere and breaks down into CO2 and H2O. And the cycle repeats itself. Basic biological knowledge that is learned at school and everybody knows. Livestock are highly needed for fertile lands. A healthy soil, the underpinning of cultivation throughout history is created in interaction between grazing animals and soil microbiology. Regenerative agriculture can sequester more carbon than humans are inventing.

A net zero CO2 policy in Sri Lanka has proven to be a disaster and ruined many farmers’ lives. The policy resulted in complete chaos and a setback in health, environment, and economy.

In the Netherlands an increasing number of farmers a year commit suicide ; the exact numbers are unknown. According to a recent investigation there was a 37 percent increase in 2020. Families are crying at the kitchen table daily.

Dutch citizens will be financing the €28 billion climate plan by extra taxes on food prices for example on milk products, meat, compounds for vegetation protection, and fertilizers while inflation is high and purchases are expensive.

Also, a prepared law for zero taxes on vegetables and fruits to promote healthy foods supposed to pass for January 2024 seems to make a U-turn. According to a report from SEO Economic Research it will be too complex and too expensive and it is not sure the introduction of this law will promote health. However, keeping taxes on vegetables and fruit will generate €550-950 million in income for government.

Overlooked risks of expensive food transitions

A transition to ‘ Food is Medicine’ initiatives is a strong promotion for the necessity to eat fully plant-based (vegan), bio-engineered food, lab-grown meat, and novel foods like edible insects. Fresh whole foods from farmers will be replaced by products derived from vertical farming, food grown in laboratories, and innovative Food Hubs.

According to the many start-ups and initiatives, it is necessary to solve diminishing resources and an insecurity for healthy nutritious and sustainable food for a fast-growing human population to 9 billion people in 2050. A future of food with low-footprint ingredients and technology that will bring a beautiful nature back into balance. A Global Food Forum of young people is accelerating the transition.

The Netherlands is leading this worldwide food transition funded by the private sector-run FoodvalleyNL , the World Economic Forum and Rockefeller Foundation, the EU, and the Dutch government. The secretariat and coordinating centre for various Food Hubs in the world is based at Wageningen University and Research (WUR). In 2050 we will eat less meat, eggs and dairy products and more chickpeas, crickets and chlorella; a movement for everyone, the WUR states.

A McKinsey report ‘Alternative proteins, the market share is on’ states leading alternative protein resources will be plant protein, insect protein, mycoprotein and cultured meat.

It is not a surprise that the world’s largest and leading insect company Protix, producing protein and fats from insects for feed and food for animals and humans , is based in the Netherlands.

The company was founded in 2009 by two consultants from McKinsey and attracted huge amounts of funding. Protix uses high-track control systems, artificial intelligence, genetic improvement programs, and robotics. The company received many awards, among them from the WEF. A circular frontrunner in the greenfield of insect-based foods.

In the EU in the past few years Protix, Fair Insects, and CricketOne , a Vietnam-based company, gained approval for use of insects in human consumption . The growing number of insects authorized in the EU for sale in food including dietary supplements will not be required to carry special labels to distinguish them from other products the EU has confirmed despite protests from MEPs.

Insect protein and fat can be found in products like paste, bread, ice creams, cakes, and more. The argument is that before insects can become a large-scale food product for humans in the Western world, insects should be turned into an appealing product. For several years start-ups in food transition products like hamburgers from cultivated crickets have been supported by the EU and government in the Netherlands.

According to the Dutch Platform De Krekerij is the most sustainable fast food on the planet. One kg of cricket meat uses 85 percent less food, 90 percent less land and 95 percent less water than one kg of beef.

Green gas emission from farming insects would be 100 times lower than those from pigs and cattle. However, a position paper of the Eurogroup for animals says insect farming is a false solution for the EU’s food system. Industrial animal farming for food should be replaced rather than having insect protein as another form of industrial farming.

Although more than 2,000 edible insects caught in the forests or agricultural fields have been consumed for thousands of years all over the world, there is hardly any knowledge on consuming insects cultivated in plastic boxes in fabrics. Impacts on various aspects, governing the cultivating and production methods of insects and issues on upscaling, on health, and the environment have not been investigated in the short and long term. ‘Little is known about the food chain leading edible insects from farm to plate and on their role in human and planet wellbeing says the editorial Edible Insects: From Farm to Fork.

In a report in 2022 the FAO documented possible food safety issues with edible insects. Among them are allergen cross-reactivity, biological safety hazards as bacteria, viruses, fungi as well as chemical contaminants (toxins (myco), PFAS , pesticides, antibiotics, toxic metals , flame retardation, cyanogenic glycosides). Especially for undernourished children and people with a weakened immune system, eating insects might be a risk factor. The EFSA report for CricketOne is warning of a possible negative impact on both the innate and adaptive immune system.

A research paper on edible insects versus meat shows that the content of individual nutrients in both insects and meat varies significantly. Both are rich in nutrients for development and functioning of the human body. Some foods might exacerbate diet-related health problems while others may be effective in treatments. However, studies on eating insect products versus meat on health are still lacking.

Around the myth of cultured meat It remains to be seen whether the production of artificial meat will be enough to be competitive in comparison with conventional meat. It is still in its infancy. Analysis found that lab-grown meat made from cultivated stem cells could be 25 times worse for the climate than beef if current production methods are scaled up because they are still highly energy-intensive.

Another threat for traditional farming in the EU conversation is the industrial lobby owning 10,000 patents boosting the use of gene-edited crops (CRISPR-Cas) as a solution to climate change and biodiversity. Recent research by the EU and the Global Biodiversity Framework are likely to foster the use of CRISPR-Cas as a solution to not only climate change but also biodiversity conversion. Also WUR scientists expect the EU will change the rules this year with smarter governance for the benefits of society and environment.

The debate on gene-editing for crops instead of classical natural crossings for crops is not new and has been used by Monsanto. The use of the gene-edited seeds has been expensive for many farmers. Biological farmers are concerned that farmers will become dependent on multinationals and natural classical solutions will no longer be effective. The balance with nature will be destroyed. Plants are interconnected with soil, animals and humans. The long-term effects of combining various gene-edited plants and foods are not known. Moreover human gene-editing is still controversia l and the effects of eating the gene-edited plants and fruits on animals and humans is not known.

It is clear that when evaluating the food transition to veganism , gene-edited plants, soil fertilizers converting biodiversity, increased irrigation technologies, and edible insects, the intended transition has many risks in the short and long term for humans, animals, plants, and the planet.

A ‘rich’ country in famine and lack of care

The Healthcare system in the Netherlands has been ranking for years as the best in Europe. In 2020 the Dutch healthcare system was ranked as the number three most innovative in the world.

Unfortunately, in a country with 17.8 million people, approximately 2 million people do not get the care they need, and 1.2 million people are living below poverty. Around 148,000 citizens visit a food bank . Poverty is expected to rise to 5.8 percent.

In 2021 30.9 percent of men and 35.9 percent of women (age > 16 years) experienced one or more chronic diseases. This is expected to increase to around 7 million in 2030. During the last few years a strong increase in heart problems has taken place, and one in ten persons in the Netherlands experiences heart problems.

After three years of pandemic measures and limited care, healthcare is confronted with a population with an increasing number of elderly people, people with more chronic diseases , rising mental problems , increased feelings of stress, fear, and loneliness, more people dying as expected, shortness of nurses, increased sickness leaves, low salaries, inflation, high prices for energy and food, and more people being undernourished . People are leaving the healthcare system, and 37 percent experience moral conflicts. Doctor visits are replaced by telemedicine or done by people with less professional education.

The number of people on waiting lists for urgent care in nursing homes is increasing and surgeries have been postponed . CEO’s of healthcare organisations have started to hire nurses from Indonesia and India as sufficient Dutch nurses are not available or prefer to work as an independent nurse. In 2032 a shortness of 137,000 nurses is expected. Furthermore, shortness of family doctors (35 -45 percent ) is on the rise. Telemedicine and efforts on the implemention of technological support for big data and AI are pushed forward by the minister of Healthcare.

Large academic hospitals have started AI labs. Personal medical information files will become more easily available among different care organisations and within the EU. Special acute care will be concentrated in fewer hospitals.

CEO’s of healthcare organizations with nursing homes and homes for the disabled have written an open letter to the minister that the current situation will drive organisations into bankruptcy. The risk for Dutch women to become burnt out or lose their paid work to replace with unpaid voluntary care is near.

Prices for mandated private health insurance increase due to inflation. During the pandemic billions have been thrown away for unsafe and ineffective and even harmful measures. But, politicians in the Netherlands don’t see it as a priority to evaluate the policies as they have postponed the pandemic inquiry . Trust in politics in the Netherlands is at an all-time low .

Preventing Famine

It is the UN report that appeared in April 2023 that needs to be on the front page of all media worldwide. “Globally the consumption of animal source foods including, meat, eggs and milk can help to reduce stunting, wasting and overweight amongst children.”

“This is a significant gap given the co-existence of micronutrient deficiencies with overweight, obesity and Non-Communicable Disease.”

At least one in ten people and one in three children worldwide is malnourished. This is presumably much more when various grades of deficiencies are considered. While it is known that most non-communicable diseases can be prevented and restored, it is unacceptable given the co-existence with deficiencies that malnutrition and even hunger and famine may increase when EU policies will be forced into the agriculture and healthcare system in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands owes generations of hard-working farmers and fishermen a solution to the problem of famine and a restoration of lower cost of healthcare. A cooperation between farmers, fishermen, and medical doctors for good nutritious whole food and loving care will be a strategy less costly, safe, better for soil and the immune system, and more successful. This will be the way that needs to be followed to regain trust and wealth.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

The Collapse of Women’s Health and Work

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 16:26:35 GMT

The World Health Organization, United Nations, UNICEF, non-governmental organizations and governments are all publicly promoting equity, inclusiveness and diversity. At the same time, these organizations were leading lockdowns and mandates that disadvantaged women disproportionately, especially those with a low salary, in health and income.

Many of the women who lost paid work have not returned to paid work.

Meanwhile, employed women with disabilities have risen dramatically.

Also among employed Canadians disability rises had the highest prevalence during the pandemic, for women aged (16-54 years). For decades it has been known that women are more likely to have health limitations over their lifetime . Moreover, the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has created an environment where more determinants of poor mental health are exacerbated for women. Disaggregated data on the highest excess mortality and disabilities in women worldwide can be expected.

Psychological stress , fatigue , exhaustion , and high toxin exposures are associated with poor liver function and immunological aging. Immune aging can promote cancer , heart disease and other related inflammatory conditions and reduce the effectiveness of vaccines by an overrepresentation of senescent cells and less naïve cells. Not a virus but a weakened immune system has become the highest risk for public health caused by various pandemic measures suppressing a healthy human physiology.

Chronic psychological stress

Negative effects of the pandemic measures on mental health will be far-reaching , with women being more affected than men. Women are two times more likely to be diagnosed with depression and anxiety and psychotropic drugs prescribed .

Studies are showing that between 20-70 percent of the health workforce, with women being 70-80 percent of the global paid health workforce) are struggling with mental health issues (stress, insomnia, depression, distress and post-traumatic stress syndrome). Women, especially nurses, have disproportionately been affected during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, health inequality starts in young girls. New research from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly three out five high school girls in the US who were surveyed reported feelings of persistent sadness or hopelessness in 2021, a roughly 60 percent increase over the past decade.

It often seems that medicalization of mental health is occurring among women, without proper investigation of underlying causes.

The latest Women in the Workplace report found that 42 percent of the women said they were always or almost always burned out. That is extremely high and might drive women out of the paid workforce entirely or cause them to dial back their careers to something that is more manageable.

The widespread intensity of burnout has led many women to look for new careers that are less demanding and, in some cases, drop out of the paid labor force entirely. Women experience many hurdles in the workplace, hurdles made worse by the pandemic. Part of the burnout is family-related. Since the pandemic started, women are doing considerably more caregiving of children and elderly relatives than they were before the pandemic.

In many countries women work longer hours a day (paid and unpaid) than men. A Harvard opinion in 2015 “Only the overworked die young” warned of a greater risk for heart attack or stroke in people who are overworked . Women are overrepresented in low wage jobs in sectors that are all large employers for women, women of color and disabled women. These sectors had the first and most long-lasting mandates for mask wearing, frequent testing and vaccinations and are among the most impacted by the lockdowns.

Long Covid

Long Covid symptoms were found to be most increased among healthcare workers and could be related to long-term measures and masking in particular. Women are often twice as much symptomatic and diagnosed than men for Long Covid not only in the acute phase but also at follow-up. FAIR Health Inc, an American health insurance company saw the highest incidence in women aged 36-64 years (40 percent of the total number of Long Covid patients) with memory loss (40.0 percent) and sleep disorders (36.6 percent) being the most common symptoms beyond 2 months of infection.

Drug side effects

Sex differences in the body’s responses to medication have long been overlooked. Until 1995 women were banned for participation in clinical trials, and drugs were mostly tested on males only. Yet, a government report describes eight out of ten of the drugs pulled from the market posed greater health risks for women than men. The issue is compounded because women are frequently disregarded when they express medical concerns.

Women are more likely taking medications ( psychotropic medications and birth-control pills) than men and seem to be more sensitive and two times more likely to experience serious side effects. Drug and alcohol use and corresponding side effects are also different for women. Research suggests liver enzymes work at different speeds in men than in women.

Vaccine side effects

An existing body of literature as well as recent studies after genetic Covid-19 vaccine injections and post-bacterial or viral vaccine injection show that females have around a twofold higher incidence and severe Adverse Events (local and systemic reactions) reflecting greater inflammatory responses among females than males.

Generally, adult females mount stronger innate and adaptive immune responses than males. This results in a faster clearance of pathogens and greater vaccine efficacy in females than in males but also contributes to their increased susceptibility to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. For instance, 80 percent of autoimmune diseases occur in females. Sex differences in immune responses to vaccines could be caused by genetic, hormonal, microbiota , nutritional, and environmental factors, or a combination.

Several studies on the Covid-19 vaccines with people with autoimmune diseases and analysis of an aging population ( especially elderly ) and frail people reported low protection.

Drug-vaccine interference

The interaction and side effects of the use of multiple medicines and concentrations used is mostly unknown, while some medicine might even have more disastrous side effects than any benefits, as it seems to be the case for psychotropic drugs.

A recent study suggests psychotropic drugs , with immunosuppressant capabilities, interact with the PEGylated LNP of Covid-19 mRNA therapeutics. Medicated severe psychiatric illness showed immune malfunction with limited vaccine response and protection for severe Covid-19 disease.

During the pandemic the use of psychotropic medicine increased most for women. The rapid release of the new therapeutic PEGylated LNP mRNA vaccines heightened the concerns about adverse effects and drug-vaccine interactions . Chemotherapy, anticonvulsants, and anti-malaria were documented to interfere with the mRNA vaccines. Much less was known about other drugs.

A study showed that 42 percent of the vaccinated women experienced menstrual changes . A heavier flow after the shots was more likely to be related to nonwhite and older, hormonal contraception, a diagnosed reproductive condition, fever, or fatigue as side effects or previous pregnancy.

A relation of menstrual length and systemic inflammation have been described in the various phases of fertility . An increase in pre-term stillbirths was observed in the first year of the pandemic. Stroke risk rises in women with recurrent miscarriage, stillbirth and low income , and endometriosis is maybe causally associated with ischemic stroke . Recent studies reported that previous Covid-19 infection significantly increases the risk for adverse events following vaccinations.

Remarkably, the possible negative effects on women’s fertility (menstrual changes) after the Covid-19 vaccine rollout were suppressed by medicine adverse reporting organizations at first reporting. Although a relation with the Covid-19 vaccines or lockdowns has not been proven, an observed decline in newborn babies is worrisome.

The Covid19 mRNA vaccines had never been tested on pregnant women before they received Under Emergency Authorization and were advised by many doctors worldwide for pregnant women. Data from a later Pfizer trial with pregnant women have not been made publicly available.

Use of LNP mRNA vaccines should be halted, more investigation is needed

At this stage the risk benefit of the pandemic measures and pharmacologic interventions should be urgently investigated especially in the context of the seemingly devastating effects on women’s health, in light of an infection that has a current mortality comparable or even lower than that of the flu, and studies showing more deaths from non-Covid like heart infarction or stroke among the once- and two times-vaccinated as compared to the unvaccinated.

Immune exhaustion emerges after a third dose and a risk for autoimmune diseases like Guillaume Barre , Bell’s palsy, Small fiber peripheral neuropathy , a large cluster of myositis , and a potential role of the spike protein in neurodegenerative diseases . In this context, especially the rise in the use of psychotropic medicine, the use of birth pills by many women and their known risk for thrombosis, stroke, heart attack, and sudden death is worrisome. A possible drug vaccine interaction needs to be investigated.

Even public health officials who previously pushed the Covid-19 vaccines recently recognized in a paper published in Cell that deficiencies of the current Covid-19 vaccines became apparent as SARS-CoV-2 strain variants have emerged, questioning whether any vaccine against respiratory viral infections can ever work well enough. The number of medical doctors and scientists speaking out to pause the use of the Covid-19 vaccines for all ages until results of thorough investigations have been made publicly available is increasing daily.

The Covid response caused an economic blowback with long lasting consequences.

Many studies have demonstrated that equal numbers of women and men in organizations and society yield in more well-being, stronger innovation , better decision-making , inspiring workplaces, and economic growth . In the US women’s labor force participation increased threefold since 1920 to 58 percent.

The pandemic policy resulted in the biggest setback in women’s participation in paid work and gender equality for a generation and undermines women’s security and resilience to shocks and ability to pay for health services when needed. An expected further collapsing health system, and at the same time an increase in disabilities and elderly people, suggests that even more women will leave the workforce in the near future to fulfill (unpaid) care and domestic work.

The economic fallout has a harsher impact on women who disproportionately are represented in sectors offering low wages and the least secure jobs.

Globally, women lost $800 billion in income, and accounted for more than 64 million jobs lost in 2021, which is 5 percent of the total jobs of women whereas men had a 3.9 percent loss of jobs. The US IZA from October 2020 suggested that women are 24 percent more likely to permanently lose their jobs than men and their labor income will fall by 50 percent more than men’s. In the health care sector itself, the realms that have yet to recover their losses – nursing homes and long-term care – women entirely dominate in employment.

Health is the biggest economic sector , employing 234 million people worldwide, the majority being women delivering health services to around 5 billion people. The overall employment is expected to grow 13 percent from 2021 to 2030, much faster than other occupations. Its growth is being driven by an increasing number of older people and by the expansion of the global middle class.

Women are 80 percent of the world’s nurses and 90 percent of the frontline health workers. When women’s contribution to all types of care (not just health care) is considered, the immense value of women is rising to $11 trillion or 9 percent of global GDP (Gross Domestic Product). However, women have had enough, as is described in a previous article, the Great Resignation in a Collapsing Health System.

More than nine in ten (93 percent) women have seen a doctor or health care provider in the past two years. One in four (24 percent) women report having had problems paying medical bills in the past months and over half (57 percent) of them say this was due at least in part to the Covid pandemic. Large shares of lower income women report (9-20 percent) being in fair or poor health.

Transformative change for a healthy world

The pandemic proved a society’s reliance on women both on the front line and at home, forming the backbone of society. Women play a crucial role in surviving and preventing natural crises and building strong and resilient communities. In a healthy world it is important women will be heard.

A recovery from the biggest medical disaster in history is an opportunity for change with full participation and the contribution of women in paid work, decision-making and leadership. The priority is investment in safe cost-effective health systems strengthening women’s health and social protection to rebuild trust, public health, and economies with opportunities for all – and no more disruptions such as lockdowns, mask- and vaccine mandates that have so devastated women.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

The Great Resignation in a Collapsing Health System

Sat, 28 Jan 2023 14:20:52 GMT

In an increasing number of countries all over the world chaos and despair is rising. People are more frequently ill and dying at higher rates than the past 50 years. At the same time health systems are deteriorating. We need to rethink humanness of health systems versus cold technological solutions.

