Flu Stats: When the Numbers Don’t Add Up
By Cathy Jameson
I read that more than 80,000 Americans died from the flu last year. For years, a much lower figure of 36,000 deaths usually circulated in the news. At one point, the CDC gave a different estimate of 3,900 to 49,000. I couldn’t recall seeing numbers as high as 80,000 before, so I did a little bit of reading about the flu and how it’s tracked. With how many national, state, and local webpages there are devoted to flu statistics, I learned a lot! I haven’t had time to go through everything there is out there, but with that glaring headline that’s making the rounds I’ll be sure to keep reading.
The very first tidbit that caught my eye was the CDC’s yearly statement about flu deaths on their own website. After reading it on several flu summary pages, that 80,000 stat seems to negate what the NYT and other media sources are repeating:
How many people died from flu during the 2017-2018 season?
While flu deaths in children are reported to CDC, flu deaths in adults are not nationally notifiable.
How many people die from flu each year? (2016 – 2017)
CDC does not count how many people die from flu each year. Unlike flu deaths in children, flu deaths in adults are not nationally reportable.
How many people died from flu during the 2015-2016 season?
CDC does not count how many people die from flu each year.
How many people died from flu during the 2014-2015 season?
CDC does not count how many people die from flu each year. Unlike flu deaths in children, flu deaths in adults are not nationally reportable.
Ad nauseum to the 2006-2007 yearly flu summary page:
How many people died from flu during the 2006-07 season?
Exact numbers of how many people died from flu this season cannot be determined. Flu-associated deaths are only a nationally notifiable condition among children, and states are not required to report flu cases or to report adult deaths from influenza to CDC…
If the CDC is stating that they do not count adult cases, then where are they getting the 80,000 figure for deaths? Could it include the pediatric cases, those under the age of 18? I don’t see how if it does. The pediatric statistics are far from 80,000.
I had to keep reading.
What I learned was that while adult flu deaths are not nationally notifiable or required to be reported, complications from the flu in adults, like Influenza & Pneumonia, is tracked within the CDC’s flu database. So are Influenza-Like Illnesses. But not the flu itself. Since I needed more time to wrap my head around what they track and what they chose to report, I decided to take a break and look at those pediatric cases next. Those numbers looked solid.
Pediatric deaths from the flu are documented. The CDC asked for them to start being reported back in 2003 as pediatric flu-associated deaths became a nationally notifiable condition. In 2004, 152 children died from the flu. The following year saw a decrease with 39 deaths. Total cases since 2003 when the CDC began tracking flu deaths in the pediatric population to last year is 1,593.
NYT is off by one, (it’s 181 pediatric deaths reported in 2017-18) but they are right in stating that last year was the worst year for pediatric flu deaths according to the statistics I saw. Other numbers well over 100 deaths were reported several times in the last few years:
146 (or 148 depending on which chart you read) were recorded in 2015.
2013 saw 169 deaths.
2011 saw 115 pediatric deaths.
2010 saw an increase in flu deaths and also included those linked to the H1N1 pandemic. That year, the CDC reported that 348 children passed away.
Looking backwards from 2009 to 2005, less than 100, and some far less than 100 pediatric deaths were reported per year. As I gathered this information, it was interesting to note the changing of the wording some years – some stats had said flu deaths while others said flu-related deaths. I’m not a trained statistician, but curiosity took over. Was it the flu that caused the death, or was it something else? If it was something else besides the flu, I’d think that information wouldn’t be part of these statistics but should have its own separate category elsewhere.
One death is reason to mourn. Any death, no matter the circumstance, is reason to mourn as well. Seeing those pediatric statistics made my heart ache. They’re what drove me to push my instinct aside and get my child a flu shot one year. But I was still wondering about those adult numbers. To me, the numbers weren’t adding up. So, I went looking for more information on other charts and for multiple years in a row.
Most of the other information about adult flu cases were reported in percentages of cases, not straight up numbers like the pediatric cases are. For adults, the Pneumonia & Influenza Mortality Surveillance (P&I) category data was somewhat helpful on the flu data webpages. That gave me info on when the flu peaked in a particular year and how many cases were over or under the national baseline. Percentages of Laboratory-confirmed cases were also listed. But still - no solid numbers were shared. Information on the Influenza-Like Illness Symptoms (ILI) that are tracked didn’t offer specific numbers either. I did learn that the reporting comes from 122 cities in the US and that they’re counting ILI hospitalization and ILI outpatient visits. But no exact number of adult cases like we read about in the pediatric data were offered. Now, I’m not saying it’s wrong to use percentages or a range of data. I was just hoping to find and add up exact numbers myself like I had been able to with the pediatric numbers.
