Which is worse: the coming Swine flu pandemic, or the untested vaccine?

Examiner.com / Bill Underwood (2009-08-06)

It now seems likely that thousands if not millions of people will die, either from Swine flu or from the vaccine for Swine flu. Difficult to say at this point which scenario wil prove true. But I don’t think you have to be a conspiracy theorist to know something is afoot. There is no way the drug companies can look at the billions of dollars to be made from the government, combined with the immunity from liability, and not cut corners.

Which is worse: the coming Swine flu pandemic, or the untested vaccine?

Examiner.com / Bill Underwood (2009-08-06)

I’ve never been too keen on ‘conspiracy theories.’ I always assume the proponent of the theory has an agenda, or isn’t quite right in the head. My day job is in customer service, and I get at least a call a week from some paranoid who believes the TV is watching him, or his line is tapped, or worse, and I fear that if I start believing conspiracy theories I’ll fall prey to paranoia myself. So while I enjoy, for example, Mark Reinoso’s columns about some evil geniuses plotting the collapse of the economy, I tend to take what he says with a grain of salt.

However, the column he posted last week about the swine flu got me wondering, and I did some research. What I found was enough to make a believer out of me. For the sake of your health, and that of your family, I hope you give this serious consideration.

“In 1976, a national influenza campaign was designed to immunize nearly the entire United States population in fear of an influenza pandemic. However, the A/New Jersey/1976/H1N1 vaccine, also known as the “swine flu” vaccine, was found to be linked with the development of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and the program ended.” More here.

“A total of 532 patients had received an A/New Jersey influenza vaccination prior to their onset of GBS (vaccinated cases), and 15 patients received a vaccination after their onset of GBS”. More here.

“Guillain-Barré syndrome is a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. The first symptoms of this disorder include varying degrees of weakness or tingling sensations in the legs. In many instances, the weakness and abnormal sensations spread to the arms and upper body. These symptoms can increase in intensity until the muscles cannot be used at all and the patient is almost totally paralyzed. In these cases, the disorder is life-threatening and is considered a medical emergency. The patient is often put on a respirator to assist with breathing. Most patients, however, recover from even the most severe cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, although some continue to have some degree of weakness. Guillain-Barré syndrome is rare. Usually Guillain-Barré occurs a few days or weeks after the patient has had symptoms of a respiratory or gastrointestinal viral infection. Occasionally, surgery or vaccinations will trigger the syndrome.” More here.

“The first doses of swine flu vaccine will be given to the public before full data on its safety and effectiveness become available, doctors confirmed yesterday. But, unlike seasonal flu vaccine, the pandemic version will be spread over two doses in a higher quantity, and one brand is expected to contain a chemical additive to make it go further, potentially increasing the risk of side-effects.” More here.‘

Here’s a comment from a discussion group: “I used to work in Pharmaceutical Validation, and let me tell you: Even the vaccines that make it through the process of qualification have a margin of error which you probably don’t even want to think about. I’ve witnessed some practices which would rage some of you out there and provide the whole vaccine-hating groups with fodder for argument. But I’ll just say this. Not going through the safety checks and validation process will produce a vaccine that will do a lot more harm than good, for sure.” More here.

“A high-level U.S. government decision in 1976 to vaccinate 43 million people against swine flu backfired — badly. Not only did the dreaded outbreak never materialize (illness never spread beyond 240 soldiers stationed at Fort Dix, N.J.) but some 500 Americans who did get vaccinated came down with a rare neurodegenerative condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which many experts believe was linked to the shot. Twenty-five of those 500 people died. Now U.S. health officials are considering a fall immunization campaign that could involve an unprecedented 600 million doses of vaccine for the currently circulating H1N1 swine flu vaccine. How do health experts know 2009 won’t be a repeat of the 1976 fiasco? Are there any guarantees the vaccine will be safe? The short answers to those questions, according to the experts, are ‘we don’t know’ and ‘no.’” More here.

“A panel at the National Biodefense Safety Board (NBSB) has voted unanimously to recommend that the swine flu vaccine trials should be rushed and that only preliminary safety and effectiveness trials should be done so that the vaccines can be ready by September. Getting swine flu vaccine by September means skipping all but the most preliminary clinical tests of vaccine safety and effectiveness.” More here.

“Public health agencies around the world have taken their cue from the WHO and embarked on an aggressive campaign to vaccinate against the swine flu–EVEN BEFORE THE VACCINE’S SAFETY HAS BEEN TESTED, or the safety of the vaccine adjuvants have been tested. “Make no mistake: Vaccines containing immune-system boosters called adjuvants are not candidates for the easier strain-change approval, the FDA said. Flu vaccine with this extra ingredient is widely sold in Europe but never has been sold here, and there’s little information about their safety in young children or pregnant women. While both adjuvant-free and adjuvant-added swine flu vaccine is being tested in the U.S. and abroad, using it outside of those studies would require a completely separate government decision.” A signal underscoring the justified safety concern is the fact that the US Secretary of the Dept. of Health and Human Services has issued flu vaccine manufacturers immunity from liability. The need for such legal immunity for manufacturers surely raises doubt about the safety of these experimental vaccines. While adults are being asked to voluntarily test the vaccine, children will become non-consenting test subjects.” More here.

My sister, not knowing I was working on this article, emailed me this just this morning:

It now seems likely that thousands if not millions of people will die, either from Swine flu or from the vaccine for Swine flu. Difficult to say at this point which scenario wil prove true. But I don’t think you have to be a conspiracy theorist to know something is afoot. There is no way the drug companies can look at the billions of dollars to be made from the government, combined with the immunity from liability, and not cut corners.