Every year, right around the time of Halloween, something very scary begins. That’s right…I am talking about the annual flu vaccination campaign. Unless you live in a closet this is the time of year when you hear radio ads, read articles and watch many commercials/news stories urging you to get flu shots for all.

Actually, the word “urge” should be replaced with the word “scare.” To understand why all you need to do is to pay attention to the underlying theme of advertisements that urge you to take immediate action in order to “protect” your family. The flu shot advertisement campaign is dominated by stories of people who have died as a result of contracting the flu. One of the most emotionally stirring is a video of parents relaying the story of how their healthy daughter suddenly and unexpectedly died from the flu. They infer to the listening audience that their daughter would still be alive today if she had only received a flu shot.

Another example can be found by watching any of the numerous television commercials where they always tell you that an average of 36,000 people die from the flu each year. They then move on to identify all of the groups of our population who need the flu shot supposedly so they will not become a part of the death statistic.

Now, if you are not moved by videos like this I would argue that you do not have a pulse. The problem is that these type of videos marquee the strategy of scaring you into running out to get the flu vaccine. This scare tactic is executed by telling only the part of the story that skews the readers’ opinion towards what they want them to believe. They purposely deceive their audience into believing that death is a very real risk for the average person when it comes to the flu. What is the other name we use to describe purposeful deception? Oh, yeah…a lie! I am going to give you information to reveal that the flu shot has not reduced the risk of death at all! I am also going to explain to you the important risks of taking the flu shot since they are NEVER disclosed by either the marketing campaign or the medical community.

I realize that I have an uphill battle to wage here with the majority of those reading this article. The reason why is because these advertising campaigns are not the only force promoting the need for flu vaccines for all. A more powerful force also urges compliance with getting flu shots every year and that force is the medical community.

Every doctor I know believes that just about everyone should get a flu shot. It is very difficult for most of us to believe that all doctors could be misguided or wrong on any topic. Maybe some…but not all! Really? Can you say “giving women horse estrogens?” At one time, every doctor vigorously defended the benefits and safety of giving women horse estrogens (Premarin®) simply because they were entering menopause (as if menopause was a disease state). Studies revealing the dangers of giving estrogen to women were published all over the literature. They were absolutely and summarily ignored by the medical community because the studies did not agree with the collective thought that giving women estrogen was a good and safe practice. The studies were ignored until a few major studies echoed what the many smaller studies had suggested.

Thus, doctors vigorously defended the practice of giving estrogens until they were faced with information they could not ignore any longer. Whether the medical community is negligent in their approach to prescribing certain medicines is a topic for another article. The important point is that the estrogen story is a real example of how ALL doctors believed something that was not true. The flu shot story is similar. Doctors completely ignore any negatives and robotically recite the party line that everyone needs a flu shot. So, do not be lulled into a false sense of security that the flu vaccination must be safe and effective simply because of the medical community’s vigorous endorsement of getting the shot. Look at the facts to make your decision.

What Is The Flu?

Before we start talking about the flu, I want to make sure you understand what it is. Believe it or not, most people mistakenly think that most sicknesses during this time of year are the flu. You may be surprised to learn that the flu is a respiratory disease. It is not a digestive disease. You do not get diarrhea or vomiting with the flu. When you get a fever, nausea and diarrhea…YOU DO NOT have the flu! The flu is a sudden onset respiratory virus that causes coughing, fever/headache, and whole body muscle achiness/fatigue. Thus, when you or your child comes home with a fever, diarrhea and vomiting it is not the flu. They have a digestive bug. The flu vaccination does nothing to prevent these illnesses.

The reason why this is so important is that most parents will think that the flu is going around the school when it is a digestive virus, not the flu. Schools even send emails out warning parents that the flu is hitting hard when it is not the flu at all. The perception is that any bad illness is the flu, which makes most parents think that the flu is more prevalent than it really is. In fact, during a bad season the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) estimates that only 2 out of 10 people will get the flu. People inherently think the number is much higher because they incorrectly label digestive illnesses as the flu.

Dying From the Flu

As I stated earlier, the main scare tactic used to influence you to get a flu shot is the fear of dying. The underlying theme of death causes you to pay attention. Let’s start by answering a very logical question. When was the last time you heard of a healthy child in your community dying from the flu? I cannot recall a single case in my lifetime. I would venture to guess that I am not unique in this experience. However, you will undoubtedly hear that an average of 36,000 people die from the flu each year. Without question, this is a sobering statistic.

