THE DISEASE

The name "influenza" originated in the 15th century Italy.  It was then that an epidemic occurred and was called "influence of the stars."  Virologists believe it all starts with birds.  More precisely, water fowl which is defined by virologists as the reservoir for influenza.   They carry almost all known types of influenza, having no ill effects, sharing them with the other animals through their feces.   All animals and human beings that acquire the flu probably get it originally from birds.  Viruses can only infect and take over a cell if the right receptor is present.  As far as present research indicates, humans do not possess the receptor for the avian or bird flu.  Therefore, what’s needed for human infection is another species that has both human and avian flu receptors.  This is where the pig comes into play.  Having both human and avian receptors creates a lot of influenza possibilities for the pig.  The process can be as simple as flu-contaminated bird feces dropping onto dirt in which the pig is rolling around in.  Thus, infecting the pig.  The infection virus is then passed to the farmer.   It is possible for a pig to be infected with one kind of flu(human flu, then contracting the avian flue).  The pig then simultaneously has two different types of  influenza.  When it proceeds to re-infect a human being, it passes on a pig-bird-human influenza. 

It is not possible to get the influenza directly from the bird by inhalation.  Without the proper receptor, it is impossible for the virus to jump species.  However, In Asia and the Orient where we have been hearing about the avian influenza virus being found in humans, one needs to remember that we are talking about cultures where a lot of roosters are used for cock fighting.  It is very possible for those handling the roosters to get scratched and pecked with a little break in the skin which leads to bleeding.  That's one way they can get infected.  Another way is that it is very common for villagers in these developing countries to have roosters, chickens and pigs (their livestock) tied up or running around freely.  A lot of houses are on stilts and the pigs and poultry are tied up under the house.  During cold tropical evenings it is also common to see people sleeping in hammocks, or whatever they use as beds, outside amongst the pigs and the poultry.  This is very common and could very easily explain why we are hearing about humans being infected by the avian influenza overseas.   

Only 10%-20% of the American population that gets sick every year during the "influenza season" actually have the influenza virus.  Other factors are involved such as molds,  fungus, severely compromised immune systems, stress...etc.  The testing of the influenza virus is not common.  Diagnosis is based more on symptoms and less on actually finding the influenza virus in the sick.

THE ANNUAL QUEST

Influenza is that of a mutating virus.  Thus, every year the vaccine viral ingredient changes.  By their own admition, the process in which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attempts to predict which influenza viruses will infect people in the United States is based solely on guesswork.     There are three “families” of the influenza viruses WHO and CDC work with: A, B and C.  The C family has never been used to formulate a vaccine because supposedly it is rarely detected in humans. Nor has it ever been associated with an epidemic.   A is the most virulent strain (dangerous and potentially lethal) and C is the least virulent. 

Smith, Andrews and Laidlaw were the first to isolate the A strain.  They found it in ferrets in 1933.  According to the Irish Examiner, it was a British team that found the first virus in a man.  Francis isolated the B virus in 1936.  But from where?  In the same year, Burnet grew the virus on chicken embryos.

After transmission, the virus attaches to and penetrates the respiratory cells which includes the trachea and bronchi.   Then replication of the virus takes place.  Next thing you know, you have a multiplying viral situation resulting in the destruction of the host cells.  The respiratory cells.  This is then followed by the typical symptoms which alert the individual they may have caught an infection.  The incubation period varies from 1-4 days.  The severity of the infection depends on the individuals immune system.   A healthy individual will be able to get rid of it without major complications.   However, the more challenged the immune system already is, the greater risk of serious complications possibly leading to hospitalization and or death.  It is suggested that aspirin not be used to alleviate the symptoms for infants, children or teenagers, because of their risk for developing Reye syndrome.

With these viruses there are two types of proteins (subtypes) which make up the outer protective coating of the viruses:

1. Hemagglutinin (H)

2. Neuraminidase (N)

The viruses chosen for the vaccines are named according to the type of proteins (subtypes)  they carry.   As you see in the chart there are at least fifteen varieties of the (h) and nine of the (n).  These proteins can combine in every possible way to create a strain.  Thus, it is realistically impossible for any scientist to predict what strain will hit the public each year. 

