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Tag Archive: influenza vaccine
California flu deaths continue to climb
Influenza claimed 50 more young lives in California this week, proving that a potent virus that arrived a virtual stranger in 2009 has gained the lead role in our winter dance with the disease.
The H1N1 virus — the swine flu bug — is circulating through susceptible groups, especially among a younger generation that often goes without vaccinations and had not been exposed to this strain, health authorities said Friday.
H1N1 has largely replaced last year’s H3N2 strain and has already killed nearly 40 percent more people than last year’s total, even though flu season has yet to reach its peak.
People line up for flu shots at a Walgreens in San Jose Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014. (Patrick Tehan, Bay Area News Group)
In California, it has claimed the lives of 95 adults younger than 65, and 51 more deaths await confirmation as flu related. That would bring the total to 146 deaths, state epidemiologist Dr. Gil Chavez reported at a Friday news conference. The nine Bay Area counties and Santa Cruz County have reported 32 flu-related deaths this season.
That’s a pattern similar to what was seen when H1N1 last circled the globe.
“The elderly, like in 2009, are not overwhelmingly getting infected,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “They are seemingly protected from it.”
In contrast, at this time last year, H3N2 dominated and killed many elders — but only nine deaths were reported among Californians under 65.
The state does not track flu deaths for residents over 65, so information about the impact on that age group is mostly anecdotal.
Among this year’s victims were 23-year-old Matthew Walker, of Santa Rosa, a healthy young man who enjoyed windsurfing and skateboarding. The experience of losing a son, his father, Cliff Walker, told NBC Bay Area, was “a ragged roller coaster ride, with a bad ending.”
All but one of this year’s deaths have been linked to the H1N1 virus. Most occurred in Californians who, unlike Walker, had a pre-existing medical condition, such as chronic heart disease, asthma or a suppressed immune system, or were pregnant, according to Chavez.
One of the newly reported deaths was a child who lived in Riverside County. In all, the illness has claimed the lives of three children under age 10, including one in San Mateo County.
Despite such tragedies, the good news is that H1N1 is less deadly than it was during the peak of the 2009 pandemic, and that is because we’re better protected, Fauci said. It is one of the strains included in the current flu vaccine, which usually shields people exposed to the virus. And many who have been sick before have developed antibodies to it.
There are several reasons why younger people seem so vulnerable. Significantly, as a group, they are less likely to be vaccinated than elders.
Some scientists think the genetic structure of H1N1 targets the lungs, while H3N2 tended to attack the upper respiratory system. A mutation in an amino acid called D225G might allow H1N1 to bind more effectively to lung cells, making us more susceptible to pneumonia and death.
And younger people may have not acquired immunity through previous exposure. Forms of the H1N1 virus were detected in the 1930s, then in the mid-1950s and again in 1971, according to flu tracker and biomedical researcher Henry Niman of the Pennsylvania company Recombinomics, Inc. It appeared again — in significantly altered form — in 2009.
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LA Times Local
Dramatic rise in flu deaths reported by California health officials
The Regional Medical Center of San Jose set up a ‘flu tent’ outside an emergency room to treat patients with flu-like symptoms in San Jose. (EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO / January 24, 2014) |
State health officials reported Friday that California influenza deaths this flu season have doubled to 95, with an additional 51 cases likely to be confirmed next week.
That would put this year’s number of flu fatalities so far at 146. At this time last year, nine deaths had been confirmed, and only 106 were confirmed by the end of the season.
“So far we have a much more severe season,” said state epidemiologist Dr. Gil Chavez in a conference call with reporters Friday. He said that flu activity in California remained “widespread.”
In part, the gap between this year’s deaths and the number of deaths at this time last year is because this year’s season struck early, Chavez said.
However, this year’s predominant flu strain is H1N1 “swine flu,” which is more deadly than other strains. Seventy-five of this year’s 95 confirmed deaths were caused by H1N1, Chavez said.
Chavez said that the week ending Jan. 18 saw a decrease in hospitalizations and out-patient visits for the flu. He added that the level was still higher than expected for this time of year, and that it’s unclear whether this means that the peak of season has already hit.
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CT’s Protein Sciences arming for bird-flu vaccine
Contributed photo
Protein Sciences large-scale manufacturing facility in Pearl River, N.Y.
Meriden flu-vaccine maker Protein Sciences says it is ramped up and ready to produce enough quantities of vaccine as necessary to prevent a pandemic from the deadly H7N9 bird flu virus that has taken root in China.
The company claims that in just 100 days, it renovated and outfitted Pfizer Inc.’s former Pearl River, N.Y., facility to produce three lots of antigens for its Flublok brand seasonal anti-flu treatment that won federal approval back in January.
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In U.S., flu vaccine worked in just over half of those who got it
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO | Thu Feb 21, 2013 5:50pm EST
(Reuters) – A U.S. government analysis of this season’s flu vaccine suggests it was effective in only 56 percent of people who got the shot, and it largely failed to protect the elderly against an especially deadly strain circulating during flu season.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the findings underscore the need for more effective weapons in the fight against influenza, which kills between 3,000 and 50,000 people in the United States each year depending on the severity of the flu season.
“We simply need a better vaccine against influenza, one that works better and lasts longer,” CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a statement on Thursday.
Experts generally estimate the effectiveness of flu vaccines to be between 50 percent and 70 percent, but this vaccine appears to have fallen on the low side of that range.
