Research in the Journal of Virology found the seasonal flu vaccine may weaken children's immunity and raise their chances of catching influenza strains not in the shot. Blood from 27 unvaccinated children showed antibodies across more strains than blood from 14 vaccinated ones.
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Flu Vaccine
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Drug
Dodgy Doctors Say: This Health Video Should be Banned
Mercola reports that the American Academy of Pediatrics, which takes money from vaccine makers, asked Delta Air Lines to pull an in-flight flu-prevention video made by the National Vaccine Information Center because it covered handwashing, sleep and diet rather than focusing on vaccination.
Disease
ALERT: Seizures Now Reported in Kids Receiving Flu Vaccine
FDA is examining 36 confirmed reports of febrile seizures in young children within a day of getting Fluzone, the only flu shot recommended for the very young in the US. Officials say guidance has not changed; Mercola ties it to Australia's 2010 suspension for under-5s.
Drug
UK Finally Makes Smart Decision to Protect Children… Why Doesn’t the US?
UK ministers and senior advisers again ruled against flu vaccination for children under five, saying it would bring no significant gains, and revived the 'Catch it, Bin it, Kill it' hygiene campaign instead. Mercola calls the decision wise.
Healthcare
Seasonal Influenza and 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among Pregnant Women
CDC analysis of Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data from 10 states found 50.7 percent of pregnant women received the 2009-10 seasonal flu vaccine and 46.6 percent the H1N1 vaccine, with those whose providers offered or recommended it far more likely to be vaccinated.
Drug
National Influenza Vaccination Week: Get Vaccinated
A public health notice for National Influenza Vaccination Week, December 5-12: everyone 6 months and older should get a flu vaccine, with each day highlighting a group, including families, people with asthma or diabetes, health care workers and adults 65 and older.
Drug
Pregnant Women Need a Flu Shot!
Pregnancy alters the immune system, heart and lungs, making severe flu illness, hospitalization and even death more likely, and raising the chance of miscarriage or preterm birth. A flu shot protects the mother and her baby up to 6 months old; the nasal spray is not for pregnant women.
Vitamins
Could vitamin D work better than influenza vaccine?
The CDC urges everyone six months and older to take the 2010-2011 flu shot. The piece counters that neither cdc.gov nor flu.gov mentions vitamin D3, and cites researchers William Grant and John Cannell, who argue high doses boost innate immunity against influenza.
Drug
Get Your Flu Vaccine: Stay Healthy This Flu Season!
CDC recommends flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older, plus hand washing, staying home when sick, and antiviral drugs when a doctor prescribes them. Each season 5% to 20% of Americans get flu and more than 200,000 land in hospital with complications.
Avoiding Illness
What Complications Do Flu Shots Prevent?
U.S. flu deaths have climbed to about 36,000 a year from 20,000 two decades ago, which the piece blames on an aging population, only 65 percent vaccination among the elderly, and weaker protection in the most vulnerable. Complications such as bacterial pneumonia kill.
Drug
Flu vaccine does not reduce risk of severe complications
Italian researchers examining 32,457 elderly people, two-thirds of them vaccinated, found the influenza vaccine did not reduce hospital deaths or admissions for influenza or pneumonia. They note most vaccine trials measure antigens produced in response rather than flu cases.
Avoiding Illness
AAP Issues Flu Vaccine Guidelines
The American Academy of Pediatrics now urges flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older, and stresses it for household contacts, daycare providers of children under 5, children with asthma, diabetes or neurological disorders, health care workers and pregnant women.
Nutrition
CDC lowers estimate of annual flu deaths
CDC now puts seasonal influenza-associated deaths at about two-thirds of the roughly 33,000 a year it long cited when promoting flu vaccine. The editor notes the estimate lumps pneumonia and influenza causes together, and that critics put the influenza-only toll near 300.
Drug
Why is Drug Company with 50 Years of Proven Safety Violations Using Taxpayer Money to Make Next Gen Flu Vaccine?
Mercola questions the government's decision to commission Baxter for a new flu vaccine, citing the May 2010 Hylenex recall over flake-like particles, a Class I recall of Baxter's Colleague infusion pumps, and a $144 million jury verdict over a hepatitis C infection.
Drug
More Proof Flu Shots Don't Work
A Cochrane review concluded that immunizing nursing-home workers did nothing to cut laboratory-confirmed influenza among elderly residents, and called for research into lower-tech measures such as better hand washing. Dr. Mercola uses it to question flu vaccination generally.
Disease
How many medical professionals receive flu vaccine?
A January 2010 survey of 1,417 U.S. health-care workers found 37.1 percent vaccinated against 2009 H1N1 and 61.9 percent against seasonal flu; 64.3 percent got one and 34.7 percent both. An employer vaccination requirement went with eightfold greater odds of H1N1 vaccination.
Government
CDC advisory panel recommends flu vaccine for all Americans
The CDC's immunization advisory committee voted Feb. 24 to recommend flu vaccine for everyone aged 6 months and older beginning in the 2010-2011 season, saying it clears up confusion for people unaware they are in a high-risk group.
Drug
Expert Explains the Flu Vaccine Deception and the Swine Flu Hoax
Mercola interviews Shiv Chopra, a former drug-company scientist and 20-year senior adviser at what is now Health Canada, who says no flu vaccine has ever worked and calls swine flu and avian flu made-up hoaxes.
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