Flu Vaccine


New Rotavirus Vaccine not so Improved

The rotavirus vaccine has been introduced after its 1998 fiasco and has the same dangerous side effects. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/552236?src=mp

Myth vs. reality:
Myth: Recent reports have claimed that "Influenza kills 30,000 to 40,000 Americans every year." This is a promotional myth perpetuated on behalf of vaccine manufacturers.
Reality: If you go to the CDC's main flu page you will find the 36,000 deaths number and a link to the actual flu table that has the death statistics. But if you go to the more comprehensive overall death report you will find that only 753 people died of flu in 2002, which is an example of how many less deaths there are, than what is actually being reported by the CDC.
(Courtesy of http://www.mercola.com/2004/oct/30/flu_deaths.htm)

This article also helps unfold the reality - remember, follow the money trail: http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=9c96c3d56f677081

 

The British Medical Journal recently published this report:
"Influenza vaccination: policy versus evidence"
It is an excellent paper funded by an independent non-profit foundation:the Cochrane Collaboration, which challenges the safety and efficacy of the current flu vaccine recommended policy.

They begin their paper by saying... " Each year enormous effort goes into producing influenza vaccines for that specific year and delivering them to appropriate sections of the population. Is this effort justified?"

Their report summary was alarming and questioned the use of the flu vaccine...

Summary points

  • Public policy worldwide recommends the use of inactivated influenza vaccines to prevent seasonal outbreaks
  • Because viral circulation and antigenic match vary each year and non-randomised studies predominate, systematic reviews of large datasets from several decades provide the best information on vaccine performance
  • Evidence from systematic reviews shows that inactivated vaccines have little or no effect on the effects measured
  • Most studies are of poor methodological quality and the impact of confounders is high
  • Little comparative evidence exists on the safety of these vaccines
  • Reasons for the current gap between policy and evidence are unclear, but given the huge resources involved, a re-evaluation should be urgently undertaken

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/333/7574/912

Science on flu shot effectiveness doesn't support flu shot policies:

A great article about the BMJ paper: There isn't enough proof that flu vaccine is effective to support public programs advocating widespread use of flu shots, a controversial vaccine epidemiologist is suggesting. "There's a huge gap between policy and evidence," Jefferson, who is co-ordinator of the Cochrane Vaccines Field in Rome, said in an interview Thursday.
Read the complete article here:
Flu Shot Effectiveness

Here are some additional articles pertinent to the flu vaccine.

 

Comments from the National Vaccine Information Center:

"Here come the fear mongers...just in time for the flu vaccine marketing season.. Fear is used to persuade Americans to roll up their sleeves and hand over their children to be vaccinated. Years ago, people developed resistance the old fashioned way: By getting the flu. And then when that type of flu came around again years or decades later, they either didn't get sick or had only a mild case. The vaccine marketeers want to take that away from our population. What will that make us? Vaccine dependent, of course."
- Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center

Read the NVIC statement on flu vaccines " National Vaccine Information Center Calls for Influenza Vaccine Policy Change" here: http://www.909shot.com/PressReleases/pr1031flu.htm

Immune System Support for Children:

The vitalistic approach to the Flu Season is to strengthen the immune system naturally.

From the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association we have this information to present:
Chiropractic and Immune Function: http://www.icpa4kids.org/research/chiropractic/immune.htm

Flu Season; Chance or Choice?
http://www.icpa4kids.org/newsletters/flu.htm

From the Holistic Pediatric Association we have this article to share:
Immune System Supplements for Children.
http://www.hpakids.org/holistic-health/articles/197/1/Immune-System-Supplements-for-Children

From Dr. Mercola:
Six Ways to Avoid the Winter Flu--and a Flu Shot Isn’t One of Them
1- Avoid sugar
2- Get enough rest
3- Eat garlic regularly
4- Don't let stress overwhelm you
5- Exercise
6- Wash your hands
http://www.mercola.com/2003/oct/29/flu_shot.htm

 

Studies Fail to Demonstrate Safety or Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccine in Children and Adults
National Vaccine Information Center Calls for Influenza Vaccine Policy Change

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- An independent analysis by the internationally renowned Cochrane Collaboration of worldwide influenza vaccine studies, published in the British Medical Journal on Oct. 28, concluded there is little scientific proof that inactivated influenza vaccine is safe and effective for children and adults. Citing the Cochrane Collaboration finding as well as methodological flaws in a child influenza vaccine study published Oct. 25 in the Journal of the American MedicalAssociation (JAMA), the National Vaccine Information Center is calling on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to stop recommending annual flu shots for all infants and children until methodologically sound studies are conducted.