The vaccine did cut the risk of medical visits caused by either influenza A or influenza B by 56 percent, according to the study published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
It was more effective against influenza B, protecting 67 percent of those who were vaccinated. Against the influenza A (H3N2) strain, the vaccine protected only 47 percent.
The protective benefits of the vaccine against influenza B were consistent across age groups. That was not the case with the influenza A (H3N2) component of the vaccine, which protected 46 percent to 58 percent of people aged 6 months to 64 years, but only 9 percent of those 65 and older, a finding that was statistically insignificant.
The estimates are based on studies of 2,697 children and adults enrolled in the U.S. Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network between December 3 and January 19. The CDC said those estimates may change by the end of the flu season, when more people have been sampled.
Even so, the findings suggest that a large group of elderly people, who are consistently the most vulnerable to influenza, were unprotected during this year’s flu season.
POOR IMMUNE RESPONSE TO VACCINES
One possible explanation may be that in older individuals, the immune system often produces a less robust immune response to vaccines, or to any infection.
CDC experts suggested that poor immune response to the influenza A (H3N2) component of the vaccine may help explain why the elderly were not protected, but said in the report the findings “should not discourage future vaccination by persons aged 65 years (or older), who are at greater risk for more severe cases and complications from influenza.”
Dr. Joseph Bresee, a flu expert at the CDC, said overall the vaccine worked “OK,” but it is not fully clear why people over 65 responded poorly.
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Shock CDC Study: Flu Vaccine Ineffective in 91% of Seniors
A study released today by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows shockingly low rates of effectiveness for this year’s flu vaccine.
According to the report, the flu vaccine was effective for only 9% of seniors over 65 years old. In other words, 91% of seniors in the study who were vaccinated were still susceptible to getting the flu.
The CDC showed somewhat better results for younger persons. They claimed that the flu vaccine was effective for 58% of those aged 6 months-17 years, 46% for persons aged 18–49 years, and 50% for persons aged 50–64 years.
Overall, the CDC claimed this year’s flu vaccine was “moderately effective” and made the unprovable claim that “influenza vaccination reduced the risk for medical visits resulting from influenza A and B by 56%.”
But since young people generally have stronger immune systems than seniors it’s unclear how many of the younger test subjects would not have gotten the flu whether they were vaccinated or not.
It seems that the figure for seniors is far more accurate as to the actual effectiveness of the vaccine precisely because they have weaker immune systems.
Related articles
- In U.S., Flu Vaccine Worked in Just over Half of Those Who Got It (nlm.nih.gov)
- Shock CDC Study: Flu Vaccine Ineffective in 91% of Seniors (activistpost.com)
- Shock CDC Study: Flu Vaccine Ineffective in 91% of Seniors (consciouslifenews.com)
- Flu Vaccine This Season Not Working for Your Grandparents: Ineffective in People Over 65 (medicaldaily.com)
- Older Milwaukeeans hit hard by flu (jsonline.com)
- Flu vaccine less effective, especially among elderly (cnn.com)
- Former CDC official blasts flu vaccine as anti-science PR stunt (therefusers.com)
- Researcher Taking Shot At Flu Vaccine That’s More Effective, Easier To Make (medicalnewstoday.com)
- Flu vaccine barely worked in people over 65 (usatoday.com)
BY WILLIAM WEIR, bweir@courant.com
This year, 19 of the 29 acute care hospitals in the state require that all employees get flu vaccinations. It’s a sharp increase from last year, when there were only five. State health officials did not name the hospitals.
There has been dissent from some employees.
At Waterbury Hospital, dozens of employees initially refused to get a flu shot, but after being threatened with unpaid suspension and possible dismissal, only two full-time employees had failed to get a vaccination or exemption by Wednesday. They have been suspended.
“There are a few hardcore people who are holding out, and that’s their prerogative,” said Steven Aronin, chief of infectious diseases at Waterbury Hospital. If those employees get the shot, he said, “they can come back immediately.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitals that require flu shots for employees had 95 percent compliance, while those that didn’t had vaccination rates of 68 percent.
Religious and medical exemptions are allowed at most hospitals that have mandatory vaccine policies. Employees with a history of adverse reactions to the shot, have certain allergies or have a compromised immune system can get the medical exemption. Religious exemptions vary. Children’s Medical Center requires a note from the person’s spiritual leader, explaining objections to the vaccines. At Hartford Hospital, the employee can write their own note explaining their objections. Those who do get exemptions must wear masks during flu season.
Earlier this year, the Connecticut Hospital Association adopted a statewide policy endorsing mandatory flu vaccination for hospital staff. Nationally, Nancy Foster of the American Hospital Association said more hospitals appear to be implementing mandatory policies. Her organization doesn’t specifically recommend mandatory programs, but noted that hospitals should do what’s necessary to get high vaccination rates.
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Flu jabs are a ‘waste of taxpayers’ money’, claim scientists who say the benefits have been over-hyped
- University of Minnesota report says benefits – especially for older people – have been over-promoted
- New vaccine pipeline hindered as a result
- But experts still recommend current vaccination ‘as it’s the best we have’
The US researchers say ministers in Britain as well as America are ‘wasting taxpayers’ money’ on the jab.
And they claim that because the benefits have been so ‘over-promoted’, scientists have been deterred from inventing vaccines that would be far more effective.
