You obviously don't understand the biggest importance of this study. If we can discover why some bodies react the way they do, while others react in a way that isn't outwardly expressed, then maybe we can figure out ways to treat people sick with not only the flue, but other viruses. Rabies for instance might be treated with a single pill to prevent the body from suffering the symptoms that almost always lead to death. If the body can be made to deal with the illness and not have the life threatening symptoms, we could save a lot of people from dying.

Cancer isn't the only thing that kills people. This study for sure didn't state the obvious. It wasn't obvious that the people who didn't show signs of the flu actually had the flu and having an immune response to it.

I wonder if the symptomless people can pass it on? We could have a bunch of typhoid Marys spreading it around and they don't even know it. I could be one as I can't remember ever having the flu.

Here is the link to the original article. It is open access.

http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1002234

OMG!!! They did a study and discovered everyone is DIFFERENT!!!!! Who would have known without our researchers!!!!!!!??????

Now, instead of discovering the obvious, maybe they can discover something more useful instead of throwing our hard earned money down a deep well.

I basically do everything they say you shouldn't do, eat a high fat diet, lots of red meat, eggs, potato's, & veggies, drowning in butter & salt, etc. I eat 7 day old left-overs from the fridge. I have no routine exercise program. I'm 55, 6'-2", 175 lb., no joint issues, very low bad cholesterol, very high good cholesterol, no cardio-vascular issues at all, I only wear a light jacket even when it's subzero, just to build up tolerance for cold. Basically I still feel and do the same things I did while in my teens and 20's. I could count on 1 hand the number of sick days I've taken in in my lifetime. I feel very blessed to have my health. I feel sorry for those who suffer with chronichealth issues. Am I a freak of nature or are there others like me?

Not to mention that many viruses are actually the cause of many cancers. So if they can figure out why some people have immune systems that offer better protection, in a roundabout way, they are doing something about cancer.

Jack-2510943 you do realize influenza kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world each year?

Plus as others have noted a better understanding of how the immune system works will help with cancer studies.

It's still funny to watch people panic about going to get their flu shots every year though.

The media creates hysteria and big pharma rakes in cash.

The various manufacturers of vaccines do not make profits off the flu shot, or any other shot really - hence they are made by only a few manufacturers.

It's a business just like any other "acceptable" business in your eyes. You cannot be expected to continue to make something if you cannot stay in business while making it/performing a task, etc. There are only 2 or 3 vaccine manufacturers in the US and none of them profit from vaccines. Vaccines would be more expensive if more manufacturers were in play for making them.

hardtostarboard

I basically do everything they say you shouldn't do, eat a high fat diet, lots of red meat, eggs, potato's, & veggies, drowning in butter & salt, etc. I eat 7 day old left-overs from the fridge. I have no routine exercise program. I'm 55 56, 6'-2", 175180 lb., no joint issues, very low bad cholesterol, very high good cholesterol, no cardio-vascular issues at all, I only wear a light jacket even when it's subzero, just to build up tolerance for cold. Basically I still feel and do the same things I did while in my teens and 20's, but I do it slower. I could count on 1 hand the number of sick days I've taken in in my lifetime. I feel very blessed to have my health. I feel sorry for those who suffer with chronic health issues.

Am I a freak of nature or are there others like me?

I'd say for sure you are very lucky and have a very good, strong genetic background. Maybe we should clone you! :)

hatdtostarboard,

Perhaps you have memory problems. Or did you age a year and gain five in less than an hour?

Don't get all upset, I'm only messing with you!

Wow, Jack and Damien, you two clearly don't work in the scientific field.... Here's a hint from someone that does if you're not bright enough to figure it out for yourself. The point of the research was to find out HOW people are different not that they were different. The whole point was to find out from a genetics perspective how differences in genetics leads to different responses in patients infected with the flu virus. This is kind of important because right now we have very little understanding of how our bodies react at the genetic/transcript level to an infection because the process and number of genes that turn on vary greatly from person to person and from infection to infection. If we did know how that functioned, we could tweak how those transcript levels changed after an infection or we could introduce the byproducts of that change in transcript levels to improve responses to the infection. This also has further implications towards other viruses and the immune system response including, HIV, cancer, (yes your immune system is still active when you get cancer and some of the responses are very very similar to when you are infected with a virus), and any number of others.

