Each year enormous effort goes into producing that year's vaccine and delivering it to appropriate sections of the population. And yet, year after year there are studies showing that flu vaccines DO NOT provide any benefit.
Two years ago a study in the British Medical Journal concluded that the effectiveness of annual flu shots has been exaggerated, and that in reality they have little or no effect on influenza campaign objectives, including reducing the number of hospital stays, time off work, and death from influenza and its complications. Other studies, done prior and subsequently, also confirm these findings.
However, preventing flu-related deaths in the elderly has been, and still is, the primary argument for recommending flu shots each year. And, according to the theory of “herd immunity,” a majority of the population must be vaccinated in order to protect the lives of the elderly and other categories of people susceptible to flu-related complications.
However, the flu prevention strategy set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been called into serious question time and again. Another study from 2005, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine also could not find support for the use of flu vaccine to prevent deaths in the elderly. The report highlights that=2 0although immunization rates in people over 65 have increased dramatically in the past 20 years, there has not been a consequent decline in flu-related deaths.
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