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Why is Everyone Getting So Sick With the “Flu” This Time?

guy with the flu

For many weeks now, the media has been reporting that this influenza season, which began in October 2017, may be the worst in recent history or, at least, one of the worst.1 2 3 4 5 6 The stream of alarming media reports focus on the number of people in the United States hospitalized for influenza-like illnesses (ILI), the number of reported influenza cases, and the number of deaths reportedly associated with influenza.

As of January 27, for example, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the “hospitalization rate” for the fourth week of 2018 for those suffering from influenza or influenza-like illnesses was 51 per 100,000 people; the number of “laboratory-confirmed” cases of influenza illness stood at 126,117 for the season, and the number of children believed to have died of “influenza-related” illnesses totaled 53.7

Many media reports offer projections about trends in influenza infection rates and comparisons with past years. Almost all of them include an urgent call for people to get vaccinated. “It is late and so do not walk, run. Run to your provider’s office or pharmacy to get the vaccine,” warns William Schaffner, MD of Vanderbilt University. His ominous warning comes on the heels of media advisories last fall informing the public that the 2017-2018 influenza vaccine everyone is being urged to get is estimated to be 90 percent ineffective.8 

That’s right—the flu shot only works 10 percent of the time against the type A influenza going around this year.

Some media reports attempt to explain why everybody seems to be getting so sick this flu season. In the TIME article “Here’s Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year,” Jamie Ducharme cited the prevalence of the H3N2 strain (or “subtype”) of the influenza A virus. Ducharme wrote:

This year, influenza A—specifically H3N2—is especially prevalent, according to the CDC. In years with predominantly H3 viruses, according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], the country tends to see more serious cases of the flu, especially in young children and elderly adults, as well as decreased vaccine effectiveness, resulting in more total infections and more hospitalizations. H3 viruses were also behind the severe flu seasons in 2014-2015 and 2012-2013, according to the CDC. A separate flu strain, H1N1, has also popped up in some parts of the country, adding even more cases to the tally, the CDC reports.9 

In a Vox article titled “This year’s awful flu season, mapped,” Julia Belluz wrote that the reason this year’s influenza season is more severe than usual is because it involves the”dreaded” H3N2—a strain of the influenza A virus that “causes more health complications and is more difficult to prevent.” Belluz continued:

H3N2 hits people harder than other seasonal flu strains and can be especially deadly among vulnerable groups like the elderly and children. Researchers still aren’t sure why, but they’ve found that a flu season involving the H3 virus is generally nastier—with more hospitalizations and flu-related deaths—than seasons involving mostly H1N1 or influenza B viruses.10 

The consensus is that it’s all about this year’s influenza A virus being unusually aggressive and that is why it seems nearly everyone is sick this year. Or is it? Is it really that simple?

If it were true that this season’s especially troublesome influenza epidemic was solely due to a virulent influenza virus, then, logically, everyone who is exposed to the virus would get sick. But that is not what happens. In an article in The Vaccine Reaction, journalist Rishma Parpia pointed out that it is “susceptibility, and not exposure” that plays a “critical role in whether you become sick.”11

Your susceptibility to disease or illness is determined in large part by whether or not your immune system is healthy and functioning normally. Although apparently healthy people can get complications from influenza and die, in most cases the stronger your immune system, the lower your susceptibility to becoming ill or developing complications of an infectious disease.

Just how healthy are most Americans? When you take a look at the prevalence of chronic illness in our society, it is evident that the immune systems of many Americans may not be in great shape and that their natural defenses against infectious disease have been compromised by a range of factors that contribute to a growing epidemic of autoimmunity and other chronic illness. According to Parpia

Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, chronic lung diseases, stroke, and type 2 diabetes account for most deaths in the U.S. These diseases are responsible for seven in 10 deaths among Americans each year. In 2011, 171 million people (more than half the population) in America had at least one or more chronic diseases—the main cause of sickness, disability and skyrocketing health costs in the nation.12 

Autoimmune diseases are among the most prevalent diseases in the U.S., affecting more than 23.5 million Americans, particularly women. More than 80 autoimmune diseases have been identified. The most common of these affecting Americans are type 1 diabetes, lupus, MS, rheumatoid arthritis and celiac disease.12 

With so much endemic chronic sickness in the U.S., is it any wonder that so many people are highly susceptible to infectious diseases such as influenza and have a higher risk of complications, such as pneumonia, that can be life-threatening in some cases?

