INFLUENZA VACCINE UPDATE 2017

 influenza vaccine and clock
 “Is getting an annual flu shot really
“the best way” to protect yourself against influenza? Research
frequently suggests otherwise.
INFLUENZA VACCINE UPDATE 2017 
BY JOSEPH MERCOLA
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
 

It’s that time again. Flu season. And with it, a constant barrage of
reminders to get your annual flu shot. Interestingly enough, what you’re
being told about the influenza vaccine’s effectiveness and the reality
are two very different stories. In January 2015, U.S. government
officials admitted that, in most years, flu shots are—at best—50 to 60
percent effective at preventing lab confirmed type A or B influenza
requiring medical care.1

At the end of that same year, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis2 of flu vaccine effectiveness revealed that, between 2005 and 2015, the influenza vaccine was actually less than 50 percent effective more than half of the time. I wonder if the reality might be even worse than that.

Research from 2011 shows just how easy it is to inflate efficacy rates simply by using different end points.3 At
that time, they found that by using serologic measures, i.e., the
increase in influenza antibodies identified in the blood, results in an
overestimation of vaccine efficacy.

During the 2015/2016 flu season, FluMist, the live virus nasal spray
that typically has been recommended for children in recent years, had a
failure rate of 97 percent.4 Its
failure was so epic, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
recommended FluMist be taken off the list of recommended flu vaccines
for the 2016 to 2017 season, a recommendation CDC officials ended up
heeding. There are many other examples of the influenza vaccine not
protecting people as promised. So, what might we expect from the vaccine
this year?

2017 Flu Vaccine Lineup

Flu vaccines are by their nature a tricky business because influenza
viruses are constantly evolving and public health officials have to
guess at least six months before the flu season starts which type A and B
influenza virus strains will be predominantly in circulation so drug
companies can manufacture the vaccines. When the strains chosen do not
match the strains actually causing most of the disease in any given flu
season, the vaccine’s failure rate significantly increases.

Even when there’s a good match, the flu vaccine’s effectiveness is estimated to be between 40 and 60 percent,5 meaning
that, at best, public health officials believe you have a 60 percent
lower chance of not getting sick with influenza if you get a flu shot.
But it could be as low as 40 percent. Put another way, it is still a
coin toss no matter which way you look at it.

Before reviewing influenza vaccines, it is important to remember that
the majority of respiratory influenza-like illness that people
experience during any given flu season is NOT type A or B influenza.6 When
you get a sore throat, runny nose, headache, fatigue, low-grade fever,
body aches and cough, most of the time it is another type of viral or
bacterial respiratory infection unrelated to influenza viruses.7 There are several different types of influenza vaccines. This year, the available vaccine lineup includes:8 9

• Trivalent flu vaccines, which target two influenza A strains and one influenza B strain:
◦ A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus
◦ A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus
◦ B/Brisbane/60/2008-like (B/Victoria lineage) virus
• Quadrivalent
flu vaccines, which contain the same three strains as the trivalent,
plus a second influenza B strain: B/Phuket/3073/2013-like (B/Yamagata
lineage) virus. Two different types of quadrivalent vaccines are
licensed:
◦ An inactivated version (Afluria quadrivalent)
◦ A recombinant version (Flublok quadrivalent)

There are also a range of delivery methods and formulations:

  • A high-dose version for seniors over the age of 65, containing four
    times the amount of antigen as the regular dose of the standard vaccine
  • An adjuvanted vaccine (Fluad) for seniors over 65, first available
    during the 2016 to 2017 season. It contains an adjuvant called MF59,
    described as an oil-in-water emulsion of squalene oil, added to
    hyper-stimulate a strong inflammatory response to try to strengthen
    artificial vaccine acquired immunity
  • An intradermal flu vaccine for adults between 18 and 64
  • An egg-free recombinant version approved for people over the age of 4 with an egg allergy
  • A jet injector (needle-free) vaccine approved for adults between 18 and 64

Since it was licensed in 2003, a live attenuated flu vaccine in the
form of a nasal spray has been available but, for the second year in a
row, the CDC is recommending the nasal spray version not be used by
anyone because of its history of ineffectiveness.

New for the 2017 to 2018 season is a quadrivalent influenza vaccine
(Flucelvax) for individuals over 4 years old that uses dog kidney cells
(MDCK) for production.10
Traditionally, candidate vaccine strain influenza viruses, i.e., the
viruses selected for inclusion in the vaccine, have been produced using
fertilized chicken eggs.

