Exposure to, and the development of antibodies specific to a germ trumps vaccine induced immunity. I have always believed that. But that has never stopped the pharmaceutical industry from investing in wares that they can convince us we all need. Now, these purveyors of 6-hour pill induced relief and needle induced immunity are at it again.
Valley Fever is a disease caused by the fungus “coccidioides.” It thrives in soils and sand in and around Arizona and California, although it is also found in Mexico and other places globally. Valley Fever is commonly misdiagnosed. According to the CDC, “The number of Valley fever cases reported to CDC likely underestimates the true number of Valley fever cases. Tens of thousands more illnesses likely occur and may be misdiagnosed because many patients are not tested for Valley fever. In highly endemic areas such as the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas of Arizona, Valley fever causes an estimated 15% to nearly 30% of community-acquired pneumonias, but low testing rates suggest that Valley fever is probably under-recognized.”
Do the math with me and see if you feel that we Americans need yet another vaccine. First, know that 100% of those living in endemic areas have inhaled coccidioides fungus. There are 7,500,000 people living in AZ and about 18,000,000 people living in Southern CA, where the fungus is more prominent. So about 25,000,000 people have acquired natural antibodies, and therefore natural immunity, to coccidioides simply by inhaling. The CDC reports that there were 18,407 people diagnosed with Valley Fever in 2019, and “approximately” 200 people died of Valley Fever that same year. This means that of those diagnosed, 0.01% died and of those exposed, 0.0000008% died. Again, those numbers sound eerily similar, don’t they?
Now comes exciting news for the vaccine developers. Arizona researchers have successfully developed a Valley Fever vaccination for dogs are eyeing a similar human vaccine. Of course, they are!
Mind you, as a Medical Corps Vietnam Veteran, I am not against vaccinations. What I am opposed to is blatant ignoring the cause of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and others, while pumping money (often our tax dollars) into developing a vaccination to fight a disease that might kill 0.0000008% of those exposed to it annually. All the while, doctors are telling we patients that much more serious diseases like those mentioned above are genetic anomalies and, for reasons they do not know, seem to just spontaneously occur. Aren’t we smarter than all of this?