Public health officials should consider focusing more on why Americans are so immunologically frail and susceptible to infectious diseases and complications rather only worrying about why certain strains of the influenza virus are so formidable. If people strengthen and nurture the human immune system, viruses like influenza and other microbes, in general, may cease being such boogeymen.


References:
1 Joffe J. We’re on the Verge of the Deadliest Flu Season in HistoryOuter Places Jan. 12, 2018.
2 McNeil  DG. This Flu Season Is the Worst in Nearly a DecadeThe New York Times Jan. 26, 2018. 
3 Woods B. Medical experts predict worst flu season in history. CNBC Jan. 9, 2018.
4 2017-18 flu season expected to be one of worst in yearsKFVS 12 Jan. 17, 2018.
5 Flu season to be worst in a decadeAJC.com Jan. 28, 2018.  
6 
This Year’s Flu Could Be Worst in HistoryConnect Media Jan. 17, 2018.
7 Scutti S. 16 more children dead from flu; peak still to come, CDC says. CNN Feb. 2, 2018.
8 Cáceres M. Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness a ‘Dismal 10 Percent’. The Vaccine Reaction Jan. 2, 2018.
9 
Ducharme J. Here’s Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year. TIME Jan. 17, 2018.
10 Belluz J. This year’s awful flu season, mapped. Vox Feb. 2, 2018.
11 Parpia R. Lowering Our Susceptibility During “Flu Season”. The Vaccine Reaction Nov. 7, 2015.
12 Parpia R. Why are Americans So Sick? The Vaccine Reaction July 6, 2017.

33 Responses

  1. The FACT of the matter is that very few sick people are being tested for influenza. Rather it is being assumed people have influenza. This points to manipulation of fear, of numbers and the threat posed from being ill. My son and I were very sick 2 weeks ago. He was vomiting and had diarrhea but no one tested him for influenza. Due to his having seizures, we ended up in ER because I could not stop the diarrhea & vomiting which resulted in several seizures. HE NEVER HAD A FEVER which is supposed to be one of the cardinal signs of flu. I never vomited nor had diarrhea. I just felt like I got hit with a Mack truck. Both of us went through 24 hours then it abated.
    So what did we have? I learned today he has a low-grade fever. He will recover in 24 hours. But is it a virus, bacteria or other micro-organism? Or is it what Antoine Beuchamp described as the “terrain” – the body being deficient in something allowing for a “disease” to settle in? The germ theory is still just that – A Theory.

  2. I’ve been out of the military 30 years this summer. I’ve not once received the flu vaccine since leaving the Navy. I 100% agree with the comment that a strong immune system is the best defense. I’ve had flu like symptoms twice in 30 years and it’s been little more than the 24 hour bug.

    Years ago, I recognized if only a few % of people get the flu anyway, then there was no way the vaccine was going to be more than that few % effective even if magically for the right strain. Of course, the vaccine is off the mark far more than the CDC admits. Yet, everyone is supposed to fear the flu and go get their dose of dangerous mercury, formaldehyde, etc. Now, is this really about preventing the flu or helping the officials invested in the suppliers of the vaccine scrape a bunch of profit into their accounts?

  3. I would also like to know how many of these people had the flu shot……..I only heard about a few. And the children – how many vaccines they had to weaken their Immune systems.

  4. I am nearly 71 and have only had 2 flu shots, last one in 2005. I refuse to ever get another one, since I’ve learned about the mercury or aluminum in vaccines and the POOR effectiveness of vaccines. Vaccines for those over 65 are 3% effective. Why would anyone take the risk! I walk an hour daily (except when it’s 11 degrees or below), 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D3, 1000 mg. of Vitamin C, 300 mg. of Alpha Lipoic Acid (anti-oxidant) and other supplements. Take 2-3 drops of Oil of Oregano (anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal antiseptic, anti-biofilm) under the tongue at the first sign of a sore throat, cough, headache or other symptoms. Even works for gum inflammation and toothache–since it’s anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory)–works way better than penicillin from my experience. Also check out black healing oils.
    Have had NO flu that I can remember in the last 20 years.

