Influenza

Per Wikipedia:  “Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus. Symptoms can be mild to severe. The most common symptoms include: high fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, sneezing, and feeling tired. These symptoms typically begin two days after exposure to the virus and most last less than a week. The cough, however, may last for more than two weeks. In children, there may be diarrhea and vomiting, but these are not common in adults. Diarrhea and vomiting occur more commonly in gastroenteritis, which is an unrelated disease and sometimes inaccurately referred to as “stomach flu” or the “24-hour flu”. Complications of influenza may include viral pneumonia, secondary bacterial pneumonia, sinus infections, and worsening of previous health problems such as asthma or heart failure.

“Three of the four types of influenza viruses affect humans: Type A, Type B, and Type C. Type D has not been known to infect humans, but is believed to have the potential to do so. Usually, the virus is spread through the air from coughs or sneezes. This is believed to occur mostly over relatively short distances. It can also be spread by touching surfaces contaminated by the virus and then touching the mouth or eyes. A person may be infectious to others both before and during the time they are showing symptoms. The infection may be confirmed by testing the throat, sputum, or nose for the virus. A number of rapid tests are available; however, people may still have the infection even if the results are negative. A type of polymerase chain reaction that detects the virus’s RNA is more accurate.”

36,000 deaths from the flu?  Most Americans have heard this propaganda at one point or another:  it is in the news we read, the commercials on TV, and is trumpeted from the speakers at our grocery stores.  But is this statistic accurate?  To be perfectly frank:  no, and not even the CDC, who provides the statistic, believes it is true.

From that link:  “Meanwhile, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), “influenza and pneumonia” took 62 034 lives in 2001—61 777 of which were attributed to pneumonia and 257 to flu, and in only 18 cases was flu virus positively identified. Between 1979 and 2002, NCHS data show an average 1348 flu deaths per year (range 257 to 3006). The NCHS data would be compatible with CDC mortality estimates if about half of the deaths classed by the NCHS as pneumonia were actually flu initiated secondary pneumonias. But the NCHS criteria indicate otherwise: “Cause-of-death statistics are based solely on the underlying cause of death… defined by WHO as `the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death.'” In a written statement, CDC media relations responded to the diverse statistics: “Typically, influenza causes death when the infection leads to severe medical complications.” And as most such cases “are never tested for virus infection…CDC considers these [NCHS] figures to be a very substantial undercounting of the true number of deaths from influenza. Therefore, the CDC uses indirect modelling methods to estimate the number of deaths associated with influenza.” CDC’s model calculated an average annual 36 155 deaths from influenza associated underlying respiratory and circulatory causes (JAMA 2003;289: 179-86). Less than a quarter of these (8097) were described as flu or flu associated underlying pneumonia deaths. Thus the much publicised figure of 36 000 is not an estimate of yearly flu deaths, as widely reported in both the lay and scientific press, but an estimate—generated by a model—of flu-associated death. William Thompson of the CDC’s National Immunization Program (NIP), and lead author of the CDC’s 2003 JAMA article, explained that “influenza-associated mortality” is “a statistical association between deaths and viral data available.” He said that an association does not imply an underlying cause of death: “Based on modelling, we think it’s associated. I don’t know that we would say that it’s the underlying cause of death.” Yet this stance is incompatible with the CDC assertion that the flu kills 36 000 people a year—a misrepresentation that is yet to be publicly corrected. Before 2003 CDC said that 20 000 influenza-associated deaths occurred each year. The new figure of 36 000 reported in the January 2003 JAMA paper is an estimate of influenza-associated mortality over the 1990s. Keiji Fukuda, a flu researcher and a co-author of the paper, has been quoted as offering two possible causes for this 80% increase: “One is that the number of people older than 65 is growing larger…The second possible reason is the type of virus that predominated in the 1990s [was more virulent].” However, the 65-plus population grew just 12% between 1990 and 2000. And if flu virus was truly more virulent over the 1990s, one would expect more deaths. But flu deaths recorded by the NCHS were on average 30% lower in the 1990s than the 1980s.”

In this article we will use the actual statistics from 1979-2002, as opposed to the propagandized statistics of today that bundle every upper respiratory infection together as “influenza”.  Why?  Because it’s not in any way realistic, and the CDC, as evidenced by the study in the above paragraph, knows that with a certainty.  I encourage the reader to read the abstract of that article at the very least:  one doesn’t have to have a background in science to confirm everything Dr. Stoller wrote in his letter to the ASPE.

