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Why This Doctor Doesn't Get Her Flu Shot!

Why Smart Doctors Don’t Get Flu Shots

Smart doctors don’t get flu shots.

Smart patients don’t either.

Does that mean you’re not smart if you got a flu shot?

No.

It means the pharmaceutical industry has you and your wallet right where they want you.

It means you believed the hype instead of looking at the science.

Smart doctors don’t get flu shots. But I’m a doctor and not only did I get them, I insisted my mom and my siblings get their flu shot too.

Once you hear my story, you will see that I can’t judge anyone who gets a flu vaccine.

But I do judge an industry that tries to terrify and deceive people into getting a flu vaccine they do not want or need.

I made my mom and siblings get the flu vaccine too

Growing up, I never had a flu shot and I also never had the flu. But as a young adult thinking about starting a family, I listened to my doctor. I was told getting a flu shot was not only good for me and my family, it was essential. Life-saving.

And not getting a flu shot?

Only irresponsible, unintelligent patients and crackpot parents refused the flu vaccine.

How could there be a problem with the flu vaccine?

Everyone was getting one. You could get them at the supermarket. Besides, my doctor couldn’t be wrong.

Since my husband and I were starting a family, I made my mom and siblings get the flu shot too. I didn’t want my family spending time around my children if they were not fully vaccinated. That was just good common sense. 

We had three children in five years and I insisted every year that family members get the flu shot. Every year. 

Guess what happened?

Sick from the shot

My mom, who had not had the flu since childhood, my brother, and my sister all got high fevers, body aches, and upper respiratory infections, all within 24 hours of the flu vaccine. All lasting a week or two. For three years in a row.

I am a conventionally trained medical doctor. I saw my family get sick within a week of the flu vaccine. Three years straight. But I dismissed it.

An unfortunate coincidence.

Nothing to do with the flu vaccine.

You can’t get sick from a vaccine.

That’s what I had been taught. And that’s what I believed.

Besides, I was fine after my first flu vaccine. Initially. True, I started getting almost constant colds that lasted four or five months following the flu vaccine. Before, when I didn’t get the vaccine, I was usually healthy and cold-free in the winter. 

It took me awhile to connect the dots.

It took me awhile before I stopped ignoring the clinical evidence in front of me, in my own body, and in my mom and siblings.

It’s hard for doctors to realize our education is incomplete.

It’s hard to become aware that the whole medical establishment is caught up in a belief system that is simply untrue.

It’s hard to admit that we are wrong.

It took me three years but I figured it out. Every year the flu vaccine was making me and my family sick.

My colleagues keep telling their patients you can’t get sick from the flu shot. And they say it “would have been so much worse without the shot.” Can you hear the BS meter going off? I couldn’t back then but I can now. The sound is deafening.

Look at the science. We now know, from both animal and epidemiology studies in humans, that the flu vaccine can and does make you sick.

Mandatory flu vaccines for doctors and nurses

I used to work for a group practice. Our practice decided to mandate the flu vaccine.

They did not mandate that we eat vegetables with every meal, get optimal amounts of sleep, have our vitamin D levels checked and supplement with sunbathing or supplements if they were below optimal levels, or adopt other health strategies proven to support the immune system.

Why mandate the flu vaccine?

That dictate started wheels turning. 

How important is it really to get the flu shot?

What are the real risks and benefits? 

In medical school we did not look critically at vaccines. We did not study the risk of adverse events, discuss vaccine ingredients, or talk in any detail about efficacy rates.

We were not told that the government compensates families with loved ones who have died from a vaccination or suffered other extreme health problems.

Instead, we were taught what amounts to little more than propaganda about vaccines.

An infectious disease specialist spends an hour or two with students showing us pictures of miserable children suffering acute side effects from infectious diseases. She says angrily, “C’mon. We can do better than that. No child should ever have to suffer like this!”

You are supposed to accept it without question and, of course, you do. No one wants a child to die. We become doctors in order to heal people, and keep them alive. So of course we don’t question the Holy Grail. Which means never looking critically at the necessity, efficacy, and safety of any given vaccine.

The flu vaccine works and saves thousands of lives every year. End of conversation.