  5. Auto immune diseases are the direct cause of early vaccinations decimating the bodies own immune system. And flu and other yearly vaccines people choose to or are forced to get further. the destruction.
    Big pharma know what they’re doing. Problem, reaction, solution.
    God didn’t create us to have our own system attack itself, that’s just asinine to believe that.
    Funny how in nature animals live out their full lives, no issues, no auto immune issues. But yet take the domesticated canine, castrate it and give it a boat load of vaccines. And now their life span is 5-7 years shorter and they amazingly have the same auto immune diseases that man kind has.

    And this years released flu isn’t causing all the deaths and hospitalizations, it’s Sepsis.
    Special Alert: The Alarming Reason Some People Die From the Flu
    https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/02/01/how-influenza-can-lead-to-sepsis.aspx?utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20180201Z3&et_cid=DM183194&et_rid=201181767

  6. Anything to push fear, vaccines and big pharma. There’s a boogy-man around every corner and only big pharma and big brother can prevent and save you. Which they are tied together along with Hollywood and the media. If you don’t believe it just watch your favorite “program”, including the media and see just what ads you see 90% of the time and what the media covers.

  7. they are also not mentioning or even bringing up the possibility in people’s minds that the FLU SHOT ITSELF may be responsible for the spread of this “virulent strain” of flu.

    I live in a fairly good sized city and I don’t know one single person who has been ill this year, yet they say our hospital is full. COuld it be barely possible that the vaccinated people are the ones in the ER’s and admission areas?? Yes sir, that’s a grand possibility. But they won’t ever tell you this.

    I even have a compromised immune system (Sjogren’s syndrome) and I haven’t shown a hint of being ill. My husband had a cough for about 3 days late last year (just before the holidays) but we don’t know what that was all about and surely wasn’t anything highly contagious. Neither of us have had shots for many, many years and do not intend to do so. I’ll sit in jail before I succumb to some overpaid doctor telling me what I have to do – and it would seem I know more about staying well than he does.

    1. Yes..and I wonder..where does the flu go in the spring and summer? Why does it only show up when people start taking the vaccine? Hmmm. I’m afraid people are to concerned with being entertained to think critically anymore. Haven’t had the flu vaccine in over 12 years..or the flu.

  8. Can anyone locate any objective study that reveals the healthy benefits of vaccines? I would like to know how many people who are fully vaccinated with all of the CDC recommendations including the flu shot contracted the flu. Also, how many people who are totally vaccine free contracted the flu? I would be willing to bet that the numbers are out there somewhere but being withheld from the public.

  9. I am 73 y/o, and a chiropractor who has utilized good health habits all my life. I have been a lifelong athlete starting age 9 in competitive tennis, then football, basketball, college tennis and I continue to play tennis 2-3 times per week, and workout in a gym with weights and stationary bike. Mostly vegetarian since 1975. I have not had a cold, or flu, or any other infectious disease except a UTI from hot weather tennis with not enough fluid intake last year. Other than lots of exercise and vegetarian diet and chiropractic care to normalize nervous system (which controls everything, including immune system) I take lots of vitamins and minerals and have since age 10. Currently, I take 7,000 to 12,000 IUs of D3 daily, plus powerful 2/day multi from Life Extension Foundation (check them out—LEF.ORG) and some days a vit C powder 4,000 mgs plus too many others to name. Prevention of all diseases including cancer is possible with appropriate lifestyle actions. Check my blog—drchiptravis.com

  10. Problem,reaction,solution.Governments,FDA,CDC,want an agenda enacted say mandadory flu shots to all school children.They create the problem in the media with massive horrible flu deaths especially in the 53 children they keep reporting on.Reaction get the media to portray the flu deaths incessantly.Come up with the solution that you wanted all along.Everyone must get the shot,no more exemptions,We have to save the children.

