New Study – Flu Vaccine Doesn’t Work

A new study confirms yet again what many prior studies have shown [see list at end], that ‘flu vaccination is largely ineffective [despite what Government “health” officials want you to believe – but where of course will they be looking for their next job when they retire at 50 on generous government pensions]:  Jefferson T, et al. Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults (Review). Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010 Jul 7;(7):CD001269.

Read also here on CHS how Flu Vaccine Caused 3587 US Miscarriages & StillbirthsUsing the US Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), including updates through July 11, 2010 as a second ascertainment source, capture-recapture statistical methods were used to estimate the true number of miscarriages and stillbirths following A-H1N1 flu vaccination in the U.S.

Julie Gerberding head of the US Centres for Disease Control – budget US$11 billion – the US agency charged with promoting vaccines [CDC] following her removal by President Obama went directly to become vaccine maker Merck’s Director of Vaccines Division in December 2009: Dr. Julie Gerberding Named President of Merck Vaccines21 Dec 2009 – Merck & Co., Inc.

Here’s a plain language summary of the Oxford based Cochrane Collaboration recent study in the authors’ own words:

Over 200 viruses cause influenza and influenza-like illness which produce the same symptoms (fever, headache, aches and pains, cough and runny noses). Without laboratory tests, doctors cannot tell the two illnesses apart. Both last for days and rarely lead to death or serious illness. At best, vaccines might be effective against only influenza A and B, which represent about 10% of all circulating viruses. Each year, the World Health Organization recommends which viral strains should be included in vaccinations for the forthcoming season.

Authors of this review assessed all trials that compared vaccinated people with unvaccinated people. The combined results of these trials showed that under ideal conditions (vaccine completely matching circulating viral configuration) 33 healthy adults need to be vaccinated to avoid one set of influenza symptoms. In average conditions (partially matching vaccine) 100 people need to be vaccinated to avoid one set of influenza symptoms. Vaccine use did not affect the number of people hospitalised or working days lost but caused one case of Guillian-Barré syndrome (a major neurological condition leading to paralysis) for every one million vaccinations. Fifteen of the 36 trials were funded by vaccine companies and four had no funding declaration. Our results may be an optimistic estimate because company-sponsored influenza vaccines trials tend to produce results favorable to their products and some of the evidence comes from trials carried out in ideal viral circulation and matching conditions and because the harms evidence base is limited.

The authors warn that industry-funded studies are more likely to be unreliable but be published in prestigious journals and cited more frequently than more reliable independent studies. Here’s what they say:

WARNING:
This review includes 15 out of 36 trials funded by industry (four had no funding declaration). An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines. The review showed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies. The content and conclusions of this review should be interpreted in light of this finding.

And here are some earlier studies:-

__________________

And here is a more extensive list:-

Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults.

Jefferson T, Di Pietrantonj C, Rivetti A, Bawazeer GA, Al-Ansary LA, Ferroni E.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010 Jul 7;(7):CD001269. Review.PMID: 20614424 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults.

Jefferson TO, Rivetti D, Di Pietrantonj C, Rivetti A, Demicheli V.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 Apr 18;(2):CD001269. Review. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;7:CD001269. PMID: 17443504 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Demicheli V, Rivetti D, Deeks JJ, Jefferson TO.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(3):CD001269. Review. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007;(2):CD001269. PMID: 15266445 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Demicheli V, Rivetti D, Deeks JJ, Jefferson TO.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001;(4):CD001269. Review. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(3):CD001269. PMID: 11687102 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Jefferson T, Di Pietrantonj C, Al-Ansary LA, Ferroni E, Thorning S, Thomas RE.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010 Feb 17;(2):CD004876. Review.PMID: 20166072 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Smith S, Demicheli V, Di Pietrantonj C, Harnden AR, Jefferson T, Matheson NJ, Rivetti A.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Jan 25;(1):CD004879. Review. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;(2):CD004879. PMID: 16437500 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Jefferson T, Rivetti A, Harnden A, Di Pietrantonj C, Demicheli V.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Apr 16;(2):CD004879. Review.PMID: 18425905 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Rivetti D, Jefferson T, Thomas R, Rudin M, Rivetti A, Di Pietrantonj C, Demicheli V.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Jul 19;3:CD004876. Review. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;2:CD004876. PMID: 16856068 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Demicheli V, Rivetti D, Deeks JJ, Jefferson TO.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;(2):CD001269. Review. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001;(4):CD001269. PMID: 10796628 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Gerstoft J.