As has happened before, I had more questions than I started out when I took a break from reading.
-Why count actual kids and instead give ranges of percentages for adults? Those ranges may represent thousands or tens of thousands as recent news articles have eagerly reported; but why don’t officials count cases the same way?
-Who are the U.S. sentinel physicians (and providers) reporting the Influenza Morbidity reports and how many of them are there? How and why were these individuals chosen?
-Where are the 122 surveillance cities referenced in the flu season summaries, and why were those locations picked?
-I know it could significantly increase the numbers, but if we’re counting Americans with the flu in America, why aren’t all 19,534 cities in America included in the surveillance? Is it like how the CDC calculates the autism rate from only 11 states and only from a limited cohort of children born after a certain year?
I haven’t had time to find answers for those questions yet, but I will. While I wait to do that, I did have time to start looking at something else. I noticed one new addition to the flu season summary from the 2007 – 2008 year, and boy did it pique my interest. That was the year that the summary added that out of the reported deaths, a certain number were unvaccinated:
Of the 63 cases aged 6 months and older for whom vaccination status was known, 58 (92%) had not been vaccinated against influenza according to the 2007 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations. These data are provisional and subject to change as more information becomes available.
Huh, I thought, they included vaccine status - what a novel idea! Since my son had a reaction post flu vaccine, I wanted to see what else the CDC had to say about the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. But that was the one and only year that I saw that information mentioned. I know we can find current data on how many people were compensated post-vaccination for flu (and other) vaccine complications, but I’d be very curious to know something more—has anyone tracked how many flu shots are administered yearly to how many flu deaths occur in the vaccinated yearly? Since we know how many flu vaccines are manufactured (163 – 168 million vaccines for 2018-19), surely we can do a little more math to see how many vaccines administered lead to flu prevention. On the flip side, we can see which ones result in laboratory-confirmed influenza, P&I, and ILI, too.
If I was a betting woman, I’d say the vaccine will likely flop again as it has previous years. That’s because the CDC is telling us the flu shot is only going to be “at least 20% effective” this year. That also means it’s going to be at least 80% ineffective. Even with that terrible rate, everyone aged 6 months and older is being urged to get a flu shot. Experts have a “good hunch” that it’ll do the trick to prevent the flu. To them, and to the officials who tend to over exaggerate how great the flu shot is while pitching how bad each “flu season” will be, I’d rather not get it. The flu is a beast. This I know. But I keep going back to an old adage – you can’t believe everything you read about that hyped up shot. I’m going to apply that to what I saw in other articles as well, that last year was one of the worst flu seasons ever. I understand that it was bad, but was it really 80,000?
Even though I did read some very compelling flu statistics over the last few days, something’s still not adding up. How can it when the “CDC does not count how many people die from flu each year”? That’s clearly and constantly stated on the CDC’s webpages. I don’t know why it is when they definitively state a specific number of deaths reported year after year, like 80,000 last year.
80,000.
That number.
I’d like to research it a bit more because it sounded a little too unbelievable when I first heard it. After doing the reading I was able to on the flu last week, it still does.
Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor for Age of Autism.
--
Links if you’d like to do your own research:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2017-2018.htm (previous years to 2006 can be accessed on the left side bar)
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2005-2006/weekly09.htm (2005 – 2006)
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5413a2.htm (2004 – 2005)*
*I was able to go back to 1999 – 2000 on the FluView portal.
https://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/r2k0622g.htm (1995 – 2000)
https://gis.cdc.gov/GRASP/Fluview/PedFluDeath.html (tracking of pediatric cases)
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/index.htm (current flu vaccine supply information)
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf (listed vaccine ingredients)
https://www.nvic.org/vaccine-laws/state-vaccine-requirements.aspx (vaccine exemptions by state)
https://hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/data/index.html (Information on the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program)
My doubts on the accuracy of "deaths related to the flu virus" are what prompted me to do a little digging today myself. I just can't fathom such an incredulously absurd amount as 80,000. Nor can I believe that the virus is currently being accurately reported as widespread when absolutely no one I know has gotten the flu in over 10 years. With numbers like that, I'll make my own estimate here, a very minimum of 2 people I know should have gotten the flu every year in the last 10 years. Then again, very few of the people I know get flu vaccines either. According to all the doctors, health officials, agencies or what have yous it's unvaccinated individuals that most commonly contract and supposedly die from flu related illnesses. According to my own personally gathered statistics, this can't possibly be true. I don't think it should take a highly trained medical professional to assess what's going on around them but what do I know as just an average individual out here living in the real world?
