12104: Re: Haiti-Polio (12103) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: amedard@gte.net

>    "Two drops of polio serum on the tongue and we can save a life," said
> Solange Alex, a 59-year-old nurse. "We're very happy to help eradicate this
> paralyzing illness."
>    Three-year-old Dmitri Dusse smiled after receiving the vaccine and said,
> "I don't have to be afraid of fever."

>    The $700,000 campaign will inoculate 2 million children under 10.

While it is clearly necessary for children to be vaccinated against polio, I question
the apparent use ("polio serum on the tongue") of oral methods.  Live polio vaccines
not only cause polio but I have read they are contaminated with monkey viruses and
should be replaced with the killed, injectable polio vaccine grown on non-animal
tissue cultures in the nation's vaccination program.  Anyone with an immune system
deficiency (and we know that there is an HIV problem) or those exposed to
immunosuppressive drugs should not receive the live polio vaccine.

In a June 1995 presentation to the Institute of Medicine, Vaccine Safety Forum on
Polio Vaccines, Kathi Williams, Director and Co-Founder of the National Vaccine
Information Center (NVIC) issued a statement saying, among other things,


     "The federal government's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System has many
     reports of children, parents and baby-sitters exhibiting paralysis and
     other neurological symptoms following receipt of OPV or having come into
     contact with a recently vaccinated child. VAERS also contains reports
     describing children who exhibit paralysis after receiving live oral polio
     vaccine and live MMR vaccine on one day, even though this practice is
     contraindicated in manufacturer product inserts. There are families in our
     organization whose children have suffered polio vaccine induced paralysis
     that was originally blamed on the DPT vaccine and who did not get a correct
     diagnosis until NVIC provided information that enabled doctors to make a
     correct diagnosis."

National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) co-founder and President Barbara Loe
Fisher, has stated

     "There is legitimate cause for concern that children who receive live polio
     vaccine in conjunction with other vaccines and/or drugs may be vulnerable
     to environmental toxins such as pesticides or other chemicals immediately
     after being vaccinated and their parent's should be properly warned to
     protect them from possible exposure"

This would be a concern for the children in the Gonaives area  (re: Philly toxic
waste), in particular.

In the United States, The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Advisory Committee
on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommend that all children inactivated polio
vaccine (IPV) rather than the trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV).

Polio is spread through the feces. Vaccine-derived poliovirus can cause new
outbreaks. For this reason, it has been recommended that a global strategy be
developed to stop use of oral polio vaccination.

I do not understand why UNICEF, WHO and PAHO have apparently decided to use the oral
polio vaccine in Haiti.  Health professionals are supposed to be patient advocates.