news.yahoo.com/flu-shot-doing-poor-job-protecting-older-people-232338537.html

"ATLANTA (AP) — It turns out this year's flu shot is doing a startlingly dismal job of protecting older people, the most vulnerable age group.

The vaccine is proving only 9 percent effective in those 65 and older against the harsh strain of the flu that is predominant this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Health officials are baffled as to why this is so. But the findings help explain why so many older people have been hospitalized with the flu this year.

Despite the findings, the CDC stood by its recommendation that everyone over 6 months get flu shots, the elderly included, because some protection is better than none, and because those who are vaccinated and still get sick may suffer less severe symptoms."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2013 11:24PM by Panchito.

I am not sure how this all works out mathematically, but doesn't that mean that a person is better off NOT getting vaxxed?

Yes, nanners. The father of a student of mine mentioned a few days ago that he'd got his six-year-old's flu vaccination schedule mixed up, and I was like, "Eh, it takes two weeks to cause an antibody response and flu season's over," and he was like, "Yeah, and I think we've already all had the flu, so why bother?" And I thought, "It's a miracle! You've all had the flu and are here to tell of it!" But saying it out loud would've been cheeky, so I refrained

Thanks, Tam. I was on another forum where some people (pro-vax) happened to mention that they got sick after the vax and didn't make a connection to the shot. I mean, I see it as possibly being CAUSED by the shot but also, what about the effectiveness rate? It's amazing how often people don't connect the dots on any level :/

banana who,

I always tell people I'm not anti-vaxx, but selectively anti-vaxx. There's a lot of bad science passing for good(as with this flu vaccine nonsense)and intelligent people--in their zeal to not appear "anti-science"--eat these scams hook, line and sinker. Ironically, in this way, that population further perpetuates run-around-and-panic anti-science activity that abets policies undertaken for industry revenue generating and that have no positive impact on public health or on the progress of biological knowledge. The more non tinfoil hat wearers credit fake pandemic schemes, the more common they will become, and the less credibility people like us, saying, "Wait a minute, the numbers don't add up," have.

In my opinion, if you have a history of swift and natural recovery from illnesses that cause flu symptoms, you probably don’t need the shot. The shot works for some an not for others because each of us has a unique body chemistry. I never gave the flu shots to my kids. They’were tough as iron most of the time and rarely got sick. When they did get sick, I would observe first, treat only if neccesary with gentle herbals first, OTC drugs second, and doctor only after several days of no improvement, or child in medical danger. They usually are symptom free within five days. If we knew what our great grandparents knew about life and death and common illnesses, we wouldn’t “need” so many vaccinations.