That said, anyone who bothered to pay any kind of attention to the occurrences in their everyday lives instead of taking all the information reported in the media as fact would likely come to the same conclusion as you and I. Or at least find themselves questioning the statistics regarding this topic currently being provided to us via the CDC. And as you yourself pointed out, the holes in their methods of determining flu related deaths outrageously exceed any actual fact they're able to report. I think my favorite statement from them is about how the flu virus is only detectable by their current methods of testing for a 2 day period. As unreliable as they themselves divulge these flu tests to be, even though they spin this fact in favor of what they want us to believe, I am even less inclined to accept the flu related deaths claimed to be documented as a correct amount. Everything I read about all of this on the CDC's website has got me shaking my head in my disbelief. None of the answers they provide make any kind of logical sense to me.
Posted by: Kat_Lyb | March 02, 2019 at 11:17 AM
Fatiyah,
Could you take him to work with you, or work from home? Do you know anyone who could look after him at home, or could you set up a child share of parents working different hours/days? I know some people just don't have any options. I've always been surprised that when women won the right to go out to work they didn't advocate
for a shift system so that parents could share the home work. Good luck.
Posted by: Grace Green | January 11, 2019 at 08:47 AM
I agree with you all! I live in NYC & now they’re enforcing it by law that all children in daycares/Pre-k programs are mandated to receive the flu vaccination which is absolutely bogus. I’m very disgusted and disappointed, they literally gave all parents an ultimatum within 2 weeks! Basically saying “vaccinate your child(ren) or they’ll be terminated”, I am unsure about other centers at the moment but my child’s center is being very strict about what can be used to exempt our child from receiving it. I’m literally left with no choice but to poison my child or he’ll be removed from school over something he has yet to catch. It’s very sad & difficult that it has come to this, I honestly think it’s apart of the plans for “population control” I’d rather harm myself with it but what other choices do I have at such short notice?
Posted by: Fatiyah | January 11, 2019 at 05:05 AM
You were incorrect in one of your statements. If they said the flu vaccine is at least 20% effective, then it would be at MOST 80% ineffective, NOT AT LEAST 80% ineffective.
But I doubt this will be corrected.
Posted by: Anna Roberts | December 30, 2018 at 08:31 AM
Every trick in the book :
IMPORTANT: Passengers who took Israir flight 6H474 from Eilat to Tel Aviv Tuesday afternoon were asked Wednesday to notify their doctor that they were in contact with someone who has measles and to...
Thanks Jennifer . great resource.
Oregon (looks like we want Buehler to win)
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/10/5_takeaways_from_oregons_final.html
5 takeaways from Oregon's final governor debate: Vaccines, pensions, death penalty, I-5 Bridge and Trump
Vaccines: In a prerecorded question, an Oregon voter asked how much leeway parents should have in exempting their children from medically recommended vaccines. It's an issue the candidates don't appear to have addressed before.
"We probably give some parents a little too much leeway," Brown said, in allowing them to decline vaccines for their children. Though Buehler is a physician, he departed from established medical recommendations on the topic: "I certainly believe that parents should have the right to opt out."
Posted by: Hans Litten | October 11, 2018 at 04:31 AM
To Cathy Jameson
I found this report in my researching & thought you may appreciate having it.
Particularly interesting chart on page 7. https://www.lung.org/assets/documents/research/pi-trend-report.pdf
Posted by: Jennifer | October 11, 2018 at 12:53 AM
The Gardasterility vaccine & the seismic Gayle De Long paper.
https://thevaccinereaction.org/2018/10/vaccine-boom-population-bust/
Study queries the link between HPV vaccine and soaring infertility
A plague is spreading silently across the globe. The young generation in America, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, Australia—in virtually every western country—is afflicted by rapidly increasing rates of infertility.
