With so much fire aimed at a swine flu vaccine that's only beginning to circulate, there's been little talk of potential shortcomings in the seasonal flu vaccine. But in this season of discontent, the annual shot aimed at quelling "normal" flu may have a bad year.
To start with, the medical world has been vexed by "the Canada Problem," a Canadian study that concluded that people under the age of 50 vaccinated for seasonal flu will then be twice as likely to catch swine flu. The study, which assessed results obtained by 2,000 Canadians in three big provinces, has not been published.
Its authors say it is undergoing prepublication peer review at a scientific journal -- but most Canadian provinces have revised their plans and will inject only the elderly and residents of long-term care facilities with seasonal shots until after the country's swine flu vaccines have been rolled out in November.
Perhaps worse, there's a chance that we will experience two flu seasons this year. Swine flu could be followed by the North American debut of a new strain of H3N2, the nastier of the two seasonal flu A strains -- to which few would have immunity. The World Health Organization recently reported that H3N2 accounts for almost half of new flu cases in China, where the virus is endemic in pigs. The new strain that is spreading seems not to be the H3N2 targeted by this year's seasonal flu.
In theory then, the seasonal shot could make people more likely to catch swine flu while not protecting against a later wave of H3N2.
The Canadian study was recently the subject of a high-level global teleconference. As detailed in a report by Helen Branswell--the world's top flu reporter--authorities have decided to proceed with seasonal flu vaccinations everywhere but in Canada on the assumption that the study is somehow flawed.
A prime problem is that no other health body or researcher has found a link between seasonal flu vaccine exposure and a greater likelihood of catching swine flu. (A study in the British Medical Journal found the opposite effect, but tracked only 60 Mexican patients.)
Count the U.S. Centers for Disease Control unimpressed. "We have not seen such evidence in cases here in the U.S. and we recommend seasonal and H1N1 vaccination in those groups recommended to receive them," said a spokesman. (The CDC lists recommended recipients for seasonal and swine flu.)
What's disturbing is that no one has been able to find any inconsistencies in the Canadian study's methodology. As Branswell reported after speaking with David Wood, coordinator of the quality, safety, and standards team of WHO's department of immunization, vaccines, and biologicals: "But if the Canadian results are due to some statistical flaws or selection biases, no one on the 4 ½ hour teleconference was able to put a finger on what exactly the problem is, Wood acknowledged."
Wood, said Branswell, "admitted there may not be a satisfactory answer to that puzzle in the foreseeable future."
So how might a flu vaccine backfire in a season involving rival strains that require separate shots to thwart them? Robert Roos, news editor at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, wrote a detailed explanation in August of a longstanding phenomenon known as original antigenic sin.
Like an army using the tactics from its last war against a new foe, the human immune system seems to respond to a new flu strain by cooking up the same antibodies it used against the first one. Researchers at Emory University, Roos said, came up with some evidence that among closely related flu strains, the second one can thrive, presumably because it doesn't perceive a new threat.
Does this explain 'the Canada Problem?" Not necessarily. The Emory team felt that our immune systems would meet the challenge of swine flu after a seasonal vaccination because Novel H1N1 is sufficiently different from either of the Influenza A seasonal flu strains in that vaccine that our bodies will detect the new viral enemy.
To make sure, the government is running trials at the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID) -- but they won't be completed until next May and June. For now, Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Branswell that preliminary data from a U.S. study shows no lessening of effect when seasonal and swine flu vaccines are taken at the same time.
Further confusing the situation is the question of how much seasonal flu we can expect to encounter this year. With swine flu dominating the world for many months, there seemed to be little space for the old-timers.
But with the upstart version of H3N2 spreading around the world, it's anyone's guess whether it will break out here after swine flu runs out of steam. Some fear H3N2 might prey on senior citizens, who hold some immunity to swine flu but who would have none to the new strain.
It's enough, at least, to give us all a headache. And that's a real flu symptom.
Follow Peter Christian Hall on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@PeterChristHal
Maria Rodale: Swine Flu Is in the House
Are you listening Obama Administration?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3XlJB7J5-o&feature=related
Bracing Ourselves for More Sham Vaccine Studies
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=15669
It's not even known how people transmit it to one another. An excerpt from my novel:
http://americanfever.squarespace.com/journal/2009/8/30/day-76-so-how-do-people-catch-flu-dont-ask.html
The great questions are not being asked--about flu or about vaccines. If you grew up when people had polio, you'd demand better vaccines and better safety measures, not a cessation of vaccination.
Best, Peter
I'm wanting to read & review comments at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/24/obama-declares-swine-flu_n_332617.html
They're coming so quick, no sense in posting, no one will see it the thread moves so fast.
There was no bigger supporter to help get him elected than me & my hope in his not being another puppet is getting thin.
I'm founder of "We The People United" & have stood strong for him against many who never believed in him in the first place.
Some members, most are still with me, at our forum who are mostly group owners are waiting for me to say, "uncle" if Obama proves me wrong & really doesn't have our best interests at heart.
I'm still betting on his playing chess while others play checkers & his genius getting "US" through to recovery.
I've yet to read what he has to say on this but if he sides with the corrupt on this after he sees the backlash & doesn't study up, it will tell all.
This one is sure to make or break him.
"We The People" will see to it he gets an education on this real quick if he happens to be one of the duped.
