| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Seonaid |
Posted - 04/26/2009 : 12:53:04
Unique Strain: Is the Swine Flu Outbreak a Bio-Terror Attack?
http://www.rightsidenews.com/200904254523/editorial/unique-strainis-t...
An Advanced Biowar Event
That Will Be Bigger Than 9/11
On 23 rd April 2009 the world began to become aware of a very strange
new version of swine flu H1N1 in Mexico with limited cases in Texas
and California. By the morning of the 24th of April, we began hear
that there were hundreds of sick and 20 or so dead. By late in the
day, we have learned that over 1,000 are now reported ill and over 60
are reported dead.
There are solid reasons to suspect that this new Mexican Swine Flu is
NOT a naturally occurring event but instead is an Advanced Biological
Warfare recombination DNA genetically engineered virus.
Here is what we know of the virus so far. This virus has already gone
international having crossed the border from Mexico to America. All
schools in Mexico City have been canceled, millions of students told
to stay home due to Mexican Swine Flu. Sick victims of this strange
new virus are currently reported in California and Texas. Over 60
deaths reported in Mexico (could be substantially higher considering
the state of Mexican health care and reporting).
Young healthy adults seem to be the most at risk. This is similar to
the deadest killer flu in history, Spanish Flu in 1918. Most if not
all nations with advanced biological warfare programs have been
interested in recreating the Spanish Flu DNA sequence and several are
reported to have done so.
The new Mexican Swine Flu has elements of DNA from the following:
avian flu, human flu Type A, human flu Type B, Asian swine flu, and
European swine flu. A strange combination never seen before and having
less than 1/10% chance of being a natural event. Human and animal
viruses from four or more continents suddenly recombine in a new flu
during a non-flu season that spreads from human-to-human with a 10%
fatality rating.
Over 1,000 reported infected in Mexico; true rate may be much higher.
Mexico City seems to be the epicenter of the new virus. Mexico City
has 20 million citizens, most terribly poor. Mexico City is notorious
for its poor sanitation and public health. "Don't drink the water" has
been the byword in Mexico City for decades. It is the perfect breading
ground for an explosive growth of this new killer virus. Mexico City
has closed all schools, public gatherings, public buildings. People
are wearing medical masks on the streets. The government has announced
a massive new emergency swine flu vaccination program that will be, at
best, either totally non-effective or of very limited effect, and
could be, at worst, a deadly option for patients. It is thought that
the authorities are trying to contain public panic by announcing the
vaccination program.
Both the World Health Organization and the US CDC (Center for Disease
Control) have announced, today/24th April, that they are 'very
concerned' about a global pandemic developing out of this new disease.
Based on advanced biowargaming projections, it is already too late to
stop the global spread of this new killer disease. Based on the three
waves of Spanish Flu, the latter ones being more lethal, fatality
rates may range from approximately 10% to 40% or so in later waves.
More people could die in America, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and globally
from Mexican Swine Flu than died in World War II.
This new flu is likely a lab-created, genetically engineered virus
that either: (1) Escaped accidentally from a lab; or (2) was
deliberately released by a nation or non-state organization or a well-
trained individual. Click here for several news items.
If there is a positive side to this coming global disaster, it may
force governments to quickly come to grips with containing advanced
biowar attacks. This is of considerable short term importance as
Israel is apt to attack Iran by no later than mid-July 2009. The
Iranians, having hired a large number of key ex-Soviet advanced biowar
scientists 18 years ago and having spent billions on their
asymmetrical MAD (mutually assured destruction) counter-force, are
expected to respond to any significant attack on Iran with a biowar
attack on Israel, North America, and Europe using in-place agents and
dozens of genetically engineered viruses, many with very high
projected kill rates.
This event is an advanced biological warfare event. It is far more
important than 9/11 and, by itself, could bring deaths in such
magnitudes as to exceed the number of deaths from all causes in the
Second World War.
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| jabsadmin |
Posted - 03/28/2013 : 22:21:58
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2300205/Swine-flu-jab-wrecked-childrens-health-It-rushed-amid-fears-global-pandemic-Now-linked-illness-makes-victims-sleep-19-hours-day.html
Swine flu jab wrecked our children's health: It was rushed in amid fears of a global pandemic. Now it's linked to an illness that makes victims sleep 19 hours a day
Children developed sleep disorder after jab to protect them from swine flu
UK Health Protection Agency found jab increased chance of narcolepsy
Investigations focusing on element of vaccine called 'adjuvant'
By STEVE BOGGAN
PUBLISHED: 22:45, 27 March 2013
Nobody would listen, but Caroline Hadfield knew there was something dreadfully wrong with her five-year-old son Josh. Not only was her once lively boy constantly falling asleep, but he would often stay asleep for 18 or 19 hours a day.
