Special Report: Is a vaccine an answer to swine flue?

Friday, October 23, 2009

By Jake Nichols

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Scientists believe it began in the small village where a man named Albert lived. March 4th began much the same as any other day for Albert – he cleaned out the pig pens early that morning and then headed for the kitchen to cook. By the end of the day, Albert was in bed with a fever, sore throat, and headache. Ground zero. Patient one of the H1N1 flu.

That was 1918, Haskell County, Kansas, where the American Medical Association tracked the origins of the “Spanish Flu.” Could it happen again? Is it happening now?

Just how bad is this novel Type A, subtype H1N1 strain called “swine flu?”
When Americans have questions, nowadays, they turn to the Internet; that cosmic collection of crackpots and their conspiracy theories. If the spread of swine flu wasn’t bad enough, imagine the hairdresser cyber-babble going viral on home computers. Misinformation fuels a pandemic of rumor as a nation debates whether to roll up their sleeves for a swine flu shot.

Information age
So who can you trust? The government, you may have heard, is only interested in its own self-perpetuation. They have an agenda that may include eugenics, and they’re in bed with Big Pharma. Alternative medicine practitioners and holistic healers sound convincing enough, until they claim only their form of vitamin D – sold at the bottom of the Web site page – will ward off deadly viruses. And your trusted local family doctor; well, chances are he is woefully under-informed.
“I’m one for choice,” said Kevin Meehan. Meehan is the founder of Cell Reserve, LLC, and developer of Mulligan Stew pet food. He holds a Masters of Science degree and is a former board member of the Teton Wellness Institute.

“What bothers me is when these practitioners, who don’t know enough about the science behind [the flu], are talking when they shouldn’t,” he said. “If we understand the basic premise behind the biochemistry of pathology, we’ll be better able to make a decision about something like the flu vaccine.”

Vaccines: How do they work?
The idea behind a vaccine is that by introducing an inactivated strain of flu (hypodermic) or a weakened live virus (nasal spray), an immune system can be taught which particular type of invasive cells to be looking for and how to eradicate them, thereby building an immunity to that strain of flu. The technology has been in use for 60 years. Nasal sprays, sold under the name “FluMist,” were approved for use in 2003.

The shot form of vaccine is made by growing the virus in chicken eggs. New research is currently being explored that will use canine kidney cells, insect eggs, and retinas from aborted fetal tissues. In 2005, the Bush administration allocated more than $7 billion to pharmaceutical companies for the production of these ‘cell line’ factories. The virus is rendered inert by either the addition of formalin (an aqueous solution of formaldehyde) or by exposure to UV rays. The current swine flu vaccine used both methods to deactivate the virus.

The nasal spray form of vaccine is different. “It contains an attenuated (weakened) live virus,” said Tammy Marshall, response coordinator for Teton County Public Health. To weaken the virus, it is adapted to temperatures below those typically found in the body. This allows it to reproduce in the relatively cool lining of the nose, but not in the lungs where it could cause harm.

Still, the nasal spray is a live virus, and recommended only for healthy people age 2 to 49. Many experts also believe individuals who are inoculated nasally can expel harmful cells – a process known as viral shedding – for up to five days, and could spread the virus during this time.

Vaccines: Do they work?
Statistical research both supports and refutes claims that flu vaccines work. A 2009 study in Current Topics Microbiology Immunology reported that Center for Disease Control (CDC) officials conceded the ability of flu vaccines to generate sufficient antibodies and effectively reduce symptoms and prevent death is only about 30 to 50 percent. Other experts say most years the efficacy is 70 to 80 percent.

“There are a lot of countries that vaccinate far less than we do in the U.S. and they have no more cases of flu every year than we do,” Meehan said. “There is no proof that the vaccines don’t work, yet there is no proof that they do work.” Meehan adds that he has never had a flu vaccination and has never had the flu despite caring for dozens of sick patients at his clinic.

Wyoming Department of Health director and state health officer Dr. Brent Sherard echoes the advice of the CDC: “Vaccines are the single most effective weapon we have in fighting influenza.”

An ounce of prevention generates a pound of scrutiny
Is it any wonder the public is alarmed? The swine flu vaccine is being rushed. There is no denying that. Pharmaceutical companies began production of a vaccine only after studying it in April. It was too late to include in the regular seasonal flu batch.
“I think the rush to get the H1N1 vaccine has made people a little nervous about it,” Dr. Brent Blue speculated. “It stems back to the Ford administration where there were [Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS)] cases and some controversy over whether they were related to the vaccine or not. It is probably safe and certainly recommended for people at risk.”

Marshall acknowledged the 1976 flu season was marred by the unproven link between vaccine and GBS cases, but disagreed the flu vaccine was rushed in any way this season. “That’s a misconception that this is a new vaccine that is relatively untested,” she said. “It has gone through the same process as the seasonal flu vaccine and would have been in the regular vaccine if it had shown up earlier. They took the same amount of time that they do with the seasonal flu.”

What sparked the reports about insufficient testing of the new vaccine was a statement by Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, confirming that the government had given flu vaccine manufacturers a green light to begin bottling up experimental shots and readying them for shipment, even before Phase III test results were complete. The so-called “fill and finish” step of vaccine production was also recommended by the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. Secretary of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Kathleen Sebelius assured no vials will ship until testing is complete by mid-October.

The CEO of viral vaccine producer Novavax, Rahul Singhvi, didn’t exactly quell anxieties when he stated: “There is an emergency authorization avenue that is available that would allow us to use the vaccine in an emergency without further testing.”