The cell-based influenza vaccine viruses are grown in cultured animal cells instead of chicken eggs.11 Another
relatively new technology uses insect cells to produce a recombinant
quadrivalent influenza vaccine, Flublok, for individuals over 18 years
old.12 13

Shoulder Damage Following Flu Vaccination

In October 2015, journalist Marlene Cimons wrote about her experience following a routine pneumonia vaccination.14 While
she said the injection itself hurt more than most other vaccinations,
that was nothing compared to the pain she developed in the days and
months following. “Initially, I dismissed it as typical post-shot
soreness,” she writes. “But it didn’t go away.” Months later, her left
shoulder was still in pain. Her orthopedist diagnosed her with
subacromial bursitis—chronic inflammation and fluid buildup in the bursa
sac. Cimons writes:

I’m convinced this occurred because the nurse
injected the vaccine too high on my arm. I had no symptoms before the
shot, and pain has persisted since. The needle probably entered the top
third of the deltoid muscle—which forms the rounded contours of the
shoulder—and probably went into the bursa or the rotator cuff, instead
of lower down, into the middle part of the muscle, missing the bursa and
rotator cuff entirely.

In a recent Facebook post, ABC Action News journalist Ashley Glass
also complained of shoulder pain, saying she could “barely move my arm
now,” following her flu shot.15 As it turns out, shoulder damage following vaccination16 is a known side effect of improper injection.

In a 2011 report, “Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality,”17 the
Institute of Medicine acknowledged that shoulder injuries are one of
the possible adverse effects of vaccine injections, stating it found
“convincing evidence of a causal relationship between injection of
vaccine … and deltoid bursitis, or frozen shoulder, characterized by
shoulder pain and loss of motion.”

Injection Site Injuries Becoming More Common

According to Dr. G. Russell Huffman, associate professor of
orthopedic surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
(cited by Cimons), shoulder injury related to vaccine administration,
also known as SIRVA, includes chronic pain, limited range of motion,
nerve damage, frozen shoulder and rotator cuff tears, and are typically
the result of the injection being administered too high on the arm.

Rather than being injected into the muscle, the vaccine is injected
into the bursa or joint space and, since vaccines are designed to
provoke an immune response, the immune system ends up attacking the
bursa sac, leading to the effects just mentioned.

Part of the problem appears to be related to more people receiving
their vaccinations outside of a clinical setting, such as in pharmacies
and grocery stores. Many will simply pull down the top of their shirt,
exposing only the upper part of their deltoid, thereby increasing their
risk of getting the injection in the wrong area.

Whatever the cause, reports of SIRVA have definitely increased in recent years,18 as
has SIRVA cases settled in the federal vaccine injury court. Between
2011 and 2015, 112 patients were compensated for SIRVA and over 50
percent of those cases were brought in 2015.19 20
In 2016, 202 SIRVA cases were awarded damages by the national Vaccine
Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) created by Congress under the
National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.21

In July 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed
adding SIRVA to the NVICP Vaccine Injury Table (VIT), noting that, “The
scientific evidence convincingly supports a causal relationship between
an injection-related event and deltoid bursitis.” By adding it to the
table, SIRVA cases brought before the government’s vaccine court will be
easier and faster, allowing injured patients to receive compensation
quicker.

SIRVA, as well as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), were two vaccine
reactions officially added to the VIT earlier this year, and applies to
petitions for compensation filed under NVICP on or after March 21, 2017.22 23 One of the first case studies24 to
recognize SIRVA was published in 2006. Clusters of GBS cases were noted
among U.S. military personnel receiving the H1N1 influenza vaccine as
early as 1976.25

It took a decade to get SIRVA added to the NVICP’s injury table. If
it takes that long for the government to acknowledge that vaccine
injection site injuries are real, imagine what it takes to prove other
vaccine injuries.

For GBS, it took more than four decades. Is it any wonder then that
many very serious vaccine-related neurological problems still have not
made it onto that list—and some have even been taken OFF the list by
government officials reluctant to award compensation—considering the
far-ranging ramifications it might have for the childhood vaccination
program?26

The More Flu Vaccines You Get, the More Likely You’ll Get Sick

It seems no matter how poor influenza vaccine effectiveness is, the
national call for everyone to get a flu shot every single year remains.
But is getting an annual flu shot really “the best way” to protect
yourself against influenza? Research frequently suggests otherwise. A
recent article in Science Magazine27 delves
into some of the finer points about individuality and how people’s
immune responses vary depending on a number of different factors,
including the age at which you’re exposed to the flu for the very first
time.