Influenza viruses are cold-adapted.  Therefore they are able to multiply quickly in the mucosa of the nasal area.   A minimum of 48 hours is required to identify symptoms as the result of a viral infection.  Then an additional 1-2 days are needed to identify the virus type.   Physicians contribute this information by telephone on the number of cases and hospitalizations.  A subgroup of physicians swab  from selected cases for confirmation.  Not all suspecting cases are swabbed.   In order to "properly" diagnose an individual as having the influenza infection, it is required for the individual to have a 4-fold rise in antibody titer.   This requires a rapid diagnostic testing for the influenza antigens.     Since these viruses are cold adapted one can correctly assume that they also continue to multiply in the refrigerated vials during shipping and waiting to be inoculated into the human body.

Don’t forget, these viruses are constantly mutating.  That is why it is realistically impossible for scientists to keep up with the mutation because what strains were collected from the previous year have never been conclusively documented to be the very same strain we see infecting individuals in the following year. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has an international influenza surveillance network to monitor prevalent and new emerging viral strains.  CDC receives weekly reports of influenza activity in America.  These reports are divided into four categories: no cases, sporadic, regional (cases occuring in counties that collectively account for less than 50% of state population), and widespread (cases that collectively account for over 5-% of the state population). Around the world, technicians affiliated with the CDC and WHO collect influenza viruses from pigs and people.  These samples are sent off to the laboratories to be tested.  The most suspecting cases are forwarded to the CDC or to the closest National Influenza Center for full analysis.  CDC then attempts to predict which viruses will infect people in the United States the following year.

It takes time to find chicken eggs deemed “clean”. Meaning that they contain the fewest possible avian contaminants.  The snout of pigs or the nasal area of infected humans are swabbed overseas.  Then those cultures are brought back to the U.S.  Out of these cultures, a "broth" is made which is then injected into fertile chicken eggs that have been stored in incubators.  (Mind you, these are eggs from chickens which are fed rendered animal waste.  They are not your free range healthy chickens).   The eggs are then put back into the incubators where the embryos continue to grow while, at the same time, they are "housing" the three strains of influenza viruses.  The eggs incubate until the embryos are literally teaming with influenza.   Then once the "desired amount" of viruses have been replicated, the embryos are killed and treated with formaldehyde and mercury which are used to kill contaminates and prevent mold growth and further contamination.  There is also aspartame, aluminum hydroxide, antibiotics...etc.  

Because much time is needed to grow the influenza viruses on the chicken embryos later collected for the final manufacturing stages, the realistic scientists can not avoid the fact that this guess work is seriously flawed because viral strains infecting individuals are mutations from the previous years in which strains were obtained.  Is science to assume the common lay person will accept the unproven theory that these strains will help in prevention of infection from the new mutation the following year? 

Physicians brace themselves every year due to anxiety and the reality in which they fear to admit that the vaccine has never been conclusively documented to guarantee any level of immunity.  Even scientists have admitted their lack of confidence for the vaccine to provide immunity.  In the case of the Fujian Influenza it has been stated, “It’s impossible to predict what will happen and, although the Fujian strain was on the radar screen when the decision was made, we didn’t have it in the laboratory. “  At that stage there were question marks over it and I think the correct decision was made to go with the current vaccine.” Dr Jim McMenamin, of the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health.  How is it possible to  make the "correct decision"  with that kind of information?  It is not.

Comparing the Guess Picked Strains to the Surveillance Identified Strains as documented at the CDC's influenza activity site:  There always "similar" viruses or "like" viruses to vaccine strains.  There are never identical infection viruses found to any vaccine strains.  The other scientific term for "similar" and "like" is mutant.

