Influenza: The Disease & the Vaccine

Misconceptions about the Flu

The most common misconception about the “flu”(a generic term applied to almost anything that makes us feel unwell) , is that all flu-like illnesses are caused by influenza viruses. Laboratory confirmed tests conducted across Canada over the years have shown that the majority of flu-like illnesses experienced by people during the fall and winter season are not associated with influenza viruses.

Typical flu-like symptoms include fever and respiratory symptoms, such as cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, as well as headache, muscle aches, and often-extreme fatigue. Although most people who get the flu recover completely within 1-2 weeks, some people may develop serious medical complications such as pneumonia. ⁽¹⁾

While Health officials squander millions of scarce health care dollars on the flu vaccine hype each year, they hide the fact that only a small percentage of flu-like illnesses are actually influenza.

Numerous circulating pathogens can precipitate flu like symptoms, and are most often not “influenza”. Official medical sources like Health Canada reveal that only a small percentage of Influenza-Like Illnesses (ILI) – somewhere between 10-15%, are actually influenza. The rest, 85-90% of these Influenza-Like Illnesses are precipitated by other pathogens such as RSV virus, adenovirus, parainfluenza, and others. ⁽²⁾

Says epidemiologist Dr. Vittorio Demicheli, MD “The actual proportion of influenza A and B cases among ILI cases is not well known, but the few available studies indicate a modest proportion of probably less than 10%, regardless of age group” ⁽³⁾.

In Canada, the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention & Control (CIDPC) received reports on laboratory tests for Influenza between 25 August, 2002, and 10 May, 2003, on 46,177 laboratory tests for influenza; 3,291 tests (7.1%) were confirmed as positive for influenza and, of those, 1,891 (57.5% of 3,291) were identified as influenza A and 1,400 (42.5% of 3,291) as influenza B. The rest – the majority of 92.9% cases of flu-like illnesses were related to, or caused by viruses other than Influenza.

See: Volume 29-6, March 15 2003 — PDF file is in French & English.

Will the flu vaccine protect you from “catching” the flu?

In a “systematic review of 20 randomized trials of the effects of the vaccine in healthy adults”, Dr. Demicheli found that among healthy individuals, “only 1 of 4 vaccinated adults will acquire protection against the clinical illness.” ⁽³⁾

“There is no evidence that any influenza vaccine thus far developed is effective in preventing or mitigating any attack of influenza. The producers of these vaccines know that they are worthless, but they go on selling them anyway.” – Dr. J. Anthony Morris (distinguished virologist and formerly Chief Vaccine Control Officer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.) ⁽⁴⁾

“In a 1993 Dutch article on a nursing home for the elderly, 50% of the vaccinated population caught the illness compared to 48% unvaccinated.” ⁽⁵⁾

As health officials now push flu vaccine on babies as young as 6 months, consider this: Large scale studies of compulsory flu vaccination in Japan of school aged children showed the vaccine to be ineffective and conducive to lawsuits due to adverse side effects. Two large studies, one in 1980 and the other in 1985, involving four cities with vaccination rates between 1% and 90% showed little difference in flu incidence. In 1987, the Japanese government changed the flu vaccine from compulsory to voluntary. By 1989, even though only 20% of the population took the flu vaccine, the incidence of influenza did not increase. ⁽⁶⁾

“Over the past twenty years, age specific death rates for pneumonia and influenza have increased in the older adult populations [over age 65]…” However, since 1987, while death rates from influenza in the over 65-age group have been increasing, flu vaccination rates also increased from 33% to 65%. ⁽⁷⁾

In Great Britain, the post office dropped its influenza vaccine program after it showed no improvement in absenteeism. In Birmingham, six hundred elderly vaccinated people showed over double the incidence of respiratory disease as compared to a non-vaccinated group. ⁽⁸⁾

How Safe Are Flu Vaccines?

During 2001-2002, Aventis Pasteur Ltd. distributed approximately 7.3 million doses of Fluzone® and Vaxigrip®, and Shire Biologics distributed approximately 2 million doses of Fluviral S/F®. During this time, Shire Biologics produced a new Fluviral® S/F. The product information sheet indicates that, the vaccine contains “purified portions of the virus”, is “inactivated with formaldehyde, and also contains 0.01% thimerosal (a mercury derivative) as a preservative, trace residual amounts of egg proteins, deoxycholate and/or Polyethylene Glycol p-isooctylphenyl Ether (Triton X-100).” Some flu vaccines contain up to 25 micrograms of mercury per dose, five times the maximum amount judged safe by the CDC for a 110 lb. person. ⁽²⁾

Mercury alone makes the flu shot UNSAFE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN.The safest and most effective methods of flu prevention are frequent hand washing and a healthy lifestyle. ⁽⁹⁾

Between September, 2001 & March, 2002, Health Canada received 1,800 reports of adverse reactions to flu vaccines in the form of “oculo-respiratory syndrome” (ORS) defined as “onset of bilateral red eyes and/or respiratory symptoms (cough, wheeze, chest tightness, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, hoarseness or sore throat) and/or facial swelling occurring within 24 hours of influenza immunization.” ⁽¹⁰⁾

Flu vaccines are cultured in chicken embryo. This means that people who are allergic to egg and/or chicken can become seriously ill. All viral vaccines contain not only the particular strains of virus but they also contain traces of leukemia virus and other cancer-associated viruses. These are not completely removable. They exist in the chicken from which these eggs are taken and although it is claimed to be 98% purified, 2% of several billion viruses is still an awful lot of cancer and leukemia dangers. ⁽¹¹⁾

According to Dr. J. Seal, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: “Any and all flu vaccines are capable of causing Guillain-Barre.” In the Swine flu vaccine disaster of 1976, over 500 people in the U.S. were paralyzed by the disease, with 30 dying after being injected with the vaccine. Other problems associated with flu shots are paralysis, memory loss, itchy rashes, and chronic fatigue. ⁽¹²⁾

The possibility of Alzheimer’s disease increases with each yearly shot. ⁽¹³⁾

Is it influenza? Or is it pesticide/chemical poisoning?

The symptoms of the flu are also synonymous with the symptoms experienced when one is exposed to toxic levels of such poisons as pesticides, herbicides and fluoride. Granville Knight, MD, stated under oath at a Congressional Hearing in the 60s that “waves of so-called ‘Virus-X’ and similar diseases …are caused by exposure to such agricultural chemicals; [and] that it is impossible for doctors to diagnose the difference between London flu, virus conditions and pesticide poisoning. ” ~ Immunization: The Reality Behind the Myth by Walene James, pp. 118-119

References

1. Maine Lung Association
2. Health Canada Website – Statement on Influenza Vaccination for the 2002-2003 Season — Volume 28-03 February 1-2002
3. Canadian Medical Association Journal: Mass influenza vaccination in Ontario: Is it worthwhile?
4. FLU Vaccines ‘Worthless’ Says Eminent FDA Virologist by Jay Patrick
5. See The Flu Vaccine: Is It Really Safe and Effective?
6. “Why the Japanese government had to cease compulsory vaccinations” – A presentation by Dr.Yamamoto, Naples, Italy, June 1997
7. See graph
8. Sunday Express, 12/17/89
9. US FDA, CDC and EPA 1999 directive to manufacturers to remove mercury from childhood vaccines.
10. Health Canada on adverse reactions to flu vaccine
11. Dr. Eva Snead in an interview by Gary Null. See Why You Should Not Get a Flu Shot
12. See Vaccination — Assault on the Species by Pat Rattigan, ND.
13. Hugh Fudenberg MD, world’s leading immunogeneticist, 1997. Info on Vaxigrip.