Cleveland Clinic Preprint: Flu Shot Recipients 27% More Likely to Catch Flu

The Cleveland Clinic published a preprint study that concluded that those who received the 2024/2025 flu vaccine were 27% more likely to get the flu than those who received the unvaccinated group. The study evaluated 53,402 employees for the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. 82.1% of the employees received an influenza vaccine by the end of the study. This is a preprint study, so it has not been peer-reviewed.

The authors note, “The cumulative incidence of influenza was similar for the vaccinated and unvaccinated states early, but over the course of the study the cumulative incidence of influenza increased more rapidly among the vaccinated than the unvaccinated.”

The Cleveland Clinic mandates the flu vaccine for employees, but about 18% didn’t receive the flu vaccination after filing medical or religious exemptions. The CDC states that 46.3% of adults in the United States received an influenza vaccination this season. The health agency recommends that everyone over 6 months should get the flu vaccine with “rare exception.”

The CDC adds, “Flu vaccine prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctor’s visits each year. For example, during 2019-2020, the last flu season prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, flu vaccination prevented an estimated 7 million influenza illnesses, 3 million influenza-associated medical visits, 100,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations, and 7,000 influenza-associated deaths in the United States.”

The study authors note that the vaccinated group was more likely to get tested than the unvaccinated group. The authors determined this was not based on a propensity to get tested, but rather due to a higher number of infections among the vaccinated cohort.

The authors say the study’s strength lies in the large sample size and testing methodology. A typical study of this type will only gather data from individuals who get tested, which would likely be individuals who feel sick. In this study design, healthy individuals who never felt sick are not included in the analysis.

This study’s authors included all Cleveland Clinic employees throughout the flu season from October to March. This study design was able to calculate risk “rather than an extrapolation from odds ratios obtained from “test negative” design studies as has become the trend in recent vaccine effectiveness studies.“ The authors also note that “test negative” studies systematically overestimate the effectiveness of vaccines.

The authors mentioned some limitations of the study, including that all of the subjects were working age adults who were healthy enough to be working. This removes children, elderly individuals, and those who are severely immunocompromised. The study also did not evaluate whether the vaccines lessened the symptoms of those who became infected.

The National Vaccine Information Center reports 235,000 VAERS reports associated with influenza vaccinations dating back to 1990. Since 2020, there have been 4,597 serious reactions reported to VAERS, including 679 from the past year. There have been 533 deaths associated with the flu vaccine since 2020, including 76 from the last year reported to VAERS.

NVIC also links to several studies that associate influenza vaccinations with severe adverse events. The article states, “Published studies have linked the influenza vaccine to numerous serious adverse events including Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM), stroke, brachial neuritis, encephalopathy, arthritis, bullous pemphigoid, vasculitis, myocardial infarction, transverse myelitis, optic neuritis, Bell’s Palsy, and more.”

The HighWire has reported that the United States is an outlier for still recommending COVID-19 vaccinations to all individuals over six months. The US is also an outlier for recommending flu vaccinations to the same age group. The United Kingdom only recommends the flu vaccine for individuals who are at a higher risk of getting seriously ill from the flu. This includes elderly individuals, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, or others with certain long-term health conditions. Canada is the only country with the same recommendation as the US regarding flu vaccines.

Journalist Alex Berenson reported about the recent study and criticized US health agencies for not changing the influenza vaccine program. He said that as of 2022, the number of flu shots dispersed has increased by 15 times since 1980, but the number of flu-related deaths has also increased. He pointed to the CDC estimate that there could be up to 130,000 flu-related deaths during the 2024/2025 season.

Berenson wrote, “The media has been loathe to report that ugly number, since doing so might raise questions about both the effectiveness of flu jabs and whether Covid mRNA shots may have somehow damaged the immune systems of people who received them. At best, though, that figure suggests nothing we’re doing about the flu is working.”

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. canceled the flu vaccination campaign called “Wild to Mild.” However, the CDC’s online guidance still recommends flu vaccinations for all individuals over six months of age. Kennedy said future vaccine campaigns should focus on informed consent.