First of all, the title is purposely and dishonestly misleading. Only 5-20% of people get influenza in a given year.

WOW.. THANK YOU and you BEAT ME TO IT.

What a Mega-Pharma piece of propaganda crap.

Thanks to CDC and big pharma propaganda ask the average person how many people die of the "Flu" each year in America and they will say thousands.

The real number, based on CDC's OWN estimates is that in the last 30 years, between 2,000 and 30,000 people have died due to influenza virus. That's less than 1,000 people per year at the HIGHEST estimate. The real number is likely 100-200 per year. And of these, the vast majority who die were very old and died of flu complications due to age.

When you realise that number, you have to wonder about the billions spent marketing and scaring for the flu vaccine.

The 66% was not limited to a year. In essense, they were asked, "Have you ever . . .? " or "Do you . . .?"

Take the flu vaccine or not as you choose. For many years, I didn't and in 65 years, I've had three bouts of flu. Believe me, I remember them. The last two I passed to my husband and his bouts were worse than mine.

Since his health is poor now, we both take the flu shots and have for at least the last ten years. We also stay away from crowds, and anywhere we have to go, grocery shopping for example, we try to do it on a slow day. If you show up at our house exhibiting symptoms, I suggest you leave. Has it made family mad? Yes, but I've gotten just as testy about them coming over in their condition. "We have phones. Use them."

I have the same attitude about the rest of the world. If you're sick and probably contagious, stay home. Or at least stay away from us.

One more thing -- it's bad enough that some adults have no choice; they can't afford to lose a day of work. But if your child is coughing and feverish enough to be kept home from school, don't take him shopping with you. I understand a run to the pharmacy. But don't wander through three stores looking at this and that. Take that child home. And teach him to cover his mouth while coughing.

http://gaia-health.com/articles301/000345-no-value-any-influenza-vaccine.shtml

"No Value in Any Influenza Vaccine: Cochrane Collaboration Study"

http://www.ajc.com/health/feds-checking-post-vaccine-810206.html

"Feds checking post-vaccine seizures in young kids"

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said there have been 36 confirmed reports of seizures this flu season in children ages 6 months through 2 years. The seizures occurred within one day after they were vaccinated with Fluzone, the only flu shot recommended in the United States for infants and very young children.

Not everyone who passes the flu around gets sick and is counted in the 20%.

How many do you estimate then? Since this itself is an estimate.

Summary: 66 percent of people are vitamin D3 deficient. (at least)

Some folks need to grow up! Not everyone CAN stay home when sick. Some of us work in small companies where there is no one else who can do our job. Then again I've worked with some true hypochondriacs too, who call out every time thet have a "little sniffle" which at some times of the year it might be allergies, not the flu.

Boy, I'm sure glad to know that the flu vaccine doesn't work. That means that when I started taking them, and haven't had the flu since, I miraculously developed the anti-every-flu antibodies on my own!

Robert, you are a fool.

Robert, you are a fool.

Did it save your life? Would you have died without the vaccine?
I'd like to see you prove that scientifically. You can't you can only invoke faith in the vaccine.

Who's the fool, now?

Flu vaccines, by their own admission, only work in 1 out of 100 people. The other 99 put themselves at risk with all the crap in the shot. Flu shots are a scam and money maker. Take Vitamin D3 5000-10000 IU's a day and you don't need to worry about the flu shot.

Some of us work for the state who deal with flu prevention...And they expect us to come to work no matter what! Sick or not, we catch hell for staying home!

I found this interesting link titled 'False Foundations of Science: Can Vaccine Studies Be Trusted?

http://www.naturalnews.com/031113_vaccines_science.html

It appears that even in the body of these studies is proof of hazards but the conclusions omit this data and the conclusion is taken at face value.

FogOracle,

The proof is out there that vaccines (flu) are a scam. People don't want to believe there isn't a magic cure for the flu, so they opt to get the vaccine and take the lazy way out.

Dietary changes, lifestyle changes, learning the truth about sunlight and what the hormone D3 (vitamin D3) can do for your body is a step in the right direction.

Instead, sheeple just do what they are told by one of the most evil empires to humanity, big pharma. I have to agree, one day there will be a magic pill for everything as it will kill you and you don't have to worry about being overweight, stupid, ugly or sick anymore.... you will be dead.

Food is medicine and medicine is your food. Eat healthy, stay away from GMO's and learn the truth at sites like www.naturalnews.com and www.mercola.com.

If you are going to rely on big pharma to keep you healthy, you are doomed to life of sickness and your money will end up in big pharma's bank accounts.

I'm pretty sure that 66% (2 in 3) refers to people who, WHEN they've gotten flu, have gone to work or gatherings or whatever, anyway - not to what proportion of the population HAS flu at a given time. It seems to me that their main point is to stay home, if at all possible, and that employers might be better served to pay sick time for really sick employees...