----------------------------
https://newsinsideout.com/2018/09/outlawvaccines-novaccinein2018-how-hpv-vaccine-munchausen-vaccine-court-maim-depopulate-children/
CONFERENCE – Spotlight on HPV Vaccines
Sun 11 Nov 2018 9:30 am – 7:00 pm
TBC, West London
DESCRIPTION
Conference discussing the possible dangers of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV). Hosted by Research Journalist and Author – Christina England BA Hons and Author – Amanda Dew BSc Hons
Speakers for the day are:
Keynote speaker – Leslie Carol Botha – Womans Health Educator and Hormone Expert – USA
Brandy Vaughan – Ex-Merck pharma rep turned REAL HEALTH advocate. Founder of LearnTheRisk.org #beBRAVE #betheCHANGE
Dr. Graham Downing – Consultant healthcare practitioner with areas of expertise in Neuro-musculoskeletal & Functional Medicine, with special interest in infection, fertility, endocrine & neuro-developmental disorders.
Dr. Jayne Donegan MBBS DRCOG DCH DFFP MRCGP MFHom – GP & Homoeopathic Physician with Certified Specialist Accreditation in Medical Homeopathy from the Faculty of Homeopathy, London.
Claire Dwoskin – Founder of the Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute (CMSRI)
Anthony Hughes – B.Sc Dip.Chem.Eng., Dip.Stats. & O.R. Licentiate in Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinical Certificate (Nanjiing) China Traditional Chinese Medicine Council of Ireland
Juliette Scarfe – Lawyer and Entrepreneur, Organic Formulator, Writer, Speaker, Healer, Holistic Nutritionist UK
Professor Christopher Exley PhD – Keele University – Expert in Aluminum UK (filmed interview with Christina England)
Steven Hinks – representing the UK Association of HPV Vaccine Injured Daughters (AHVID), who will be speaking about their work and introducing Ruby Shallom and Christy Cormack, two young ladies who have been severely injured by the vaccine.
Christina England BA Hons – Research Journalist and Author
Amanda Dew BSc Hons – Mother of HPV Vaccine Injured Child
Tickets £30 to include tea and coffee
------------------------------------------------------
I am a little amused how Chris Exley isn't the lead speaker if I am honest.
He is the "superstar" to me !
Posted by: Hans Litten | October 10, 2018 at 06:26 AM
Posted by: Ted Van Oosbree | October 09, 2018 at 03:41 PM
Well into middle age now.
Never EVER had a flu shot.
And never will !
Havent been to a doctor in 20+ years, (apart from Dr Mercola). Not planning to anytime soon.
People need to be there own doctors as much as they can.
In the words of Colton Berrett "Doctors can no longer be trusted" (he wasn't even 18)
(Colton Berrett, 17 – March 13, 2000 – January 5, 2018)
The last vaccine I had was the fraudulent fake BCG which doesn't work at aged 11.
Heavily linked to diabetes incidence though.
No idea about which ballcocks they gave me as a child (but there weren't too many in the 60s).
Posted by: Hans Litten | October 10, 2018 at 05:02 AM
Good Luck Natalie and let us know how it goes for you.
Posted by: Benedetta | October 09, 2018 at 10:54 PM
Optimize your serum vit D3 level to 50-70 ng/ml to minimize your chance of influenza infection. I and my family have not had the flu in about twenty years after starting vit D3 supplementation.
Posted by: Ted Van Oosbree | October 09, 2018 at 03:41 PM
Natalie, a word to the wise--do not let your baby out of your sight. There are standing orders which you may not be aware which will put your wishes and directives secondary to the entrenched dogmas of hospitals and medical personnel. Do not let your baby out of your sight.
Posted by: michael | October 09, 2018 at 12:23 PM
Gary another 5 zeros on the end I would tell them ok bring it round then rip it up in front of them - anyone out there want to try me.
Nat your doing well watch out for the catch all of trying to get you onto intavenous anti-biotics during labour with the strep b infection which they tried with us as Mercola predicted when you refuse all.Then the nurse coming in and playing me and my wife off against each other good parent bad parent " you want to vaccinate we know its just your wife that`s controlling you "-sure monster now fof the suns rising.
