No the Flu Shot Did Not Cause the Flu Epidemic
The internet is a great place to make lies spread like wildfire. It is even better than a group of teenagers. The sad part is the people sharing these fake articles, I cringe to say "fake news", are full grown adults. So here is a little PSA for you, please don't share something unless you know it's true. We are growing into a society that believes straight up lies because we've fallen into the joke, if it's on the internet it has to be true. News flash, it's not.
Recently, I have seen many friends on Facebook share different articles stating that the current flu epidemic, which has been the cause of 63 children's deaths, is caused by the flu vaccine. Last year's flu resulted in 110 children's deaths. Guess what? It hasn't.
One of the articles a friend of my shared was from a website called NeonNettle.com, the article titled "Experts Confirm Flu Shot Behind Deadly Flu Epidemic That's Killed Thousands." I hesitate even linking to the website because I don't even want people giving them the clicks, however we really do cite our sources. They give you a pretty shocking headline and use all of the key words that make you believe it, "experts" and "confirm." I clicked around the website a bit to get a feel for the content they usually produce. In their "About Us" page they state that they "...honour our aggregated content by citing our sources and authorship."
Funny enough, their article cites NO sources. They refer to research and other articles that are not linked to for readers to check their work.
The first sentence of the article says, "...health officials have now come forward to confirm that the influenza epidemic was actually caused by the vaccine itself." Who are these health officials? Are there really more than one? Where did you find this claim? They then proceed to quote a nurse who spoke to ABC News saying, "Treague clearly states that the vaccination is at "LEAST" part of the problem, if not the WHOLE problem."
They did not link to the article. Why not? Well simply enough, it doesn't exist. I thought they said they cite their sources...
Multiple "news" websites have shared this story, none of which cite their sources.
All of the articles mention the CDC, in which they state this flu outbreak is running rampant. I took the liberty of going to the CDC's website to see what they had to say about the flu vaccine. Not so surprising, they state the exact opposite of all of these fake articles.
No, a flu vaccine cannot cause flu illness. Flu vaccines that are administered with a needle are currently made in two ways: the vaccine is made either with a) flu vaccine viruses that have been ‘inactivated’ and are therefore not infectious, or b) with no flu vaccine viruses at all (which is the case for recombinant influenza vaccine). The nasal spray flu vaccine does contain live viruses. However, the viruses are attenuated (weakened), and therefore cannot cause flu illness. The weakened viruses are cold-adapted, which means they are designed to only cause infection at the cooler temperatures found within the nose. The viruses cannot infect the lungs or other areas where warmer temperatures exist.
Who would've guessed? The CDC recommends the flu shot, rather than warning against it.
If you get the flu after the flu vaccine it was not caused by the shot, it was pure coincidence. People of the internet, I beg of you, please stop sharing these articles. They are simply not true.
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