You see..... msnbc generally puts things in headlines like "Humans have different responses to infection", or they put in their article something like "They found significant and complex immune responses in the people who got sick and the people who didn’t." because the average reader is either too stupid to understand the scientific article or has the attention span of a 4 year old and gets tired of reading after the first 3 paragraphs.... So, in order to get add revenue they have to dumb down the article and remove any semblance of real science for people like you.

Unfortunately, when MSNBC Cliff-notes a 17 page paper with figures, data, tables, methods, etc., and turns it into a 3 page summary with lots of easy to read quotes from people that don't often get sick, the meat and the point of the research is lost.

If they can figure out why certain people do not develop the typical flu symptoms they may be able to develop better treatments for a whole host of viral illnesses. Far from stating the obvious, this research shows that it is not that some people are resistant to the flu virus, it is that their bodies react differently to the infection. Previously it was thought that some people just had some kind of natural immunity to the flu virus. We now know that this is not the case at all. They still get the flu, they just do not get 'sick' from it like everyone else. If they can figure out why this happens, they may be able to develop a treatment to prevent those who normally would develop symptoms from having to deal with the negative effects of the virus. Not only would this be great from a medical perspective, it would also have a major positive influence on our economy by reducing the amount of lost productivity due to people getting sick.

Am I a freak of nature or are there others like me?

I'm the same. 31 years old, 5'4:, 115 lbs. Raised on fast food, foods out of a box or a can, frozen meals. Never had chicken pox and while I probably had a fever or two while I was very young, I have no idea how it feels to have one or to 'break a fever'. Occasionally I think I've gotten a touch of the flu and had an all over body ache for a little bit, but still no fever. I baby-sat for a family for four years during college and had to take care of the kids while they were ill. I still didn't catch any of their illnesses despite going to school and all the activities associated with that.

The things I do that could be considered healthy: stay hydrated (I love beer but even after only one I feel extremely parched and end up drinking a glass of water for every beer), keep my hands away from my face, try not to overeat and manage stress. The only thing I do differently from how I was raised is eat foods that for the majority are not from a box or a can. I did run a couple marathons during the college years but since then, and before then, regular exercise is/was not part of my daily routine. I've never had the flu shot and my parents just made me do the regular vaccines growing up. I still haven't done the chicken pox vaccine either, but maybe when I have my own children I will.

The study confirms the differentness of the way different people exhibit different symptoms with different strains and different degrees of differing sicknesses. Noting these differences in a study just shows the findings are different from person to person. On behalf of Jack and myself I would like to award the people conducting the study the "NO SH&T SHERLOCK AWARD"!

I'm getting really sick and tired of the leftover Bush-era anti-intellectuals who immediately dump all over anything science-related. Like this vacuous original poster, they usually start in with the "waste of money" argument. First, that money isn't taxpayer money. That's research money from the University or one of their donors or grants, it has nothing to do with your taxes. Second, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? If an environmentalist piped up and said we shouldn't be wasting gasoline, the original poster in this case would be the first individual to stand up and argue that it's "his" money to waste on gasoline if he wants to because it's a free country.

And all this from an individual who is incapable of comprehending the nature of the science or the research in the first place.

And then on top of all that, he "assigns" the scientists back to their cancer-curing duties, as if they owe him that. How arrogant. You know where people like the original poster would be without the scientists? Scrounging for food in the woods before you go back to your cave. Have some respect, dude.

Voluptuous original poster? The Farrah Fawcett poster? No money or resources wasted there! Sure wish the sponsor of this research would find something more worthwhile to do though! A cold is a cold. But cancer? Now that's something worth studying! Chill out nimrod.

Why does everything have to come back to "Well... why don't they just find that cure for cancer?" As if that's the only thing that all the scientists and researchers in the world can focus on as any one given time.

The word was "vacuous". Go back to laughing. You would not understand the meaning of the word.