Pharma For Prison
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | October 09, 2018 at 09:21 AM
https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccines-and-other-conditions/guillain-barre-syndrome
The notion that Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) could be a consequence of vaccination was born of the swine influenza vaccine program administered in the United States in 1976. At the time, the estimated risk of GBS following receipt of the swine flu vaccine was estimated to be about 1 per 100,000 recipients. Since that time, the relationship between influenza vaccine and GBS has been variable. For example, Canadian researchers assessed the risk of GBS after seasonal influenza vaccination in Ontario, Canada, between 1993 and 2011. They found that the risk of GBS within six weeks of an influenza illness was much greater than after influenza vaccination. The attributable risks were one GBS admissions per million vaccinations compared with 17 GBS admissions per million influenza infections. Therefore, one could reasonably argue that influenza vaccine prevents GBS.
Additional studies listed below showed that neither measles, mumps, rubella, HPV, meningococcal conjugate, polio, pneumococcal, varicella, Hib, rabies, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis A, nor hepatitis B vaccines were associated with an increased risk of GBS.
Reviewed by Paul A. Offit, MD on September 11, 2018
-------------------------------------------------
But Paul its mentioned on my flu vaccine insert as a possible side effect with unknown frequency ?
How & Why do you know everything with such certainty but always in a vaccine's favour ?
------------------------------------------------
Go on Paul , pick a card , any card ? You three card trick merchant.
Posted by: Hans Litten | October 09, 2018 at 09:09 AM
Posted by: Natalie | October 08, 2018 at 03:32 PM
I'm confident your baby will be perfect. You understand.
CIA it is a black and white ideology. Vaccination is a fraud from start to finish.
The vaccine insert I have here is quite laughable
"By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine"
They don't give a "thrupenny bit" & it isn't medicine either (its a demise drug like B.Russell wanted).
It also says :
"Do not use the vaccine if foreign particles are present in the suspension"
Well perhaps they should have a chat with the great scientists Gatti about that !
The ones the Italian police raided and confiscated all their equipment.
If someone offers you a vaccine and you aren't running for your life , then you don't understand !
Posted by: Hans Litten | October 09, 2018 at 05:36 AM
I wonder if they're getting desperate. My insurance just sent me an invitation to earn $10 for taking the flu shot. When did they start paying for the privilege?
Posted by: Gary Ogden | October 08, 2018 at 10:37 PM
I'm pregnant and almost due and already had to decline the flu shot twice - first last season and again, a week ago. The doctor's reasoning was that a baby wouldn't be able to get the flu vaccine for the first six month and that this way he'd be protected from the flu. I didn't want to argue so I just politely declined. However, it's just bizarre that everyone agrees pregnant and breastfeeding women should avoid toxins as much as possible and the doctors avoid prescribing anything unless absolutely necessary but it's ok to have mercury or aluminium injected directly in the bloodstream on the very slim chance of vaccine actually working?
The other vaccine they pushed really hard was Tdap. The doctor claimed it was safe and effective even though the insert clearly states it was never tested for safety or efficacy in pregnant women. I guess they think I'm stupid (of course, they typically don't even bother giving you the actual insert, I had to look it up online). Fortunately, I had pertussis as a child so I'm not worried about transmitting the disease to my baby. I also hope I'll pass him the real antibodies with the breast milk just like nature intended.
I already decided to decline Vitamin K, eye ointment and Hepatitis B shot and I hope it's not going to be a struggle. Makes me wish I went with the midwives and birthing center but I have some complications that require hospital birth.
Posted by: Natalie | October 08, 2018 at 03:32 PM
Like the author of this piece, I smell a rat. Why not count the exact number of people who died of flu? The pneumonia addition is really sneaky as a lot of people who die of pneumonia don't have the flu but hiv or lung cancer or many other serious diseases that are not flu related. These statistics stink to high heaven and are likely very bogus. Plus just anecdotally, when I was growing up in a major, germy city, no kids got flu shots. Yet no one can recall anyone getting pneumonia let alone dying from the flu. It just doesn't add up.
Posted by: Leah | October 08, 2018 at 02:59 PM
Cathy, In your Post you ask:
"I’d be very curious to know something more—has anyone tracked how many flu shots are administered yearly to how many flu deaths occur in the vaccinated yearly?"
For years Australian has implemented "Flu Tracking" - and they compiled some 30,000 Aussie adults either getting the flu "jab" or not. Then they compiled the "sickness rate with flu-like symptoms" in both boths. Result: Every year for years the sickness rate (and loss of a day's work) for both cohorts was very close to 2.5% and the variance between such cohorts was never more than 1/2 of 1%.