Flu jabs are a waste of taxpayer’s money due to the protective effects of the vaccine being over-hyped, it has been claimedTODAY’S POLL
Is the flu jab a waste of taxpayers’ money?
Yes
No
But the Department of Health has insisted the flu jabs ‘save lives’ and urged the elderly and patients with long-term conditions to come forward for their vaccinations.
Researchers from the University of Minnesota looked at 12,000 studies on the effectiveness and safety of the flu jab, going back to the 1930s.
More…
They say that although Government officials claim it protects between 70 and 90 per cent of the population, this is actually not the case.
In fact, they say, it protects just 59 per cent of adults aged 18 to 65, but is far less effective in the elderly.
Professor Michael Osterholm, who was involved in the study, said: ‘I have been a strong proponent of vaccination in general, and flu vaccine in particular, for many years. I still recommend its use as the best we have.
The report’s author, Professor Michael Osterholm, said he still recommended the vaccine, but its benefits were over-reported‘But we have over-promoted this vaccine. For certain age groups in some years its effectiveness has been severely limited relative to what has been previously reported.
‘That has had a very dampening effect on the development of new vaccines.’ And Douglas Fleming, of the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Influenza Monitoring Unit in Birmingham, said: ‘No vaccines are perfect. Last year’s flu vaccine was a bad match with the circulating strains. Its effectiveness varies from year to year and with different age groups.
‘Among the elderly it is widely recognised that its effectiveness decreases. Better vaccines are needed for this reason particularly. It has been over-hyped by many people.’
At present the flu jab is offered free to the over-65s, pregnant women and anyone with an underlying health condition such as asthma, diabetes or epilepsy.
The immunisation programme is estimated to cost the taxpayer £115million a year.
The latest figures from the Health Protection Agency show that 61 per cent of the over-65s have been vaccinated this year, as well as 30 per cent of pregnant women and 37.5 per cent of those with long-term conditions.
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘There is no doubt that the flu programme saves lives.
‘Evidence on the effectiveness of the vaccine is reviewed by the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation and this year the committee undertook a detailed review of the flu vaccine programme.
‘We strongly encourage scientists and the vaccine industry in their efforts to develop new and more effective flu vaccine and do not agree that these efforts are being discouraged.
‘Each year thousands of people die after catching flu and we urge everyone that is in an at-risk group to get the vaccine.’
Professor Osterholm added: ‘We support using flu vaccine in all age groups. Even among the over-65s, although it is of limited benefit, it is still a benefit.’
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- Flu vaccine ‘over-hyped’ and wastes taxpayer’s money (theweek.co.uk)
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- UK: Scientists urge ministers: tell truth on ‘over-hyped’ flu vaccine (crofsblogs.typepad.com)
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Drive-thru flu vaccines being administered for ’emergency response’ purposes
by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) In the shadow of Halloween, local health departments all across the country are holding creepy new drive-thru flu shot clinics this year as part of a nationwide “emergency preparedness drill” to see how quickly and efficiently large numbers of people can be vaccinated. According to numerous local reports, individuals are being encouraged to bring their family and friends along for the ride as they roll down their windows to get the free jabs, while officials monitor and track how rapidly the public can be processed through these various vaccine lines.
The ominous initiative, which some reports are openly describing as a test run for future forced vaccinations of large numbers of people, is taking place in Connecticut, Alabama, Georgia, California, Kansas, Virginia, Arizona, and many other states. And in some locations, administrators will actually be onsite timing with a stopwatch the rate at which vaccine providers are able to process people through the vaccine lines, all for the purpose of assessing whether or not such a feat might be possible on a much larger scale.
“We’re going to time how long it takes each person to get through the clinic,” said Kris Magnussen, a communicable disease prevention supervisor at Connecticut’s Ledge Light Health District, to The Day. “If we had to vaccinate thousands and thousands of people in a short period of time, we want to be as efficient as possible.”
In Georgia, a local health official took this chilling concept even further, telling WALB news in Albany that, should another “pandemic” flu situation sweep the area, “we would need to give the vaccine to the entire population” of that particular county. And since many other counties across the country are also holding their own similar flu shot clinics, the overall intent seems to be to utilize the vast network of local health departments to effectively vaccinate the entire U.S. population in the event of an “emergency.”
Since flu vaccines take weeks to ‘activate,’ what good will it do to administer them in an emergency situation?
There is a glaring consistency with all this, though. Flu vaccines, we are told, take roughly two weeks after being injected to even begin working, which makes the idea of rushing thousands or even millions of people through a vaccine processing line to avert a flu pandemic or other emergency scientifically ridiculous. Nevertheless, this is the excuse the corporate plutocracy is using as justification for this latest flu shot stunt, which bears an eerie resemblance to the types of processing lines used by Nazi Germans to sort prisoners through the death camp lines.
