(NaturalNews) Influenza vaccination rates are on the decline as Americans increasingly learn not only that flu shots contain harmful additives like Thimerosal (mercury), but also that they do not even work as claimed (one of the “side effects” of getting a flu shot, after all, is the flu itself).

So in order to convince the public into believing that flu vaccines are useful and necessary, experts from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are now touting the advent of a “universal” flu vaccine currently in the works that will supposedly protect against all types of flu.

According to USA Today, scientists are currently working on a universal flu vaccine that targets certain unchanging characteristics of flu viruses that are common among many strains. Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the NIH, says that the viral coatings of every flu strain contain some of the same, universal characteristics. So it is theoretically possible, he says, to design a vaccine that targets these universal characteristics, and thus target virtually all flu strains.

“There are parts of the viral coat that don’t change,” said Collins concerning the vaccine concept. “If you designed a vaccine to go after the constant part of the virus, you’d be protected against all strains.”

But is creating such a vaccine actually possible, or is the NIH announcement just a pipe dream based on wishful thinking? Or perhaps the idea of a universal flu vaccine is just a ploy to convince people that vaccine science is legitimate, and that vaccines actually work?

These are some of the glaring questions that stand out in this matter since, as many of us now know, the vaccine industry has no intention of actually “curing” the flu, and thus killing its flu vaccine cash cow.

Universal flu vaccine an attempt to convince public that vaccines are legitimate

Let’s face it. More and more Americans are growing reluctant to take vaccines just because their doctors and various public health agencies are telling them they should. Last fall, a Consumer Reports study revealed that flu vaccination rates are on the decline, with only about 37 percent of respondents to a survey indicating that they planned to get vaccinated that year.

Nearly half indicated that negative side effects were the primary reason why they planned to skip the shot, while roughly the same percentage expressed concern about the safety of flu shots in general. Many also claimed that flu shorts are probably not even necessary in the first place ((http://www.naturalnews.com/030242_f…).

And every year, an increasing number of people are expressing such sentiments, as the number of willing volunteers for the flu shot continues to decline.

Questioning the legitimacy of the flu shot is important. After all, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which many look to as the “be all, end all” source of health information, has basically admitted that flu vaccines are useless.

This is why the agency says individuals need to be re-vaccinated every year. But even a cursory knowledge of how antibodies work in the human body proves that vaccines do not work to boost immunity in the way the CDC alleges, otherwise there would be no need to re-vaccinate (http://www.naturalnews.com/032558_f…).

Then, there is the inconvenient truth that flu vaccines are ineffective more than 99 percent of the time anyway. In other words, for every 100 people that get a flu shot, only one of them will derive any perceived benefit from it — and that one percent is a generous estimate! (http://www.naturalnews.com/029641_v…)

The natural result of all these facts, of course, is an overall decline in the number of people willing to get jabbed every single year. And authorities are taking notice of this, which appears to be why they are now attempting to quell the growing wave of dissent towards vaccinations with promises of a scientific breakthrough.

The flu shot is not the answer, nutrition and lifestyle is

The truth, though, is that no vaccine is truly effective at preventing the flu, including any supposed “universal” flu vaccine. Real immunity against influenza is not built by the injection of viral fragments and toxins like formaldehyde and mercury — it is built by being naturally exposed to viruses while maintaining optimal immunity through good health and lifestyle.

Maintaining high levels of vitamin D through natural sunlight exposure and consumption of vitamin D3 is one very effective way in which you can strengthen your immune system and be ready to fight off influenza naturally (http://www.naturalnews.com/029760_v…).

Getting good rest, drinking clean water and consuming immune-boosting superfoods will do wonders for your health, not only in preventing the flu, but also in preventing a myriad of other health conditions (http://www.naturalnews.com/flu.html).

Sources for this story include:

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health…

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033206_universal_flu_shot_vaccinations.html#ixzz1TsVqdNAH