CBS Reveals that Swine Flu Cases Seriously Overestimated

[Guest guest]

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/24/CBS-Reveals-that-S\

wine-Flu-Cases-Seriously-Overestimated.aspx

 

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states on

their main flu Web site http://www.cdc.gov/flu/ that flu activity is

increasing in the United States, with most states reporting

" widespread influenza activity. "

 

The CDC goes on to say, and I quote:

 

/ " So far, most flu is 2009 H1N1 flu (sometimes called " swine

flu " ). " /

 

But wait stop the presses.

 

A three-month-long investigation by CBS News, released earlier this

week that included state-by-state test results, revealed some very

different facts. The CBS study found that H1N1 flu cases are NOT as

prevalent as feared. A CBS article even states:

 

/ " If you've been diagnosed " probable " or " presumed " 2009 H1N1 or

" swine flu " in recent months, you may be surprised to know

this*: odds are you didn't have H1N1 flu. In fact, you probably

didn't have flu at all.* " /

 

Obviously CBS News and the CDC are completely contradicting each

other. So who is right?

 

Well, CBS reports that in late July 2009 the CDC advised states to

STOP testing for H1N1 flu, and they also stopped counting individual

cases.

 

Their rationale for this, according to CBS News, was that it was a

waste of resources to test for H1N1 flu because it was already

confirmed as an epidemic.

 

So just like that virtually /every/ person who visited their

physician with flu-like symptoms since late July was assumed to have

H1N1, with no testing necessary because, after all, there's an epidemic.

 

It's interesting to note that at the same time as the CDC decided

the H1N1 epidemic warranted no further testing for cases due to its

epidemic status, Finnish health authorities actually downgraded the

threat of swine flu

<http://newsroom.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=22386 & group=General>.

 

 

In late July the health ministry and the National Institute for

Health and Welfare (THL) in Finland actually removed swine flu from

a list of diseases considered dangerous to the public because the

majority of cases recovered without medication or hospital care!

 

And, as the CDC continues to use fear to motivate and control

Americans with their worst-case swine flu scenarios, they say

nothing of the experience of those in the southern hemisphere, which

just finished their flu season and found it was not as bad as expected.

 

*CBS News Finds H1N1 Tests " Overwhelmingly Negative " *

 

Before beginning their investigation, CBS News asked the CDC for

state-by-state test results prior to their halting of testing and

tracking. The CDC did not initially respond so CBS went to all 50

states directly, asking for their statistics on state lab-confirmed

H1N1 prior to the halt of individual testing and counting in July.

 

What did they find? CBS reported:

 

/ " The results reveal a pattern that surprised a number of health

care professionals we consulted. *The vast majority of cases

were negative for H1N1 as well as seasonal flu, despite the fact

that many states were specifically testing patients deemed to be

most likely to have H1N1 flu*, based on symptoms and risk

factors, such as travel to Mexico. " /

 

As you can see from this CBS News graphic, not only are most cases

of suspected flu-like illnesses not H1N1, they're not even the flu

but more likely some type of cold or upper respiratory infection!

 

 

(Image from CBS News

<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/cbsnews_investigates/main5404829.shtm\

l?tag=cbsnewsLeadStoriesArea>)

 

*Where is the CDC Getting Their Data?*

 

Given CBS News' findings that most cases of flu-like illnesses are

neither H1N1 nor the flu, it begs the question: Why is the CDC

reporting that most flu in the United States is in fact H1N1

<http://kstp.com/news/stories/s1201943.shtml?cat=1>?

 

Barbara Loe Fisher, founder of the National Vaccine Information

Center <http://www.nvic.org/> who I spoke with in the interview

above, was a consumer representative on the FDA Vaccines and Related

Biological Products Advisory Committee in 2003, and she asked the

head of the influenza branch of the CDC how much of the flu-like

illness that occurs in America every year is actually due to the flu.

 

The answer was about 20 percent, which corresponds more closely with

the CBS News data from 2009.

 

According to the CBS News study, when you come down with chills,

fever, cough, runny nose, malaise and all those other " flu-like "

symptoms, the illness is likely caused by influenza at most *17

percent of the time and as little as 3 percent!* The other 83 to 97

percent of the time it's caused by other viruses or bacteria.

 

So remember that not every illness that appears to be the flu

actually is the flu. In fact, most of the time it's not.

