A hypo full of hype: a prominent physician maintains that the flu vaccine generally does not prevent the flu in babies, adults, or the elderly.

• Author: Emord, Jonathan W.
• Position: American Thought - Dr. Charles B. Simone

EACH YEAR, come autumn, public health authorities urgently call for universal influenza vaccination, leading the public to believe that every man, woman, and child should proceed, herd-like, to various medical and pharmacy locales for inoculation or face a flu epidemic comparable to those in the past that killed thousands. One would think that, with pharmacies nationwide offering the vaccine, and public authorities touting its benefits, flu vaccination is a proven, reliable, and safe means to prevent the flu. Think again. Among the false propaganda messages disseminated by our governments is the representation that the flu vaccine will protect Americans from the flu. Years from now, as medical science advances, we well may look back at the decades during which these governmentally prodded gatherings for mass vaccination took place with either horror or bemusement.

To get to the bottom of the flu vaccine efficacy question, I turned to Dr. Charles B. Simone, a National Cancer Institute-trained medical and radiation oncologist and immunologist. He has treated many national and international luminaries, such as Vice Pres. Hubert Humphrey and leading pols from Europe, heads of state in the Middle East, and members of Congress, as well as ordinary folks.

He has developed new cancer drugs and methods of treating cancer. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed literature. He advised Pres. Ronald Reagan on cancer prevention. He has testified before Congress on several occasions. He is a remarkable diagnostician, scholar, and healer. His bedside manner elevates patients' spirits and sustains them in the hardest of times. He is a tireless practitioner, driving himself to the nth degree in order to provide the best possible care for ailing patients. Because he is a person of impeccable credentials, intelligence, integrity, and sincerity, he is among the very best to question concerning the efficacy of the flu vaccine.

Simone explains that there are "more than 200 viruses that cause influenza and influenza-like illness," yet, "at best, flu vaccines might be effective against only influenza A and B, which represent about 10% of all circulating viruses that cause the flu-like syndrome; He relies on data compiled from the Cochrane Collaboration and the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. He emphasizes that the flu vaccine generally is of little or no efficacy in the populations public health authorities most urgently demand be vaccinated:

"Not in...