Interestingly, they never reported on any Flu Tracking deaths, or any difference if there was any. That being said, the vast majority of Aussies refuse flu shots, particularly for their infants and young children (and almost all years they report flu-associated pediatric mortality is zero). All this comes from the annual reports of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing -- much of this I've in the past commented here on AoA.
One last detail: This last flu year in Australian they stopped detailing the Flu Tracking miniscule difference between those vaccinated and those not. I suspect they been pressured by pro-vaccine powers to hush up.
Posted by: david m burd | October 08, 2018 at 02:51 PM
Hans,
I haven't ever gotten a flu vaccine either, and never will. But that's different from the question of whether people often die of the flu. I don't personally know anyone who died of the flu, but I know of several friends of friends who did. A family friend of the ex-teacher who has my daughter stay at her house often died of pneumonia last winter from the H3N2 flu. He got pneumonia as a complication of the flu, as is usually the case. And he died of it. Previously healthy, now dead.
It's not a war in which you have to side 100% with your chosen ideology. Both are true. The vaccine is very dangerous, often disabling, sometimes fatal, and very ineffective. But it's also true that many people get bad cases, even fatal ones, of flu or the pneumonia which occurs as a complication of the flu, which would not have occurred if the flu had not already weakened the host. Both are true, and everyone has to decide how they want to approach the risk of catching flu.
I just ordered nosodes to prevent shingles, as I got it twice last winter and once two years ago, and was in pain for weeks each time. I could have bought a flu nosode, but I'd really rather just get the flu and get the benefits of doing so. My body, my choice. And everyone else has the same right as I do to inform themselves and make a choice. But I'm not going to say that no one ever gets a severe or fatal case of the flu, as that's simply not true.
Posted by: cia parker | October 08, 2018 at 02:35 PM
"Only a small proportion of deaths in either of theses 2 categories are estimated to be flu related.
Only 8.5% of pneumonia, and 2.1% of all respiratory and circulatory deaths are flu related."
https://www.scribd.com/document/390407470/CDC-disclosure-that-flu-mortality-is-exaggerated-to-properly-communicate-burden-of-flu-infection
Posted by: Vaccine Information | October 08, 2018 at 02:04 PM
Posted by: Hera | October 08, 2018 at 12:46 PM
You possibly hit nail on the head with one of your statements.
"Also, it appears multiple vaccinations over years increase the risk of other infections.So..yes, as we continue to increase the vaccinations in the population, we may end up causing the deaths of many more people."
I theorise repeated vaccination will lead to a greatly reduced lifespan (with zero fertility for many).
Every vaccine harms , every time.
The very idea that injecting anyone with this laundry list of toxicants could lead to the improvement in any persons health is quite frankly farcical (tragic probably).
Posted by: Hans Litten | October 08, 2018 at 01:35 PM
It is intriguing that the more vaccinated the population becomes, the higher the increase in deaths caused by the flu.
Certainly adding other infections and pneumonia is going to seriously skew the results (many deaths from cold exposure ( or any other lung irritant causing pneumonia, such as coal dust or asbestos, for example) are now going to be counted as flu deaths, as well as every possible viral infection that can result in pneumonia.
At the same time, I do wonder if some of the increase in deaths are real. Tamiflu has a controversial safety profile, and the flu vaccine has been shown to increase the chance of illness caused by other flu like viruses. Also, it appears multiple vaccinations over years increase the risk of other infections.So..yes, as we continue to increase the vaccinations in the population, we may end up causing the deaths of many more people.
Cia Parker; I have never been much of a believer in homeopathy, but some studies seem to think elderberry syrup contains anti virals and can be helpful?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15080016
Hans Litten;
Imo ,it seems purely a money grab to offer gardasil to an age group, where almost all of whom will already have been exposed to the virus anyway. The only very sad, possible "bright side" is that as the side effects spread to older people, there will be more voices talking about vaccine injury.
Posted by: Hera | October 08, 2018 at 12:46 PM
I have the flu vaccine insert here Tetra MYL by Abbott Biologicals.
We have contained within, a Michigan , Singapore , Colorado & a Phuket strain.
So I'd like to know when we get the Las Vegas & Bangkok Strains ?
Atlantic City ?
Leicester maybe (historical reference)?
Fort Dietrich ?
Porton Down ?
Chernobyl ?
Three Mile Island ?
