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Swine Flu (H1N1) – Part 2: Should We Be Rushing an H1N1 Vaccine?

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August 20, 2009
	Dr. Gary Huber : Head Medical Ego

(Part 2 in a 3 part series)

As we have already reviewed, the “Swine Flu – H1N1” panic may be premature but it has launched an avalanche of activity within private industry and our government to address the worst possible outcome which would be a worldwide pandemic. We have scientist rushing to produce a vaccine against this “horrible beast,” which to this point in time has proven to be not so horrible. Is it a good idea to rush a vaccine to market? Should we revisit the debacle of 1976? There was an outbreak of flu in January of 1976 on a military base, Fort Dix. The influenza was an H1N1 type and lead to the death of one soldier.

Public health officials became alarmed and asked President Gerald Ford to order mandatory vaccines. They rushed a vaccine to market, just as they are doing now, to deal with the swine flu of 1976. The vaccine given in 1976 caused 25 deaths. The flu caused only one death, the original soldier at Fort Dix. The vaccine also led to 500 cases of Guillain-Barre’, a paralyzing neuromuscular condition. The vaccine was far more devastating than the flu.

Lesson learned: jumping to conclusions and rushing a vaccine to market without satisfactory testing is a horrible idea and can lead to senseless loss of life and irreversible disabilities. George Santayana is quoted as saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  Perhaps these are wise words for the present.

Let’s look at another example. Who remembers the SARS scare of 2002? In November of 2002 an outbreak of coronavirus (not influenza) rapidly spread to 37 countries creating a scare and leaving 774 people dead in just 9 months.  But the media left us in panic fearing the worst. The spread of SARS was contained by 2006.

It was a horrible experience for many but now that the dust has settled let’s revisit this and review the numbers. Most of the victims were elderly which is the typical case with any virus. Those with predisposing conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and other organ failures will not be strong enough to survive the viral stress. And again, the 774 people lost in those first months is tragic but that is still fewer deaths in 9 months than what occurs in just one week each and every year in the US alone from influenza A.

Moral of the story; hype and scare tactics give writers something to report but the plain old boring run-of-the-mill influenza A is still 10 times more deadly than Swine Flu/H1N1 or SARS and I don’t see big headlines there. 

Now hold on to your knickers Gert, this is where the ride gets a little bumpy. Can you imagine the profits to be had by the first company to come up with a flu vaccine for this H1N1 scare? Baxter Pharmaceutical Company has contracted with the World Health Organization to develop such a vaccine. But Baxter has a recent and disturbing history when it comes to vaccines. In December of 2008, Baxter shipped a deadly LIVE H5N1 avian flu virus to 18 different countries. It was supposed to be shipping a standard influenza H3N2 vaccine but testing of the vaccine in the Czeck Republic on ferrets showed it to be 100% lethal. How do you ACCIDENTLY mix a deadly live H5N1 virus into to simple flu vaccine? There are many opinions as to how this “accident” could happen and some opinion that it was part of a plan to increase vaccine sales. Whether it was greed or ignorance it is inexcusable. And these are the people we have entrusted to make a safe vaccine for our kids? Oh, and perhaps I failed to mention that our government offers complete immunity to these pharmaceutical vaccine manufacturers against lawsuits. In other words, even if they screw up as they have done as noted above, and you die or are permanently injured, you cannot sue them or bring any legal claim against them. Are you pissed off yet? There’s more. 

Baxter has had other vaccine boo boos in their history. In the late 70’s and 80’s they made a product for hemophiliacs and it was given to thousands or adults and children. One problem; it was contaminated with the HIV virus and between 6,000 and 10,000 people became infected with HIV as a direct result of using this blood product. Baxter ended up paying $660 million to settle a class action suit. Now go get in line for your swine flu vaccine like a good citizen. Don’t worry, I’m sure YOU won’t get HIV or a deadly virus and if you do at least you can rest easy knowing that your government is protecting the pharmaceutical industry from your pesky law suit.

The other company involved with the World Health Organization in developing a swine flu vaccine has its own problems. Novartis, a vaccine manufacturer, is very close to completing its swine flu vaccine. But their vaccine contains an immune adjuvant called squalene. These adjuvants have been shown to cause autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus and others. Squalene causes a hyperimmune response and leads to the body attacking itself (autoimmune diseases). The deadly anthrax vaccine that was given to our soldiers contained squalene and was linked to the Gulf War Syndrome. The Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Anthony Principi reported in 1991 that soldiers vaccinated with the anthrax vaccine containing squalene had an increase of 200% for development of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). They also had increased frequency of developing polyarteritis nodosa, multiple sclerosis, endocarditis, optic neuritis, and kidney disease.

To read more about the 1976 outbreak, read Eben Harrell’s Time article; How to Deal with Swine Flu: Heeding the Mistakes of 1976    

To read more about Baxter’s history just Google, “Baxter, avian flu vaccine”.

Related:
Swine Flu (H1N1) – Part 1: What Is It and How Worried Should You Be?
Swine Flu (H1N1) – Part 3: How Should You Protect Yourself?
H1N1 Flu Update – How Are We Doing?
H1N1 Flu Update No. 2: Surprising Numbers