‘It was as if something in him was shutting down,’ says Caroline. ‘His legs would crumble beneath him. Sometimes he would just pass out. It was terrifying. We kept taking him to hospital but they said there was nothing wrong with him.
‘One day, he was sitting on a bed in a ward and he seemed to go into a trance. A nurse took one look at him at said: “I have no idea what planet he’s on, but it isn’t this one.”’
Only after months of inconclusive tests and mistaken reassurances from medics that everything was fine did the real reason for Josh’s condition become clear — he had developed a rare and devastating condition called narcolepsy.
Two years on, he has been identified as one of a group of children who developed this crippling sleep disorder after receiving a jab to protect them against swine flu.
Narcolepsy is a neurological condition which interferes with the brain’s mechanisms to control wakefulness and sleep, leaving sufferers constantly tired and likely to fall asleep any time, anywhere.
In many cases, victims also suffer from cataplexy, a sudden and frightening relaxation of the body’s muscles which causes people to collapse or even pass out without warning. It usually strikes when the sufferer is experiencing heightened emotions such as laughter or anger.
So far, 11 likely victims have been identified. While for the vast majority of children the swine flu jab proved harmless and effective, the UK Health Protection Agency last month found that giving the jab to young children increased their chance of developing narcolepsy by 14 times.
It may be that the children affected would have developed narcolepsy later in life without the injection. No one knows for sure.
What is known is that by 2011 there was already sufficient concern over the potential link for the Department of Health to issue new guidelines banning the vaccination for anyone under the age of 20.
'He went from being a happy, playful child to a little boy who was afraid to laugh'
For Josh, that decision came too late. He was injected with the vaccine Pandemrix, made by GlaxoSmith Kline, in December 2009 and his first symptoms appeared a few weeks later.
‘Like any responsible parent, I did as much research as I could before allowing Josh to have the jab,’ says Caroline, a training analyst from Frome, Somerset.
‘The only side effect I was made aware of was soreness of the arm, so I felt re-assured. At first there were no problems, but three weeks after having the vaccine he became dramatically sleepy.
‘He started wanting to go to bed at 6pm and then in the middle of the afternoon. By the February half-term he was sleeping for 18 or 19 hours a day.’
Josh, then aged five, became increasingly listless, says Caroline, 42. He went from being a happy, active child to becoming grumpy and angry. Over the next few months she noticed a lack of control in his arms and legs.
Then his tongue began to hang out of his mouth and finally the sleeping began to consume the entire day.
Caroline and her husband, Charlie, a 48-year-old printer, began to worry that Josh could have a brain tumour. ‘By March, he could hardly stand up and I was getting calls from his school asking me to pick him up because he had fallen asleep at 10am and they couldn’t wake him,’ she says. ‘He was tested for glandular fever but that was negative. Then he had his first proper attack of cataplexy. He was watching the TV and laughing and then his muscles gave way, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out for about 30 seconds.
‘We were absolutely terrified and called an ambulance, but by the time it arrived he was fine again.’
What followed is common to most of the cases: months of blood tests, lumbar punctures (where a sample of fluid is taken from the lower back) and brain scans.
Doctor after doctor pronounced Josh to be healthy even when he was passing out for anything between 30 seconds and four minutes. As luck would have it, these passing out sessions never happened in front of the doctors.
At first, they were dismissed as being related to a mystery ‘virus’, but Caroline knew something more sinister was behind all the symptoms and pushed for more and more tests.
Eventually, Josh was sent to a specialist sleep clinic — one of only a handful in Britain — at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where his narcolepsy was finally diagnosed.
Josh was one of the thousands of children to be vaccinated with Pandemrix in response to the deadly H1N1 flu pandemic. The virus, called swine flu because it was caused by a human virus combining with one common in pigs, was first identified in April 2009 and went on to kill almost 300,000 people worldwide.
In England, the parents of a quarter of all under-fives followed Government advice to have them protected against the flu. Among children aged 15 and under with underlying health conditions, such as asthma, the take-up was even higher at 37 per cent.
'Our children may never be able to drive or hold down a job'
Robyn Ballingham, now seven, was given the jab in January 2011. Within weeks, she started becoming more and more sleepy. But it wasn’t until she suffered her first attack of cataplexy, five months after the injection, that doctors at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Yorkhill, Glasgow, diagnosed narcolepsy. Like Josh, she has become moody and sad too.
‘It was terribly upsetting to see Robyn change from a happy, active child', says her mother Dawn, 39.
‘She became very serious because she was afraid of laughing. If she laughs, it could bring on an attack of cataplexy. This affects her muscles, and eyelids are held up by muscles so it causes her eyelids to suddenly drop down and she can’t see. She panics because then she falls over, so I constantly need to be there.’
