Health Library

A leading epidemiologist writes in the January 9, 2001 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal that claims there is no proof that Ontario, Canada’s $38 million universal flu vaccine program has limited the spread of the illness.

Last year, the Ontario government initiated an attempt to vaccinate every one of its citizens against the flu, based on one of its own studies that said each vaccination would save the Ontario health system $40.

Dr. Vittorio Demicheli, chairman of the regional epidemiological unit in Alessandria, Italy, says, “There is absolutely no evidence that universal vaccination has ever achieved such a goal…”

“I wonder whether the program should, instead, serve as a warning to other governments. The ‘Let’s see what happens’ approach to public health should not be emulated.”

Recent reports seem to bolster Dr. Demicheli’s assertions. On December 6, 2000, at the Fourth National Immunization Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dr. Eleni Galanis of Health Canada reported that almost 1000 Canadians have suffered adverse reactions to the flu vaccine since October 2000. That’s nearly 80 times as many as for the same period last year.

For more information on the dangers of vaccination, the National Vaccine Information Center maintains an extremely informative website at http://www.909shot.com or they can be reached at 512 W. Maple Avenue, #206, Vienna, VA 22180. Their phone number is 1-800-909SHOT (7468).