Orthomolecular Medicine News Service
Swine Flu, Pandemrix and Narcolepsy
Swine Flu, Pandemrix and Narcolepsy
by Karin Munsterhjelm-Ahumada, M.D.
(OMNS, March 20, 2012) The swine flu
pandemic of 2009 was caused by a type A influenza (H1N1) virus. This
virus was originally referred to as "swine flu" because many of the
genes of this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that
normally occur in pigs in North America. The H1N1 virus is genetically
similar to the 1918 pandemic virus, as determined from victimes of the
latter who were buried, and later disinterred, in Svalbard. It was
responsible for most of the outbreaks up until 1956 and then
disappeared.
However, this new virus was actually
quite different from the typical swine flu viruses. This virus first
caused illness in Mexico and the United States in March and April, 2009.
This novel H1N1 flu spread from person to person, unlike typical swine
flu. In 2009 vaccines were being developed for the prevention of swine
flu in humans. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=99584
On 11 June 2009, the World Health
Organization (WHO) declared that the swine flu had developed into a full
scale world epidemic - a pandemic alert to Phase 6. Margaret Chan, the
Director-General of WHO, commented on the situation in a somewhat
ambiguous way. While stressing that the swine flu had reached a serious
pandemic level, she declared later in the same statement that the
illness seemed to be mild and that most of the patients would recover
without medical intervention. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2009/h1n1_pandemic_phase6_20090611/en/index.html
The world chose to listen to the first part of her message.
Two pharmaceutical companies
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis had, under considerable time
pressure, developed a vaccine against the swine flu. Since the
cultivation of an adequate amount of virus to generate the vaccine
requires time, GSK and Novartis decided to formulate a weaker vaccine
but strenghten it with an adjuvant that contains squalene. Immunologic
adjuvants are substances, administered in conjunction with a vaccine,
that stimulate the immune system and increase the response to the
vaccine http://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/topics/adjuvants/squalene/questions_and_answers/en/.
Although squalene is a natural substance found in methabolic pathways
of the body, its inclusion in a vaccine is controversial and it is not
in use in the USA.
On 25 September 2009, the European
Medicines Agency (EMEA) approved Pandemrix, the swine flu vaccine
produced by GSK and Focetria produced by Novartis. http://justthevax.blogspot.com/2009/09/eu-approves-gsk-pandemrix-and-novartis.html The vaccine would be ready for use that October.
In Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland, the authorities explicitly set the goal of vaccinating the entire population http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/massvaccinering-raddade-sex-liv_6851143.svd.
In this respect, it is of interest that the governments of these
countries, already before the outbreak of the swine flu, had concluded
an agreement with GSK, according to which they were assured the delivery
of pandemic vaccines, if needed. In addition, the contract stipulated
that, in a situation characterized as a pandemic by the WHO, the same
Nordic countries would have ten days to decide whether or not to accept
delivery of the vaccine in question. Hence, the purpose of the agreement
was to assure that the entire populations of these countries would
receive vaccinations. Finally, the contract protected GSK from any claim
for financial compensation in case the delivered vaccine would have any
side effects.
When WHO declared the swine flu to be a Phase 6 pandemic, the agreement referred to above was automatically activated.
Mass vaccination started in Finland and
Sweden in October 2009. In order to cover the largest possible
percentage of the population, the authorities initiated an enormous
public relations campaign, which could be described in terms of a "moral
persuasion." Solidarity became the slogan: "Be vaccinated to protect
your fellow citizens." Those who questioned the vaccination program
(small groups of vaccine opponents or just people who were hesitant)
were looked upon with disapproval.
In contrast to these vaccine -
enthusiastic countries, the politics of vaccination within the rest of
the European Union varied immensely among its member states. Poland, for
example, decided not to buy vaccines at all due to the strict agreement
conditions required by the pharmaceutical companies. Denmark's order
covered only "risk groups". http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/svd-granskar-sveriges-vaccinering-mot-svininfluensan_6843475.svd
The expected second wave of the
influenza never appeared. The epidemic gradually declined during the
first half of 2010. The same year, on 10 August, WHO officially declared
the end of the epidemic. The European Center for Disease Prevention and
Control (ECDC) stated that the swine flu was less dangerous and had a
lower mortality rate than the seasonal influenza. Thus, apparently the
swine flu would not have been a dangerous epidemic even without the mass
vaccination. Interestingly, also that same year, vitamin D was shown to
prevent influenza in children. (1)
In Sweden, 60% of the population had
been vaccinated, while in Finland 50% was covered. In contrast, the
figures in Germany and Poland were only 8 and 0% respectively. In the
history of Swedish health care this pandemic campaign amounted to one of
the most expensive ever. Enormous amounts of taxpayer money were at
stake. http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/svd-granskar-sveriges-vaccinering-mot-svininfluensan_6843475.svd
Meanwhile, the media had become silent on this issue ; there was no further discussion about the swine flu anymore.
