Tag: contaminated vaccines

Are Vaccines Contaminated with Retroviruses?

Would you be concerned to know that the FDA is investigating how to make sure vaccines aren’t contaminated with retroviruses?

“Therefore, to ensure the safety of vaccines, our laboratory is investigating ways to activate latent viruses in cell lines and to detect the activated viruses, as well as other unknown viruses, using new technologies. We will then adapt our findings to detect viruses in the same types of cell substrates that are used to produce vaccines. We are also trying to identify specific biological processes that reflect virus activity.”
Investigating Viruses in Cells Used to Make Vaccines; and Evaluating the Potential Threat Posed by Transmission of Viruses to Humans

Or like most folks, would it reassure you that they are continuing to work to make sure that our vaccines are safe.

Are Vaccines Contaminated with Retroviruses?

Vaccines are not contaminated with infectious retroviruses.

“Vaccines effectively reduce and prevent death and disease from many viral infections. However, vaccine production occasionally has been complicated by inadvertent contamination with adventitious agents that may have originated from cell substrates used to propagate vaccine strains.”
Hussain et al on Lack of Evidence of Endogenous Avian Leukosis Virus and Endogenous Avian Retrovirus Transmission to Measles Mumps Rubella Vaccine Recipients

The issue first came up back in 1995 when it was discovered that MMR vaccines contained reverse transcriptase proteins. Researchers later found endogenous avian leukosis virus (ALV) and endogenous avian retrovirus (EAV) in those vaccines. Fortunately, they were not infectious and did not actually cause infections in any of the folks who got the vaccines.

Why were they there?

“Virtually all vertebrates studied, including humans, carry endogenous retroviral genomes as part of their natural genetic constitution.”
Adventitious Viral Genomes in Vaccines but Not in Vaccinees

The MMR vaccine is grown in chick embryo tissue culture. Partial or complete genomes of these viruses can be present in chicken DNA. In fact, all chickens contain endogenous avian retroviral genome (EAV), and although that means they can release viral particles, they are noninfectious, so can’t make you sick.

Why weren’t they detected when the vaccines were first developed and approved?

The technology wasn’t available at the time.

“The absence of an infectious retrovirus in the MVVE material used in this study and in the CEF supernatant used in the previous study (which contained levels of RT activity similar to those of MVVE, based upon comparison with the positive control AMV RT dilution series) provides confidence regarding the safety of the earlier MV vaccines used in humans. The results of this study further demonstrate the absence of a known public health safety concern related to the presence of RT activity in chick-cell-derived vaccines and support World Health Organization recommendations for the continued use of chick-cell-derived vaccines in humans.”
Shahabuddin et al on No Evidence of Infectious Retroviruses in Measles Virus Vaccines Produced in Chicken Embryo Cell Cultures

And once the technology was available, these retroviruses were thoroughly investigated and found to not be a safety hazard. That’s not surprising though, as no problems were previously detected by our vaccine safety systems.

So why are we still talking about retroviruses in vaccines?

Judy Mikovits is still finding retroviruses wherever she looks for them…

Because anti-vaccine folks need something else to use to scare folks away from vaccinating and protecting their kids

What is Corvelva?

Have you heard of Corvelva?

People are dying of measles in Italy and groups like Corvela are pushing anti-vaccine propaganda to further scare folks away from vaccinating and protecting their bambini.

Probably not, but they are getting some attention in the anti-vaccine world because they think that they have uncovered a Vaccingate!

What is Corvelva?

Specifically, they analyzed the Infranix Hexa vaccine, and instead of finding DTaP-IPV-HepB/Hib antigens, they think that they found “65 signs of chemical contaminants of which only 35% is known” and “7 chemical toxins.”

Should you be worried?

“Coming back to the two basic principles that have been our topic on this analysis path, we reaffirm what we have said in the recent interview on the scientific journal Nature: we are inquiring the vaccines efficacy and safety and we can’t quite understand how it is possible to claim that this vaccine is even able to generate the 6 protective antibodies – reason why it is designed for – and furthermore to understand how this cluster made of 6 neurotoxic antigens bound together can be claimed as not toxic for newborns.”
Corvelva on Vaccingate: Initial results on Infanrix Hexa chemical composition

Although they might not understand it, Infranix Hexa has been proven to be safe and has been proven to work. You can read study after study in well respected peer reviewed journals that say so.

