Are respiratory viruses, such as influenza, contagious?

Are respiratory viruses, such as influenza, contagious?

During the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic an experiment took place to see if the influenza people were dying from was contagious. This was conducted by the US Public Health Service and the US Navy.

In return for being released from prison, sailors had phelgm from hospital patients put in their throats and noses. They also had to talk to them and inhale their expelled air.

None of the sailors got sick.

It could be possible the real cause of deaths were the meningococcal vaccines given to masses of people at the time.

One of the best sources of information on health is Dr Sam Bailey’s channel on Odysee. Below is her video on influenza and the evidence (or lack thereof) for its spread between humans. An important point made is that even if a university textbook states flu is contagious, it is important to look up its references to see if they support the claim. Often references make a claim and provide no evidence for it other than stating the proof is in yet another reference, which on inspection does not. Proof should be evidence of serious disease and death, not just the detection of genetic material.

People hail the genetic sequencing of viruses as proof they exist. If the sequencing is done from impure samples, containing masses of human and animal DNA, it is possible parts or all of the viral sequence are really from a cow or human. Bovine Calf Serum is often added to laboratory samples. Real proof of a virus should always be using pure, isolated virus samples (with nothing else present) to cause disease (visible to the naked eye) via a natural route of entry to the body. If surgery or skin abrasion is used to introduce viruses then there will always be the question as to whether the method caused the disease?

Influenza may be an attempt by the human body to expel toxins inhaled, ingested or injected over the past year by coughing up dirty mucus. It may be the actions of detoxification in the same way we suffer vomiting and diarrhea after food poisoning.

If people in a group or household get sick at the same time it is not necessarily evidence for germs being contagious. It could be these people got vaccinated at the same time, took part in the same activities, had the same unhealthy habits, ate the same food or live in the same environment. Maybe the air conditioning or plumbing system was dirty and bacterial growth was unchecked. Small amounts of bacteria in balance with its environment may not be harmful, but its uncontrolled growth will be.

References Showing Flu And The Common Cold Are Not Contagious:

Fildes P, McIntosh J. The Ætiology of Influenza. Br J Exp Pathol. 1920 Jun;1(3):159–74. PMCID: PMC2047634.

The Montgomery advertiser. [volume], March 02, 1919, FARM AND IMMIGRATION SECTION, Image 40

influenza flu contagion transmission newspaper article
Partial screenshot from The Montgomery Advertiser

Kerr WmJ, Lagen JB. Transmissibility of the Common Cold. Exposure of Susceptible Individuals Under Controlled Conditions. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 1934;31(6):713-715. doi:10.3181/00379727-31-7289P

Transmissibility of the Common Cold
Partial screenshot from Transmissibility of the Common Cold