Story at-a-glance
- A review of the latest news in vaccines and potential pandemics, underscoring the need for more probing questions about vaccine safety and efficacy; vaccine trials; and the scientific evidence backing up current claims and recommendations. Financial motives behind the promotion of pandemics and the vaccines that go along with them also need to be carefully considered
- The bioterror germ lab at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has had repeated problems with airflow systems designed to help prevent the release of infectious agents such as anthrax, dangerous strains of influenza, the SARS coronavirus, and monkeypox
- Earlier this year, a vaccine researcher at the Northern California Institute for Research died shortly after being infected with the Neisseria meningitides bacteria
- Renewed calls for fast-tracked pandemic bird flu vaccines are being put out in response to the publication of two studies detailing the successful mutation of the H5N1 virus into a more virulent, and airborne, strain
- A recent study brings the issue of highly questionable vaccine trial standards to the fore yet again. Last year, India halted HPV vaccine trials being conducted by PATH, a USA-based not for profit non-governmental organization funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, after four girls died and 120 suffered serious side effects. A study into the alleged ethics violations concluded that the studies should not have been undertaken, as it would be impossible to establish efficacy of the vaccine in the areas selected due to lack of registration and monitoring of cervical cancer cases in India
By Dr. Mercola
A number of articles underscoring problems within the vaccine industry have recently circulated in the news.
While the fear of a mutated virus turning into a pandemic is flouted virtually every year to some degree, perhaps a greater concern is the potential for an engineered bioweapon somehow escaping the confines of our top level bioterror labs—a possibility that seems increasingly credible, when you consider the astounding safety “snafus” that occur at these labs from time to time.
The recent incident at the bioterror germ lab at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta is just the latest scare, and it highlights the fact that seemingly unbelievable errors can and do occur, despite all guarantees to the contrary.
Bio Lab Safety Questioned
According to The Federal Timesi:
“A $214 million bioterror germ lab at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has had repeated problems with airflow systems designed to help prevent the release of infectious agents, government documents and internal emails show.Apparently, air from a research lab in one of the Biosafety Level 3 buildings was being vented into a so-called “clean” area, where visitors are not required to wear protective gear, rather than being filtered and re-circulated. While it’s being reported as an isolated incident, CDC engineers appear to have raised questions about the design of the vented air flow as early as two years ago.
While the agency says no one has been infected, a biosafety expert says the problems appear to be major violations of laboratory operating standards.
The area of the building with problems involves Biosafety Level 3 labs that can be used for experiments involving anthrax, dangerous strains of influenza, the SARS coronavirus, monkeypox and other microbes that have the potential to be used as bioweapons.” [Emphasis mine]
“According to the minutes, CDC safety manager William Howard said: “Bottom line is we can’t continue to operate the building the way it is … if (a bioterror lab inspector) finds out air is moving this direction they will shut this place down.”
The CDC refused to grant interviews or answer any questions submitted in writing about the problems inside the high-containment labs and animal-holding area of the agency’s 11-story Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory, also known as CDC Building 18,” The Federal Times reports.
...The records show that other CDC staff have expressed safety concerns. The CDC “will do anything... to hide the fact that we have serious problems with the airflow and containment in this whole building” wrote CDC animal resources biologist Kismet Scarborough in an April 9 e-mail to several agency officials, including CDC Director Thomas Frieden. Scarborough’s CDC voice-mail greeting describes her position as a high-containment lab manager for the agency’s Animal Resources Branch.”
Vaccine Lab Researcher Dead from Lethal Pathogen
According to a recent CNN reportii, a congressional investigation will be launched to investigate the safety breach at the Atlanta facility. But beware that despite assurances that chances of contaminant release is virtually non-existent, it certainly can occur, and you could just as easily chalk it up to pure luck that no lethal pathogens escaped at the CDC lab.
As you may recall, back in April, a reportedly well-trained lab researcher at the Northern California Institute for Research died shortly after being infected with the Neisseria meningitides bacteriaiii. He was working on a vaccine against the pathogen, and according to the site chief was following required precautions for working with the deadly pathogens.
While that sounds all well and good, it actually makes the situation all the MORE dire, as it obviously means there must be serious flaws in the system if he actually followed all precautions and still got infected.
The young man died a mere 17 hours after initially falling ill.
