Who is dying from the flu?

How serious is the flu situation now in BC? ShuNews has been following this story since the outset, and we will try to summarize the situation in realistic terms as it now stands.

Firstly, it is important to realize that despite all the hype and misinformation the so-called swine flu or novel pandemic flu, now officially called H1N1 (the traditional name for seasonal flu), is just another strain of seasonal flu. While some are saying that it is the dominant strain of seasonal flu this year, it appears actually to account for somewhere between 2% and 20% of cases, with normal seasonal flu accounting for the rest.

Secondly, in the ordinary meaning of the word, there is no pandemic. It is only technically a pandemic. But by the same technical definition of pandemic, every year’s seasonal flu is a pandemic. There is nothing unusual about this year’s flu except the media and political hype. Experience from the southern hemisphere’s flu season indicates that it was a quieter than usual flu season and that the novel pandemic flu has not mutated. There is no reason to suspect a second wave this fall (now) in the northerm hemisphere.

Predictions that the novel pandemic H1N1 could mutate and return in a second more virulent wave derive largely from a convenient (mis)interpretation of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 that purportedly killed some 20 million people. We say ‘purportedly’ here because some researchers of the Spanish flu have concluded that it was vaccines that killed so many people and that few actually died from the flu itself.

We are led to believe that many are dying from this year’s novel pandemic flu, but in fact the numbers (as they are reported) are no greater than those reported for any other flu season. This reporting traditionally has grouped flu with other respiratory illness, including pneumonia. Seasonal flu cases have not historically been reported serpately because the symptoms of influenza are similar to so many other conditions of illness. It is not feasible to identify flu cases separately because that would require laboratory analysis for every case of flu-like illness, of which influenza itself is only a small percentage. So when we see flu death statistics we need to remember that these numbers include way more than flu.

Another thing we need to realize is that, even by the official numbers, it is rare for people to die from seasonal flu (including this year’s novel pandemic H1N1). Your chances of dying from seasonal flu are about the same as being killed by a nuclear bomb or bioterrorist attack. The chances of dying in a car accident are way higher. The chances of dying from a hospital-acquired infection are some ten times greater than dying from flu. So we need to keep things in perspective.

There is no pandemic. This is a light seasonal flu year. Just as in 1976 and 1918, the chances of dying (sooner or later, directly or indirectly) from a reaction to vaccination is greater than dying from the flu itself.

Lastly, the theory of vaccination has not been proven. It does not rest on a firm scientific foundation. There is much to suggest that vaccination actually increases the incidence of a disease being vaccinated against and little to suggest that vaccination reduces it.

While many over the years have tried to bring the risks of vaccination to the public’s attention — with little success — vaccine-caused illness has suddenly catapulted into wide public awareness because of new and more dangerous ingredients in modern vaccines that were not used earlier. This has been brought to our attention by the thousands of victims of Gulf War syndrome caused by squalene adjuvants in military anthrax vaccines in the 90s. And although ingredients like mercury and aluminium have long been added to vaccines, they are now coming to the public’s attention because the level of chronic childhood illnesses like autism has become epidemic as the degree of vaccination of children has steadily increased.

BC says it is monitoring the H1N1 situation and is reporting flu-related deaths (see below). Keep in mind that flu-related deaths is not the same thing as flu-caused deaths. In the vast majority of cases people who die while they have influenza die not from flu but from secondary infections, and most who die with the flu (not necessarily from the flu) have underlying conditions that, combined with secondary infection as well as the flu, are overwhelming to the body. Influenza alone is rarely the cause of death.

Health experts say the best way to protect yourself against minor diseases like influenza is to maintain good health through lifestyle by getting enough sleep, good nutrition, and minimizing stress. They also say that the benefit of catching the flu is that it gives your body the opportunity to build permanent immunity that is then boosted every time you are exposed again to flu. By comparison, the immunity provided by vaccines is relatively short term and must by renewed — at the risk of suffering harm from the drugs used to provide such short-term and unpredictable benefits.

What are independent health experts (not in the employ of big pharma) saying about CDC reporting of flu deaths? Listen to this interview of vaccine expert Barbara Loe Fisher, conducted by well-known physician Dr. Mercola.

Copyright © 2009 ShuswapNews.com

H1N1 flu virus (human swine flu) under surveillance

October 27, 2009
Ministry of Health Services
Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport

British Columbia continues to monitor and respond to the spread of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus. Since Oct. 20, there have been 88 new severe cases of H1N1 identified in B.C. – 43 in Fraser Health, 29 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 11 in Interior Health, four on Vancouver Island and one in Northern Health – with three new deaths, two in Fraser Health and one in Interior Health. The majority of lab-confirmed cases in B.C. have been mild or moderate in severity, with the patients either having already recovered or currently recovering.

While the Province continues to monitor all laboratory-confirmed cases, the weekly report now includes only severe confirmed H1N1 cases (hospitalizations and deaths). For more detailed surveillance data, visit www.bccdc.ca.

How many severe cases of the H1N1 flu virus are there in B.C.?

• Since Oct. 20, there have been 88 new severe cases of H1N1 identified in B.C., with three new deaths.

• In total, BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has confirmed 199 severe H1N1 cases in British Columbia since April 2009, including:

• Eighty-seven in Fraser Health, including seven deaths.

• Thirty-one in Interior Health, including three deaths.

• Six in Northern Health.

• Sixty in Vancouver Coastal Health, including one death.

• Fifteen on Vancouver Island, including one death.

  • Of these 199 lab-confirmed cases admitted to hospital, 51 have been admitted to the ICU. Twenty-one new cases have been admitted to the ICU in the last week.

  • To date, twelve laboratory-confirmed H1N1 cases in B.C. are reported to have died. In eleven of those cases, there were underlying medical conditions.