Posted by: Hans Litten | October 08, 2018 at 11:36 AM
Vitamin C can seriously aid in preventing getting the flu - take daily doses orally. If you or someone you know has been hospitalized for complications from a flu vaccine, you should know about IV or IM vitamin C every 6-12 hours for 2-3 days. You should also be prepared for doctors and hospitals to refuse so you need to come prepare - could save your life!
Look up Dr Suzanne Humphries’ website or YouTube, or Dr Thomas Levy who wrote a book on this subject.
Posted by: HarvardMD | October 08, 2018 at 10:06 AM
Last year’s higher number of deaths in under 18 yo 181) from flu may have been partly/ mostly driven by the use of Tamiflu in children - not recommended as not enough safety data and data suggest higher risks like death and suicidality.
Posted by: HarvardMD | October 08, 2018 at 09:55 AM
GOOD NEWS!! From Montreal -in last couple of weeks our Governement backed down in recommending FREE flu vaccines to certain so-called High-Risk groups-it’s a start but still a ways to go on many fronts. verbatim from link below:
https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/advice-and-prevention/vaccination/flu-vaccination-program/eligibility/
Changes to the F’u Baccine Program
« Québec immunization experts analyzed data from recent studies conducted in Québec, among others, on the number of flu-related hospitalizations and deaths. Current data on vaccine efficacy and the possible impact of repeated vaccination were also considered. Based on their analyses, the experts concluded that the following 2 groups do not have a higher risk of flu-related hospitalization and death than the rest of Québec’s healthy population:
-healthy children aged 6 to 23 months;
-healthy people aged 60 to 74.
Until now, these people were considered to be at higher risk, whereas their risk is comparable to the rest of Québec’s healthy population.
Posted by: HarvardMD | October 08, 2018 at 09:52 AM
So the use of flu vaccines in the United States has gone from something like 10 million per year thirty years ago to around 120 to 170 per year now, yet according to the CDC there has been no reduction in the number of deaths and in fact deaths from flu are at some sort of all time high with a purported 80,000 deaths. Vaccine industry logic says that if it works we need more and if it doesn't work we need more. I notice that even the corporate media could get itself into a frenzy over the 80,000 number, it was just to implausible even for them.
Posted by: John Gilmore | October 08, 2018 at 05:23 AM
Posted by: cia parker | October 07, 2018 at 12:12 PM
80k is an outright lie and it isn't right to group pneumonia with it.
The only people I see getting ill and dying are those that submit to the flu vax.
The efficacy of that garbage is less than 1%
(the liars are using relative risk measure to get their 40 or 60%).
I have never taken the filthy flu vaccine and I never will.
Only trusting fools are falling for this crime.
I see they have extended the Gardasil vaccine to all women of all childbearing ages ?
I would be interested in your take on that ?
Posted by: Hans Litten | October 08, 2018 at 05:16 AM
NHS Crofting Division would describe the psychedelic wellies lab work integrity as BS saturation needing a good scrub down with a wire brush and a bottle of Lysol .
Flu -like-symptoms are not the same thing as lab work confirmation as flu?
Pony poop description alert! Not suitable clinical terminology descriptors for children under 12 yrs !
Getting on - Comedy on BBC Four - Lost Stool Sample - you tube .
It's No the coughing that will carry folk off. It's the coffin they carry them off in!
Posted by: Morag | October 08, 2018 at 02:26 AM
They throw out numbers to scare people to sell vaccines. No accountability.
Posted by: Doug Troutman | October 07, 2018 at 09:12 PM
Cia, your comment:
"And I think it's valid to include deaths from pneumonia as being deaths from flu in the cases in which the person with flu developed pneumonia as a complication of the disease. The CDC seems not to separate these out, but I think pneumonia nearly always occurs as a consequence of another infection."
HOW the heck you can say "I think pneumonia nearly always occurs as a consequence of another infection?" OR that "the person with flu developed pneumonia" has any validity whatsoever??!! Methinks you have a job at the CDC in-house Newsletter; if not, you should sign on and get paid for such balderdash.
Posted by: david m burd | October 07, 2018 at 05:29 PM
Cathiy and All; A slight clarification to Autism Uncle's previous comment:
Sometime I refer to myself as "autism uncle" reflecting family experience, but I usually sign on as "david m burd" (the author of my AoA 2011 Post I was citing).