Advertisers know that all they have to do is to state this number without explanation and most people will apply the risk of dying into their own life scenario, or more effectively, into their child’s life scenario. The thought of losing your child is tremendously painful. The idea that this risk can be adjudicated by a flu shot makes the decision an easy one. On one side you envision the crushing pain of dealing with your child’s death when it could have been averted by a simple shot. On the other side you envision how easy it would be to save your child with a simple safe and effective shot. The choice seems like a no brainer. We will see…

The vast majority of people who die from the flu are the sick, elderly and those with pre-existing disease. The estimates are that only 100 relatively healthy children die each year. I know that any number of children dying is too much. But, wait until I reveal to you how many kids die or are permanently injured from the flu vaccine later on in this article. You will see that the cure is no better than the disease. The fact is that a healthy person’s chance of dying from the flu has to be extremely low. I do not know the exact percentage chance because I could not find this statistic anywhere. But, the fact that I could not find it means that it has to be extremely low. Otherwise, the risk would be easily found.

So, why do flu advertisements always mention the number of people who die from the flu if they know this number has basically zero relevance to the topic? The reason is that they are strategically deceiving you in order to increase sales. The interesting thing is most people perceive that these campaigns are meant to inform the public for health reasons. Don’t be fooled for a moment. They are using deceptive advertising to increase revenues, not to trick you into becoming healthy.

But, this gross deception of insisting that the flu vaccination can reduce your risk of dying is even more disturbing in light of recent studies showing that the flu vaccination has had minimal impact upon the measure of mortality (death) as caused by the flu. A recent study published in the Lancet Infectious Disease journal (Lancet Infect Dis. 2008 Aug;8(8): 460-1) had this to say about flu vaccinations:

“Recent excess mortality studies were unable to confirm a decline in influenza-related mortality since 1980, even as vaccination coverage increased from 15% to 65%.”
and…
“New studies, however, have shown substantial unadjusted selection bias in previous cohort studies…We conclude that frailty selection bias and use of non-specific endpoints such as all-cause mortality have led cohort studies to greatly exaggerate vaccine benefits…The remaining evidence base is currently insufficient to indicate the magnitude of the mortality benefit, if any, that elderly people derive from the vaccination program.”

It disturbs me, as well as it should you, that the medical community uses the scare tactic of death in promoting the flu vaccine. They know full well there is no real evidence that the flu vaccination reduces mortality at all. Believe me when I tell you the risk of a healthy person dying from the flu is so low that if it were a drug side-effect a doctor would laugh if you showed concern. But, when the low risk is applied to something they want you to do it all of a sudden takes on major importance.

The Benefits of Flu Shots

I want you to know that I am not against someone getting a flu shot. Knowing what I know, I wouldn’t give one to my pet. My goal is not to tell you that you are a fool if you get a flu shot. My goal is to give you the whole story so you can make an informed decision. I guarantee few people getting the flu shot know what you will learn from this article. If after you read all of the information found in this article you feel that you should rush out to get a flu shot, knock yourself out! I am not on an anti-flu shot campaign. I am on a “get all of the facts” to make a proper decision campaign.

So, what is the real benefit gained from getting a flu shot? How effective is the flu shot at protecting you? If you listen to the flu advertising or to your doctor you would think that the flu vaccine is close to 100% effective. Interestingly enough, when you go to pro-flu shot web sites, they freely admit that the shot is not 100% effective. However, they never tell you just how much less than 100% effective they are. The intentionally false perception forwarded by these sites is if you get the flu shot you will gain significant protection from contracting the flu.

Let’s look at some facts so you can begin to form your educated opinion. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) estimates that up to 20% of the population can catch the flu in any given season. Some years it can be much lower. Thus, at most, only 2 out of 10 people will get the flu in a bad year. So, how effective is the flu shot at lowering this risk? The answer is no one can tell you because it depends upon what strain of the flu hits your area. The benefit depends upon how lucky they get in matching the vaccine’s strain with the strain affecting the population. The CDC states that in years when vaccine strains are well matched to the flu virus circulating in the population, “vaccine effectiveness typically exceeds 50% and can be as high as 70-90%.” For the 2007-08 flu season the vaccine effectiveness was guessed to be at 44%.

