Mom in the video should have a surgical mask on even if she's been vaccinated, IMO.

Especially if she had the DTap vaccine which was administered after 1990. (less effective) which could explain the upsurge in whooping cough or pertussis. The new vaccine is less effective than the old pertussis vaccine.

I skipped the grade 9 booster based on my doctor's recommendation and test results.  I was retested a few years ago, I forget what the results were, some of the diseases in the booster I still have enough immunity for, others I do not.  I don't know if there's any point to get tested just to watch my levels fall.  I do what's reasonable to not make other's sick.

If everyone who had a typical risk got vaccinated though, I wouldn't have to worry that the cough I have due to allergies might be a mild case of pertussis that I could pass on.

Interesting

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm376937.htm

oh that poor sweet child - it was heartbreaking to watch.  My Dad had whooping cough when I was about 10-12 years old - I remember lying in my bed at night, hearing that terrifying cough and inablity to breath; it was very frightening for me.  I'm impressed with the mom in the video being so calm and comforting. 

 I'm pro-vaccination for many reasons.  Keeping boosters up to date is important, and often overlooked once we get to adulthood.  I'm going soon actually to get the shingles vaccine, dragging my mate along too, as we're getting to that more vulnerable age. 

Carolla, the shingles vaccine hasn't been around that long, doesn't that raise questions for you? Just curious.

Here's an interesting read about the flu vaccine.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/11/does-the-vaccine-mat...

It's pretty well been confirmed that the flu vaccine doesn't prevent the flu in the elderly now that we have the hindsight and statistics from using it over many years. It's questionable whether children should be given it also.

That was really hard to watch.  Feel so badly for the baby and the mom....

I understand incidents of whooping cough are on the rise...according to my doctor.

The article you link to cites the views of "some flu experts" - you will always find "some" experts who disagree with the consensus - and "several vaccine skeptics." It's hardly a convincing read. There are "some experts" and "several skeptics" who don't agree with global warming.

The Centres for Disease Control (more credible in my view than "some flu experts" and "several vaccine skeptics") estimates that the flu vaccine decreases your odds of getting the flu by 70-90%. It's nonsense to say that "it's pretty well been confirmed that the flu vaccine doesn't prevent the flu in the elderly now that we have the hindsight and statistics from using it over many years." The CDC says that the flu vaccine isn't AS effective in elderly people because elderly people have a naturally weaker immune system to begin with, but because they have a naturally weaker immune system they need to have the flu vaccine to boost it. Indeed, the CDC's own webpage, in speaking of the 2013-14 flu season, says clearly that "CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older as the first and most important step in protecting against this serious disease." There was also a Canadian study released last fall which suggested that people with a heart condition who receive the flu vaccine cut their risk of a heart attack by half. That study was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association and supported by the Mayo Clinic - again, both with more credibility to me than "some flu experts" and "several vaccine skeptics."

The CDC also argues that many people believe the flu vaccine doesn't work because they get vaccinated and then come down with a very bad cold - which feels like the flu but isn't the flu. In other words, the vaccine guarded against the virus it was supposed to guard against, but the person came down with a similar but unrelated virus and mistakenly blamed the vaccine for not working.

There are conclusive studies about the flu vaccine and the elderly.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/a-new-flu-season-of-pain-profit-and-politic...

Look up, "flu vaccine" "the Canadian problem"

In 2009 the H1N1 vaccine was given in BC and actually made the recipients more vulnerable to the flu. Turns out it wasn't just a "Canadian Problem".

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/08/28/study_raises_red_flag_for_u...

When it comes to vaccines, I do think we can do better.  We give children more than one dose for the flu vaccine.  Maybe that would also work well with the elderly, who do have a smaller response.

There was a study that suggested that women have a bigger response than men and could therefore recieve a smaller dose, which might be very useful during an epidemic, yet it wasn't done in 2009 and it's not being done this year.  It would be nice if they at least gave that option and used it in a study (although there are issues when participants choose what group they are in).

There's little research about who is likely to have a bad reaction.  That might be true of many drugs, I haven't spent that long looking into others, but we do here about hypermetabolizers for certain pain medications.  I don't know if we actually screen.  I do think that's the way medicine is heading, a more personalized approach, but there's still a long way to go.

Vaccines do work though, and there are studies that show this, including influenza vaccinations.

The credibility of the Centre for Research on Globalization (your first link) is very much in question. It has been accused of, for example, anti-Jewish bias and of promoting Holocaust denial.