Dawn, a beauty therapist, and her husband John, 49, feel they cannot leave Robyn alone even for a moment.
‘She gets upset when we tell her she can’t do the things other children can. For example, we couldn’t risk her swimming without us being right at her side because she could drown if she had a bout of cataplexy.’
It was a similar story for Lucio Decicco, now aged eight, from Hawkinge, Kent, following his swine flu vaccination in January 2010 — the listlessness, the passing out, the incessant sleeping.
He, too, underwent batteries of tests before finally being diagnosed with narcolepsy at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in South London. ‘Lucio had more tests than any child should ever have to go through — blood tests, lumbar punctures, MRI and CAT scans on his brain,’ says his mother, Karen, a pre-school teacher.
‘The staff at St Thomas’s were wonderful, but they couldn’t find out what was wrong with him.’
Then Karen, 34, saw a story in the Daily Mail highlighting suspicions about Pandemrix in Finland. ‘I wrote to the hospital about the article, they quickly tested Lucio for narcolepsy, and the mystery was solved. It was heartbreaking to see the change in him.
‘He went from being a happy, playful child to a little boy who was afraid to laugh.’
So, with all the supposed stringent checks on new drugs, how could this have happened and what is being done about it?
Investigations are focusing on an element of the vaccine called an ‘adjuvant’ which effectively boosts the potency of the medicine.
In the case of Pandemrix, an adjuvant called AS03 was used. It is a combination of squalene (an oil derived from shark livers), a form of vitamin E called DL-alpha-tocopherol and a mixing agent called polysorbate 80. The adjuvant was not included in the vaccine used in the US, and there has been no increased incidence of narcolepsy there.
But even if the vaccine is ultimately proven to cause narcoplepsy, there could be a tough battle ahead for adequate compensation for the affected children. GlaxoSmithKline was given a legal indemnity by the Department of Health because, with the pandemic looming, it was not possible to conduct years of tests before rushing the vaccine into production.
Sleep sufferers
Around 30,000 people in the UK have narcolepsy and it also affects animals, including dogs
There is a state compensation scheme for people who suffer ill effects from vaccines, but it is capped at £120,000 and the cost of helping these children through life is expected to amount to considerably more than that.
The future for these children is now unclear. Doctors are unsure how long the condition will last. The seriousness of symptoms can fluctuate, but the condition never goes away.
Professor Paul Gringras, a paediatric sleep consultant at Evelina Children’s Hospital in London who diagnosed Lucio, describes narcolepsy as a lifelong condition.
‘We need further studies to see how it will progress and to see whether there are other cases out there,’ he says.
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘Pandemrix was developed specifically for use in a flu pandemic when the number of lives lost could have been enormous. The decision to recommend that children got this vaccine was based on evidence available at the time. We keep all emerging evidence under review and that’s why the use of Pandemrix in those less than 20 years old was stopped in the UK in 2011.’
In the meantime, the children affected get through life with the help of a variety of medications — from stimulants such as Ritalin and Modafinil to see them get through their school days to Xyrem, a medicine that can regulate sleep.
But Xyrem can cost up to £13,000 a year and not all NHS Primary Care Trusts will pay for it.
There are the inevitable concerns over the long-term effects of taking powerful stimulants, but Lucio, Robyn and Josh are now, thankfully, coping at school with extra help, from one-on-one academic support to on-site sleeping facilities. The families are now considering bringing legal action against the Department of Health.
Lucio’s mother Karen says: ‘Our children may never be able to drive or hold down a job and, of course, forming relationships may be difficult if you pass out when you are excited or happy.
‘We’ve had to accept that the old Lucio is gone, and we’ve grieved for him. But the new Lucio is fighting this the best he can and we love him just as much.’
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| jabsadmin |
Posted - 03/20/2013 : 10:51:04
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21828245
Drug-resistant pandemic swine flu 'community risk'
By Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online
Australian experts are concerned about the threat of a new type of drug-resistant pandemic flu that is circulating in the population at large.
The swine flu strain has learned how to dodge the antiviral Tamiflu and, though rare, is emerging outside of hospitals.
The team who have studied it say the virus is "fitter" than other drug-resistant strains and the world should be on alert for outbreaks.
UK experts say they have seen a handful of similar cases.
The UK's Health Protection Agency said it would be closely monitoring the situation.
The Australian investigators presented their findings at a meeting on major infectious diseases.
Experts at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases heard how the 'H1N1pdm09' swine flu virus is still sensitive to another antiviral drug Relenza (zanamivir).
But Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is now powerless against the strain that has been found in people in the community rather than sick patients with serious underlying conditions and weak immune systems.
Vaccines can prevent infection occurring in the first place.
