Rising concerns over safety of swine flu vaccine

There is a rising tide of concern over the safety of the soon-to-be marketed swine flu vaccine, currently being tested on human beings in the United States.

Our health, when it comes to the swine flu threat, rests in the hands of five or so giant pharmaceutical companies who are racing against time to create vaccines that work. But can we trust companies who are facing lawsuits for such things as "jaw death" filed against Novartis, or failure to warn about dangerous side effects, filed against Sanofi-Aventis? Do these pharmaceutical companies have the best interests of the public at heart, or are they chasing after a "bottom line" of profit goals? Baxter, one of the key companies which has developed a swine flu vaccine, has already reported profits as a direct result of the swine flu. It used to be that vaccines were not a profitable business for pharmaceutical companies, so not many companies were making immunizations. It used to be that it took years to develop and test a vaccine before it could be approved for use on humans. But the swine flu vaccine is whole new ball-game in the vaccination field. Because the H1N1 swine flu has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, (WHO) some corners are allowed to be cut in order to get an effective vaccine out before the flu season hits in first world nations. Concerns about the safety of the swine flu vaccine have not gone unnoticed by the WHO. The organization is reassuring the world that the vaccines that have been produced to fight the swine flu are safe. There is no one company that has the exclusive rights to produce a vaccine for the H1N1 virus. There are approximately five different pharmaceuticals presently developing vaccines. GlaxoSmithKline, a giant pharmaceutical which has contracts with governments such as Canada and South Africa, says it will have about 195 million doses of the vaccine ready for November, although the company hedged its bets and said that if the vaccine was not ready for this year, it would be available in countries like South Africa by next flu season. The swine flu has migrated to other countries that are currently experiencing winter, such as Australia and South Africa and South America. South America has been hit rather hard, with over 1,000 deaths thus far attributed to the swine flu. One concern about the safety of the vaccine results not only from the fast-tracking of approvals, but also because the vaccines will contain adjuvants, immune-boosting substances which are used by pharmaceutical companies, such as GlaxcoSmithKline, to stretch out the supply of available vaccine. Groups, such as the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network (VRAN), based in Canada say this adjuvant poses a risk to humans in addition to the already common ingredients in vaccines, such as mercury, formaldehyde and aluminum. In 1976, the United States experienced a panic about the swine flu and mass immunizations were undertaken, however, 500 people who received a vaccination developed a "rare, neurodegenerative condition called Guillan-Barre syndrome," which is believed to have been caused by the vaccine. As the Center for Disease Control states,

"Vaccine safety cannot be measured directly."

Another concern is that pregnant women and children have been designated all around the world as target populations for the vaccine, because of the swine flu's adverse effects on this population, but pregnant women are not included in the field trials, although children are. There's no mistake that people would like protection against a deadly outbreak of a pandemic disease. but is also true that most people willingly hold out their arms for an immunization needle without knowing what is in that needle, and how it could affect them. Jim Carrey and his girlfriend, Jenny McCarthy, have been leading a "Green Our Vaccines" movement in the United States, seeking to have toxic ingredients removed from vaccination shots.