Lynda Wharton Naturopath Acupuncturist Writer

Around this time of year, my clients start asking me what I think of the flu vaccine? The truth is that after mountains of research, the evidence supporting the benefits of annual flu vaccination is weak.

Recently a large review looked at the efficacy of flu vaccine trials from around the world. Called the Cochrane review, this study aimed at establishing the efficacy of flu vaccination for healthy people under the age of 60, as well as looking at adverse effects.

They looked at 25 clinical trials (all written up in medical journals) in which healthy people aged 14 to 60 received either the flu vaccine or a placebo. In total the trials involved nearly 60,000 participants. The Cochrane reviewers concluded that flu vaccines are effective in reducing influenza A and B, but they do not work against the overwhelming majority of “Influenza Like Illness” that most people experience in the winter, mistakenly believing that they have “the flu”. In truth the reduction of genuine flu cases amongst the immunised group was a modest 6% compared with the incidence in un-immunised subjects.

They also found that the flu vaccine did not reduce the number of working days lost, or reduce the incidence of flu-related complications, deaths or hospitalisations. In fact, study authors stated

“we could not correlate increasing vaccination coverage after 1980 with declining mortality rates in any age group”.

A 2005 review in the Archives of Internal Medicine, based on 14 high quality trials also concluded:

“we recorded no convincing evidence that vaccines can reduce mortality, hospital admissions, serious complications and community transmission of influenza.. Vaccinated babies suffered no fewer ear infections, bronchitis or hospital admissions when compared with unvaccinated babies.”

So, if that leaves you a little bewildered and unsure of how to reduce your risk of flu this winter, some very new Japanese research offers you an exciting, safe and highly effective alternative.

Doctors at the Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, have just completed trials looking at the effect of vitamin D on children’s resistance to the flu. They discovered that supplementing with vitamin D, also known as the “sunshine vitamin”, reduced a child’s risk of contracting the flu, by an enormous 50%. Only one in ten children aged 6 to 15, taking vitamin D in the trial came down with the flu compared with 1 in 5 children taking a “dummy” or placebo pill. Some children were already taking vitamin D supplements from their parents, outside of the trial. When these children were left out of the comparison between supplemented and unsupplemented children, taking vitamin D was then shown to reduce the risk of flu to a third of what it would otherwise be. Interestingly, vitamin D was found to protect against influenza A virus (such as swine flu, H1N1), but not against the less common Influenza B virus.

The children receiving vitamin D were given 1200iu a day for three months. In the first month of the trial, they were just as likely to contract the flu as the placebo group. By month two, when blood vitamin D levels were rising, the difference between the supplemented and un-supplemented groups became evident.

This research is just one of a growing number of studies showing how vital optimum vitamin D levels are for maintaining a healthy and effective immune system.

While this particular study showed the benefits for children, it’s not just children who reap rewards from supplementing with vitamin D – adults, the elderly and pregnant woman all show similar health benefits with vitamin D supplementation.

If you would like to find out about quality, liquid vitamin D supplements for the health of your family over winter, contact me at

lynda@lyndawharton.com