The truth is that in some years you may get a decent benefit from the flu vaccination but on the average you can expect the shot to be only about 50% effective. Thus, it is basically a coin flip as to whether you will gain any benefit from the flu vaccine. Again, I want to make it clear, I am not representing that the flu vaccine is completely worthless. It obviously can impart some protection from contracting the flu. The take home point is that the flu vaccine is not even close to 100% effective as is covertly suggested by flu shot advocates.

The Dangers of Getting A Flu Shot

When the subject of getting a flu shot is brought up by a doctor or nurse, you are NEVER told about the potentially harmful effects of the shot. The potential side effects are dismissed by telling you there may be a mild (they always use the word mild) reddening and soreness at the sight of the injection. Or, you will be told there is a slight (another word they like to use) chance of experiencing a mild fever or muscle achiness. The dismissive nature used to list these side effects is meant to quell any concerns you may be harboring about getting the shot.

It is important for you to know the flu vaccination causes many serious adverse reactions every single year. I am going to highlight the serious reactions in children since there is such a push to have your kids injected with the flu vaccine. I want you to know that I am not pulling numbers off of an anti-flu vaccination web site. These numbers come from the United States government’s CDC (Centers for Disease Control). Here are some disturbing facts taken from the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). You can visit this site at: http://vaers.hhs.gov/

Let’s analyze the meaning of these numbers. I want you to recall it is estimated that 100 relatively healthy children die from the flu each year. First, there is ZERO evidence that the flu vaccination has any beneficial effects upon reducing this risk at all. But, for argument’s sake, let us assume that giving a flu shot to these 100 children would actually impact their survival. You need to understand, as pointed out in the Benefits of the Flu Shot section, the flu shot is no more than 50% effective in any given year. Thus, even if every child in the United States gets a flu shot, only 50% of those who would die could be saved. This means that in a good year the number of children who die would be reduced to 50. In other words, 50 children would be saved but 50 would still die.

Here is where the number of side effects reported by the CDC really makes you rethink the benefits of the flu shot. The CDC estimates that the coverage of the flu vaccine averages only 20%. Thus, only one in every 5 children gets the shot. If all of the children (100%) got the shot, the number of children receiving the shot would increase by a factor of 5: (20% get it now x 5 = 100% coverage). It is important to know that the numbers reported in the above chart only reflect 20% of kids getting the flu shot. Thus, it is fair to assume that if 100% of kids got the shot you would have to increase the number of adverse reactions by a factor of 5. For example, assume that there are 2 deaths for every 1,000 shots given. If you increase that number by of shots to 5,000, you would expect the number of deaths to increase by the same factor of 5, which would be 10 deaths.

The adverse reaction table lists only reflects 20% of kids getting vaccinated. Thus, if 100% of kids were vaccinated the numbers would look like this:

As you can see, the number of children who would die or be permanently disabled because they got the flu vaccine would be 45 (20 deaths + 25 permanent disabilities = 45). Five others would experience a life threatening event but would recover. So, giving 100% of children flu shots would reduce the death toll by 50 children but would increase the number of deaths and permanent disabilities by 45. When you add the 200 hospitalizations and 1,000 emergency room visits as caused by the shot, the true benefits of getting the flu shot begin to pale.

Unfortunately, the direct risk of getting sick from the flu shot is not the only risk. There are a number of toxic ingredients found in a flu vaccine. The negative impact upon you and your child’s health from these ingredients are impossible to determine. The influenza virus is grown in egg protein and is deactivated with formaldehyde. Other ingredients include MSG (MonoSodium Glutamate), polyethylene glycol p-isooctyl-pheyl ether, polyoxyethylene 9-10 nonyl phenol and thimerosol (mercury). Mercury is found in adult vaccines. Most children’s vaccines only contain a trace of mercury. But, many clinics give children and adults the same vaccine. I guess I would advise you to ask yourself how much formaldehyde and other chemicals you are comfortable having injected into your child. My answer would be none unless the benefits greatly outweigh the negatives.