If he breaks our hearts & souls by revealing he's part of the atrocity after we educate him, then just go ahead & try keeping up with harming our children & see civil war break out.
Vaccines Did Not Save Us – 2 Centuries of Official Statistics
"This is the data the drug industry do not want you to see. Here 2 centuries of UK, USA and Australian official death statistics show conclusively and scientifically modern medicine is not responsible for and played little part in substantially improved life expectancy and survival from disease in western economies.
The Measles mortality graphs are enlightening and contradict the claims of Government health officials that vaccines have saved millions of lives.
It is an unscientific claim which the data show is untrue. Here you will also learn why vaccinations like mumps and rubella for children are medically unethical and can expose medical professionals to liability for criminal proceedings and civil damages for administering them.
http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/graphs/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/24/CBS-Reveals-that-Swine-Flu-Cases-Seriously-Overestimated.aspx
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-rodale/swine-flu-is-in-the-house_b_331719.html
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-rose-levy/a-guide-for-the-perplexed_b_327242.html?show_comment_id=33294151#comment_33294151
Drug Giant Merck – “Destroy” Critical Doctors “Where They Live
"Court evidence now available on-line at the University of California library shows drug giant Merck systematically targeted “hit-lists” of doctors to discredit, neutralise or destroy critics of the safety and effectiveness of Merck’s drugs."
This included the controversial matter of Andrew Wakefield who's a British medical doctor who put children's health & safety over autism & the MMR vaccine before his career & has been hounded by big money ever since.
People here in these same type blogs who delighted in working to help discredit & smear him haven't said a word about this & I'm wondering what they're thinking?
http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/merckdestroydoccritics/
Be sure to check out the whole site. It's wonderful to see so many articles & educational documentaries that bury all the deception our people have been fed for far too long.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/nih-director-francis-coll_b_328028.html
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-rose-levy/a-guide-for-the-perplexed_b_327242.html?show_comment_id=33294151#comment_33294151
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=mh5F5wP8RdU
http://www.thevaccination.com/article/2/Should-I-get-the-new-H1N1-vaccine.html
This article will help to make an informed decision about the risks and benefits of getting vaccinated.
Pass it everywhere folks & do your part to help educate the masses.
I'm not a big fan of flu shots and I do not get them myself. I have taken another vaccine that contained thimerosol because I felt it was worth it.
I think the explanations on the vaccination site you posted above are well-stated. There are many reasons for pregnant women to beware of any influenza and I will address these in another post.
I think we are all fortunate that thus far, this pandemic is so mild. Again, anyone whose lung functions start to decline should get to a doctor or emergency room. Swine flu destroys some people for reasons that are not yet understood.
Stay well,
Peter
Your vaccination protects you, those you can directly infect and those who you can indirectly infect at essentially zero risk to yourself.
Try this computer model. Presumably it is pretty reasonable, but I don't where they're gettting their infection rate from
http://www.shodor.org/ssep/stu/activities/forensic/flu.html
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/22/New-Study-Demonstrates-Significant-Harm-From-Just-ONE-Mercury-Containing-Vaccine.aspx
The many deadly toxins those who were trusted to protect "US" from but instead they let all that poison loose on "US" in our environment & food.
As far as where cancer & all kinds of other disease comes from, it's all those many toxins & now we come to find, especially to blame are all those vaccines.
All the deception has been recently exposed & busted wide open on the matter of vaccinations.
Vaccinations that we trusted have compromised our immune systems as our children became injured & died as we unknowingly offered them up as mere guinea pigs.
They're responsible for our nation's large population of diseased, disabled & chronically ill adults, who many times get to go to early graves.
So yes, they kill people.
It's all revealed here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/informationsansprix#p/c/5B173BE99A025F19/0/32D_nIGtSnw
Read & learn the truth at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/20/suzanne-somers-new-target_n_328063.html?page=5&show_comment_id=33154067#comment_33154067
Thanks for posting.
Best, Peter
The WHO declaring a "pandemic" in June when mortlity rates were so low for H1N1 (and still are) did not help
We need to bring some sanity back to the lost world of public health
Replacing some leaders wedded to outmoded reductionistic models with systems thinkers might help
Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
If swine flu were terrorizing us all, we'd see far fewer complaints about untested vaccines and a lot more griping about how long it took to prepare them.
Personally, I think the money in flu prevention flows to those areas that Big Pharma can address, and not to buttress the public health system. America's emergency rooms are still unprepared for prolonged crisis. Health workers are still being exposed to infectious agents without proper masks.
It looks like there will be a lot of left-over vaccine and the country will be less prepared for a more lethal pandemic when it does occur--and it will. The way we raise pigs and chickens guarantees that there will be more and faster evolution of flu strains to which we have limited immunity.
Stay well, Peter
Here's the way it breaks down. The vaccine has zero to almost zero side effects that don't go away in a few days. You don't sound like you're in great shape. If all you get is the flu, you're in for a week of misery. But you're probably more likely to get in trouble from the flu because of your other medical problems. What's nice to know is that this is the same advice you'd get practically anywhere in the world.
Finally, there's that ethical issue. Your getting vaccinated prevents others from directly or indirectly getting infected and at a minimum having days of misery that might be days without pay.
Flu Vaccination: Safe, Effective and the Ethical Thing to Do.