Only the truly weak minded slackers.

Only someone truly selfish would feel that way. There are people out there battling cancer and all you care about is yourself.

dude, id have soooo many sick days, i mean allergy season $$ cold season $$ hell i bet i could be off work for a year or two, great way to bankrupt the US ! lol.

I got the flu every single year. I started taking shots 5 years ago. I haven't had the flu in 5 years. Coincidence? Doubtful.

Prove that it's not a coincidence. You can't. It's impossible to. You're only left with your little anecdote.

People can say the same thing about not getting a flu shot and not getting the flu. People can say the same thing about getting the flu shot and still getting the flu.

I've never got the flu shot and almost never get sick (yearly very aggressive strep). Is that coincidence cavalier?

My husband and I are both 49. I have never in my life received a flu shot. Once, about 20 years ago, my husband was in the Dr. office for a sinus infection. The Doc picked up a syringe and gave him a shot. When asked what it was, the Dr. said "It is your flu shot". Ok, no problem. The next year, my husband got a severe case of the flu. Sunday morning lying in bed moaning and groaning - "Just kill me now and put me out of my misery!" he said. "If this is the flu, I have never had it before!" he said. I called the Dr. (8 am Sunday morning at home) and he said 'well, no wonder. You didn't get your flu shot. Once you get one, you have to continue getting them each year or you will get sick." We have neither one ever received another flu shot and neither have gotten the flu.

Selfish and ignorant describes a lot of people.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in a large meeting, sitting between two coughers/sneezers. It was too late to move. I told my boss if I came down with their disease(s), she was going to hear about it. Ten days later, she did.

If you're sick, stay away from others. We don't want what you've got. I take my vitamins, take care of myself, use appropriate hand washing, face washing, nose blowing, etc. With the help of OTC meds, I fended off the cold in seven days, and I was very careful not to share it with others. This included wearing a mask in the office. I'm not so selfish to think that I'm indispensable and/or must "share" all my germs. To my knowledge, I didn't spread this miserable ailment. And no, I didn't miss work. (I would have liked to have stayed home, but it was not in the "schedule."

I've had one cold in two years, and this was it. I'm careful to avoid the germ spreaders as much as possible. Unfortunately, sometimes we're trapped. Please be adult enough and considerate enough not to be so "generous" with the disease you can spread.

zapper, I agree with you 100%. My problem is that even the owner/boss comes to work sick, and expects the same from his employees. I have always felt that if I have a contagious sickness, I'm not going to work - not because I'm a wimp, but because I don't want to spread this among my co-workers. I have become ill with the flu several times in the past because of "devoted" co-workers, who are willing to put the rest of us in danger, because they are sooooo "dedicated" and "strong".

Sorry, but she should never go to work sick. Diners don't want someone sick near their food.

Yes because I'm sure a virus can live sooo long outside the body - almost as long as we could live on mars without a suit. Cheers ammamtoh!

Norovirus ( which is a form of "stomach flu" and not influenza, so the vaccine won't help) can live for weeks outside of the human body on contaminated surfaces. And simply wiping it up does not kill it. There was a person who threw up in a diner and subsequently infected 50 people within a certain distance just by particles alone. So viruses can and often do live outside the human body for extended periods of time.

Misty, I understand your irritation at sick leave policies which must strike a balance between those who are truly ill and those who accumulate a day or two of sick leave and decide it's time to use it. You know those people are out there, and in some places at least, in substantial numbers. No doubt you've had to take up the slack for some of those "sick" folks at some point.

While I wouldn't equate the flu with the plague either, it can be deadly to certain segments of the population. As you should well know, not everyone is blessed with a healthy immune system. It is that population that we, and especially people like you who see them every day, must protect.

Misty, tell that to the person you are treating when you are sick who is fighting cancer and see how they feel about you being there while sick. I bet they would be very upset that you are putting them at risk.

ammamtoh, what in the world are you talking about? Read it again because you make no sense. She is saying she would take days off for being sick but the way their policy is setup it makes it very difficult. As for the immuocompromised patients. They are in their own sterile ward in a hospital, if they have almost no immune system then the doctors and nurses must take extreme measures when working around them. That includes suits, masks, closed breathing systems, and so on. Get your head out of your ass before you talk next time.

Not if they have to go to the ER. Trust me, BTDT.

Also, I am curious, where are your statistics from>???

Only if you never challenge the numbers i give again. Promise?

Only if you never challenge the numbers i give again. Promise?

My numbers come from the CDC website itself.

"Over a period of 30 years, between 1976 and 2006, estimates of flu-associated deaths range from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people."

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm

Mr. Rogers, I believe they mean PER YEAR. It says that in 2009 alone, 12,000 people in the U.S. died of H1N1.