 

Curiously, the CDC still advises those who were told they had 2009

H1N1 (and therefore should be immune to getting it again) to get

vaccinated unless they had lab confirmation.

 

*Is the CDC Purposely Misinforming the Public to Sell More Flu and H1N1

Vaccines?*

 

Conflicts of interest are rampant in the vaccination infrastructure.

The same people who are regulating and promoting vaccines are also

evaluating vaccine safety.

 

For instance, Dr. Paul Offit of the Children's Hospital of

Philadelphia earned at least $29 million

<http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/06/25/Vaccine-Doctor-Gi\

ven-at-Least-30-Million-Dollars-to-Push-Vaccines.aspx>

as part of a $182-million sale by the hospital of its worldwide

royalty interest in the Merck Rotateq vaccine. He also formerly sat

on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to

help create the market for rotavirus vaccine

 

This type of conflict of interest has been going on for some time.

 

In August 1999, the Committee on Government Reform initiated an

investigation into Federal vaccine policy. During the investigation

the Committee extensively reviewed financial disclosure forms and

related documents and interviewed key officials from the Food and

Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC

<http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=2025>.

 

It was revealed that many individuals on two key advisory committees

had financial ties to pharmaceutical companies that manufacture

vaccines. These individuals were even granted waivers allowing them

to fully participate in discussions about vaccine licensing and

recommendations for children, despite the fact that federal law

states members of advisory committees are required to disclose such

ties and recuse themselves from such discussions and decisions.

 

Further, the investigation revealed that the FDA's and CDC's

conflict of interest rules were not strongly enforced while the

rules themselves were weak. Specific problems noted by the Committee

included:

 

* The CDC routinely granted waivers from conflict of interest

rules to many members of its advisory committee.

* Those CDC advisory committee members who were not allowed to

vote on certain recommendations due to financial conflicts of

interest were still allowed to actively participate in

committee deliberations and advocate specific positions.

* The Chairman of the CDC's advisory committee owned 600 shares

of stock in Merck, a pharmaceutical company with an active

vaccine division.

* Members of the CDC's advisory committee often left key details

out of their financial disclosure statements, and were not

required to provide the missing information by CDC ethics

officials.

 

And, when the FDA and CDC approved the controversial rotavirus

vaccine in 1998 and 1999, the Committee's report said:

 

* 3 out of the 5 FDA advisory committee members who voted to

approve the rotavirus vaccine in December 1997 had financial

ties to the pharmaceutical companies that were developing

different versions of the vaccine.

* 4 out of the 8 CDC advisory committee members who voted to

approve guidelines for the rotavirus vaccine in June 1998 had

financial ties to pharmaceutical companies that were

developing different versions of the vaccine.

 

The rotavirus vaccine was pulled from the market one year after

approval, after it was found to cause severe bowel obstructions.

 

Given their sordid history, can the CDC really be trusted, even

today? Do you think that much has changed in just one decade?

 

*Is the H1N1 Vaccine Really Safe as the CDC Says it Is?*

 

CDC officials are screaming that H1N1 is so /different/ from the

seasonal influenza strains that have circulated in the past few

decades that a national alarm must be sounded and everyone needs to

be so afraid that we all should get vaccinated to prevent a deadly

pandemic.

 

Yet, they say the new H1N1 vaccine is safe based on vaccines for

that very same flu strain from which it is so different. They write

on their Web site " the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines are expected to

have similar safety profiles as seasonal flu vaccines

<http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/vaccine_safety.htm> ... "

 

Another contradiction.

 

While symptoms of H1N1 flu and seasonal flu are virtually identical,

the H1N1 vaccine is showing signs of being quite different from the

seasonal flu shot.

 

Although both are produced using antiquated 50-year-old technology

that involves injecting the virus into eggs and allowing it to grow,

the virus being used to produce the swine flu vaccine has been found

to reproduce much more slowly in eggs than the ordinary flu virus.

 

And according to a separate CBS News report

<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/health/main5407711.shtml>,

the U.S. government is now funding newer unprecedented technologies

to speed up vaccine production, including one that involves growing

the virus inside animal cells and another that involves flu proteins

grown inside insect cells.

 

The risks of these, and the current fast-tracked swine flu vaccine,

are truly unknown at this time.

 

There is NO Incentive for the CDC or Vaccine Manufacturers to Care

About Safety

 

You may think that the CDC and the vaccine manufacturers /must/ be

concerned about safety, as if they released a dangerous vaccine and

promoted it to the American public, imagine the lawsuits they would

face.

