Vaccines, the good kind of chemicals!

This blog is a classroom extension on an extra topic requested b an inquisitive and curious student who forwarded me an email outlining some possible problems with the swine flu vaccine.

First, the email.

Dear Friends

Just in case any of you may be contemplating having the swine flu vaccination, I thought you may like to see a list of its ingredients so you can make an informed choice.
LIST OF VACCINE FILLERS & ADJUVENTSL This list, officially administered by design with every vaccine provided to the public, in addition to the squalene that appears to be in this upcoming swine flu vaccine, is of great concern to many parents and grandparents, with the announcement that they will start vaccinating children and pregnant women first and then "wait to see if there are too many adverse events" (including seizures, neurological problems, and death).

This is not an auspicious start. Although not a logical argument, I find any email that contains SHOUTING IN ALL CAPS to be a warning sign that the author may not have done his or her homework.

So, the first point appears to be some concern about squalene. Squalene, a natural chemical that is made in many organisms (including humans), has been given to 22 million people with no safety problems according to the world health organisation. So, if you get an email that lists squalene as a potential harm, you can stop reading and delete the email. The person writing it hasn't done their homework.

That last bit, claiming that they're going to vaccinate pregnant women and children and then 'wait and see' if there are too many adverse side effects is a wonderful bit of fear mongering. Pregnant women and children get the vaccine first because they're a high risk group. No evidence is given in the article that pregnant women and children are being treated so callously, it's just a nice little gem of fear to cap off everything else.

In addition to the viral and bacterial RNA or DNA that is part of the vaccines, here are the fillers:
? Aluminum hydroxide - directly linked to causing Alzheimer's disease ? Aluminum phosphate - directly linked to causing Alzheimer's disease ? Ammonium sulfate - an inorganic chemical compound used as fertilizer and "protein purifier"; known to cause kidney & liver damage, gastrointestinal dysfunctions ? Amphotericin B - an "antifungal disinfectant" and anti-biotic, which damages the urinary tract, bowels, and heart functions ? Animal tissues (a causal element for all the various auto-immune diseases associated with vaccination) : horse blood, rabbit brain, dog kidney, monkey kidney, chick embryo, chicken egg, duck egg, pig blood, Porcine (pig) pancreatic hydrolysate of casein (the pig protein/tissue is an additional objectionable issue for Jewish and Muslim people) ? Calf (bovine) serum & fetal bovine serum (cow blood is recognized as a significant transmitter of Mad Cow Disease) ? Betapropiolactone? Formaldehyde - used as "a preservative & disinfectant" , known to cause cancer, chronic bronchitis, eye irritation when exposed to thebody's immune system? Formalin ? Gelatin ? Glycerol ? Human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue) ? Hydrolyzed gelatin ? Monosodium glutamate (MSG) - now known to cause cancer in humans, also linked to obesity ? Neomycin (anti-biotic) ? Neomycin sulf ate (anti-biotic) ? Phenol red indicator - a highly toxic disinfectant dye, attributed to liver, kidney, heart & respiratory damage ? Phenoxyethanol (antifreeze) - proven to have extreme neurotoxic side effects ? Potassium diphosphate ? Potassium monophosphate ? Polymyxin B ? Polysorbate 20 ? Polysorbate 80 ? associated with infertility when injected ? Residual MRC5 proteins ? Sorbitol ? Sucrose ? Thimerosal (mercury) - a neurotoxin linked to psychological,neurological, & immunological problems?especially autism. Nervous system damage (such as sub-acute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), brachial plexitis, post-vaccinal encephalitis, transverse myelitis and peripheral neuropathies) , kidney disease, birth defects, dental problems, mood swings, mental changes, hallucinations, memory loss, and inability to concentrate can occur. Symptoms also include tremors, loss of dermal sensitivity, slurred speech, and?in rare cases?even death and paralysis. This additive alone was the catalyst for another recent Class Action Lawsuit organized by mothers of children born with autism & the many related behavioral disorders associated with it. Autism is now occurring at levels never seen before in history; depending on the state, its rate is now 1 in 67 to 1 in 150. The autism rates used to be 1 in 20,000. Mercury may also be associated with the significantly increased rates of senility and Alzheimer's, which is associated with five or more successive flu vaccinations. Although most mercury (thimerosal) has been removed from children's vaccines, it is still in all flu vaccines at toxic doses. ? Tri(n)butylphosphat e, ? VERO cells, a continuous line of monkey kidney cells - linked to the SV-40 virus known to cause leukemia ? Washed sheep red blood cells

Well, that's quite the grab-bag of ingredients and scary consequences. Let's put it in perspective. Dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) is a chemical. I've made it from caustic acids and bases in a lab. It is the primary ingredient in acid rain. It's so toxic it corrodes metal, and it's even used by elite athletes as a performance enhancer. Check the facts for yourself. The point being, of course, is even if you limit yourself to the truth, you can create completely irrelevant claims. DHMO, or dihydrogen monoxide is (of course) H₂O, or water.