What Singhvi was referring to was the Division-E provision of the 2006 Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREPA). In addition to granting drug makers virtual immunity from lawsuit, it would allow for the introduction of supply-stretching additives to vaccines known as adjuvents, which have not been approved for use in the U.S. by the FDA. Should the World Health Organization (WHO) raise the pandemic alert level one more notch to Level Six, it would allow for martial law to be imposed in the United States.

Read the ingredients
Adjuvants like squalene have come under fire, as some research indicates it may have played a role in cases of Gulf War Syndrome after soldiers were inoculated with anthrax vaccines using squalene. Squalene is used throughout Europe and Canada, but has never been approved for use in the U.S. Still, the CDC purchased $415 million worth of adjuvants from drug makers GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis in July, when the agency anticipated using the additive. Currently, no swine flu shot contains an adjuvant of any kind, according to the CDC.

Another additive is thimerosal, a preservative containing ethyl mercury, which has been linked to autism risk. At least one Jackson medical office said because of thimerosal concerns, they would not administer the swine flu shot.

Meehan is also worried about thimerosal. “The preservative is more alarming to me than the cell culture itself,” he said. “No doctor living can explain to me that a mercury derivative isn’t harmful.”

“It is a very minute amount and there’s no evidence that it causes any problems,” Marshall said of the 25 micrograms of mercury currently in each dose. “A serving of fish has the same amount. We are exposed to mercury in the environment whether we like it or not.”

“That I would not agree with,” Meehan countered. “They are lying, or they just don’t know. Fish mercury is different mercury attached to a different complex. It is the mercury complex that is dangerous.”

Vaccinate or else
Pushback in New York State over mandatory flu shots for healthcare workers has already resulted in legal action. Massachusetts passed similar legislation. Americans may not like flu shots. They hate being told what to do.

“The level of anger that we are hearing is growing, that’s all I can tell you,” Joel Shufro told NPR last week. Shufro is the director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, a coalition of 200 union locals. “Whether it’s correct or not, people are very upset.”

According to a recent study, nearly 60 percent of healthcare providers choose not to get vaccinated for the flu. They cite the same reasons as the general public: “Don’t believe they work. Believe they actually give you the flu. Fear of side-effects.”

“Several of my patients have shown flu symptoms after the inoculation,” Meehan said. “My personal opinion is there are people that never come down with the flu, and there is a reason. There are people like myself, at a clinic with sick people all around me, that are never vaccinated, but hold off the flu because our immune systems are strong.”

Dr. Blue likes his patients to have the choice. “The government is trying to immunize everyone, but for people who are otherwise healthy, they should have the choice,” he said.

So far, Americans do have the option of refusing a flu vaccine.
“Some people are afraid that this is a mandatory vaccine and we are going to give it to kids without the parents knowing,” Marshall said. “That’s simply not true.”

Follow the money trail
Suspicions are aroused whenever money is at stake. Drug companies have already sold $1.5 billion worth of swine flu shots, in addition to the $1 billion for seasonal flu they booked earlier this year, according to ABC News. The government ordered another 12.8 million doses of nasal spray vaccine from MedImmune for $151 million when egg-cultured vaccines showed slow growth rates in early trials.

Venture capital firms specializing in Pandemic and Bio Defense portfolios are watching profits soar. Share prices of publicly-traded drug makers and suppliers are up sharply. Novavax stock escalated 75 percent to $1.42 per share on the first announcement of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico last spring.

Five drug giants are supplying this year’s swine flu vaccine in the U.S. – Novartis (46%), Sanofl Pasteur (26%), CSL (19%), MedImmune (6%), and GlaxoSmithKline (3%).

Internist and respected medical author Meryl Nass, M.D., has repeatedly testified before Congress that Big Pharma needs a watchdog. “In applying the 2006 PREPA law, pharmaceutical firms have no financial incentive to make the safest product,” Nass said. “Furthermore, in order to avoid having prior knowledge of possible harm to users of the product, for which they could be found liable, it is in the manufacturers’ best interest to know as little as possible about adverse reactions caused by their product.”

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
 “Strains can become endemic,” Meehan said. “The viruses are complex because they require host cells. Genetic mutations can occur. The strains can colonize and can create different mutations. Proteins change on the surface of the virus. The strain is literally trying to survive.” The next wave of the Spanish Flu hit hard. A third of the Earth’s population became infected with a mortality rate of up to 20 percent.

This year’s version of the swine flu also displays relatively mild symptoms. Thirteen-year-old Aviva Thal of Jackson was recently diagnosed with swine flu. She said she felt “feverish and a little achy.” She said she would rate the flu about a six out of 10 on the misery scale.

“Right now it is just another strain of the flu,” Marshall said, adding that 100 percent of the flu cases tested so far in Wyoming are most definitely swine flu. “It is not something to be completely freaked out about.”

The swine flu seems to already have made its run through the Jackson Hole High School. Dr. Blue said he was convinced that half the student body already had it. “It got spread around at the high school dance. Half the football team was out, including my son.”

 “It might change and get worse,” Marshall warned. “Even though it is behaving just like the regular flu, it is affecting people in the younger age group much more than the seasonal flu. They are catching it at a higher rate than people who are older.”

Scientists tested the blood of 32 people aged 92 to 102 who were exposed to the 1918 pandemic flu and found antibodies that still roam the body looking to strangle the old flu strain. Researchers published their findings in the journal Nature last week. JHW

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