By Kali Sinclair
(NaturalNews) Flu season is upon us. It’s time to decide if you or your children will receive a flu shot this year. After all, 23,607- 35,000 people die from the flu each year, right? You don’t want to be included in this year’s statistics! But are those numbers accurate?

You’re not going to find any clear answers from the CDC. If you start drilling down, searching for the actual numbers of flu victims, flu deaths, and the efficacy of the vaccine on their website, suddenly nothing is clear – except the fact that the vaccine industry is a big business and the CDC does a superior job of hiding actual facts and figures under a mountain of doublespeak.

What are the actual numbers?

No one knows. The CDC uses statistical projections to estimate the number of flu cases based on any illness that may be related to secondary infections caused by the flu.

Why?

• States are not required to report flu deaths in adults.
• Influenza is rarely listed on the death certificate as a cause of death when patients die of flu-related illnesses.
• Many deaths occur weeks after the initial flu infection due to a secondary infection or complications of an existing chronic condition, but most of these people were never tested for the flu!
• Tests for the virus must be administered within a week of onset with another test taken later.
• False negative test results are common.

So how do they determine the number of deaths due to influenza?

The CDC uses pneumonia along with respiratory and circulatory illness as a cause of death to guess at how many actually died from complications of influenza that was never verified in the first place.

And then, they lump pneumonia and influenza together as one of the top leading causes of death in the U.S.

There are no real facts or figures to tell us how many cause influenza, how many died from influenza, or how effective the flu shot is in preventing the disease.

It is time for the CDC to publish actual facts regarding influenza. They can do this by publishing the following:

• What strains of influenza were used for the annual flu shot?
• How many actual verified cases of every type of influenza were reported? ?
• How many patients were confirmed with each type?
• Of these patients, how many of the patients were immunized with the correct vaccine?
• How many in each category died?

If this information was readily available to the public, we could decide for ourselves if the risks of catching influenza was greater than the flu shot itself – that is if we were also told the whole truth about the ingredients and the number of vaccine related injuries and deaths.

If you choose to avoid flu vaccination and rely on alternative care for the flu, remember that alternative care for any disease starts with prevention – in other words, a healthy diet and lifestyle. A healthy immune system requires a healthy gut and adequate exercise to circulate lymph throughout the body. Yes, there are tinctures and home remedies to stop viruses in their tracks, but they work the best when you provide the foundation of a healthy lifestyle.

At the first sign of illness, gargle – gargle a lot. Apple cider vinegar is a great choice, but you may need to dilute it at first; it works better if you don’t. Even if you use salt water, gargling reduces the viral load. Eat raw garlic and drinks extra fluids. Avoid all sugar! Sugar feeds bacteria and viruses.