Political ideology and catastrophic leadership costs healthy years of lives

The health system in the UK is collapsing because of a decade or more of underinvestment in the National Health Service and other public services. The indicators for the health service are all red. Increased ambulance times and people waiting for a hospital bed, stranded outside overflowing hospitals, have spiked since December 2022. The overstretched system , with the longest delays on record for millions of treatments for cancer and operations, has left patients in pain, people enduring unnecessary suffering, and has led to 300-500 people a week dying avoidably because of the unsolved current crisis. The roots lie in political choices made, not cold weather or a seasonal flu.

On January 5, 2023 the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak brought together the current advisors about the pressure of increasing demands. Yet, the response of top and senior managers in health services and politicians is silence , denial, disengagement, and delay, while health professionals are crying out on social media, mainstream media and the British Medical Journal to be heard.

Other countries like France , Canada , and the US and The Netherlands are facing similar problems in the collapsing health system with shortness of staff and increased demands.

A fall in life expectancy

Excess disabilities among those aged 16-64 years , and excess mortality among all age groups is noticed in a way that has never seen before. In the US excess mortality is 40 percent up amongst working age people. Cardiac health problems and sudden deaths increased most. Undercooled and malnourished elderly people are filling hospital beds and keep them filled as they have no place to go. But also, more newborn babies and young children need hospital care. Stillbirths have skyrocketed to levels never seen before and birth rates around the world have dropped dramatically. Concern regarding a long-term increase in demand is widely spread and worrisome.

A fall in life expectancy is noticed, with the greatest fall in Spain, Italy, Belgium, the US and the UK. This is of a magnitude which has not been seen since World War II. Life expectancy in the US fell by 2.7 years from 2019 to 2021 due to increased mortality and premature deaths. Covid deaths worldwide from 2020-2022 were estimated at 6,653K , which is 3.86 percent of total deaths. The number of people that survived Covid is 99.914 percent, with the highest percentage in developing countries.

UK figures published this week showed that more than 650,000 deaths were registered in 2022 – 9 percent more than in 2020. Roughly 38,000 deaths involved Covid compared with more than 95,000 in 2020. Covid is one of the factors rather than the main explanation. Excess deaths in 2022 is among the worst in 50 years. A call for independent investigations is growing all over the world though they are kept on hold by Public Health ministers.

The real pandemic policy

More and more medical doctors and scientists are speaking out for an immediate halt of the mRNA vaccines until proven otherwise. German pathologists investigated people who died within 14 days after vaccination and observed that in certainly 30 percent of the cases but possibly 70-93 percent there was a relation. The more you vaccinate the worse the immune system gets.

Recently, mandates on Covid-19 vaccines for employees in private sector NYC, healthcare workers in NYCity, and the US military have been lifted.

As the tipping point of reality of the Covid pandemic policy is near, there are many within and outside Parliament and healthcare for whom questions about the coercive nature of the mandates, lockdowns and the catastrophic situation are now increasingly uncomfortable. Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has recently called for a statewide grand jury to investigate the alleged crimes and wrongdoing surrounding the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 mRNA vaccines and the CDC.

The policy of the pandemic crisis ruined lives. The immune system in all age groups has been weakened in multiple ways , while the infection fatality rate of the SARS-CoV-2 virus pre-vaccination level is 0.007 percent for people aged 0-69 years, 0.003 percent for 0-59 years of age, and 0.0003 percent for children aged 0-19 years of age.

The pandemic policy is acknowledged by wrong decisions and wrong investments based on poor studies, manipulated data, assumptions, incomplete or false communications and most of all, censoring voices of medical doctors and scientists questioning the policy. In past years the genuine concern of leading politicians, public health professionals, and journalists about the health and well-being of the population are shown to be very low or at some points even absent.

Accountability

The health system is turned into a money driven Public Private Partnership , selling sickness , with limited interest in promoting health and well-being, let alone considering the advice of Hippocrates ‘First do not harm.’

During the past decade huge investments of tax money have been transferred to technological innovation in healthcare and even increased further over the past three years with the aim to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals of the UN and Future Pandemic Preparedness , the proposed treaty of the WHO. Nevertheless, rising expenses for citizens on healthcare did not add years of a healthy life nor improved life expectancy. Even before the pandemic, the US, often referred to as having the best health system, already had the lowest life expectancy among large wealthy countries while it far outspends its peers on healthcare.

CEO’s, senior managers and politicians are challenged to tackle glaring failings and accountability for current disasters which were predictable and could have been prevented.

The Great resignation

A recent Deloitte article reports around 70 percent of high-level executives are seriously considering quitting their jobs; 1 out of 3 executives are constantly struggling with fatigue and poor mental health, which influences firm performance. Women leaders are leaving companies at the highest rate ever. The National Rural Health Association Policy Paper reported a turnover rate of CEOs of 18-20 percent per year. Over 650 CEOs in the US left their jobs in 2022, an increase of 13 percent as compared to 2021.

The complications of unstable leadership can have a significant short- and long-term impact on hospitals, quality of care and the broader community. Leadership is a vital enabler to address burnout from organizational collapsing. A need for strong and steady leadership has never been greater to prevent hospital closure and continue care, which is especially needed for hospitals in rural health .

Many doctors and nurses are choosing early retirement or leaving the sector for alternative careers. Unfortunately, for people working in the frontline and supporting staff, increasing problems of burnout have been observed also. The tipping points of self-sacrifice or no longer being willing to deal with a moral conflict have passed. The monthly resignation rates in the US during 2021 were the highest in the 20-year history of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

Preliminary findings of the International Council of Nurses suggest that the Covid-19 effect is highly likely to have a significant long-term impact as it contributes to a wave of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Even if only 10-15 percent of the current nursing population quits because of Covid-19, the effect there could be a potential shortfall of 14 million by 2030. which is the equivalent of half the current nursing workforce. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic severe burnout was typically found in 20-40 percent of the healthcare workers.

European Junior Doctors (with 300,000 junior doctors) said in a press release : “Healthcare in Europe is at a precipice. The situation is not new, it was predictable and preventable.” Alarming rates of burnout and other mental problems have resulted in many junior doctors leaving and considering leaving the workforce.

Burnout , depression and anxiety are harmful for the healthcare system, healthcare workers , and patients and are characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and diminished personal achievement. Risk factors have been exacerbated during the pandemic.

Also symptoms of Long Covid were found to be increased among healthcare workers as compared to people working in other sectors, resulting in an urgent need for intervention. The overall long-term effects of the Covid measures on people working in the healthcare sector are yet unknown. The symptoms that are contributing to Long Covid and burnout, depression and anxiety could be a result of pandemic measures and masking in particular.

A crisis to speed the transformation to ‘smart’ hospitals

The collapsing health system enables politicians and healthcare leaders to suggest a range of private market solutions to the healthcare crisis by technology and to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals to be realized in 2030, as quick fixes for healthcare workers and shortage of beds won’t be realistic.

Burned-out doctors and nurses are being replaced by outsourcing at considerable cost . This will speed up the transformation to ‘smart’ hospitals advised by consultancies like McKinsey , KPMG and Philips NV , using AI, robotics, 3D printing, genomics, telemedicine, and precision medicine. 5G technology is introduced to realize Hospital Intelligent Twins for all scenario intelligence healthcare which is already operating in Guangdong, China.

These policies are focused on more money, technology, digitalization and robotization, preparing a revolution to transhumanism and a digital health passport with all information of each citizen available in a central system. The experience with the Covid pandemic has shown transhumanism is a ‘ utopia ’ that can only ever materialize in a dystopia embracing the limits of the world as well as those of the human condition. The way out will be the human factor, not Big Data .

Humanity returns in the center of healthcare

The loss of trust in government and health systems is bone deep for those who have lost loved ones, have become disabled, and lost their income. On Saturday January 7th 6 BBC buildings were covered with posters, stickers and pictures of people who were believed to be injured or killed by the vaccine: “BBC is the virus.”

Heartbreaking situations urgently need support and care. Interventions are needed to prevent similar situations. Unfortunately, most of the interventions often suggested lack evaluation or evidence to support them.

Experienced leaders in change are urgently needed to restore openness and transparency, resilience, and support the healing of people in sickness leaves and prevent more people leaving healthcare. As recently proposed by DeSantis, mask and vaccine mandates should be permanently banned as well as the controversial Covid-19 Hospital Immunity protocol.

The highest priority is a focus on the well-being of all employees, and safe and cost-effective treatments including nutrition and lifestyle interventions strengthening the immune system to support all people in choices for a healthy life. Employees with natural immunity fired during the pandemic should be hired back. Processes need to be simplified and focus on human-centered care.

Leaders of change in healthcare live the principles of universal public health coverage funded by taxation, being responsible and committed, and are not afraid to speak out, guiding organizations into empowering environments embedding a relationship of trust in the doctor-patient relation at the core of Medicine . Patients will be given optimal information of what healthcare workers know, so they can make informed choices . This will lead to positive change paving the road to a healthy economy making safe and effective, equitable, and human-centered healthcare affordable for all a reality.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

Documentary 'Inspiration for a Healthier world'

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 16:26:48 GMT

An interview with dr. Carla Peeters

Watch the video at Youtube or below.

A Big Picture Look at the Disastrous Public Health Response to COVID-19

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:30:16 GMT

Published at The Brownstone Institute

An underlying principle of public health is, or was, to provide the public with accurate information so that they can make good health choices for themselves and their community. The past 3 years have seen this paradigm turned on its head, with the public’s money being used to deceive and coerce them, forcing them to follow public health dictates. The public has funded their own incarceration and impoverishment through their taxes, with public funds driving the unprecedented nonpharmaceutical, and then pharmaceutical, response to a virus that kills mainly old sick people near the end of their lives.

Children have had their education downgraded, and economies have been mangled, ensuring future generations will also pay. So, what did the public actually pay for?

COVID-19 was not novel, but a variation on previous respiratory disease.

Most healthy people infected with SARS-CoV-2 recover without any intervention , gaining natural immunity which, in the absence of vaccination, generates a more robust and long-lasting protection with less risk for reinfections as compared to individuals protected by vaccination alone. Globally, the infection fatality rate (IFR) of SARS-CoV-2 is about 0.15% and comparable to seasonal influenza (IFR 0,1 %). The IFR of those under twenty years was only 0.0013 %, and highest for those beyond 70 years. The IFR of COVID-19 among community-dwelling elderly is lower than previously reported in elderly overall.

A higher IFR was found in countries with many long-term care facilities, perhaps because exposure tends to occur through other immune-suppressed elderly, rather than immune competent children with lower viral loads. An aging population goes through the process of immunosenescence and increased incidence and severity of infectious diseases is expected.

Severe COVID-19, or COVID-19 Associated ARDS , is a syndrome within the known ARDS spectrum. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and associated cytokine storm has been recognized for more than 50 years. It occurs when a diverse array of triggers causes acute, bilateral pulmonary inflammation and increased capillary permeability leading to acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.

Although supportive care improved the prognosis, mortality and disabling complications in survivors in intensive care are still high, and have remained relatively unchanged in the last 20 years . In 2013 an estimated 2.65 million deaths worldwide were attributed to Acute Respiratory Tract Infection.

As with other ARDS etiologies, people suffering from (COVID-19) ARDS are mostly elderly people with comorbidities including being overweight, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, often using multiple medications. Other restrictions on the immune system, such as vitamin D deficiency, put people at increased risk .

As of July 2022, WHO reported over 601 million confirmed cases and over 6.4 million deaths associated with COVID-19 globally . More than half (3.5 million) died after the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, though 67.7 % of the world population has received at least one vaccination . The WHO estimates a total of 14.9 million excess deaths in 2020-2021 associated with COVID-19 directly due to the disease or indirectly due to the impact of the public health response on health systems and society.

Footing the bill for the disposal of orthodox public health

Since COVID-19 was recognized in Western countries in early 2020, expenditures on public health in many of them have more than doubled , imposing over $500 billion in monthly costs on the global economy. Some trillions more have been spent on compensation and stimulus packages for those left without income due to the public health response, whilst economies, and therefore future employment opportunities, have been heavily damaged. This is nearly all funded by taxpayers, or borrowed to be funded with interest by the taxpayers of the future.

Politicians and various experts have claimed that the coercive COVID-19 public health policies are the only way to curb COVID-19, though such measures were advised against by the WHO in its pandemic influenza guidelines of 2019. They would increase poverty and inequality, whilst having (still) unproven efficacy.

Citizens have paid the bill via taxes for novel nonpharmaceutical interventions (lockdowns, mask mandates and frequent testing) and repeated vaccinations of immune people with rapidly waning vaccines , whilst seeing their own incomes reduced. The increase in the money supply to cover relief for forced unemployment has driven inflation , contributing to increased food, water, energy, health and insurance costs. These responses have disproportionately harmed low income families.

Governments take over medical management

Early in the pandemic it became clear that intubating a COVID-19 patient could increase long-term harm and mortality. Unfortunately, many hospitals continued a low threshold for the use of ventilators for the fear that other methods of oxygenation would spread the virus. In 2020 the US spent billions of dollars stockpiling unused ventilators.

In many countries a relatively new antiviral drug, remdesivir, developed with State funding, became the first choice of treatment for hospitalized people with COVID-19. The safety and toxicity of the expensive remdesivir was widely disputed . Yet even after the first results of the WHO’s Solidarity study found little or no effect on reducing hospital stay or Covid deaths, the EU continued a €1.2 billion agreement with Gilead for 500,000 treatments and it continued to be prioritized for use in the United States.

Final results of the Solidarity study confirmed the finding of little or no effect. In contrast, the use of cheaper drugs with antiviral activity, like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine , was suppressed. Although ivermectin is now included in lists of the US National Institutes of Health in August 2022 , governments are silent on its use, preferring to transfer funds to Pharma for newer on-patent drugs.

Expanding lockdowns from prisons to society

Lockdowns may prove to be one of the gravest governmental failures of modern times. A cost-benefit analysis of the response to COVID-19 found lockdowns to be far more harmful to public health (at least 5-10 times) in terms of well-being than COVID-19. Significant collateral damage is not unexpected, as mass business closures and restricted movement have affected billions of people globally through poverty, food insecurity, loneliness, unemployment, educational interruption, and interrupted healthcare. What did not make media headlines is the more than 3 million children who have died from malnutrition in the first year of the pandemic. Together with increasing malnutrition, the world is facing rising burdens of child marriage and child labor , developmental and mental problems, poverty, suicide and chronic disease.

Reviews of the effects of lockdowns on COVID-19 mortality concluded there is no broad-based evidence of noticeable COVID-19 benefit. Pandemic models that guided poverty not only overestimated COVID-19 impact but failed to take into account the collateral damage of lockdowns. The sense of fear, anxiety and helplessness brought to families and 2.2 billion children around the globe with removal of future earning capacity and limited access to healthcare will impact lives in an unprecedented manner for generations.

A recent study analyzing the 50 states of the US, with 10 states that had no lockdown impositions, strongly support the hypothesis that lockdowns place a sudden and severe stress burden on vulnerable demographics and were associated with significant increases in death in those states that used lockdowns as a disease control measure.

Mental health problems, noncommunicable inflammatory diseases , cancer and sudden deaths have increased in people across all age groups, indicating millions of people may now have more compromised immune system s. The links between stress/anxiety, ill-health and early death have long been recognized.

Within Western countries, the most deprived people and neighborhoods have higher risks for severe COVID-19, and higher mortality rates. The underprivileged in society are disproportionately affected by infectious diseases due to poverty, malnutrition, chronic stress, depression and anxiety, a deprived immune system and poor access to health-care . Rather than enhancing the resilience of these populations, the public health response has compounded their poverty, removed education opportunities, and so increased their vulnerability to this and future pandemics.

Testing for sake of testing

State investments were made for COVID-19 diagnostics: PCR tests and point-of-care tests including rapid antigen tests. While billions of tests have been used, they are poor in distinguishing infectiousness and inaccuracy provides a false sense of security , with positive results unnecessary driving fear and sick leave.

The WHO had previously, sensibly, advised against contact tracing once extensive community spread is present – people will be infected eventually, and gain immunity. Spending resources to find a small proportion, not possibly sufficient to stop transmission, is epidemiologically pointless. No reason was provided for reversing this orthodox and logical advice.

Hiding faces to pollute the environment

While there is no sound scientific support for the effectiveness of face mask mandates in the community, including children , state governments invested in the availability of free face masks for all citizens. The two published randomized controlled trials of face masks during COVID-19 showed minimal or no impact , while meta-analyses of previous studies show no significant efficacy. Yet in the first half of 2020 importation of face masks in the EU grew 1,800 % to €14 billion, while the industry in 2021 was worth $4.58 billion globally. Face masks with microplastics and nanoparticles are now polluting the environment , and potentially increasing the risk of impaired immune systems .

Getting an awkward technology past the regulators

Despite severe COVID-19 being highly concentrated in elderly people since early 2020, with significant comorbidities and strong evidence of effectiveness of post – infection immunity , the WHO stated in early 2021 that vaccinating the global population against COVID-19 is the only long-term strategy to contain the coronavirus crisis; “ No one is safe until everyone is safe ”. Rising vaccination rates were said to be necessary to improve healthcare, job prospects and future educational plans.

Unfortunately, the peak efficiency of 97% and 96% respectively claimed for the Moderna and Pizer COVID-19 vaccines against COVID hospitalization waned rapidly after vaccination. The 6-month follow-up reports showed no reduction in all-cause mortality . The COVID-19 adenovector vaccines from Astra-Zeneca and Johnson & Johnson showed better protection against mortality but aren’t used for booster vaccinations in most countries due to the risk of vaccine-related side effects .

A recent peer-reviewed article by Fraiman et al. noted excess risk of serious adverse events analyzing the trial data of both mRNA vaccines that points to the need for formal harm-benefit analyses, particularly those that are stratified according to risk of serious COVID-19 outcomes. The authors request the public release of participant level datasets from the sponsoring drug companies, which is still not openly available.

Moreover, the vice president of Pfizer, answered the question of Rob Roos, a Dutch Europarlementarier during the European Commission on October 11, 2022, concerning whether the mRNA vaccine of Pfizer had been tested for prevention of transmission of the virus before the release of the vaccine in 2021. She said no, thus indicating the vaccine promotion and coercion was based on false arguments.

For authorization to use medical interventions the benefits need to outweigh the risks. These mRNA vaccines don’t clearly meet this bar for people under 70 years of age. A recent study by nine health experts from major universities found that per COVID-19 hospitalization prevented in previously uninfected young adults, between 18 and 98 serious adverse events were observed. In Scandinavian countries the use of the Moderna mRNA vaccine has been restricted for the potential risk of heart inflammation in adolescents .

Although official reports on the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines by Public Health Institutes have been limited, there is growing data on myocarditis, menstrual irregularities or the excess of all cause mortality and severe outcomes in vaccinated groups. The recent leakage of Israeli safety data and release of US CDC V safe Data show serious safety problems with COVID-19 vaccines that deliberately need further investigations.

Countries with the highest vaccination rates and strongest coercive measures have experienced high numbers of hospitalization and deaths , while some with a low vaccination rate, including many sub-Saharan countries maintained low Covid-19 mortality. Antibody responses are shown to be lower in elderly people while decreased responses or higher infection rates have occurred after repeated vaccinations. The CDC disclosed just how fast mRNA boosters can fail.

This calls into question the mass all-population vaccination and boosting strategy. Pascal Soriot, the CEO of Astra-Zeneca, has suggested that “booster jabs for healthy people on a yearly basis are a waste of tax money .

A temporary reprieve

On August 11, 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that the virus now poses significantly lower risk due to high levels of immunity from vaccines and infections. On August 19, it changed its recommendations to reflect this, no longer differentiating between vaccine status or post-infection immunity. President Biden declared in September 2022 “The pandemic is over,” though it remains unclear what this means with ‘emergency’ measures remaining in place.

While the global economy has suffered, this is only clear from a specific standpoint. In contrast to the mass of the population, private companies are involved in the response, particularly in the pharmaceutical, biotech and web-based sectors. These companies have increased their wealth by hundreds of billions of dollars in 2020 and 2021, as did high-net-worth individuals , many of whom were advocating for the response that ensured this.

The beguiling vision of fleecing taxpayers to benefit the private sector

The current COVID-19 response has wiped out the gains from decades of global progress in health and income , especially for women and has exacerbated persistent inequities . Unfortunately, a world that is facing the most serious health crisis in a century and the most serious economic and social crises since the second World War is now also on the hook to fund those who would repeat this.

