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Subscribe to RSSFlu vaccines don’t work as well as previously thought, although they’re still the best protection available against seasonal influenza, researchers report Tuesday.
Overall, flu shots in adults 18 to 65 are 59 percent effective, the scientists estimate. Evidence for protection in people 65 and older was lacking, they write in a paper published online by The Lancet.
They reached their conclusions by pooling the results—an approach called a meta-analysis--of 31 studies of flu vaccine. The effectiveness varied from year to year in the studies analyzed. In several flu seasons, there was no evidence of effectiveness.
The new finding contrasts with the conclusion of meta-analyses by the respected Cochrane Collaboration, which last year found that flu shots were 73 percent effective in adults.
“The studies we present are the very best studies that we have for the last 70 years,” says Michael Osterholm, lead author of the new report and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota.
A major difference between Osterholm’s meta-analysis and the Cochrane reviews is the type of studies they included. Osterholm’s used only studies that confirmed the presence of influenza virus in sick people with either sophisticated polymerase chain reaction technology, or PCR, or laboratory cultures. PCR can take a single piece of DNA and generate thousands to millions of copies.
The Cochrane reviews, on the other hand, included studies that determined whether sick people had the flu by checking to see whether they had elevated levels of flu antibodies in their blood, not whether influenza virus was present.
The problem, Osterholm says, is that the antibodies don't become noticeably elevated in three out of four people who contract influenza after getting a flu shot. So, he says, the studies in the Cochrane review probably missed diagnosing influenza in many people who became sick after getting flu shots.
While flu shots contain inactivated, or killed, influenza virus, the nasal-spray flu vaccine, sold as FluMist, contains live, albeit weakened, virus. Osterholm’s meta-analysis found that FluMist consistently was most effective in children 6 months to 7 years old. One study suggested it was also effective in people over 65, but FluMist is approved in the United States only for those age 2 through 49.
In related news, the Food and Drug Administration is cautioning against using jet injectors, such as PharmaJet, with flu vaccine. The only vaccine currently approved for use with a jet injector is the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine.
“Jet injectors represent a different method of delivery that has the potential to change the characteristics of an approved vaccine,” according to the FDA.
Kroger, Publix and Walgreens have administered flu vaccine with jet injectors, agency spokeswoman Shelly Burgess says. But, says Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Tom Skinner, neither the CDC nor the FDA think it’s necessary for people immunized with a jet injector to be re-vaccinated.
Earlier this week, news about a malaria vaccine that is 50 percent effective “drew cheers from the biomedical and policy communities,” notes Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. It would be ironic if people decided not to get a flu shot because, though 59 percent effective, it’s not as effective as previously thought, Caplan says.
“We certainly need more effective vaccines, and governments should start putting serious resources into developing them,” Caplan says.
Osterholm agrees. He says vaccine manufacturers have told him they’re reluctant to invest in a new-and-improved flu vaccine because the one on the market now is cheap, safe and recommended for people of all ages. “We shouldn’t get rid of it,” Osterholm says, “but it’s not nearly the vaccine that we need for the future.”
Despite the lack of studies that included people over 65 in Osterholm’s meta-analysis, “the vaccine works reasonably well” in that age group, says Andrew Pavia, chair of the Infectious Disease Society of America Pandemic Influenza Task Force.
“The good news about this paper,” says Pavia, chief of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Utah, “is it hopefully will stimulate interest in new vaccines.”
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Didn't get one last year, and I got the flu and two colds; this was the first time in years I hadn't got one and the first time in years I got sick so often. Needless to say, I have already received my flu shot for this year.
Me too. Voted you up.
They have manipulated psychology for years selling this shot to the masses. No accountability for this shot. If you get the shot and don't get sick they say "hey, the shot works". If you get the shot and still get sick they rationalize "you didn't get it in time, it wasn't the shot's fault, it's not 100%".
No accountability. You can only believe it protected you. You can't prove a negative. About 30% of americans get the flu in a given season. In any given year the vaccine may not work at all.
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the flu shot at all. I've seen other studies about humans that contract the flu, and only about half exhibited the tell-tale symptoms we are used to, and the other half just had an internal immune response and were able to continue to function normally. This, combined with the just so-so record of the vaccine working, make the need for the flu shot very iffy.
I am 61. Only ever had one flu shot, 8 years ago as the legalized drug lords told me I HAD to have one.