Posted by: david m burd | October 07, 2018 at 05:02 PM
Cathy, Thanks for your current Post. Over 7 years ago my AoA Post revealed a great many of the lies about "flu mortality" here in the U.S. And, John Stone contributed with similar truths about miniscule "flu deaths" in the UK.
Here's my AoA post in 2011:
http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/06/death-by-flu-the-big-lie-crumbles.html
National news media such as the NYTimes printing totally bogus fear-mongering flu deaths, then repeated by countless other news outlets, is a perfect example of absolute corruption of Mainstream News when it comes to vaccinations' purported/false benefits, at the same time completely ignoring the massive carnage CAUSED by vaccines' toxicities, even injected to premature babies as if they were born full-term.
This level of evil keeps mounting every year with "journalism" being sold out completely to Pharma Money abetted by the CDC, NIH, FDA et al. Goons drunk on their own absolute power and undeserved reputations. If there were any justice in today's world, hundreds of these Government criminals would be now serving lifetime sentences for their complete negligence and homicidal deeds.
Posted by: autism uncle | October 07, 2018 at 04:44 PM
These trumped up numbers do not show how many people died from the Flu Shots. They do not show how many died from Tamiflu. They do not show which ones died from Pnemonia and now Ms. Jameson has shown us the CDC does Not Count Flu deaths. When will journalists fight back? When will the news reporters get so dry that they can't repeat these outrageous statements? When will people demand answers?
Posted by: Shelley Tzorfas | October 07, 2018 at 01:46 PM
A very close relative of mine, who gets both the annual flu and pneumococcal vaccine , got pneumonia a few years ago and was seriously ill. No-one in our family had ever had flu or pneumonia before.
Despite knowing how much research I undertake - and believing that the MMR played a part in the disabilities my grandchildren suffer, she still believes that the annual shots are beneficial.
I would love to understand how an otherwise intelligent person can ignore so many red flags.
Cognitive dissonance?
Posted by: Susan Welch | October 07, 2018 at 01:06 PM
Hmm...I don't suppose the fraudulent numbers and contrived hype, for which MSM and the CDC are no doubt being handsomely compensated by Pharma, have anything to do with promoting and garnering support for the ONE BILLION TAXPAYER DOLLARS that are being lobbied to Congress to be spent over the course of the next 5 years to develop a "universal" flu vaccine. No, there couldn't possibly be any connection amongst these things, right?
From Autism Action Network this past week:
"Senate Bill S. 2438, introduced by Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and House bill H. R. 5092 introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, (D-CT 3) would commit $1 billion over the next five years to develop a universal flu shot, which would be a shot against all 900 plus flu shots strains and could be used from year-to-year."
Posted by: Laura Hayes | October 07, 2018 at 12:51 PM
I agree that the 80,000 flu deaths last year is hyped and probably inaccurate. But last winter was the winter of the new flu, H3N2, and it was very virulent, very dangerous, and it did cause a lot of deaths. I don't know how many. At the time I heard about several people in this area who died from it, friends of friends, others who were very sick for weeks. This is anecdotal, as they say, but I hadn't heard about that many people locally dying of flu since 2009, when the H1N1 flu created widespread panic. At that time my brother told me about people he knew at the church he goes to and at the Veterans' hospital where he worked getting bad cases, even dying of it. I think years of flu vaccines make one more prone to complications from flu. I had about one-third of my 80 university students out sick with it, but all of them were well and back in class within a week. My daughter and I got it in January 2010, and I had an extremely bad, deep cough for over a month but then recovered.
And I think it's valid to include deaths from pneumonia as being deaths from flu in the cases in which the person with flu developed pneumonia as a complication of the disease. The CDC seems not to separate these out, but I think pneumonia nearly always occurs as a consequence of another infection.
We will continue never getting the very dangerous and ineffective flu vaccine, regardless of how bad this year's prevailing strains are. You can get a homeopathic flu preventive/treatment for each year's strains on Amazon, starting in October or November. I got it last year, but we never opened it. I think for generally healthy people it's better to just go through the flu and get the many benefits for the immune system from going through it, including cancer prevention.
Posted by: cia parker | October 07, 2018 at 12:12 PM
Still waiting for Pan & Offit, the Gates & Clinton families to show up at Walgreens to get their flu vaccines.
I will be right behind them in line.
Posted by: go Trump | October 07, 2018 at 09:08 AM