Together with the WHO, world leaders have now called for a global pandemic preparedness treaty to make this state of affairs more readily repeatable. They justify this call for further diversion of public funds through the harms, financial and other, accrued during the COVID-19 outbreak.

This is driven by a vision that health is a political choice based on solidarity and ‘equity’ to be established in a centralized global response delivered via international organizations including the WHO, UNICEF , Gavi , (a global Vaccine Alliance) and the public-private partnership Coalition for Economic Preparedness Information (CEPI), launched in 2017 at the WEF by Bill Gates, the Wellcome Trust, Norwegian Government and others. Finance institutions, including the World Bank , have now stepped in to accelerate the growth of this burgeoning pandemic industry. A new World Bank-hosted Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response was installed at the G20 Health Ministerial Meeting in June 2022.

A real concern is growing that the new vision of drug and vaccine approval by the FDA and EMA will expand a commercialized market driven by drug manufacturers at the expense of rigorous independent scientific and regulatory review. This risks irreparable harm for many people while boosting the profits of pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Prescribed medications are already estimated to be the third most common contributor to death globally after heart disease and cancer.

Despite their stated intent, the investments in COVID-19 vaccinations and nonpharmaceutical interventions of the past three years have not improved human capital, economic and societal performance. Moreover illnesses, disabilities and mortality show steep rises in the working age group (25-64 years) as observed by insurance companies. Predictions by consultancy firms of the support Covid-19 vaccinations would provide to the economy have been unrealistic . Countries are now facing shortages of healthcare workers in part due to vaccine mandates, reducing healthcare access to people with ill-health who have paid insurance and tax money for healthcare. It might even result in bankruptcy of hospitals .

Good Health, the most precious asset of life

The CEO of CEPI stated in an interview with McKinsey that “The emergent issue of waning immunity and the threat posed by the evolution of the virus tell us that we need to produce broader and more enduring immune responses.” Mass surveillance , lockdowns, wearing face masks and poorly effective COVID-19 vaccines have contributed to chronic stress, fear and anxiety that reduce the resilience of immunity. Unfortunately, when the immune system (immunosenescence) is weakened vaccinations are also less able to generate effective protection.

More state investments in frequent vaccinations, mass distribution of vaccines , developing new vaccines within 100 days, development of simulating models , and more clinical trials will be poor alternatives to strengthen the underlying immune systems through a life in freedom with high social capital , a healthy diet, education, sports, play, social interactions, equity in decision-making and fair earnings.

Health is key for resilient economies worldwide . The relationship between health and the economy is bidirectional, whereby economic growth enables funding in investments that improve health; and a healthy population contributes to and enhances an economy. Therefore, public and private investments in health for all needs to transform from maximizing value for money to positive cumulative impacts on people’s lives.

Optimizing health is the ultimate goal and a human right. The global response to the coronavirus pandemic has revealed an ethical crisis in public health, in which the pre-pandemic norms of public health ethics have been cast aside.

This has wrecked health, human rights and economies, whilst the people public health was supposed to serve it had to pay for its implementation, and will pay for its harms. It will be a long way back, and recovery will require public health to return to its servant nature, and leave the limelight where it caused such disaster.

Authors

Carla Peeters

Carla Peeters is founder and managing director of COBALA Good Care Feels Better. She obtained a PhD in Immunology from the Medical Faculty of Utrecht, studied Molecular Sciences at Wageningen University and Research, and followed a four-year course in Higher Nature Scientific Education with a specialization in medical laboratory diagnostics and research. She studied at various business schools including London Business School, INSEAD and Nyenrode Business School.

David Bell

David Bell, Senior Scholar at Brownstone Institute, is a public health physician and biotech consultant in global health. He is the former Program Head for malaria and febrile diseases at the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) in Geneva, Switzerland.

How Masking Contributes to Long Covid

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 13:35:55 GMT

Alingering disorder that can last for months or years is affecting an increasing proportion of the workforce. The symptoms that contribute to Long Covid could be a result of pandemic measures and masking in particular. Increased exposure to microplastics, nanoparticles, chemicals in masks and nasopharyngeal tests parallel many of the symptoms that define Long Covid.

Surveys among thousands of people suggest 7% to 30% of people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus experienced one or more symptoms for a period longer than 12 weeks. Some people who got Covid-19 early in the pandemic still haven’t recovered.

The syndrome Long Covid is complex as symptoms may fluctuate and people go through different stages. Symptoms have been protracted by patients at ICU and those with organ damage, but also occurred in people with only a mild infection.

A list of sixty -two different symptoms define the syndrome of Long Covid. Fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness, anxiety, depression and a loss of smell and taste are among the most frequently found symptoms.

Most scientists and medical doctors – including media – link Long Covid symptoms to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. This would be the first Coronavirus in history causing long-lasting chronic symptoms in a high percentage of the workforce. People with Long Covid can experience social isolation and stigma because of their inability to perform. The rise of Long Covid has created millions of new people with disabilities .

The root cause of the disease is still mysterious. In several case studies and an excellent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that investigated many diagnostic parameters in people with and without Long Covid, no biological change could explain a link to Long Covid. Some scientists relate the symptoms of Long Covid to other complex diseases of multidisciplinary origin like Alzheimer’s disease, Lyme disease , Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or hyperventilation syndrome .

Many countries have started special clinics and funded research especially for studying lingering effects. A one-sizefits-all successful treatment has not been found yet. Thousands or maybe over a hundred million are frustrated at the lack of treatment available. Doctors and scientists prefer a holistic approach, but medical and social services are often understaffed.

Desperate patients with Long Covid symptoms are traveling abroad to private clinics for blood apheresis and the prescription of anti-coagulation drugs, though treatments are still experimental and evidence on effectiveness is still lacking. For some patients these treatments have been successful, for others not.

Covid-19 vaccination has been a hot topic in speeches of politicians and advertising in the media as a motivation for preventing Long Covid. However, a large study among 13 million people published in Nature Medicine could only demonstrate a small effect.

A study published in the Italian Journal of Pediatrics demonstrated that physical symptoms were restored much faster as compared to mental symptoms, suggesting Long Covid could be related to pandemic measures rather than a viral infection. The risks for Long Covid symptoms have shown to be increased for people with existing chronic diseases, increasing age, and lower income, women being more susceptible than men.

Fear, social isolation, depression and worries for education and decreased income are thought to be related to the symptoms of Long Covid in children with and without a positive PCR test. As the emergency of the pandemic continues a worrying spike in chronic diseases , suicide and excess mortality are noticed at the global level. This indicates the deprivation of a resilient immune system with an increased susceptibility for lingering symptoms of Long Covid.

Symptoms Long Covid link to MIES

At this point there has been limited attention for a possible relation of Long Covid and exposure to chemicals in masks, nasopharyngeal tests and disinfectants. In a meta-analysis by an interdisciplinary team of German physicians, a potential risk of Mask Induced Exhaustion Syndrome (MIES) has been found. The most frequently observed symptoms (fatigue, headaches, dizziness, lack of concentration) as described for MIES overlap with important symptoms for Long Covid syndrome.

The lack of smell and taste during Covid-19 seems to be different as compared to symptoms during the flu. A lack of taste and smell are frequently observed after chemotherapy in cancer treatments and has been linked to malnutrition, inflammation and depression. Also, brain fog is a symptom occurring after chemotherapy. It seems likely that harmful effects by long-term mask-wearing and frequent nasopharyngeal testing with increased exposure to chemicals (not naturally found products) can accelerate symptoms and contribute to Long Covid.

Up to now, the safety of long-term and frequent wearing of masks and taking nasal swab samples in a delicate area in the nose, often by hardly experienced persons, have been poorly investigated. Severe nose bleedings (epistaxis), cerebrospinal fluid leakage , vomiting, dizziness and fainting have been reported. Most frequently used masks and nasopharyngeal tests are derived from China with less strict controls and measures for the presence of hazardous materials.

In several countries masks and nasopharyngeal tests delivered by governments were taken from the market . Microplastics, nanoparticles (graphene oxide, titanium dioxide, silver, ethylene oxide, coloring compounds, fluorocarbon (PFAS) and heavy metals have been found in masks and nasopharyngeal tests. Unfortunately, not all masks and tests used during the pandemic are controlled. A report from the Dutch Public Health institute (RIVM) released in November 2021 stated “the safety of masks cannot be guaranteed.”

The short- and long-term impact of frequent exposure on the physiology and physical and mental functioning of the human body is unknown. Harmful effects for children , who are less able to detoxify, could result in a compromised immune and nervous system resulting in repeated and rare infections with more chronic diseases during aging and less healthy future generations.

Microplastics and nanoparticles withdraw proteins, vitamins and minerals forming bio- corona (microclots), accumulating in important organs (blood, liver, gut, lung tissue), and disturb important physiological and immunological processes

The liver , lungs and gut are important organs in energy metabolism, detoxification and surveillance by the innate immune system. Disrupting a delicate gut-liver-brain axis can relate to fatigue and exhaustion.

Seeking more answers for a Long Covid mystery

The Belgium Public Health Institute, Sciensano, found titanium dioxide in 24 types of masks. A recent publication in Gut showed that exposure to titanium dioxide could exacerbate inflammation of the colon (Colitis Ulcerosa) weakening the innate immune system. Furthermore, titanium dioxide can enter directly into the brain and cause oxidative stress in glial cells (or mast cells), cells with an important role in the proper functioning of the innate immune system and nervous system . Maternal exposure to titanium dioxide during pregnancy may result in impaired memory in the infant. Long-term exposure and high concentrations could even cause DNA damage. Unfortunately, masks with titanium dioxide are still available on the market.

Mental problems, anxiety and depression , have been linked to a change in the microbiome. Researchers from Stanford University observed in patients with gut inflammation (Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Colitis Ulcerosa) a link to missing gut microbes as compared to healthy persons. A significantly increased risk of a new onset of psychiatric illness is concentrated in the early post-acute phase of a Covid-19 infection.

A team of Japanese scientists discovered the presence of pathogens ( bacteria and fungi ) on the inner and outer side of various masks. In case of a disrupted growth of pathogenic bacteria and fungi the body is exposed to a higher concentration of (myco)toxins that often leads to feeling fatigue and sickness.

Overgrowth of facultative anaerobe bacteria (bacteria needing less oxygen) for example methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has been related to mask acne and mask mouth . Staphylococcus aureus may cause pneumonia , sepsis and blood poisoning. Many of the exotoxins and secreted enzymes secreted by these bacteria suppress the T cell repertoire of the immune system. The excreted products can also cause aggregation of phagocytes, decreasing phagocytosis resulting in an impaired innate and adaptive immune system.

A long-term albeit small change in the O2/CO2 gases in the inhaled air may influence an unfavorable change in the microbiome on the skin, mouth, nose, lungs and gut. Both oxygen and carbon dioxide are the primary gaseous substrate and product respectively, of oxidative metabolism in each cell. Variations in the levels of these gases outside the physiological range can lead to pathological conditions including respiratory and heart problems, permanent injury, immune suppression, increased aging, and altered gene expression for fertility and death. Carbon dioxide poisoning is recognized as an often-forgotten cause of intoxication in the emergency department. Several studies found an Increased level of carbon dioxide when wearing masks. This phenomenon was more pronounced during sports .

The laboratory of a South Africa scientist has found significant microclot formation in Long Covid patients and acute Covid patients. Acute Covid-19 is not only a lung disease but affects the vascular and coagulation system. Unfortunately, inflammatory molecules are missed in normal blood tests as they are entrapped in the fibrinolytic resistant microclots. The presence of the microclots and hyperactivated platelets perpetuates coagulation and vascular pathology, resulting in cells not getting enough oxygen. Oxygen deprivation damages every single organ. Many Covid patients have low oxygen in the blood and are treated with oxygen therapy.

Oxygen deprivation at the cellular level is also described for bio-corona that are formed in the human body when exposed to graphene-oxide and microplastics. Graphene-oxide and microplastics are found in masks and nasopharyngeal swabs and may enter the human body via airways, eyes or food.

Two and a half years into the pandemic the immune system is disrupted by O2 deprivation and exposure to microplastics, nanoparticles and other toxic chemicals. This leads to an unfavorable change in the microbiome, brain damage, inflammation and the formation of microclots. Microclots could be amyloids formed by excreted bacterial products and/or biocorona, formed by nanoparticle and microplastics. The microclots cannot naturally break down by fibrinolysis and accelerates O2 deprivation in capillaries and at the cellular level.

Wearing masks and nasopharyngeal swabs could lead to (sudden) death

The results of Foegen’s observational study published in Medicine strongly suggest that mask mandates caused 50% more deaths compared to no mask mandates. Dr Foegen theorized that hyper-condensed droplets caught by masks are reinhaled and introduced deeper into the respiratory tract responsible for higher viral loads and an increased mortality rate ( The Foegen effect ). Exposure to microplastics may result in lung fibrosis.

Also, a peer-reviewed study published in April 2022 on mask usage across Europe noted a moderate positive correlation between mask usage and deaths in Western Europe.

Not harm, supporting lives is the purpose of life

The policy of politicians and advisory experts promoting a reintroduction of pandemic measures is a high risk for a disastrous effect for a now chemically poisoned population with a weakened immune system .

In many countries in the world excessive mortality and sickness is observed. Each of the measures including Covid-19 vaccination might have their own contribution to the weakened immune system.

The observed microclots in patients with Long Covid and acute Covid, independent of Covid-19 vaccination, is indicating that any measure that may cause oxygen deprivation or inflammation is a risk for sudden death, and more severe infectious and chronic diseases (liver, heart problems and neurodegenerative diseases). At this moment it is not known which concentration of microclots and oxygen deprivation may result in severe symptoms or even death.

Above all, after two and a half years into the pandemic, neglecting the basic principles of Public Health , the pandemic measures do not show benefits in reduction of Covid-19 infection and Covid-19 deaths. The policy of mask-wearing and frequent testing is ineffective, expensive, and causes harm to humanity and the environment. Therefore, mask-wearing and frequent testing should be halted immediately worldwide.

The priority need is a political will and governmental funding to focus on strengthening the immune system, preventing malnutrition and famine for all. Moreover, millions of individuals suffering from Long Covid, or side effects of Covid-19 vaccines have the right for personal and financial support. Otherwise many people may become disabled as a result of poor management of this crisis.

Also published at the Brownstone Institute, AUGUST 12, 2022

What Weakened Immune Systems Have Wrought for Children

Wed, 27 Jul 2022 08:39:00 GMT

What Weakened Immune Systems Have Wrought for Children

As published on Brownstone Institute, 12 July 2022

In the report of June 24, 2022, the WHO noted a further rise from 450 cases to 920 cases of acute hepatitis in children worldwide from May 26 to June 24, mostly (78%) in children under the age of 6 years. Unfortunately, forty-five children required liver transplants and 18 children died. Most children have been diagnosed in the UK (367), US (305), Japan (58), Mexico (58), Italy (34) and Spain (39).

Out of 100 probable cases with available clinical data the most commonly reported symptoms were nausea or vomiting (54%), jaundice (49%), general weakness (45%) and abdominal pain (45%).

Researchers and medical doctors are still investigating the origin of the mysterious rise in hepatitis with a focus on a possible viral origin. In 45% of the cases in the US a positive PCR test for adenovirus was found, with 75% of the cases in the UK and in more than 50% of the cases in Europe. A positive PCR test for SARS-CoV-2-virus was found in 15% of the cases in Europe and 10% in the US.

Although the PCR test for the adenovirus was run with two probes, Ct values for a positive test were almost all above 30, indicating most of the cases had a low infection risk. Furthermore, histological findings were non-specific and not consistent with known viral causes of hepatitis.

Analysis by Liquid Chromatography/High Resolution Mass Spectrometry detected several therapeutic moieties including antibiotics, ursodeoxycholic acid, vitamins, paracetamol, and fluconazole. Some have been administered in hospital as part of the case management.

Paracetamol, fluconazole and mycotoxins (foodborne toxins) are thought to be highly unlikely. Though, Salmon and Palmer argue that the spread in age of cases is a possibility of food contaminated with mycotoxins. They refer to a Salmonella outbreak in Canada and the US that was recently linked to peanut butter.

Both the CDC and the WHO have ruled out Covid-19 vaccine as a causative agent, as most of the children did not receive the vaccine prior to hepatitis. Based on preliminary reports the WHO still considers the adenovirus as the most possible causative pathogen.

Seeking Illness

Since the start of the pandemic the focus of seeking the cause of illnesses has been a screening on viral infections. Unfortunately, a positive PCR test is not able to distinguish between a piece of dead material (RNA, DNA) or a virus able to cause an infection. How long a piece of RNA or DNA may remain in the body that can result in a positive PCR test is not known. The preliminary reports do not write about an infectious virus that has been cultured.

More observations on children’s health are alarming. Health experts in the US are seeing children in the middle of the summer testing positive for as much as seven common viruses-adenovirus, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus, influenza and parainfluenza as well as coronavirus, with most of them having two or three combined .

Experts say COVID measures have worn down the immune system and made children more vulnerable for infections that normally do not occur in summertime and don’t need hospital visits. The explanation is that children are less exposed to these viruses and therefore not able to deal with the virus appropriately.

Children returning to school after two years of lockdowns have been observed to be too weak to walk, not knowing how to play and communicate, depressed, anxious, angry, and not potty trained at the age of 5.

More children than ever are being prescribed highly addictive drugs like Valium . Mysterious rises in diseases in children are being noticed. Unfortunately, all symptoms might be linked to similar underlying causes that have not yet been investigated while a generation is being over-medicalized and steered towards diagnoses that could result in surgeries and lifelong medication.

Environmental Induced Liver Cirrhosis-Related Malnutrition

During the past two years children have been frequently exposed to microplastics, graphene oxide , titanium dioxide, silver oxide, fluorocarbon (PFAS), methanol, hypercapnia, and hypoxia by wearing face masks, frequent testing and disinfectants adding up to damage the liver , the controller of the immune surveillance system.

In addition, it is acknowledged that the ministry of Health from Spain has been using aerial techniques with toxic antiseptics and chemical disinfectants (Chemtrails) spraying over the population to reach all surfaces quickly as part of the program for the management of Covid.

Before and during the pandemic in many countries children have been exposed to PFAS (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a group of 4,700 heterogenous chemicals with amphipathic properties and exceptional stability of chemical and thermal degradation.

A recent peer reviewed study from Keck School of Medicine found that people exposed to synthetic forever chemicals PFAS, PFOS (perfluorooctanoic sulfonic acid) and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid) are all connected with elevated levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), a biomarker for liver damage .

The children with acute hepatitis all had increased ALAT levels. ALAT is also increased in humans with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition when excess fat builds up in the liver that can end in liver cirrhosis, suggesting a link with PFAS. According to the authors of this article it is expected that in 2030 about one-third of all adults in the US will be diagnosed with NAFLD. For years it has been known that PFAS is weakening the immune system and may cause cancer. It’s reported to reduce the antibody response to vaccines. The latest research showed that people with high levels of PFAS in their blood had a higher risk for severe COVID-19 due to a poor immune system.

Synthetic ‘forever chemicals’ means they will be permanently in the environment. In recent years much attention has been given to the possible harm of PFAS in drinking water which has lowered the concentrations that are allowed. Unfortunately, there are other ways to be exposed to PFAS which are a great risk for children.

Once people have been exposed to PFAS it remains months to years in the body depending on the specific compound. Up to now there is limited attention for the possible harm of these chemicals in children. Very high levels of PFAS values have been found in the blood of young children living next to a 3M plant in Belgium. As children are more prone to liver damage by exposure to toxic chemicals and PFAS they may accumulate more over time. Experts acknowledged the increased risk for thyroid diseases, elevated cholesterol, liver damage and kidney and testicular cancer.

Countries with the highest number of children with severe hepatitis reported are known to have problems with high levels of PFAS exposure. An expert opinion appeared in the UK in 2021 “Is the UK sleepwalking into a PFAS contaminating nightmare?” In Japan PFAS contaminations had broad attention the past two years, as well as in Italy , Mexico , Spain and the US .

Have the children been poisoned? It is highly likely that children may experience toxic-induced liver cirrhosis-related malnutrition due to the increasing toxic chemicals exposure during the past years to their small bodies that are less capable of detoxifying.

