Subject: THE POLIO VACCINE AND SIMIAN VIRUS 40
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 10:53:42 -0600
In
1996, we posted the ChronicIllNet.org interview with former polio
vaccine researcher Ben Sweet who, in 1960, published the first
scientific paper reporting that the polio vaccine used to inoculate
millions of Americans was contaminated with the monkey cancer virus
SV40. Publication of our interview with Dr. Sweet led to the NIH and
FDA's very first joint conference examining a possible link between
SV40 and human cancers.
Several
news sources have since followed up on our initial interview:
"The
Monkey Connection"
"New
documents show the monkey virus is present in more recent polio
vaccine"
"Rogue
virus in the vaccine: Early polio vaccine harbored virus now feared
to cause cancer in humans"
The
July 2001 San Francisco Chronicle stories raise the possibility that
the monkey cancer virus SV40 may still be contaminating the polio
vaccine lots today. While the FDA, NIH, and CDC continue to deny
that there is any problem with the national vaccine program, we at
ChronicIllnet.org have examined the history of the polio vaccine
program and found certain problems to be endemic within it.
We have concluded that:
1) there may have never been a poliovirus epidemic in the first
place,
2) the poliovirus has never been pure isolated, and
3) no evidence exists to show that the poliovirus acts alone to
cause poliomyelitis.
In
fact, despite the world-wide effort to rid the world of the
crippling disease poliomyelitis, tens of thousand of
"non-poliovirus paralysis" cases still exist today. To
read this special report, we recommend downloading the PDF
version available on Chronicillnet.org. A
text version is also available.
THE
POLIO VACCINE AND SIMIAN VIRUS 40
After Thirty Years, Prominent Polio Vaccine Researcher
Confirms Suspicions About Monkey-Virus Contamination
By T.J. Moriarty
(OLNews@aol.com)
Return
to the OnLine News
Index.
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.
>>>>>>>>>.................>>>>>>>>>..................>>>>>>>>..............>>>>>>>>...............
|