Lead investigator Dr Aeron Hurt, from the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne, said: "The greatest concern is that these resistant viruses could spread globally, similar to that seen in 2008 when the former seasonal H1N1 virus developed oseltamivir resistance and spread worldwide in less than 12 months."
The new strain that they have been examining is emerging among people who have never been treated with Tamiflu, suggesting it is very good at spreading from person to person.
Dr Hurt says animal studies by his team confirm this.
Although the Tamiflu-resistant strain is still relatively rare, affecting about 2% of people with swine flu in the Australian population that they studied, Dr Hurt is concerned that it has the potential to turn global.
Similar resistant strains have been detected in Europe but at this stage only on an ad hoc basis, says Dr Hurt.
"The widespread transmission and circulation of oseltamivir-resistant H1N1pdm09 viruses remains a risk in the future.
"Close monitoring of resistant viruses in both treated and community patients remains important."
Pandemic potential
In the UK, the HPA has recorded eight cases of oseltamivir-resistant H1N1pdm09 in the community setting.
The HPA's head of flu surveillance Dr Richard Pebody said: "While the frequency of oseltamivir resistance in community settings has increased slightly since the 2009-10 pandemic from 1-2% in the 2012/13 flu season, rates of detection remain low."
Swine flu (H1N1) infected a fifth of people during the first year of the pandemic in 2009, data suggest.
***
It is thought the virus killed 200,000 people globally.
Although the pandemic has been declared by officials as over, the virus is still circulating.
During the pandemic, the H1N1 virus crowded out other influenza viruses to become the dominant virus. This is no longer the case. Many countries are reporting a mix of influenza viruses.
H1N1 caused a swine flu pandemic (an extensive outbreak in many countries) in 2009 infecting a fifth of the population
Many people now have some immunity to H1N1 as a result of this exposure
Vaccines are available that can stop H1N1 infections
Some people - the sick, elderly, young infants and pregnant women - are at particular risk of complications of they catch H1N1
Antiviral drugs like Tamiflu can lessen the severity of symptoms in those who catch H1N1
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| jabsadmin |
Posted - 08/04/2012 : 12:31:02
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406172635.htm
Science Daily
Did Seasonal Flu Vaccination Increase the Risk of Infection With Pandemic H1N1 Flu?
ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2010)
In September 2009, news stories reported that researchers in Canada had found an increased risk of pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza in people who had previously been vaccinated against seasonal influenza. Their research, consisting of four different studies, has now undergone further scientific peer review and is published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.
Did previous vaccination against seasonal flu increase the risk of getting pH1N1 flu? Based on these studies -- conducted by a large network of investigators across Canada led by Principal Investigator Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver, in collaboration with provincial leads Gaston De Serres in Quebec, Natasha Crowcroft in Ontario and Jim Dickinson in Alberta -- the answer remains: "possibly."
In a school outbreak of pH1N1 in spring 2009, people with cough and fever were found to have received prior seasonal flu vaccination more often than those without. Several public health agencies in Canada therefore undertook four additional studies during the summer of 2009 to investigate further. Taken together, the four studies included approximately 2,700 people with and without pH1N1.
The first of the studies used an ongoing sentinel monitoring system to assess the frequency of prior vaccination with the 2008-09 seasonal vaccine in people with pH1N1 influenza (cases) compared to people without evidence of infection with an influenza virus (controls). This study confirmed that the seasonal vaccine provided protection against seasonal influenza, but found it to be associated with an increased risk of approximately 68% for pH1N1 disease.
The further 3 studies (which included additional case-control investigations in Ontario and Quebec, as well as a transmission study in 47 Quebec households where pH1N1 influenza had occurred) similarly found between 1.4-2.5 times increased likelihood of pH1N1 illness in people who had received the seasonal vaccine compared to those who had not. Prior seasonal vaccination was not associated with an increase in hospitalization among those who developed pH1N1 illness.
These studies do not show whether there was a true cause-and-effect relationship between seasonal flu vaccination and subsequent pH1N1 illness (as might occur if, for example, the seasonal vaccine modified the immune response to pH1N1), or whether the observed association was not a result of vaccination, but was instead due to differences in some unidentified factor(s) among the groups being studied.
If the findings from these studies are real they raise important questions about the biological interactions between pre-existing and novel pandemic influenza strains. The researchers note, however, that the World Health Organization has recommended that pH1N1 be included in subsequent seasonal vaccine formulations. This will provide direct protection against pH1N1 and thereby obviate any risk that might have been due to the seasonal vaccine in 2009, which did not include pH1N1.