"There is a big gap between policies promoting annual influenza vaccinations for most children and adults and supporting scientific evidence," said epidemiologist Tom Jefferson, Cochrane Vaccines Field, Rome, Italy, who coordinated the comprehensive analysis for the prestigious Cochrane Collaboration. "Given the significant resources involved in annual mass influenza campaigns, there is urgent need for re- evaluation of these strategies."

The Cochrane Collaboration analysis found that the majority of published influenza vaccine studies were methodologically flawed with selection biases, confounders and heavy reliance on non-randomized studies. The report points out that potential confusion between respiratory infections caused by influenza viruses and those caused by non-influenza viruses can result in misdiagnosis and gross overestimation of the true impact of influenza on death and illness in a given influenza season. The report concluded that too few clinical trials have been conducted to prove vaccine safety and current evidence indicates that use of inactivated influenza vaccine has only a modest or no effect on preventing influenza in the children and the elderly.

"The CDC has pushed mass use of influenza vaccine in all children without scientific evidence the policy is either necessary or safe," said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher. "Where is the good science to back up the policy? If the recently published CDC-funded influenza vaccine study in JAMA is the kind of flawed science public health officials are using to convince the public the vaccine is safe, it is no wonder that many parents don't trust what public health officials say about vaccination. The CDC should stop recommending annual influenza vaccination of all young children when there is insufficient scientific justification for it."

The JAMA study, which was conducted by Kaiser Permanente doctors with CDC funding, was a non-randomized retrospective analysis of the medical records of children 6 to 23 months old who were given influenza vaccine as well as other vaccines between 1991 and 2003. Vaccines were not randomly administered and unvaccinated controls were not used. Children's case histories were included in the study only if an HMO doctor had seen them within 14 days of influenza vaccination. Dozens of convulsions and other adverse events, including brain injury experienced by children after vaccination, were excluded from the study if the children had not been seen by a doctor within 14 days of the adverse event or were sick in the weeks before and after vaccination.

Because of arbitrarily chosen cut-off periods, adverse events which occurred before and after different observation times cancelled each other out and were not classified as vaccine-related. In some cases, convulsions and cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome were dismissed as "coincidental" or caused by other vaccines the children received by the 19 Kaiser Permanente and CDC authors -- nine of whom reported financial ties to flu vaccine manufacturers and all of whom received CDC funding.

"Vaccine studies are using increasingly complex statistical techniques rather than time-tested research designs," said NVIC Health Policy Analyst Vicky Debold, R.N., Ph.D. "The JAMA study is exactly the type of study criticized by the Cochrane Collaboration. There were so many limitations and exclusions in the study design that it is nearly impossible to interpret or replicate the findings. The true effect of the influenza vaccine on health outcomes cannot be identified in this single, flawed study, which should not be used as evidence that influenza vaccine is safe for infants and toddlers or to justify national vaccine policies."

The Cochrane Collaboration (http://www.cochran e.org), which maintains the Cochrane Library and is the world's leading producer of systematic reviews of scientific information about health care, is a UK registered international charity. Cochrane reviews are considered the gold standard for determining the effectiveness of health care interventions.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is a non-profit, educational organization (http://www.nvic.org ) founded in 1982 and is dedicated to preventing vaccine injuries and deaths through public education and defending the informed consent ethic.
Source: National Vaccine Information Center
NVIC E-News is a free service of the National Vaccine Information Center and is supported through membership donations. NVIC is funded through the financial support of its members and does not receive any government subsidies. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co- founder. Learn more about vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights at www.nvic.org

Flu Shots for Everyone!
If we thought the frenzy for flu shots were epidemic last year, expect worse this year as flu shots are now being recommended for infants. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/324/7336/502/b