Government-advertised death rates from the flu are grossly inflated

We are told that between 30,000-50,000 die annually of the flu, a dangerous and sometimes lethal illness that affects infants and the elderly the most. “…in the United States alone, over 36,000 people die and 200,000 are hospitalized each year because of the flu,” according to Harvard University

Flu death statistics are usually tallied from the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report database. But deaths from the flu and from pneumonia are lumped together in one category in the MMWR. This greatly inflates the number of “flu” deaths. And is a nonsensical way to capture statistics, as the majority of pneumonia cases have nothing to do with the flu!

Yep. It is true. The death rates from the flu that we are told year after year, repeated ad nauseam in medical training and in the media, are, as Bob Sears, M.D., puts it, “grossly inflated” (The Vaccine Book, p.121), and what this country doctor would say more plainly, are simply made up. 

The scientific evidence does not support having a yearly flu vaccine

I contacted the chair of the committee that was recommending flu vaccine mandates at my work and asked him to share the scientific evidence that mandating flu vaccines for health care workers actually reduces death rates from the flu.

He could not offer me a single article to read. I don’t know, he told me, adding that all the major health organizations recommend the flu vaccine and, “I trust them.”

Then he rattled off several major medical organizations recommending the flu vaccine, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Heart Association

So what does this bulldog do? I write them all, asking for a list of scientific studies supporting flu vaccine mandates and requesting the information that proves that mandating the vaccine for doctors and nurses contributes to better outcomes. 

Some ignored me but some responded. They all said the same thing: That they didn’t have the information I’d requested! One prominent organization recommended I contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes for Health (NIH), as they based their recommendations off the CDC’s and the NIH’s. 

So none of the leading health organizations shaping public health policy has scientific information to support the policy to mandate the flu vaccine?  

How can this be? 

I had three young children and worked full time. But I wanted to read the science for myself to find out if what I was noticing clinically—with my own health, my family’s, as well as with my patients’—was valid. As helpful and important as vaccines may be, the flu vaccine recommendation left me with more questions than answers. Since none of the organizations insisting on the necessity of the flu vaccine could provide me with direct information, I went searching for it myself.

I will put it to you that any conventionally trained medical doctor who is willing to impartially research the science behind the influenza vaccine safety, efficacy, and necessity is in for a surprise.

The best place to start a search for accurate medical information is usually the Cochrane database.

Cochrane is a non-profit research organization based in the United Kingdom and they tend to be considered the gold standard in scientific medical research. Their reviews of the medical literature are comprehensive and carefully peer-reviewed.

As my colleague, Mark Hyman, M.D., explains in an article, Flu Shot: Harmful or Helpful?: “One very reliable way to determine the effectiveness of the flu shot is to look at the database analysis presented by The Cochrane Collaboration, an independent group of scientists who have no link to any industry or government agencies.”

So what does Cochrane have to say about the flu vaccine?

·      It’s not effective for children under age 18 or for adults over 65.

·      Between ages 18 to 65, it is only 30-50% effective in an average year (which means it fails between 50-70% of the time) and up to 80% in a perfectly matched year (a much lower number than most vaccines). 

·      There is no decrease in flu transmission rate or hospitalization rate for people who have gotten the flu vaccine.

Ut oh.

Here is the Cochrane review’s results and conclusions so you can read them yourself:

MAIN RESULTS: We included 50 reports. Forty (59 sub-studies) were clinical trials of over 70,000 people. Eight were comparative non-RCTs and assessed serious harms. Two were reports of harms which could not be introduced in the data analysis. In the relatively uncommon circumstance of vaccine matching the viral circulating strain and high circulation, 4% of unvaccinated people versus 1% of vaccinated people developed influenza symptoms (risk difference (RD) 3%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2% to 5%). The corresponding figures for poor vaccine matching were 2% and 1% (RD 1, 95% CI 0% to 3%). These differences were not likely to be due to chance. Vaccination had a modest effect on time off work and had no effect on hospital admissions or complication rates. Inactivated vaccines caused local harms and an estimated 1.6 additional cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome per million vaccinations. The harms evidence base is limited.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: 
Influenza vaccines have a modest effect in reducing influenza symptoms and working days lost. There is no evidence that they affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission. WARNING: This review includes 15 out of 36 trials funded by industry (four had no funding declaration). An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines. The review showed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies. The content and conclusions of this review should be interpreted in light of this finding.