Finally, the newest push is to get children as young as 6 months old vaccinated for the flu. This brings up a couple of interesting questions. First, why not vaccinate those below 6 months old? The claim is that the flu shot is safe and that you cannot get sick from the flu shot. So, why stop at 6 months old? Is it dangerous to give a newborn to 6 month old a flu shot? If so, why do they give newborns other vaccinations? I would love to hear the answers to these questions as I cannot find them on my own. The second question is whether the safety of the flu shot for children has been studied. The answer is given by the peer-reviewed study “Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children.” The authors conclude:

“Influenza vaccines are efficacious in children older than two but little evidence is available for children under two…No safety comparisons could be carried out, emphasizing the need for standardization of methods and presentation of vaccine safety data in future studies…It was surprising to find only one study of inactivated vaccine in children under two years, given current recommendations to vaccinate healthy children from six months old in the USA and Canada.”

This means that you are being told that the flu vaccine is safe when no one really knows whether this is true or not. The fact that the CDC keeps track of serious side-effects from the flu vaccine proves that it is not completely safe.

The Bottom Line:

The flu shot does impart some protection from contracting the flu. Do not misinterpret my article as stating that the flu shot does not reduce the risk of getting the flu. The facts suggest that, at most, it reduces your chance by a coin flip. Since in a bad year only 2 out of 10 people get the flu, the reduction provided by the flu shot would, at best, reduce this to 1 out of 10. There is no solid evidence that the flu shot reduces mortality (death) in any age group. Remember, also, the flu does not cause digestive symptoms. These illnesses will not be helped by getting a flu shot. Thus, the benefits gleaned from getting a flu shot are not impressive by any manner.

You would not come to this conclusion if you listened to the medical community or to the advertising blitz. Listening to their rhetoric, you would think your life and those of your children hung in the balance and that the flu shot is a savior. They intentionally deceive the public as to the dangers of the flu and to the benefits from getting a flu shot. Are they deceiving you for your own benefit or for theirs? Do you really think they intentionally deceive you because they know you are too stupid to figure out the benefits for yourself if they give you all of the information? No, they deceive you because they know if you found out that the flu shot is minimally effective, not completely safe, and contains toxic ingredients you would more than likely opt out of getting the shot. If, however, they paint a false picture of danger and amplify the benefits of the cure you will be motivated to go out and get the shot.

No health professional can attest to the true safety for you or your child in getting a flu shot. All they can attest to is that people do not die immediately after getting the shot. Some die later, though. Of that fact, they cannot argue. In their minds no immediate reaction equates to safety. As is true with any vaccine, health professionals are reluctant to admit the negatives. If you don’t believe me, just call your doctor and tell them that you think your child is getting a reaction from a vaccination. Their first inclination will be to dismiss this claim. I have heard this story more times than I would like to admit.

Here is what you should be told when you ask your doctor whether or not you should get a flu shot:

“You should know the risk of getting the flu is only about 20%, which means you have an 80% chance of not getting the flu. The shot may help reduce this chance by 50% on the average. There is no credible data as to whether the shot is safe in children less than 2 years old. The shot does contain egg, formaldehyde, mercury and other chemicals, but in very small amounts. We have no idea whether you will experience any negative effects from these ingredients, but you most likely will not. It is extremely rare, but you should know the shot can cause serious illness such as death, permanent disability or hospitalization. Again, this is extremely rare. Do you want the shot?”

As I stated earlier in this article, I have no problem at all if you want to get the flu shot for you or your family after you consider all of the information. I think you would be better served by washing your hands immediately after touching any surface that is contacted by multiple people. The funny thing is that when you go to your doctor’s office you grab a door knob that has been contacted by MANY sick people. How many times do you use a tissue to open that door or wash your hands immediately after entering the office? Doctor, I am here to get my flu shot because I just touched your door knob! The irony is that you increase your chance of getting the flu simply by going to the doctor to get a flu shot.

So, is the flu shot a Trick or a Treat? I would say it is both. There is a lot of tricking going on and the treat is like that person who gives you a couple of pennies… not that great of a treat.

Dr. Edward Zimmer received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from DePauw University, which is located in Greencastle, Indiana. His Masters work in Nutrition was completed at Bridgeport University, CT. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the National College of Chiropractic and was voted outstanding graduate by the faculty.

You can learn more about Dr. Zimmer and his practice by visiting his web site at www.ZimmerNutrition.com. You can contact Dr. Zimmer with any questions or responses at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at 317-813-1998 or Toll-free 888-813-1998.