Even More Ludicrous Nonsense - Vaccinating Children Protects Elderly Against Flu

A new report claims that a mass influenza (flu) vaccination campaign in Japan between 1962 and 1987 prevented one death in the elderly for every 420 children vaccinated--resulting in 37,000 to 49,000 lives saved every year. At that time, very few elderly Japanese or others at high risk were given the vaccine, the strategy used in the US and other countries to prevent flu deaths.

The investigators were working on the premise that vaccinating the elderly only protects about half of those immunized. Targeting children creates what researchers call "herd immunity" - protection against infection that susceptible people get when most of the population is immune to a virus.

Since 1997, Japan has recommended that the elderly and other high-risk individuals receive flu shots, which will allow researchers to determine which strategy is most effective.

Japan launched its previous campaign in the early 1960s, after a devastating flu epidemic was blamed for about 8,000 deaths over two seasons and led to widespread school closures.

By the late 1980s, 50% to 85% of all Japanese schoolchildren had been immunized against influenza.

But lawsuits alleging adverse side effects and skepticism over the campaign's effectiveness caused the rate of vaccination to plummet and by 1994, Japan's program ended. Soon, the report indicates, flu-related deaths among the elderly began to climb.

After Japan launched the vaccination campaign, the rate of influenza-related death dropped to levels equal to those in the US despite an increase in the number of elderly people. Earlier, the rate of death from influenza in Japan was 3- to 4-times higher than in the US.

The New England Journal of Medicine March 22, 2001; 344: 889-896

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

Would you be surprised if I mentioned that the research team included members from the pharmaceutical companies Becton Dickinson and Aventis Pasteur?

It is absolutely amazing to many that anyone with any shred of logic working in their mind could possibly ever justify vaccinating healthy babies to protect adults. The key to prevention of the flu is to improve your immune system. (see links below)

These drug companies will stop at nothing to perpetuate a myth and earn a profit without any regard to the health of the people they are affecting. You can expect to see more and more of these type of drug based articles in NEJM as the editor who took over last year is a HUGE fan of the pharmaceutical industry.

Related Articles:

Flu Shots Save Money? If At First You Don't Succeed Try Again

Flu Shot is Not Cost Effective For Adults But is For Children?

Why I Never Get Flu Shots by Chet Day

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