I have a degree in psychology, and I must agree with you that time and again researchers show that human common sense is often way off base.

But science is based on logic, which relies in part on common sense assumptions, such as principles of symmetry. It’s kind of a philosophical conundrum.

I am merely making an observation: On the whole, it is better for people – especially older people – to get flu shots than not to get them.

I have little faith in statistics whose provenance I do not know; much more in practical prevention.

You cannot know when or how your health may be compromised. It could happen in a situation you did not expect and could not predict.

This is not a personal attack, but merely an observation.

That is how swine flu became a ‘demic in Mexico.

Estimates can be way over or way under. In a panic, who knows?

My best guess is that – because flu commonly (not always) targets people who were expected to die anyway in a couple of years – it is an underreported cause of death.

Yes, some young people get H1N1 and die – we’ve had that here – but it is not the pattern.

Anyway, get your shots.

Added: Here’s some stuff on reported deaths from 2003. It will probably rise significantly due to the aging of the population.

This is in reference to iPod’s comments regarding the “lab escape.” This is crazy. I didn’t know about that tidbit at all. Sadly, neither has anyone in my immediate family or circle of friends, at least the ones I’ve asked.

I am really disgusted in how the major news networks are handling this or any other such controversies. At the same time, I am glad for websites like UD, which are not in the business of stifling information, however uncomfortable they may seem to our sensibilities or preconceived notions. Hopefully other people will become aware of the Truth as long as dissent is given a wider voice.

Flu stalks vulnerable people, whose immune system is already compromised.

What? So why do so many healthy people get flu? Perhaps you didn’t read my post @24, where I quoted an epidemiologist:

Epidemiology studies the patterns of disease in the population and swine flu is hitting — and killing — a very different demographic from seasonal flu. Its victims are young and many are vigorous and healthy.

Back to Mrs. O’Leary

Admittedly, I don’t know how many people die of various flus but I doubt anyone does, and it is likely much higher than reported.

On what basis are you making the claim that the statistics are underestimates? Do you have a reason to suggest that the methods used are underestimates?

Many people die with no reported cause of death, or no seriously examined one.

Flu stalks vulnerable people, whose immune system is already compromised.

If it kills many people in Canada (where we have a reasonably competent health system for emergencies), I must suppose it does so elsewhere – especially where one might question the health care policies (self-prescription, non-scientific medicine, etc.).

Admittedly, I don’t know how many people die of various flus but I doubt anyone does know, and it is likely much higher than reported.

I don’t have a problem with the vaccines. They either work or they don’t.

what’s your source for “millions”? It sounds high to me, but I don’t work in epidemiology.

I decided to do some fact checking. Googling ‘flu deaths global’ took me to the WHO’s webpage where they write

Influenza epidemics occur yearly during autumn and winter in temperate regions. Illnesses result in hospitalizations and deaths mainly among high-risk groups (the very young, elderly or chronically ill). Worldwide, these annual epidemics result in about three to five million cases of severe illness, and about 250 000 to 500 000 deaths.

(emphasis added)

So I’m even more curious about where Mrs. O’Leary got her figures from.

My question then is: Was the presence of TBC antibodies, which I presume is quite an effective protection against contracting the disease, not a result of the vaccination?

After successful vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in December 1979.[10] To this day, smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been completely eradicated.[11]