In Dr. Hyman’s words: “After analyzing all of the data on the flu shot, they have concluded that it really doesn’t work well. It doesn’t even cover most of the influenza infections that people get.”

Dr. Hyman concludes that the majority of Americans do not need a flu vaccine. He explains the science behind his conclusion here.

I also found a 126-page analysis by researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP). Among the key findings of this 2012 analysis (in the researchers’ own words):

·      Influenza vaccine protection is markedly lower than for most routinely recommended vaccines and is suboptimal.

·      CDC recommendations about the flu vaccine over the past 30 years have not been based on scientifically sound data.

I shared the results of my research with colleagues. They were stunned. Just stunned. I also wrote back to the committee member who wasn’t aware of this data to let him know that there is no scientific data to support mandating flu vaccines

And since those studies have been published, flu vaccine efficacy rates have hit new lows.

In 2014-2015 the flu vaccine was only 19% effective.

This year FluMist, the nasal spray influenza vaccine, is no longer recommended.

Why? Because it doesn’t work at all.

In the words of the CDC, “no protective benefit could be measured.”

Oops.

The CDC tells me personally that the flu vaccine doesn’t work

Dr. Mark Hyman practices functional medicine. Like integrative medicine, functional medicine seeks to individualize medical treatment, identify and treat the root causes of illness and disease, and help the body heal itself through lifestyle and nutritional intervention, not just pharmaceutical products.

At a functional medicine conference, I happened to be seated at lunch beside a lovely CDC senior medical official. She was there to learn more about functional medicine.

She was super nice and, of course, I couldn’t help but be excited that I was sitting next to gold. Or so I thought.

Our conversation went like this:

Dr. Benton: So, what do you think about the flu vaccine?

Dr. CDC: It’s a good thing. A wonderful intervention. Everyone needs one. Absolutely.

Dr. Benton: Have you looked into the recent science?

Dr. CDC: Of course. So good to see our ideas confirmed—it’s a safe, efficacious vaccination that seems to cause few, if any, side effects.

Dr. Benton: So you’ve read these studies yourself?

Dr. CDC: [Hesitating. Silent. Long pause.] Well, actually, I haven’t…

So I jumped in. I told her all about the Cochrane review.

Her. Jaw. Dropped. 

Yep. 

She, a senior CDC medical official, did not have a clue. 

In all fairness, just because you work at the CDC, should you really know all the most recently published studies about all vaccines? 

I don’t think so. And to her credit, she was interested and engaged and listened with an open mind.

She told me I needed to talk directly to the influenza division of the CDC. 

So this small town country doctor made an appointment with the medical director of the influenza division of the CDC.  

With sweaty palms and racing heart, I made the phone call at the appointed time. 

I introduced myself and proceeded to go over the data about the flu vaccine, including that per the national vital statistics on the CDC website, that there are only about 1,000 deaths out of over 300 million people from the flu. 

After each factoid I mentioned, the CDC director just said, “Yep.” 

Befuddled, I got to the end of my list of concerns, wiped my palms on my skirt, and asked, “Rebuttal?” 

She said she didn’t have one! 

In fact, she said, there will never be a good flu vaccine because there are over 200 different viruses that cause influenza and influenza-like symptoms and vaccine manufacturers have to guess a year in advance for the strain of flu that might be in circulation that coming year.

Like meteorologists predicting the weather, sometimes vaccine scientists are pretty accurate, sometimes they are dead wrong.

So I asked her why our government is pushing flu mandates across the country.

She denied that the CDC was recommending mandates, and admitted there is simply not enough science to justify mandating the flu vaccine. All of these hospital, school, and company policies, she insisted, were outside of the purview of the CDC. 

I reminded her the CDC shapes public policy by recommending vaccines and that medical professionals were being fired across the country for refusing the flu vaccine. 

She said she disagreed with that practice.

And there you have it.
The smart doctors who work inside the CDC know the flu shot isn’t working. And they probably don’t get flu shots either.