 

This is actually no longer reality as the U.S. government has

granted vaccine makers total legal immunity from any lawsuits that

result from the new swine flu vaccine.

 

In fact, drug manufacturers got a major boost in protection and were

granted unprecedented powers to experiment on the population with

the passing of the 2006 Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness

Act (the PREP Act).

 

This law allows the DHHS Secretary to invoke almost complete

immunity from liability for manufacturers of vaccines and drugs used

to combat a declared public health emergency, which the " swine flu

pandemic " qualifies as.

 

The PREP Act removes your right to a trial jury unless you can

provide clear evidence of willful misconduct that resulted in death

or serious physical injury. But that's not all. First you must apply

for and be granted permission to sue by the DHHS Secretary.

 

The most problematic aspect of the PREP Act is that it removes all

financial incentive to make a safe product.

 

In fact, vaccine makers now have a negative incentive to test it for

safety, because if they are aware of problems, then they could

potentially be held liable for willful misconduct!

 

As long as they can prove they " didn't know " of any problem, they

will not be liable for damages. Hence it's in their best interest to

know as little as possible about the adverse reactions it might cause.

 

It seems unimaginable, but you and your children are now being

enlisted as an unpaid human trial subjects for experimental,

fast-tracked vaccines like the swine flu vaccine.

 

swine flu posters <http://www.mercola.com/Downloads/Swine-Flu-Posters.htm>

 

*Even if They Were Effective or Safe, Most Vaccines Will Come Too Late*

 

Recent national polls have revealed that 30 percent to 50 percent in

many communities are not planning to get a swine flu shot ... but

there are many who are still ready to stand in line.

 

If you have not yet made up your mind and have questions, we have

created some fact-filled posters that you can print and post

<http://www.mercola.com/Downloads/Swine-Flu-Posters.htm> ALL over

your community, your local stores, office and schools.

 

You can also visit the special section of my site that is devoted to

giving you all the latest H1N1 Swine Flu Alerts

<http://swineflu.mercola.com/sites/swineflu/home.aspx>. This is an

excellent go-to source to stay updated on all the new swine flu

developments.

 

But I wanted to share one final detail, and that is a new study just

released by Purdue University researchers and published in the

journal Eurosurveillance

<http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19358>.

 

The researchers found that at this point in time any vaccinations

that are given in the United States will likely have little effect

on the number of infections. The researchers state:

 

/ " The model predicts that there will be a significant wave in

autumn, with 63% of the population being infected, and *that

this wave will peak so early that the planned CDC vaccination

campaign will likely not have a large effect on the total number

of people ultimately infected by the pandemic H1N1 influenza

virus*. " /

 

In other words, infections are predicted to peak in late October

(now) and by the end of the year it's estimated that 63 percent of

the U.S. population will have been infected with H1N1 swine flu.

 

What does this mean? By the end of the year the majority of the U.S.

population will have likely acquired natural immunity.

 

Natural immunity is what you gain when you recover from influenza

and natural immunity is what is protecting older Americans, who have

recovered from exposure to H1N1 strains of influenza in the past and

are therefore less susceptible today.

 

This new revelation, coupled with CBS News' finding that swine flu

cases are already being greatly overestimated ... and the fact that

vaccines do not offer long-term immunity anyway ... /and/ the

questionable motives behind CDC's massive vaccination campaign ...

puts an entirely different slant on the swine flu " epidemic, " don't

you think?

 

If you are still concerned about the swine flu, you should know that

it is relatively easy to improve your immune response to fight this

infection. If 99.9% of the people are not having any serious

complications from H1N1, it would seem perfectly rational to believe

that minor lifestyle changes could have dramatic effects on fighting

this infection, and none of these involve taking potentially

dangerous and unproven vaccine interventions.

 

*Simple Measures That Can Help You Fight Illness*

 

* Vitamin D has been well documented to increase the production

of over 200 anti microbial peptides that fight infection.

* Eliminate sugar from your diet as that will impair your immune

response

* Get plenty of rest

* Exercise appropriately

 

You can also help make a BIG difference in protecting your right to

make informed, voluntary vaccination choices by supporting the

National Vaccine Information Center <http://www.nvic.org/>.

 

I have made this non-profit organization -- America's Vaccine Safety

Watchdog -- one of my favorite charities and I urge you to become a

donor member and help NVIC protect your informed consent rights and

your children's health.