I mention these incidents because as the vaccine industry is getting more aggressive in their promotion of fast-tracked vaccines, incidents such as these, and many others, really highlight the dangers inherent in the system overall, and why you cannot blindly believe the official story that drugs and vaccines are somehow created under pristine conditions and that nothing can go wrong. Because they most certainly do...
Other Near Fatal BioSafety Level 3 Errors
We saw that when Baxter “accidentally” sent vaccines contaminated with LIVE deadly avian (bird) flu to a research facility in Europe, for example. That was February 2009, and the mistake originated in a Baxter plant that was also operating under Bio Safety Level 3 (BSL3) status -- meaning that high-level precautions are supposed to be in place to make sure an accident like this never happens. The company blamed the incident on human error, again demonstrating that apparently, it takes just one absent-minded dingbat to circumvent the highest level biosafety system currently in existence!
How is this acceptable?
Besides the fact that they nearly unleashed a potentially lethal pandemic under very suspect circumstances, Baxter has had over 40 Class I recalls since 2003. These are the types of recalls that, according to the FDA’s definition, is “a situation in which there is a reasonable probability” that the use of, or exposure to, the product in question “will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”
Yet Baxter still received a contract to create and manufacture the 2009 pandemic swine flu vaccine, which ALSO turned out to be far more reactive and dangerous than any previous flu vaccine.
Bird Flu Pandemic in the News Again
While safety breaches at top level bioweapons labs are occurring, we’re also hearing renewed fears about the H5N1, aka “bird flu,” and its potential to cause widespread death and destruction, and the need to stock up on pandemic vaccines. Perhaps if they stopped having so many top level biolab “accidents” we wouldn’t have to fear such lab-created killersiv... These renewed calls for fast-tracked pandemic bird flu vaccines are no doubt in response to the publication of two studies detailing the successful mutation of the H5N1 virus into a more virulent, and airborne, strain. Both studies were published in the June 22 issue of the journal Sciencev, vi.
According to the USA Todayvii.
“Knowing that the H5N1 bird flu can mutate into a form that can be easily transmitted, researchers have redoubled efforts to quickly create a vaccine should a pandemic strain emerge. The good news is that there now exists technology that makes creating vaccines much faster than in the past, says Rino Rappuoli, global head of vaccines research for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, in Siena, Italy.
... Fast and increasingly inexpensive machines allow the genomes, or genetic blueprints, of newly evolved flu varieties to be quickly sequenced.
Instead of needing to ship live virus to vaccine manufacturers, today researchers only need to e-mail a computer file containing the genetic code.
Scientists can then simply buy short strands of genetic code from commercial DNA synthesis companies and stitch them together in the correct order to synthesize a copy, creating a virus "seed." This can quickly be grown in cell cultures to produce vaccines. It is a process that is much faster than the current one, which involves injecting the actual virus into chicken eggs to grow.There are tremendous hazards inherent with fast-tracking vaccines, and US regulations already place ALL the risk on the public receiving the vaccine, regardless of whether the vaccine is mandated or voluntary. Vaccine makers can more or less create a deadly vaccine and get away scot free at this point; they’re that well protected against liability for adverse events of pandemic vaccines.
"The hurdle will be only to change the regulatory process," Rappuoli says.”
Questions Raised About Purpose of HPV Vaccine Trials in India
Most likely, you believe that each vaccine is carefully evaluated and tested for safety and efficacy before being brought to market, and that such trials are conducted under the highest professional standards and ethics. Sadly, there are so many scandals littering the landscape of vaccine trials, anyone who takes the time to review them will likely end up more jaded and distraught than reassured.
A recent study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicineviii brings the issue of highly questionable vaccine trial standards to the fore yet again. It’s worth noting that the HPV vaccine was yet another fast-tracked vaccine, which has devastated the lives of thousands of young women and their families since its premature release in the US.
Back in April 2011, India called a halt to trials of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil after four young girls died and 120 suffered serious adverse effects. The decision was the result of a civil society-led investigation that highlighted serious ethical violations. In India, civil society groups have long been voicing their concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of the two HPV vaccines, along with the aggressive promotion of the vaccines and the need to investigate reported deaths and adverse events post-vaccination.
Ethics violations, such as enrolling unsuspecting patients into trials without their informed consent, seems to be more the rule than the exception when it comes to overseas drug- and vaccine trials. India in particular has seen an upsurge of clinical pharmaceutical studies, and the questionable practices employed are becoming increasingly apparent.