Big pharma pushes for flu mandates, smart doctors push back

Why this ridiculous push for a vaccine that doesn’t work, that prompted more government pay-outs because of adverse events, including death, than any other vaccine in 2017 so far, and that also contains ingredients analyzed by CDC scientists and found, in a recent peer-reviewed paper, to be highly neurotoxic?

Could it be the bonuses that insurance companies pay to medical groups for flu vaccine compliance among their staff and their patients? 

Could it be the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to politicians by the powerful pharmaceutical lobby?

In an 8-year period donations by pharmaceutical companies that manufacture vaccines given to the American Academy of Pediatricians exceeded 9.4 million dollars (The Business of Baby, p. 223).

Smart doctors tell their patients the truth.

Smart doctors give their patients all the information they need to make an informed decision about what is in the best interests of their health.

Smart doctors tell their patients the risks of the vaccine, the benefits of the vaccine, and the alternatives to vaccination.


The best alternative, in this doctor’s assessment, is not to get a flu vaccine.

What I would do...Get some Elderberry Syrup!  https://www.sweetssyrup.com https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetsSyrup

Comments

  1. Would never get one! I hate that they target the schools giving them to kids. My son's teacher got 1, about 2 weeks later she's out with the flu go figure!

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  2. What can I do about being mandated by my hospital to receive the flu shot? We can fill out a religious or medical exemption, but need a religious leader/doctors signiture for it to be valid. I'm in Wisconsin BTW.

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    1. I was of the understanding that it is unconstitutional to require a religious leader to complete forms. You have the right in this country to create your own religion for that matter. I could be wrong on that. You have the right to worship trees and that religion may have no leaders. Just saying. I personally wish that all people would ban together and stand up against any forced medical treatment, including those who believe in the flu vaccine. No medical treatment should be forced in a free country, especially one with dubious data, inflated death rates, and real common risks of serious adverse reactions.

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  3. I never' ever usually get the flu/cold..anything., this year though, I had been pondering at the last minute, just for good measure., to get a flu shot based on all the hype' out there about what a rampantly severe flu season it is., after reading your article written I threw away my note to call and make an appointment to see my physician to get a flu shot..

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  4. I read your article. I am concerned because the director of the CDC Brenda Fitzgerald is stating that 85% of children's deaths in the current flu season did not get the flu shot. I have never given my son the flu shot. I have never gotten it myself. However, its hard not to question myself when every day you wake up and a new child has died coupled with the statement made by the CDC.

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    1. I totally get it. Maybe this year is unlike any other in the past. I am hearing plenty who had the flu vaccine and also ended up sick and dying. I do believe the media posts what is convenient. Is that 85% correct? I don't know. Do they have honest information already? I don't know. I do know that only about 12-16% of the flu diagnoses were verified by the CDC to be the actual flu. There are over 100 viruses that cause flu like illness. Tamiflu is increasingly associated with bad outcomes. Correlation doesn't mean causation but the data isn't looking great for Tamiflu. Maybe it really is a more virulent year and it really seems to be a bad year. It is interesting as well because a few years ago, they told us to stop testing for the flu and just diagnosis based on symptoms. Is that why the diagnosis is going up? I don't know. I do know that you just have to trust your gut. If you feel like you should get the flu vaccine for your child, then do so. There is data for both sides on anything so you have to trust your mama gut. It is a scary world especially if we watch the news (where 70% of funding comes from Pharma), not that there is not a really virulent flu going on out there. I can say that although my patients who have not gotten the flu shot has gotten the flu (2 have), it was mild and over really fast and otherwise we haven't even seen it. Same goes for my other colleagues that have holistic practices. They are not seeing a ton of sick kids. Not sure if that helps but first and foremost, do what feels right to you based on the study you have done to treat your child. Big hugs mama.

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    2. There is no flu virus or cold virus or whatever virus. That's medical propaganda that they've spent billions if not trillions on to make sure you believe them. The so called flu is due to mal nutrition. It is a nutritional problem not a medical problem. It's strictly a body initiated and conducted process of elimination and, like any elimination process, should be allowed to run its course to a natural conclusion. You wouldn't stop defecation would you? If you do stop these elimination processes known as 'flu', with drugs of any stripe, you stand a good chance of killing the organism because any organism can only take so much poisoning before it succumbs.