  11. I have 2 of the genes for celiac. I get a severe raw red itchy rash where I sweat when I accidently ingest it. One of the things I have noticed since I have stopped eating it is that my airborne allergy symptoms have been eliminated.

  12. The five year old girl in Las Vegas had had the vaccine against the strain of flu that she died from. I believe that we have so much cold and flu because people do not stay home when they are sick, thus spreading them like wildfires. Parents send their kids to school when they are obviously sick and feeling lousy. We need to modify our behavior rather than continue marinating our bodies with chemicals and other harmful substances, including antibiotics, that weaken our immune systems. We are always snacking, and how many people wash their hands before grabbing a cookie or a doughnut at work, or shopping, or visiting? Doctors prescribe antibiotics when there is no bacterial infection, and there are illegal antibiotics for sale on the street. We are always snacking, and how many people wash their hands before grabbing a cookie or a doughnut at work, or having lunch in the food court when shopping? There is obviously a deliberate effort to keep people from knowing when people who died from flu had been vaccinated.

  13. I agree completely and wish we could turn this model of modern medicine around. It is not in our best interest to continue poisoning ourselves with toxins in our food, air and water, and then injecting ourselves and our children with more toxins. It’ s really disturbing that the human race has lost sight of the fact that we have innate healing abilities especially when we build and maintain a healthy and strong immune system.

  14. The “flu” I have seen, that starts with a dry cough and a scratchy throat and progresses into fever, aches, a sore throat and horrible cough and headache is unquestionably NOT H3N2.
    The headache is an entirely separate set of issues from the fever thru the cough. There seems to be no discernible pattern to these.
    The symptoms that keep coming back for weeks and weeks are also separate issues from the rest, again with no discernible pattern. They are most likely caused by multiple layers of germs infected with other germs so that when one set of germs is cleared, the next set is released, over and over. Hulda Clark informed us of such phenomena during the 1990s and the principle is becoming more the rule than the exception.
    The “flu” itself seems to be either a combination of the 2010 flu and 2011 flu, the weirdest things imaginable, or 2010+2011+ a third agent of questionable origin.
    It should be obvious that Americans have degenerated immune systems and are generally seriously physically degenerated (see Weston Price’s book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration). However, it is impossible for me not to believe that these and at least 20 years of peculiar organisms, many of them called “flu”, are in reality weaponized, lab created monsters.

  15. OK, Marco Caseres, you make a great point in your next to last paragraph:

    “With so much endemic chronic sickness in the U.S., is it any wonder that so many people are highly susceptible to infectious diseases such as influenza and have a higher risk of complications, such as pneumonia, that can be life-threatening in some cases?”

    However, I am extremely tired of articles that include:

    “Public health officials should consider focusing more on…”

    …when what We the Public and Investigative Medical Journalists need to be focusing on is screaming for CDC to PROVE THEIR SCIENCE & to take the bazillions of dollars OUT of vaccines profits by CDC holding vaccine patents!!!!!!!!! NO MONEY should be making any public or private industry rich on the obscene number of illnesses in our country. TAKE THE PROFIT OUT OF CDC.

  16. I’ve had the “susceptibility vs. exposure” argument with many people over the years, going so far to explain that my husband gets the flu nearly every year (yes, he gets the flu shot) yet my children and I never get the flu (we’ve never had the flu shot either … no thank you). We (kids and I) eat well, take vitamins (particularly vitamin D in the winter), do all those common sense type things to stay healthy. Most people give me the “deer-in-the-headlights” look when I try to explain. Hubby does as well, even though he has seen it for himself … but he buys into the hype and scare tactics the distorted media puts out there. It was reported that 30 people in our city of 3,000,000 were hospitalized for the flu so far this season and the media referred to it as an epidemic. Really?