Creating the Market:
This link examines the CDC's plan, "The Seven-Step Recipe for Generating Interest in, and Demand for, Flu (or any other) Vaccination.”
Well known author and lecturer on the subject, Dr Sherry Tenpenny says, This seven step recipe, "is designed to methodically manipulate the general public. Language within the presentation reveals the intent of the government and their drug company “partners” to use major news media (news wires, TV) to send scheduled, fear-based messages in an attempt to convince the unsuspecting public that not only is the flu shot necessary, but to motivate them to demand it. This will amount to millions of dollars of free adverting for flu vaccine manufacturers."
Very revealing. http://www.redflagsweekly.com/conferences/vaccines/2004_aug30.html

A Glitch in the Matrix:
However, this interesting development may slow down administration:

August 27, 2004, The New York Times reported: A Big Maker of Flu Shots Finds Some Contaminated:
"The Chiron Corporation, a major manufacturer of influenza vaccine, said yesterday that it had detected a contamination problem in its new supply and was delaying release of nearly 50 million doses until scientists could determine the cause.:

"Chiron makes about half the 100-million-dose supply that federal health officials expected to be used this flu season. Its chief executive, Howard
Pien, said in a telephone interview that it informed the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the problem on Wednesday. Other than a relatively small amount sent to distributors in July, Mr. Pien said, the company will probably not begin issuing the vaccine until mid-October, about a month later than expected."

More Informed:
If you are being advised to have your children vaccinated with any vaccine, you may want to become more informed. The National Vaccine Information Center's web site offers the most current information on vaccines, their side effects, state laws, etc. Visit them at: www.909shot.com

Know the Law:
We have received numerous calls about vaccination exemptions from around the country. The following link offers valuable state exemption information: http://www.gval.com/exempt.htm

Become Involved:
If you want to become more actively involved in having the data on government findings of vaccines released sign this petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/896046564

For more information on the Vaccine Safety Data link and vaccine risks, click the link to read a presentation made by NVIC President, Barbara Loe Fisher, at the August 23IOM Meeting. http://www.NVIC.org/Loe_Fisher/blf0804vsd.htm


AAP updates recommendaions of flu vaccines for children and pregnant women.

Recommendation of flu shot for children ... "To maximize the number of children immunized, physicians should begin immunization as early as possible, use all possible visits for immunizations, and schedule specific clinic times for influenza immunizations....Others who should receive priority for immunization include pregnant women in their second or third trimester during influenza season, household contacts, and out-of-home caregivers of all children younger than 24 months or at high risk, and healthcare professionals in contact with pediatric patients." http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/472038
Although they caution against administering the vaccine to those with thimerosal sensitivity, last weeks news informs us that,...

"U.S. Won't Alert Parents, Doctors on Mercury in Flu Shots for Kids .

Hundreds of thousands of infants and toddlers who get flu shots starting this fall could be exposed to a mercury-laced preservative that has been all but eliminated from other pediatric vaccines because of health concerns.Saying there is no proof of harm from exposure to the preservative thimerosal, officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed that they won't advise parents and doctors to choose a mercury-free version of the flu vaccine.

This year, flu shots are being added to the government's "recommend" list of vaccines that should be given to all young children. The CDC's decision on thimerosal, made despite pleas from parent activist groups and some experts, appears to be at odds with recent federal warnings about exposure to mercury, a potent neurotoxin, and with the government's successful effort to have it removed from other childhood vaccines.

The mercury-free flu vaccine will be more expensive - by about $4 per shot - and is somewhat harder to make in large quantities than the alternative. If the CDC were to warn parents, demand for thimerosal-free shots would rise, possibly squeezing supplies. Some experts said a shortage could lead to some children not being immunized against a known risk, flu, in order to avoid the theoretical risk of thimerosal.

"The available scientific evidence has not shown thimerosal-containing vaccines to be harmful," the CDC said. The American Academy of Pediatrics, which has a membership of 57,000 physicians, is backing the CDC.

But the agency has come under blistering attack from some parent groups. By not advising parents and physicians, the government is "violating the precautionary principle which reminds doctors that, when in doubt, take an action which minimizes the risk of harm," said Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center , a parent-led group that promotes safer vaccines.