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    3. I have a question for the doctor. Are children with a history of flu, less likely to die? Do their bodies have an immune system better equipped to handle the illness? I ask this because I haven't seen any articles or CDC data tables that specify if a child has been previously infected with flu. My child had flu in the 2014-15 season and recovered. That was an H3N2 season. Does he have any protection from that?

      I am in the same boat as Gigi. I know the news is biased, but the headlines make my heart skip a beat. With respect to the 85% of children who died this year not having the flu shot: I haven't seen an article that specifies how many of those children were previously healthy and how many pre-existing conditions. Some children with pre-existing conditions can't get the flu shot. The numbers and the news scare me to death, honestly, but I am having a really hard time sifting through the sensationalism. No child should die from flu, so regardless it's heartbreaking.

      Finally, does the CDC give access to the raw data for flu deaths? They don't provide any cross-tabulations besides vaccinated/unvaccinated. I'd like to know asthma cross with age, race crossed with age.

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  5. I've seen a few families get the flu this season. Every single one of them were vaccinated. It seems everyone who gets the flu has gotten the flu shot. Hmmm.....

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  6. Also, I'd like to add that it's really pissing me off that the articles keep stating "The number of deaths is 999X, at this time last year it was only 9X." They fail to mention that we're in the peak of flu season and at this time last year, the season had just really gotten started. Ugh!

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  7. I have a patient that works for the health department in NC and she says the deaths are not different than last year thus far. I do think we are definitely peak season. I think it will be interesting if we could get an honest assessment of those with the flu who died, if they took fever reducers, tamiflu, comorbid conditions, if it was really flu versus another flu like illness etc etc.

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  8. The flu vaccine works. I've gotten it every year for the past 22 years. My children, ages 10-15 also get the vaccine annually. My parents and brother get the vaccine. My husband gets the vaccine. My FIL and SIL get the vaccine. I work in a preschool. One year, we had five confirmed cases of Influenza A in our classroom. My co-worker and I both received the vaccine. We were literally immersed in influenza because some kids returned to school before they'd stopped coughing. Preschoolers are terrible about covering up their coughs. Neither of us got sick. My husband is a pediatrician. He swims in influenza every year and doesn't catch it. No one in my family has gotten influenza in the last 25 years. We do not have some sort of super immune systems. We still get colds, strep and stomach viruses. You cannot tell me that the lack of influenza in ten people over 25 years has nothing to do with getting the vaccine. My husband can tell which patients have gotten the vaccine and which ones haven't before he even speaks to them. He says that the ones who haven't are the ones lying on the floor in the waiting room because they're too sick to sit upright. The ones who have gotten the vaccine have milder cases that are short-lived. Finally, the idea that doctors push for the vaccine to make money is ridiculous. If they really were in this for the money, they'd be encouraging people NOT to get the vaccine. They make FAR more money from clinic visits and more yet from rounding on patients in the hospital than they do from administering the vaccine. Instead of discouraging people from getting the vaccine, you should be using this forum to educate people on what the vaccine covers and what it doesn't cover. I continue to be astounded at the number of people who don't want to get the vaccine because one year they "got the shot and still got the flu three times." What they had was a stomach virus, which is not what the flu shot covers. People still do not know the difference between stomach bugs and influenza.

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    1. I am so glad it works for you. My anecdotal evidence is the same but opposite. None of my family has ever had insurance. We never get flu shots except for the three years in a row that I made them get flu shots where my mom, brother and sister all got the flu (fever of 102-103 , flu like symptoms for a full week requiring that they miss work) within 24 hours of receiving the flu vaccine. I got what was diagnosed as serum sickness for 4 months three years straight after getting the flu vaccine. Other than those three years, each of us had not even gotten the flu more than one time in our lives. Counting all family members (I have four siblings and my parents are 71), nieces and nephews, we each have had the flu maybe once in all those years. I also know a few people who have had GBS (paralysis) from the vaccine. The reality is that the flu vaccine is a failed vaccine. It is my responsibility to educate on facts and not just anecdote or propaganda. I will post more studies in the following post. Again, I am thankful your family has done well. Mine has too and thankful for that. I agree that people do not know the difference between stomach "flu" and the influenza but most doctors don't differentiate between influenza and the approximately 200 viruses that cause a flu like illness ( and can kill), such as adenovirus. Since we are discouraged from testing now, more non influenza viruses are counted as influenza and the CDC says that only about 12-16% of all "flu" is actual influenza. The rest are the viruses that are not influenza which makes it impossible for the flu vaccine to cover.