In any given year, the influenza vaccine has been between 10-60% effective depending on whether the strains included correlate with the strains that spread in the population.  The influenza vaccine is effective for no more than one year.

Vaccine Statistics

When debating informed consent, it is important that people calculate the risk versus the reward for all options.  Here are some facts, according to VAERS and the CDC.

• Prior to 2003 when deaths from influenza began being erroneously reported by the CDC to promote vaccination, there were an average of 1348 deaths indirectly caused by influenza in the US annually.
• Since 2003, there have been at least 560 deaths reported to VAERS associated with the influenza vaccine.
• Since 2003, there have been 124,194 adverse events reported to VAERS, with the vast majority of them falling between the ages of 1-5 years.

According to the CDC, approximately 50% of the population was vaccinated against influenza each year from 2003-2018, placing the death rate from the vaccine itself at ~1 in 10 million, as opposed to 1 in 225,000 for influenza itself (per population, not per infection).  If the FDA’s assessment of reporting compliance is correct (<1%), these odds of death from the vaccine could be as low as 1 in 100,000, making it twice as risky to get the vaccine than the disease.  The problem with this calculation, however, is that we simply do not know the true number of deaths attributable to the influenza vaccine due to our faulty reporting system.  Furthermore, there are no guarantees in any given year that the vaccine will be effective for the strains circulating in the public, potentially leaving the risk of vaccination without any hope of reward.  As if this wasn’t bad enough, numerous studies (read below) have demonstrated that individuals vaccinated for influenza have dramatically increased risk for other upper respiratory infections, including the most common killer of those infected with influenza:  pneumonia.  Other statistics, as reported by VAERS since 2003:

• 2149 immediately life threatening complications
• 1791 permanent disabilities
• 7429 hospitalizations or extensions of hospitalization
• 36,120 emergency room or office visits related to complications

Vaccine Safety

Vaccine Type:  live attenuated or dead cell/potential vector of transmission

Pregnancy Class:  C

This section will reference the package insert for Fluvarin as provided by the FDA.  It should be noted that the influenza vaccines provided in multi-dose vials still contain significant amounts of thimerosal, an ethyl-mercury preservative.

Contraindications (do not administer):

• Allergy or sensitivity to any component of the influenza vaccine or egg protein
• Immunosuppressed (such as through steroids) or immunocompromised

Adverse Effects (as reported by the manufacturer):

• Guillain-Barré Syndrome, syncope, injection site pain/erythema/induration, malaise, headache, fatigue, inflammation, ecchymosis, edema, myalgia, fever, arthralgia, sweating, pruritis, shivering, nausea, sore throat, cough, wheezing, chest tightness, difficulty breathing, hypertension, rhinitis, rhinorrhea, pharyngitis, facial edema, vasculitis, diarrhea, abdominal pain, local lymphadenopathy, thrombocytopenia, anorexia, myasthenia, dizziness, neuralgia, paraesthesia, confusion, febrile convulsions, myelitis, neuropathy, paralysis, Bell’s palsy, dyspnea, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, urticaria, cellulitis, encephalopathy, optic neuritis/neuropathy, brachial plexus neuropathy