What a moron. Understanding how genes interact with viruses is incredibly useful. Do the gene pool a favor and blow the dog sh1t that passes for your brains out now.

"A cold is a cold. But cancer? Now that's something worth studying!"

A cold, you pathetic imbecile, is not the flu. Flu kills thousands of people every year in the US and millions around the world.

What a credit.

this is for Penny: Come on!! you are only 31 years old!! Wait until you have a couple kids and hit middle age. It will be even harder for you especially since you are already 31 and have not had any children yet. Just wait.................

Actually, this sounds like money well spent. Without opening a can of worms, I'm a vaccine skeptic; I'll never take another one. The last vaccine I received was a flu shot in the 70s and it gave me the flu immediately. I believe that vaccines are the wrong way to address the problem of disease. What these people are studying sounds like a step in the right direction. The immune system has always been the key. Find out what makes it work and what keeps it strong. If we can confirm what form of proper nutrition truly works, then our fight against all diseases will be much more effective, and not just piecemeal, one at a time.

Hmmmm...I wonder if having mutations in glycoproteins expressed on cell surfaces plays a role as well, as it does with HIV infection.

...I'm going to search for the actual paper and read it

It doesn't matter if it's the cold, the flu, HIV or cancer that you're studying because each of the immune responses to these diseases have major similarities. The benefit of using a cold or flu as the controlled infection is that there's minimal risk to the patients being infected. You can use the cold/flu genetic response research to discover what each gene actually does and what changes in the gene expression occur during the infection. You can then take that controlled research and apply it to cases of actual HIV infection or cancer with far more knowledge of what the genes being expressed actually do.

Genetic research works someone like this. Let's say you have the Iliad. It's quite a long book. You rip it to shreds and throw the shreds around. Now, all you have is this pile of paper and it's your job to put it back together as the Iliad without actually knowing anything about what was written in the Iliad other then it was a really long book. You have this other book called See Spot Run. A very nice and controlled short book that teaches you a little bit about sentence structure and words. You use See Spot Run along with all of your other knowledge about words and sentences gleaned from other similar books to start re-building the Iliad.

Now, See Spot Run doesn't sound really impressive compared to the Iliad. Neither does figuring out how different genes turning on and off in the flu or cold cause different immune responses. This is especially true when you're looking at say cancer. But, you can't simply jump into this pile of paper and decide you're going to reconstruct the Iliad without first learning how sentences are put together. If you try, you will fail miserably. It's the same thing with genetic research. If you start out with the decision that you're going to "cure cancer" and you neglect these types of controlled experiments and the knowledge they provide, then you aren't going to get anywhere in an actual cure for cancer or anything else for that matter because you lack a basic understanding of how the biology works at the genetic level.

Very few people fully understand this concept. Many people think that because they "can't see a benefit from this research" there isn't one. Fortunately, people like that haven't been directing scientific research for most of human history. If they were, we'd still be trying to find ways to build a sharper stick for hunting things.

Bananu

Sorry to burst your bubble but I am a 49 yo woman who has four kids and at 5 ft 9 inches and 135 pounds has never struggled with weight or health (knock on wood). Not to pat myself on the back but people generally mistake me for a good ten years (or more) younger than I am. My diet? Well let's say with a unsatiable craving for junk food and an addiction to Coca-Cola it hardly qualifies as healthy. Exercise? Not so much since my mid-thirties (although I am looking forward to getting back into it in the near future since I'll have more time for 'me'). I am the complete antithesis to the 'germaphobe'. Not at all fearful of the dreadful bacteria. Doesn't make a lot of sense does it? I'm a freak of nature (who also somehow managed to conceive four children after the age of 38 without difficulty...doesn't get much freakier than that huh?_

No, I understood plainly what the purpose of the study was. The result was nothing NEW, that was my point. We already knew antioxidants helped keep people resistant to flu virus.

If I make fun of you guys in a rather blatant way, then you gut me like a fish because you missed it? Heck yea I'll keep on laughing! You can't be serious. Seems a few of you have been educated to your own private levels of aloofness. An uppity and argumentative lifestyle looks great here in writing doesn't it? Carry on my angry righteous ones. May you all be right, all the time.