Regardless of where this all ends up leading, it is always important to remember that the flu shot itself is medically useless, as illustrated by numerous studies, including a 2011 study published in the journal The Lancet which found that flu shots benefit virtually nobody. Taking vitamin D, eating “superfoods,” drinking clean water, and getting plenty of regular rest remain the best ways to avoid getting the flu — and the good news is that you do not have to wait in a long line of cars to gain access to these powerful natural remedies.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.theday.com/article/20121017/NWS01/310179914/0/SEARCH
http://www.naturalnews.com/019194_flu_the_health.html
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037778_flu_vaccines_emergency_response_vaccinations.html#ixzz2B6PNkpHl
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- Drive-thru Flu Vaccines Being Administered For ‘Emergency Response’ Purposes (amresolution.com)
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Health And Wellness Report
Health : Medical Research – Vaccines
Study Shows Influenza Vaccines Cause Spontaneous Abortions and Stillbirths
Dave Mihalovic
Prevent Disease.com
Prevent Disease.com
© Prevent Disease.com
A comparison of fetal-loss reports in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) during three consecutive influenza seasons shows there was a synergistic toxicity causing spontaneous abortions (SAB) and stiillbirths (SB) following the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations of pandemic and influenza vaccines administered to pregnant women.
An overwhelming majority of pregnant women who visit the doctor’s office are now refusing the flu vaccine over fears it will harm their fetus and their fears are now scientifically justified. More than 90% of all expecting mothers will now say no to the flu vaccine due to fear of miscarriage and delivery of toxic byproducts to their unborn child.
In 2011, Dr. Alessandro Bertoucci who analyzed the practices of 256 physicians treating more than 600,000 patients, reported that a staggering 91% of pregnant women are declining influenza vaccines due to fears of miscarriage and suspected toxins in the vaccine itself.
A study published last year in the Human and Experimental Toxicology journal found a direct statistical correlation between higher vaccine doses and infant mortality rates. It was a confirmation that many anti-vaccine advocates have long awaited and further establishes and adds to preliminary evidence that vaccinations are toxic poisons having no place in the human body.
The study, Infant mortality rates regressed against number of vaccine doses routinely given: Is there a biochemical or synergistic toxicity?, was conducted by Gary S. Goldman and Neil Z. Miller who has been studying the dangers of vaccines for 25 years.
The infant mortality rate (IMR) is one of the most important indicators of the socio-economic well-being and public health conditions of a country. The US childhood immunization schedule specifies 26 vaccine doses for infants aged less than 1 year–the most in the world–yet 33 nations have lower IMRs. Australia and Canada are a close 2nd and 3rd respectively with 24 vaccine doses.
Some countries have IMRs that are less than half the US rate: Singapore, Sweden, and Japan are examples. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “The relative position of the United States in comparison to countries with the lowest infant mortality rates appears to be worsening.”
Goldman’s most recent study Comparison of VAERS fetal-loss reports during three consecutive influenza seasons successfully correlated fetal toxicity resulting from the administration of both the pandemic (A-H1N1) and seasonal influenza vaccines during the 2009/10 season.
Since 1997, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended the routine vaccination of pregnant women with trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) after the first trimester of pregnancy. This recommendation was expanded in 2004 to include all trimesters of pregnancy.
All previously published studies of pregnant women who were administered TIV have reported this vaccine as safe during all stages of pregnancy.
Frequently cited peer-reviewed reports on the safety of influenza vaccination during pregnancy do not reveal any adverse outcomes among women. Many of these studies, used “no Thimerosal” influenza vaccines, had insufficient statistical power to adequately detect and assess complications due to the small sample size.
In another follow-up safety study (conducted among 2,291 pregnant women) cited by ACIP did not find increased childhood mortality associated with exposure to TIV in pregnancy. However, fetallosses were not included in the analysis as found in critical assessments of the study.
The safety and effectiveness of the pandemic (monovalent influenza) A-H1N1 vaccine had not been previously established in pregnant women. Nor was the combination of two different influenza vaccines ever tested in pregnant women. The A-H1N1 vaccine inserts from the various manufacturers contained this caution: “It is also not known whether these vaccines can cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant women or can affect reproduction capacity.”
In October 2010, Moro et al summarized that during 19 influenza seasons (1990/91 through 2008/09) there were a total of 17 spontaneous abortion (SAB) and 6 stillbirth (SB) reports following TIV in VAERS database.
An independent survey was conducted by the National Coalition of Organized Women (NCOW) via the Internet to serve as a second surveillance source for pregnant women suffering A-H1N1 fetal loss during the two-vaccine 2009/10 influenza season. Eileen Dannemann, director of NCOW, oversaw this study and the data collected are summarized in the Results section. In response to a public service announcement delivered via several websites on the Internet, respondents contacted one of two study coordinators via phone or e-mail address. The respondents provided relevant details including (a) type of influenza vaccine received, (b) date of vaccination, (c) type of vaccine, (d) date of onset of symptom(s), (e) date of spontaneous abortion or miscarriage, (f) geographic location, (g) whether or not the adverse event was reported to VAERS, and (h) other miscellaneous comments.
Results from Goldman’s study shows that although there was an approximate 4-fold (43%/11.3%) increase in the percentage of pregnant women vaccinated in 2009/10 compared to 2008/09, there was a 43.5-fold increase in fetal-loss reports–from 4 in 2008/09 to 174 in 2009/10.
Based on respondents’ comments to the NCOW survey in the 2009/10 season, it is likely that the ascertainment-corrected rate of 535 fetal losses per million pregnant women vaccinated represents a significant underestimate during the two-vaccine 2009/10 influenza season since healthcare professionals explained to patients “the benefits of influenza vaccination outweighed the risks.” Medical literature reporting the mean rate of “1.9 fetal losses per million pregnant women vaccinated” for the previous 19 single-vaccine influenza seasons based on counts of VAERS reports that were not adjusted for under-ascertainment, likely contributed to this perception of safety. Because both patient and healthcare professionals relied on a historical profile that was incomplete with respect to assessing fetal-demise reporting, a possible link to fetal demise following administration of influenza vaccine(s) during 2009/10 was rarely contemplated or was considered highly unlikely and thus, more often than not, not reported.
