Flu Vaccine Found To Be INEFFECTIVE for Children

[Guest guest]

FLU VACCINES FOUND TO BE INEFFECTIVE FOR CHILDREN

 

 

 

Each year when flu season rolls around, we're reminded of the

importance of

getting annual flu shots, especially for high-risk groups like

children. We

take it for granted that it's the right thing to do . but is it? A

study in

the Journal of the American Medical Association (Oct. 25, 2006) says

yes,

while the recent conclusion of the Cochrane Collaboration - an

international, not-for-profit, independent body that critiques

health

care

outcomes - concluded that there is little scientific evidence

backing

the

safety or effectiveness of the inactivated influenza vaccine in

children

(British Medical Journal, October 28, 2006).

 

 

 

Calls for a Re-Evaluation of Annual Flu Shots

 

 

 

The Cochrane Collaboration called for a re-evaluation of the

strategy

of

routinely promoting annual flu vaccinations in children as public

health

policy, noting that " large-scale studies assessing important

outcomes

and

directly comparing vaccine types are urgently required. " The National

Vaccine Information Center - a national, non-profit, educational

organization dedicated to the prevention of childhood vaccine

injuries

and

deaths -- went even further. Given the Cochrane findings, along with

what it

considered to be methodological flaws in the JAMA study, the NVIC

called for

a halt on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

recommendation of annual influenza vaccinations for infants and

children --

at least until we have the scientific evidence to back them up.

 

 

 

To gain more perspective on the issues surrounding the influenza

vaccine, I

spoke with NVIC president Barbara Loe Fisher. She told me that there

is

a

huge gap between the scientific research on the influenza vaccine and

government policies on it. Fisher cites concerns such as

methodological

flaws in studies, safety considerations (i.e., adverse events due to

vaccination) and the relative lack of effectiveness of the vaccines.

 

 

 

About the Studies

 

 

 

The JAMA study, which was conducted at Kaiser Permanente in

California

and

funded by the CDC, looked at the medical records of children 6 to 23

months

old who received the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (a

vaccine

containing dead flu viruses) as well as other vaccines between 1991

and

2003

(45,356 children with 69,359 vaccinations). As such, it was a

non-randomized, retrospective analysis, rather than a more rigorous

randomized, placebo-controlled trial. There were no unvaccinated

controls.

 

 

 

After examining children's medical records, researchers concluded

that

the

influenza vaccine in children 6 to 23 months is associated with few

medical

problems, " none of which were serious " or " significantly associated

with the

vaccine. " Fisher was concerned, however, that adverse events due to

the

vaccine slipped through the cracks. She notes that cases of

convulsions

and

Guillain-Barre Syndrome (a rare neurological disease characterized

by

loss

of reflexes and temporary paralysis) were written off as

coincidental

or

attributed to other vaccines. Fisher adds that nine of the nineteen

Kaiser

Permanente and CDC study authors reported financial ties to influenza

vaccine manufacturers, and all received CDC funding. Although this

does

not

necessarily mean that they were biased, it is a potential conflict of

interest that raises red flags.

 

 

 

The Cochrane Collaboration's analysis of flu vaccine studies reached

a

very

different conclusion, pointing out the significant gap between

public

health

policy and scientific evidence. Surprise was registered that there

was

only

one study of inactivated flu vaccine in children under two years,

given

the

recent US recommendation for vaccination of all healthy children

from

six

months to two years old. Moreover, in children under two, the

Cochrane

Collaboration found that the effectiveness of inactivated vaccine was

similar to placebo. It was impossible to carry out safety

comparisons,

because of the lack of rigorous, standardized, randomized,

placebo-controlled studies.

 

 

 

According to the Cochrane Collaboration, the influenza vaccine did

not

fare

much better with adults. In an analysis of flu shots in healthy

people

under

65, there was no evidence that the vaccines had an impact on

measurable

factors such as time off work, hospital stays or mortality (death

resulting

from the flu or its complications). In the elderly, the results were

so

scattered that they were termed " both counterintuitive and

implausible. "

 

 

 

Further Research Is Necessary

 

 

 

Clearly more research is necessary to come up with good, solid

answers

about

the safety and effectiveness of influenza vaccines. Mark Stengler,

ND,

editor of Bottom Line's Natural Healing newsletter, likewise

expresses

concern that the flu vaccine, especially in regard to children, has

no

long-term studies to back it up. He worries that side effects such as

neurological damage have not been properly assessed. In Dr.

Stengler's

view,

it seems only prudent to conduct more thorough research on the flu

vaccine

for children, whose maturing organ systems are more prone to damage.

 

 

 

Whatever decision you come to regarding flu shots, keep in mind that

there

are also many natural ways to avoid infection (wash hands, avoid

exposure to

infected people, etc.) and enhance immunity during flu season. See

the

XXX

issue of Daily Health News for tips on how to protect your family and

yourself.

 

 

 

Sources .

 

Barbara Loe Fisher, President, National Vaccine Information Center.

Mark Stengler, ND, editor of Bottom Line's Natural Healing

newsletter

and

author of The Natural Physician's Healing Therapies (Bottom Line

Books). Dr.

Stengler practices naturopathic medicine at the La Jolla Whole Health

Clinic, La Jolla, California. To learn more about his work, visit

www.drstengler.com.

The Cochrane Collaboration, www.cochrane.org/

National Vaccine Information Center, www.nvic