  17. Thyroid – is the power house of the body and hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disease that is under tested for and under treated. I am convinced vaccines are one of the many assaults the thyroid sustains that lead to its compromise. It is a dibilitating disease that can cripple the mind body and soul. What a sweet mixture for a industry that is “there for you” -treating the latest depression, skin ailments, sexual disruption, psychosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia blood pressure problems etc. (the list is endless). The lab test for the thyroid is rarely performed on children, if ever without insistence. (My nephew who was 10 at the time was only tested through my pressuring the doc= severe Hypo) And to compound the issue even if one is tested the test out dated (by like 40 years) and littered with skewed “normal” ranges that were calculated from a pool of hypo thyroid subjects. And the treatment – do t even get me started – the #1 selling medication in America – levothyroxine which is an ineffective treatment for most due to no T 3 hormone in it. And the natural bovine treatment that does work isn’t taught in med school anymore and outrageously priced at the pharmacy. Call me a conspiracy theorist but there’s something shady going on here and I feel there’s a war going on for your money and your mind. Hypothyroidism is big pharma’s (and who knows who else’s) best kept secret.

  18. I did get the nasty flu or flu-like virus, as did my sons. We were very miserable for 5 days, then slowly felt better. I asked a few people whether they’d gotten sick and whether they’d received the flu shot (none of us get them) and no one who had taken the shot reported being ill with the flu (although one lady got her shot after she had the flu)

    There aren’t any studies about this and there’s always other layers to the issue. One huge question is whether getting the flu shot year after year weakens immunity over time.

  19. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. We in America tend to forget the prevention part and instead focus on that miracle drug or vaccine. We forget that if we have strong immune systems in the first place no disease would be an issue. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our bodies were designed to be self-healing. We just need to give them the correct fuel.

  20. When there is a live virus in the vaccine, those who receive it will shed the virus for up to 2 weeks possibly more. That means they can infact spread it to others.

    Who knows what they put in the vaccine that was given in 2017. Almost everyone I know came down with a cold in December. I was one of the few who did not get sick. Can’t say why except I was drinking large amounts of fresh citrus juice daily for over a month prior and ate fresh tumeric several times a day during the holiday season.

  21. For years, the CDC repeatedly told us that “36,000 people died from the flu this year.” Now they are telling us we are in midst of the worst flu epidemic in recent memory, with all of 53 children having died from it?

    The CDC has lost all credibility.

    1. Office space is provided the “CDC” by our tax dollars. The functions of the CDC are provided by the pharma industry. In essence, the CDC is the mouth of the US pharma industry.
      In 2013, Dr. William Thompson, senior epidemiologist at the CDC stepped forward and confessed that the pivotal study by the CDC, published in the journal of the American Association of Pediatrics (2004) was manipulated, to cover-up evidence of risk, documents were destroyed. Dr. Thompson provided detailed primary evidence in 1,000 pages of CDC documents showing the agency’s scientists were engaged in vaccine research fraud with the full knowledge of highest CDC officials.

      Former CDC Director, Dr. Julie Gerberding, who approved Gardasil Vaccine, was hired by Merck as director of Merck´s Vaccine Division. Dr. Gerberding was named as one of the “most evil people in medicine today,” by the website Medicine News.

      Since the Gardasil vaccine was approved while Gerberding was head of the CDC, many young girls who have received the Gardasil shots have gone into pre-mature menopause, suffering from Primary Ovarian Failure. See Study: HPV Vaccine Linked to Premature Menopause in Young Girls, “They’ve Been Robbed of Their Womanhood” – Local Milwaukee Media Covers Gardasil Vaccine Injuries

      Others would ask, since the Gardasil vaccine is one of the most controversial vaccines in the world, with many lawsuits currently being litigated for injuries and deaths outside the U.S., and many countries outside the U.S. no longer recommending the vaccine, would it be more appropriate to name Dr. Julie Gerberding “one of the most evil people in medicine today,” as did the website Medicine News in 2016?
      Gerberding is an Example of the Revolving Door Between the CDC and Vaccine Manufacturers.
      According to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database, Gardasil has injured a total of 53,383 individuals and killed a further 383. Julie Gerberding, MD, was hired by MERCK into the chief virologist position, cashing in on the vaccine that was granted approval by the CDC under her watch.