When one or more Thimerosal-containing vaccines, including some formulations of the seasonal TIV and pandemic monovalent A-H1N1 vaccines are administered to a pregnant woman, the fetus is also indirectly exposed to mercury.
The linkage between Thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders is a concern because several studies have shown that children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) have higher levels of mercury body burden than typically developing children. In addition, there is a positive correlation between mercury body burden and severity of ASD symptoms. Direct measurement of injury in the brains of children with ASD reinforce this finding; there is a significant dose-dependent positive correlation between oxidative stress markers (evidence of brain injury) and mercury levels in the brains of children with ASD.
The amount of mercury that accumulates in any given fetus and the severity of its impact depend upon several factors in addition to the maternal mercury exposure due to injected Thimerosal-containing inactivated-influenza vaccines. Dental amalgams in pregnant woman contribute to increased mercury burden in the developing fetus and newborn. Also, the maternal-fetal genetic background can modulate fetal exposure to mercury; thus, certain gene variants influence mercury toxicokinetics causing the variable susceptibility that is observed with respect to mercury toxicity. This variation in genetic susceptibility, combined with factors of diet and antibiotic use, can synergistically enhance mercury toxicity and effectively preclude establishment of a safe mercury dosing level for all individuals.
Moreover, the 0.1 mcg/kg-day reference dose that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established as safe based on oral ingestion of mercury is not applicable for injected Thimerosal via vaccination since injection bypasses the absorption protection provided by the gastrointestinal system intestines (which is also apparently dependent on the manner in which the fish or other mercury-containing food is prepared), thereby delivering more of the toxic dose of mercury administered into the body.
Thus, it is biologically plausible that during the two-vaccine 2009/10 influenza season, when pregnant women were administered two Thimerosal-containing influenza vaccines each delivering 50 mcg of Thimerosal (or 25 mcg of mercury per dose), the fetus’ mercury dose exceeded the EPAs reference (oral) dose for oral exposure of (0.1 mcg of mercury/kg-day). This over-exposure could be a significant contributing factor to some of the reported SABs and SBs. Moreover, the mercury in injected Thimerosal-containing vaccine doses has been found to preferentially bioaccumulate in the fetal tissues.
The study concluded that the concomitant administration of the seasonal influenza and pandemic A-H1N1 vaccines during 2009/10, suggests a synergistic toxicity and a statistically significant higher rate of fetal loss reporting relative to the single-dose seasons.
The VAERS rates of 6.8 and 12.6 fetal-loss reports per million women vaccinated for those single-vaccine seasons may provide healthcare professionals with a sense that influenza vaccines administered during pregnancy are relatively safe, when, in reality, these rates merely reflect the low level of case ascertainment associated with VAERS and thus, grossly underestimate the true rates encountered in the U.S. population. Just because a single vaccine has been tested and considered safe, does not imply there will not be a synergistic fetal toxicity effect associated with the administration of two or more Thimerosal-containing vaccines to a pregnant woman and/or a synergistic toxicity effect from the combination of the biologically active components contained in concomitantly administered vaccines.
In addition, because of the order of magnitude increase in fetal-loss report rates, from 6.8 fetal-loss reports per million pregnant woman vaccinated in the 1-dose 2008/09 season to 77.8 in the 2-dose 2009/10 season, further long-term studies are needed to assess adverse outcomes in the surviving children. Additional research concerning the risk factors associated with the potential synergistic toxicity associated with the administration of Thimerosal-containing vaccines is warranted and the exposure-effect association should be verified in further toxicological and case-control studies.
Sources:
Comparison of VAERS fetal-loss reports during three consecutive influenza seasons
Progressive Convergence
scribd.com
Dave Mihalovic is a Naturopathic Doctor who specializes in vaccine research, cancer prevention and a natural approach to treatment.
Related articles
- Study Shows Influenza Vaccines Cause Spontaneous Abortions and Stillbirths (investmentwatchblog.com)
- Vaccines: could the desire for healthiness lead to death? (english.ruvr.ru)
Health
Detroit American Indian Community Celebrates Grand Re-Opening of Health Clinic
DETROIT – American Indian Health and Family Services of Southeastern Michigan is celebrating its Grand Opening of its renovated medical and behavioral health clinic tomorrow, May9th, which is also National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day.
American Indian community elders, the architect and the staff
worked to incorporate American Indian culture and teachings into the design.
The event will begin at 4:30 pm and last until 7:30 pm. American Indian Health and Family Services of Southeastern Michigan is located at 4880 Lawndale Street in Detroit.
George Martin, a well known and respected Ojibwe elder, will conduct a ceremonial blessing as part of the opening celebration. The celebration will also include an art display and performances, traditional Native games and songs and food. Educational material on children’s mental health will be distributed.
“Events that draw us together in celebration, especially celebration of children and their voices, add to feelings of worth, love and support for a child. Those are tools they have to build great character and rebound from traumas,”
stated Ashley Tuomi, executive director of American Indian Health and Family Services.
