Expert Says Influenza Vaccine Marketing Misrepresents Facts

Though not timely, this small article on flu vaccinations passed my desk today.  Of course the CDC overtly stresses the flu as a killer otherwise no one would pay attention to it.  But the fact that they tout the vaccination as "risk free" and back up these claims with less than scientific studies underlies the dirty side of the entire business of vaccinations.

 

Let’s be honest. Today’s alarming headlines about infectious diseases are enough to convince anyone to voluntarily live in a bubble. A few scary headline examples: “2 new diseases – H7N9 and coronavirus – could both spark global outbreaks,”¹ “Pandemic fears after swine flu virus is found in seals for the first time,”² “Officials Prepare For Another Flu Pandemic – Just In Case.”³

It is no wonder people are getting fed up with the scare tactics. One expert recently got so tired of the aggressive promotion of influenza vaccines that he called out U.S. public health agencies for engaging in disease mongering and misleading marketing.

Peter Doshi, a postdoctoral fellow in comparative effectiveness research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, published an article in British Medical Journal on May 16, 2013 about hyping exaggerated risks of influenza, the disease, to market influenza vaccines.

Doshi notes that the message from public health officials is that “influenza is a serious disease, we are all at risk of complications from influenza, the flu shot is virtually risk free, and vaccination saves lives.” Doshi points out that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in their campaign for universal influenza vaccination, the “influenza vaccine can only do good; there is no need to weigh risks against benefits.”

Doshi’s point is that there are proven risks with influenza vaccines and the studies surrounding influenza and its vaccine are “of low quality” and do not match what officials claim. The main studies the CDC uses to substantiate its influenza vaccine recommendations are observational and are a “product of the ‘healthy-user effect,’” meaning healthy people are more likely to receive an influenza vaccine and less likely to experience death or illness because they are healthy.

“For those that bother to read the CDC’s national guidelines – a 68 page document of 33,360 words and 522 references – one finds that the evidence cited is these observational studies that the agency itself acknowledges may be undermined by bias,” said Doshi while noting that reliable studies, especially randomized trials, are either unpublished or inaccessible.

Another fact that Doshi brings up is that most “flu-like illness” is not type A or B influenza. In fact, he said “only one in six ‘flus’ might be influenza,” so marketing the influenza vaccine as the flu shot is misrepresented.^4 5

His main message—and this is true for all vaccines—do your homework. Be your own detective and make your own well informed vaccine decisions.

References

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1. Cheng M. 2 new diseases – H7N9 and coronavirus – could both spark global outbreaks. The Associated Press. May 14, 2013.

2. Meredith, C. Pandemic fears after swine flu virus is found in seals for the first time. Daily Express. May 16, 2013.

3. Knox, R. Officials Prepare For Another Flu Pandemic – Just In Case. NPR Shots. May 8, 2013.

4. Doshi P. Influenza: marketing vaccine by marketing disease. British Medical Journal. 2013;346.

5. Expert questions US public health agency advice on influenza vaccines. British Medical Journal press release. May 16, 2013. 

 

Work Smarter; Not Harder!

 

Dr David Marcon

Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center

www.marconchiropractic.com

 

Flu Shot Less Effective for the Elderly

This year’s flu shot is doing a startlingly dismal job of protecting older people from the harshest strain this season, proving only 9 percent effective, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The vaccine tends to protect younger people better than older ones and never works as well as other kinds of vaccines. But experts say the preliminary results for the elderly are disappointing and highlight the urgent need for a better vaccine. Over all, the vaccine’s effectiveness is a moderate 56 percent, which means those who receive a shot have a 56 percent lower chance of winding up at the doctor with the flu. That is nearly as good as in other flu seasons, the agency said. 

 Work Smarter; Not Harder!

Dr David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.marconchiropractic.com

One-Minute tutorial on the flu

Every time I post something about the flu or flu vaccination there are a lot of hits.  So give your audience what they want!  I found this a short and simple video that does a nice job explaining the influenza virus.

The recommendation that all Americans be vaccinated against the flu is modestly controversial.  I say modestly controversial because the vast majority of Americans have little idea how vaccinations work and thus participate with some hesitation and fear.   The argument typically made for vaccinating is based upon the paradigm aptly called "Herd Immunity".  

 "The oft-parroted sound bite – “we need herd immunity”- implies that if ninety five percent of the population can become “immune” to a disease via vaccination, target immunity levels will be met and diseases will either be eradicated or controlled."

Now, the idea of heard immunity makes sense on paper but does it hold true in reality? 

Lets look at Measles and Chicken Pox:

"Before vaccines, outbreaks of measles were observed in 2 to 3 year cycles, and 95% of the population developed immunity by the age of fifteen.

 The original idea that vaccination could strengthen the herd’s immunity, assumed that there was only one clinical event, and that one natural exposure equated life -long immunity. But this was not the case back when the diseases circulated freely. Vaccinators miss the point that the body defends most efficiently as a result of ongoing re-exposure. They try to mimic this with boosters. But the vaccination plan leaves the elderly(due to vaccine-induced immunity being short-lived and antigens taken out of circulation) and the very young(due to lack of transferable maternal immunity) more vulnerable to several diseases that were not a threat to them before vaccination.

 In the case of chicken pox, vaccination renders the elderly more apt to shingles infections, because the herd has now lost the continued and benign re-exposures to children with chicken pox."

 Reference: “Herd Immunity.” The flawed science and failures of mass vaccination, Suzanne Humphries, MD

International Medical Council on Vaccination

In some work environments the participation in the flu vaccination is mandatory.  Hospitals attest to the ethical responsibility that their workers have to not contract the virus and contaminate the immuno-suppressed population that they serve.  Recently, some hospital employees have chosen to quit their jobs rather than receive the flu vaccination.  

In the past two months, at least 15 nurses and other hospital workers in four states have been fired for refusing to get a flu shot, and several others have resigned, according to affected workers, hospital authorities and published reports.
That figure includes seven employees at IU Health Goshen Hospital in northern Indiana and a longtime critical care nurse in suburban Chicago, some of whom said they resented being required to get the shot and had rights of their own. Others refuse because of egg allergies or other medical reasons.
Some hospitals argue that health care workers have an ethical obligation to get the shot to help protect themselves, and therefore their patients, from getting the flu, although most allow for some exemptions.
The most recent federal data available shows that as of November, about 63 percent of U.S. health care workers got flu shots. That’s an increase from previous years, but the government wants that figure to be at 90 percent by 2020.

Read the entire Article: Fired worker sues Ohio hospital over flu-shot requirement

Columbus Dispatch

Some will be infuriated by the moral stand these employees have taken.  Others will understand the conundrum these individuals face and the tough decision they made to not put into their bodies that which is not natural and some feel unsafe.  The dialogue is important and of course not finished. 

Work Smarter; Not Harder!

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.marconchiropractic.com