In an accompanying commentary in PLoS Medicine, Lone Simonsen and Cécile Viboud, who were not involved in the studies, write: "Given the uncertainty associated with observational studies, we believe it would be premature to conclude that increased the risk of 2009 pandemic illness, especially in light of six other contemporaneous observational studies in civilian populations that have produced highly conflicting results." They conclude that "this perplexing experience should teach us how to best react to disparate and conflicting studies and prepare us for the next public health crisis, so that we can better manage future alerts for unexpected risk factors."
Funding: This project was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the British Columbia Ministry of Health and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Alberta Health and Wellness, the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, the Ministère de la santé et des services sociaux du Québec, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec and the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ). Although agencies of the investigators provided infrastructure in support of the reported studies, the funders did not have a role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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| jennyr |
Posted - 09/05/2011 : 21:29:12
Revisited this thread and had to have a bit of a laugh when I looked back at some of those who are claiming to be saving so many lives (thanks everyone!)
'Dr. Norbert Bischofberger...the inventor of Tamiflu...has made millions from the drug, but colleagues have said it was science, not money, that motivated him.
Swine flu has killed more than 700 people globally. Ok - I am not a statistician but - what is the world population? So 700 people (allegedly) died from a virus that is (allegedly) swine flu and this guy has the temerity to claim that he has had a huge impact on saving lives globally - word population is how many billions.
What an arse!
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| jabsadmin |
Posted - 08/30/2011 : 14:39:51
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/avian-flus-back-warns-un-ndash-and-new-strain-is-resistant-to-vaccines-2345855.html
Independent
30 August 2011
Avian flu's back, warns UN – and new strain is resistant to vaccines
By Lewis Smith
Fears of a fresh outbreak of bird flu this winter have been raised by the United Nations, after an increase in the number of deaths and, crucially, the emergence of a new, mutated strain of the disease.
At least eight people have died of bird flu in Cambodia this year, the most recent being a six-year-old girl earlier this month, and the virus has reached countries that had been free of it for several years.
Existing vaccines appear to be powerless against the new strain of the H5N1 virus which, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said, has now spread across much of Vietnam and China. It remains uncertain whether the mutant virus can be transmitted to humans, and if so how dangerous it potentially is.
The FAO has urged stiffer surveillance measures to prevent the disease spreading to new areas. "Wild birds may introduce the virus, but people's actions in poultry production and marketing spread it," said Juan Lubroth, the FAO's chief veterinary officer.
And he warned: "The general departure from the progressive decline in 2004-08 could mean that there will be a flare-up of H5N1 this autumn and winter, with people unexpectedly finding the virus in their backyard."
Some countries which were previously free of the virus have suffered outbreaks over the past two years as a result of it being introduced by migratory birds. These include Bulgaria, Romania, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Nepal and Mongolia.Bird flu was first detected in 2003 and 331 deaths worldwide have been attributed to it from 565 cases of bird flu in humans. At its peak in 2006 it was present in 63 countries and there were 4,000 outbreaks of the disease in wild birds and poultry.
Measures to halt the spread of the disease included widespread culls of poultry and other birds where infections were found or suspected.
In all, some 400 million domestic poultry were slaughtered and the disease was said to have cost the world's economies $20bn but the spread was halted. In the UK exclusion zones were set up around domestic and wild bird populations where the virus was detected and many thousands of birds were culled.
The most high-profile case in Britain was that of a Bernard Matthews turkey farm in Holton, Suffolk, where 160,000 turkey chicks were gassed to prevent the virus spreading any further. The precise route by which the virus reached the farm was never categorically established.
By 2008 the number of cases had been brought down dramatically to 302, but since then the numbers have been creeping up again, with almost 800 cases reported around the world in the past year.
In six countries – Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam – it is known to be endemic.
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| jabsadmin |
Posted - 02/04/2011 : 18:23:55
http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/domestic-news/general/14134-glaxosmithkline-not-liable-to-pay-pandemrix-damages-mediuutiset-.html
GlaxoSmithKline not liable to pay Pandemrix damages -Mediuutiset
Domestic news - General
Friday, 04 February 2011 10:35
Finnish medical journal Mediuutiset reported Friday that British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline was not liable to pay compensation for narcolepsy cases potentially caused by the Pandemrix influenza vaccine.
The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) confirmed that GlaxoSmithKline had been contractually relieved from liability.
Mediuutiset added that other countries had signed similar agreements with vaccine makers.
STT
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| jabsadmin |
Posted - 02/04/2011 : 10:10:27
http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/01/health_official_swine_flu_vaccinations_for_children_possibly_a_mistake_2326931.html?origin=rss
1st February 2011
Health Official: Swine Flu Vaccinations for Children Possibly a Mistake
published Sun 04:40 PM, updated Tue 12:27 PM
The Chief Medical Officer of Finland's National Public Health Institute has conceded that it may have been unnecessary to vaccinate children and young people against swine flu. Dr Terhi Kilpi told the Väli-Suomi newspaper group's Sunday newspaper supplement that perhaps the vaccine should not have been given to 5-20 year-olds.
