Between this and the likely bird flu epidemic, sounds like it’s time to buy stock in cough drop and nose spray companies. And, unfortunately, mortuaries.
Influenza fighters have limited effects – The most readily available drugs against influenza have abruptly declined in effectiveness in the past decade, and flu vaccines offer elderly people only modest protection against illness, according to two new analyses.
The findings lay bare limitations of both countermeasures, sounding a discouraging note as flu season draws near in the Northern Hemisphere.
In June, news reports stated that China’s agricultural ministry has encouraged farmers to use amantadine on flu-infected poultry. Such use could increase viruses’ drug resistance, Guan and Chen say.
“The public is told: Vaccinate yourselves and you’ll avoid [flulike illnesses]. That is not so. You’ll avoid a proportion of these” illnesses only, says Jefferson.
It couldn’t possibly be that the influenza virus has evolved into medicine resistent variants. Someone must have “intelligently designed” them since evolution is only a theory not a fact! ;->
oh my! The intelligent design being is out to get us! Gads
Based on my personal experience, the shots never did work. I get the flu once, sometimes twice, a year whether I get the shot or not.
I’m not into consipiracy theories or anything… but, personally, I can’t tell if they help me.
Well, for me flu shots *always* worked! I am very susceptible to respiratory diseases, so I am considered as being in a ‘risk group’. Before getting the shots, every winter/spring I spent 2 or 3 weeks in bed because of flus, colds, whatever. I always ended up with bronchitis or pneumonia! Really!
Now I go through Winter with no problems at all! For me this is nothing short of a miracle!
As for not being 100% effective, that’s true, but that’s only due to the way the vaccine is created. It’s based on ‘deactivated’ viruses of 3 to 4 strains (I think that’s the correct number) that are *expected* to become dominant that year. Remember, strains change constantly, yearly, and the ones that *do* become dominant may be different from the ones in the vaccine, which would render it quite useless. It happens. Last year, however, it was dead on! So I’ll keep getting my shots! It’s medical tech working for me. If it doesn’t I’ll probably be stronger to go through a ‘difficult’ one, so the damage won’t be as bad.