-Caveat Lector-
from: http://www.chronicillnet.org/online/bensweet.html
THE POLIO VACCINE AND SIMIAN VIRUS 40 AFTER THIRTY YEARS
---------------------------------------------------------
Prominent Polio Vaccine Researcher Confirms
Suspicions About Monkey-Virus Contamination
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By T.J. Moriarty - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"This new virus represents the detection for the first time
of a hitherto "non-detectable" simian virus of monkey renal
cultures and raises the important question of the existence
of other such viruses. All three types of Sabin's live
polio virus vaccine were contaminated."
"Even the people who received a killed polio virus vaccine
could have been infected. Those papers we wrote were incorrect
at the time, stating that formalin killed vaccines were free
of simian SV40 virus. But the new information regarding the
killed ones was never published." By then it was too late.
...competition between the Salk (killed) and Sabin (live)
formulas. Despite common knowledge, both Salk and Sabin were
definitely contaminated. The Salk vaccine had already
garnered prestigious appeal as a "safe vaccine".
...the authors estimate somewhere between 10-30 million people
of the 98 million injected were exposed to at least SV40.
[ "Human Exposure to SV40 : Review and Comment" by Shah and
Nathanson, Journal of Epidemiology, January 1976 ]
...current polio vaccines are still grown on African Green
monkey tissues.
"Is it only a coincidence that HIV infection manifested itself
at the same time as the introduction of vaccines that are now
known to have been contaminated with simian viruses?"
[ "The Polio Vaccine and the Origin of AIDS" by
Dr. R. Stricker, Medical Hypothesis, January 1994 ]
"Who is minding the public health when the FDA allows drug
companies to produce vaccines grown on animal tissue cultures
and they don't even know if this practice is facilitating cross
species transfer of animal viruses into man?"
Over the past fifteen or more years, the immune system has been
increasingly more challenged. Indefensible disorders such as AIDS
and HIV as well as conditions like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
and Persian Gulf War-Related Illnesses are the new epidemics of the
Silicon Age. By comparison, the days of polio and small pox
epidemics seem crudely forgiving when we consider that today's
viral mutants repeatedly outsmart gains made in vaccine development.
However, it seems the days of polio are still with us -- not in the
form of acute viral outbreaks of fever and paralysis -- but in the
"uncharted" data on the long-term effects from the simian (monkey)
viral contaminated polio vaccines given to countless children and
adults three decades ago. Even more, what other "undetectable"
monkey viruses have been transmitted in the vaccine batches of
late? These unanswered questions continue to resurface in today's
research and still riddle retired scientist Ben Sweet. "No one
really knows if there are any dangers, but no scientist can
definitively say there aren't any, that is what's scary," says
Sweet.
As a senior research scientist for a major pharmaceutical company
from 1959 to 1964, Dr. Sweet was one of those responsible for the
research, development and field testing of the killed respiratory
virus vaccine.
Contaminated Polio Vaccines
Scientific literature states that some polio vaccines given between
1955 and 1961 may have contained low-levels of live monkey viruses.
As many as 26 of the simian contaminants were readily detected but
still other viruses, like SV40 slipped past rigorous quality
control testing procedures available at that time. The simian
viruses were inadvertently introduced into the vaccine pool because
the polio virus was grown in monkey (Rhesus, Patas, or Cynomolgus)
kidney cells.
In his 1960 paper, "The Vacuolating Virus : SV40" Sweet and
co-author M.R. Hilleman write, "This new virus represents the
detection for the first time of a hitherto "non-detectable" simian
virus of monkey renal cultures and raises the important question of
the existence of other such viruses. All three types of Sabin's
live polio virus vaccine were contaminated."
Dr. Sweet told Chronic Illnet about the alarm that circulated
around the discovery of the SV40 virus in 1960, "It was a
frightening discovery because, back then, it was not possible to
detect the virus with the testing procedures we had. It only
showed up in the cells of the African Green monkeys -- the species
being used exclusively by our company. We had no idea of what this
virus would do thirty years ago."
Sweet says there were two things that the research team had
determined: "First, we knew that SV40 had oncogenic properties
(cancer-causing) in hamsters which was bad news. Secondly, we
found out that it hybridized with certain DNA viruses -- like adeno
virus -- such that the adeno virus would then have SV40 genes
attached to it. We couldn't clean up the adeno virus vaccine seed
stocks grown in monkey kidney cells only". The seed stocks
apparently were always contaminated but the vaccines were still
administered.