Kilpi said that she would no longer recommends the vaccination for this age group. She added that if she had known of the potential consequences, she would have not inoculated 5-20 year-olds.
"A year ago, the current understanding was that the swine flu was a danger specifically for the young. At that time there was not yet any reason to suspect serious side effects to the vaccine," said Kilpi.
The vaccine is now suspected to be linked to an increase in the number of cases of narcolepsy affecting children and young people in Finland, Sweden and Iceland. In Finland, 52 children have been diagnosed with narcolepsy.
Even though it is under suspicion, the vaccine has been reintroduced in the UK where a new swine flu epidemic has caused the deaths of some 200 people.
Dr Kilpi added that the negative publicity surrounding the swine flu vaccine is not worrying.
"Most people understand that vaccinations prevent serious, fatal diseases. The benefits they provide outweigh the disadvantages many times over."
Finland's National Public Health Institute is to publish an interim report on the links between narcolepsy, the swine flu, and the vaccine this coming Tuesday.
YLE |
| jabsadmin |
Posted - 02/03/2011 : 20:53:14
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/02/panel_confirms_h1n1_vaccine_link_with_narcolepsy_2331303.html
Panel Confirms H1N1 Vaccine Link with Narcolepsy
1 February 2011
A report released on Tuesday says there is likely a link between the swine flu vaccine used in Finland and cases of narcolepsy in children.
The national narcolepsy panel's interim report suggests that the Pandemrix vaccination increases the risk of narcolepsy nearly tenfold. It says that children aged 4 to 19 were at nine times greater risk of contracting narcolepsy within eight months of the inoculation, compared with those who did not get the jab.
The working group says it is most likely that the vaccine increased the likelihood of falling ill with narcolepsy in conjunction with some other factor or factors.
It expects to confirm the preliminary findings within a few months.
Fifty-two Finnish children who were given the vaccine last winter subsequently came down with narcolepsy, which can be a debilitating lifelong condition. That is many times more than the annual average in recent years.
An increase was also reported in Sweden, but not so far in other countries where the vaccine was used.
"The trigger for narcolepsy remains unclear, which makes it difficult to evaluate the link to the vaccine," says Kari Välimäki, Permanent Secretary at the Minister of Social Affairs and Health.
The nation's highest-ranking physician, Risto Pelkonen, told the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat that the families of these narcolepsy patients should be reimbursed by the state.
National Institute for Health and Welfare statement
Health Official: Swine Flu Vaccinations for Children Possibly a Mistake
YLE |
| jabsadmin |
Posted - 02/03/2011 : 20:24:15
http://news.err.ee/661b5e31-0b8d-49c1-bc46-f942577909d9
Health Board Suspends Use of Pandemrix Vaccine
Published: 02.02.2011 15:07
Photo: AFP/Scanpix
The chief public health authority has suspended the use of the H1N1 flu vaccine Pandemrix, now believed to be related to cases of narcolepsy across Europe.
According to the State Agency of Medicines website, researchers now consider it probable that use of Pandemrix combined with some yet unidentified factors has caused a heightened incidence of narcolepsy in Finland.
In Estonia, use of Pandemrix has been less widespread than in other European countries, Maia Uusküla, drug safety director of the State Agency of Medicines, told ETV. According to her, there have been few reports of serious side effects. The two more serious cases have been allergy-related.
As of February 1, 10,300 people in Estonia had been vaccinated with Pandemrix. |
| Seonaid |
Posted - 08/20/2010 : 18:34:52
Amazing how they manage to side step every adverse event by saying 'there is currently no evidence to support this' - or that the event 'could be due to underlying conditions'. The fact that the drug company refused to take responsibility for any mishaps, speaks volumes. They were very aware that this vaccine was improperly tested - so - the government says - we will bear the brunt - and then we get 'there is currently no evidence to support this' and 'could be due to underlying conditions'. |
| jabsadmin |
Posted - 08/20/2010 : 16:07:53
http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/pl-p/documents/websiteresources/con078911.pdf
The UK MHRA's Suspected Adverse Reaction Analysis on the H1N1 vaccine |
| jabsadmin |
Posted - 08/20/2010 : 15:36:34
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article7616170.ab
Swedish news reported in:
AFTONBLADET
Sjuka – av svinspruta
Caroline, 12, och Reidar, 5, drabbades av sömnsjuka – efter vaccineringen
Reidar, 5, somnade i en snödriva på dagis.
Caroline, 12, kollapsade och har inte gått i skolan på sex månader.
Båda tros vara offer för sömnsjuka efter svinsprutan.
– Vi vill bara ha hjälp. Men vi får ingen vård och ingen diagnos, säger Reidars mamma Helena Unée.