The CDC has been purposely lying to us for years on the number of people who die from influenza.

I have challenged doctors and scientists alike to prove that 40,000 people a year die from influenza and that a vaccine would make a huge difference. While they attempted to rationalize this fraud of numbers and house of cards in a valiant attempt to show support for the vaccine, the CDC conceded effectively throwing these doctor apologists under the bus.

This method has been challenged. They finally backed themselves into a corner and could not justify the numbers they were using to sell the vaccine. This past year they changed their method to a range of numbers instead of modeled projections. The Swine flu scare mongering backfired on them.

Mr. Rogers, I believe they mean PER YEAR. It says that in 2009 alone, 12,000 people in the U.S. died of H1N1.

Sorry but no. It does not READ per year.. it reads over that entire period. Also, the H1N1 estimates are pure GUESS with no scientific process in that REAL INFLUENZA TESTS are almost NEVER done let alone for H1N1 specifically.

In fact, an EU panel charged with investigating the H1N1 found that the "pandemic" status of the virus was a hoax deliberately brought on by the WHO with pressure from multiple interests in order to sell the vaccine and make billions in profits.

Yet, the garbage is still pushed heavily here in the US and Canada.

, I believe they mean PER YEAR. It says that in 2009 alone

But even if they did mean PER YEAR... look at how the CDC detmines a death caused by influenze in its OWN WORDS:

"Death certificate data and weekly influenza virus surveillance information was used to estimate how many flu-related deaths occurred among people whose underlying cause of death was listed as respiratory or circulatory disease on their death certificate."

So all deaths as a result of respiratory failure/complications are deemed flu deaths? Ask any doctor how absurd that is.

Ah conspiracy theories abound. :)

There's no conspiracy it just how it is.

Robert: Spoken like a true paranoid delusional. Most conspiracy theories are just quaint. Your's is dangerous. I hope people continue to get the vaccines (which cost most people nothing), and have heathier years like I have. As for you, feel free to live in your basement afraid that the government is poisoning you for profit if you want, but don't try to drag the rest of us there with you.

Well, let's talk facts. I'm sure you're prepared. You better be if you're going to call someone paranoid delusional.

First do you understand the mortality classifications of the CDC? Do you understand what pneumonia is and what causes it?. Do you understand what influenza is and what causes it.? Do you understand what influenza like illness is.?

Do you understand the CDC has been using a model system to report flu deaths for at least the last decade? Not actual people dying but a model of how many people die. Do you know what they report now?

I'll let you answer those first before you go down a rabbit hole you're not prepared to go down.

NewEngGal - Hopefully you don't honestly believe that 12,000 people in the US died from H1N1. Maybe across the world the numbers would be that high. Since H1N1 is no more pathogenic than any other flu strain I have an issue believing 4x the people managed to die from it - in less than half a year.

Robert - Have you ever taken Microbiology or a Public Health course? Learn something from a science journal instead of idiot-authored-internet-sources.

Robert - Have you ever taken Microbiology or a Public Health course? Learn something from a science journal instead of idiot-authored-internet-sources.

Oh, goody a med student. Do you know it all yet? Perhaps you would like to answer those questions so I can take you to school on the influenza vaccine.

Do you think your microbiology 101 and public health 101 has prepared you for the truth?

@ Robert: The CDC doesn't sell vaccines. Are you implying that the entire CDC staff is being paid off by the drug companies to promote the companies' vaccines? And, because you claim to know the truth, where do you get your totally perfect statistics and information? Are the drug companies in cahoots with the colleges and medical schools that offer microbiology and public health courses?

granny:

@ Robert: The CDC doesn't sell vaccines.

Right.

They are in the vaccine business. A large part of their energy is spent getting vaccine compliance. There are industry ties to the CDC.

Are the drug companies in cahoots with the colleges and medical schools that offer microbiology and public health courses?

Yes. Yes they are! But I don't know if cahoots is the correct word.

Church is no place for the sick or the poor.

Tikka_Horse, I have the same problem with church. Some lady was coughing directly in back of me a few weeks ago. Thank God, I didn't get sick, but the next week, my daughter sat between two kids that were sick in her class at church, and she got sick, and it went through our whole family. We're just getting over it now. I mean, it's church, it's not work, so it's not like they HAVE to be there. The thing about being scared that God would damn them is so silly, isn't it? I think He would bless their considerate attitude for staying home and not sharing the germs!

Exactly evanusk. I stay home with my husband and we read our scriptures together if either of us is sick. I am glad you didn't get sick. Also, the nursery at my church won't take a child that is showing any signs of illness, but that doesn't stop the parents from bringing the poor things to the adult classes.

Yeah, they always seem to get around the rules somehow!

She was hired to write this paper. She didn't just poof this PR piece out of her butt. She had help.

No. Journalism died during the Nixon years!

