Oil-Based Adjuvants and Mechanisms for Increased Risk of Anaphylaxis

by: SusanC

Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 23:01:56 PM EST

As far as I can tell, there has been no new reports of anaphylaxis from Canada.  It is hard to interpret such absence of reports, since vaccination rates are going down (see Vaccination clinics in Ontario start to close their doors).  Plus everything depends on the accuracy and promptness of reporting by local health authorities, and the speed with which the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) shares that information.  PHAC has a Weekly Vaccine Surveillance Report page, which has finally been updated, to include information up to Nov 14.  They are now confirming 24 cases of anaphylaxis.  6 of these were from the batch of vaccine that was recalled.  Of the 172,000 doses, all but 15,000 were used up, which gives us an incidence of around 3.8 per 100,000 doses distributed for that particular batch.  The one fatal case, in Quebec, did not receive a dose from that batch.

Fetal Malformations and Neurodevelopmental Delays Associated with the AS03-Adjuvanted H1N1 Vaccine

by: SusanC

Fri Nov 27, 2009 at 19:28:08 PM EST

Before you decide, I think you should take the time to read through all of the pages of any and all product information you can get your hands on, and not skip sections that look like they are filled with technical jargon that you think you probably don't need to read, since it is stated somewhere ealier in the document, that there are no safety concerns.  The most important thing is, check their findings, not their conclusions.  Don't take anyone's word for it, mine included.  Also make sure you read all the way to the last page; companies do not like to air dirty laundry, and they pay big dollars to hire the smartest and craftiest, to make sure the information in such documents is always laid out to their best advantage.  Not yours.  

Risk of Anaphylaxis Associated with AS03-Adjuvanted H1N1 Vaccines

by: SusanC

Mon Nov 23, 2009 at 11:02:11 AM EST

Old FW hands may remember me saying I was an accidental blogger.  It all started with me trying to explain something to someone, thinking I was just going to post a couple of comments, to clarify a few things, and that would be it.  Of course, you know it didn't quite work out that way ;-D.  I think the most rewarding - also the most addictive - part of writing on this forum is the sheer amount of knowledge you gain, either learning from others, or trying to answer a question, to share something that you know.  Or at least you think you know.  Until you start to double check, just to be sure, and you find yourself chasing one interesting lead after another, going deeper and deeper, and, before you know it, you've disappeared down a gigantic warren of rabbit runs (with Hat-Tip to beehiver!)...

Which was what happened to me the other day.  ;-p  Someone sent me a link and a question ("is this normal?").  I clicked on that link, and, thinking I ought to check my numbers before I replied, decided to invoke the powers of google.  And then I was just gone.  Of course, not being a rabbit, by the time I found my way out and finally saw daylight again, I discovered 3 days had gone by, but I'd learned so many things that now my new problem is trying to condense it all down to something sensible and which actually answers the question that was asked!!

I'm Angry (or, The Shortest Version on What's Wrong with some Swine Flu Vaccines)

by: SusanC

Fri Oct 09, 2009 at 19:52:29 PM EDT

UPDATE (Oct 10, 2009) The rant warnings still apply LOL, but I'm working on adding links, references, and further explanations of the issues that triggered this outburst, which in essence describes some core issues that bother me, a whole lot...  So, if you are not a FW regular, feel free to visit after a couple more days and you'll probably find this place chock full of information. Thank you for your patience. ;-D

Guillain-Barre Syndrome after Influenza Vaccination - More Lessons from 1976

by: SusanC

Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 19:45:18 PM EDT

Swine Flu Vaccine in 5 Days?

by: SusanC

Wed Jul 15, 2009 at 03:26:09 AM EDT

There's been recent reports that a swine flu vaccine will be fast-tracked for use in Britain within five days after it's made.  Since this appears to come from official sources, I believe we'd be remiss not to check out what this is about.

Adjuvants, Autoimmunity, and Vaccine Safety in a Pandemic VI - Squalene Antibodies Revisited

by: SusanC

Mon Jun 29, 2009 at 20:05:25 PM EDT

• part I - First Questions
• part II - Reasons for Concern
• part III - The Story of Fluad
• part IV - Safety of MF59
• Part V - Insights from Immunology
• part VI - Squalene Antibodies Revisited

A newly published study appears to refute the connection between the presence of anti-squalene antibodies and Gulf War Syndrome, but is it convincing?

