Many major media outlets are reporting an ‘Outbreak’ of a new ‘Deadly’ strain of fungus called Cryptococcus gattii. They are calling it ‘Potentially Lethal’ and saying that many of the victims have been ‘Healthy’ and so this new fungus could be a big problem.

Well, the media MUST be bored because this new fungal strain is HARDLY deadly and the ‘healthy’ people that they are reporting are dying like flies from this problem are anything but. This is simply propaganda that no one should be worried about in the LEAST! Here are the facts:

270 CASES have been identified in the past 11 years
40 people have died in that time period

That is HARDLY something to worry about. More people die of heart attack or breast cancer every MINUTE in JUST the United States than people have been DIAGNOSED in 11 years!! If you want to worry about something that might kill you, worry about heart disease and breast cancer. This infection is SO overrated in the US media right now that a Canadian website that is dedicated to reporting and informing travelers to Canada about this infection and is run by the University of British Columbia, Cryptococcusgattii.ca, hasn’t been updated since a May 8, 2009 news report of ONE woman dying a year previously!!

Now lets take a look at this propaganda about these ‘Healthy’ people that are dying from this. Well, a Medscape report broke down the health problems that people who were diagnosed with Cryptococcus Gattii had. Lets take a look at these healthy people:

The Mean Age of Infected Persons was 62 years old
48.6% were on oral steroids (which suppress the immune system)
29.9% had invasive cancer
12.7% had chronic lung disease
4.2% had HIV
3.1% had a history of an organ transplant

That’s nearly 80% of people with SERIOUS health problems that contracted this fungal infection. VERY VERY few people get this problem without having underlying health problems, but most people would consider themselves healthy unless they actively have a life threatening illness anyway!! If you have:

Arthritis
Fatigue
Chronic Pain
Don’t exercise
Eat Processed Foods
Don’t expose your skin to sunlight regularly

Then you are NOT healthy and are probably, at the very least, very vitamin d deficient if you are not taking high dose supplementation or are not sunbathing regularly. While it’s unlikely that we will know more about these sad cases of people that were previously ‘healthy’ before they died, the fact that the average age of victims is 61 and male, that is nearly EXACTLY the same demographics that usually kill otherwise ‘Healthy’ men who have sudden massive heart attacks. These men who die of sudden heart attacks were not exactly healthy either, although that’s the way the media portrays it.

So, how healthy are YOU? I’m not worried about getting Cryptococcus gattii. But those of you who take ANY medications are NOT healthy and are at risk, particularly those of you with autoimmune diseases. The fact is that some medication Side Effects, like the Side Effects of Remicade or Corticosteroids predisposes you to getting these infections that only AIDS patients used to get- and Cryptococcus gattii is no different. The vast majority of people who are getting this have health problems- and as more and more of the population accepts that health problems are ‘random’ and that lifestyle, exercise and diet have nothing to do with their health problems, then more and more people will be getting these diseases and infections previously reserved for those with HIV or other immune system problems.

Got vitamin D?

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System