I december förra året, en vecka efter den andra vaccindosen mot svininfluensan, började sonen uppvisa de första symtomen.
– Han blev jättetrött, fick feber och utslag. I vintras somnade han i en snödriva när han lekte på dagis. Då kände jag att det hade gått för långt, säger Helena.
Sonen undersöktes för borrelia och cancer och fick träffa en neurolog. Men läkarna stod lika hjälplösa som familjen – även om de antydde att symtomen kunde bero på vaccineringen.
– Hela våren har varit en enda stor kamp. Det värsta är den här ovissheten, säger Helena.
”Var en glad pojke”
I dag har Lyckselefamiljen till sist fått en remiss till Drottning Silvias barnsjukhus i Göteborg – efter hårda påtryckningar.
– Reidar var en glad och nyfiken pojke. Nu är han blek och drar sig undan. Han frågar: Varför kan inte doktorn hjälpa mig, mamma?
Efter vaccineringarna har rapporter om sömnsjuka – narkolepsi – strömmat in till Läkemedelsverket.
Nu ska myndigheten utreda flera misstänkta fall. Lennart Waldenlind, chef för enheten för läkemedelssäkerhet, bekräftar att
Reidars är ett av dem.
– Vi kommer att undersöka eventuella samband. Vaccinet påverkar immunförsvaret och det finns en teori om att immunförsvaret spelar en roll vid uppkomsten av narkolepsi, säger han.
”Föll plötsigt ihop”
Caroline, 12, i Örebro vaccinerades i höstas. Två veckor senare föll hon plötsligt ihop.
– Hon var yr, hade svårt att andas och det var som hon hade nässelutslag. Vi åkte in akut men proverna visade inget, säger mamma Hanna Johannesson.
”Det var fruktansvärt”
Dotterns tillstånd blev snabbt värre med yrsel och sömnrubbningar och i december började läkarna leta efter tumörer. Men röntgenbilderna visade inga tecken på cancer.
I stället fick hon diagnosen narkolepsi, möjligen utlöst av vaccinet. Läkarna skrev ut ett amfetaminpreparat.
– Det var fruktansvärt. Hon blev väldigt aggressiv, vårt hem slogs sönder och hennes lillebror blev rädd, säger mamma Hanna.
Medicineringen avbröts. Men Caroline – som tvingats sluta skolan – kämpade även med muskelsvaghet och andra symtom kopplade till sömnsjukan.
– Hon kan inte skratta längre utan att falla i hop. Hon gråter, skäms och har inget hopp om livet, säger Hanna.
Tar det på allvar
Lennart Waldenlind känner inte till Carolines fall specifikt – men tar det på allvar:
– Vi hoppas att uppmärksamheten leder till att andra med liknande symtom kommer till vår kännedom. Det kan komma en andra våg av fall.
Esbjörn Sandin
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| jabsadmin |
Posted - 08/20/2010 : 15:23:23
http://www.lakemedelsverket.se/english/All-news/NYHETER-2010/The-MPA-investigates-reports-of-narcolepsy-in-patients-vaccinated-with-Pandemrix/
SWEDEN
www.lakemedelsverket.se
The MPA investigates reports of narcolepsy in patients vaccinated with Pandemrix
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The MPA has received six reports from health care professionals regarding narcolepsy as suspected adverse drug reaction following Pandemrix flu vaccination. The Agency will, in consultation with external experts, assess the possible relationship between the vaccination and the reported reactions. The MPA is in contact with other EU member states to get information if there are any reports in other countries.
During summer 2010, the MPA has received in total six reports of narcolepsy, as an adverse reaction after Pandemrix vaccination. The reports concern children aged 12-16 years where symptoms compatible with narcolepsy, diagnosed after thorough medical investigation, have occurred one to two months after vaccination. Consumer reports describing similar symptoms have also been received.
At present there is not sufficient information to conclude if there is a relationship between the vaccination and the reported symptoms or not. For such a conclusion to be made, more detailed information on the reported cases, on any possible additional cases and on the background incidence of narcolepsy in Sweden is required. Consequently, the MPA has initiated an investigation of the issue in collaboration with national experts.
Within the EU, approximately 30 million individuals have received Pandemrix vaccination. In the European Safety Database (EudraVigilance) there is at present only one additional report of narcolepsy as suspected Pandemrix adverse reaction. The MPA is in contact with the other EU member states to increase the awareness of this possible late adverse reaction and to collect information on any additional reports. Swedish health care professionals are urged to report any suspected case as soon as possible.
Typical clinical symptoms of narcolepsy include: day-time sleep attacks, cataplexy (sudden muscle weakness), hypnagogic (pre-sleep) hallucinations and/or sleep paralysis (immobility of the body that occurs while waking up and sometimes while falling asleep).