Swine Flu 1976 - Old Vaccines, New Lessons

by: SusanC

Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 20:15:08 PM EDT

Anti-Ganglioside Antibody Induction by Swine (A/NJ/1976/H1N1) and Other Influenza Vaccines: Insights into Vaccine-Associated Guillain-Barré Syndrome

The US army suffered heavy losses during the 1918 pandemic - more men died from flu than from fighting in the War.  When an outbreak of swine flu occurred in 1976 among army recruits in a camp, the US government ordered millions of doses of vaccines against the virus, in anticipation of another pandemic.  But a pandemic didn't happen.  Instead, the massive vaccination campaign resulted in reports of Guillaine-Barre syndrome (or GBS) in some vaccine recipients, eventually causing the vaccination program to be halted.  

Now, decades later, researchers sought to discover how this happened. A paper published last year (link) gives some unexpected and disturbing findings.  

Adjuvants, Autoimmunity, and Vaccine Safety in a Pandemic V - Insights from Immunology

by: SusanC

Wed Feb 18, 2009 at 21:29:49 PM EST

• part I - First Questions
• part II - Reasons for Concern
• part III - The Story of Fluad
• part IV - Safety of MF59
• Part V - Insights from Immunology
• part VI - Squalene Antibodies Revisited

Today and tomorrow, there's a meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee at the FDA.   Day 2 of the meeting deals with Clinical Studies With Pandemic Influenza Candidate Vaccines in the Pediatric Population in the Absence of an Influenza Pandemic.  Briefing information is available here.  

Adjuvants, Autoimmunity, and Vaccine Safety in a Pandemic IV - Safety of MF59

by: SusanC

Wed Oct 17, 2007 at 22:07:21 PM EDT

UPDATE: Novartis has finally confirmed what we suspected.  A review published by the company Safety of MF59™ adjuvant (Schultze 2008) states:

the results of Novartis' GLP toxicology studies performed to fulfil global health authority requirements for clinical testing or product approvals have not been published, to date.

Click on the links for

• part I - First Questions
• part II - Reasons for Concern
• part III - The Story of Fluad
• part IV - Safety of MF59
• Part V - Insights from Immunology
• part VI - Squalene Antibodies Revisited

Exploring the safety data on MF59 and MF59-adjuvanted vaccines.

Adjuvants, Autoimmunity, and Vaccine Safety in a Pandemic III - The Story of Fluad

by: SusanC

Wed Oct 17, 2007 at 12:47:02 PM EDT

• part I - First Questions
• part II - Reasons for Concern
• part III - The Story of Fluad
• part IV - Safety of MF59
• Part V - Insights from Immunology
• part VI - Squalene Antibodies Revisited

Reading the fine print, on the safety profile of adjuvanted flu vaccines.

The equivalent of "read the fine print" for a scientific paper is "read the data".  The interpretation of the data can be skewed by an author to support a larger agenda  Or an author can make mistakes.

Gary Matsumoto, Vaccine A, published by Basic Books 2004, p 134.

Adjuvants, Autoimmunity, and Vaccine Safety in a Pandemic II - Reasons for Concern

by: SusanC

Sun Oct 14, 2007 at 01:26:28 AM EDT

• part I - First Questions
• part II - Reasons for Concern
• part III - The Story of Fluad
• part IV - Safety of MF59
• Part V - Insights from Immunology
• part VI - Squalene Antibodies Revisited

The debate on the safety of oil-in-water adjuvants has received renewed attention on flublogia after the revelation and concern that tptb might be considering adding adjuvants such as MF59 to prepandemic vaccines.  There appears to be a fair amount of misunderstanding or confusion on this subject, and concerns whether all of this is nothing more than internet conspiracy rumor, so I thought this might be a good time to re-visit the issue.

Adjuvants, Autoimmunity, and Vaccine Safety in a Pandemic I - First Questions

by: SusanC

Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 23:26:27 PM EDT

• part I - First Questions
• part II - Reasons for Concern
• part III - The Story of Fluad
• part IV - Safety of MF59
• Part V - Insights from Immunology
• part VI - Squalene Antibodies Revisited

The world of science is a strange place.  You would have thought that different people working on the same substance, one group set on figuring out how to use it, the other trying to find out how it harms people, will at least have heard of each other and hopefully talked to each other from time to time.  Apparently, that doesn't happen, not in ways that you can take for granted anyhow.