The halted trials were post-licensing observational studies undertaken by the Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), a USA-based not for profit non-governmental organization funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. According to the study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the studies should never have been undertaken in the first place, as it would clearly be impossible to evaluate the vaccine’s safety or efficacy.
The authors write:
“Currently, PATH and the Indian government are investigating whether to implement a HPV vaccination program. PATH claims that ‘in raw numbers, India has the largest burden of cancer of the cervix of any country worldwide’ and that the two states were selected ‘based on cervical cancer disease burden […] and uptake of other vaccines being in the middle range for certain variables (e.g., immunization coverage)’.The problem is, the surveillance, registration and monitoring of cancer in India is sorely lacking—especially in the two regions selected for the two trials—which means it would be impossible to deduce whether or not the vaccine can actually reduce the incidence of cervical cancer or not. So why do two trials, involving 23,000 young women, when you cannot even get any valuable—or shall we say accurate—data from it? Making matters worse, the cancer data that does exist, although spotty, shows that the incidence for cervical cancer in India is low, and has already dropped by nearly 50 percent between 1982/83 to 2004/05.
The World Health Organization (WHO) advises that the epidemiology of the disease should be known and be of sufficient importance to justify its prioritization, and that surveillance systems should be capable of assessing the impact of a vaccine intervention following its introduction.”
According to a report in the Medical Xpressix:
“[Lead researcher] Professor Pollock explained: "This trial has clearly raised serious concerns for the people and government of India. The aim of our study was to look at whether data on cervical cancer in the country justify the introduction of HPV vaccination.
"We found that current data on cervical cancer incidence do not support PATH's claim that India has a large burden of cervical cancer or its decision to roll out the vaccine program. The lack of information is important because it means that World Health Organization criteria for monitoring the effectiveness of the vaccine cannot be fulfilled. Neither the epidemiological evidence nor current cancer surveillance systems justify the general rollout of an HPV vaccination program in India or in the two states where PATH was conducting its research."
Professor Pollock continued: "It's important to compare the burden of cervical cancer in India to other major health concerns, such as primary care, malaria, maternal anemia and malnutrition, and consider best use of financial resources. HPV vaccine, which is among the most expensive vaccines on the market, is not justified as a health care priority for India."
Former Employees Sue Merck for Overstating Effectiveness of Mumps Vaccine
Rounding out the vaccine news, two former Merck virologists have filed a federal lawsuit against their former employer, alleging Merck overstated the effectiveness of their mumps vaccine, which may have cost the US government hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade.
According to Nasdaq.comx:
“Merck--which stressed that none of these allegations relate to the safety of its product--said the lawsuit is " completely without merit", and that it plans to "vigorously defend itself." The Whitehouse Station, N.J., drug maker also noted that the U.S. Department of Justice has thus far declined to participate in the case after its own two-year probe.”Merck’s mumps vaccine was originally introduced 45 years ago. Since the 1970s, it’s been part of the trivalent measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is part of the recommended childhood vaccination schedule. According to the lawsuit, Merck has defrauded the US government for more than a decade by hiding the fact the mumps vaccine had lost effectiveness and is not living up to its claims.
“The lawsuit seeks a judgment against Merck equal to three times the damages suffered by the U.S., plus the maximum allowable award for the former employees under federal whistleblower laws,” Nasdaq reports.
Final Thoughts
If the preceding information has any impact at all, I hope it is to make you aware of the fact that more, and certainly deeper, questions need to be asked when it comes to vaccine safety and efficacy; vaccine trials; and the scientific evidence backing up current claims and recommendations.
Remember that for the most part, most all of the conventional media portrays the entire vaccine process as something heroic and vital to the health of our culture, and they will be reluctant to ever promote any news that contradicts this belief.
I believe we also need to consider the financial motives behind the promotion of pandemics and the vaccines that go along with them. It is vital for you to carefully research ALL sides of the vaccine issue and not merely trust federal public health authorities, most physicians, and the media, as they are largely influenced by massive conflict of interest and collusion. Seek other independent and objective views like those at NVIC before you make any important decisions about deciding to vaccinate.
References:
i See All References
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/07/pandemic-swine-flu-vaccines.aspx
