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How the Feds lie about U.S. Flu Deaths For years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has been telling anyone who would listen: "Every year in the United States, on average: 5 percent to 20 percent of the population gets the flu, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and about 36,000 people die from flu." It is not clear how the specific statistic — 36,000 American deaths per year "on average" — was formulated or from what sources it was derived. It seems to have just suddenly appeared, like a rabbit from a top hat. It certainly could have been any other number of thousands of cases. After all, what are a few thousand deaths up or down? No one knows when the next change will come but, when it does, it is guaranteed to be an increase. Scaring people, especially the old, out of their wits always sells vaccine and that seems to have become the CDC’s main purpose. Another well-kept secret is over how many years the influenza deaths were "averaged." Did the CDC calculate "average deaths" from 2000 to 2004 or from 1980 to 2004? To have 36,000 deaths "on average," there must be years with 26,000 deaths and about the same number of years with 46,000 deaths and, not to belabor the point, as many years with 16,000 deaths as with 56,000, etc. At least, this is what most people would think averaging and "on average" mean. The past influenza season came and went very quietly because the CDC was busy eradicating birds in the Far East and Turkey. We will never find out where exactly the most recent "deaths from flu" will fit on the curve, but it is a good bet that 2005-2006 will not be, propaganda-wise, a very good year. Testifying before the committee on government reform of the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 12, 2004, CDC Director Julie L. Gerberding, MD, carefully stated that "CDC scientists estimate that an average of 36,000 people die from influenza-related complications each year in the United States." It is not clear why the director made the distinction, while under oath, between deaths from the flu and deaths from complications of the flu. A few people, including this writer, think there is a distinct difference between the two; many others do not think so. The National Vital Statistics Report for 2001, published on Sept. 18, 2003 [Vol. 52, No. 3], was the last official U.S. government report on influenza mortality before the CDC director’s appearance at the February 2004 Congressional hearing. Certified figures about Influenza mortality [J10-J11] were listed on page 31 of the report. There were, in all, "257 influenza deaths recorded in 2001." Of those, 13 deaths were under the age of 5; 50 were between 5 and 54; 21 from 55 to 64; 21 between 65 and 74; 56 from 75 to 84; and 96 were 85 years old or older. Also in 2001, there were 61,777 official deaths due to pneumonia (J12-J18) of which 48,686 (79 percent) were 75 years old or older. The same document (table 11, page 35) lists the reciprocal number of deaths per 100,000 population. In 2001, influenza-pneumonia deaths (J10-J18) amounted to 21.8 per 100,000 with influenza at 0.1 and pneumonia at 21.7. With the U.S. population being around 284 million in 2001, it would seem that the calculated number of 284 (0.1/100.000) deaths from influenza would be very close to the actual listed number of 257. Most people who have influenza-like illness, as the condition is fondly referred to by the CDC, do not have influenza; only a small percentage of them are ever confirmed by culture or other accurate laboratory means. For the period 2000-2005, influenza virus positive cultures were 11 to 18.9 percent of the obtained cultures with a mean of 12.5 percent. It is well known that the virus strains in the community may be different from those in the available vaccine. Because immunity is strain-specific, vaccination in such cases is essentially ineffective in preventing disease. The percent of antigenic match between 2000 and 2005 varied from 11 to 63.2 percent with a mean of 54.2 percent. The maximum effectiveness of the vaccination effort, therefore, ranged between 2.1 percent in 2003-2004 and 11.5 percent in 2002-2003 with a mean of 7.2 percent. Taking all these facts into consideration, it is safe to say that only a small percentage of the 61,777 individuals who died of pneumonia in 2001 actually had influenza. Clearly, therefore, a large majority of individuals who died that year of pneumonia did not die of influenza or influenza-related complications. In addition, the CDC figures clearly show that a large percentage of those who died were elderly and, historically, the elderly, as a group, have always been better vaccinated. As to the 257 individuals who were actually listed as influenza deaths in the 2001 statistical report, the influenza virus was actually identified in only 18 of them, the 18 classified as J10. Apparently in 2001, not even 257 people died of influenza or influenza-related complications. The Monthly Vital Statistics Report of Sept. 17, 1981 sheds additional light on the issue. Under pneumonia and influenza, the report states: "An estimated 52,720 deaths in 1980 were attributed to pneumonia and influenza. The age-adjusted death rate for this cause increased about 14 percent from 11.1 per 100,000 population in 1979 to 12.6 in 1980, reflecting the influenza epidemics in 1980 and the absence of one in the previous year. For pneumonia and influenza, death rates increased for the age groups 35 years and over." The above statement by none other than the CDC suggests that around 1.5 deaths per 100,000 were or could have been attributed to influenza or influenza complications in 1980, an epidemic year, when one would have expected a very large number of cases and more severe illness and certainly in a period when influenza vaccination was not as popular as it is now. Considering that the U.S. population was around 226.5 million in 1980, 1.5 deaths per 100.000 would translate to around 4,000 deaths that year. So here we have official CDC statistics listing around 4,000 deaths, unconfirmed by viral cultures, from influenza and influenza-related complications in 1980, a banner year, and maybe 18 or 257 in 2001 and the propaganda machine is still talking about "an average of 36,000 deaths" a year. How preposterous. Dr. Cinque's comments: I don't know how often I've heard it repeated on television and printed in newspapers and magazines this figure of 36,000 flu deaths each year, preposterous as it is. But what is disturbing to me is that the so-called free press in this country keeps repeating this outlandish government statistic without questioning it, without the slightest quiver of doubt, and without seeing any need to examine its derivation. If the CDC said it, it must be true. But then again, everything we hear about the flu and the flu vaccine in the controlled press is totally in sync with Big Government, Big Pharma, and Big Medicine. Get your shot, get your shot, get your shot. Who knows: maybe someday they'll force us to get our shots, and if they do, they'll still brandish the word "freedom" around and remind us that we live in a free country. FOX News is never going to invite Dr. Yazbak on to discuss his analysis of the flu data, rather they are just going to keep spewing out that government gruel. I am reminded of that 1976 movie, Network, in which television news is depicted as a barren, lurid wasteland of lies and manipulation. If that's how it seemed back then, what could we say about it now? E-mail to a friend Previous Article |
