In this case, however, the causality may be real, because the study was done in such a way as to figure that out. Notice I say it may be real. Why am I still skeptical? Well, to begin with, I haven’t read all the details of the study. I read a report in the popular press of the presentation of the study’s results at a medical meeting in Toronto. I don’t know if the study has been accepted for publication in a reputable, peer-reviewed medical journal. Once that happens, if it does, I’ll be able to read the paper and draw firm conclusions about its results. Many papers are presented at meetings and never get published. And many papers that get published don’t really prove what the authors think or say they do. And then, of course, any important scientific study should be reproducible – meaning if other scientists conduct another study in the same way, they should get similar results. Reproducibility is essential to credibility in scientific investigation.

So all I can say right now is that this is very intriguing, and if it turns out to be real, we will all have another reason to get the influenza vaccine each year.

Dr. Solomon teaches emergency medicine to the residents at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and is Medical Editor in Chief of ACEP News. He is a social critic and political pundit and blogs at www.bobsolomon.blogspot.com.