Ugeskr Laeger. 2001 May 7;163(19):2615-7. Danish. PMID: 11360353 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Thomas RE, Jefferson T, Demicheli V, Rivetti D.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Jul 19;3:CD005187. Review. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;2:CD005187. PMID: 16856082 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Poole PJ, Chacko E, Wood-Baker RW, Cates CJ.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Jan 25;(1):CD002733. Review.PMID: 16437444 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Marshall M, Crowther R, Almaraz-Serrano A, Creed F, Sledge W, Kluiter H, Roberts C, Hill E, Wiersma D, Bond GR, Huxley P, Tyrer P.

Health Technol Assess. 2001;5(21):1-75. Review.PMID: 11532238 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Free ArticleRelated citations

Dear K, Holden J, Andrews R, Tatham D.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(4):CD000422. Review. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;(1):CD000422. PMID: 14583920 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Thomas RE, Jefferson T, Lasserson TJ.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010 Feb 17;(2):CD005187. Review.PMID: 20166073 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Cates CJ, Jefferson TO, Rowe BH.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Apr 16;(2):CD000364. Review.PMID: 18425863 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Demicheli V, Jefferson T, Rivetti D, Deeks J.

Vaccine. 2000 Jan 6;18(11-12):957-1030. Review.PMID: 10590322 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Dharmaraj P, Smyth RL.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009 Oct 7;(4):CD001753. Review.PMID: 19821281 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Cates CJ, Jefferson TO, Bara AI, Rowe BH.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;(4):CD000364. Review. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(2):CD000364. PMID: 11034684 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Moberley SA, Holden J, Tatham DP, Andrews RM.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Jan 23;(1):CD000422. Review.PMID: 18253977 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations

Small Pox – Big Lie – Bioterrorism Implications of Flawed Theories of Eradication

Our governments and their security advisors base their strategies for dealing with claimed threats of smallpox bio-terrorism on flawed theories and “science” when effective proven strategies are ignored. The national and international security implications are profound.

Smallpox is claimed to have been eradicated by “ring vaccination” but the theory of ring vaccination is flawed. It is confounded by three factors: [“confounding”: definition]. All these factors are known and one of which was proven in Leicester England between 1882 and 1908 by abandoning vaccination. Ring vaccination relies on isolation of cases to prevent spread of the disease.

Smallpox was eradicated in reality by three mechanisms, none of which depended on vaccination for their efficacy: isolation, attenuation and improved living conditions, particularly nutrition and sanitation.The effect cannot be attributable to the smallpox vaccine – any vaccine which takes over 100 years to work ipso facto proves itself not to have.

“Ring vaccination” depended on isolation.  It is the use of isolation and the experience of Leicester, England which confound the claims that smallpox was eradicated by vaccination.  The vaccine had not “worked” in over a century of use.

Leicester proved in a dramatic and successful experiment that isolation is effective, less expensive and that the smallpox vaccine programme did not work. Leicester reduced smallpox mortality dramatically using isolation of cases.  In the rest of England and other countries,  deaths continued to mount despite mass vaccination campaigns [see more below].  Full details can be read in “LEICESTER: Sanitation versus Vaccination” By J.T. Biggs J.P. [Download Entire Book as .pdf 43 Mb  – Or Read Online].  Extracts from the book appear below.

The theory and data upon which ring vaccination is based has been questioned by academics from Yale and Stanford universities: Smallpox Eradication in West and Central Africa: Surveillance-Containment or Herd Immunity? Edward H. Kaplan, PhD* and Lawrence M. Wein, PhD†.  Kaplan and Wein come to a flawed conclusion regarding the more appropriate mechanisms but their analysis shows the ring vaccination theory is at the least questionable.  Their work was discussed in Science journal: New Look at Old Data Irks Smallpox-Eradication Experts–MARTIN ENSERINK – SCIENCE VOL 299 10 JANUARY 2003.

Smallpox naturally attenuated to a strain called “Alastrim” or “variola minor” which was first recognised in Florida and South America in the late 19th century: Alastrim Smallpox Variola Minor Virus Genome DNA Sequences Virology Volume 266, Issue 2, 20 January 2000, Pages 361-386.

Attenuation is the natural process by which many diseases over time have become less severe until they either vanish or become of minimal concern. The dramatic effect of attenuation for various diseases combined with a third factor, steadily improving living conditions, can be seen in the data collected here: Vaccines Did Not Save Us – 2 Centuries of Official Statistics.

In the zeal to claim vaccines are so important to human health, with all the economic benefits to the medical professions from the procedure, vaccinology became and has remained a “science-free zone” where smallpox vaccine and theories of eradication of smallpox are concerned.

