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The ‘Flu Fiasco Returns

© Dr. David L. Phillips

When will we ever learn? Every fall we hear those dire predictions about the vast mortality and morbidity that follows 'flu outbreaks. We are warned with increasing degrees of shrillness to line up for our vaccination. We are promised that this miracle shot will offer us protection from the germs of the massing hordes of shoppers, commuters, and dangers of touching doorknobs. Oh the paranoia of it all!

Where I live in Ontario, Canada, the government Public Health Department is one of the world leaders in creating fear over issues like the 'flu. They did a great job with SARS last spring. The fear they created over that tempest-in-a-teacup shut down tourism for months. This same government tells health care workers to get the 'flu vaccine or stay home from their jobs, without pay. Such is the level of this annual obsession with fear. Here the vaccination is free to those willing enough, and gullible enough to take the risk. The gracious and ever-generous taxpayer covers the cost of these vaccine clinics and their dubious injections, so you just know the bill is too high.

The news is full of daily 'flu reports: where the free clinics are located that day, how many cases are being seen, why everyone should roll up their sleeves, how fast the scourge is spreading. Who feeds these numbers and builds this fear, only the Health Departments know for sure. It's not clear to me if all this media time is purchased or whether all these details are considered "news".

In my local town, every resident received a full colour brochure from tour local Health Department explaining in full the entire 'flu story. From the official viewpoint only, of course it was rife with warnings and obviously written to instill fear and anticipation. We were warned about the usual claptrap of doorknobs and avoiding crowds while Christmas shopping. We were even told that we should take care to wash up after shaking someone's hand. What a wonderful message of genuine friendship that shows! This brochure attempted to inform us that the vaccine was 70-90% effective. This was a deliberate and transparent lie. Anyone following the issue in the scientific literature would have known that 70-90% effectiveness only applied to the age group that needed the vaccine the least...healthy 20-year olds. In the target population, those over 50 according to the program, the effectiveness rate was 30% at best!

Shortly after the 'flu "season" began, we learned that this year's vaccine did not contain the newly mutated strain of the Fujian virus, which, according to the officials, was the causative organism dujour. "But don't be alarmed", we were told, "Get your shot anyway". The Health Officials said that it might offer "partial protection". Never mind the risks inherent in all vaccines. Never mind the cases of skin rashes, severe allergic reactions, Guillan-Barre syndrome, and the consequences of lowered immune function, get that shot before your entire world is overrun with illness and we all succumb.