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By Kim Stagliano
New outlets reported last week that the flu shot is a poor match for the current viruses. Fox News pointed out the some experts are questioning the CDC's forecasting:
CDC sent an advisory to doctors noting that one component of this year's flu vaccine was only partially protective against the predominant flu virus, known as influenza A (H3N2), which has mutated since the current flu shots were made....
"No one really knows what is going on here with the flu strains and the match using the current methods," said Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert from the University of Minnesota.
In a 2011 paper, Osterholm found flu shots only protected about 59 percent of the population. "For all we know, this vaccine may work as well as it does every other year."
Dr. Richard Zimmerman of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, however, said that, while not perfect, the methods offer "a reasonable proxy" for what will happen.
Can you imagine any other product failing to perform so badly and yet being pushed, in some cases virtually forced, on Americans like the flu vaccine? If this were a car, heck, a a child's toy... it would be banned for abject failure.
The war on flu is akin to the American war on drugs. We know it's not working, we know it's creating problems, we know the return on investment in terms of actual health is dismal but we keep hammering away with "Just Say No." Someone has a good return on investment though - that's American healthcare.
Forbes Magazine covered the CDC advisory, "Is This Year's Flu Shot Any Good?" If you haven’t yet gotten your flu shot, get to it. There’s no down side, and the protection, while not perfect, might still save you weeks of misery, and perhaps even your life.
No down side? Wow. Talk about glibly misleading readers. But go ahead, per Forbes. Go get that vaccine. You know, in case it sort of maybe might on the off chance work. "Gut" thing we didn't adopt that attitude after December 7, 1941, ja?
Kim Stagliano is Managing Editor of Age of Autism. Her new novel, House of Cards; A
Kat Cavicchio romantic suspense is available from Amazon in all e-formats now. Her memoir, All I Can Handle I'm No Mother Teresa is available in hardcover, paperback and e-book.
About 1 to 2% of Americans may actually "catch the flu" each year.
Only 40-50% take the flu shot as it is usually given away "free" as part of some health plan or promotion.
"Herd immunity" for the flu shot is not important, with nearly every other vaccine they want 90+ % vaccination rates.
There are no "flu shot TV commercials" as they would then have to list the vaccine side effects as with other drugs.
Posted by: cmo | December 08, 2014 at 01:51 PM
Dr. Eisenstein discusses one study, he says the only one blinded to date, that finds those who get the flu vaccine are at higher risk for other types of infections:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yniQ41W_xy8
I lost one of my grandmothers a few months after she was administered the flu vaccine I believe for the first time. I have seen family members get sick, one said the sickest ever, right after getting flu vaccine.
The study that found a strong healthy user bias in the group that got the flu vaccine also found that the health gap was reduced in the winter and even further in the spring, after flu season. I think the actual mortality risk, particularly in the elderly, of this vaccine needs to be seriously studied.
There was also that Canadian study that found higher risk in the following flu season after getting the H1N1 vaccine the year before, so obviously the risks may extend beyond the benefits (if the benefits are real and not due to unconsidered bias).
I think we have been going on blind dates with vaccines and wearing rose colored glasses all the while for long enough. Time to take off the glasses and put the blindfold on the researchers. The fact that so many in a position to do so seem to fear doing just that...it's not confidence inspiring at best.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | December 08, 2014 at 01:35 PM
To be fair, it wouldn't be possible to always accurately predict what strains of flu are going to predominate in the coming winter. Researchers go to China in the summer, kill a lot of wild geese there, and examine the flu viruses in their livers, because historically those are the ones that will sweep the Northern Hemisphere with flu in the coming winter. Obviously not an exact science since so many other factors come into play. I obviously think it would be stupid for anyone to get a flu vaccine even if it were reliably guaranteed to be 100% effective. But those who think the medical authorities are somehow magical in their ability to predict the future are extremely gullible, especially if they think the merchant making big bucks off of them is going to tell them all the relevant facts. Come on, people! This is what makes the world go round!
Posted by: cia parker | December 08, 2014 at 12:19 PM
Kim, As I'm sure you know, for many years the Cochrane Collaboration (CC) after taking in many dozens of medical studies from around the world, has published flu shots are worthless as to protection from the flu. Unfortunately, CC has no method to make a judgement on the what are an immense number of serious and even deadly flu shots' "side effects" including those mentioned by others here.
Another rare ray of truth comes from Australia's FluTracking that for many years now has shown negligible difference in flu-type illness among those vaccinated vs. unvaccinated. It's also worth noting that most Australian children are NOT flu-vaccinated and most years Australia has ZERO pediatric flu-associated deaths.
So, it comes down, as usual, to the Mainstream Media suppressing virtually anything that might make people question taking such a toxic, worthless vaccine, while at the same time promoting gigantic lies about annual flu deaths. The only Media exception that comes to mind has been some stories about the HPV vaccine causing an obvious large number of terribly vaccine-damaged and/or deaths of young women.
I have long ago given up on our Federal/State Health Leaders ever willingly changing their criminal, malfeasant vaccine protocols. Only such as Representative Posey and other national legislative allies heroically, publicly, just maybe, getting national attention the Mainstream Media cannot ignore, will stop this madness.
Posted by: david m burd | December 08, 2014 at 12:03 PM
"How do these people sleep at night?"
They sleep on a bed of Pharma's money. They probably take an assortment of Pharma's pills to ease their conscience too.
Posted by: Linda1 | December 08, 2014 at 11:55 AM
@Bob
Regarding Forbes: "How do these people sleep at night?" I don't know but especially now that they've said this year's flu shot is not even a good match, I'm glad my dad was talked out of getting one. He's quite healthy. His doc talked him into to a hep B series at 80, though, before travel and that didn't seem to be very good for him, he seemed to fatigue a lot at that point.
Posted by: jen | December 08, 2014 at 10:25 AM
Apparently .. Forbes magazine does not recognize Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) as a "down-side" to annual flu vaccines .. even though GBS is ALWAYS among the highest "compensated" vaccine injuries related to the flu vaccine.
I guess GBS only becomes a "down-side" when an editor of Forbes seeks compensation for GBS following a flu vaccine.
How do these people sleep at night?
Posted by: BoB Moffitt | December 08, 2014 at 09:13 AM
The picture is in reference of "The Deer Hunter" that is deep Kim.
Posted by: Benedetta | December 08, 2014 at 08:43 AM
And then: Let us not forget a study that found that those that received a flu vaccine, and then gets the flu - are much more sicker and have to endure the flu longer than those that did not receive the vaccine.
This raises some questions in my mind and since they love to put in the phrase in all research papers: - "Further study needed" - I would love a further study to answer the question that if you receive a flu shot does it bother your immune system so much that any thing that comes along - like another flu strain, a sinus infection, a cold or strep- are all made worse -- Ohhhh and catch this stuff more often?
Is that too much to ask?
I don't see why, because it would be nothing more than a stat study and they all love stat studies.
Posted by: Benedetta | December 08, 2014 at 08:36 AM