Flu Shot Totally Worthless at Reducing Death Rate in Elderly

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Flu Shot "Totally Worthless" at Reducing Death Rate in ElderlyTuesday, January 27, 2009 by: David Gutierrez, staff writerKey concepts: Flu shot, Health and Death rate http://www.naturalnews.com/025432.htmlBreaking News for Wednesday, January 28, 2009FDA Fumbles Salmonella Peanut Recall; Peanut Corp. to be Probed for Criminal MisconductMass Pirating of NaturalNews Content Escalates into Threats of Violence - Article RemovedBritain's Largest Farming Co-Op Bans Eight Pesticides Responsible for Honeybee Colony CollapseHow to Open a Fresh Raw Coconut in 10 Seconds - the Health Ranger WayProtests Waged over BBC's Refusal to Air Humanitarian Aid Plea for Children of Gaza See all Breaking News... FREE Natural Health NewsletterReceive natural health product reviews, recommendations and alerts.Instant download of 20+ free health reports and exclusive interviews.Join over 1.2 million monthly readers.Un anytime, email privacy guaranteedAre You Being Brainwashed by Your Doctor?The Illusion of Disease - a new 12-hour audio course by the Health Ranger, exposes the manipulation of patients by doctors and pill pushers Click to learn more...Articles Related to This Article:• Vaccines are not the answer for bird flu• Why You Need Extra Vitamin D during the Flu Season• The Gullible Jennifer Garner Flu Shot Campaign(NaturalNews) Influenza vaccination has no significant effect on death rates among the elderly, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Alberta, Canada.Previous studies have concluded that getting a flu shot reduces an elderly person's risk of dying from any cause by 50 percent, a claim that other scientists have challenged as unlikely."Over the last two decades in the United Sates, even while [flu] vaccination rates among the elderly have increased from 15 to 65 percent, there has been no commensurate decrease in hospital admissions or all-cause mortality," researcher Dean T. Eurich said. "Further, only about 10 percent of winter-time deaths in the United States are attributable to influenza, thus to suggest that the vaccine can reduce 50 percent of deaths from all causes is implausible in our opinion."Researchers compared rates of influenza, pneumonia and death among 700 people, 85 percent of them over the age of 64. Half the participants were given a flu shot, while half were not.The researchers found that prior to adjusting for any confounding factors, 15 percent of those in the unvaccinated group died, compared with only 8 percent of those in the unvaccinated group - consistent with the previously reported 50 percent mortality reduction. However, once researchers adjusted for other predictors of mortality such as overall health and socioeconomic status, the difference between the two groups disappeared.This suggests, the researchers said, that the previously observed decreases in mortality from flu vaccinationmerely come from the so-called "healthy-user effect" and have nothing to do with the vaccine itself."The healthy-user effect," said lead researcher Sumit Majumdar, "is seen in what doctors often refer to as their 'good' patients - patients who are well-informed about their health, who exercise regularly, do not smoke or have quit, drink only in moderation, watch what they eat, come in regularly for health maintenance visits and disease screenings, take their medications exactly as prescribed, and quite religiously get vaccinated each year so as to stay healthy."It is thus the healthy habits that reduce the risk of death, the researchers suggested, and not the flu vaccine.Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com.