MSM report from 2012: Flu vaccine ineffective. Mexican flu campaign targeted mass hysteria

The number of yearly flu shots in Germany has increased eightfold between 1990 and 2011, while the number of flu deaths has remained constant and the number of hospital days due to flu and pneumonia has increased by 40%. Clearly, this is not a signal of an effective vaccine.

The campaign during the Mexican flu of 2008 clearly the creation of hysteria among the population and thoroughly prepared over many years. Qui bono (who profits)? Doctors earn €10 per shot and vaccine makers earn a few hundred million euros a year.

NB: Fear of the flu (or any other kind of fear for that matter) is also profitable for the media, because fear leads to attention, which in turn leads to more advertising revenue and more sales of newspapers.

There are scientific observational studies where individuals vaccinated against the flu are compared with unvaccinated individuals. The vaccinated die less often during the flu season, but this is likely due to healthy user bias. The vaxxed tend to live more health consciously (e.g. healthier diet/lifestyle/environment) as evidenced by their mortality also being lower during the non-flu season. The latter almost certainly cannot due caused by vaccination.

We need large scale prospective randomized double blind inert placebo controlled trials. These exist and the Cochrane Collaboration has made a meta-analysis of such trials. This shows a minimally effective vaccine: 100 people need to be vaccinated in order for one to benefit.

NB: This means a Number Needed to Vaccinate (NNV) of 100. It's unclear what the exact definition of 'benefit' is in this case. Is it hospitalization? Death? Sniffles?

However, there are some serious problems with these trials:

1. They've all been financed by pharmaceutical companies, which means they're biased towards optimism.
2. It's likely that trials that didn't show positive efficacy were published less or not at all. This skews the data.
3. There are no data for those aged 65 and older, which is the only group that needs additional protection.

It seems the only group for which there is a clear signal of efficacy are people with smoker lungs.

P.S. This report discusses vaccine efficacy. Necessity of vaccination is mentioned indirectly: the yearly death rate is low and that there are alternatives for prevention and treatment, such as healthier diet and lifestyle. What this report does not discuss are negative side-effects of flu vaccines, which should also be a critical factor.

SOURCE: https://odysee.com/@CDL/SWR-warnte-bereits-2012-vor-der-Grippe-Impfung-und-den-Pharma-Unternehmen-und-Profitgier

https://programm.ard.de/TV/swrfernsehenbw/odysso---das-will-ich-wissen-/eid_281138765433074

This report, part of a show with the name Odysso - Das will ich wissen!, was first broadcast on 11 October 2012

Original description:
"Seit Mitte der 90er Jahre hat sich die Zahl der Deutschen verzehnfacht, die sich gegen Grippe impfen lassen. Trotzdem kam es in den letzten Jahren immer wieder zu überdurchschnittlich starken Grippewellen. Der Verdacht liegt nahe, dass die Impfung weniger effektiv ist, als behauptet wird. Odysso hakt nach, warum das Geschäft mit der Grippe-Impfung dennoch brummt und wie es um ihre Wirksamkeit tatsächlich bestellt ist."