1941 Navy’s Flu Vaccine Fantasy: 80+ Years Later, Still No Magic Bullet

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Hey folks, your friendly neighborhood chiropractor here. I’m dusting off a gem from 1941: a newspaper clipping about the U.S. Navy testing a shiny new “anti-influenza vaccine” on thousands of sailors in San Diego. Doctors back then were hyping it as the ultimate weapon to “wipe out the deadly disease” that killed an estimated 30 million in the 1918 pandemic.

The article gushes about injecting chick embryos with serum, zapping it with formaldehyde, and boom – instant flu fighter! Commander Albert Krueger called it the “first mass vaccine test of its kind,” inspired by the 1933 virus discovery. They even tossed in Navy stats: 550,000 men hit by flu in WWI, with one in four sidelined. Sound familiar? It’s like every flu season pitch we’ve heard since – fear the virus, trust the shot. Here we are in 2026, and flu shots are still an annual gamble, not the eradication dream sold back then.

Here’s the clipping and I’ve included the text below as well.

Experiment in U.S. Navy Tests New Influenza Vaccine

SAN DIEGO, Calif., July 29 – (AP) – A new anti-influenza vaccine – described as perhaps the most promising that has come to the attention of medical scientists – is being tested in a mass experiment under U.S. Navy supervision.

Through this vaccine, doctors hope to wipe out the deadly disease which, in recurring epidemics, has proven to be a more ruthless killer than war itself. In 1918, influenza swept the world and killed an estimated 30,000,000 persons.

Bluejackets inoculated in the mass test are stationed at San Diego and in the San Francisco Bay area.

“We won’t know finally what may be expected from the vaccine until an actual epidemic comes along,” said Commander Albert Paul Krueger, bacteriologist directing the experiment. “This is the first mass field test of its kind,” said Dr. Krueger. “Our investigations were made possible through the discovery in 1933 of the influenza virus and its isolation.

“To show the great importance of stamping out this disease, it is well to recall that in the World War there were 550,000 men in the Navy who caught influenza. Out of every four who caught influenza, one actually were disabled by illness. Army figures on the same epidemic said the disease was colossal.”

The vaccine was derived from a relatively simple process. Influenza serum is introduced into chick embryo. Resulting fluid is inactivated with a solution of formaldehyde. The resulting solution is used for the inoculation.

Here at Planet Chiropractic, we’ve got a treasure trove of these historical nuggets on flu and vaccines. Check out classics like “How Do You Spell Fear? FLU” (2006, calling out the fear-profit machine), “1918 Influenza Epidemic and Chiropractic Care” (highlighting chiropractors’ stellar results amid the chaos), “Mercury in Your Child’s Flu Vaccine” (yep, that was a thing), “A Flu Shot and a Bad Cough” (2019, real talk on post-shot woes), and “Flu Vaccine Increases Risk for Neurological Disorder” (we sure are seeing a lot more of those). We’ve covered swine flu scares, vaccine policies, even Santa dodging the flu with chiropractic help. Dozens of posts spanning years – because history doesn’t lie, even if hype does.

Don’t know about you but I’ve never lined up for a flu shot. I haven’t had the flu in over 20 years. Coincidence? Maybe trusting the body’s innate intelligence over seasonal guesses helps. Vaccines promise the moon, but effectiveness? Let’s just say it’s hit-or-miss (kinda like predicting the flu strains each year). If it works for you, great. But after 80+ years of “promising” breakthroughs, I’m sticking to adjustments, good nutrition, and a healthy attitude.