I ended up with pneumonia.
Never had once since and I have no spleen and have been told I NEED a pnumovac; aint gonna happen.
My 92 year old mother was convinced by the pharmacist at Walgreens to take their flu shot. She started feeling poorly by the next day and a week later she was dead. Take at your own risk.
nothing in life is 100% except taxes and death. Vaccines work on a herd mentality, they don't work for all but it does protect the majority of the population in general. Unfortunately those who are negatively affected are most vocal about it, and perhaps rightly so, their stories of negative side effects should be heard. But that anecdotal evidence doesn't mean that the vaccine is useless or ineffective or "junk" for the rest of us.
Like so many posters, I too only got sick the year or two I skipped the vaccine. I was living on my own for the first time, didn't have the time or the extra cash or the maturity to get my annual vaccine. However since then (and also when I was a kid), each year I have had the shot I have no problems. Unfortunately the thousands of success stories don't make headlines in lieu of the one horror story, because the news is a big business too and they have to sell ads and get high ratings!
I haven't gotten a flu shot since the 6th grade. When I did, I got the flu and was sick as a dog. I haven't gotten the shot or the flu in 30 years since. Do you know how many kinds of flu there is? This vaccine won't protect you against them all so it is a waste of time.
I don't take flu shots, and haven't got flu in a long while. It might just be luck. But the fact is, even if no one took flu shots, 90% of people would be "lucky" in any given year.
Of course, if there is a killer virus such as the "Spanish Flu" floating around, I'd get in line to take the shot. But taking a shot every year to gain some above average chance to avoid an average bug, it doesn't strike me as terribly worthwhile.
Now we are going in the so called Flu season which we didn't have it last year as the CDC forgot to create it, I Guess they lost too much money last year. If you go to www.popsci.com/node/22953 you will find the cure there, or just put in your browser,Nasal B12 Cures the Flu, it also cures the Common cold, and destroys the Viruses ON CONTACT! The trouble the Medical Industrial Complex doesn't want you to know that. I feel Nasal b12 can destroy any virus, with the right dosage. The Secret is Nasal B12 is really Nasal COBALT.
Why the Flu vaccine doesn't work that great is because the cells that line the repiratory track, are not basiclly bathed in the BLOOD STREAM! So you have to cover it Nasally.The Flu virus can also piggy back with other Viruses, like the intestinal flu virus, which can be deadly and no vaccine covers that except B12 5000 mcg
Yes because all well documented medical studies include the statement "I feel" in them. Additionally, the statement "Why the Flu vaccine doesn't work that great is because the cells that line the repiratory track, are not basiclly bathed in the BLOOD STREAM!" seems to illustrate a lack of understanding of biological process. For that matter so does the idea that taking something intranasally coats the respiratory track. (If you take it up the nose, you are going to need the blood stream to transport it to the lungs or the concentration reaching the lungs is going to be extremely small - thus the reason that a patient "huffs" a brochial dilator/asthma medication rather than taking it up the nose).
B12 is not a "vaccine" - you've posted that multiple places on the web and it is an incorrect use of the term vaccine. It is extremely beneficial in the body and B12 deficiency leads to some serious problems. Consumption of B12 actually would be beneficial with regard to viral infection, because it can improve immune function among other things. It does not however prevent infection. Incidentally, the Popular Science link you keep referencing all of the web is an article about preventing flu death by better treatment of the body's reaction to flu symptoms - your B12 argument has nothing to do with that - B12 helps the body mount a defense - the article is about supressing the body's flu response symptoms that lead to flu death.
Oh, and I'm sure that the families of people who died from the flu this past season will be heavily comforted that there was no flu season last year.
Still the best protection? No they aren't Vitamin D works WAAAY better.
The vaccine haters will be all over me for this, but here goes: I never used to get the flu until my kids started school. Then, almost every year the whole family would get the flu at least once. Very miserable and disruptive. Lots of work and school missed. We started getting flu shots, and guess what? They work for us. One year there was a shortage and we didn't want to wait on line. We got the flu that year. The next year we waited on line. No flu that year. Haven't skipped a year since, and haven't had the flu, except for one year when they made a mistake predicting which strains would be circulating. As far as I know that doesn't happen very often. They are usually correct. There is much more flu vaccine available now than in years past, and there is never a line anymore either.
This has been my experience to. Even though heavily exposed a couple time from caregivers, my husband and I have not become ill on any of the years we've had the shot.