DamienOujia Once again money is spent to state the obvious. Thanks, science! Now back to finding a cure for cancer!

Obvious? REALLY? Here's a quote from the abstract of this paper:

We show that symptomatic hosts invoke, simultaneously, multiple pattern recognition receptors-mediated antiviral and inflammatory responses that may relate to virus-induced oxidative stress. In contrast, asymptomatic subjects tightly regulate these responses and exhibit elevated expression of genes that function in antioxidant responses and cell-mediated responses. We reveal an ab initio molecular signature that strongly correlates to symptomatic clinical disease and biomarkers whose expression patterns best discriminate early from late phases of infection. Our results establish a temporal pattern of host molecular responses that differentiates symptomatic from asymptomatic infections and reveals an asymptomatic host-unique non-passive response signature, suggesting novel putative molecular targets for both prognostic assessment and ameliorative therapeutic intervention in seasonal and pandemic influenza.

So you already knew all of that? I'm impressed!

The point I'm trying to make here is that you shouldn't criticize scientific work unless you've read and fully understood the peer-reviewed paper. Reading a news report isn't enough because news reports almost never fully cover the results and their significance to the literature.

No one would try to critique the literary style of an author without reading the book, so why would anyone try to critique scientific work without reading and understanding the peer-reviewed paper?

Damien and Jack,

Maybe one day they will find a cure for stupidity.

No Damien... you missed the entire point of the research.... If you actually understood anything at all about genetics you would understand why this and other studies like this are very very important for determining what each gene does during the infection. The fact that you don't see that shows your lack of knowledge in the area. The fact that you then try to critique something you know nothing about nor even bothered to learn anything about before critiquing it shows your stupidity.

Finding out that antioxidants caused people to have resistance to the flu wasn't the point of the study and if you read the study or even the abstract you would have understood that... But you're too stupid read the abstract let alone actually understand what they're saying so I wonder why I bother...

The point of this research was to find out WHY antioxidants have this effect and to IDENTIFY which genes activate WHEN this process occurs. This is very important because if we can figure out the exact details of this very very complicated process, we can improve this process in any type of infection.

Cheri, I also almost never catch the cold or flu and was a pediatric nurse for years. I developed RA in my late 40's. Would love to know too if there is a connection.

Cheri, I also never catch a cold or the flu and worked as a pediatric nurse for years. I developed RA in my late 40's. Would love to know if there is a connection!

The same with me Cheri. I have never been sick in my adult life, yet I developed RA this year. Who knows why these things happen.

I think there is a connection. I have taught elementary school for nearly forty years, and I've had the flu twice. The second time was after my granddaughter, who was apparently sick, kissed me on the lips. I rarely get colds or the flu. Yet I have severe arthritis (autoimmune) and Hashimoto's hypothyroidism (autoimmune). I think my autoimmune system is so stuck on overdrive that I make myself sick with some diseases, but am protected from colds and flus.

I've had RA for over 25 years and have had maybe mild cases of the flu 2-3 times. I still get flu shots because of the immuno-suppressant meds I take. I haven't had a cold in at least 10 years even though my husband teaches school and gets them about twice a year. Now, my perennial allergies are a whole different thing!

I imagine you guys all self vaccinate from all the exposure!

I was thinking the same thing, constant exposure is basically vaccinating you.

I dont come in contact with kids much, but when I do - and if they are sick, it's guaranteed i'll get sick.

In fact, it drives me up the wall how often my sister-in-law brings her sick kids to family functions, without any concern for anyone else - including my wife who has Multiple Sclerosis and is very susceptible to ear infections (which my nephew gets a lot).

We are to the point where we'll leave if they show up with a sick kid. I love my nephews, and want to see them...but not if im going to get sick over it.

I also have a weakened immune system, I have celiac disease...the harder my body fights off other problems, the less fight it has for the simple stuff like colds and flu's. Thats my view of it anyway.

Ear infections are not contagious, only the colds that cause them. Hope this allows you to spend more time with your nephews.

Interesting! I just posted that I never get the common stuff but I was diagnosed with endo several years ago which is also an autoimmune related disease.