“We express our emotions in many ways. Our job as Behavioral Healthcare Providers is to help children and their families learn to communicate their emotions in healthy, balanced ways. This event highlights how emotional expression can be fun as well as meaningful,”
commented Tina Louise, director of Healthcare and Recovery for the agency.
FDA denies a petition that sought to ban BPA from food packaging
The Food and Drug Administration said that after performing extensive research on the chemical Bisphenol A, the agency is denying a 2008 petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council to ban BPA from food packaging.
BPA, which has generated controversy about its impact on health, is used in the production of plastics and resins and is found in some water bottles and food cans. Research has shown that small amounts can migrate into food and beverages. Some animal studies have raised concerns that BPA exposure may cause multiple health problems, including reproductive disorders, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The FDA said in its March 30 consumer update report that “scientific evidence at this time does not suggest that the very low levels of human exposure to BPA through the diet are unsafe.” And, the “FDA is continuing its research and monitoring of studies to address uncertainties raised about BPA.”
The Natural Resources Defense Council released a response from Sarah Janssen, a public health scientist, which said the FDA made the wrong call.
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Holistic Health
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By Dr. David Jockers,
(NaturalNews) Zeolite is a naturally forming microporous, aluminosilicate mineral combination that is found in rock deposits around the world. Zeolite comes from the Greek word for ‘boiling stones’ as they emit steam when heated. Zeolites have a very strong affinity for pulling out toxic debris from water, clothing, and within the body. Zeolites are considered one of nature’s finest detoxifying elements. Zeolites naturally form when fresh groundwater or sea water reacts with volcanic ash and takes…
(NaturalNews) Zeolite is a naturally forming microporous, aluminosilicate mineral combination that is found in rock deposits around the world. Zeolite comes from the Greek word for ‘boiling stones’ as they emit steam when heated. Zeolites have a very strong affinity for pulling out toxic debris from water, clothing, and within the body. Zeolites are considered one of nature’s finest detoxifying elements. Zeolites naturally form when fresh groundwater or sea water reacts with volcanic ash and takes…
Chinese herbs prevent hair loss & stimulate natural hair restoration without the need for baldness drugs
By JB Bardot,
(NaturalNews) Chinese herbs have been used for centuries on their own and in conjunction with other alternative therapies such as acupuncture, acupressure and Ayurveda to prevent hair loss, re-grow hair and restore natural pigment to gray hair. Hair loss has many causes, such as the genetic male pattern baldness and diseases affecting glands and hormones. Lack of circulation to the scalp and vitamin deficiencies play a major role in hair health. Chemotherapy is the primary cause of hair loss in…
Use selenium to protect against cancer
By PF Louis,
(NaturalNews) In a recent radio interview, Doctor Peter Glidden, N.D. (naturopathic doctor) disclosed that a daily intake of 200 mcg of selenium produces an effective protection against cancer. He wondered aloud why this information is not part of public knowledge in the “War against Cancer.” He pointed out that several standard randomized double-blind placebo trials over several years have shown that breast cancer risk is reduced by 82% with a daily intake of just 200 mcg of selenium. The same…
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Pet Health
Fixing Submissive/Excitement Urination in Dogs
While dog might be man’s best friend, that puddle on the floor sure isn’t. If your new housebroken puppy or rescued dog occasionally pees on the floor for no fathomable reason, then you might have a dog with submissive/excitement urination issues.
So what should you do if you think you have a dog with an excitement or submissive peeing problem? First off, take your dog to the vet to rule out other reasons for the inappropriate peeing. If you receive the all clear from your vet, how do you know which problem your dog has?
If your pooch doesn’t pee when you’re in a dominant position (i.e., looking your dog directly in the eye, bending from the waist, greeting your dog face on), then chances are your dog is suffering from an excitement issue. If the dog does pee when you arrive home, when you’re in a dominant position, or when it is in trouble, then it’s probably a submissive issue. Either way, the situation can be remedied.
Submissive Peeing
Submissive dogs pee when they are greeted, when someone approaches, when they are punished, and when there is a history of rough treatment or punishment after peeing; this is common in rescued dogs. This is also a common reaction with shy, anxious, and timid dogs. To fix this problem, avoid scolding or yelling at your dog after it has peed. Instead, try building its confidence by teaching it simple commands (sit, stay, come), and reward your dog after each success. The same applies with teaching simple tricks (roll over, fetch); go with the reward and praise route.
You will also want to approach your dog in non-dominant postures. Avoid direct eye contact, approach from the side, and crouch down to your dog’s level. When patting your pooch, go for under the chin rather than the top of the head. Keep all greetings low key, and when the dog does pee, simply clean it up without fuss and go away. Do not forget to reward and praise your pup when it pees in the appropriate place.
Fleas on Dogs and What You Can Do About Them
When pet owners are asked what they dread most about the summer months, the topic that invariably comes up most is fleas!
Fleas on dogs and cats! These small dark brown insects prefer temperatures of 65-80 degrees and humidity levels of 75-85 percent — so for some areas of the country they are more than just a “summer” problem.
Dogs and cats often get infested with fleas through contact with other animals or contact with fleas in the environment. The strong back legs of this insect enable it to jump from host to host or from the environment onto the host. (Fleas do not have wings, so they cannot fly!) The flea’s bite can cause itching for the host but for a sensitive or flea-allergic animal, this itching can be quite severe and leads to hair-loss, inflammation and secondary skin infections. Some pets, hypersensitive to the flea’s saliva, will itch all over from the bite of even a single flea!