It is ALWAYS suggested that you get a flu shot, especially when you have children in school. They can share it so easily and bring it home. Good on you evanusk for keeping your family healthy!
For those in the Sioux Falls area looking for a flu shot come in to Dakota Allergy and Asthma, hours are posted on our website at
I guess I am part of the 59% that they work for. Since I started getting the flu shot, I almost never get sick. Since they bring the flu shot people into my workplace and give the shot for free, why not? It makes a lot of sense since you get the flu virus, share it around your office before you know you're sick, then you're off sick for a week, then so are all your co-workers, ect ... it would be stupid to stop getting the shot. BTW, I had mine 3 weeks ago for this year ...
All the flu shot does is lessen the effects and the duration. You can still get the flu regardless of the shot. Personally I prefer to let the virus take it's course, and let the body fight it off. I look at the flu shots like the overuse of antibiotics. The body is a good healing machine when left alone. Granted there are a lot illnesses that the body needs help with. By all means, take a shot or medication for it. But the whole flu thing is blown way out of proportion (read scare tactics).
Very young kids and the elderly should get the shot. It's been said that they need all the help they can get. Most that die from the flu, die from complications resulting from the flu. Usually the very young, pregnant, people with weakened immune system, the elderly, etc. Not everyone is in that bad of health. Just don't fall for the 'have to get the shot' marketing ploy if you don't have to. Save yourself some cash, and forget about the shot pushers.
Remember, they wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't for the money.
Dave, the flu used to be a death sentence. I for one do not want to go back to those days. The body is not good at fighting viral infection, those tricky buggers have out witted our innate immune systems. Prepping your adaptive immune system by giving it an antigen to select immune cells against is not the same as overuse of antibiotics, which are small molecules that place selective pressure on bacterial growth that can eventually lead to resistance.
Also, regarding your "for the money" comment: vaccine mfgr is a very low-dollar business (as are antibiotics) compared to say developing cholesterol blockbusters or high-dollar oncology drugs. That is exactly why most companies will not invest in new vaccine discovery, a fact which is also stated in this article. Also a large number of vaccines produced are given out in third world countries for pennies. Yes we shoulder the cost by paying more domestically, but it is a form of pharma altruism which does exist - albeit rare.
If it's for the common good, then they shouldn't be charging at all. Do you honestly think they're doing this at cost?
Please.
I've never had a flu shot but never get the flu anymore. A few years ago, I decided to get healthy, getting sunshine for vitamin D or taking D3, eating a lot of veggies and stopped drinking soda and almost never eat fast food or processed food. That works for me. Medicine usually has toxic ingredients which I prefer to avoid if possible. If you make yourself healthy you probably won't need all the drugs they are pushing.
I live in Arizona. I get PLENTY of sunshine. I eat healthy too, stay away from junk food, fast food, etc. Never drink soda. I still get the flu if I don't get the flu shot. What works for you may not work for everyone.
I wonder if anyone is looking at how the vaccine is being administered. With the rate of obesity and overweight in the country, it is critical that the vaccine reaches the muscle. Maybe those administering the vaccine is using too short a needle. This vaccine should be given in to the muscle. I think this may be a factor in the low response rates. Perhaps Dr. Nancy can address this issue.
To anyone who doubts how problematic influenza is, I recommend you go to to see the impact of this infection. Then, please go get your influenza vaccine. Every year influenza claims many lives and causes hospitalizations from complications. You can help reduce this by getting the vaccine.
To those who say they got the vaccine and then the flu, there are more than 200 viruses that can cause influenza. The vaccine has 3 components that are thought to be the most widely circulating so it is possible to get the flu although when the vaccine is a match for what is going around, chances are high, you won't get it. Lots of people blame the vaccine for not working, but there are other respiratory infections that mimic influenza. Take a look at CDC's website on influenza.
I already did get my influenza jab this year. I hope you do too.
I did! I was shocked! That's exactly why I'll Never ever ever vaccinate for the flu. The campaigning for flu is a load of unscientific crap. It's pretty obvious that it mostly marketing and propaganda.
The National health statistics tell the biggest story. 90% of influenza deaths (really they're pneumonia but that's another bait and switch story) occur in the 65+ yo and the majority of those are in the 75 yo old group. Others with health issues make up many of the rest. Problem #1: the vaccine doesn't work very well in this group. The group that needs it the most. And apparently its almost 50/50 in the healthy who almost never die from influenza. Herd immunity from 3 strain influenza is pretty much impossible.