Scientific Studies

• Mice that were infected with a seasonal influenza virus survived exposure to a lethal influenza strain; vaccinated mice died.
• Boys who received a mercury-containing hepatitis B vaccine in their first month of life were 300% more likely to have been diagnosed with autism compared to boys who were never vaccinated or vaccinated later.  (Note:  today, only the influenza vaccine issued in multi-dose vials contains significant amounts of thimerosal.)
• Infants with the least exposure to fish methylmercury but the most exposure to vaccine ethylmercury (thimerosal) had the worst neurodevelopmental behavior.
• “Ten percent of pediatricians and 21% of pediatric specialists claim they would not follow ]CDC] recommendations for future progeny.  Despite their education, physicians in this study expressed concern over the safety of vaccines.”
• This study analyzed the vaccination schedules of 34 developed nations and found that nations requiring the most vaccines tend to have the worst infant mortality rates.
• “The evidence that influenza represents a threat of public health proportions is questionable, the evidence that influenza vaccines reduce important patient-centered outcomes such as mortality is unreliable, the assumption that past influenza vaccine safety is predictive of future experience is unsound, and non-pharmaceutical interventions to manage influenza-like illnesses exist.”
• Infants who received vaccines containing mercury developed speech disorders, sleep disorders, and autism.  (Note:  this study has been deliberately hidden from literature searches.)
• Baby monkeys that were given vaccines according to the CDC vaccination schedule had abnormalities in the region of the brain affecting social and emotional development.  The vaccinated primates had altered amygdala growth, associated with social and emotional development.  The vaccinated primates had a significant increase in total brain volume, a consistent finding in many children with autism.
• Neurodevelopmental disorders are significantly more common in children who received vaccines containing mercury (thimerosal).  Infants who were exposed to the most mercury were significantly more likely than controls to have been diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder (OR = 3.0), tic disorder (OR = 2.2) or hyperkinetic syndrom of childhood (OR = 2.9).
• Infants who received an additional 100 mcg of mercury from their vaccines during the first seven months of life had a 5-fold increase (RR = 5.58) in their risk of developing premature puberty.
• Children who were under-vaccinated due to parental choice had significantly lower rates of emergency department visits.
• Annual vaccination against common strains of influenza reduces protective immunity against more dangerous strains of the disease.  Annual vaccinations of young children against common influenza strains prevents them from acquiring more comprehensive immunity, leaving them unprotected against dangerous pandemic strains.
• Infants who received several vaccines concurrently were the most likely to be hospitalized or die.  This trend was more pronounced the younger the age of the child.
• Pregnant women vaccinated against seasonal influenza and A-H1N1 had high rates of spontaneous abortions … a statistically significant 11.4-fold increase.
• 180 studies provide evidence that thimerosal is dangerous; thimerosal-containing vaccines are unsafe for humans.
• Infants who received vaccines containing thimerosal had significantly increased odds (RR = 2.02-3.39) of being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
• There is no reliable evidence that vaccinating healthcare workers against influenza is clearly beneficial to their patients.  Such policies are unsound and not supported by the scientific literature.
• The current season’s influenza vaccine will not work in people who also received the previous season’s influenza vaccine.  People who were vaccinated 2 years in a row were not protected against influenza.  In fact, vaccine effectiveness was “negative 45%”.
• In children under 2 years of age, inactivated influenza vaccines have similar effects to placebo.  No convincing evidence could be found that influenza vaccines can reduce mortality, hospital admissions, serious complications, or community transmission of influenza.
• Children who received the influenza vaccine were 4 times more likely than children who received a placebo to develop acute respiratory illness from non-influenza respiratory virus infection (RR = 4.40).  Influenza vaccine recipients were significantly more likely than placebo recipients to develop non-influenza respiratory infections from rhinoviruses, coxsackieviruses, and echoviruses (RR = 3.46).
• “Exposure in utero [to thimerosal] can cause mild to severe mental retardation and motor coordination impairment.  The CDC’s policy of recommending influenza vaccines to pregnant women is not supported by scientific data and should be discontinued.
• Annual vaccination against seasonal influenza may prevent the more robust, complex, and cross-protective immunity gained by natural infection.
• Children who were vaccinated against influenza were 3 times more likely to be hospitalized for influenza-related complications than children who did not receive an influenza vaccine (OR = 3.67).
• Adults with previous infections of influenza, measles, mumps, or chickenpox are less likely to develop malignant melanoma.  Adults were significantly protected against malignant melanoma if they contracted influenza during the previous 5-year period (OR = 0.32).
• Influenza-related death rates in the elderly do not improve by increasing influenza vaccination rates in the elderly.

Editor’s Opinion

Even with how useless or risky some of the vaccines reviewed appear to be, the influenza vaccine sets a gold standard for being reckless.  Not only is its effectiveness extremely low compared to other vaccines (varying by year), but countless studies have demonstrated that being vaccinated dramatically increases an individual’s risk of contracting an acute respiratory illness by over 400%, but is further shown to be less effective (to the point of negative effectiveness) when administered yearly.  Not only do individuals face known risks from the vaccine itself, but the influenza vaccine dramatically increases their chances of becoming acutely ill.  In what circumstances could this be considered a “reward”?  There is absolutely no use case in which an individual’s risks aren’t dramatically increased through vaccination, so we do not recommend that this vaccine is administered to anyone.