In 1967, the World Health Organization launched the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program. Events in Nigeria stimulated adoption of ring vaccination when an outbreak developed among a religious sect. Faced with limited resources, staff isolated infected individuals and vaccinated others. This was the method of surveillance and containment which became known as “ring vaccination” and was adopted as a worldwide standard: 1) Henderson DA, Inglesby TV, Bartlett JG, Ascher MS, Eitzen E, Jahrling PB, et al. Smallpox as a Biological Weapon. In: Henderson DA, Inglesby TV, O’Toole T, ed. Bioterrorism: Guidelines for Medical and Public Health Management. 2002: Chicago, IL: AMA Press. 2002.99-120. 2) Hopkins JW. The eradication of smallpox: organizational learning and innovation in international health administration. J Dev Areas.1988;22(3):321-32.

Clearly, as was proven in the City of Leicester, it can only have been the isolation and not the vaccination which was responsible for ultimately eradicating smallpox as it was known, together with attenuation and improved living conditions.  Whether smallpox was eradicated or whether it remains in different manifestations  like  human “monkey pox” has been a matter of debate: HUMAN MONKEYPOX AND OTHER POXVIRUS INFECTIONS OF MAN: Chapter 29 SMALLPOX AND ITS ERADICATION;  Clinical manifestations of human monkeypox influenced by route of infection The Journal of infectious diseases2006, vol. 194, no6, pp. 773-780: Levine RS, Peterson A, Yorita KL, Carroll D, Damon IK, et al. 2007 Ecological Niche and Geographic Distribution of Human Monkeypox in Africa. PLoS ONE 2(1): e176. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000176.

The following are some extracts from “LEICESTER: Sanitation versus Vaccination” By J.T. Biggs J.P. [Download Entire Book as .pdf 43 Mb  – Or Read Online].

[Click here to continue reading more from the above passage.]

[Click here to continue reading more from the above passage.]

TABLE 21

SMALLPOX FATALITY RATES, cases in vaccinated and re-vaccinated populations compared with “unprotected” Leicester – 1860 to 1908.

Name. Period. Small-Pox.  Cases Small-Pox. Deaths. Fatality-rate per cent. of Cases
Japan 1886-1908 288,779 77,415 26.8
British Army (United Kingdom) 1860-1908 1,355 96 7.1
British Army (India) 1860-1908 2,753 307 11.1
British Army (Colonies) 1860-1908 934 82 8.8
Royal Navy 1860-1908 2,909 234 8.0
Grand Totals and case fatality rate per cent, over all 296,730 78,134 26.3
Leicester (since giving up vaccination) 1880-1908 1,206 61 5.1

Biggs saidIn this comparison, I have given the numbers of revaccinated cases, and deaths, and each fatality-rate separately and together, so that they may be compared either way with Leicester. In pro-vaccinist language, may I ask, if the excessive small-pox fatality of Japan, of the British Army, and of the Royal Navy, are not due to vaccination and revaccination, to what are they due? It would afford an interesting psychical study were we able to know to what heights of eloquent glorification Sir George Buchanan would have soared with a corresponding result—but on the opposite side.

TABLE 29.

Small-Pox Epidemics, Cost, and Fatality Rates Compared

Vaccinal Condition Small-Pox Cases Small-Pox Deaths Fatality-rate Per Cent Cost of Epidemic
London 1900-02 Well Vaccinated 9,659 1,594 16.50 £492,000
Glasgow 1900-02 Well Vaccinated 3,417 377 11.03 £ 150,000
Sheffield 1887-88 Well Vaccinated 7,066 688 9.73 £32,257
Leicester 1892-94 Practically Unvaccinated 393 21 5.34 £2,888
Leicester 1902-04 Practically Unvaccinated 731 30 4.10 £1,602
City of Leicester Smallpox Deaths 1880-1908

The following graphs [not from J T Biggs’ book – but sources cited] also illustrate how attenuation of smallpox resulted in greatly reduced mortality in England and the USA.

This graph shows the deaths resulting not from smallpox but from the vaccine and its effects:-

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uk-vacc-deaths-1875-1922

And in this graph we can see how deaths from the vaccine often equalled or exceeded death from smallpox.

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uk-vacc-deaths-1906-1922

The following graph shows how smallpox mortality was largely unaffected by the vaccine programme.  It continued in epidemics for decades and started to diminish as the effects of the Industrial Revolution in the latter part of the 19th Century provided more money to middle and working classes:-

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uk-smallpox-1838-1890