Endo's are no fun! Unless you can get up and walk away!

Excuse my ignorance what is Endo?

Did you have cold sores as a kid? There could be a connection

Hmmm...I just checked my micro syllabus and could find no mention of a connection btwn not being susceptible to the common cold viruses or influenza and developing an autoimmune disease like RA.

Also there is a significant difference between receiving a vaccination (even if it is live) and being exposed. In both cases, you will develop an immune response to the virus; however, in the later you can actually get violently sick.

With live vaccines you are innoculated with an attenuated form of a live virus; thus, you are infected but the virus cannot replicate, spread, and cause your immune system to go bat crazy like Sarah Palin when she goes hunting.

Vaccines exercise the immune system.

Whether you feel sick or not, people are infected with viruses all the time. And a person with a strong immune system can still pass the virus on to other people. Even if you never feel sick, getting vaccinations actually help the general population by slowing the virus's spread.

Vaccines are a concept invented to get toxins injected directly into your system and bypass your natural defenses. A daily dose of 5000 IU of vitamin D3 will stop colds and flu, but we wouldn't want to make any type of correlation to a hormone that cheap now would we?

A daily dose of 5000 IU of vitamin D3 will also accumulate and eventually cause toxic side effects.

Vaccinations do not inject toxins nor do they bypass "natural defenses". They are not given in "the blood stream". They do however give dead or weakened antigen that your body recognizes as foreign, and generates a response to. Then when you are exposed to the real live influenza virus, your body already has antibodies against it and you don't get that sick! The hard work has already been done!

If you break your arm, don't get a cast, otherwise your body won't learn to heal. Cancer patients shouldn't take chemo, it only makes the cancer stronger. Oh, and we shouldn't perform CPR when someone's heart stops, otherwise, it won't learn how to keep beating.

This faulty logic based on anecdotal evidence is dangerous. Vaccines don't just protect you, they protect others as well. If you care about others, do your part and get vaccinated. Otherwise, you are simply leaching off of those who have been vaccinated.

By the way, "expose yourself a little" is exactly what vaccines are doing.

Vaccines allow your body to produce antibodies that stick around in your system for some length of time ranging from a few years to a lifetime. These are the basic line of defense against infections agents and are why you only get certain illnesses once or not every time you're exposed to them.

The basic idea that people had about exposing themselves to a virus to build up an immunity is the same process as a vaccination. When you're exposed to a virus in a weakened state or exposed to a similar virus, you're likely to have antibodies for that virus or similar virus in the future.

zeke - most anti-bacterial soaps are just detergents with high amounts of alcohol in them...don't worry...alcohol won't create super-bugs. but it will kill just about everything it comes in contact with if the concentration is high enough. hence - Anti-Bacterial. They don't use antibiotics in them.

Heather-

Please show me research that shows that 5000 ius of Vitamin D has toxic side effects? That sounds made up.

Wrong about the D3 becoming toxic over time. Do some further reading Heather!

http://www.grc.com/health/vitamin-d.htm

Steve, the problem with antibacterial soaps is that they don't discriminate. If you kill good bacteria, it leaves space for bad bacteria to grow later.

I think Heather is confusing D3 with D2 because D2 can build up and become toxic over time. I guess watch how much milk you drink, they put D2 in milk.

Antibacterial soaps contain triclosan, a carcinogenic chemical. In the past other antibacterial hand soaps contained even more dangerous chemicals such as hexachlorophene, but their use was restricted mainly to surgical scrubs.

i totaly agree with" concerned"[You need to expose yourself a little to make yourself stronger]

Info on Vit D from the gov't. Of course I am sure some of you think that the government is out to kill us all and won't believe anything that they publish:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind#h1

Interesting link, the Gibson Research Corporation. Computer experts also hocking vitamin D and related books.

Not to mention, that I think it's vitamin D3 that they put in milk now-a-days.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/14/science/vitamin-d-in-milk.html

I know this is old, but it is consistent with what my doc told me. Also, it should not be the only means of acquiring vitamin D in the diet.