The Corvela Vaccingate “study” wasn’t published in a well respected peer reviewed journal. It wasn’t even published in one of the typical bottom-feeder, pay-to-publish journals that anti-vaccine researchers frequently use.

What Corvela did was more like a very poorly done science fair project by a kid who got too much help from his anti-vaccine parents.

Using the Surface Activated Chemical Ionization-Electrospray-NIST Bayesian model database search (SANIST) platform is pretty cool, to be sure. But why are we supposed to believe that their method would actually deconstruct the Infanrix Hexa vaccine? Because that’s why they were trying to do – separate out all of the combined vaccine ingredients so that they could be detected by SANIST. The combined vaccine ingredients, including one of which is an emulsifier that keeps the ingredients from separating, in a 6-in-1 combination vaccine.

So what’s more likely? That the unnamed ‘scientists’ at Corvela, which is basically an anti-vaccine website in Italy, did the experiment wrong or that the Infanrix Hexa vaccine, which is used in countries all over the world, doesn’t contain any of the antigens that it is supposed to contain?

A previous study on vaccines that they also have posted to their website and to an open peer review site was not approved, getting a lot of criticism.

Have you figured out what Corvela stands for yet?

It’s Italian for covfefe.

Who Is Judy Mikovits?

Dr. Judy Mikovits has a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, doing her thesis on Negative Regulation of HIV Expression in Monocytes.

She had several papers published with Dr. Frank Ruscetti, with whom she continues to work.

Instead of research, it seems that they now do:

Advocacy for vaccine injury legal cases worldwide.
Research and documentation on medical exemptions for vaccinations.

What happened?

Who Is Judy Mikovits?

After working at the National Cancer Institute, it seems that Judy Mikovits became research director of the Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI).

A paper by Mikovits and Ruscetti was retracted because no one else could replicate the work.

She was eventually fired after a paper she was lead author on, which found xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) in patients with CFS, was retracted and the institute accused her of stealing notebooks and manipulating data.

“But the leader of the team that authored the 2009 paper, researcher Judy Mikovits, apparently presented the same figure — carrying different labels and supporting a different point — in a talk given at a conference on Sept. 23 in Ottawa.”
Manipulation alleged in paper linking virus, chronic fatigue syndrome

An even larger study found no evidence of XMRV infections in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, even as she had claimed the virus could cause CFS, Parkinson’s disease, autism and multiple sclerosis.

The source of XMRV in her patients?

“Well-controlled experiments showed that detection of XMRV was due to contaminated samples and was not a marker of or a causal factor in prostate cancer or CFS.”
Johnson et al on Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Virus (XMRV) and the Safety of the Blood Supply

The virus was in a contaminated cell line in which she and others were doing research. The virus wasn’t in the actual patients themselves.

Judy Mikovits on Vaccines

Before her paper was retracted and she was fired from her lab, Judy Mikovits did actually do research on viruses and she is a scientist. She didn’t do research on vaccines though.

That seems to be something she talks about a lot now though:

at anti-vaccine rallies
at anti-vaccine conferences
in anti-vaccine videos

Her claim to fame seems to be talking about contaminated vaccines and bashing Gardasil. And deep state conspiracy theories about why she was arrested and lost her job.

To be clear, a rotavirus vaccine was found to be contaminated with DNA of porcine circovirus type 1. While that might sound a little scary, it is important to keep in mind that the PCV1 virus doesn’t actually cause disease in people and these weren’t even “biologically active virus particles.”

PCV1 isn’t a retrovirus though and Judy Mikovits wasn’t even the researcher who discovered the contamination, which has since been resolved.

“These findings do not indicate the presence of either ALV or EAV infection in MMR vaccine recipients and provide support for current immunization policies.”
Hussain et al on Lack of Evidence of Endogenous Avian Leukosis Virus and Endogenous Avian Retrovirus Transmission to Measles Mumps Rubella Vaccine Recipients

Studies have looked at retrovirus contamination of vaccines, but they were done over 17 years ago. And not by Mikovits. Studies that confirmed that vaccines are safe.