The second article acknowledges that the study you're referring to was conducted on pigs (and a later one on ferrets) who had never been exposed to ANY type of flu virus, and therefore may not be indicative of how the flu vaccine works in humans who generally HAVE been exposed to other types of flu viruses

I'll still take the word of the Centres for Disease Control, the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Mayo Clinic - but whoever wants to listen to a group accused of anti-Jewish thought and to the results of experiments on pigs and ferrets that don't necessarily translate to humans is welcome to do so, of course.

Thanks for taking this on, Steven. I'm a little pressed for time at the moment. Won't be back to debunk anything until later tonight.

As with anything we should be diligent and stay informed. Certainly anyone that wants to have a flu shot should get one. I have to give them to people. It's a choice......hopefully it stays that way.

If looking for comprehensive reviews of research - The Cochrane Collaboration is pretty much the gold standard in terms of evaluation & consolidation of published medical/health research studies. 

http://www.cochrane.org/cochrane-reviews 

Keep in mind that sometimes a result of "no evidence" - does not necessarily mean "ineffective" - it may just be stating that there is currently no credible research available. 

Vaccination is an example of agape

Those who don't, care more aboot themselves than their fellow human being...

Thus endeth the sermon...

(yay democracy -- allowing people to fail...)

I haven't had the shot in a couple of years now. I forgot and then figured it was probably too late because the season has or is peaking. I had the flu last winter and now I really know and will remember the difference between the flu and a cold. I had a bad cold in October but last year was the first actual flu I remember in a while- it hit me while I was at work. I went in feeling a little tired and 3 hours later felt so bad I absolutely had to leave, and hoped I could make it home without falling down or collapsing- and then hardly wanted to move from my bed for a couple of days-was quite sick for a whole week at least. People call every bad cold and stomach bug 'the flu'- the flu is fever, glazed eyes, sore throat, aches, chills- that progresses quickly into a lower respiratory illness. People who are coming down with the flu look sick, more so than a couple of hours before it starts coming on- you can tell by looking at them- they are sick! vs. a cold, maybe not so much! A cold normally (but there are exceptionally heavy colds) has mild symptoms as opposed to a flu. With the actual flu- fever, chills, zero energy, and uncomfortable aches, but a cold takes a little longer to become full blown and usually even the full blown symptoms aren't such a ton of bricks, with colds. Colds can get deeper, move from the upper to lower respiratory tract over a few days but I find, unless you get laryngitis or bronchitis or some other secondary infection on top of a cold- they don't zap as much energy out of a person as the real 'flu'- but, for those with already compromised immune systems, even a cold can be dangerous. I understand that.

Hi Rev. Steven Davis,

Amen to this.

Part of the reason why I stepped down as president of the local Autism Ontario chapter was because I was tired of going into meeting after meeting and repeating that the Wakefield study was useless.

I understand its allure.  Parents beat themselves up thinking that their child's autism is their fault.  They simply cannot accept it is part of the genetic crapshoot we are all a part of.  Wakefield's study gave them someone, other than themselves, to point the finger at and blame.  It allows them to continue in the delusion that their little bundle of joy was perfect in everyway until some monster pricked it with a needle.

I am glad my wife and I never had to deal with any of this malicious crap.  I still shake my head over the one physician who tried to convince us that autism is a result of the refrigerator mother.  I don't know how anyone can be called doctor and believe that quackery and truth to tell compared to that Wakefield's nonsense at least seems plausible.

I have no tolerance for this particular conspiracy.

This ignorance kills the weak and the vulnerable before it will kill the ignorant themselves.  And that is the real tragedy.  It isn't stupid people paying the price for their own stupidity it is always someone else who suffers because of their stupidity.

I wish I could be more even-minded on this topic.  In this instance ignorance is not bliss it is pain, suffering and way too often it is death.

Grace and peace to you.

John

It's hard to tell if the flu is actually influenza without actually being tested.  It's why the term ILI - inlfuenza-like illness exists.

As a kid I had 'the flu' many times.  Once a year was pretty common and I would often end up with bronchitis too.  I doubt they were actually all caused by influenza viruses, but what I experienced was different than a cold.

I'm pretty sure I had the flu last year. The last time before that, that it hit me that hard, that quickly, was in the 90's sometime. Several colds since (once every year approx. Sometimes 2 sometimes none.), bronchitis, tonsillitis- but usually just minor symptoms that hang around just to annoy- I even had a Norwalk like bug once, a'stomach flu' but this flu was nasty and my boss gave it to a bunch of us- edited a bunch of excess babble.

Another thing- if sick, please stay home as much as possible until the contagious phase has passed. I know it is hard for people with no sick pay because I am one of them, but it helps a lot of people. Some viruses can't be vaccinated for (can Norwalk?) and so it makes no difference for those if a person's had a flu shot.