Heather, 5000 IU of Vitamin D is not nearly enough to cause any toxic effects. It can be taken safely indefinitely.

Yep, because I take 5000 IU daily and haven't had a cold of flu in years. As far as Gibson Research Corporation goes.. Steve Gibson put this information out as a public service. He is smart and did his own research for his own benefit and decided others should know. Do you really think the government reports are unbiased?

Same here! I've never had it but everyone around me has and my diet is probably more unhealthy than healthy too.

Never had the flu, used to get colds all the time, but as I get older, 41 now, maybe one cold a year and it's slight, one day from work more to keep from infecting the office than the need to stay home.

My diet is mixed, I always make sure I eat my veggies, drink loads of juice, but I eat my fair share of junk as well.

You probably don't rub your eyes. Many people get the flu by touching their eyeball with virus-laden hands.

Don't celebrate too quick... get drunk, pass out , and one tiny stab in the caboose, and you could end up extra viral!

Your immune system does not "remember" or have antibodies to things your ancestors were exposed to ages ago.

It is also important to note that many people died (and still do) as a result of poor sanitation back in the Dark Ages.

The plague and typhus killed many many people. While those with certain variations of their immune system may have survived (or perhaps just those of a status to not be around the sick "commoners"), it is unrealistic to assume that you would survive if faced with a menace that devastated populations way back in the day.

As for autism - remember that they have expanded the diagnostic profile, so more people can now fall in the spectrum.

Web Ryder:

I wouldn't use "stupid" so freely while you brag. Just about everything you said is inaccurate. Many folks come from exactly the place your ancestors did and they catch everything that comes down the pike.

Oh and don't say screw the flu, you may end up being one of the 40,000 people who will die of it this year, just in the U.S. It might show up on your tombstone:

"Screw the Flu"

@ Heather

This is a genetic component to developing immunity. You are right when you say we don't inherit antibodies at least for the most part, but that doesn't mean we don't have more resistance to certain diseases due to our genetics. Just look at one happened when Europeans came to the Americas. Millions of people died because they hadn't evolved any resistance to the diseases from Europe.

Dust - Totally agree with you. Sorry if that was not clear from my statement above. Yes certain immune system traits are heritable, but it is still up to the individuals immune system to mount the response.

I stand by my statements. We inherit EVERYTHING that makes us who we are genetically. Good old peasant stock. How strong that immunity is that's passed from generation to generation is the key.

Oh, and I wasn't bragging. The flu ain't gonna kill me. I know what's going to kill me.

Web, I do agree with you to an extent. The only part I can't say is about your descendants. My father's lineage is from Spain, while my mothers is Native Indian. I too never get sick. Sniffles in the winter is the extent of it. I agree that our chromosomes determine our health, and everything else.

As for autism, I have also noticed it is much more prevalent today than it was years ago. Some have said that it is the same but since there is more testing now we detect it more. But I disagree with that. I think it comes from chemicals we consume and are exposed to through the years.

As do I, Tony. But, I think autism is even more sinister in that it's a result of much of the technologies and pollutants we've introduced into our environments. There's also a credible faction that, despite the "research" saying otherwise, say that vaccines are either a catalyst or trigger. I'm inclined to agree.

It'd be kind of interesting to test a large number of the "don't get sick" crowd to see if we have any genetic similarities. I'd volunteer. I've always wondered "why" am I the lucky one, with everyone around me being sick.

Be talkin' to you..............Webrydr

I can see how that could be true, though wonder how long a genetic mutation would take to be passed along to children.

That is a good thought in genetically testing those who don't feel the flu. It could be we do get the flu but our bodies just shrug it off. Or maybe some chemical response when the flu is detected that helps hide the symptoms.

Part of the increase in the diagnosis of Autism is due to increased testing, but there is an environmental component as well. To what extent this plays a role at this point is unclear however.

Web that statement is misleading. You inherit many genetic traits but various genetic traits are determined by the level of that genetic expression. That portion is affected by the environment for more so then the stock that you came from. People really need to stop thinking of genes as a direct blueprint. They're more of a complicated machine that can take input from the environment and adjust it's own activity.

