The alternative media has long reported that flu shots are at least ineffective and at most an outright scam. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is acknowledging that the vaccines generally don’t work. According to two studies published by the CDC last week, an influenza vaccine packaged as a nasal spray failed to protect children from the 2009 H1N1 strain in 2013–14, when it was said to be the dominant circulating strain.
One of the studies, published in the journal Pediatrics, compared the live, attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) for H1N1, FluMist, with the inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV), a regular flu shot, over three seasons following the 2009–10 “pandemic.” The other study, published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, reviewed the 2013–14 flu season and included adults. The studies were conducted essentially by the same researchers, who used the US Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness (Flu VE) Network to help with their research.
Nasal spray vs. flu shot
In the LAIV–IIV comparison in Pediatrics, the researchers analyzed Flu VE Network data on children aged 2 to 17 years during four flu seasons from 2010–11 through 2013–14. The investigators then calculated the probability of testing positive or negative for influenza among the 2,703 children.
Among the group, approximately 637 received LAIV and 2,066 received IIV during the four seasons. Over all four seasons, the researchers found no statistically significant difference in the rate of the influenza among children vaccinated with LAIV versus IIV flu shot for two of the three strains, including H3N2 and influenza B.
However, the odds of contracting the 2009 H1N1 strain of flu were three times higher for children with the LAIV over all four seasons. Furthermore, in 2013–14, a year when then 2009 H1N1 was predominant, protection against all three strains was five times lower in LAIV-vaccinated children 2 to 8 years, and three times lower in children of all ages.
No protection against H1N1 in children vaccinated 2013–14
In the other study, published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, the researcher reviewed the H1N1-dominated 2013–14 season using Flu VE Network data on 5,637 kids and adults 6 months or older who had acute respiratory illness attended by healthcare workers.
The researchers found that overall flu vaccine effectiveness (VE) against medically attended 2009 H1N1 was 54 percent. The VE for LAIV in children was only 17 percent. There were not enough adults involved in the study to meaningfully calculate the VE for adults. The authors of the study highlight that their results have been cross-verified by the Pediatrics study and another observational test-negative design study sponsored by MedImmune.
Both studies offer several hypotheses about why the LAIV in children offered little, if any, protection against the H1N1 virus. In fact, the researchers write that the properties of the vaccine itself might be to blame, meaning that these children would have been better off had they not been vaccinated.
“An amino acid sequence was identified in the HA [hemagglutinin] stalk region of wild-type A/California/7/2009 H1N1pdm09 virus that reduced thermal stability of the LAIV vaccine virus containing the A/H1N1pdm09 HA gene,” they wrote. “This stalk sequence resulted in lower virus infectivity in ferrets and greater susceptibility to degradation at high temperatures.”
In light of these studies, it’s clear that the vaccine industry doesn’t really care about protecting children. Perhaps the CDC should shorten their abbreviated name to reflect their true nature: the Centers for Disease.
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