Influenza Vaccine (Flu Shot)

Every fall we see line-ups of seniors who’ve braved the elements to ensure they’re “protected” from the “deadly” flu bug. We rarely see or hear of the ensuing results. Does the flu shot really protect them? And what about all those children, said to be vectors of influenza, are they protected by the flu shots recommended for them?

A mountain of evidence shows that the flu shot is largely a dismal failure. *Fluwatch reports show it’s largely unneeded. Why do we continue these wasteful programs?

*Fluwatch is a public health program which gathers and reports on the relative incidence of influenza cases throughout the year. Its data come from “sentinel laboratories” located throughout Canada which receive and test samples from patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) submitted by their “sentinel practitioners”. Laboratory testing year in and year out shows that the majority of influenza like illnesses are NOT associated with the influenza virus, but arise from other pathogens unaffected by the vaccine. On average, the influenza virus is associated with only 10% of people presenting with flu-like illnesses.

VRAN Flu-like-Watch

For the last five years, from the end of August of one year to the end of August the following year, Fluwatch archives show:

Date	Tests positive for influenza	Total samples tested
5 yr totals	52,125	507,376
2007/2008	12,256	124,953
2006/2007	8,133	100,864
2005/2006	7,422	87,303
2004/2005	12,879	101,258
2003/2004	11,435	92,998

The 5 yr average incidence of influenza, 2003 to 2008, was 10.3% of all influenza-like illness. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/fluwatch/archive-eng.php

1.
Swine Flu Mania – A Case of Collective Insanity by Edda West.

2. Flu Vaccines “Not Worth the Bother” says Researcher Dr. Tom Jefferson. As reported by Dr Jefferson in the ‘British Medical Journal’, what people think is influenza is most often really an entirely different infection which causes similar symptoms.

3. BMJ rapid responses to Dr. Jefferson’s article, Influenza vaccination: policy versus evidence

4. Effectiveness of Flu Shots Wildly Overestimated: A compilation of evidence that influenza vaccine for adults and children is a waste of resources; ditto for the alternate strategy of using anti-viral drugs

5. Flu Vaccines Creating a Myth by Dr. F.Edward Yazbak, MD

6. Case-control Study Shows Flaw in Flu Shot Efficacy Assumption

7. Influenza: The Disease & the Vaccine: Common misconceptions about influenza

8. Flu Cases Didn’t Drop With Ontario’s Free Shots

9. Emergency Department visits increase during universal immunization campaign

A retrospective study of 5 Ontario hospitals published in the July, 2002 issue of Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine found that “there was no significant correlation between influenza rates and Emergency Department volumes.” Data from 5 hospitals showed that, “during influenza season, acute respiratory diagnoses accounted for only 4.4% of ED visits and influenza for only 0.34% of visits.” During the influenza season after the universal immunization campaign, ED visits increased at all sites. The study concluded that, “a universal influenza immunization campaign is unlikely to affect ED volume.” Since 2000, Ontario has spent over $100 million on its “universal” flu vaccine program.

10. Dr. K. Gaublomme, MD – Commentary on Influenza & the Vaccine

11. Influenza Pamphlet

12. Flu Shots – Do They Really Work?

13. Doctors Debate if Flu Vaccine is Worthwhile – from the Canadian Medical Journal