Also, if that "evidence" about vaccines being a catalyst or a trigger were true then you would see cases of autism etc. caused by infection from the virus for which the vaccine is protecting you against.

The research that started the idea that vaccines could cause autism was discredited, the author had broken several ethical codes, he manipulated evidence, and was basically disbarred from being able to practice medicine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine_controversy

The only change in the number of cases of autism that occurred were due to changes in the diagnostic criteria for autism.

Genetic anomalies in people make them more predisposed to certain sickness and other health risks. Whether catching a flu is part of that predisposition, I do not know. But it could be related due to a weaker immune system. It goes beyond autism. There are now a few genetic illnesses, perhaps related to autism, that can have different symptoms. Weak immune systems is one of them.

"Just look at one happened when Europeans came to the Americas. Millions of people died because they hadn't evolved any resistance to the diseases from Europe."

That had nothing to do with genetics or evolution, moron. The natives simply didn't have any antibodies because they hadn't been exposed.

There is a genetic component to imunity. No one could understand why cycle cell disease was so common in african bloodlines and it was even considered to be a proof against Darwinsim ,until it was discovered that cycle cell disease gives partial imunity to maleria, since the blood borne parisites didnt reconize them as humans.

In areas with lots of different diseases those with geneticly weak imune systems would die off. The people who turned out to be imune to the aids virus where from the area last hit by the black plague.

My best friend is German and she gets flu and colds frequently and much more than I who has English heritage. I'll vote for the 2 glasses of wine.....

I stopped getting the flu when I started getting flu shots - it was that simple.

I see a serious case of pnuemonia on your horizon.

Huh? It's the vaccine that makes the immune system ready. I haven't had fever but only since I started taking the yearly flu shot.

Everyone that I know that gets flu shots gets the flu and whines all day. I got that shot once in my life and got sick as hell and couldn't move. Apart from that I can't even tell you what flu feels like. and I am 40 something years old. No flu shots for me and never get sick.

Notea4me and AB-1981, you are both incorrect.

Sorry Tony but YOU are not correct. You actually are ignorant of the facts - why don't you look them up.

LOL, it would help if you explained what you found incorrect and not just make blanket statements. Show me both how NOT getting a flu shot will cause pnuemonia and that the flu shot is the only reason your body is immune to flu.

I will wait for your expert facts. LOLLLL

Just a note from a friendly expert:

The flu shot helps prime the immune system against the current virus that is in circulating. It more often helps you recover form infection faster or to the point where you do not even realize you were infected.

Thank you Krestov. But I have to wonder if I, and seems many others here, actually do get the flu but just don't feel it? I honestly can't ever recall ever needing to stay home sick, flu or cold wise. Is it that some, such as me, never get the flu, or is it that we do but our bodies don't feel it? Either way I don't get a flu shot since I don't feel the need for it. I don't believe in sticking chemicals in my body that I don't need. I know you will say it's just a cultured strain of the flu, but no thanks. The day I can't stare a cold in the face and shrug it off will mean my body is either getting weak or old. (I know I will get nice replies to that one). :)

I think you are right, a lot of people actually get the flu but don't know it! I am like you I don't get the shot simply because I hate needles and I can't remember the last time I needed to stay home! We have great immune systems perhaps or enough people around us are vaccinated.

If I did start to get very ill from contracting the virus I would get vaccinated, even though I hate needles! As for the vaccine its not even cultured virus any more, just bits of it, each to their own I say!

Tony, I AM old, 64 years worth. A comment above says the immune system is "primed" by a flu shot. True enough, but it would seem it magnifies in some, reduces risk in others. It's certainly not consistent or all would say they did or didn't get the flu after a vaccination.

Again, goes back to the original genetics. One of the reasons I'm opposed to genetic engineering on the human scale. We punch in what kind of kid we want, and gene splicers slice and dice until every child is athletic, smart, attractive, has good teeth, pick a hair color, great immunity and maybe even live more'n a hundred years. Not sure I want to be around for that.

Be talkin' to you..................Webrydr

LOL, let me rephrase. By old I don't mean a number, but how you "feel". You can be 90 years old, but if you feel strong, then that is what you are. I'm not equating feeling the flu to "toughing it out", though that may have some bearing.