None of this has kept Judy Mikovits from scaring people about vaccines, especially the HPV vaccine.

“Cervical cancer is not a public health threat. It’s not an infectious disease. Why is it in the Department of Public Health? Why are we mandating every child over 9 years old, and I heard soon to be pregnant women, to get this vaccine? It makes no sense.”
Judy Mikovits

It is really hard to understand how someone who worked at the National Cancer Institute could make these statements. Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women.

There is, of course, no mandate for 9-year-olds to get the HPV vaccine. In the United States, HPV vaccination is recommended, beginning at age 11 to 12 years. The HPV vaccine is not recommended for pregnant women and while several vaccines are recommended, no vaccines are actually mandated in pregnancy.

“It was never developed to prevent cancer. It was developed and approved to prevent warts. Warts are not a public health threat. It’s beyond… When scientists like myself, and I work in cancer and AIDS hear this, we are just…”
Judy Mikovits

Gardasil and Cervarix were developed to prevent HPV infections, which cause cervical cancer. HPV can also cause genital warts.

“I think we need to ban… Japan and India have, all HPV vaccinations now, until the appropriate studies are done, until the patients are tested…”
Judy Mikovits

Neither Japan nor India have banned HPV vaccinations.

Why should we? The HPV vaccines are safe, effective, and necessary.

And why would anyone listen to Judy Mikovits?

What’s the Real Risk from the Contaminated Vaccines in India?

Most people understand that polio vaccines have helped to control and get us close to eradicating polio.

Many even know that there are two types of polio vaccine – the inactivated Salk vaccine and the live Sabin vaccine.

Some might even know that there are actually three strains of polio virus that we have traditionally gotten vaccinated against, and that one of those strains, type 2, has already been eradicated.

“In April 2016 a switch was implemented from trivalent OPV to bivalent OPV in routine immunization programmes.”

OPV Cessation

That’s why we have switched to using a bivalent OPV which only contains type 1 and 3 serotypes.

Contaminated Vaccines in India

What does all of this have to do with the news of contaminated vaccines in India?

“At least three batches of polio vaccines containing 1.5 lakh vials have been found contaminated with type 2 polio virus, putting at risk India’s “polio free” status as children born after April 2016 — when the type 2 virus was withdrawn worldwide including in India — do not have immunity to this particular virus, sources said.”

Unfortunately, some contaminated vaccines were actually administered to children in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Telengana, and Uttar Pradesh before the contamination was discovered.

Will these kids get polio?

No, as the vaccines weren’t contaminated with wild polio virus.

It seems that Bio-Med Private Limited was still producing and distributing polio vaccine with the type 2 vaccine virus, even though this type of vaccine was discontinued a few years ago.

Why?

We will hopefully find out, as the managing director of Bio-Med Pvt Ltd has been arrested, but we don’t know yet.

We do know that there is little risk from these vaccines and they won’t put India’s “polio free” status at risk.

Why would there be any risk from kids getting an extra vaccine virus strain?

It’s because the type 2 strain of polio is the most likely to cause cVDPV, or outbreaks of polio that are actually caused by the polio vaccine.

Fortunately, these outbreaks are very rare.

A dose of IPV is the backup plan to make sure a problems with the switch to bOPV doesn't end up in a tragedy. — A dose of IPV is the backup plan to make sure any problems with the switch to bOPV doesn’t end up in a tragedy.

But kids in the area are at even less at risk from these “contaminated” vaccines because as part of the plan to switch from trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV), they likely got a dose of IPV, which includes protection against all three polio virus strains.

Not that this means that it isn’t a problem that a company was making and distributing a vaccine that kids shouldn’t have been getting.

That is terrible!

It just isn’t as big a danger as some folks are making it out to be. It is extremely unlikely that there will be any cases of polio in India, and definitely not a resurgence of polio because of these vaccines, as some have suggested.

The real risk will be that an isolated event will scare folks away from getting vaccinated and protected, even though we know that these events are rare and that vaccines are safe.

VAXOPEDIA

Are Vaccines Contaminated with Retroviruses?

Are Vaccines Contaminated with Retroviruses?

More on Vaccines and Retroviruses

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