That exposure will actually influence how your immune system responds
for the rest of your life. Knowing this, what kind of effects might one
expect when the first exposure to influenza viruses are vaccine
viruses? It’s a gamble that no one has the answer to as of yet. Other
studies have shown that:

With each successive annual flu vaccination, the theoretical protection from the vaccine appears to diminish.28 29 Research
published in 2014 concluded that resistance to influenza-related
illness in persons over 9 years old in the U.S. was greatest among those
who had NOT received a flu shot in the previous five years.30
The flu vaccine may also increase your risk of contracting other, more serious influenza infections.
• Canadian researchers found that people who had received the seasonal flu vaccine in 2008 had twice the risk of getting sick with the pandemic H1N1 “swine flu” in 2009 compared to those who did not receive a flu shot the previous year.31
• A 2009 U.S. study compared health
outcomes for children between 6 months and age 18 who do and do not get
annual flu shots and found that children who receive influenza
vaccinations have a three times higher risk of influenza-related
hospitalization, with asthmatic children at greatest risk.32
Statin drugs—taken by 1 in 4 Americans
over the age of 45—may undermine your immune system’s ability to respond
to the influenza vaccine.33 34 After
vaccination, antibody concentrations were 38 percent to 67 percent
lower in statin users over the age of 65, compared to non-statin users
of the same age.35 Antibody concentrations were also reduced in younger people who took statins.
Independent science reviews have also concluded that flu shots do not appear to prevent influenza or complications of influenza.36 37 Influenza
vaccine does not appear to prevent influenza-like illness associated
with other types of viruses responsible for about 80 percent of all
respiratory or gastrointestinal infections during any given flu season.38 39 40 41
Research42 published
in 2006, which analyzed influenza-related mortality among the elderly
population in Italy associated with increased vaccination coverage
between 1970 and 2001, found that after the 1980s, there was no
corresponding decline in excess deaths, despite rising vaccine
uptake.According to the authors, “These findings suggest that either the
vaccine failed to protect the elderly against mortality (possibly due
to immune senescence), and/or the vaccination efforts did not adequately
target the frailest elderly. As in the U.S., our study challenges
current strategies to best protect the elderly against mortality,
warranting the need for better controlled trials with alternative
vaccination strategies.”
Another 2006 study43 showed
that, even though seniors vaccinated against influenza had a 44 percent
reduced risk of dying during flu season than unvaccinated seniors,
those who were vaccinated were also 61 percent less like to die BEFORE
the flu season ever started.This finding has since been attributed to a
“healthy user effect,” the idea of which is that older people who get
vaccinated against influenza are already healthier and therefore less
likely to die anyway, whereas those who do not get the shot have
suffered a decline in health in recent months.

Study Suggests Flu Vaccination During Pregnancy Can Cause Miscarriage

In 2009, reports of miscarriage following administration of the pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) swine flu vaccine started emerging.44 Dozens
of women claimed they lost their babies hours or days after getting the
pH1N1 vaccine, which had not been tested on pregnant women (if it was,
the evidence was never published). Not surprisingly, these instances
were passed off by health officials as coincidental. After all,
miscarriages do happen, and for any number of different reasons.Study
Suggests Flu Vaccination During Pregnancy Can Cause Miscarriage

Alas, scientific findings published September 25, 2017, in the medical journal Vaccine45 46 47 suggest
this spike in miscarriage reports may not have been a fluke after all.
Researchers found that women who had received a pH1N1-containing flu
shot two years in a row were, in fact, more likely to suffer miscarriage
within the following 28 days. While most of the miscarriages occurred
during the first trimester, several also took place in the second
trimester.

The median fetal term at the time of miscarriage was seven weeks. In
all, 485 pregnant women aged 18 to 44 who had a miscarriage during the
flu seasons of 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 were compared to 485 pregnant
women who carried their babies to term. Of the 485 women who miscarried,
17 had been vaccinated twice in a row—once in the 28 days prior to
vaccination and once in the previous year. For comparison, of the 485
women who had normal pregnancies, only four had been vaccinated two
years in a row.

While study authors stated that direct causation could not be
established, they called for more research to assess the link.
Commenting on the study, which was funded by the CDC, Amanda Cohn, CDC
adviser for vaccines stated:

I think it’s really important for women to understand
that this is a possible link, and it is a possible link that needs to
be studied and needs to be looked at over more [flu] seasons. We need to
understand if it’s the flu vaccine, or is this a group of women [who
received flu vaccines] who were also more likely to have miscarriages.

At present, the CDC is not making any changes to its recommendation
for pregnant women, which states they can and should get a flu shot at
any point during their pregnancy, no matter which trimester they’re in.48 This
is irresponsible public health policy at its worst, placing the health
of women and their unborn children in danger so corporations can profit.