Malnutrition, An Orphan Disease in Healthcare

In 2019 UK Malnutrition Week focused on liver disease and malnutrition. Malnutrition is when a person’s diet does not contain the right amounts of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Many acute and long-term health conditions including liver and gut diseases are associated with malnutrition risk. Poor nutrition is common in patients with liver failure or cirrhosis and can lead to muscle wasting, weakness, and fatigue. Around three million people in the UK were in 2019 either malnourished or at risk of becoming malnourished. Now more than two years into the pandemic, this number may be far higher.

Lockdowns and school closures resulted in most children being less exposed to sunlight. Among other communicable diseases vitamin D deficiency is involved in the pathogenesis of chronic liver diseases by viruses.

A fifth of all Covid-19 deaths of under 5 worldwide were recorded in Brazil , with half of them in one of the poorest regions of the country. Most of the children who died were between the age of 29 days to 1 year. Also, in Brazil bioaccumulation of PFAS in a tropical estuarine food web has been reported.

Each child is exposed to different loads of environmental chemicals and has a personal physiological and metabolic condition. Many might have been unknowingly in a certain stage of malnourishment before the pandemic. The grade of intoxication and malnourishment influences the vitality of the liver, gut permeability, microbiome, and inflammation of the digestive system that influences the nutrition available for a proper liver-gut-brain functioning.

This interplay of chemicals and nutrients may explain the variety of problems among children currently being observed from mental and/or physical problems to infectious disease, psychomotor disorders and organ failure. A possible relation between prenatal PFAS exposure and psychomotor development during the first two years of life has been found in an observational study in Spain.

Exposure of Children to High Levels of Chemicals

Fluoropolymers and nanoparticles are essential parts of green technology like electric vehicles, solar panels, Artificial Intelligence and more. The ban of these chemicals makes a green agenda far more difficult to realize. Although the green agenda’s aim is a less polluted and healthier world, limited attention has been given to possible harms.

Evidence from observational and real-world data on the damaging effect of the exposure of children to high levels of chemicals like PFAS, biocides, heavy metals, methanol and microplastics that have been poorly or never investigated for cytotoxic and genotoxic effects continues to grow. The scattered evidence worldwide needs to become actionable evidence with a measurable impact worldwide to prevent further harm. A realistic harm-benefit analysis is highly needed.

Too Much Harm

Evidence of overdiagnosis and overtreatment continues to grow. Seeking illness is a profitable business, which is amplified by the Covid pandemic. On the other side an increasing population suffers from underdiagnosis.

Many children remain underdiagnosed and untreated. It is time to fight childhood undernutrition and dehydration. Most people associate malnutrition with poverty. Unfortunately, chemical-associated malnutrition and dehydration exponentially grew during the Covid lockdowns to become a widespread and urgent problem all over the world.

Malnutrition is responsible for significant abnormalities of physical and mental development. Undernourished children have diminished cognitive performance and learning difficulties, and a poorly functioning immune system. Better nutrition of a now pathologized generation will have a positive impact on the health of future generations.

Het bericht What Weakened Immune Systems Have Wrought for Children verscheen eerst op Good Care Feels Better .

No Farmers, No Food, No Life

Wed, 27 Jul 2022 07:17:00 GMT

No Farmers, No Food, No Life

The world is now facing a man-made food catastrophe. It is reaching crisis levels.Current policies in many parts of the world place a priority on climate change for realizing a green new deal. Meanwhile, such policies will contribute to children dying from severe malnutrition due to broken food systems, with shortages of food and water, stress, anxiety, fear , and dangerous chemical exposure.

More negative pressure on farmers and the food system is asking for a catastrophe. The immune system of many people, especially children, has lost its resilience and has weakened too far with high risks for intoxication , infections, non-communicable and infectious diseases, deaths and infertility .

Dutch farmers , of whom many will face a cost of living crisis after 2030, have drawn the line. They are supported by an increasing number of farmers and citizens worldwide.

It’s not the farmers who are the most heavy polluters of the environment, but industries who make the products needed for a technocracy revolution to green energy, data mining, and Artificial Intelligence. As more of the WEF plans are rolled out by politicians, inequalities grow, and conflicts are rising all over the world.

The strong farmers’ revolt in the Netherlands is a call for an urgent transition to a people-oriented, free and healthy world with nutritious food cultivated and harvested in respect to natural processes. The cooperation of ordinary people worldwide is on the rise to prevent a mass famine catastrophe caused by the plan of scientism and technocracy to rule and control the world by unelected scientists and elites.

Enough food, access to food is the problem

Farmers around the world normally grow enough calories (2,800) per person (while 2,100 calories/day would be sufficient) to support a population of nine to ten billion people worldwide. But still over 828 million people have too little to eat each day. The problem is not always food; it is access. The UN which wrote in 2015 in the Sustainable Development Goals goal 2: No hunger and malnutrition for all in 2030 will not be reached .

Throughout history many times natural or manmade disasters led to food insecurities for longer periods of time, resulting in hunger, malnutrition (undernourishment) and mortality. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation. Since the global pandemic began, access to food estimates show that food insecurity has likely doubled, if not tripled in some places around the world.

Moreover, during the pandemic, global hunger rose to 150 million and is now affecting 828 million people, with 46 million at the brink of starvation facing emergency levels of hunger or worse. In the hardest hit places, this means famine or famine-like conditions. At least 45 million children are suffering from wasting, which is the most visible and severe form of malnutrition, and potentially life-threatening.

With global prices of food and fertilizers already reaching worrying highs, the continuing impacts of the pandemic, the political forces to realize climate change goals and the Russia-Ukraine war raise serious concerns for food security both in the short and the long term.

The world is facing a further spike in food shortages, pushing more families worldwide at risk for severe malnutrition. Those communities which survived former crises are left more vulnerable to a new shock than before and will accumulate the effects, diving into famine (acute starvation and a sharp increase in mortality).

Furthermore, growth of economies and development of nations are currently slowing down due to a lack of workforce due to a sharp decrease in well-being and higher mortality rates.

In the wake of new nitrogen limits that require farmers to radically curb their nitrogen emissions by up to 70 percent in the next eight years, tens of thousands of Dutch farmers have risen in protest against the government.

Farmers will be forced to use less fertilizer and even to reduce the number of their livestock, in some cases up to 95% . For smaller family-owned farms it will be impossible to reach these goals. Many will be forced to shutter, including people whose families have been farming for up to eight generations.

Moreover, a significant decrease and limitations of Dutch farmers will have huge repercussions for the global food supply chain. The Netherlands is the world’s second largest agricultural exporter after the United States. Still, the Dutch government pursues their agenda on Climate Change while there is currently no law to support the implementation, while they will not change much in the planet’s major air pollution. Models used to arrive at the decision of the Dutch government are debated by acknowledged scientists .

In no communication have Dutch politicians considered the effects of their decision on breaking a most important goal in the UN agreement: ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all in 2030 .

Unfortunately, Sri Lanka , a country whose political leader introduced zero Nitrogen and CO2 emissions policy, is now facing economic problems, severe hunger, and difficulties to access food upon a political decision that farmers were not allowed to use fertilizers and pesticides. Still, politicians responsible for Nitrogen emissions/climate change in other countries pursue the same green policy.

Furthermore, experts are warning that heat, flooding, drought, wildfires, and other disasters have been wreaking economic havoc, with worse to come. Food and water shortages have been in the media.

On top of that, Australian experts announce a risk for an outbreak of a viral disease in cattle. This could cause an A$80 billion hit to the Australian economy and even more real supply chain issues. Countless businesses and producers go bankrupt. The emotional toll they are facing to euthanize their healthy herds is immense and hardly bearable. It is pushing more farmers to end their life.

Hopefully, the need for the Danish government to apologize , as an investigative report on the cull of more than 15 million minks in November 2020 criticized the action that led to the misleading of mink breeders and the public and the clearly illegal instructions to authorities, will help politicians to reconsider such drastic measures on farmers.

Worldwide, farmers’ protests are rising, supported by more and more citizens who stand up against the expensive mandates for changes to “green policies” that already brought massive miseries and instability.

At a ministerial conference for food security on June 29 2022, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that worsening food shortages could lead to a global “catastrophe ”.

Malnutrition responsible for more ill health than any other cause

The increased risk of food and water shortages the world is facing now will bring humanity to the edge. Hunger is a many-headed monster. For decades conquering world hunger has become a political issue in a way that it could not have been in the past. The use of authoritarian political power led to disastrous government policies, making it impossible for millions of people to earn a living. Chronic hunger and the recurrence of virulent famines must be seen as being morally outrageous and politically unacceptable, says Dreze and Sen in Hunger and Public Action , published in 1991.

“For those at the high end of the social ladder, ending hunger in the world would be a disaster. For those who need availability of cheap labor, hunger is the foundation of their wealth, it is an asset,” wrote Dr. George Kent in 2008 in the essay “ The Benefits of World Hunger .”

Malnutrition is not only influenced by food and water shortage, but also to exposures of extreme stress, fear, insecurity of safety and food, social factors, chemicals, microplastics, toxins, and over-medicalization. No country in the world can afford to overlook this disaster in all its forms, which affects mostly children and women in reproductive age. Globally more than 3 billion people cannot afford healthy diets. And this is in contradiction to what many people think is just a low-income country problem.

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic began, about 8% of the population in North America and Europe lacked regular access to nutritious and sufficient food. A third of reproductive-age women are anemic, while 39% of the world’s adults are overweight or obese. Each year around 20 million babies are born underweight. In 2016 9.6% of the women were underweight. Globally in 2017, 22.2% of the children under the age of five were stunting, while undernutrition explains around 45% of deaths among children under five.

As stated by Lawrence Haddad, the co-chair of the Global Nutrition Report independent Expert Group, “We now live in a world where being malnourished is the new normal. It is a world we must all claim as totally unacceptable.” While malnutrition is the leading driver of disease with nearly 50% of deaths caused by nutrition related non-communicable diseases in 2014, only $50 million of donor funding was given.

Malnutrition in all its forms imposes unacceptably high costs – direct and indirect – on individuals, families and nations. The estimated impact on the global economy of the chronic undernourishment of 800 million people could be as high as $3,5 trillion per year , as was stated in a Global Nutrition Report in 2018. While child deaths, premature adult mortality and malnutrition-related infectious and non-communicable diseases are preventable with the right nutrition.

This will be much more at this precious moment, as the population sharply increases in excess mortality and non-communicable diseases among the working age people as recently shown by insurance companies .

Famines cause transgenerational effects

Famine is a widespread condition in which a large percentage of people in a country or region have little or no access to adequate food supplies. Europe and other developed parts of the world have mostly eliminated famine, though widespread famines that killed thousands and millions of people are known from history, like the Dutch Potato famine from 1846-1847, The Dutch Hunger winter 1944-1945 and a Chinese famine of 1959-1961.

The latter was the most severe famine both in terms of duration and number of people affected (600 million and around 30 million deaths) and led to a widespread undernutrition of the Chinese population in the period from 1959-1961. Currently, Sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen are countries with recognized famine.

Unfortunately, global destabilization, starvation and mass migration are increasing fast with more famines to be expected if we do not act today.

Epidemiological studies of Barker and later of Hales showed a relation between the availability of nutrition in various stages of pregnancy and the first years of life and diseases later in life. Their studies demonstrated that people with metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases were often small at birth. More and more research proves the role of nutrition-related mechanisms influencing gene expression. Even the period prior to pregnancy might influence a later risk for insulin resistance or other complications of the fetus.

As demonstrated in a study with 3,000 participants in Northern China, prenatal exposure to famine significantly increased hyperglycemia in adulthood in two consecutive generations. Severity of famine during prenatal development is related to the risk for Type 2 diabetes. These findings are consistent with animal models that have shown the impact of prenatal nutritional status on neuro-endocrine changes that affect metabolism and can be programmed to transmit physiologically across multiple generations through both male and female generations. Early life Health shock conditions can cause epigenetic changes in humans that persist throughout life, affect old age mortality and have multigenerational effects. Depending on which trimester the fetus is exposed to food deprivation or even stress alone a related disease later in life may vary from schizophrenia, ADHD to renal failure and hypertension among others. Other studies of famine exposure in people have produced evidence of changes in the endocrine system and to prenatal gene expression in reproductive systems .

The effects of periods of famine or undernutrition have predominantly been seen in people with low social economic income. However, 1 in 3 persons in the world suffered from some form of malnutrition in 2016. Women and children are 70% of the hungry. There is no doubt that undernutrition increased further during the past six years. Stunting and wasting increased in the most vulnerable . Two out of three children are not fed the minimum diverse diet they need to grow and develop to their full potential.

The hungry people in countries like Sri Lanka, Haiti, Armenia ,and Panama are the tip of the iceberg, opening the eyes of many citizens worldwide to a fast-growing problem as a result of the lockdowns, mandates and coercive policies in climate change, drought and the Ukraine war.

Citizens of the world have been facing for years: excess mortality , a fast decline in infertility and childbirth with a threat to human rights for women and more diseases.

Shocking reports of the UN and WHO acknowledged the health of people and environment is declining. The world is moving backwards on eliminating hunger and malnutrition. The real danger is that these numbers will climb even higher in the months ahead.

The truth is that food innovation hubs , food flats (vertical farming), artificial meats and gene and mind manipulations will not be able to tackle the depressing state humanity is facing.

Zero-Covid policy has brought humanity at risk in its existence. Covid-19 vaccines with a risk for harm have been rolled out even for children under five years, hardly at risk for a severe disease, but undernourishment that greatly increases susceptibility to major human infectious diseases has not been taken care of.

Conflicts are growing worldwide, increasing instability. Citizens will no longer accept policies without a clear harm-cost benefit analysis.

We need to act now to decrease food and fuel prices immediately by supporting farmers and effective food systems for nutritious food to heal the most malnourished (children and females at childbearing age) in the population.

Let us hope for a return of Hippocrates’ principle: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Het bericht No Farmers, No Food, No Life verscheen eerst op Good Care Feels Better .

As published on Brownstone Institute 25 July 2022

Wearing a Mask During Indoor Exercise Can Be Fatal

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 13:21:00 GMT

Published at The Brownstone Institute 10 June 2022

A recent article from the Technical University of Munich published in PNAS reached national newspapers in several countries worldwide. The team showed that aerosol emissions increase exponentially with intense physical exertion, indicating that indoor sporting activities result in higher risk of infectious diseases as COVID. The authors suggested the use of face masks, social distancing and ventilation to prevent viral infections during (vigorous) indoor exercise.

However, the study as presented in the newspaper article does not yet prove a higher risk for viral infections by aerosols emitted by healthy persons during indoor sports. The recommendation wearing face masks during vigorous exercise has not been argued to be safe and effective.

Current available information supports a potential risk of long-term from frequent wearing face masks while there is very low to no beneficial effect in preventing the transmission of a virus. Moreover, based on historical information, the transmission of a respiratory virus by persons without symptoms is questioned.

The way the article is presented in the newspapers may result in even stricter protocols during indoor sports while a possible increased risk for death wearing masks during vigorous exercise cannot be ruled out.

Vigorous indoor exercise: larger and more aerosols emitted

In the study well-trained athletes show significantly higher aerosol emissions than untrained persons due to their higher minute ventilation which indirectly means a higher risk for infection. The authors state that SARS-CoV-2 virus and other respiratory viruses are transmitted via respiratory particles while breathing or speaking. Transmission of these viruses will depend in part on the rate with which these particles are emitted.

Based on their results and gyms being a potential risk for super-spreading events , the authors recommend special protective measures in indoor sports. In cases of high community infection rates with a low vaccination rate testing, using plastic shields, proper distance, high-quality ventilation systems and wearing masks by fit and young athletes during high-impact training in indoor gyms is recommended. At low workloads only distancing and ventilation systems would be needed.

Another study that was recently published in Communication Medicine found that aerosol mass emission during vigorous exercise is not different from speaking at a conversational level. Though speaking generates larger particles and exercise generates smaller particles. Face masks could be used with very vigorous exercise as larger particles are produced with increasing intensity of training. Social distancing is suggested as a preventative measure for COVID-19 for non-exercise-based social interaction and most low-impact exercises as the aerosol particles emitted are too small and could penetrate through the mask. During the experiment five healthy and fit young people of the 25 participants (both sexes) could not complete the very vigorous exercise testing period due to exhaustion.

How super-spreading events were defined

Using cell phone data of 98 million US people, researchers found the indoor public places most responsible for the spread of COVID-19, showing that restaurants and gyms were the places at most risk for super-spreading events. In Chicago, 10% of the places people visited accounted for 85% of the infections, with higher infections in lower income neighborhoods.

Super-spreading events are characterized by venues when one positive-tested person is traced to many other people testing positive. Several super-spreading events have been in the news where a group of people were tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus after indoor exercising. Remarkably, in most cases the identified index person was either mildly symptomatic or had not yet developed symptoms.

A potential role of airborne transmission of the virus by aerosols (droplets < 5 um) in indoor venues is now broadly acknowledged. The smaller lighter aerosols can linger and accumulate in the air and travel long distances on air currents. Previously the dominant view was that respiratory viruses are transmitted by larger droplets that fall on surfaces within about 2 meters or are transferred by people’s hands. Catching the virus from surfaces – although plausible – seems to be rare.

Researchers presume super-spreading events might become larger and more frequent as more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants are becoming more prevalent. Smaller, more densely occupied venues could be at greater risk when visited for longer periods and being poorly ventilated.

Testing and infection transmission of asymptomatic people questioned

More than two years into the pandemic, there are many questions about an asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection left. Interesting to notice is that in China, at the start of the pandemic, infected individuals weren’t immediately causing exponential local outbreaks. Similarly, many health care workers treating patients at a time that personal equipment was not routinely used remained seronegative. Also living closely together in one house will not assure one will get a positive PCR test and/or symptoms.

It became complex when doctors found disease symptoms in asymptomatic people. One example is from Wuhan early in the pandemic, which showed that about one-third of persons with asymptomatic infections had lung changes that were visible on computed tomography scans indicating end organ damage. Another example is the US FAIR Health study that found 19% of cases of Long COVID have resulted from asymptomatic infections. However, symptoms like Long Covid or a loss of smell could have other origins as well.

To determine the extent to which people without symptoms testing positive with either the PCR test , rapid antigen test or antibody test contribute to the COVID-19 pandemic remains a challenge. Especially since the term asymptomatic can be used in various ways. Strictly the definition would be a laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection as determined by PCR or serology but with no symptoms related to COVID-19 for the duration of the infection.

The highly sensitive PCR test may result in high numbers of false positive s and false negatives when asymptomatic people are tested. The PCR test can detect the presence of a piece of RNA of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, the RNA alone may remain detectable for months after a previous infection resulting in a positive test . Unfortunately, materials and methods of published articles and reports do not always present the number and type of gene probes and Ct values used in PCR tests and could therefore lead to different data among various studies.

Furthermore, it is unknown whether tests used are correctly validated against viral infectivity in culture; e.g. detecting a virus that might be able to transmit to another person and cause infection. In many countries a variety of PCR tests have been used with Ct values > 30 with a risk for high percentages of false positives. Depending on the gene probes used, cross-reactivity with other (corona)viruses may occur. Rapid antigen tests have been validated across PCR tests and are therefore prone to high numbers of false positives and false negatives for people without symptoms as well.

Other problems have been in the news, like contamination at sampling and laboratory sites where large quantities of tests were handled, shortness in materials using only one gene probe for PCR testing, inexperienced personnel and unreliable tests adding up to a possible low quality of diagnosis used, based on which data have been analyzed and presented.

Researchers propose that 20-40% of global infections are asymptomatic . These data are mostly based on diagnostic tests without analysis of symptoms by a medical doctor. A qualification between symptomatic or asymptomatic can be questioned and is in many cases not notified .

The discussion continues, as it is very hard to detect aerosols outside the laboratory and show that they contain and transmit the virus to another person and cause COVID-19 symptoms.

SARS-CoV-2 virus is one of the most extensively studied immune targets that led to reappraisal of former textbooks. Up to now, a possible cause of symptoms by long-term wearing of masks, frequent use of disinfectant and testing which has never been seen in history before, has not been evaluated.