Confusion Surrounding the "Killed" Vaccine
Possibly the most unsettling part of his research that he carries
with him thirty years later, is knowing that an untold number of
people (possibly in the 10's of millions) were exposed with this
virus whether they were given the "live" or "killed" polio vaccine.
"Even the people who received a killed polio virus vaccine could
have been infected. Those papers we wrote were incorrect at the
time, stating that formalin killed vaccines were free of simian
SV40 virus. But the new information regarding the killed ones
was never published," he added. By then it was too late. These
findings came after the mass inoculations with the polio vaccine.
The distinction between "live" and "killed" vaccines is a critical
one. The scientific community and the American public was told
that "killed" vaccines were undoubtedly safe because formalin was
used to destroy any contaminating simian virus. The thirty-nine
or so simian viruses prior to SV40, were probably inactivated with
formalin, but not SV40. The virus eluded the virus-killing
behavior of formalin. This now meant even the "killed" vaccines
unintentionally contained small amounts of active virus. "So it's
a likely possibility that a some of those individuals injected with
supposedly inactivated adeno virus vaccines that had the SV40
contaminant or SV40/adeno hybrid could also be producing antibodies
to it."
Due to the molecular "kinetics" of virus inactivation, Sweet and
other researchers believe other viruses -- similar to SV40 -- could
also have been present in the vaccines if they too could circumvent
formalin inactivation.
There were specific laboratory difficulties associated with adeno
virus -- now carrying an attached form of SV40. Sweet describes,
"When we started growing the vaccines, we just couldn't get rid of
the SV40-contaminated virus. We tried to neutralize it, but
couldn't. Either adeno or SV40 would come out down the line."
Chronic Illnet: What were you thinking at the time when you
realized people were being exposed to SV40 about the long-term
effects, considering we're still in the dark?
Sweet: "We really didn't think about it until we found out it was
oncogenic and now, with the theoretical links to HIV and cancer,
it just blows my mind."
Chronic Illnet: Was there any temptation to just scrap the whole
project, make an announcement and move on?"
Sweet: "Sabin and, more specifically, Salk vaccines were already
widely in use by then. We were, of course, always worried about
possible vaccine contaminants present because we didn't know what
these monkey cell cultures were carrying. We were always worried
about encountering a new, undescribed virus. Always. When we found
out there were viruses present in the Rhesus- cynomolgus monkey
systems, and the possibility that each monkey assay system was
different from another, the temptation was there to transfer the
studies to another system. But it was too late to switch gears and
start using raccoon or chicken systems, because then you could be
dealing with another whole set of viruses."
Chronic Illnet: What was the political climate?
Sweet: "You had to be careful, very careful. When the virus
appeared oncogenic in hamsters, we wanted to do tests to determine
if it caused malignant transformation of normal cells in culture.
In reality, we did not although an outside agency confirmed the
findings."
Sweet also described another inherent problem in vaccine
development -- the controversy and competition between the Salk
(killed) and Sabin (live) formulas. Despite common knowledge,
both Salk and Sabin were definitely contaminated. The Salk vaccine
had already garnered prestigious appeal as a "safe vaccine".
Long-term Studies Encouraged Three Decades Ago
In his 1960 paper, Sweet, et al. stressed the need for studies on
the long-term effects on humans to determine the pathogenicity of
these agents for man. "When the 'contaminated' vaccines were
released, we really felt confident patients needed a substantially
higher level of infectious SV40 and/or they had to receive multiple
shots to elevate the body's viral count high enough to cause the
harm." To some, the term "contaminated" carries with it an intent
of malice, but Dr. Sweet says this is clearly not the case. Sweet
noted that persons fed live SV40 contaminated polio virus vaccine
orally, or inactivated Salk-type vaccine intramuscularly, showed
strong evidence of antibody production to polio viruses. In
additon, the vaccine recipients were not showing significant
harmful effects or antibody production, in the short term, to SV40
-- which was encouraging. "Less concerning long-terms effects
could be noted," he says.