Then the blow came:
"The absolutely worst thing that could
happen," commented Richard Bergström, the Director - General of the
European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations,
EFPIA. "The worst nightmare of both the industry and the health
authorities is an illness that turns out to be mild, while the vaccine
that was supposed to prevent a dangerous epidemic causes a severe side
effect that was previously unknown." http://www.kostdemokrati.se/nyheter/files/2012/02/SvD-sid-14-19.pdf
In August 2010, Finland reported an
increased occurrence of narcolepsy in children and youngsters vaccinated
with Pandemrix. On 1 September 2010, Finland stopped all Pandemrix
vaccinations. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/10/swine-flu-vaccine-may-have-caused-narcolepsy.aspx
Narcolepsy is a severe chronic
neurologic disease that not only results in a disabling fatigue, which
typically results in the patient falling asleep anywhere and at any
time. It might also lead to panic attacks and a state of exhaustion. For
many, the worst consequences are the symptoms of cataplexy. This
condition causes the narcolepsy patient, when expressing strong feelings
such as laughter or crying, to suddenly lose muscular control. The legs
give way, speech gets slurred, the gaze goes unfocused and the person
gives the impression of being drunk. In some patients, frightening
hallucinations appear when falling asleep or waking up.
On 1 September 2011, the Finnish
National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) admitted, that for
Finnish children and youngsters age 4-19, there was a new and obvious
connection between Pandemrix and narcolepsy. As stated in THL's press
release, "The increased risk associated with vaccination amounted to six
cases of narcolepsy per 100,000 persons vaccinated in the 4-19 age
group during the eight months following vaccination. This was 12.7 times
the risk of a person in the same age group who had not been
vaccinated." http://www.thl.fi/en_US/web/en/pressrelease?id=26352
This statement was made almost exactly two years after the THL's
earlier statement made in the midst of the swine flu hysteria that
everyone should be vaccinated with Pandemrix and that it would be safe.
In that original statement, the director of the THL emphasized that the
squalene adjuvant could increase the side effects of the vaccine to some
extent. However, he stated, these side effects would not be dangerous. http://www.tohtori.fi/?page=5833192&id=0169960
In Sweden, at least 150 children are now
suffering from narcolepsy caused by Pandemrix vaccine. In Finland, the
number is approximately 100. In both countries the number is probably
growing. Narcolepsy is a disease with lifetime consequences, and the
risk that Pandremix may have caused other neurological illnesses has not
yet been excluded. Many have already began to compare this tragedy with
the thalidomide catastrophe. http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/medicinsk-tragedi-med-ett-absurt-slut_6861775.svd
No European countries had a particularly
high rate of deaths due to the swine flue. Germany had the same death
rate as Sweden, which was 0.31/100 000, although Sweden vaccinated 60%
and Germany only 8%. This implies that the vaccine did little to prevent
deaths. The responsible authorities have not yet commented on this
matter of fact. http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/massvaccinering-raddade-sex-liv_6851143.svd
Last year the Finnish government
promised full compensation for those who have developed narcolepsy as a
consequence of the vaccination. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-05/finnish-government-to-compensate-pandemrix-narcolepsy-victims.html.
While Sweden did, indeed, follow the Finnish THL in admitting the
connection between the vaccine and the disease, the Swedish authorities
have not yet decided whether and how to provide appropriate
compensation.
In February 2012, Svenska Dagbladet,
a widely read newspaper in Sweden, presented an informative and
accurate series of articles on this theme. They describe some of the
affected children narrating how difficult it is to live with narcolepsy http://www.svd.se/nyheter/multimedia/artikel_6840743.svd
According to the authorities, much
research is still underway concerning the details of the vaccine injury.
Taking the pressure from the public and the affected families into
account, it will be difficult for them to avoid carrying out a thorough
investigation. Let's hope so.
References:
1. Urashima M, Segawa T, Okazaki M,
Kurihara M, Wada Y, Ida H. Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation
to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010
May;91(5):1255-60.
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