Wearing of masks during exercise can be fatal

Harvard Medical School , the Mayo Clinic , the Cleveland Clinic , Bangkok hospital and several medical doctors and researchers in the UK recommend wearing masks during sports. While face masks may not be comfortable, they can protect against COVID-19 and won’t interfere with your efforts to stay fit during the pandemic, so they say.

The CDC urges gym goers to wear masks while working out at fitness centers even during high-intensity exercise, but it’s okay for people who are fully vaccinated to exercise indoors without a mask. However, the WHO does not recommend wearing a mask during sports. A serious warning was given by Cambridge news and other news outlets when two Chinese children died while running while wearing a mask.

Results of the poorly studied impact of covering mouth and nose with face masks or other respiratory devices on the physiological and perceptual responses during exercise have been controversial. The small cohorts of participants of those studies were mostly selected persons with athletic abilities, as those with cardio-pulmonary and other disorders were not included.

As a 25% rise in emergency cardiovascular events among under 40 population in Israel during vaccine rollout and the third COVID-19 wave is noticed, safety and effectiveness for wearing masks (during sports) is an important topic .

Up to now more than 150 studies do not allow the conclusion that without any doubt the wearing of masks can protect against infection and prevent transmission of a virus. A report of the ECDC concludes there is no real evidence in favor of face masks. Furthermore, the number of peer-reviewed publications suggesting the potential harms by frequent and long-term wearing masks, which have been neglected earlier, are piling up.

A recent study (not peer-reviewed yet) showed the increase of CO2 while wearing a mask. The CO2 content reached levels above the set risk level of 5,000 ppm (acceptable threshold for workers) for 40.2% of the people wearing medical masks and for 99.0% of the people wearing a FFP2 mask. A special article COVID-19 and masks in sports also found an enhancing effect on pCO2 in case of intense physical exercise.

The use of masks in athletes causes hypoxic and hypercapnic breathing as evidenced by increased effort during exercise. Another study found that wearing a face mask during exercise intensity mostly affects perceptual responses, causing an increase in the rate of perceived breathlessness and overall exertion with limited influence on pulse oxygen, blood lactate, and heart rate responses.

Participants wearing masks reported marked discomfort , such as feeling hot, humid, and breathing resistance and claustrophobia with higher exercise intensity. While other researchers could not measure significant detectable differences , these signs need to be taken seriously.

Both oxygen and carbon dioxide are the primary gaseous substrate and product respectively, of oxidative metabolism. Variations in the levels of these gases outside the physiological range can lead to pathological conditions including respiratory and heart problems, permanent injury, immune suppression, increased aging, and altered gene expression for fertility and death. Carbon dioxide poisoning is recognized as an often-forgotten cause of intoxication in the emergency department.

A change in these gases, albeit small, may influence a disbalance in the microbial flora, resulting in a weakened immune system that may be noticed by mask acne and mask mouth with an increased risk for infectious diseases and chronic diseases.

Authors from a study published in Frontiers in Physiology raised particular concern for individuals exercising in a hot and humid environment, which can break down the mask and lose the ability to block outgoing viruses and germs, and experience a hot facial temperature and difficulties with breathing.

The results from an observational study published in Medicine strongly suggest that mask mandates caused 50% more deaths compared to no mask mandates. It is theorized that hyper-condensed droplets caught by masks are reinhaled and introduced deeper into the respiratory tract could be responsible for the increased mortality rate ( The Foegen effect ).

Also, a peer-reviewed study published in April 2022 on mask usage across Europe noted a moderate positive correlation between mask usage and deaths in Western Europe.

A recent review concluded a potential risk for developing MIES (Mask Induced Exhaustion Syndrome) by long-term wearing of masks.

The safety of masks used by the general public cannot be guaranteed. Toxic compounds like nanoparticles ( graphene oxide , titanium dioxide, Silver, Zinc oxide) and microplastics have been found. Masks delivered by governments have been retracted from the market in The Netherlands, Canada, Germany and Belgium. Recent studies demonstrated the presence of microplastics and nanoparticles in blood , deep lung tissue and the liver . Microplastics and nanoparticles deplete the body, by forming bio corona, from essential nutrients, proteins and cells which the body needs to function properly. A recent review assessed the potential carcinogenicity of increased exposure to microplastics and nanoparticles in humans.

At this moment there is no proof that long-term wearing of masks during normal life is safe and effective. With a lack of evidence of the transmission of an infectious virus by an asymptomatic person and the effectiveness of wearing masks, mask mandates should be banned immediately . There is a serious indication for irreversible harm which might increase when people have been vaccinated and might be more sensitive to oxidative stress.

Exercise Can Prevent Infectious Disease

For many years it is known that individuals with a regular exercise habit report fewer symptoms associated with upper respiratory illnesses. Data from epidemiological studies suggest that regular exercise can protect the host organism from infections like COVID-19 such as influenza virus, rhinovirus, varicella zoster and herpes simplex virus. The remarkable low prevalence of COVID-19 in a Sub-Saharan Africa region is thought to be related to moving more and sitting less

Instead of focusing on the level of aerosol production and arguing for mask wearing, testing without symptoms, and social distancing, it would be much more beneficial to support exercise in a ventilated environment (with the right humidity and temperature) and healthy living. This would be a better way to manage successfully the next seasonal outbreak of respiratory diseases and prevent a tsunami of chronic diseases and suicides .

Journalists of prominent newspapers/channels could play a supportive role in rebuilding trust in health by delivering honest and balanced science-based information to the public based on critical analyses.

Het bericht Wearing a Mask During Indoor Exercise Can Be Fatal verscheen eerst op Good Care Feels Better .

The Rise of Hepatitis

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 13:16:00 GMT

Published at the Brownstone Institute 23 May 2022

Also published at The Epoch Times

The number of previously healthy children younger than 16 years of age with mysterious hepatitis cases have doubled in two weeks to 450 cases worldwide , including 11 deaths. Most cases have been reported in the UK (160) and the US (currently, 180). In Europe most cases are found in Italy (35) and Spain (22). Over 8-14% of the patients needed liver transplantation. These children will be on lifelong medication. Until now the real cause of a sudden spark in hepatitis is not clear.

Although 50-72% of the cases tested positive with a PCR test for Adenovirus, tissue and liver samples taken in the UK do not show any typical features that might be expected with a liver inflammation due to this virus.

In the UK, 18% of the reported cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus and three cases had tested positive 8 weeks prior to admission. The most plausible cause of hepatitis traces to a viral origin. Brodin and Aditi hypothesize a SARS-CoV-2 superantigen mediated immune activation in an Adenovirus-sensitized host.

At this point many of the children with hepatitis are too young to be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. So far, no common environmental exposure has been found.

Jaundice is characteristic for all children with hepatitis, which could have many reasons including toxins and malnutrition. A search into the peer-reviewed scientific literature on the toxicology of nanoparticles, microplastics, disinfectants and hypercapnia/hypoxia, children have been extensively exposed to during the pandemic makes bio corona formation and accumulation of toxic substances a reasonable explanation for disruption of the liver homeostasis.

The capacity for excessive activation of liver inflammatory pathways has been described for these materials prior to the pandemic. Effects of the complex mixture of these materials and associated chemical pollutants presented have not yet been assessed. Understanding how these materials interact with its biological surroundings during long-term and frequent exposure is of utmost importance.

Pandemic Measures and Liver Toxicity

Early in the pandemic several researchers warned of the unsafe use of facemasks, tests, and disinfectants and their weakening effect on the immune system. Many institutions are starting research on harmful chemicals due to air pollution as they pose a known threat to public health and the economy, representing 10% of global GDP in health costs and 3.75 billion lost working days at the global level in 2060.

Unfortunately, almost no funded research has been started in the area of the safe, cost/benefit use of the mandates. Instead, during the pandemic large amounts of money were spent on less urgent research on non-pandemic related issues.

While Covid-19 was originally thought to be a respiratory infection, various research papers have indicated myocardial inflammation , hepatitis , or neurological experiences independent of severity of Covid-19 and sometimes without evidence of a viral infection. Other researchers found that cardiac damage was more related to clotting and microthrombi were frequent. Almost 25% of people hospitalized develop myocardial injury and many develop arrhythmias or thromboembolic disease .

Lockdowns, with many people experiencing an ongoing state of fear and anxiety and frequent exposure to nanoparticles, microplastics, high CO2 exposure and toxic substances impaired the innate immune system even more.

Furthermore, several studies have indicated a remarkable suppression of the innate immune system after injections with PEGylated lipid nanoparticle (LNP) modified mRNA vaccines. I n vivo studies for cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of these vaccines, prior to their release under EUA and being mandated for many people and children, have been neglected.

Unfortunately, more than two years into the pandemic an alarming stage of mysterious rises in infectious and noncommunicable diseases and sudden non-Covid deaths have been reported, even neonatal deaths. The Observer reported one in three people in the UK are experiencing long-term illness.

The Liver Is an Immune Surveillance System

The liver is an important organ responsible for the storage, synthesis, metabolism and redistribution of carbohydrates, fats and vitamins and numerous essential proteins. It is the main detoxification center of the body. A most important organ for generating an effective innate immune response and covering a robust and long-lasting immunity, it works to keep virus, bacteria and excessive inflammations in check.

About 30% of the total blood passes through the liver every minute and is scanned by the mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS) in the liver. The microenvironment in the liver shapes and functions the antigen specific CD4+ T cell population with the capacity for longevity/self-renewal for more than a decade.

High amounts of CD8, Natural Killer T cells, dendritic cells and macrophages (Kupfer cells) in the liver play an important role in the protective innate immune system during injury and infection deciding for tolerance or excessive inflammation. Specific liver cells, hepatocytes, produce 80-90% of the circulating innate immunity proteins in the body including acute phase proteins, complement, bactericidal proteins and more.

Neutrophils, the most abundant leukocytes in the blood, present in the liver perform important functions in inflammation and act as a functional bridge between the innate and adaptive immunity (B cells and T cells) activating antigen specific immune responses.

Homeostatic inflammation is a normal part of a healthy liver. In the complex microenvironment of the liver, the hepatic immune system tolerates harmless molecules while at the same time remaining alert to possible infectious agents, malignant cells or tissue damage. Inflammatory processes are required to rid itself of pathogens, cancer cells or toxic products of metabolic activity. The inflammatory processes are intimately linked to mechanisms that resolve inflammation and promote tissue regeneration.

Excessive and dysregulated inflammatory activity are key drivers of liver pathology, associated with systemic inflammation: chronic infection, autoimmunity and cancer. Mechanisms to resolve liver inflammation are essential to maintain local organ and systemic homeostasis. It is the balance between activation and tolerance that characterizes the liver as a frontline immunological organ. Disrupting this precious surveillance system increases the risk for severe disease and death.

Immune-Liver Disruptors

A possible role of the pandemic measures in excessive inflammation in the human body by immune-liver disruptors is realistic. Independently they may each cause problems of the liver. Serious drawbacks of the measures have become most visible in children, the obese and immunocompromised and the poor.

Nanoparticles (i.e. inhaled graphene oxide, titanium dioxide, Ag from facemasks or swabs) present in the body are cleared from the blood and will preferentially accumulate and sequester in the liver , up to 30-99% from those present in the blood and at much higher quantities as compared to other organs.

Studies in recent years have shown that nanomaterials can modulate and activate neutrophils and other immune cells. Nanomaterials may be considered as a particular case of danger signals that are able to trigger sterile inflammatory responses. Rapid accumulation of nanoparticles in the resident liver macrophages can change the expression of anti-inflammatory genes. Changes of genes related to detoxification and cell cycle have been observed.

Systematically administered nanoparticles may directly interact with circulating erythrocytes leading to erythrocyte aggregation and or hemolysis that is accompanied by hemoglobin release. Surface properties of the nanoparticles are known to play a critical role in nanoparticle-erythrocyte interaction. Most nanoparticles have been known to activate complements by either themselves or through serum proteins. Activation of complements and complement activation pathways could further promote tumor growth.

Nanoparticles develop a specific bio-corona comprising complex and dynamic layers of biomolecules that endow nanoparticles with a new immunological identity.

Studies on polystyrene microplastics (which can be present in facemasks and swabs) showed hepatotoxicity and dysregulation of the lipid metabolism , causing oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. This implicated a potential risk for liver steatosis, fibrosis and cancer and macrophage foam cell formation , a characteristic feature observed during atherosclerosis posing a serious threat to human health.

Another study demonstrated that fish exposed to a mixture of polyethylene with chemical pollutants bioaccumulate the chemical pollutants and suffer liver toxicity and pathology. Moreover 0.1 um microplastics could enter hepatocytes from circulation and result in liver damage even at a low concentration.

Microplastic exposure could induce DNA damage in both nucleus and mitochondria indicating a potential risk of hepatotoxicity and fibrosis. Microplastics are found in the human blood of 80 % of the people tested, in deep lung tissues and human feces.

Covid-19 mRNA vaccines use Acuitas’ PEG (Poly Ethylene Glycol) ylated lipid nanoparticles (LNP). The PEGylated lipids support prolonged circulation and shield the highly inflammatory and cytotoxic effects of the cationic lipids used. If insufficiently shielded by PEG they have been shown to mediate aggregation and interact with and damage the membranes of erythrocytes resulting in hemolysis. PEG content , surface density and conformation of the nanoparticle influence the binding of proteins to a bio corona and the uptake by immune cells.

Despite achieving high dense surface coatings of PEG, no NP formulation has been developed that can completely resist interaction with blood components. Of concern is that 22-25% of individuals who were never exposed to PEGylated therapeutics were found to have PEG antibodies, which is more than two decades ago. PEG coating can improve the penetration of biological barriers including reducing interactions with tissue extracellular matrix cellular barriers and biological fluids such as mucus leading to improved delivery.

After injection of Moderna LNP very low levels could be detected in the brain, potentially indicating that the mRNA LNP could cross the blood brain barrier and reach the Central Nervous System (CNS). Unfortunately, the potential inflammatory nature of these LNPs was not assessed.

In preclinical studies a strong induction of adaptive immune responses by CD4+ T-cell activation and protective humoral immune responses was found. The synthetic ionizable lipid is speculated to have approximately 20-30 days of half-life in humans. It has been shown that plasma protein absorption occurs very rapidly and that it affects hemolysis, thrombocyte activation, cellular uptake and endothelial cell death. The bio corona formation of the PEGylated nanoparticle may change over time.

The increasing number of side effects and reported high potency for eliciting antibody response may partially stem from the LNP’s highly inflammatory nature characterized by leukocyte infiltration and activation of different inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Antigen-presenting cells presenting vaccine derived peptides/protein might cause tissue damage and exacerbate side effects, which have been linked to autoimmune diseases.

More severe and systemic side effects after the booster shot might be related to an amplification effect of the adaptive immune response induced by the vaccine resulting in high antibody responses. Neutrophils were found to preferentially internalize PEGylated particles in the presence of human plasma. Also, further studies of complement activation in relation to PEG nanoparticles merit rigorous evaluation for immune safe materials. Observational studies found a greater risk for complications following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. A study of the University of Lund has indicated by in vitro studies that the BNT162b2mRNA vaccine has a fast take-up into human liver cells. In 6 hours of exposure the RNA was reverse transcribed into DNA.

Sennef et al. describes the disruption of the innate immune system by the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines caused by an impaired interferon signaling, release of large amounts of exosomes containing Spike protein, potential disturbances in regulatory control of protein synthesis and cancer surveillance of and their potential direct link to liver disease (with over 2,000 reports in VAERS December 2021) and other inflammatory diseases. The presence of Spike protein has been detected in the blood and 60 days after mRNA vaccine injection in the lymph nodes .

A functional reprogramming of the innate immune responses after BNT 162b2 injection was also observed by Fohse et al . with a lower response of innate immune cells, while the fungi-induced cytokine responses were stronger. A study on Biovrix by Nguyen et al. demonstrated an impaired lipid metabolism and increased lipotoxicity by the Spike protein. Jiang et al observed that the Spike protein localizes in the nucleus and inhibits DNA damage repair by impeding key DNA repair protein recruitment to a damaged site. A mechanism by which the spike protein might impede the adaptive immunity explaining the potential side effects. Suraswaki et al. stated that the virus itself may dysregulate the innate cellular defenses using various structural and nonstructural proteins.

Taking Back Control of Our Bodies

The European Commission Statement from May 12, 2022, announces to shorten (from 300 to 100 days) the product to market cycle to develop safe and effective vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics following the identification of new threats and work to make them widely available.

As discussed, the Covid-19 pandemic measures have shown to be far from safe. All materials are known to interact and bind proteins forming bio corona’s depleting the body of essentials for processes to function properly.

Subtle changes in materials and biological fluids of persons can significantly change the protein composition of the bio corona and can either lead to an excessive inflammation or resilient homeostasis. Especially in children who need more proteins, vitamins and minerals for mental, physical, and immune system development, the accumulation of toxic substances in the liver and formation of bio corona can be a serious threat to health.

At this stage, it is not known whether the mysterious rises in diseases are caused by a virus or an intoxication and/or depletion of essentials that result in impaired signaling routes. The Covid-19 routine diagnostic tests used for mass testing have major flaws which make it impossible to ensure the presence of an infectious virus as a single cause of symptoms.

An increasing number of doctors and researchers agree: the pandemic is over . All pandemic measures need to be halted immediately. The highest priority is lifting the mandates for children. Healthy children always had a very low risk for severe Covid-19 and are protected by a strong robust and long-lasting natural immunity . There is no added value to vaccinate any person with natural immunity. Moreover, the risk for side effects of the mRNA vaccine for children is high. mRNA Covid vaccine accumulates in the liver 30 minutes after it is injected.

Deep investigations on quality, reproducibility and contaminations of the materials of personal protective equipment, facemasks, tests, disinfectants and vaccines, being used with their effects on the human body and the environmental ecosystem need to be prioritized and funded.

During the past two years, the immune system of many people has been harmed and even broken. We need programs to regenerate the liver and immune system so people can face with trust and confidence any possible wave of virus attacks.

Het bericht The Rise of Hepatitis verscheen eerst op Good Care Feels Better .

The Mysterious Rise in Severe Diseases in Children

Sun, 15 May 2022 16:32:00 GMT

Publication on Brownstone Institute May 2, 2022

Since the pandemic young children are dealing with a mysterious increase in disease. Some may even have doubled in frequency, varying from infectious diseases, mental diseases (anxiety, depression, suicide increasing 25% worldwide) to hormonal diseases (early onset of puberty) to inflammation (Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), obesity and now hepatitis (inflammation of the liver).

In the past week, the rise of hepatitis in immunocompetent children younger than ten years of age has been in the news. Seventeen out of 169 children with hepatitis needed liver transplantation and 1 child died. Children experiencing hepatitis had not been vaccinated for Covid. In 77% of the cases a positive PCR test for Adenovirus was found, though hepatitis caused by this virus is rare. Experts suggest a waning immune system due to the lockdowns and less exposure to other microorganisms. A tip of the iceberg as many cases of hepatitis may not be recognized yet.

The world is facing a health crisis affecting young children by a focus on one infectious disease with repeated lockdowns, continued pandemic measures, frequent testing and a growing toxic environmental and air pollution problem.

The steep rise among a broad variety of diseases in young children can be explained by a waning innate immune system relating to a disrupted gut-liver-brain axis. Reluctance to investigate the causation in harm by an increased exposure to unknown toxic substances, nanoparticles, alcohol and microplastics can no longer hold. To save children’s healthy lives a timely and adequate response is needed based on accurate risk benefit assessments.

A Disrupted Microbiome

Scientists are rapidly expanding knowledge that the human body is made primarily of trillions of microorganisms with the vast majority living in the gut providing an important role in the host physiology as metabolism, immunity, cardiovascular function and neuronal development. Half of all biological matter in our bodies is not human.

Even the central nervous system, which was thought to be sterile, is colonized by a diverse viral community. A dysregulation of their structure and function can lead to disruption of the microbial host homeostasis and may cause disease.

Disturbances in the primary colonization during the first two years of life can result in lifelong health consequences and an altered immune system. Among the kingdom of life bacteria, fungi and most numerous of all 380 trillion viruses colonize the microbiome. The bacterial component is by far the most studied and has been shown to be highly stable in healthy adults.

