A Shot of Fear: Flu Death Risk Often Exaggerated; So Is Benefit of Vaccine

A Shot of Fear:  Flu Death Risk Often Exaggerated; So Is Benefit of Vaccine
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/22/AR2005102200042.html?referrer=facebook

 
"Medical research often becomes news. But sometimes the news is made to appear more definitive and dramatic than the research warrants. This series dissects health news to highlight some common study interpretation problems we see as physician-researchers and show how the research community, medical journals and the media can do better. For years, the public health community has used fear as one strategy to promote the flu vaccine. A vaccination poster distributed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for example, emphasizes that "36,000 Americans die of flu-related illnesses each year," implying that the vaccine could prevent many of these deaths. When it became aware of the vaccine shortage last October, the federal government changed course and tried to reassure Americans that going without a shot was no big deal. "We all need to take a deep breath. This is not an emergency," CDC director Julie Gerberding advised the public."