I've NEVER had a flu shot and only had the Flu once as a child.

I always get a flu shot. The one year I decided I didn't need it, I got the flu. LOL! Of course, I get other random things, thanks to having a little girl in preschool... gotta love it.

No, frank and Malanie, that can't be true! We've been assured by the omnipotent Robert and Rogers that the vaccine is a hoax! All those years I got the shot and didn't get the flu were also just a coincidence.

Rather than worry about people sneezing, getting a simple (and for most people free) shot once a year will greatly lower the chance of getting the flu. Vaccines have been working for nearly a century. It's proven medical science. The vaccines we have for the flu don't cover every varient, but the cover the common ones. Not getting the flu shot is like firing explosives without hearing protection. It's just stupid.

Vaccines have been working for nearly a century. It's proven medical science.

Please provide said science so we can go over what it actually says and doesn't say. surely you must have it in your back pocket.

Science:

1. Murray, Medical Microbiology. 6th Ed. 2009

2. Hauser, Antibiotic Basis for Clinicians. 1st Ed.

3. Ward, The Respiratory System at a Glance. 2nd Ed. 2006

4. Bodenheimer, Understanding Health Policy: A Clinical Approach. 5th Ed. 2008

I see you like to give bibliographies instead of present the science.

So why did almost all infectious disease mortality dramatically decrease before vaccines were in use? Why do they only show you post 1940 graphs in med school?

@ Robert: Infectious disease mortality dramatically dropped before vaccines were in use because antibiotics came in to use at around that time. People with viral diseases were less able to fight off bacterial infections. Antibiotics change the statistics. For reasons mentioned in the article and because of idiots (if the shoe fits), people need protection from those who expose others to the flu (or any infection). How many med schools did you attend in order to have an opinion on what graphs are shown in them?

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55441/1/Aiello%20A,%20What%20is%20the%20evidence%20for%20a%20causal%20link%20between%20hygien%20and%20infections,%202002.pdf

Some scholarly individuals seem to forget that the very books they study from can contain some potentially misleading and incorrect information. I would hope they understand the dynamics of money generating incentive to mislead in courses. I guess you would have some personal investment if you already learned the incorrect information. I think that goes for any field of study.

Quite true. The best bet is immunization every year.

what about 2004? was that the best bet?

Wear a mask?

Stay away from Robert.

Why I haven't had the flu. Just because I'm not vaccinated? What kind of reasoning is that? That's scaremongering and irrational

Quite right about that. The only time I was actually excused when I was in the restaurant business was when I contracted chicken pox. The reason they kept me out was because it was visible to the customers. If I could have covered it up, they would have had me working the grill.

If a restaurant server is ill, they should not be handling food. If your server is ill, you should complain to the management and leave.

I was a server for about 10 years...the last place I worked, I came down with a contagious virus and was out for 2 weeks-my employer would not allow me back until I brought a doctor's note stating that I was completely recovered (I had no sick time, it cost me a fortune in lost tips, but I certainly would have felt guilty about spreading it to my customers). Some restaurants would rather run short-staffed than be known for having employees spreading illnesses. If the one you choose to frequent allows sick employees at work, you need to let them know that you won't be back, and why.

Show up with snot dripping out of your nostrils and I bet they tell you to go home.

Solid case for eating at home I'd say.

I so totally agree with you. I was in the military as well and had exactly the same reaction to the shots each and every time. I also was still in when they shifted to "live" virus but with a smaller quantity which I believe they still use today in the shots. I am very sorry for anyone out there who disagrees with me but, "what kind of idiot would get a shot of live infection to prevent future infection!" Thats kind of like saying "here, I will cut myself so I don't bleed the next time I get cut." IT MAKES NO SENSE. That said I still say that I was in the military to protect people's RIGHT TO CHOOSE whether or not they wanted the shot. As to people going to work sick. Far too many are in a forced situation. They really do not have a choice other than, "come to work or be fired." The U.S. government should take action on this somehow, but until then I recommend to them all that they use the existing FEDERAL MEDICAL LEAVE AUTHORIZATION system which all employers in the U.S. are required to abide by. Have your doctor sign it and if the employer refuses to accept it report them.

Good, but on the down side. your brain is probably mush !!

No disrespect intended, but it makes one think.

Mush? From what, pot?

HAH!

Pot makes my brain wake up! It causes beaucoup ideas to pop into my head that have literally saved my job and made me the star at work when changing careers.

Having a 151 IQ doesn't hurt, but having an artificial idea factory has saved the day more than once!

Really? Most people employed do not have sick days?

Pith - You think most people DO have sick days?

Agreed. In our entire circle of extended family and friends - all of whom are college educated, some with masters degrees and all with long, excellent work histories - only ONE PERSON now has paid sick days / PTO. It's a relic of the past.

I do not know. That is why I am asking a question...