At the time of the discovery of the human exposure to SV40, there
was no evidence that the virus was present or active in vaccine
recipients. In recent years, however, SV40 has been isolated in
human tissue, two from the brains of patients with PML (progressive
multifocal leukoencephalopathy) and another from a metastatic
melanoma patient. Results of this study appeared in the paper
"Human Exposure to SV40 : Review and Comment" by Shah and Nathanson
in the Journal of Epidemiology in January of 1976. Important from
that report is the only definitive origin of where human exposure
came from, "With the exception of viral vaccines, no pharmaceutical
product intended for human use requires the use of simian
cultures." Based on their interpretations, the authors estimate
somewhere between 10-30 million people of the 98 million injected
were exposed to at least SV40.
Today's Polio Vaccine Research -- Long-Term Effects
To date, the polio vaccine has been administered to an estimated
ninety-seven percent of children in the United States.
Although there are no "proven" scientific facts about the possible
perils of contaminated or even "purified" polio vaccines, there are
a handful of credible researchers with theories too intriguing and
carefully outlined to disregard. Their theories, if proven, may
offer a new link in conquering the immunodeficiency diseases of
this century.
Microbiologist Howard Urnovitz is one member of a team who believes
many of today's "new" syndromes like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Gulf
War-Related Illnesses and even HIV have, "some association with the
possible contaminants in the vaccine." He says we may be paying
the price for "prevention" years later, as the uncertainty about
the effects on our immune system from the vaccine continues to
unfold.
Was SIV Also Present?
Is There an Evolution of HIV from the Vaccines ?
There is also a concern whether another virus of primate origin --
Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) -- could also have been present
in the original vaccines. That possibility cannot be ruled out.
But only testing of the original polio vaccine samples and seed
stocks would give a reliable or closely definitive answer. Sweet
stressed the need for studies on the original simian isolates and
the antisera prepared against them and their possible relationship
to SIV. At this point, future studies may be lost due to the
impossibility of retrieving such samples.
At the 8th Annual Houston Conference on AIDS, Urnovitz suggests
that HIV-1 may have also originated from the contaminated polio
vaccines through the recombination with normal human genes.
"It is very likely that HIV-1 may have been a result, and that it
may in fact be a monkey-human hybrid. His theory states that the
contaminating viruses have "archived" themselves in the body's
nerve tissue. These virus fragments then resurface at a later date
when the immune system becomes challenged. An opportunistic
infection or exposure to toxins could be the "trigger" that
stimulates the reappearance of these virus fragments.
"This virus 'archiving' could be igniting the symptoms of central
nervous system disorders, chronic fatigue and joint pain that have
been linked to more than a dozen unexplained epidemics," he added.
Dr. R. Stricker's paper entitled "The Polio Vaccine and the Origin
of AIDS" that appeared in the January 1994 edition of Medical
Hypothesis is yet another theory highlighting a potential link.
Stricker states, "The transfer of monkey viruses to man via
vaccines is particularly relevant to AIDS since the causative agent
HIV, is thought to be derived from a simian precursor virus." He
says the evolution of HIV remains to be proven but is nonetheless
startling, "Is it only a coincidence that HIV infection manifested
itself at the same time as the introduction of vaccines that are
now known to have been contaminated with simian viruses?"
The collection of theories on the origins, pathways and the sheer
number of potential "victims" from the contaminated vaccines is
certainly unsettling. Although each theory has its own individual
elements, a cohesion exists: The cross-species cultivation of
vaccines is clearly laden with risks -- risks that may be
irreversible, carrying consequences too great to endure. But to
what extent, if any, irreparable damage has been inflicted upon
humanity is still blurry.
For consumer activist Barbara Loe Fisher, co-Founder & president
of the National Vaccine Information Web Site, the fact that the
original vaccines were contaminated and current polio vaccines are
still grown on African Green monkey tissues, is just one more
indication that government vaccine officials have created dangerous
public health policies without making sure they have the solid
science to back them up.
"Who is minding the public health when the FDA allows drug
companies to produce vaccines grown on animal tissue cultures and
they don't even know if this practice is facilitating cross species
transfer of animal viruses into man?" says Fisher.
Highlighting the fact that American parents are legally required
to vaccinate their babies with 10 different viral and bacterial
vaccines, Fisher warns, "No one really knows the latent, long term
effects on the human immune and neurological systems. With 200
vaccines in the research pipeline, more than 100 in clinical trials
and scores on the brink of being licensed, vaccine research had
better get back to the basic science before another AIDS epidemic
is created in a vaccine lab."
For more information on this topic, refer to the highlighted
phrases for hyperlinked information and additional sources.
see: http://www.chronicillnet.org/online/bensweet.html
.
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