The flea information presented here will focus on treatment for and prevention of fleas, which, let’s face it, is just as important to the pet as it is to the pet’s caretakers!
How do you know if fleas are causing all that itching – formally known as pruritus? Generally, unlike the burrowing, microscopic Demodex or Scabies Mites, fleas can be seen scurrying along the surface of the skin. Dark copper colored and about the size of the head of a pin, fleas dislike light so looking for them within furry areas and on the pet’s belly and inner thighs will provide your best chances of spotting them.
Look for “flea dirt”, too. “Flea dirt” looks like dark specks of pepper scattered on the skin surface. If you see flea dirt, which is actually flea feces and is composed of digested blood, pick some off the pet and place on a wet paper towel. If after a few minutes the tiny specks spread out like a small blood stain, it’s definitely flea dirt and your pet has fleas!
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Positivity Mind and Body
The Awakening (Full Movie)
Uploaded by chunkafungus on Aug 1, 2011
Max Igan presents – The Awakening
Infinite Love, Infinite consciousness is the only truth, everything is the illusion.
http://thecrowhouse.com/home.html
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Articles of Interest
DIY Pet Bed by Whitney, ThreadBanger How-to
Published on May 11, 2012 by ThreadBanger
Use Whitney’s tutorial to create a cute and comfy dog bed for your furry friend!
Subscribe to Whitney Sews for more tutorials- http://www.youtube.com/aglanceatmyworld
Advanced genetic screening method may speed vaccine development
by Richard Harth
Tempe AZ (SPX) May 11, 2012
 File image. |
Infectious diseases-both old and new-continue to exact a devastating toll, causing some 13 million fatalities per year around the world.
Vaccines remain the best line of defense against deadly pathogens and now Kathryn Sykes and Stephen Johnston, researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, along with co-author Michael McGuire from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center are using clever functional screening methods to attempt to speed new vaccines into production that are both safer and more potent.
In a recent study appearing in the journal Proteome Science, the group used high-throughput methods to identify a modulator of immune activity that exists naturally in an unusual pathogen belonging to the Poxviridae family of viruses.
Parapoxvirus infection causes immune cell accumulation at the site of infection; direct screening in the host for this biological activity enabled the isolation of an immunomodulator-labeled B2. Indeed, B2 by itself causes immune cell accumulation at the site of skin injection. When added to a traditional influenza vaccine, B2 improves the vaccine’s protective capacity. Furthermore, the immunomodulator also demonstrated the ability to shrink the size of cancerous tumors, even in the absence of any accompanying specific antigen.
In the past, the process of vaccine discovery involved the random selection of naturally attenuated strains of viruses and bacteria, which were found to provide protection in humans. Examples of this approach include the use of vaccinia to protect against smallpox and attenuated mycobacterium bovis (BCG) to protect against tuberculosis.
In recent years, many vaccines have been developed using only selected portions of a given pathogen to confer immunity. These so-called subunit vaccines have several advantages over whole pathogen vaccines. Genetic components that allow a given pathogen to elude immune detection for example may be screened out, as well as any factors causing unwanted vaccine side effects.
Through careful screening, just those elements responsible for eliciting protective immune responses in the host can be extracted from the pathogen and reassembled into an effective, safer subunit vaccine.
In practice, the process of narrowing the field of promising subunit candidates from the whole genome of a pathogen has often been time consuming, laborious and perplexing. In the current study, their earlier-developed strategy, known as expression library immunization, is extended to develop a scheme to find the protein-encoding segments-known as open reading frames (ORFs)-from a pathogenic genome that have any biological function of interest.
This simple, yet powerful technique uses the host’s immune system itself to rapidly reduce any pathogenic genome (viral, fungal, bacterial or parasitic) to a handful of antigens capable of conferring protection in the host.
The advantage of this in vivo technique is that it offers a means of rapidly screening entire genomes, with the results of the search displaying desired immunogenic traits. The mode of entry of vaccines designed in this way closely resembles the natural infection process of host cells-an improvement over live attenuated vaccines.
This promising approach has been used effectively to engineer a vaccine against hepatitis and may provide a new avenue for the development of protective agents against pathogens that have thus far eluded traditional vaccine efforts, including HIV and ebola.
“We had developed a method for screening for protective subunits against a specific disease,” Sykes says. “However this type of safer vaccine design is notoriously less potent than the whole pathogen designs. What we needed was a method to find generally useful vaccine components that would serve to enhance and control immunity.”
The group chose the pathogen parapoxvirus ovis (known as the Orf virus) for the current set of experiments, in which expression library immunization techniques were used to screen for an immunogenic factor buried in the pathogen’s genome.
Parapoxvirus ovis causes a highly infectious disease known as Orf, which is prevalent in sheep and goats and may be transmitted cutaneously to humans handling these animals, causing pustular lesions and scabs.
Once the group had sequenced the full genome of parapoxvirus, PCR was used to amplify all the viral open reading frames, which code for all of the viruse’s proteins. Each ORF, comprising a library of genomic components, was compiled into a unique high throughput expression construct, and these were randomly distributed into sub-library pools. These pools were directly delivered into sets of mice for in vivo expression. Functional testing for the activity desired identified B2 as the immune cell accumulator.