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Year	Picked Vaccine Strains	Surveillance Identified Strains
1999-2000	B/Yamanashi/166/98 A/Beijing/262/95 A/New Caledonia/20/99	influenza type A(H3N2) was the predominant strain circulating in the United States 13,773 were positive by viral isolation or antigen testing. 3,640 (97%) were A(H3N2) 132 (3%) were A(H1N1) CDC antigenically characterized 617 influenza viruses received from U.S. laboratories between October 1999 and May 2000 507 influenza A(H3N2) viruses tested, 492 (97%) were similar to the 1999-2000 vaccine strain A/Sydney/05/97 All 29 of the influenza B viruses antigenically characterized were similar to B/Beijing/184/93, which was represented in the 1999-2000 vaccine by B/Yamanashi/166/98 81 influenza A(H1N1) viruses antigenically characterized, 1 (1%) was similar to A/Beijing/262/95 H1N1 component of the 1999-2000 vaccine, 26 (32%) were similar to A/Bayern/07/95 54 (67%) were more closely related to the antigenic variant A/New Caledonia/20/99 A/Bayern/07/95-like viruses are antigenically distinct from the A/Beijing/262/95-like viruses
2000-2001	A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1) A/Moscow/10/99-like (H3N2) B/Beijing/184/93-like antigens A/Moscow/10/99-like (H3N2) antigen, U.S. manufacturers will use the antigenically equivalent A/Panama/2007/99 (H3N2) for the B/Beijing/184/93-like antigen, they will use the antigenically equivalent B/Yamanashi/166/98 virus	From WHO and NREVSS laboratories world wide: 9,962 specimens were positive 5,337 A viruses 2,061 (97%) were A (H1N1) 66 (3%) were A (H3N2) CDC identified 678 from U.S. laboratories: 335 (95%) were similar to A/New Caledonia/20/99 19 (5%) were similar to A/Bayern/07/95 Of the 23 influenza A (H3N2) viruses that have been characterized, all were antigenically similar to the vaccine strain A/Panama/2007/99 Of the 301 influenza B viruses characterized, 33 (11%) were similar to the vaccine strain, B/Beijing/184/93 268 (89%) were more closely related antigenically to the B/Sichuan/379/99 reference strain
2001-2002	A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1) A/Moscow/10/99-like (H3N2) B/Sichuan/379/99-like viruses A/Moscow/10/99-like (H3N2) virus, U.S. manufacturers will use the antigenically equivalent A/Panama/2007/99 (H3N2) virus the B/Sichuan/379/99-like virus, they will use one of the antigenically equivalent viruses B/Johannesburg/5/99, B/Victoria/504/2000 B/Guangdong/120/2000	From US. WHO and NRVESS laboratories: 15,671 specimens were positive Of the 4,507 influenza A viruses subtyped, 4,420 (98.1%) were H3 viruses and 87 (1.9%) were H1 viruses From CDC: 393 influenza A(H3N2) viruses were similar to the vaccine strain A/Panama/2007/99 (H3N2) 30 influenza A H1 viruses had an H1 protein similar antigenically to the vaccine strain A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1) 267 influenza B viruses Two additional H1N2 viruses were identified and appear to have resulted from the reassortment of the genes of the currently circulating influenza A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) subtypes Between December 1988 and March 1989, 19 influenza A(H1N2) viruses were identified in 6 cities in China. B/Victoria lineage viruses have been identified in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. CDC has antigenically characterized 267 influenza B viruses received from U.S. laboratories and collected since October 1, 2001; 61 belonged to the B/Yamagata lineage and 206 belonged to the B/Victoria lineage 61 B/Yamagata lineage viruses, 13 were similar to the vaccine strain, B/Sichuan/379/99
2002-2003	A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1) A/Moscow/10/99-like (H3N2) B/Hong Kong/330/2001-like viruses A/Moscow/10/99-like (H3N2) virus, U.S. manufacturers will use the antigenically equivalent A/Panama/2007/99 (H3N2) virus for the B/Hong Kong/330/2001-like virus, they will use either B/Hong Kong/330/2001 or the antigenically equivalent virus B/Hong Kong/1434/2002	From WHO and NRVESS laboratories: 10,948 specimens were positive 2,228 (70.3%) were A(H1) viruses 942 (29.7%) were A(H3N2) viruses From CDC: two hundred and eighty-seven influenza A (H1)† viruses 143 influenza A (H3N2) viruses 269 influenza B viruses Two hundred and eleven of the influenza A (H1) viruses