The gut bacterial community provides essential nutritional services to its host, is an important driver of mucosal immunity and provides protection against enteric pathogens. It maintains the homeostasis of the gastrointestinal tract and regulates intestinal cell restoration and the integrity of tight junctions, all of which are critical for maintaining the gut-barrier function.

Metabolic dysregulation together with dysbiosis of the gut microbiome are central in the pathogenesis of diseases of the gut-liver-brain axis. Children and elderly people are characterized by less variety in their microbiome and are more vulnerable to disruption.

Associations of viral infections with Irritable Bowel Disease ((inflammation of the gut like Morbus Crohn (affecting any part of the colon from the mouth to the anus) and Colitis Ulcerosa (affecting only the colon)) and a waning immune system are being made.

The composition of the human virome is influenced by diet, genetics, environment and geography. Many of them (bacteriophages) do not target human cells but look for the bacteria in the microbiome and use the bacteria to make copies of themselves. A smaller proportion infect cells in tissues directly. These viruses are in the minority because the immune system suppresses them. However, when the immune system is hampered, viruses can multiply immediately.

Dysfunction of the Gut-Liver-Brain Axis

The homeostasis of the gut microbiome is responsible for intestinal fitness and an appropriate liver function . The liver and intestine are connected via the portal vein which is the main route of enterohepatic circulation of metabolites, hormones, immunoglobulins and bile acids. Disrupting the homeostasis and an increased intestinal mucosa permeability activates hepatic inflammation.

Furthermore, the gut microbiome produces a great number of chemicals (like serotonin) that the brain uses to regulate neurological processes such as learning and mood. A network connected to the gut influences the neuroendocrine and neuroimmune cells of the central nervous system.

A large amount of existing data show that hepatic encephalopathy is a clear example of how an altered gut microbiota homeostasis can influence and impact on physiological functions outside the intestine, with implications at the host health at the systems level.

Therefore, the microbiota gut-liver-brain axis seems to play an important regulatory role in the pathogenesis of low-grade inflammatory diseases. The main participants are the gut microbiota, its bacterial products (i.e. endotoxins, ammonia, ethanol, Short Chain Fatty acids) and their interactions with receptors that can stimulate or inhibit signaling pathways, the intestinal barrier and the innate immune system which can be either beneficial or detrimental for the host health.

A Waning Innate Immune System

The integrity of the gut microbiome is a prerequisite for an effective immune response preventing disease. Most pathogens try to invade through the gut mucosa. The initial defense by the innate immune system starts by the mucosal membrane of which the gastrointestinal tract is the largest being characterized by the presence of special types of lymphocytes (macrophages, dendritic cells, natural killer cells) and secretory products (secretory IgA) able to maintain the steady state in the gut.

Macrophages and neutrophils can trigger tissue repair and switching over to the adaptive immune response to activate B and T cells to develop specific neutralizing antibody responses and B and T cell memory. Interactions between Dendritic cells and Natural Killer T cells and bacteria may crucially contribute to both physiologically and pathologically immune response in the intestinal mucosa.

Corman et al. showed that a disrupted gut-microbial community composition with symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting is associated with Adenovirus infection in non-human primates. Commensal flora required for a healthy gut microbiome decreased whereas genera containing pathogens like Neisseria increased in abundance. Although this work is still under development, different viral infections are linked to alterations and disruptions of the intestinal microbiome.

Therefore, diseases affecting the intestinal mucosa as IBD that can be triggered by diet and environmental factors are of a major concern, now being detected at rapidly increasing levels globally. Lifelong treatment with drugs is often needed. Moreover, the digesting and uptake of sufficient nutrients is poor due to a disrupted digestion, frequent cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.

Pollutions and inflammation

The human exposure to pollution of microplastics, nanoparticles and other toxic substances is rapidly increasing. Alcohol disrupts the gut-liver-brain axis at multiple interconnected levels including the gut microbiome, mucus and epithelial barrier. Exposure to chemicals present in tests is a danger for human health as well.

Recently, researchers found microplastics in blood , lungs and feces. Microplastics can damage human cells and cross the blood/brain barrier. Nanoparticles as Titanium Dioxide can cause gut dysbiosis and show a translocation into the central nervous system through eye to brain pathways which can induce neuroinflammation.

Graphene oxide -derived products which may form complex structures with microplastics can disrupt the gut barrier increasing the ability to penetrate the body, form biocorona, spread and influence physiological processes affecting the integrity of the intestinal mucosa, catching other toxic substances being transported via the blood and stored in fatty tissues.

A study found similar plastics in masks as in patients’ lungs. Chinese researchers found 1,5 times more microplastics in the feces of people with IBD. Whether microplastics cause IBD or exacerbate the disease is not yet clear. There is evidence that microplastics and their additives are potential obesogens.

A new peer reviewed article has demonstrated that mask usage correlated with a higher death rate, an alarming signal which adds up to the mysterious rises in diseases in children.

In the UK, the biggest increase in obesity and being morbidly overweight has been seen during the pandemic. Children from poor families are twice as often affected. Public health policy makers need to be concerned about the risks for disrupted immune systems widening health inequalities.

Focused Nutrition to Repair the Homeostasis of the Microbiome

The true regulator of health and disease is the innate immune system. From the start of the pandemic scientists have been warning that lockdowns and pandemic measures could result in a waning immune system with a risk for more diseases.

Facing inflation and dramatic rises in gas and food prices can exacerbate the disrupted gut-liver-brain axis with more diseases to expect affecting students and working people soon. Of increasing concern is a lack of healthcare professionals resulting in long waiting lists for diagnosis and treatments.

Only an effective innate immune system is capable of preventing infectious and chronic diseases and functions to break down foreign and toxic substances. To prevent inflammatory processes in the body the exposure to toxic materials and microplastics by measures with no strong proven effects to prevent infectious diseases should be stopped for all ages. A focused nutrition guidance of vitamin D would be a first easy and cheap step to restore the innate immune system and repair inflammatory diseases like IBD , viral associated liver diseases and depression .

Het bericht The Mysterious Rise in Severe Diseases in Children verscheen eerst op Good Care Feels Better .

The Health Risks of Graphene

Fri, 22 Apr 2022 15:59:00 GMT

During the pandemic a widespread use of nanoparticles has been employed for diagnostics, personal protection equipment, prevention, and treatments of diseases. The use of nanoparticles in biomedicine is expected to increase further due to a desire for real-time human health monitoring as seamless human/machine interaction.

The most booming nanoparticles that may rule future lives are graphene-derived products. The novel 2-D material graphene has advantages in mechanical, thermal and electrical properties and is used in wearable sensors and implantable devices whereas the research and development of the oxidized form graphene oxide is used for cancer treatment, drug delivery, vaccine development, ultra-low concentration diagnostics, eradication of microbial contamination and cellular imaging.

Thus far scientific literature on graphene-derived products is mainly focused on the positive aspects. During the pandemic, graphene oxide became known as an unsafe nanoparticle that could be present in facemasks and tests. Meanwhile scientists are questioning possible devastating effects of graphene-derived products on human health and the environment. The hype of graphene-derived products has led to a fast track from product to market release while reliable and reproducible data on cytotoxic and genotoxic effects are still missing.

Graphene unlimited

In 2010 two researchers, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov from Manchester University received the Nobel Prize in Physics for isolating the one Carbon atom layer derived from graphite present in pencils, by using a kind of scotch tape. The amazing material is the lightest and thinnest versatile substance known to humankind. It is transparent, conductive and selectively permeable.

The C-atoms are tightly bound in a honeycomb (hexagonal) lattice. Based on the qualities of graphene the material is used in many fields varying from electronics to biomedicine. In 2013 the European Commission started a Future and Emerging Technology project, the Graphene Flagship , with a budget of one billion Euros for a period of ten years with 170 academics and industrial partners from 22 countries involved, now owning many graphene products in pipeline.

However, production of high volume and quality graphene (pure, homogenous and sterile) for affordable prices to implement the possibilities of graphene-derived products in daily life is still a challenge, as well as improving standardization and validation of the cellular systems and biological systems to test various forms of graphene for its toxicity.

The EU Graphene Flagship Project acknowledges that there are still gaps to fulfill risk-related knowledge. It is expected that application of graphene will reach maturity in the period 2025-2030. EU-manufactured nanomaterials must fulfill the REACH regulations in order to be authorized for industrial production and commercialization.

A portal to human-machine interaction

Many politicians and public health experts promote the introduction of technology in healthcare as a major instrument to manage the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. Moreover, it is thought to be beneficial to decrease costs and fill the gap in shortness of healthcare professionals.

The policy would transfer from a focus on disease to prevention which has led to the idea of a Good Health Pass that could be linked to an ID card and vaccination passport. In this way each person can be instructed when and how to act to prevent disease and stay in good health even when traveling to other countries.

A graphene-based sensor platform with non-invasive and invasive application including wearable sensors for monitoring biophysical, biochemical, environmental signals and implantable devices for nervous, cardiovascular, digestive and locomotor systems is predicted to be of enormous value for implementing Artificial Intelligence.

In the Graphene Flagship project various skin patch sensors based on graphene are developed to empower people to continuously monitor and proactively make safer choices. The first invasive neural interface in the brain with the ability to interpret brain signals with unprecedented high fidelity, producing a therapeutic response adapted to the clinical condition of each patient, is expected to enter clinical trials soon. The innovation is linked to the € 1,3 billion EU Human Brain Project to enhance the field of neuroscience computing and brain-related medicine expecting more implantable devices influencing behavior to be developed.

Graphene oxide and the human body

Graphene oxide can unintentionally enter the body through inhalation, dermal contact, and ingestion as it can disperse in many solvents. Toxic effects of GO are dependent on several variables including the route of administration influencing distribution in the body, the dose, the method of synthesis, impurities from the production process and its size and physicochemical properties like oxidation degree.

GO has a high adsorption capacity for proteins, minerals and antibodies in the human body which transforms the structure and form of GO to a bio-corona that can interact with other biomolecules and physiological processes. A difference in biocompatibility was suggested to be due to the differential compositions of the protein corona formed on their surfaces that determine their cell interaction and pro-inflammatory effects.

The many contradictory results from no toxicity to possible long-term serious damage, depending on physicochemical properties and the experimental conditions chosen, ask for a better understanding of its toxicokinetics and mechanisms involved for acute and long-term exposure.

Also, its behavior to biological barriers like skin, blood-brain barrier and barrier of the placenta may vary. Intra and extracellular degradation of GO is mainly orchestrated by macrophages (immune cells) in the different organs. The lung, heart, liver, spleen and intestine are the organs GO is found. In this context it is important to understand the possible risks of the bio persistence in the body and affected cellular membrane integrity, metabolic processes and morphology of organisms. The way in which GO is produced is of key importance for the potential impact on biological systems, biodistribution and excretion by the human body.

Graphene oxide and the environment

Irrespective of forms of graphene a great number of studies have demonstrated that graphene affects a wide range of living organisms including prokaryotes, bacteria, viruses, plants, micro and macroinvertebrates, mammals, human cells and whole animals in vivo. The large part of available current literature indicates that graphene-based nanomaterials are cytotoxic.

Although the mechanism of their cytotoxicity has not yet been established, oxidative stress, cellular penetration and inflammation have been most widely recognized mechanisms for graphene based nanomaterials toxicity in aquatic organisms. Unfortunately, there is still a huge gap of information lacking the effect on organ function, metabolic effects and behavior.

One Health

Now that the pandemic has come to an end, striving for One Health has become the priority, focusing on surveillance, vaccine, and drug development using new technology. However, experts and politicians are reluctant on the enormous increase in the biohazard with graphene-derived products that have been released in the environment during the pandemic the past two years.

As GO can be easily transported by air and water from hazardous waste the possible negative aspect of a GO pollution of all living creatures is unknown and cannot be excluded. Enhancing effects of GO on the endocrine-disruptive capacities of Bisphenol A have been observed in adult male zebrafish. Sharp edges of GO that can penetrate cell membranes might facilitate the penetration of microplastics and other unknown substances into organisms.

New diseases may develop by disrupting a worldwide fragile balanced ecosystem necessary for health and all life on earth. This public health risk is growing each day due to a sharp rise in malnutrition as a result of the lockdowns undermining a well-functioning immune system and the ability to degrade or detoxify graphene-derived products.

Evidence-based research and ethical decisions need to be prevalent over an intellectual fast track of GO-derived product production and release. The priority should be better focus on ways to improve availability of sufficient and good nutrition, and prevent the release of inadequately tested products and restore trust in public health.

Published at: https://brownstone.org/articles/the-health-risks-of-graphene/

Also published at The Epoch Times

Het bericht The Health Risks of Graphene verscheen eerst op Good Care Feels Better .

Have the Children Been Poisoned?

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 15:47:00 GMT

Increased exposure to toxic substances due to an overuse of ineffective measures like mask mandates, frequent use of hand sanitizers, disinfectant sprays, and frequent testing during the pandemic will have a short- and long-term impact on children’s health and future generations.

Moreover, ineffective lockdowns increased the number of children relying on food bank packages which cannot fulfill the daily nutrition needed during growth and development, worsening the threat for poor health during aging.

An overall dis-regulation of the immune system might occur with consequences ranging from autoimmune disorders to cancer. It is most likely that the most affected population will be the poor, immunocompromised, and disabled children. To prevent any further damage measures should be stopped while urgent analysis on poisoning and possible ways to repair the immune system is needed.

Toxic chemicals a known risk for future health

The World Health Organization states that poisoning is one of the top five causes of death from unintentional injuries in children. Surveys from China show that poisoning is one of the leading causes of death in Chinese children, ranking as high as the 3 ^rd cause of accidental death.

Hundreds of new chemicals are developed and released in the environment every year, untested for their toxic effects on children. Over the past 50 years more than 100.000 synthetic organic chemical compounds have been released. For the vast majority of these chemicals for everyday domestic and commercial use, there is only a limited understanding of how they will behave once released into air, water and soil.

As a result a cocktail of global toxicants such as chlorinated, brominated and fluorinated proteins and Ag, Al, Ars, Hg and Pb is found in human and animal blood samples. Hormone-like synthetic compounds like PFAS and PCB, the so-called endocrine disrupters are taking a heavy toll on humans and wildlife, interfering with organisms’ natural chemical signaling pathways as described in the book Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival? by Colborn et al. Certain pesticides appear to interfere with brain development , aging and reproductive function.

Children’s exposures to toxic chemicals in the environment cause or contribute to a group of chronic disabling and sometimes life-threatening conditions like childhood cancer, neurodevelopmental, behavioral and fat metabolism disorders. Diseases that increased substantially in the Western world and cannot be explained by parallel trends in lifestyle, diet and behavioral patterns.

There is growing scientific evidence that even low doses of exposure to toxic substances during fetal and child development can cause lasting permanent effects. Critical windows of vulnerability to exposure are the developing fetus during the third trimester of pregnancy when the brain is developing most rapidly and during the first several years of life when the immune system is programmed.

The past two years, the biological hazard has increased with a mountain of extra waste, nonessential personal protective equipment making up nearly half of the volume of waste . About 1/3 of personal protective equipment cannot be safely bagged or stored because of too few biohazard bags. Worldwide, billions of euros have been spent on faulty masks and other PPE mostly derived from Chinese companies which did not exist before the pandemic. Although WHO released an emergency about the danger of air pollution resulting in a poor immune system, more infectious diseases and more chronic noncommunicable diseases (i.e. heart diseases, diabetes, obesity ), a risk benefit assessment for the pandemic measures destroying millions of people’s lives has not been made.

Pregnant women, children and adolescents are more susceptible to intoxications

The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has estimated that the toxic exposures in the environment contribute to the causation of 28 percent of neurobehavioral disorders in children .

The NAS report and numerous research have learned that “the time makes the poison” with the corollary that “in early development, timing makes the poison.”

The threshold, the lowest concentration that might produce harmful effects, is different for every chemical and may differ from person to person (sensitivity). The longer the exposure to a chemical the more likely one is to be affected by it. Chemical exposure , which continues over a long period of time, is often particularly hazardous because some chemicals can accumulate in the body or because the damage does not have a chance to be repaired.

The body has several systems, most importantly the liver kidney and lungs that change chemicals in less toxic form and eliminate them. The common points that substances first contact the body are the skin, eyes, nose, throat and lungs. The ability of children to metabolize, detoxify and excrete many toxicants differs from that of adults. They are less able to deal with chemical toxins because they do not have the enzymes necessary to metabolize them and thus are more vulnerable to them.

The developing systems of a child are very delicate and are not able to repair damage that may be caused by environmental toxicants. Even in the absence of clinical visible symptoms, a subclinical toxicity could cause diseases in intelligence and alteration of behavior. The internal organs mostly affected are the liver, kidneys, heart, nervous system (including the brain) and the reproductive system.

There are a few substances that once deposited remain in the body forever like asbestos fibers. Toxic chemicals can cause genetic damage. Most chemicals that cause cancer also cause mutations. For several chemical metals epigenetic modifications are considered a possible mechanism underlying the toxicity and cell-transforming ability. Unfortunately, most chemicals have not been tested at all.

Moreover, interaction between substances that can produce any synergistic or potentiating effect are not known. In 1997 a White House task force on children’s health and safety was established and in 2002 the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children’s Act became law, which required that drugs labeled for use in children undergo scientific studies to specifically examine children’s susceptibilities. Although regulations for a precautionary approach to use toxic chemicals have been set up their ambition have not met their accomplishment.

How Covid measures put children’s future health at risk

Many studies showed that children and adolescents are at a very low risk for developing a severe case of Covid-19. Collective studies show that the immune response of adults and children to mild SARS-CoV-2 infection are similar but diverge after the development of severe disease in ARDS (adults) and MIS-C (children) characterized by a difference in immune response and inflammation.

However, the association of severe Covid-19 in children and adults with preexisting medical conditions underscores the contribution of these comorbidities to disease severity. Several studies demonstrated a relation between gut microbiota composition , levels of cytokines and inflammatory markers, chemokines and blood markers of tissue damage in patients with Covid-19 and the severity of disease. A depletion of gut microbiota with immunomodulatory potential was observed. It can be that the microbial dysbiosis after disease resolution could contribute to persistent symptoms described as Long Covid.

There is no proof that measures during the pandemic for healthy children and adolescents protect against viral infection or transmission,while the possible harm by a combination of toxic substances that could eventually work synergistically or potentiating in possible harm on the effectiveness of the immune system is of increasing concern.

The more we can imagine that children’s exposure to toxic substances like titanium dioxide, graphene oxide, Ag, sodium azide , ethanol , methanol , polypropylene fibers often in combination and for longer periods of time together with a possible change in carbon dioxide concentration can cause an alteration in their gut microbiota and an overuse of their detoxification systems in liver, kidney, lungs and heart.

An alteration of the gut microbiota of the children and adolescents predispose children and adolescents to develop MIS-C and other chronic diseases. Case reports of serious health problems within minutes while wearing a mask have been published. Remarkably experts to the government, politics and courts are still advising pro-measures, even when the science is clear about the ineffectiveness and safety cannot be guaranteed.

Recently, the Belgian Sciensano found the estimated titanium dioxide mass in 24 different single and reusable types of facemasks meant for the general public systemically exceeded the acceptable exposure level by inhalation when masks are worn intensively. Part of this study was published in Nature . However, Sciensano did not retract any of the tested masks from the market or reported to the public in which type of masks the high level of titanium dioxide was found while in the paper it is stated a health risk can not be excluded.

Moreover, uncertainties regarding the genotoxicity of titanium dioxide particles remain. Additionally, Sciensano said It does not exclude titanium dioxide from being present in other types of masks containing synthetic fibers such as medical masks even when they are certified either. Key information on risk assessment for toxicity is missing. In general, scientific data on the presence of (nano) particles in face masks their characteristics, the exposure and the risks for the population is limited, especially for vulnerable populations , elderly, pregnant women and children. The past two years these groups were forced to wear face masks intensively without a decent risk-benefit assessment.

According to the ECHA, titanium dioxide is on the EEA market in nanomaterial form. The substance is approved by the European Union and suspected of causing cancer. On February 2022 the Belgian government published that titanium dioxide E171 will no longer be allowed for food consumption from August 2022 onwards. Sciensano is also working on an Agmask project, though results have not become available for the public yet. The ECHA states that the presence of Ag is very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects.