Remember, the former head of the CDC, Julie Gerberding, left the CDC
in 2009 to later become president of Merck Vaccines, a position she held
until December 2014, when she became Merck’s executive vice president
of strategic communications, global public policy and population health.49 She’s
a poster child for the revolving door between government and industry,
and a clear example of how that door is working against protecting the
public health and safety.

Fraudulent Advertising Is the Norm for Flu Vaccines

Now we find out that the 2016 to 2017 influenza vaccine, which public
health officials acknowledged was very well-matched to circulating
viral strains and was hailed in February 2017 as “one of the most
effective in years,”50 actually turned out to be another rather useless dud.

According to the CDC, 100 percent of circulating H1N1, 95 percent of
the H3N2, 90.6 percent of the Victoria B lineage viruses and 100 percent
of the Yamagata B lineage viruses were similar to the vaccine virus
components for the 2016 to 2017 season.51

In other words, the match-up between the vaccine strains and the
circulating strains causing type A or B influenza illness was about as
good as you could ever hope for and, based on interim estimates in
February, the CDC reported vaccinated individuals were 59 percent less
likely to get sick than unvaccinated individuals.52

Dr. Joseph Bresee, CDC’s influenza division’s associate director of
global health affairs, told NBC News this was “good news and underscores
the importance and the benefit of both annual and ongoing vaccination
efforts this season.”53 Fast-forward
four months, and the good news turned into a report of last year’s
seasonal flu shot being yet another dismal failure.

It turns out the 2016 to 2017 influenza vaccine had “no clear effect”
in those between the ages of 18 and 49. Ditto for the elderly. In fact,
influenza-related hospitalizations among seniors were the highest
they’ve been since the 2014 to 2015 season, which was rated as “severe.”

Among young children, the effectiveness was about 60 percent.54 In
older children and adults between the ages of 50 and 64, the overall
effectiveness topped out at about 42 percent, in terms of preventing
illness severe enough to send you to the hospital or doctor’s office.

As reported by U.S. News & World Report,55 “In
four of the last seven flu seasons, influenza vaccine was essentially
ineffective in seniors, past studies suggest. The worst performances
tend to be in H3N2-dominant seasons.”

Last year, H3N2 type
A influenza, which is associated with more severe illness and increased
mortality among seniors and very young children, was the most prevalent
influenza strain circulating in the U.S.56 So
far, CDC influenza surveillance data indicates that H3N2 is the most
prevalent strain circulating in the U.S. this year, as well.57

You can find a listing of adjusted vaccine effectiveness estimates
for each influenza season going back to 2005 until 2016 on the CDC’s
Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness, 2005 to 2017 webpage.58 told U.S. News & World Report,
“While it is clear we need better flu vaccines, it’s important that we
not lose sight of the important benefits of vaccination with currently
available vaccines.”

What exactly those “important benefits” are was left unsaid.
Personally, I cannot think of a single one. I can, however, point to a
number of well-documented risks of harm and failure associated with
influenza vaccine, which people take year after year, while apparently
getting virtually no benefit at all.

References:

1 MMWR January 16, 2015; 64(01): 10-15.
2 CDC, December 21, 2015 Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness: How Well Does the Flu Vaccine Work?
3 Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy March 11, 2011.
4 STAT News September 28, 2016.
5 CDC.gov, Vaccine Effectiveness.
6 
CDC.gov, Feb. 19, 2016. Update: Influenza Activity – United States Oct. 4, 2015-Feb. 6, 2016.
7 WebMD. Mar. 14, 2017. “Flu-Like” Illnesses Spread Misery Nationwide.
8 CDC.gov, Flu Information for 2017-2018.
9 Live Science August 15, 2017.
10 FDA.gov. Flucelvax Quadrivalent. April 2017.
11 CDC.gov. Cell-Based Flu Vaccines.
12 CDC.gov. How Influenza (flu) Vaccines Are Made.
13 FDA.gov. March 2017. Flublok Quadrivalent – Protein Sciences Corp.
14 Washington Post October 26, 2015.
15 March Against Monsanto October 23, 2017.
16 CBS News March 6, 2017.
17 Institute of Medicine, Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality.
18 AAP News September 1, 2017.
19 Wall Street Journal August 24, 2015.
20 Wired September 3, 2015.
21 See Footnote 18.
22 Myvaccinelawyer.com August 7, 2017.
23 HRSA.gov, Vaccine Injury Table, applicable on or after March 21, 2017.
24 Vaccine 2007; 25: 585-587 (PDF).
25 World Health Organization, Guillain-Barre Syndrome and Influenza Vaccine (PDF).
26 National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). Aug. 27, 2014.
27 STAT News September 28, 2016.
28 Vaccine December 1998;16(20):1929-32.
29 STAT News November 11, 2015.
30 Clinical Infectious Diseases 2014; 59 (10): 1375-1385.
31 CIDRAP April 6, 2010.
32 Science Daily May 20, 2009.
33 STAT News October 29, 2015.
34 SeeFootnote 4.
35 Journal of Infectious Disease October 28, 2015.
36 The Cochrane Library July 7, 2010.
37 Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012; Issue 8.
38 FDA. 94th Meeting of Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Transcript. Feb. 20, 2003.
39 CDC Seasonal Influenza Q&A. Aug. 15, 2014.
40 CDC 2014-2015 Influenza Season Week 51 Ending December 20, 2014.
41 JAMA Intern Med 2013; 173(11): 1014-1016.
42 Vaccine 2006 Oct 30;24(42-43):6468-75.
43 International Journal of Epidemiology April 1, 2006; 35(2): 337-344.
44 Organic Health November 11, 2009.
45 Vaccine September 25, 2017; 35(40): 5314-5322.
46 Nola.com September 14, 2017.
47 Fortune September 13, 2017.
48 U.S. News September 13, 2017.
49 Business Wire December 10, 2014.
50 NBC News February 24, 2017.
51 CDC.gov, FAQ 2016-2017 Influenza Season.
52 CDC.gov Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report February 17, 2017; 66(6): 167-171.
53 See Footnote 50.
54 US News June 21, 2017.
55 Ibid.
56 See Footnote 51.
57 CDC.gov. Oct. 27, 2017. Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report.
58 CDC.gov, Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness, 2005-2017.

_______________________________________________________

FDA Approves Four-Strain Flu Vaccine for Children
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
 recently expanded the age indication for Seqirus’ Afluria Quadrivalent 
influenza vaccine to include patients aged five years or older.1
The FDA first approved Afluria in August
2016 for patients aged 18 years or older. The vaccine is intended to
protect against two strains of influenza A virus, as well as two strains
of influenza B virus.  The traditional seasonal flu vaccine covered two
lineages of influenza A virus and one of influenza B virus. However,
since 1985, two subtypes of influenza B have been circulating.1

Approval was based on a randomized trial including 2,278 children
aged five to 17 years in which Afluria Quadrivalent demonstrated
non-inferiority to a comparator vaccine containing the same virus strain
targets.1

Like the  trivalent version of Afluria, the  quadrivalent version is
available in pre-filled syringes, as well as multi-dose vials.1

The Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) had previously
recommended against the use of Afluria for anyone younger than nine
years, but changed its recommendation to be in line with the new FDA
indication.2
 References:

1 Seqirus Receives FDA Approval of Afluria Quadrivalent (Influenza Vaccine) for People Five Years of Age and Older in the U.S. Seqirus. Press Release Sept. 14, 2017.
2 Lowes, R. Flu Vaccine Efficacy Slips From Prior Estimate, CDC Says. Medscape June 23, 2017.
______________________________________________________

Vaccination: How Dare You Cripple, Maim And Murder The Minds Of Our Children! 
 http://www.StopMandatoryVaccination.com – Polly Tommey, producer of Vaxxed: From Cover-Up To Catastrophe, goes after bully pediatricians and the authors of the California mandatory vaccination bill SB277 in this rebel rousing July 1st protest speech. She calls out pediatricians who know that vaccines maim and kill yet don’t vaccinate their own children. She says that vaccine mandates will murder more babies. Documentary: http://www.vaxxed.com

Produced by Larry Cook
Founder and Director of http://www.StopMandatoryVaccination.com
Contribute here: http://www.gofundme.com/ohwupg



Holding the Line on Vaccine Exemptions 
in America
 When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I really didn’t know a lot
about this issue, But I started reading and asking questions and my mom
sent me my baby book, and in it there was a vaccine reaction recorded
for me, and that wasn’t something we had talked about, and it was pretty
serious. So I started looking more into it and looked at what options
did I have in Texas, and there weren’t many at all. We had a very
restrictive medical exemption and an even more restrictive religious
exemption. Didn’t make sense, and when I finally went and looked at the
different places where I could possibly birth my baby and asked about
avoiding the hepatitis B vaccine, I was told that I was single-handedly
going to stop the worldwide eradication of hepatitis B if I didn’t
vaccinate.