had the N1 neuraminidase 76 had the N2 neuraminidase hemagglutinin proteins of all 287 influenza A (H1) viruses were similar antigenically to the hemagglutinin of the vaccine strain A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1) Of the 143 influenza A (H3N2) isolates that have been characterized, 121 (85%) were similar to A/Panama/2007/99, the H3N2 component of the 2002-03 influenza vaccine Of the 269 influenza B viruses that have been characterized, 268 belonged to the B/Victoria lineage and were similar antigenically to the vaccine strain B/Hong Kong/330/01 belonged to the B/Yamagata lineage and was similar to B/Shizuoka/15/01, a B/Sichuan/379/99-like virus
2003-2004	A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1) A/Moscow/10/99-like (H3N2) B/Hong Kong/330/2001-like viruses For the A/Moscow/10/99-like (H3N2) virus, U.S. manufacturers will use the antigenically equivalent A/Panama/2007/99 (H3N2) virus for the B/Hong Kong/330/2001-like virus, they will use either B/Hong Kong/330/01 or the antigenically equivalent virus B/Hong Kong/1434/02	7,189 (99.9%) were influenza A (H3N2) viruses 2 (0.1%) were influenza A (H1) viruses   3 influenza A (H1) viruses-The hemagglutinin proteins of the influenza A (H1) viruses were similar antigenically to the hemagglutinin of the vaccine strain A/New Caledonia/20/99 949 influenza A (H3N2) viruses-106 (11.2%) were similar antigenically to the vaccine strain A/Panama/2007/99 (H3N2) & 843 (88.8%) were similar to the drift variant, A/Fujian/411/2002 (H3N2) 71 influenza B viruses 66 of the influenza B viruses belonged to the B/Yamagata lineage and were similar antigenically to B/Sichuan/379/99 Five influenza B viruses belonged to the B/Victoria lineage and were similar antigenically to the vaccine strain B/Hong Kong/330/2001
2004-2005	A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1) A/Fujian/411/2002-like (H3N2) B/Shanghai/361/2002-like viruses For the A/Fujian/411/2002 (H3N2)-like antigen, manufacturers will use the antigenically equivalent A/Wyoming/3/2003 (H3N2) virus for the B/Shanghai/361/2002-like antigen, manufacturers will use the antigenically equivalent B/Jilin/20/2003 virus or B/Jiangsu/10/2003 virus	23,549 (14.9%) were positive 5,801 (99.7%) were influenza A (H3N2) viruses 18 (0.3%) were influenza A (H1) viruses   709 influenza A(H3N2) viruses-One hundred fifty-six (22%) of the 709 influenza A(H3N2) isolates were characterized as antigenically similar to A/Wyoming/3/2003, which is the A/Fujian/411/2002-like (H3N2) component of the 2004-05 influenza vaccine 553 (78%) were characterized as A/California/7/2004-like 355 influenza B viruses-264 (74.4%) of the influenza B viruses characterized in the 2004-05 season belong to the B/Yamagata/16/88 lineage 219 (83.0%) were B/Shanghai/361/2002-like Ninety-one (25.6%) influenza B viruses belong to the B/Victoria/2/87 lineage
2005-2006	USA vaccines: A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1) A/California/7/2004-like (H3N2) B/Shanghai/361/2002-like viruses
2006-2007	A/New Caledonia/20/99	23,753 globally identified infection strains by WHO 3,912 A(H1) 2,368A(H3) number of B strains identified are unspecified by CDC 1,107 strains collected by U.S. laboratories 486 A(H1) similar (mutated) to A/New Caledonia/20/99 (9%) viruses showed reduced titers with antisera produced against A/NewCaledonia/20/99 and are similar to A/Solomon Islands/3/2006, which is a recent antigenic variant (mutation) of A/New Caledonia/20/99, and is the influenza A (H1) component recommended in the 2007-08 influenza vaccine. 289 A(H3) 69 (24%) were characterized as similar (mutant) to A/Wisconsin/67/2005, the H3N2 component of the 2006-2007 and 2007-08 vaccine 332 B viruses Influenza B viruses currently circulating can be divided into two antigenically distinct lineages represented by B/Yamagata/16/88 and B/Victoria/02/87 viruses 128 (50%) were similar to B/Ohio/01/2005 B/Ohio/01/2005 is antigenically equivalent (mutant) to B/Malaysia/2506/2004
2007-2008	A/Solomon Islands/3/2006-like (H1N1) A/Wisconsin/67/2005-like (H3N2) B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like viruses

"Influenza vaccination seems to be ineffective at any age. It is therefore strange that people still attempt to prove that the useless vaccine is safe."- F. Edward Yazbak MD