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Annually we receive warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of an impending influenza epidemic. Each year the CDC recommends the influenza vaccine. Are the warnings justified? Is the advice that the CDC provides appropriate and supported by scientific findings? Are there any conflicts of interest that would sway what the CDC tells health agencies, health professionals, or the public?

Influenza is a set of contagious diseases, caused by infection by a corresponding set of viruses. The viruses spread from individual to individual by droplet infection. Droplet infection can occur by an infected individual sneezing or coughing directly onto the mucus membranes or into the eyes of another individual. Transmission can also occur from infected droplets in the air landing on surfaces then being placed or wiped into the eye, nose or mouth of another individual. The rate of contagion of influenza varies considerably. Some of the strains of influenza spread very easily and quickly. Some spread more slowly.

There is a characteristic symptomatology for most influenzas. Symptoms usually include fever, headache, fatigue, malaise, body aches, tidal fevers with chills, sore throat, and cough. Less frequent symptoms include diarrhea, and/or vomiting. Severity of symptoms varies from strain to strain, and from individual to individual. There are certain individuals, who when infected with certain influenzas have absolutely no symptoms. At the other extreme, there are individuals for whom, influenza infection alone, or infection in conjunction with other health challenges, is fatal.