Perhaps upbringing also comes into play?

I have had pneumonia, but it had NOTHING to do with a flu shot. A few months before, I had to have a spinal tap, and woke up vomiting fluid. When they x-rayed my chest, they saw the fluid that had gotten in there.

I even asked them "Could I have gotten this because I never got a flu shot?" and they told me, "No, ma'am that has nothing to do with it, we found fluid in your lungs on your x-ray."

I've NEVER had the flu, I let my body build up its immune system by ITSELF.

"My immune system gets its practice! So when my white blood cells are on patrol reconnoitering my blood stream, seeking out strangers and other undesirables, if they see any-any-suspicious-looking germs of any kind, they don't @!$%# around. They whip out the weapons, wax the mother@!$%#er, and deposit the unlucky fellow directly into my colon! "George Carlin........."it gets its practice".

Some of the sickest people I know are the ones that are paranoid of being sick..

I'm with you!! I started taking Vitamin D and this past winter I saw a BIG reduction in colds. In fact they think that is why folks get flu & colds, because their access to natural Vitamin D from the sun is so limited in the winter, and CAUSES the "flu season."

ALSO, I STOPPED GETTING THE FLU WHEN I STARTED GETTING FLU SHOTS.

No, you are not silly at all. There is increasing data that Vitamin-D does us a lot of good [one of the very few supplements that actually does]. And like you, I've never had flu since I started getting the shots. And watch this space....there is evidence that a new recombination variant has just popped up in China with an H5 hemagglutinin. Chances are, this will take some of our "vaccines are evil" friends out of the food chain....

Vitamin D3 is beneficial but not in the massive doses that some people advocate. Vitamin D3 (along with A, E, and K) is a fat soluble vitamin and does accumulate in the body (as opposed to the water soluble ones, in which you pee out what you don't use).

Moderation.

Same here.

Me, both. No shot, no flu.

Maybe you were implanted by aliens as a child?

I can't say that is impossible.

Imagine that....I've gotten the flu shot for the past 30 years and have never had the flu in that period.

So we can determine that some people don't need the shot and the article is acurate, yes?

I eat fast food and little veggies, drink soda. Not to say I never eaat anything healthier, but generally not a great diet. Yet I too have only have the flu once, right after getting a flu shot. There must be something in our bodies that blocks it.

Someone above mentioned Vitamin D, and I do have occasions where my Vitamin D and Potassium levels are low. That is the only thing that stands out on my as far as supplements.

Well apparently you work with people that actually CARE about spreading germs. Here we can't get sick folks to stay home when they are sick, let alone before hand. Everybody just believes they are indispensable, or would rather turn in their sick days for cash!

Being out in public sick (and this includes dragging your sick hacking kids out in public) is one of those things we detest in others yet are guilty of individually.

I am the same way.....

Well ... cold has nothing really to do with the flu or catching a cold ... with the exception of hypothermia which could temporarily dampen the immune system.

The reason cold weather is blamed ... people are inside more, in contact more, and spread germs easier.

It all depends on who you hang around with, your cleanliness habits, your work environment, your eating habits.

Every time get sick its ALWAYS from a co-worker who doesn't have the common sense to stay at home. If i was unemployed I'd be spared a lot of colds and flu.

Hi Shawn can you expand on that a little trying to find the report on it but cannot.

I don't think so, Ken. Too simplistic an answer to a complex question. Yes, we've wiped out some diseases, thank god. Smallpox, polio, couple others that were population killers. But, I have seen with my own eyes a four year old boy that was fine one day, got some vaccinations, showed signs the next day and within a week, was a full blown autistic child. SEVERELY autistic. Hard to ignore what is right in front of you.

Oh, and in other big news, read today that the organism that caused the "Black Death" is thought to be extinct. Hooray!

Be talkin' to you...............Webrydr

Web Rydr-

Anecdotal evidence is not, has never been, and will never be science.

My grandmother has gotten the flu and not died, thus, the flu does not kill elderly adults. Based upon your story, then this should be what you believe.