Last updated/reviewed: 2010-08-18
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| jabsadmin |
Posted - 08/20/2010 : 15:17:26
http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/08/minister_calls_for_thorough_examination_of_possible_link_between_h1n1_and_narcolepsy_1912099.html
FINLAND
YLE.fi
News
Minister Calls for Thorough Examination of Possible Link Between H1N1 and Narcolepsy
published Wed 18 August 2010
Minister of Health and Social Services Paula Risikko says it is essential to thoroughly examine suspicions that increased outbreaks of child narcolepsy might be linked to the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.
However, the Minister said the swine flu vaccination programme would continue. In her view, Risikko thought it wise to examine any connection between narcolepsy and swine flu vaccine in other European countries.
The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is to determine if vaccine for the H1N1 swine flu could be linked to an increase in cases of narcolepsy among children.
The condition causes excessive daytime sleepiness even after adequate nocturnal sleep.
Although the THL’s Vaccine Department Director Terhi Kilpi does not fear any connection between the H1N1 jab and narcolepsy, she says doubts must be examined.
Experts on both vaccines and narcolepsy met on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
Doubts arose when a Finnish child neurologist noticed an increased level in the number of narcolepsy cases this year. Similar observations have been noticed in Sweden, reports the tabloid Iltalehti.
Medical officials in Sweden are also examining a possible link between the Pandemrix vaccine and narcolepsy, according to the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. The Swedish news agency TT reports six cases with a possible link to the vaccine.
A patient suffering from narcolepsy may suddenly fall asleep, for example, while, speaking or eating without prior warning. Their muscles may also suddenly weaken, causing them to suddenly collapse. There is no known cure for the disease.
Several Times Normal Rate of Cases
About a dozen Finnish children fell ill with narcolepsy during or after last winter's swine flu epidemic, far more than the average rate. The THL is trying to determine whether the cases may have been related to the H1N1 vaccine or to the flu itself.
The cases were diagnosed during the spring and early summer. Dr Markku Partinen, a docent in neurology at the University of Helsinki and former president of the World Association of Sleep Medicine, notes that the cases appear to have a chronological link to the H1N1 epidemic.
Doctors began to wonder when an unusually large number of cases of narcolepsy began to appear last spring.
“When it became clear that the symptoms began to appear in December, January and February, we began to consider a link to the swine flu epidemic,” says Partinen.
So far about 12-14 cases have been detected, all with symptoms that began between December and February, says Partinen. The patients are aged 5 to 15.
On average about three cases of the illness are diagnosed in Finland annually.
YLE
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| jabsadmin |
Posted - 04/12/2010 : 17:25:50
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/167602/Swine-flu-Scandal-of-the-30m-jabs-the-NHS-will-never-use
Express
SWINE FLU: SCANDAL OF THE 30M JABS THE NHS WILL NEVER USE
7th April 2010
By Victoria Fletcher
MILLIONS of swine flu vaccines bought with taxpayers’ cash will never be used, the Government admitted yesterday.
Critics claim Labour was trying to bury bad news by admitting the costly blunder on the day the General Election was announced.
Ministers have desperately tried to slash their order for 90million doses after the pandemic failed to take hold.
But they were left stranded after failing to ensure a break clause was inserted in the contract with drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline.
The Department of Health admitted they had managed to claw back only a third of the money, despite cancelling more than half their order.
Around 30million doses of the vaccine will still be delivered to the UK on top of the five million doses already given to high-risk patients, pregnant women and children.
The Department said the rest of the money had been kept back by GSK to pay for vaccines against bird flu, despite the fact the virus has not yet mutated into a bug that can be transmitted between humans.
GSK has also kept money back to pay for packs of the antiviral flu drug Relenza, which can also be used to help fight flu.
The Conservatives last night condemned the scale of waste as appalling. Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “It is typical of Gordon Brown that his Government is seeking to bury bad news on this of all days. This is a careless waste of precious NHS money.
“Labour failed to ensure there were proper break clauses in the contracts which means that British taxpayers have got an extremely bad deal.”
Although financial details of the contract have remained under wraps, it is thought the jabs could cost up to £9 each.
This means that tens of millions of pounds of NHS money has been spent on jabs that are unlikely to be used. But Health Secretary Andy Burnham stoutly defended the deal. He said: “The UK will save one third of the value of the orders.
“It is good value for the taxpayer and means we have retained a strategic stockpile to protect the UK population without incurring a cancellation fee.
“This both protects the public purse and ensures the UK remains at the forefront of pandemic preparedness.
“The probability of a bird flu pandemic, likely to be more severe than swine flu, has not diminished.
“This agreement allows us to maintain our status as one of the most prepared countries in the world.”
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