subject: Benefits of Influenza Vaccines Greatly Exaggerated for Seniors [print this page] Benefits of Influenza Vaccines Greatly Exaggerated for Seniors
Influenza vaccines and their benefits on senior citizens have been greatly exaggerated, according to a major study of the subject published in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Researchers analyzed prior studies on the effectiveness of vaccines on seniors residing in some sort of assisted living healthcare, and concluded that it is nearly impossible to tell whether flu vaccines have a role in diminishing winter deaths among senior citizens at all, let alone by the vast degree often claimed in the media.
Many are aware of the commonly referenced statistic that flu shots lead to a 50 percent reduction in winter deaths among the elderly. But the study also points out that flu itself is only the culprit for 5 percent of winter deaths in that demographic.
"We find it peculiar that the claims that influenza vaccination can prevent half -- or more -- of all winter deaths in elderly people have not been more vigorously debated," the researchers write. "That influenza vaccination can prevent 10 times as many deaths as the disease itself causes is not plausible."
The researchers also found blatant problems in the execution of flu vaccine studies. Their most significant criticism was that most studies have been carried out with not enough participants who are in poor health. The researchers also mention that flu vaccination rates in assisted living healthcare facilities have increased from 15 percent to over 60 percent since 1980. However, there has been no corresponding decrease in deaths from the flu.
"This data supports what the naturopathic community has been saying for decades: That flu shot vaccines are medically useless," said consumer health advocate Mike Adams. "Their promotion is based on junk science, exaggerated benefits and fear mongering among the elderly. But much like everything else in modern medicine, when you peel back the propaganda and look at what's underneath, you find there's no good science at all. Flu shots are a medical hoax."
The study authors did not recommend that people discontinue use of the vaccines, insinuating that even a partly effective vaccine would be better than no vaccine at all.
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