For years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been telling anyone who would listen: “Every year in the United States, on average: 5 percent to 20 percent of the population gets the flu, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and about 36,000 people die from flu.”

In the quietest move ever by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Immunization Program (NIP) became the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) sometime in April 2006. Anne Schuchat, MD, the recently named director of NIP became NCIRD director.

“NCIRD's proposed mission will be to prevent disease, disability and death through immunization and by control of respiratory and related diseases. The new center will support both domestic and global immunization and respiratory disease prevention and control priorities, and will link epidemiology and laboratory science around vaccine-preventable diseases and acute respiratory infections with prevention and control programs and strong communication science.”

By changing its name and by specifically mentioning “respiratory disease prevention and control priorities” in its mission, the new center is self-anointed the “point agency” against the “threat” of a bird flu pandemic.

Occasionally a major genetic shift in the influenza virus results in a deadly new virus strain to which the human population does not have immunity, and a global pandemic outbreak occurs…. Public health officials and the scientific community agree that the world is long overdue for a pandemic influenza outbreak.

Sanofi Pasteur, Jan. 7, 2004

In an announcement two years ago, pharmaceutical companies Aventis and Crucell revealed that they had agreed to further develop and commercialize influenza vaccine products based on PER.C6™ cell line technology. (1) 

A friend sent a copy of my recent “Influenza Vaccination of Infants: A Useless Risk” (1) to a pediatrician with whom he had been sparring for a while about the need to administer mercury-containing vaccines to babies. By return email, he received a copy of a study just published in the October issue of PEDIATRICS, which he forwarded to me.

The message from the well-meaning pediatrician, who is convinced of the need for influenza vaccination of infants, with or without mercury on-board, was clear: This important peer-reviewed article in a first-class pediatric journal carries more weight than anything published on www.reflagsdaily.com

Every winter, it is reported that millions of people in the world get the flu. Coworkers and classmates are home, sick and miserable, for about a week. A few — mostly the elderly and infirm — die. We’re told the annual death toll exceeds 36,000 in the United States and a few hundred thousand around the globe. This computer-generated number has gaping holes in its credibility, however, because medical authorities don’t separate and verify those who actually died of influenza from those who died of a "flu-like illness” or of flu-complications, such as pneumonia.

The poor old folks in Florida had not recovered from back to back hurricanes in the worst season in a quarter century, when they were thrust into another major and alarming emergency: The flu vaccine manufactured in a British plant was contaminated with Serratia Marcescensand the United States faced a “shortage” of 50 million doses of vaccine. The fate of a million doses from the same plant already in the US since July- before the ban- remains unknown. May be like the MMR in Vive La Difference, they found their way to South America or may be …they did not?

During the 2003--2004 season, influenza activity in the United States began earlier than usual (October 2003), peaked between late November and early December, and then declined rapidly during January-February, 2004. The CDC scrambled as it was discovered that neither of the trivalent influenza vaccines used (Fluzone® or the new intranasal vaccine, FluMist®) contained the strain A/Fujian strain, the most prevalent virus in circulation. By Jan. 15, the CDC issued a press release admitting that ongoing testing showed that the year’s vaccine "was not effective or had very low effectiveness" in the test subjects.

As predictable as the return of yellow school buses and Monday Night Football, the arrival of fall also brings the first fearful chatter about the approaching flu season. But this year there is a twist: the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has devised a portentous new blueprint to ensure the economic success of this season’s flu vaccine.

Concerned over data documenting that almost 65% of people surveyed in 2003 did not receive the flu shot—including nearly 47% with chronic illnesses and 78% of children aged 6-23 months—a new strategy has been devised. The plan is fully disclosed in a 51 slide communiqué called “Planning for the 2004-05 Influenza Vaccination Season: A Communication Situation Analysis,” prepared by Glen Nowak, Ph.D., the Associate Director for Communications at the National Immunization Program.

The hype regarding this year’s flu “epidemic” continues. In the wake of the media-induced hysteria, a fascinating series of chronologically connected events has materialized that appears to protect the pharmaceutical industry profits at the expense of our children. This issue demands further examination.

On June 20, 2002, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) adopted a resolution to include the influenza vaccine in the childhood vaccination schedule. The influenza vaccine will be recommended annually to all children aged 6 months to 23 months, and to children aged 24 months to 18 years who are household contacts of children aged less than 2 years. After becoming effective on March 1, 2003, the resolution was implemented during the 2003-04 influenza season and the vaccine will be encouraged annually, for every subsequent flu season, ^[i] in other words, creating “regular customers for life.”

The major media outlets are escalating the push for the flu shot to near hysteria, especially since the CDC announced that the flu vaccines “may” provide some protection against the A/Fujian strain. With the supply of flu vaccine running out, there is now new media-produced promotion for FluMist, the nasal spray flu vaccine. However, what is not being explored is the possibility that cases of flu may be caused by FluMist. An overview of the CDC’s most recently available data regarding flu virus testing brings this question to the forefront.

Having had some difficulty in convincing people of the value of its new anti-flu product Wyeth and MedImmune are co-sponsoring a new website, http://www.Flumist.com designed to answer the most frequently asked questions about FluMist, the first intranasal flu vaccine.

In addition to a $25 rebate coupon and a seven-page, full-color brochure that emphasizes the inconveniences of having the flu, the site contains a section referred to as the “The FluMist™ Finder.” By placing the name of a city or a zip code in locator box, a dispensing doctor or pharmacist can be quickly located within a 5 mile radius of a given zip code. A cursory scan identifies specific categories, such as primary care providers and pediatricians,. RiteAid and Discount DrugMart are pharmacies that pop up. Links connecting the FluMist website to the provider’s location are available for easy identification—and advertising. It appears that even though WalMart withdrew from participating with MedImmune, many large retailers and physicians are selling FluMist.

News reports have been flooding us with articles warning that the impending flu season may be the worst in years. Even though it is difficult to separate the facts from the hype, a close evaluation of the flu vaccine will reveal that serious questions must be raised about the recommendations that are routinely touted, namely high efficacy with little risk. Anyone considering a flu shot should become informed about the substances coming through that needle, and should be determined to investigate the safety and efficacy issues that are still unresolved. 

As the physician in charge of a bustling Integrative medical clinic, questions about vaccines frequently arise. After reading about the MedImmune-Walmart joint venture, I felt compelled to warn our patients and our internet subscribers of the potentially serious complications that may come from direct and passive exposure to this new vaccine. I also wanted to give a "heads up" to everyone regarding the onslaught of advertising that is about to besiege them.

Some things you just don't want to say out loud, or at least too publicly, for fear of being branded a crank, a cynic, even a nut. So when the vaccine manufacturers cried the blues over vaccine shortages, I mostly kept my thoughts to myself.

After all, the shortages might well be real. As Senator Frist, in his bid to further limit the liability of vaccine manufacturers noted, "with high risks and low profits, there are now only four major vaccine producers, and as a result, there was a shortage of eight of the recommended childhood vaccines this year."