In further experiments, the team co-delivered B2L as an additive or adjuvant for an influenza gene vaccine, to see if it could improve survival rates in mice challenged with the influenza virus. The co-immunized mice indeed displayed full protection against influenza compared with 50 percent protection of the control group, immunized with influenza vaccine alone.
In addition to infectious agents like Orf, non-infectious diseases including cancer may be amenable to vaccine defense. Thus far however, the discovery of tumor-specific antigens has been frustrating. One approach may lie in using non-specific immunogenic factors like B2.
In the current study, two forms of cancer were investigated in a mouse model, following the administering of B2 alone, in the absence of a disease antigen. The experiments evaluated B2’s ability to enhance survival and shrink tumor size. In the case of an aggressive melanoma, tumor size was significantly reduced and survival rate improved. Administration of B2 to an infection induced by a breast cancer cell line also showed a modest but measureable reduction in tumor size.
With the growing popularity of sub-unit vaccines, the need arises for more effective adjuvants, which may be used to compensate for the reduced immunogenicity of such vaccines compared with their whole-pathogen counterparts. Techniques similar to those applied here to isolate and evaluate B2 could potentially permit the screening of virtually any genome for any gene-encoded activity testable in an organism.
Related Links
Biodesign Institute at ASU
Epidemics on Earth – Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola
US experts urge approval of first AIDS prevention pill
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) May 10, 2012
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US health advisers on Thursday urged regulators to approve Truvada, made by Gilead Sciences, as the first preventive pill against HIV/AIDS instead of just a treatment for infected people.
The favorable vote came after clinical trials showed Truvada could lower the risk of HIV in gay men by 44 to 73 percent, and was hailed by some AIDS advocates as a potent new tool against human immunodeficiency virus.
However, many concerns were raised during a marathon 11-hour panel meeting in which about three dozen health care providers warned that the pill could boost risky behaviors and possibly lead to a drug-resistant strain of HIV.
The Food and Drug Administration is not bound by the recommendations of its expert panel, but usually follows the advice. A final decision by the FDA is expected by June 15.
Mitchell Warren, executive director of HIV prevention group AVAC, said after the vote that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), or the method of taking a drug ahead of potential exposure to HIV, “while not a panacea, will be an essential additional part to the world’s success in ending AIDS.”
“For the millions of men and women who remain at risk for HIV worldwide, each new HIV prevention option offers additional hope,” he added.
The drug, made by the California-based Gilead Sciences, is currently available as a treatment for people with HIV in combination with other anti-retroviral drugs, and received FDA approval in 2004.
The panel’s nod came in response to the pharmaceutical company’s request for a supplemental new drug application to market it for prevention purposes.
The Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee voted for the drug as a preventive measure for three groups: 19-3 in favor for men who have sex with men, 19-2 with one abstention for couples in which a partner is HIV positive and 12-8 with two abstentions for other at-risk groups.
Gay men account for more than half of the 56,000 new HIV cases in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
But critics noted that the pill is costly — up to $14,000 per year — and could offer a false sense of protection, leading to a spike in unsafe sex and a new surge in AIDS cases.
“We need to slow down. I care too much about my community not to speak my concerns,” said Joey Terrill, advocacy manager at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which campaigned against the drug’s approval for PrEP.
There also remains some controversy about who would benefit from the treatment, as trials in women have shown feeble results, possibly due to poor adherence to the regimen.
“I am concerned about the potential for development of resistance,” said Roxanne Cox-Iyamu, a doctor who spoke at the panel’s meeting.
“I am concerned as a black woman that we don’t have enough data that this actually works in women.”
Nurse Karen Haughey said Truvada will not work because “it is not in our nature to always do as human beings what we are told 100 percent of the time.”
She also said Truvada’s main side effects — diarrhea and risk of kidney failure — were a major deterrent.
The main set of data considered came from the iPrEx HIV Prevention Study, carried out from July 2007 to December 2009 in six countries — Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and the United States.
The study was conducted among 2,499 men who were sexually active with other men but were not infected with the virus that causes AIDS.
Participants were selected at random to take a daily dose of Truvada — a combination of 200 milligrams of emtricitabine and 300 milligrams of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate — or a placebo.
Those in the study who took the drug regularly had almost 73 percent fewer infections. Across the entire study, including those who had not been as diligent in taking Truvada, there were 44 percent fewer infections than in those who took a placebo.
After publication in 2010 in the New England Journal of Medicine, some experts hailed the results as game-changing and the first demonstration that an already-approved oral drug could decrease the likelihood of HIV infections.
Joseph McGowan, medical director of the Center for AIDS Research and Treatment at North Shore University Hospital in New York, said the CDC was expected to soon issue guidance for health professionals who may prescribe the drug.
“I don’t see it as something that would be useful to the general public but to certain people who are particularly high risk, there may be some benefit,” he said.
Related Links
Epidemics on Earth – Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola
Pfizer and Merck under investigation for colluding with Obama Administration on health care overhaul
By Ethan A. Huff,
(NaturalNews) Most Americans have no idea what truly went on behind closed doors during the crafting and illegitimate passing of Obamacare, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But a congressional investigation currently underway is seeking to unearth the dirty details, including how drug giants like Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. greased the financial wheels to make sure their pharmaceuticals received preferential treatment as part of the health care overhaul. As reported…
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