Professional Documents
Culture Documents
In 1955 the criteria were changed to conform more closely to the definition used in the
1954 field trials: residual paralysis was determined 10 to 20 days after onset of illness
and again 50 to 70 days after onset
Example: In one US county in July 1955 there were 273 cases of polio reported for 50
cases of asceptic meningitis, compared to 5 cases of polio in 1966 and 256 cases of
aseptic meningitis.
In Canada, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics
issued an official bulletin in June 1959 titled
Poliomyelitis Trends, 1958. "Data shown in this
report are confined to paralytic poliomyelitis only.
It may be noted that the Dominion Council of
Health at its 74th meeting in October 1958
recommended that for the purposes of national
reporting and statistics the term non-paralytic
poliomyelitis be replaced by 'meningitis, viral or
aseptic,' with the specific viruses shown where
known."
Flu Shot Video
THE PROBLEM?
THE PROBLEM
Only 3 of the 10000+ strains are added
each year
They are selected nine months in advance
(to allow manufacturers time)
The three strains are based on which ones
are circulating in south east Asia at the
time
There is NO GUARANTEE that those will
be the strains circulating this “flu season”
HOW EFFECTIVE?
Last year, the strains were a non-match
For the first time ever, all three strains
have been changed this year
In the best years, the shot has been 0%-
14% effective
Efficacy is measured by antibody response
vs avoidance of disease
Most people will show antibody response
to influenza by the end of the season
“POLICY vs EVIDENCE”
BMJ Oct 26, 2006 - Summary points:
Public policy worldwide recommends the use of inactivated
influenza vaccines to prevent seasonal outbreaks
Because viral circulation and antigenic match vary each
year and non-randomised studies predominate, systematic
reviews of large datasets from several decades provide the
best information on vaccine performance
Evidence from systematic reviews shows that inactivated
vaccines have little or no effect on the effects measured
Most studies are of poor methodological quality and the
impact of confounders is high
Little comparative evidence exists on the safety of these
vaccines
Reasons for the current gap between policy and evidence
are unclear, but given the huge resources involved, a re-
Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Oct
2008: “significant influenza vaccine effectiveness could
not be demonstrated for any season, age, or setting”
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care
Medicine, Sept 2008: “no decrease in deaths from
influenza and pneumonia despite the fact that
vaccination rates have risen from 15% in 1980 to 65%
now”
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease: “We
conclude that frailty selection bias and use of non-
specific endpoints such as all-cause mortality have led
cohort studies to greatly exaggerate vaccine benefits”
Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews, 2006: A
review of 51 studies involving 260000 children found no
evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than
a placebo
SWINE FLU
Symptoms are similar to seasonal flu, but
milder
All deaths have had underlying health
problems
In 1976, the Swine Flu vaccine killed more
people than the Swine Flu itself
Next fall expect recommendations for all
people to be vaccinated
GARDASIL
Gardasil has been marketed as a vaccine
against cervical cancer
In fact, it is a vaccine for HPV – the virus
that causes genital warts
In certain cases, genital warts can become
cancerous
Problem: Only two strains of 200+ are in the
shot!
GARDASIL
Problem: It was only studies in 1200 girls, of which
only 100 were 9 years old
Problem: Long tem side effects as well as
effectiveness of vaccine have never been
studies
Problem: Less than 400 Canadian women die from
cervical cancer annually
Problem: there have been tens of thousands of
adverse reactions, including 30+ deaths
attributed to the vaccine
GARDASIL
PROBLEM: IS IT EVER REALLY A GOOD
IDEA TO INJECT NINE YEAR OLD
GIRLS WITH THE VIRUS THAT CAUSES
GENITAL WARTS?
HOW DANGEROUS ARE
VACCINES?