It's not just the chemical that makes something dangerous, it's the amount and context. Water is deadly if you're exposed to the solid form for long periods of time without protection. If you really want to show that the vaccine ingredients are actually harmful, link to the study studying the vaccine ingredient given in the dose expected. All this list essentially says is "DIS VACCINE CONTAINS LOTZ DA CHEMICALS. CHEMICALS VRY BAD." If I can make a list of true dangers about water, just imagine what I could do with a list of chemicals in spinach.

If you wish to know exactly what really is in the vaccine, here's the list:

Non-medicinal ingredients:

Antigen suspension vial: Thimerosal, sodium chloride, disodium hydrogen phosphate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, potassium chloride, water for injections. The drug substance contains trace residual amounts of egg proteins, formaldehyde, sodium deoxycholate and sucrose.

Adjuvant emulsion vial: sodium chloride, disodium hydrogen phosphate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, potassium chloride, water for injections.

Medicinal ingredients:

H1N1 influenza antigen from A/California/7/2009, NYMC X-179A (H1N1)v strain and AS03 adjuvant.

I won't bother defending each chemical, other than to note that the vaccine has undergone extensive testing without a single safety concern appearing. Moreover, the vaccine was made in a 'standard' way, and isn't different from how they make other vaccines, so if there was a health problem with one of the non-medicinal ingredients we'd already know from previous studies on previous vaccines.

I will, however, make a special mention of thimerosal. Thimerosal is a mercury compound that's wonderful - it helps prevent an infection due to the injection of the vaccine. As people know mercury is toxic, they often assume that anything containing mercury is toxic. There are a couple of problems with this. First, they are forgetting dose - I wouldn't recommend bathing in thimerosal, but the tiny amount in a vaccine is harmless. Secondly, mercury and different compounds of mercury are all different. For example, sodium is a highly reactive metal that explodes when thrown in water but sodium chloride is a tasty condiment we put on french fries. If you wish to know more about thimerosal and toxicity, read the World Health Organization statement that the research shows there is no evidence of toxicity.

So that very long list of possible ingredients is, in many instances, a fabrication, and where it's not a fabrication it's an attempt at scare tactics.

THESE ADDITIVES ARE GIVEN TO OUR CHILDREN WITHOUT PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT.
Sue Collins
Co-Founder
New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination, NJAICV
"Parents and Individuals Concerned about Vaccine Safety and the Right to Informed Consent"
NJ-AICV is a completely volunteer organization. 1-800-613-9925
www.NJAICV.org (201-651-1142- Fax) PO Box 243
, Gillette , NJ 07933http://www.facebook .com/pages/ New-Jersey-
Alliance- for-Informed- Choice-in- Vaccination/ 57253034250
All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended as providing medical or legal advice. The decision to vaccinate and how you implement that decision is yours and yours alone.

So, what's the real information?

The real information is that the vaccine does have a risk. A serious life-threatening event from any immunization campaign is roughly 1 in 100,000. The death rate for the regular seasonal flu (which H1N1 may or may not match) is 1 in 1000 to 1 in 2000. Or, assuming the lowest risk for the flu:



Be careful about email and the Internet - choose your sources wisely.

Regards,

Mr. Neufeld

Don't Panic

Several students have started to ask about 2012. I hope this email addresses some questions.

Science has not only made us safer - it can help us feel safer too.

Vaccines? Perfectly safe. Aspertame in diet soda? Not a worry. Cell phones? People panic, but there's little to worry about. Homeopathy? You can save your money.

Tragically, pseudoscience and fear-mongering has consequences. Fearing the end of the world when the LHC started up, a teen took her own life. The anti-vaccination movement, now seemingly lead by Jenny McCarthy, has a body count. Children die because their parents refuse real medicine on their behalf.

Like the LHC, 2012 is not going to result in the end of the world. I'm sure it will be a great movie (any by any reasonable definition, the movie with the best special effects is the best) but it's just a movie.

Really.

The number of people who have jumped from "internet rumor + movie = it must be true" has reached such epic heights that in the U.S. NASA has actually created a special page to dispel the myth.

Think about that for a moment. This has nothing to do with NASA. NASA, as a scientific community, does not deal with (or really is equipped to understand) popular psychology and internet fads. When enough people become scared, though, it becomes a public menace.

"End of the World" predictions have a long (and failed) history. Be a little skeptical. The number of articles that end a story with "there is no evidence, so the debate continues to rage" misses the point - without evidence there is no debate. In science facts, rather than public opinion, determines whether or not there is a real debate.

And every time you accept pseoduscience as science, you make Carl Sagan Richard Feynman, Neil deGrasse Tyson & Bill Nye cry.

Cheers,

Mr. "the Earth is still flat" Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School