Editor - Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research

It's that time of year again – flu season. You and your patients are being encouraged to “Stop Fluin’ Around” and get your annual flu shot.

“Fluin’ Around” – that’s their cute new marketing campaign. Novartis is even having a Video contest for the best video on the flu (Novartis Flu Video Contest). For the younger crowd “Scrub Club” has the evil Influenza Enzo (Influenza Enzo Audio) to scare the hell out of children so they want to get the flu shot.

If you’re too busy, lazy or out of shape you don’t even have to get out of your car these days to get your flu shot – you can just get it from a drive through (Drive Through Flu Shots)

And if you don’t like the drive through option you can just get it from the deli at Publix – “I’ll have half a pound of ham and a flu shot, please. Oh, and please slice it thin.”

If you question the wisdom of this annual rite of passage you are not alone in your disdain for the flu shot. You’ll be happy to know that science is on your side.

For example, there is the study that was done in Ontario to determine whether the incidence of influenza there decreased following the introduction of their Universal Influenza Immunization Campaign (UIIC) in 2000.¹ They found that there has not been a decrease in the mean monthly influenza rate following the introduction of their campaign. The authors concluded:

“Despite increased vaccine distribution and financial resources towards promotion, the incidence of influenza in Ontario has not decreased following the introduction of the UIIC.”

In another study in the Archives of Internal Medicine that looked at the role of the flu vaccine in relation to benefit, the authors attributed the decline in influenza related mortality among people aged 65 to 74 years in the decade after the 1968 pandemic to the acquisition of immunity to the emerging A(H3N2) virus.²

The researchers could not correlate increasing vaccination coverage after 1980 with declining mortality rates in any age group (emphasis mine).

They concluded that because fewer than 10% of all winter deaths were attributable to influenza in any season, that observational studies substantially overestimate vaccination benefit (emphasis mine).

In another study in the British Medical Journal published just last year and funded by the Cochrane Collaboration, an independent non-profit foundation, the safety and efficacy of the current flu vaccine recommended policy is challenged.³

They begin their paper by stating:

"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 as follows:

• 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-randomized studies predominate, systematic reviews of large datasets from several decades provide the best information on vaccine performance
• Evidence from systematic reviews show 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

Another study in The Lancet questions the benefits of flu shots for elderly people and says the benefits are “greatly exaggerated.”⁴

The researchers stated that the public policy for the elderly getting flu shots is based on flimsy, even nonexistent, evidence. Dr. Lisa Jackson was quoted in a news story about her research stating:

"The message is: We should not be basing our vaccine policy on data that is faulty"

They went on in their paper:

"We find it peculiar that the claims that influenza vaccination can prevent half, or more, of all winter deaths in elderly people have not been more vigorously debated.”

Their study showed that unvaccinated seniors died at a higher rate for reasons unrelated to flu and they also stated that increasing vaccination rates since 1980 have not lowered death rates among the elderly.

Jackson calls for a more realistic assessment of the vaccine's benefits that may push researchers to begin studying other strategies to help the elderly avoid flu and its complications.

In terms of side effects, some studies have shown an association between Guillian Barre’ syndrome and flu shots.^5,6  Interestingly the author of the second study - Jurrlink - was quoted in a news story as comparing the risk of getting GBS from the vaccine to being struck by lightning. Lightening, it turns out, killed 47 people in 2006.

In terms of the risk benefit ratio reports claim that influenza kills 30,000 to 40,000 Americans every year. Though the CDC lumps the flu and pneumonia in together for these numbers.  According to Mercola the actual number of deaths attributable to the flu itself is less than 1000 a year.⁷ 

Add to all of this that the majority of influenza vaccines distributed in the United States contain Thimerosal and that while highly controversial, this methyl mercury based preservative has been claimed to be linked to autism, Alzheimer’s, and ADD.

So as you get ready to begin the holiday season take a look at your options – drive through, deli style, or mist style… or you could take the advice of the National Vaccine Information Center:⁸

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments and suggestions.

Dr. Matthew McCoy editor@jvsr.com

Editor – Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research

References

1. Groll DL, Thomson DJ. Incidence of influenza in Ontario following the Universal Influenza Immunization Campaign Vaccine 24 (2006) 5245–5250

2. Simonsen,L,. Reichert T, Viboud C, Blackwelder W, Taylor W, Miller M. Impact of Influenza Vaccination on Seasonal Mortality in the US Elderly PopulationARCH INTERN MED/VOL 165, FEB 14, 2005

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/165/3/265

3. Jefferson T Influenza vaccination: policy versus evidence. BMJVOLUME 333 28 OCTOBER 2006. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7574/912

4. Simonsen L, Taylor R, Viboud C, Miller M, Jackson L. Mortality benefits of influenza vaccination in elderly people: an ongoing controversy. Lancet Infect Dis 2007; 7:658–66 September 24, 2007

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdch/Simonsen_etal_210415_7.pdf

5. Geier M, Geier D, Zahalsky A. Influenza vaccination and Guillain Barre syndrome. Clinical Immunology 107 (2003) 116–121

6. David N. Juurlink, MD, PhD; Therese A. Stukel, PhD; Jeffrey Kwong, MD, MSc; Alexander Kopp, BA; Allison McGeer, MD, MSc; Ross E. Upshur, MD, MSc; Douglas G. Manuel, MD, MSc; Rahim Moineddin, PhD; Kumanan Wilson, MD, MSc. Guillain-Barre´ Syndrome After Influenza Vaccination in Adults A Population-Based Study

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/166/20/2217

7. Flu Deaths Outrageously Exaggerated to Increase Vaccine Sales http://www.mercola.com/2004/oct/30/flu_deaths.htm

8. http://www.nvic.org/Default.htm

Click Here for a Special Report on the Flu that You Can Print Out, Make Copies and Give to Your Patients to Educate Them on the Flu Shot