In Germany, The Netherlands and Canada millions of masks have been retracted from the market due to the presence of graphene-oxide known in ECHA as a substance causing eye irritation, skin irritation and may cause respiratory irritation. In a review on graphene nanoparticles the underlying toxicity has been revealed, for instance physical destruction, oxidative stress, DNA damage, Inflammatory response, apoptosis, autophagy and necrosis.

The potential hazards for the long term are still unknown. Unfortunately, the uncontrolled frequent use of biocides by producers of face masks and tests stretches the already existing problem of antibiotic resistance ,like MRSA (multi resistant Staphylococcus aureus ), even further. In this respect it is important to realize that a bacterial overgrowth with skin problems due to mask wearing is often caused by Staphylococcus aureus . Also, the University of Florida found 11 pathogenic bacteria that can cause diphtheria, pneumonia and meningitis on the outside of masks worn by children.

Crosstalk between poison, gut microbiota, inflammation and vaccine response

The influence of pollutants on the gut microbiota , gut permeability and the immune system, enhancing pulmonary, intestinal and systemic inflammation is undeniable. Conditions that can enhance inflammatory effects with systemic consequences. Pollution can influence epigenetic modifications, oxidative stress and impact processes of methylation of genes both in loss and excess particularly for those involved in inflammatory pathways .

Overall, there seems to be a risk for the development of certain autoimmune diseases as a result of an imbalance of T cell subsets. The underlying mechanisms and long-term consequences are not yet completely clear; thus the effects might be even more serious than expected.

In some cases a synergistic effect can take place between a pathogen and pollutant resulting in an altered immune response. Microbiota act as an immunomodulator and are involved in the response to vaccination. Different types of microbiota inhibited by PFAS are linked to a better immune response to vaccination and longevity.

Exposure to PFAS has been associated with a decrease in the humoral immune responses to tetanus, diphtheria and rubella vaccines in children and adults. On the other hand a cross sectional study in China showed a protective effect of the influenza vaccine on the effects of air pollution. As known for many decades the efficacy of vaccines depends on the integrity of the immune system. Humans are exposed to hazards throughout their lifespan and the effects of these exposures are often not realized until decades later.

In fact, individuals conceived during the Dutch Hunger Winter at the end of World War II were shown 60 years later to have altered DNA methylation at a locus which plays an important role in growth. Recently a genome-wide epidemiology study of BPA exposure and DNA methylation levels in pre-adolescent girls in Egypt showed that methylation profiles exhibit exposure dependent trends.

Developmental BPA exposure may both be associated with higher body weight and increased obesity or with hyperactive lean phenotypes. A possible link of pesticide exposure of farm workers to various and deadly illnesses like Parkinson’s and blood cancers took a decade for a group of French scientists to blow the whistle until it was recognized. Environmental, behavioral, socioeconomic and diet contribute to different risk profiles for later in life diseases. Results may be dependent on vulnerable stages of life that represent critical windows of susceptibility .

Preventing latent disease development for later in life diseases

The signals are clear enough to start questioning and searching for the truth. A recent article in the Daily Mail in the UK stated Long Covid might not actually blame fatigue in children, as symptoms are just as common in youngsters who never had the virus. American children are losing motivation and creativity , teachers say. Problems include depression, underachievement, disconnection and anxiety.

A recent English study showed in schoolchildren a 23 percent loss of early learning, a decrease in concentration and verbal and nonverbal communication. Another article observed a pandemic brain : neuroinflammation in non-infected individuals during the Covid-19 pandemic. An increase in the prevalence of fatigue, brain fog, depression and other sickness behavior like symptoms that implicate a possible dysregulation in neuroimmune mechanisms. Latest research demonstrated the increased risk for myocarditis and pericarditis in adolescents after vaccination. The authors advised a personal risk-benefit assessment before vaccination. A Lancet study reported a rare multisystem inflammatory syndrome in vaccinated young.

Although it is yet unclear what would have been the trigger for the inflammation and the overdrive over the body’s immune system, fatigue, loss of strength and interest, a possible synergistic or potentiating effect of the presence of high concentrations of various toxic substances cannot be excluded. A new stage of thinking is needed and retooling the risk assessment process of Covid measures so that it takes into account the increased vulnerability of pregnant women and children to toxic substances.

Governmental and other organizations who analyzed the presence of toxic substances in face masks, tests, gloves and other PPE urgently need to release their available data and analysis to open the discussion on possible harm of children during pandemic measures. A new article clearly demonstrated that wearing masks at school does not prevent viral transmission. Though poor evidence for masking the public and children has been known for a while. Child abuse by forcing children to wear masks, even from the age of two years, should be stopped immediately to prevent loss of quality of life, loss of well-being and a loss of the ability to work while aging.

Furthermore, groups of children of all ages who have been exposed to extended periods of mask wearing, overuse of hand sanitizers, disinfectant spray and frequent testing need to be analyzed on the presence of toxic substances or metabolites in the body.

We need a program to detoxify and restore the immune system and a healthy life with adequate nutrition. This is what is required to return a stolen future to the young to live a life in freedom, connection, creativity, and motivation in balance with nature.

Abbreviations used

ARDS: Acture Respiratory Distress Syndrome
MIS-C: Multisystem Inflammation Syndrome
PFAS: Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
PCB: Plychlorobifenyl
PBA: PolyBisphenol A
PPE: Personal Protective Equipment
Pb: Lead
Ag: Silver
Ars: Arsenic
Al: Alum
Hg: Mercury

Published at: https://brownstone.org/articles/have-the-children-been-poisoned/

Also published at The Epoch Times

Het bericht Have the Children Been Poisoned? verscheen eerst op Good Care Feels Better .

The statement: ‘It is wise to vaccinate children (12-17 years) against COVID-19 as well’.

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 15:10:49 GMT

Paediatricians recommend vaccinating children between the ages of 12 and 17. The rapid rise of the more contagious delta variant makes this next step in the vaccination programme necessary, according to them. Two experts respond to the statement: ‘It’s wise to vaccinate children (12-17 years) against COVID-19 as well’.

YES

Attje Kuiken, PvdA member of parliament, spokesperson on Covid-19-related issues

Why are you in favour of vaccinating children (12-17 years)?

“That’s because of a number of things. Of course, I look at the advice of paediatricians and the Health Council. First, I am in favour because young people can protect themselves with it. Although the percentage is not large, there are certainly young people who suffer from Long Covid complaints. Secondly, many young people themselves would also like a vaccine to regain their full freedom. Many 16–17-year-olds are in secondary vocational education (MBO) or go on to higher vocational education (HBO), and in that group you can feel the desire strongly. Thirdly, it helps to protect our entire society, although the latter should not be the deciding argument. Finally, the Health Council indicated that schools no longer need to be closed if the group of vaccinated persons is large enough, so it reduces the disadvantage of young people who have had to be educated at home for a long time. The most important thing remains that it is about proper information of advantages and disadvantages and making one’s own choice. Offer freedom of choice, instead of imposing moral pressure.”

Do you feel that children can make an informed choice in complete freedom?

“I think so, especially 16–17-year-olds. Young people should, in consultation with their parents, and without the influence of social or moral pressure, make their own choice about whether they want the vaccine. I am having this discussion with my daughter, who will soon be 12. She talks about it with her peers and asks me about the pros and cons. She is well informed and follows the media

coverage. I notice that she is already able to talk about this in a reasoned way; she thinks that protecting society is important. If there are elderly people or children who absolutely do not want vaccination, then we must respect that consideration. Making your own, personal choice in a well-informed way, because you really want to, that is the most important thing.

By vaccinating children, aren’t we putting adult interests above those of the children?

“It is absolutely not an obligation. It would be a shame not to offer this option, because research shows that the willingness to vaccinate is quite high among this group. Of course, it does help to combat new mutations such as the delta variant and to significantly increase the vaccination rate. This increases the overall protection of society, but first and foremost, of course, young people must want it for their own sake. I suspect that a good portion of this group would like to get their own vaccination certificate, physically pursue higher education and provide extra protection for their vulnerable grandparents, fathers or mothers.”

Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

“The pros and cons have been weighed up previously by paediatricians and the Health Council, which makes me a supporter. There are always ethical dilemmas because the risk of children falling ill is simply lower. It is also the case that vaccinating our children means that it will take longer for the Netherlands to provide vaccines to other countries. These dilemmas surround the vaccination of

children, which is why fully accurate information for children and parents is important. Dilemmas are a fact of life, but in my opinion the benefits prevail. This is not only my opinion, but also that of the vast majority of the Lower House.”

And the stories about possible severe side effects in children?

“There are indeed side effects, but it is not the case that children suffer from them permanently. They are side effects that do not cause permanent damage and are therefore repairable.”

NO

Dr. Carla Peeters, immunologist, former employee of RIVM and health care administrator, now director of COBALA Good Care Feels Better®

Why are you against vaccinating children (aged 12-17)?

“Vaccinating healthy children is unnecessary and risky. There is insufficient insight into the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine for children and long-term effects are unknown. To promote a vaccine for this age group, the availability of more vaccine safety data is needed. Based on current knowledge, it is better for healthy children to experience a natural infection than a possible risk of a serious side effect of the vaccine. In addition, the risk for healthy children of contracting a serious Covid-19 infection is exceptionally low. To date, two children in this age group have died from Covid-19 in the Netherlands, out of a total of 1.1 million children, both with underlying suffering. However, in the Netherlands there are 300 to 400 children under the age of 18 with the diagnosis of Long

Covid. Little is still known about the diagnosis of Long Covid, which is a collective name for many long-term symptoms. The main symptoms include fatigue, headaches, gastrointestinal complaints, depression and breathing difficulties. Not all children with Long Covid show a positive PCR test and/or antibodies. Based on current science, it cannot be ruled out that due to other factors during the coronary crisis, children experience indefinable health complaints that can be categorised under Long Covid.”

Could not vaccinating children make it possible to contain the virus more vigorously?

“That motivation is wrong, because then you assume that children do not have a natural immunity and/or cannot develop one. The government paints a one-sided picture – as if the body is only able to keep new virus variants in check after vaccination. According to research, healthy children seem to have a natural immunity that makes them less susceptible to coronaviruses such as SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2. Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in children usually occurs without (asymptomatic) or with mild complaints. Infection occurs mainly in the family from adult to child. Transmission of the virus between children or from child to adult is much less common. The RIVM states that vaccinating children reduces the reproduction rate – the extent to which the virus is spread – by 0.3 per cent. It is not known on which assumptions the RIVM is based. Predictions based on models have repeatedly failed during this corona pandemic. We need randomised and controlled trials to show whether vaccinating children can lead to lower infections in adults. Before that, we need to answer the ethical question of whether children can be exposed to risks to protect adults. In the current strategy, investing in improving the immune system of older people with chronic diseases is missed.”

Isn’t vaccinating children a way for society to prevent another lockdown in the future?

“Based on current knowledge, it is better to expose healthy children to a natural infection and thus contribute to the intended immunity in society. It now tends to lock down schools if not enough children are vaccinated or else the measures remain in place. That is nothing less than an indirect vaccination obligation. The moral pressure, the peer pressure that would then arise, would be enormous. When two divorced parents disagree about the choice, the child can decide for itself. Can you put a child under such great social pressure when there are no irrefutable benefits for them? Children have experienced too much stress in the past year. Their carefree childhood has been sacrificed for the sake of the vulnerable in society. Most of them have now been vaccinated, which has reduced the risks for vulnerable people and full hospitals. In any case, a lockdown has proven to be ineffective and a very harmful measure. The immune system of healthy young people is actually suppressed by continuous stress”.

What do you say to parents and children who will soon have to make the decision?

“There is still much uncertainty about the long-term effects of this vaccine in adults and children. The risk of a serious Covid-19 infection for healthy children is extremely low and research shows that children hardly infect adults. For healthy children, natural infection is better. For vulnerable children with chronic diseases, vaccination may be a consideration. Careful decision-making of the benefits and risks with the treating physician is recommended for these children. Coronavirus has become an endemic, seasonal virus and will continue to mutate itself. A resilient immune system offers protection against new variants, but my primary concern is also that it is a personal choice that each child must make with her/his parents, and that they should not suffer under moral pressure.

The Biggest Public Health Threat Is Not a Virus but a Weakened Immune System

Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:48:38 GMT

A growing list of scientific studies have now shown that immunity following natural infection provides durable protection often far better than immunity following Covid-19 vaccination. Several governments focus on mandated vaccination. However natural immunity and a strong immune system are what are really needed to build full protection and a healthier population.

In most Western countries, vulnerable people and high-risk groups are vaccinated with one of the four “Emergency Use Authorization” (EUA) Covid-19 vaccines. Remarkably, in the countries with the highest vaccination coverage (Israel, Iceland and England), we observe high numbers of positive tests.

Positive tests are called infections or cases, even though that may or may not be true (e.g., a PCR test may not distinguish between an active infection or a previous infection).

Contrary to inflated expectations, it appears that people who have been doubly vaccinated can test positive, carry a high viral load, potentially transmit the virus, and end up in the hospital. The effectiveness of vaccinations seems to be declining or disappearing. A “one size fits all” approach may become a dead end if we continue to pursue this current one-sided strategy with focus on just one virus.

In England, various immunologists have spoken out about the danger of a weakened immune system within the entire population, which increases the risk of infections and chronic diseases. As a result of the lockdowns and measures such as keeping one and a half meters distance and wearing masks , the immune system in many people may have weakened compared to the days before the pandemic.

The innate immune system is the first and not specific defense mechanism. It stops potential disease-causing organisms. This system is formed by physical barriers, such as skin, saliva, and mucous membranes. Switching to the adaptive immune system happens when the pathogen is able to break through the first barrier. Cells from the innate immune system present the pieces of the pathogen or foreign substance to B Cells and T cells of the adaptive immune system.

B cells are responsible for the release of antibodies. The antibodies formed move freely in the blood and can bind foreign pathogens. The pathogen – antibody complex is then broken down and cleared by macrophages, among others. There are also T cells that directly target pathogens that have invaded cells. They can help to destroy these infected cells and, on the other hand, enhance and rein in the antibody response by B cells.

The B and T cells can develop into memory cells and are activated much faster in a subsequent infection than with a first infection. Memory provides an increased antibody response, often with a stronger binding to a protein of the pathogen and a broader response against multiple pieces of the protein (epitope). This increases the chance that the pathogen will be cleared effectively and quickly. This is reflected in natural infections and also vaccinations.

Children and adults have come into less contact with other viruses and bacteria, so the immune system is less challenged and therefore less trained. Outbreaks of infectious diseases in isolated communities who had not been exposed to the corresponding pathogen for a long time and lacked immunity are well documented e.g. the outbreak of whooping cough in 1908 and 1918 in Papua New Guinea.

In addition, factors such as changed diet and lifestyle, exposure to toxic substances through frequent use of disinfectants and facemasks, and the increase in stress play an important role. As well, obesity is a correlating condition related to a serious Covid-19 condition, and the lockdowns have resulted in higher obesity rates in the UK, the US, and other Western nations. Obesity has long been associated with prognosis of viral infections. It was recognized as a predisposing factor for worse clinical outcomes and death in the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

On the opposite side of obesity of the pandemic and its measures we see a rising problem of undernutrition with increased risks for pneumonia and mortality in children younger than 5 years of age. The problem of malnutrition, either due to over- or undernutrition, and as a consequence immune dysfunction may cause enormous damage for years and generations to come. The onset of heightened tuberculosis incidents is deeply troubling.

Drug use has also increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Statistics from the Netherlands report that mental health in the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2021 was the lowest for the past twenty years. Nivel reports that the use of psychotropic drugs among young people aged 15-24 increased in the first quarter of 2021.

This has been seen before in England and the United States. The pandemic led to a stark rise in depressive and anxiety disorders in women (28%) and adolescents (26%) globally. Also the proportion of patients with dementia who has been prescribed antipsychotics substantially increased. More people with dementia died in 2020 as compared to previous years in the UK.

For many years Psycho Neuro-Immunology Studies demonstrated that mental health is important for a well-functioning immune system. Several researchers have shown a relationship between the increase in stress experiences and the risk of upper respiratory tract infections and mortality. A significant overall association between the susceptibility to sepsis and accelerated biological aging has been found as well as negative associations between mean cytokine levels and chronic stress. A long duration of the measures can weaken the innate and adaptive immune system and worsen a disease outcome.

The effective and efficient operation of the total immune system is crucial when the body encounters foreign substances, pathogens (disease-causing agents) or, for example, cancer cells. Studies on the effectiveness of the influenza vaccines have already shown that older people may not respond effectively to the influenza vaccine. Older people often have an aging immune system. That’s why we talk about immunosenescence, where the immune system changes with age.

As a result, “bullet-proof” protection cannot be generated , despite vaccination. A study in Norway among one hundred vulnerable elderly people who died shortly after a Covid-19 vaccination shows that weakened immunity probably played a role. In addition to elderly people, those with chronic diseases such as rheumatism, MS, or after organ transplantation can also have weakened immunity.

A significant proportion of the people with chronic diseases who participated in a Dutch study were unable to elicit a good antibody response after two vaccinations with one of the four Covid-19 vaccines. Do they need a third vaccination? The results of this are not yet known. Because the immune system is not working optimally in this group and the same vaccine is used for this third injection, no major improvements can be expected. The EMA and ECDC do not see an urgent need for a third booster for healthy groups , for the time being.

Vaccination will not provide good protection for everyone. The majority of people who are currently vaccinated do not know whether they have built up antibodies and/or T cell immunity. It is also possible that without vaccination, effective immunity has already been built up due to symptomatic or non-symptomatic (asymptomatic) infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus or previous infection from another coronavirus.

A study published in Nature demonstrates that seventeen years after natural infection with the SARS CoV-1 virus, protective T cell cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 virus is still present. It’s a theory along with low obesity that explains why Asian countries have suffered few Covid-19 deaths despite hearty case counts. Many scientific studies, over a dozen in 2021, have now shown that immunity following natural infection provides better protection than immunity following Covid-19 vaccination. An Israelian study showed a 27 times less chance of reinfection and an eight times less chance of hospitalization after natural infection as compared to vaccination.

Another recently published study also demonstrated more durable immunity following natural infection. This may be related to the fact that natural infection elicits a broader immune response against a wider variety of viral coat proteins. SARS-Cov-2 specific cellular and humoral immunities are durable at least until one year after disease onset. If recovered infection follows other viruses, it could be much longer; SARS-CoV-2 just hasn’t been out that long and few countries are conducting studies on those infected from the spring of 2020.

A reduction in the effectiveness of the innate and adaptive immune systems can occur after an injection with an mRNA vaccine, which leads to a greater risk of a more severe course in subsequent infections, as shown in a not yet peer-reviewed study . Also, a wide range of side effects for the Covid-19 vaccines have been documented to VAERS, MHRA and Eudravigilance, far more as compared to previous vaccines. Therefore experts argue for thorough data analysis on the risk-benefits for booster injections .

Even before the Covid-19 vaccines were on the market, scientists warned of a possible danger of Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE), a well-known phenomenon observed in the development of previous coronavirus vaccines. This means that the body produces antibodies, but is unable to neutralize the virus, so by binding to antibodies present on the cell, the virus can enter the cell and multiply more easily .

In a study on vaccine breakthrough cases from the San Francisco Bay area California breakthrough infections were found to be associated with low or undetectable neutralizing antibody levels attributable to immunocompromised state or infection by an antibody resistant lineage. This is seen by several scientists as a possible explanation for the observed reinfections after vaccination. Research from the Mayo Clinic and Boston University shows that six months after the second injection of the Pfizer vaccine the effectiveness decreased from 76% to 42% and with Moderna from 86% to 76%.

Although politicians worldwide are talking about a third injection with the same vaccine, scientists in Iceland, England and USA are hesitant about this. Natural immunity may be needed to build full protection in the population. The virus is now endemic and has a survival rate of 99.410% for people under 69 years of age and more than 99.997% for young people under 19 years of age.

Antibodies generated by the vaccines appear to decline after six months. The non-measurable presence of antibodies does not always mean that people are no longer immune. After a natural infection, antibody-producing B cells remain detectable in the bone marrow after the disappearance of measurable antibodies in the blood, which indicates the possibility of being able to react quickly after reinfection. Using a survey of healthcare workers at the Cleveland Clinic, it was shown that vaccinating people who have already gone through a natural infection is pointless.

