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What Really Causes Influenza? Part 1

Written by Daniel Roytas (MHSc Human Nutrition), BHSc (Naturopathy), Dip. RM

Part 1 of 2 of this blog presents an overview of the studies that tried to prove a virus as the cause of influenza. Part 2 will hypothesize a number of potential causes of influenza. 

Influenza is said to be caused by one of four viruses, namely influenza A, B, C and D¹, however many people might be surprised to hear that none of these viruses have ever been observed in the bodily fluids of a human being. More surprisingly, isolated and purified viral particles have never been exposed to a healthy host and been shown to cause disease^2,3. This is not due to lack of trying, or due to limitations of laboratory techniques, in fact, dozens upon dozens of experiments have been undertaken over many decades to try and transmit the influenza virus from sick people to healthy people.

The Most Important Influenza Study?

At the height of the Spanish Influenza epidemic between...