Posted on 11/12/2015 6:29:09 PM PST by upchuck
An important and definitive “mainstream” government study done nearly a decade ago got little attention because the science came down on the wrong side. It found that after decades and billions of dollars spent promoting flu shots for the elderly, the mass vaccination program did not result in saving lives. In fact, the death rate among the elderly increased substantially.
The authors of the study admitted a bias going into the study. Here was the history as described to me: Public health experts long assumed flu shots were effective in the elderly. But, paradoxically, all the studies done failed to demonstrate a benefit. Instead of considering that they, the experts, could be wrong–instead of believing the scientific data–the public health experts assumed the studies were wrong. After all, flu shots have to work, right? So the NIH launched an effort to do "the" definitive study that would actually prove, for the first time, once and for all, that flu shots were beneficial to the elderly. The government would gather some of the brightest scientific minds for the research, and adjust for all kinds of factors that could be masking that presumed benefit.
But when they finished, no matter how they crunched the numbers, the data kept telling the same story: flu shots were of no benefit to the elderly. Quite the opposite. The death rate had increased markedly since widespread flu vaccination among older Americans. The scientists finally had to acknowledge that decades of public health thought had been mistaken.
Read the government study that found no flu shot benefit in elderly
In 2006, lead author Lone Simonsen spoke with me on the phone and agreed to do an on camera interview with me on her study results, which she felt were very important. However, her bosses at the National Institutes of Health blocked the interview. I ended up finding one of her co-authors who was independent from the government and was able to interview him. These study authors who were honest, at their own career peril, should be commended.
After the Simonsen study, many international studies also arrived at the same conclusion. You probably haven’t heard much about these “incendiary” findings. Too much money being made promoting flu shots?
Read Simonsen’s commentary on her study
Read current CDC flu information
At my most recent assignment, I was the influenza expert. I’ve had to pass the torch, but during that time, I read hundreds of articles on the flu. Most people shrug it off as a negligible threat, but in reality, tens of thousands of people die of it in the US alone every year. When a new strain arises, that death rate can be multiplied. Some of those avian flus circulating (mostly) in Asia have case fatality rates of 30% (H7N9) or above 50% (H5N1).
I do not ever recall having the flu, but people have told me that having it is a miserable experience.
Influenza is, indeed, scary stuff.
If, by “party line”, you mean the “line” of scientists who make their careers out of studying dangerous infectious diseases and devising the best countermeasures that modern scientific method can produce, then yes, indeed, I do tow the party line.
While liberal politicians and pundits salivate over increasing death rates, the scientists and physicians who work for the federal health agencies are actually driven by the prospect of saving lives and helping people to live as healthy as possible. Weird government disconnect, isn’t it?
I was looking to see if anyone mentioned the health impact of unvetted folks flowing into the country. Who can possibly believe this isn’t intentional on the part of our Handlers.
Since you are looking at the data, shouldn’t you say you expect to have a 48% chance of not getting the flu, as that is the effectiveness rate? IIRC someone posted on FR on another thread that the effectiveness in some years has been less than 20%.
Effectiveness has to be balanced against side effects. I personally know two people who got the shot and wound up with an infected nerve, i.e., Bell’s Palsy (yes the doctor said it was from the flu shot).
Haven’t had the flu since 68 (at least as far as I know), don’t get the shots because I never remember to get them.
Live in an isolated area, no neighbors, and only go to town when absolutely necessary.
No exposure, no flu.
The actual answer once you reach 60, is always five years from now.
There is something so illogical about all this, that it is hard to believe this is really taking place.
I have no idea what their thinking is.
A simpleton would know better.
“Most people shrug it off as a negligible threat, “
That’s because most people refer to the common Norwalk stomach virus that they get as “the flu” and have no idea that the real thing is a dangerous lung disease.
And an avian or swine flu that crosses with the human flu has the potential to rival the plague as a killer of millions.
People will be complacent and take the flu lightly until another pandemic hits and kills people all around them. In 1918 bodies were stacked along the streets in Philadelphia because their morgue could handle 36 bodies and the flu killed 12,000
None of this is spontaneous. It is all orchestrated, bought and paid for by Big Oligarchs in Entertainment (including all MSM), Big Business, Govt. at all levels. The goal is to effectively remove borders, national sovereignty, and individual freedoms. These people are not nice or misunderstood. We must take them at their word. They are the Enemy and need to be treated as such in our thoughts, words, and deeds. They are totally willing to burn it all down. This is the NWO Pro-Death Machine in all of its ignominy. Bill Ayres and his ilk have not changed -he and Bernadine stand ready to slit throats once the final signal is given.
True that! lol
I just heard the other day that the flu shot is particularly effective this year. It was reformulated because the virus underwent a lot of change during the last flu season, which made the H3N2 component of the vaccine less than 40% effective (the other components were better than 60% effective). I do not know what the efficacy is this year. I do know, however, that I have been receiving flu vaccines for the last 11 years, and I have never (to my knowledge) had the flu.
Immunity against flu is a complex issue. People can have residual immunity from a previous vaccination; even a flu vaccine that is less than 50% effective still partially protects by decreasing the severity of the disease. Some people, after getting flu shots for years, have been shown to develop a universal immunity. A vaccine that provides universal immunity against most or all strains of influenza is a "holy grail" among flu researchers. Studying why a small number of people develop universal immunity can yield clues that would help with developing a universal vaccine.
Effectiveness has to be balanced against side effects. I personally know two people who got the shot and wound up with an infected nerve, i.e., Bell’s Palsy (yes the doctor said it was from the flu shot).
That sounds like operator error. People who administer vaccines incorrectly can cause severe damage. Vaccine researchers are developing alternate methods of administering vaccines that would not involve poking a needle through the skin. When those alternate vaccination methods come on-line, the rate of injection injury should decrease.
Also, I would recommend that your friends/relatives who were injured file a report in the VAERS system, to help researchers. To file a VAERS report, they need to know the vaccine lot number, manufacturer, type and duration of injury, and other pertinent details. This kind of data will help researchers design better vaccines in the future.
I told my mother that I have never had the flu (that I know of), and she said that I had had it as a child. I had to tell her that the stomach flu is caused by a completely different virus...
The avian influenzas have a higher case fatality rate than Ebola, and are more contagious. Yet Ebola nearly caused a national panic while the various deadly influenzas barely elicit yawns.
If you want to become really nervous, take a look at bird migratory routes. In the northern latitudes, birds from all continents mingle and share diseases. Those deadly diseases circulating in Asia cannot be confined there.
“The avian influenzas have a higher case fatality rate than Ebola, and are more contagious. Yet Ebola nearly caused a national panic while the various deadly influenzas barely elicit yawns.”
IIRC ‘Mother Abigail’ was resigned to the idea that we are due for a near-extinction event, courtesy of a hybrid flu. I don’t recall if she shared the exact type that she had in mind, but she was someone to take seriously. She posted her theory here that the mysterious reservoir animal for ebola would turn out to be fruit bats, and she did this many months before her old pals at the CDC released that idea to the press.
Yep D3, 5000 IU daily, and if I feel a sore throat or other early symptom I up to 20,000 IU for a few days. What is a flu?
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