The large increase in hospitalizations with RSV (cold virus) infections in children in South Wales and Australia may be a result of lockdowns that suppress the functioning of the immune system, some English immunologists explain. An increase in RSV virus in children and people with black fungus in the lungs in the ICU has also recently been reported in the Netherlands and Belgium .

These infections rarely occur alone and mostly in people with very weak immune systems. As the pressure from lockdowns, nonpharmaceutical interventions, and large-scale vaccinations that target only one protein of the virus increases, there is a greater chance that mutations will occur in the virus that can make it more dangerous for vulnerable groups. The immunity induced with the vaccine does not appear to be effective enough in all people to neutralize the Delta variant.

Now that a large part of society has already been vaccinated, it is much better, following the example of Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland, to lift all restriction measures and allow the virus to circulate in the course of normal social and market functioning, i.e. the freedom of movement and exchange.

This allows natural immunity to be built up and the immune system to be strengthened at the same time to keep other viruses, fungi and bacteria in check as well. Vaccination mandates with an experimental vaccine and accompanying passports cannot provide broad protection. In addition, the knowledge about the resilience of a natural immunity after an infection and/or through cross-reactivity with other (corona) viruses is undermined by a vaccination passport, especially because it is now known from studies that the risk of reinfection in vaccines is real.

A focus on vaccinations with (in)direct obligations creates an unscientifically justifiable discord in society. Above all, with shortages of healthcare personnel, continuing on the same path is an invitation to a devastating tsunami. Not only from Covid-19, but from other pathogens as well as sharp increases in cancer, cardiovascular disease and depression.

Indeed, the immune system is also involved in the prevention of chronic diseases. To prevent unnecessary harm for people and children, public health information on the risk and benefits of the vaccines needs to be honest and transparent. In this way people can make well-considered decisions about their own health and how to contribute, build trust in public health and live in a safe and healthier world.

The government and insurance companies would be well served to provide at least children, the elderly, vulnerable welfare recipients, and healthcare workers with a clearer guidance on the crucial importance of a resilient immune system, and not compromise it with restrictions and mandates that risk our health.

Author: dr. Carla Peeters

First published at Brownstone Institute

“Strengthening the immune system is much more effective in preventing infections than any measures”.

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 13:28:00 GMT

“Strengthening the immune system is much more effective in preventing infections than any measures”.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, we have mainly had to adhere to measures. But why has the immune system not or hardly been in the spotlight? Carla Peeters, PhD in immunology and nutrition & lifestyle expert, also believes that too little attention has been paid to strengthening the immune system. According to her, we are playing catch-up. “We need an optimally functioning immune system for fewer infections through natural defences and a good response to vaccines.” This time in the section Another sound a basic lesson in immunology and lifestyle.

Let’s start with what immunology means. The immune system protects us through various defence mechanisms. When the immune system does not function properly, it can result in diseases such as autoimmune diseases, allergies and cancer. The immune system may also be involved in metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. The immune system can be divided into the innate immune system and the adaptive immune system.

The innate and the adaptive immune system

The innate immune system is the first and not specific defence mechanism. It stops all potential disease-causing organisms. “This system is formed by physical barriers, such as skin, saliva and mucous membranes. These mucous membranes contain cells (macrophages, neutrophils, basophils and mast cells) that secrete substances that destroy viruses and are eliminated by these cells. In many cases this is enough to stop a pathogen or foreign substance. If too much pressure is put on this immune system, it switches to the second defence mechanism, the adaptive immune system.

The adaptive immune system is the second defence mechanism. Cells from the innate immune system present the pieces of the pathogen or foreign substance to B cells and T cells of the adaptive immune system. “Both B and T cells are activated. The B cells cause the release of antibodies. The antibodies formed move freely in the blood and can bind foreign pathogens. The pathogen-antibody complex is then broken down and cleared away by macrophages, among others. There are also T cells that directly target pathogens that have entered cells. They can help to destroy these infected cells and on the other hand strengthen the antibody response by B cells and also keep it in check again.”

The B and T cells can develop into memory cells. These cells are activated much faster during a subsequent infection than during the first infection. “The memory causes an increased antibody response, often with a stronger binding to a protein of the pathogen and a broader response against several pieces of the protein (epitope). This increases the chance that the pathogen will be cleared effectively and quickly. You can see this in natural infections and also in vaccinations. The chance of becoming ill from an infection decreases.”

What can we do to support our immune system?

Sixty to seventy percent of the cells of the immune system are located in our intestines and are connected to the intestinal flora. A healthy bacterial flora in the intestines, skin and mucous membranes is important for a properly functioning immune system. What choices can we make ourselves to support our flora and thus our immune system? “Healthy diet and lifestyle. It is known that the intestinal flora changes when we eat differently and exercise less. Both of these have been happening during the lockdowns. During a prolonged lockdown it is much more difficult to stick to it. When we are bored or under stress, we consume foods that are less beneficial to the immune system. Because sports activities are closed during the winter months, people also move less. A quarter of the Dutch population gained weight during the corona crisis, with an average of 5.6 kilos.”

Her advice is to eat 200-300 grams of vegetables a day, one or two pieces of fruit and a maximum of five glasses of alcohol spread over the week. Add to this a daily 30-minute walk in the sunlight for much-needed exercise, energy, warmth and vitamin D. “If you don’t make enough vitamin D or get it in other ways, all sorts of processes in the body don’t work or don’t work properly, including the activity of immune cells. I used to get cod liver oil drops, you don’t hear about that anymore. In 2018, Minister Bruins decided to remove the reimbursement for vitamin D from the basic health insurance. The Health Council has not yet decided to reinstate vitamin D in the basic insurance while this could lead to many savings.”

“A spring dip is often linked to a lack of vitamin D and sunlight.”

People who ended up in ICU during the first wave of the Corona-crisis were mainly overweight, type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. “In the second wave, it was mostly immigrants. People with darker skin produce vitamin D much more difficult. We often don’t realise that we have a deficiency.” What are the symptoms of a deficiency? “Overtired, irritable, depressed, reduced ability to think, there are quite a few complaints in which vitamin D is involved. If the body has too low a concentration of vitamin D, it will choose for itself what it will use it for in order to survive. The immune system can then slow down or become less effective, allowing pathogens to multiply and invade more easily. A spring dip is often related to a lack of vitamin D and sunlight. The sun is very important for our survival.

Many studies now show that vitamin D plays a very important role in the proper functioning of the immune system to control the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This was already known much longer for other upper respiratory infections such as the influenza virus. The same applies to vitamin C, another vitamin that has received too little attention according to Carla. “High concentrations of both vitamins can even reduce the severe form of Covid-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.” Preventive vitamin D 2000 IU for young people over 16 and adults and, for example, at least daily an apple with peel because of vitamin C in combination with beneficial flavonoids and healthy bacteria on the peel, says Carla. “Possibly with some extra vitamin C. For younger children, the dose can be adjusted proportionally. For the elderly and people with chronic diseases, a higher dose may be needed temporarily.”

The importance of vitamins C and D to prevent severe Covid-19

From the start of the pandemic, Carla has told various media, such as NPO1, Trouw, Brabants Dagblad, HP De Tijd and also politicians, VWS and via VNONCW-MKB Nederland to the OMT the importance of, among other things, vitamin D and vitamin C to prevent the severe form of Covid-19 and also as extra support in the treatment. “In the meantime, this view has been called for attention both nationally and internationally by medics and other scientists. Two hundred scientists and doctors have drawn the attention of governments worldwide to the role and importance of vitamin D in relation to a SARS-CoV-2 infection. In England, two hundred doctors recently suggested vitamin C as a treatment for Covid-19. Minister van Ark sent a letter to the House of Representatives on the 27th of February 2021 stating that vitamins D and C can be used as adjuvants in the treatment of Covid-19.

Clinical research with vitamins D and C in this context is funded by ZonMW.” In February, DSM launched a new form of vitamin D, calcifediol, in collaboration with an Australian organization Bioclinic. Spanish doctors achieved very good results with this form of vitamin D for the recovery of patients with severe Covid-19. Vitamins D and C alone won’t get you there, because according to Carla, it’s about making people realise that diet and lifestyle are the most important things for a strong immune system and preventing bacterial or viral infections. “It requires leadership over your body, so taking more responsibility. What can I do to keep my body healthy? A growing number of people realise that this is important, but for years little attention has been paid to this. What I find difficult is that because of the pressure and fear caused by lockdowns, closed schools and sports facilities, loss of work, and the measures of the past year, people are actually making the wrong choices.”

Healthy diet and lifestyle

Strengthening the immune system by healthy diet, lifestyle and extra vitamin D (in summer by exposing the skin to sunlight) and vitamin C, magnesium and in case of a cold zinc, is much more effective in preventing infections than all measures from mouth masks to a test society, says Carla. “Moreover, this way, without measures, mental and psychological health can be boosted again. Above all, it creates room for herd immunity and new virus variants can keep other bacteria and viruses in check.”
Rapid tests, she says, are not suitable for testing people without symptoms. “With a low prevalence, only 25 percent of the positive results can be truly positive. With a self-test, this is estimated at 10 percent. And a negative result does not mean that we can say with certainty that someone does not have an infection. So there are false positives and false negatives. We have already paid a billion euros in the first months of 2021 to test mostly people and children without symptoms. The tests are not suitable for that. And now testing is done so that people can go to the casino or a party again, while those tests are unreliable. Even in England they now realise that this does not make sense. We do not know what we are doing. Fortunately, last week some hospitals and health insurers wrote a fire letter to the cabinet that it would be better to invest the investments for a test society in a better diet and lifestyle.”

Coronavirus is seasonal

An extra boost of spring is that we are in a favourable period as far as viruses are concerned, because the coronavirus is seasonal. This means that from April/May onwards it will be less and less present and cause fewer infections. “It is going to decrease now because of the weather. After the first wave, the infection rate was low all summer because the temperature was too high. People are going to go outside again and exercise more in the sun and get in better shape and have more fun. This leads to a healthier diet, more vitamins and less stress, all of which helps reduce the number of infections. In addition, it is wise to minimise the use of mouthguards and disinfectants, as their frequent and prolonged use weakens the natural flora and thus the immune system and actually promotes infections.”

Het bericht “Strengthening the immune system is much more effective in preventing infections than any measures”. verscheen eerst op Good Care Feels Better .

Why Mask Mandates Should be Repealed Immediately

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 15:21:33 GMT

During the past 18 months, masks have been mandated worldwide as a major tool to prevent the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Sweden is one of the few countries that wisely did not introduce the wearing of masks in a broader sense. At the start of the pandemic when there was not yet much information on the virus available, Sweden asked community members to wear masks during rush hours in public transport. This was a temporary solution and removed at the time a large proportion of vulnerable people was vaccinated.

The statement of Swedish policy advisor professor Anders Tegnell was clear: the wearing of non-medical masks to prevent viral transmission has never been used successfully and science has not yet proved the opposite. The wearing of masks by healthy people in public surroundings might even backfire. The viral spread could become worse. Effectiveness and safe use of non-medical masks in both indoor and outdoor settings is debated by many scientists.

A false sense of security could be a major risk. During the pandemic Dr Fauci and WHO experts changed their policies frequently from no beneficial effect for wearing masks by the general public (interim report WHO 5 June 2020, to a mandate, wearing two masks, wearing masks for children from the age of five or even two years and even wearing masks outdoors.

Politicians argue that wearing masks will help to respect other measures like 1.5 meter distancing, frequent hand washing, working from home and adjusting to a stay-at-home policy. However, positive effects of the behavioral aim of masks are flawed and have not been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Politicians still push mask mandates. A frequently used political statement is “although there is no profit it will not harm.” Unfortunately when masks are frequently used and for long periods, there is a tremendous risk to people’s health and the environment. Effects may turn out to be irreversible and negatively affect the health of future generations.

During this pandemic wearing of non-medical masks is the most twisted symbol in the war against a virus to reach the ultimate aim of most politicians: a zero Covid policy. Masks reached the highest level of the medical and political agenda, as a comfort blanket for feeling safe and a mechanism of control to circumvent the fear of becoming infected.

Dr Rochelle Walensky from CDC is claiming in advertisements, without evidence, that wearing a mask could reduce the risk of infection by 80%. However, a Cochrane study by Jefferson et al. and a report of the European Center of Disease Control concluded there is no high-quality evidence in favor of facemasks. No association was observed between mask mandates or use and reduced Covid-19 spread in US states . Up to now there are no results available of randomized clinical trials that could demonstrate beyond any doubt that wearing masks prevent people from viral infection and could slow the spread of the virus.

Randomized controlled trials during this pandemic on the effects of wearing medical masks in Denmark by the general population could not alter the conclusions of previous trials with (medical) masks on the spread of i nfluenza virus in a hospital setting or in non healthcare settings : there is no substantial effect.

In September, results of a randomized clinical trial in Bangladesh were published. This study, which is not peer reviewed yet, concluded that the wearing of medical masks could reduce asymptomatic seroprevalence with 9% when mask wearing among villagers improved 29% as compared to members of other villages that did not improve in mask wearing (controlgroup). However this small difference could not be observed when villagers used cloth masks.

The question remains: if the methods of analysis used in this study is evidence that wearing medical masks by the general population is able to prevent viral infections and transmission, should it be promoted to other regions ?

Another recent study by the Max Planck Institute claiming a clear protective effect on preventing viral infections and slowing down the spread of the virus by wearing non medical masks by the general population was based on modelling studies based on assumptions and data from an observational study and a small study in two hospitals in Wuhan .

Moreover, wearing masks by children and students on the effects of slowing down the spread of the virus in schools has never been studied in a randomized controlled trial. In general children younger than 18 years of age are not at risk of a severe disease. It is presumed children are protected by natural immunity as a result of cross reactivity with other coronaviruses and/or the presence of lower levels of ACE2 receptor s which are required for the virus to replicate.

Moreover, studies of Karolinska Institute and Institute Pasteur concluded that children are not the main drivers of spreading the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A study of the Swedish Institute of Public Health did not observe a difference of infections in children and teachers in Sweden where schools were open without wearing masks as compared to children and teachers in Finland where schools were closed.

Meanwhile political mandates are forcing children and adults to wear masks many hours a day. An ethical and careful risk benefit evaluation for the wearing of masks on slowing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus has never been made while existing and scientific papers on harmful effects for people and environment have been neglected.

The exponential use of masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic is polarizing the natural immune system and biodiversity with a devastating loss of plasticity resulting in an advanced risk for new virus variants, multiresistant bacteria, infectious diseases and severe chronic diseases.

Although the environment might have made some gains in terms of the reduction of the carbon footprint and improved air and surface water quality during the pandemic there is a pending threat to our collective existence and the survival of marine organisms.

The worldwide estimate is that disposable masks or face shields are discarded at a rate of 3.4 million per day. The presence of a diversity of plastics, toxic and cancerous compounds like perfluorocarbon, aniline, phthalate, formaldehyde, bisfenol A as well as heavy metals, biocides (zinc oxide, graphene oxide) and nanoparticles are found. An increasing number of environmental experts worry about the long-term effects. Most (85%) of the masks used worldwide are made in China where no environmental qualification is needed.

A total breakdown of these dangerous compounds is expected to last 450 years. Problems corresponding to the various sizes of plastics of PPE in the environment and the ecosystems could serve as potential vectors of pathogens and could lead to injuries and death. The use of plastic bottles began in 1950. We consume about a credit card a week of plastic(s) as reported in “Assessing Plastic Ingestion’ from Nature to People.”

Plastics and non-biodegradable PPE made from plastics in the environment can influence human and animal fertility. Professor Schwan writes in her book Countdown that without changing our attitude to nature it might be that in 2045 fertilization will only be possible via artificial insemination. In April 2020 researchers from Harvard and Worldbank showed a statistical link of air pollution and mortality numbers of Covid-19.

The influence of harmful compounds, nanoparticles and biocides in masks on children, adults, animals, plants and the environment have not been intensively investigated so far. However based on the available peer-reviewed scientific articles the possible harmful effects on health of healthcare workers is known and an increase in infections and chronic diseases could have been expected.

A recent meta-analysis of 65 peer-reviewed scientific articles concluded a serious danger for developing MIES Mask Induced Exhaustion Syndrome . Symptoms vary from low O2, high CO2, dizziness, exhausted breathing and heartbeat, toxicity, inflammation, increased levels of stress hormone, anxiety, anger, headache, slow thinking and drowsiness.

For children the possible risks for psychosocial, biological and immunological effects make long-term wearing of face masks difficult to maintain. In history medical masks have only been used by doctors and nurses during specific conditions . Infected wounds were found to be similar or could be increased during the wearing of masks as compared to non wearing masks.

Masks were meant to wear for short-term use only to protect for blood or saliva squashes in operation rooms. Every two hours a new mask is recommended as well as alternating with a period of not wearing masks.

There is no doubt why many have started challenging the mask mandates for healthy people. US Senator Rand Paul has spoken out against mask mandates. He argues that they don’t work and cases can actually increase. In a tribunal in the German District Court in Weinheim in April 2021 expert professor Christof Kuhbander explained the dangers of wearing masks by children. It is a significant threat for their physical and emotional well-being and their general development by disturbing their nonverbal communication.

Furthermore there is a serious risk for a change in the bacterial flora in the mouth resulting in bad breath, tooth decay and inflammation. In the long term the change in the microbial flora might increase the risk for skin problems , heart problems, digestive problems and a waning innate immune system.

Professor Dr Ines Kappstein explained during the same court meeting there is no evidence that wearing masks can significantly decrease the risk for an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Improper use of masks may increase infections. The court judged that wearing masks is useless and unconstitutional. More judges should follow this decision.

In August 2008, the NIH published a paper that during the flu pandemic in 1918 most people died due to bacterial pneumonia. Scientists debate that wearing masks lengthened the duration of the pandemic. During the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic bacterial co-infection have been observed as well. Nowadays young adults with pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus aureus, which seldom occurred before, can land in ICU’s. Another remarkable phenomenon recently observed in hospitals is the enormous increase in up to 25% of Covid patients co-infected with black fungus .

An infection that may end in death normally occurs in people with a compromised immune system. A possible explanation for this could be the use of dexamethasone. Similarly a rise in more RSV infections in young children is being seen. The role of the long-term use of dirty, humid masks and the presence of toxic compounds in masks resulting in a waning immune system needs further attention. Presence of respiratory viruses on the outer surface of medical masks used by hospital healthcare workers is demonstrated and may result in self-contamination .

A possible link to neurological damage and an increasing risk for lung cancer due to decreased availability of oxygen and as a result dysbiosis of the lower respiratory tract has been published. Wearing masks at higher temperatures and high humidity e.g summer or places like hairdressers may lead to dehydration, increased heartbeat and other heat-related health problems.

There are possible effects from the wrong use of masks that could damage human health. People might use the microwave to disinfect their mask, or sprays to disinfect or ethereal oils for a nice smell, which may be harmful. In Canada, Belgium, Germany, and The Netherlands nonmedical and medical masks financed by the governments had to be withdrawn from the market due to the amount of toxic and harmful substances found. Unfortunately most batches of masks used by the general public are not subjected to such analysis.

It is time to stop mask mandates for healthy people. It is no longer possible to justify a behavioral experiment with such far-reaching harmful consequences. Many scientific studies and analysis all arrive at the same conclusion: the wearing of masks by healthy people cannot stop the spread of a virus.

People without any symptoms tested and a positive PCR test (due to the presence of a nonviable piece of RNA) rarely spread a virus. The most important magic rule is from ancestral wisdom: rest and go to bed when experiencing Covid or flu-like symptoms. Strengthening the immune system with a healthy food and lifestyle will decrease the risk for infections and chronic diseases

Governments and politicians should act with a moral compass. They should repeal all mask mandates immediately. Any action on Covid-19 policy will gain more impact if matched with a focus on restoring public health, the environment, and trust. In high-trust societies like Sweden, the result is a low number of Covid infections and mortality rates without restriction, mask mandates, or vaccine passports.

Also published at the Brownstone Institute, NOVEMBER 15, 2021

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