      Searching the internet for CDC fraud will uncover additional fraud.

  22. I think the vaccinated are shedding a mutated virus upon the rest of us. They like to pin blame on unvaccinated folks for measly measles outbreaks. Let’s turn the tables. This flu season was 100% mutated virus shed from the vaccinated.

  23. Vaccination is continued in contrast to scientific findings.
    “Frontiers in Public Health“ published the results of a study in the US, three major findings:
    “1. Vaccinated children were more than twice as likely to have some chronic illness.
    2. Vaccinated children were nearly four times as likely to have learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder.
    3. Vaccinated children who were born prematurely were more than six times more likely to have brain or central nervous system disorders, including autism.“
    The world-famous Koch Institute of Germany published similar findings from a study done in Germany.
    In 1806 Dr. Birch, a British physician, wrote “ – – the public should express regret that what ought to have been admitted as an experiment only had been adopted as a practice,“ History and Pathology of Vaccination, 1889, p 194.
    The motivation for continuing the fraud that is termed “vaccination“ was discerned in 1805 by author Crookshank, “In 1805 Jenner was again in London discussing with his friends the establishment of vaccination and the advancement of his private fortune“. (Ibid p 193)
    Dr. Maurice Hilleman, former chief virologist for MERCK stated that vaccination causes only illness and death.

  24. My son is recovering from what I’m told is the flu and he’s never had a flu shot in all his 16 years. He is on the autism spectrum so sometimes it’s hard to tell what he’s really feeling.

    He seems to be recovering nicely. He actually had something of an appetite this past week. Mostly he’s been sleeping.

  25. “…Supporting the observation is a great body of scientific evidence that: “the risk of death from common childhood diseases is two time for a mildly malnourished child, three-time in a moderately malnourished child and as high as eight-time for a severely malnourished child.” ~ Dr AK Mishra, public health specialist.

    I’m sure the above is probably true for every age in Humans.
    October begins the “season of sugary food celebrations”; Halloween through Easter – isn’t that what’s called ‘flu season’? The greater the toxic load/burden in the body, the less robust will the systems be; sugar, processed, & synthetic ‘foods’/additives are toxins.

  26. At 62 I’ve never had a flu shot. I remember MAYBE having the flu once in my whole life, as a newlywed. I took NOTHING for it, just stayed in bed, drank a lot of fluids, caught up on some reading, slept a lot. And ran a good, serious fever, much to my newlywed hubby’s chagrin – about 104+ if I recall. And I got over the flu in 3 days. For him, who popped acetaminophen every 4 hours it lasted about 2 weeks.

    Since homeopathy entered my life, about half a lifetime ago, I’ve not had true “flu” at all that I recall, and if I did, it was such a blip on the screen, I DO NOT REMEMBER IT!

    Every year during flu season I take, as to most of my clients, a homeopathic flu remedy weekly. Most of them remain flu-free, and report fewer colds. Now, with the potential of permanent neurological injury (i.e. Guillian-Barre Syndrome, among other possibilities) why on earth would I take a flu shot?

    Yet the fear sells flu shots – that are worthless at best, and dangerous at worst, every single year. Wash your hands people…staying healthy, breathing fresh air, walking, all of it helps resist flu, not cocooning with a surgical mask and hiding from the rest of humanity with your flu shot!

  27. I never got the flu having gotten a flu shot in September 2018, and yet, my financial advisor got sick just one week ago and I was supposed to get a call from a doctor regarding this foot pain I have which only affected my left foot, but then I get a call from Kaiser saying that the doctor just called in sick. So now I am going to have my primary physician call me tomorrow and I am at wit’s end. I don’t ever remember what it’s like to be seriously sick except I remember having bacterial pneumonia in 1986. I took antibiotics after being hospitalized and continued receiving antibiotics until I got better, Though I then went onto suffer bronchitis and fluid in the lung. I currently took penicillin which solved the problem of ‘lung’ wheeze, which I took to having mild ‘asthma ‘ which I had for more than 26 years, but I never had the flu, due to my flu shot I got before the beginning of the flu season so I never feel what’s actually like to have the flu.

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