Maybe you've just been lucky.
I haven't had a flu shot in 6 years...do I get sick...sure who doesn't...Is it the flu...no..haven't had that since I was a kid. There are to many risks with flu shots and no evidence they actually work. Is it worth the risk..to me it's not.
Mercury is more harmful to you than the flu. Don't believe what they're selling you.
Yeh, I forgot. Flu shots have the really super safe form of mercury that's really nutritious somehow when you put it into a syringe. Yet incredibly dangerous outside the vaccine vial. So dangerous a worldwide ban is being considered.
Thermisol is a mercury based preservative, it is not mercury itself. There are hundreds if not thousands of preservatives you ingest every single day which do no harm. It was added in sufficient quantity to kill bacteria and other contaminants in large mulit-dose batches, it is never used in single-use doses which you receive at the pharmacy.
From CDC: Since 2001, no new vaccine licensed by FDA for use in children has contained thimerosal as a preservative, and all vaccines routinely recommended by CDC for children younger than 6 years of age have been thimerosal–free, or contain only trace amounts of thimerosal, except for multi–dose formulations of influenza vaccine. The most recent and rigorous scientific research does not support the argument that thimerosal–containing vaccines are harmful. However, CDC and FDA continually evaluate new scientific information about the safety of vaccines.
sorry forgot to cite my source: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/thimerosal.htm
but it's not like I expect anyone who has already made up their minds to believe research scientists who hold advanced degrees.
Oh, so trace amounts of thimerosal will not cause harm. Have another beer.
Tuna and other fish has mercury in it and yes small tace amounts of thimerosal will not cause harm
There is a huge difference between injecting something and digesting something. With injection, you're circumventing nearly every defense the body has.
Why make a comment, i already did! You people obviously did not like what i had to say. God will deal with Casey Anthony, or some nut case out there! The Jurors were either mentally challenged or just plain wanted this over with! Regardless they made a bad decision. There were jurors who even admitted that they were coarsed to change their verdict, under pressure from the other jurors. Shame on them, and shame on all of you who think Casey Anthony was innocent! I hope she believes in Karma, cuz it is coming her way. Justice will be served on Casey Anthony, maybe not right away, but, she is going to go down for something. She is a Bi-polar compulsive liar, and, got away with murdering her child! All you people out there who thinks she did nothing wrong are as sick in the head as she is!
Um, are you for or against the Flu shot?
Do you think the flu shot will help or hurt a bi-polar liar..you forgot that part and it is what the article is about.
Great question, midwest! I was wondering the same thing!
No thanks. When I was in the Air Force, they made me get a flu shot every year, and every year I got the flu. I haven't had a flu shot in 18 years now, and I've had the flu twice in all that time.
Had the flu shot 1 time in the 1960's, 6 days later was in the hospital with a life threatening case of the flu.
Haven't had 1 since but I think I had the flu in 2008 because some idiot refused to stay home from work and attended a meeting hacking, coughing and sweating. I left as soon as I realized he had the crud but too late.
If you're sick, stay home!! I did have a cold in 1992, also.
A 50/50 chance it will work is worth the shot but they don't say the odds of the shot giving you the flu.
Odds of zero the jab will give you flu, since it contains no live virus. Whether that was also true back in 1960-something, when you had the vaccine then got flu soon after, I don't know
Point here is the vaccine DIDN'T WORK, not that it gave you the flu.
The best defense against the flu is not a flu shot. The best defense is to get your serum level of vitamin D up and you will not get the flu or colds anymore. I take 5000 I.U. of D3 per day and stopped getting sick period. And it's non-toxic and inexpensive. Since the flu shots have so much crap in them that has NOTHING to do with protecting you, I fail to see how so many people are fooled by the advertising. Think about it. If it was so good and effective, would they have to throw in gas points and other incentives to get you to take one? And D3 is not harmful at even 50,000 to 100,000 I.U. per day, but D2 is.
Here is some research to back up what I'm saying (and this isn't GNC, it's GRC (Gibson Research Corp)
http://www.grc.com/health/vitamin-d.htm
Don't get the shot and live longer.
Yea, D3 is extremely effective. Take with fish oil capsules for best processing. Doctors I know are recommending D3. I take 20,000 IU during flu season - as much as you get from a half hour soaking up the sun. I never get sick these days.