Rep. David Weldon (R-Fla.) said he planned to introduce a bill to ban thimerosal in childhood vaccines. The CDC's refusal to recommend mercury-free shots "is medical malpractice," Weldon said. A physician with a young son, he said he wouldn't let the child have a shot containing mercury. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-le-alamo13.2apr13,1,2267550.story

 

New Rotavirus Vaccine not so Improved

The rotavirus vaccine has been introduced after its 1998 fiasco and has the same dangerous side effects. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/552236?src=mp


Flu or Flu Shot?

 Medical officials are investigating whether influenza caused the death of a 16-year-old Southwest High School student. Hector Vera, a junior at the school, died at about 6 a.m. at Scripps Chula Vista Hospital, where he had been sick with flu symptoms for the past week, authorities said. Vera had received two flu shots from a Tijuana hospital, a spokesman for the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office said. Influenza is also being investigated at the possible cause of the Tuesday death of 13-year-old Lidia Vigil of San Marcos. Vigil had been ill for several days with flulike symptoms, including chest pain and an earache.She experienced her first symptoms last Friday. On Monday, the day before her death, her father took her to a clinic in Tijuana where she received a penicillin shot.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/health/20031212-9999_2m12death1.html
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/health/20031211-1747-fludeath.html


Advisory Committee Immunization Practices Delays Consideration of Pediatric Flu Vaccines

The influenza vaccine is now strongly recommended for all children 6 to 23 months old, but the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) appears ready to stall consideration of a universal recommendation due to a lack of safety and efficacy data.

The recommendation to vaccinate all healthy children 6 months to 23 months old against influenza may still be years away, according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

The influenza vaccine is now strongly recommended by the ACIP for all children 6 to 23 months old, but the ACIP appears ready to stall consideration of a universal recommendation due to missing data. Several members of the panel requested additional safety and efficacy data before considering a stronger recommendation.

But the optimal data would come from studies conducted over multiple winters, according to researchers. Because vaccination efforts have already begun for the 2002 to 2003 season, studies probably could not be started until next year, which means that consideration of recommendations would be pushed to at least 2004 for the 2004 to 2005 influenza season, explained Keiji Fukada, MD, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC.

Although the vaccine has been recommended for use in high-risk children since the late 1970s, efficacy data have come from a few clinical trials with relatively small patient populations. There have also been limited safety studies on the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine in young children.

Read complete article


Then read this recent report from Medcape Pediatrics showing the push for kids to get the flu vaccine...

As influenza season approaches, it is important to remember that the hospitalization rate for children younger than 2 years is comparable to those for persons older than 65 years. New guidelines from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the National Center for Infectious Diseases have expanded the eligibility for influenza vaccination among children under the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program. After March 1, 2003, all children aged 6 to 23 months, and those aged 2 to 18 years who live in households where there are children younger than 2 years, will be eligible to receive influenza vaccination.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has also issued a policy statement recommending that healthy children between 6 and 23 months of age be immunized against influenza.

The successful implementation of the new vaccine recommendations for healthy children depends on increased public awareness about this need. Individual providers have the primary role in disseminating information. It is important to begin talking with parents now and offering this immunization as soon as possible to the healthy children considered at risk in the expanded guidelines.

Advisory Committee Immunization Practices Delays Consideration of Pediatric Flu Vaccines

November 2002 ~ ATLANTA -- The influenza vaccine is now strongly recommended by the ACIP for all children 6 to 23 months old, but the ACIP appears ready to stall consideration of a universal recommendation due to missing data. Several members of the panel requested additional safety and efficacy data before considering a stronger recommendation.

But the optimal data would come from studies conducted over multiple winters, according to researchers. Because vaccination efforts have already begun for the 2002 to 2003 season, studies probably could not be started until next year, which means that consideration of recommendations would be pushed to at least 2004 for the 2004 to 2005 influenza season, explained Keiji Fukada, MD, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC.

Although the vaccine has been recommended for use in high-risk children since the late 1970s, efficacy data have come from a few clinical trials with relatively small patient populations. There have also been limited safety studies on the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine in young children.

Flu Vaccine Recommendations
From the Nov issue of INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN CHILDREN