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    2. 1) Jefferson T, Di Pietrantonj C, Rivetti A, Bawazeer GA, Al-Ansary LA, Ferroni E. Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 7. Art. No.: CD001269. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001269.pub4
      Collaboration report included 40 clinical trial studies of more than 70,000 people a perfectly matched year, it showed up to 80% benefit but since that often doesn't happen, it listed 50% effectiveness to as low as 30% effectiveness with the flu vaccine. So just as many people theoretically benefited as didn't on an average year. It showed modest days lost from work and NO evidence was found to decrease hospitalization or complication rates. Another analysis put it this way. When the vaccine matched the flu strain, 4 percent who weren't vaccinated got the flu. One percent of vaccinated people got it. That's a difference of 3 percent. When the vaccine didn't match the strain, 2 percent of unvaccinated people got the flu, and 1 percent didn't, for a difference of 1 percent.

      2) Kelley NS, Manske JM, Ballering KS, Leighton TR, Moore KA. The Compelling Need for Game-Changing Influenza Vaccines, An analysis of the influenza vaccine enterprise and recommendations for the future. Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy, October 2012.

      It removed more of the "flawed" studies and found that in a perfectly matched year, it was 59% effective in having the vaccine in the ages of 18-64. It showed no benefit in the elderly (over 65) or under 18 as as been seen in other studies. Their paper suggests that the flu vaccine is not ideal but due to lack of financial incentive, more beneficial vaccines are not likely to be found.

      3) Cowling, Fang, Kwok-Hung. Increased Non Influenza Respiratory Virus Infections Associated with receipt of the Inactivated Influenza Vaccine. Clinical Infectious Diseases, Vol. 54, Issue 12, June 2012 pages 1778-1783, also in Clin Infect Dis 2012 June 15; 54(12) : 1778-83

      TIV (trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine) recipients had higher risk of confirmed non influenza respiratory virus infection (RR, 3.46;95% Cl, 1.19-10.1) The majority of the noninflueza respiratory virus detection were rhinoviruses and coxsackie/echoviruses, and the increased risk among TIV recipients was also statistically significant for these viruses.

      4) Minn, Michael, McCullers, J., Klugman, K. Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine Enhance Colonization of Steptococcus Pneumonia and Staphylococcus Aureus in Mice, mBio 5(1) doi:10.1128/mBio.01040-13
      The potent and often lethal effects of an antecedent influenza virus infection on secondary bacterial disease have been reported. Viral replication induced epithelial and mucosal degradation, and the ensuing innate immune response yield diminished capacity to avert secondary bacterial infections. Recent clinical and experimental data suggest that influenza virus infection may exert its influence beginning in the URT by enhancing susceptibility to bacterial colonization.




      5) Goldman GS Comparison of VAERS fetal-loss reports during three consecutive influenza seasons: Was there a synergistic fetal toxicity associated with the two- vaccine 2009-2019 season? Hum. Exp Toxicol. 2013 May;32(5): 464-75
      There were 77.8 fetal loss reports per 1 million pregnant women vaccinated during the 2009/2010 2 dose influenza season vs 6.8 fetal loss reports during the previous 1-dose influenza season. An 11.4 fold increase. The two multidose vials contain 25 mcg of mercury per dose those years.
      6) Jefferson T, Rivetti A, et al. Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev 2012 Aug 15; Issue 8: CD 004879
      75 worldwide studies, inc 17 randomized trials, in children older than 2, the inactivated influenza vaccine is about 36% effective. Under 2 it was equal to placebo, no evidence to show reduced mortality, hospital admissions, serious complications or community transmission of influenza.