Take with fish oil? If anything, fish oil's DHA and EPA will suppress immune responses.
I have never had a flu shot, and have had the flu 3 times in my life - and I'm 55 years old. Once, when I was pregnant in 1982, once when my youngest was 5 (12 years ago), and once 3 years ago after having reproductive surgery in the hospital. That's it. 2 of my 4 kids have NEVER had the flu (they are 18 and 21). My 29 year old has had it once (and came to visit, yet I never got it). The youngest (17) had it when she was 5. I eat right, get a lot of exercise, no processed foods, and keep busy. And hardly watch any tv. Who knows why I don't get sick, but I'm not going to get a vaccine, since the odds of me getting the flu without the shot are slim as it is.
Over the years -- I just turned 65 -- I've had four bouts of flu. The last was at least 15 years ago, when I gave it to my husband. He had passed out in the bathroom one morning and had to be rushed to the emergency room. We've both had flu shots every year since then. Incidentally, those times I had the flu, I can assure you I didn't visit anybody. I wasn't able to. If someone were to show up at my door with it, I'd tell them to go home and shut the door in their face, family included.
They are not only totally ineffective, but when the government(run by big pharma) started the massive flu program years ago flu incidents shot up a lot among children. The shots literally make it worse. Furthermore, there is a lot of genetic junk, viruses and bacteria in them VERY dangerous stuff. I most strongly encourage friends to do their own research and not buy into the propaganda designed to weaken people's immune system - so more drugs can be sold. The WHO that makes these recommendations are staffed by vaccine manufacturers. The corruption and conflict of interest is astounding.
People 65 or older know that once you beging taking those things, you must continue. They also know that the WHO is full of crap with their H1Ni and Sars Pandemic scare. Better Fed, than Led.
The inevitable denialism as usual. The lack of knowledge of biology/medicine in our country is terrifying. What are we now.....35th in world rankings in science? Somewhere below Namibia? I'd recommend you lot get an undergraduate level book on immunology, but it would have words of more than one syllable in it.
We take the most medicine and most vaccines in the world yet our county ranks 37th in health among industrialized nations.
Robert: I think our large wealth disparity explains our poor health stats far better.
Poor Americans don't take vaccines and medications?
The flu shot is not as effective as once thought, but get it anyway. Wake up people, its a money scheme. That would be like all of us having electric cars and the oil companies keep pushing gas on us. They would say we know gas won't work to operate your car but get it anyway, because we want your money. Maybe not the best analogy but you get my point.
Drugs, vaccines, and etc.. work differently with different people, we are not all the same, and never will be. Viruses will mutate, always have and always will, some people bodies will be able to fight off infection and some will not, that's human nature. If the shot works for you great, if you feel you don't need it and have been doing without it great, either way doesn't matter. Stop bickering amongst ourselves about what's right or wrong for everyone.
Just my opinion, but if you have been doing without it for so long and have not had any issues, why would you ever want to put unnecessary drugs into your body? Especially with all the crap they have out now days, and they are always finding something about a drug that has been out and side effects it causes down the road. Especially in kids, people automatically think, hey they recommend the kids get it, so lets go out and pump them up on all the vaccines they say we should give them.
I understand you can't wait and make a decision about a drug after the illness occurs but lets use common sense and good judgement about what we are doing instead of being stupid. Yesterday it was recommened that every kid should get the HPV vaccine, how about we teach our kids about sex and abstinence and maybe put a little fear in them like our parents did with us if we were ever to try anything of the sort, instead of letting our kids go around sleeping with whomever they choose. And yes sometimes that might mean giving them a spanking from time to time when they are young but if you don't start young they are going to walk all over you. Lets teach them right from wrong and the consequences that go with it, even the major fears like death, that might come from STD's I believe that would be more effective, then injecting them with drugs.
Bottom line, lets use common sense and reasoning for what we do as a society and how we react instead of taking recommendations from committees who are overseen by corporations who have lobbyists and politicians lining each others pockets.
Teach ourselves and our kids right from wrong, learn from life lessons, and most of all wash your hands with soap and water, early and often.
not as effective as thought!!! I guess that makes sense as it's a guessing game as to what flu they will put in vaccine! Those over 65 do not react to the vaccine to develops anti-bodies, but with all those adjuncts they put in vaccine you are at risk of brain damage.