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Misrepresentations of Statistics Revised n Flu Vaccine May Lower Heart Attack Risk, Research Finds

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In the article “Flu Vaccine May Lower Hearth Attack Risk, Researchers Find”, there was a substantial amount of misleading statistics that, in turn, made me doubt the conclusions configured. Just glancing at the title, an implied connection is made when the author includes the word “…may…”. There is no guarantee that getting the flu vaccine will lower one’s heart attack risk; the two variables are not necessarily connected. Later on in the article it reads, “The finding, published today in the journal Heart, suggests flu vaccination programs targeting the elderly should be extended to include younger adults, especially those with coronary artery disease.” The word, “…suggests…” is another example of an implied connection, which is a …show more content…

In this same sentence, it informs readers that by taking the vaccine it lowers the probability of a heart attack by 45 percent. That tells me nothing because it proves nothing. How exactly does getting the flu shot lower your chances of getting a heart attack? If there was actual data to look at, it would be much more believable. Later on in the article it mentions another study, “…research compared 275 hospitalized heart attack patients with 284 people who were treated in a hospital outpatient department from 2008 to 2010.” Again, there is no specificity as far as how these patients were selected for the study, making the article difficult to accept. Overall, I wouldn’t believe the statistics used in this article, nor the conclusions that the author made. It definitely sounds as though they are on the right track, but they really need more evidence supporting the idea that the flu vaccine can treat other conditions. I really think it would beneficial for the article to include numerical data, and at least some sort of statistical test was conducted. Throughout the whole article the researchers go on and on about how great this flu vaccine is but they have no credible evidence that it is effective on people with heart conditions. Although there were no graphs in this article, when including graphs it is crucial that one doesn’t

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