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    3. .
      7) Jefferson T, Smith S, et al. Assessment of the efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines in healthy children: systematic review. Lancet 2005 Feb 26; 365 (9461) : 773-80
      No evidence of reduced mortality, admissions, complications, or decreased community transmission of influenza.
      8) Joshi, AY, Iyer VN, et al. Effectiveness of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine in influenza-related hospitalization in children:a case-control study. Allergy Ashthma Proc 2012 Mar-Apr;33(2): e23-7
      Study of kids 6 months to 18 years from 1999-2007. 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). Asthmatic children who received the influenza vaccine were also more likely to be hospitalized than those who did not receive it. The severity of asthma did not affect the outcome.
      9) Simonsen L, Reichert TA, et al. Impact of influenza vaccination on seasonal mortality in the US elderly population. Arch Internal Med 2005 Feb 14; 165(3): 265-72
      Study 1968-2001-Observational study showed no decreased mortality rate with increasing vaccination from 15% to 65%
      10) Thomas RE, Jefferson T, Lasserson TJ Influenza vaccination for health care workers who care for people aged 60 or older living in long-term care institutions. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2013 ; Issue 7: CD 005187
      No evidence to support that vaccinating healthcare workers in long-term care facilities showed effect on laboratory proven influenza or complications (pneumonia, hospitalization, or death due to pneumonia) in those residence over age 60.
      11) Doshi P. Influenza:marketing vaccine by marketing disease. BMJ 2013 May 16; 346: f3037
      Too much to list to explain but worth the read.
      12) Doshi P. Are U.S. Flu-death figures more PR than science? BMJ 2005 Dec 10;331:1412
      Basically discusses this info on this page.
      13) Carrat, F., Lavenu, A. et al, Repeated influenza vaccination of healthy children and adults borrow now, pay later? Epidemiol. Infect. (2006) 134, 63-70
      Shows that repeated influenza vaccination at a younger age substantially increases the risk of influenza in older age

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    4. 14) Phone conversation with (protected name now), MD, MPH, CAPT, USPHS Medical Officer Epidemiology and Prevention Branch Influenza Division, NCIRD Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
      Agreed with all information here and says this is the best we can do. Due to lack of evidence, they do not officially endorse flu vaccine mandates. Also she admits that we will never have good studies due to changing viral strains and vaccines that may not match.
      15) Skowronski DM, De Serres G, et al. Association between 2008-2009 seasonal influenza vaccine and pandemic H1N1 illness during Spring-Summer 2009:four observational studies from Canada PLoS Med 2010 April 6; 7(4) e1000258
      Recipients of the influenza vaccine had significantly increase influenza compared to those who didn't. Recipients had increased need for requiring medical attention due to the H1N1 virus.
      16) http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/17/1716561115.full In adjusted models, we observed 6.3 (95% CI 1.9-21.5) times more aerosol shedding among cases with vaccination in the current and previous season compared with having no vaccination in those two seasons."

      17) http://m.medsask.usask.ca/documents/newsletters/33.4%20annual_flu_immunization.pdf "those who were vaccinated three years in a row actually had an increased risk of contracting influenza compared with unvaccinated participants...."
      18) http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/04/study-prior-year-vaccination-cut-flu-vaccine-effects-2014-15 Prior year vaccination cut the current year efficacy of the flu vaccine.
      19) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519172045.htm Children who get the flu vaccine have three times the rate of hospitalization for flu.
      20) Death rates due to actual positive flu tests average under 1000 per year in over 300,000,000 patients according to the CDC National Vital Statistics Report. The number that you hear in the media of 30K to 50K deaths are due to flu AND pneumonia. The number is inflated to increase flu vaccination.
      21) Adverse reactions- flawed due to reporter bias. Our training is to say that any significant flu like illness is likely coincidence or would have been worse without the vaccine. We are not trained to recognize serum sickness and we are also too busy to report.

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    5. I am pro INFORMED consent which is not happening in most doctor's offices. What I do believe is that most doctors believe in what they do and care about patient outcomes whether they are pro or anti vaccine and please keep in mind that being anti flu vaccine does not necessarily mean one is anti all vaccines. It is critical for doctors to be open to information for the sake of their patients even if it goes against what "they" taught us. IT isn't easy to go against the grain but it is my Hippocratic oath and this is based in science. 8-).

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