It was reported in October 2009 that several pigs who had been on display at the Minnesota State Fair tested positive for the H1N1 virus, presumably contracted from one or more infected humans in the crowds of thousands of fair-goers. The following month a pig herd in Indiana tested positive for the virus. Herd infections have been reported in several other countries, including Canada, Australia, Argentina, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Norway. This virus, containing genetic elements of two strains of swine flu and one each of avian and human influenza virus, was reported to have caused the death of two ferrets and infected one cat.

 The millions of injectable vaccines being dispensed in the US contain killed virus, and in some single-dose and in all multi-dose vials the organic mercury compound Thimerosal that metabolizes in the body into ethylmercury is added as a preservative. This can damage DNA, T-cells and brain cells, cause neurodevelopmental disorders and may play a role in autism.

 The four different manufactured injectable vaccines currently approved by the FDA may variously contain manufacturing process contaminants and additives such as egg protein,  formaldehyde, antibiotics polymixin B and neomycin sulfate; sodium desoxycholate, polyethylene glycol and betapropriolactone. Because of the presence of contaminants like egg protein, people allergic to eggs are not given any of these chicken egg-derived vaccines. Healthy people may develop an allergy to eggs post-vaccination. The nasal mist vaccine also being used in the US is a weakened/attenuated virus, contains no Thimerosal, but includes porcine gelatin, monosodium glutamate and gentamycin, and is designated for 2-29 year old recipients and not for the pregnant or sick.

The US National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases is currently testing on US citizens a vaccine containing an adjuvant, adjuvant-containing H1N1 vaccines being approved by the Canadian and many other governments, some of which are considering making vaccination mandatory. Novartis has an H1N1  cell-culture based rather than egg-embryo grown virus vaccine containing their adjuvant MF9 which includes Squalene emulsified in Tween (polysorbate) 80. GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) adjuvant AS03 contains Squalene plus Tween 80 plus DL-a-tocopherol. Both these vaccines of inactivated Influenza A/H1N1 virus contain Thimerosal. Adjuvants are added to induce a more intense immune reactivity because they cause the production of  cytokines and other inflammatory substances. Squalene has been in vaccines given to over 22 million Europeans since 1997.

Novartis was in the news in 2008 for a clinical trial of a H5N1 vaccine in Poland. The trial was administered by local nurses and doctors who gave the vaccine to 350 homeless people, leaving 21 dead; and were prosecuted by the Polish police. Novartis claimed the deaths were unrelated to the H5N1 vaccine which had been “tested on 3500 other people without any deaths.”

It  also should be noted that in December,2008 a Baxter vaccine production facility in Austria sent a human flu vaccine contaminated with the deadly H5N1 live avian flu virus to 18 countries, including the Czech Republic, where testing showed it killed the ferrets inoculated. Czech newspapers questioned whether Baxter was involved in a deliberate attempt to start a pandemic.

Squaline, normally present in animals and plants, is a hydrocarbon triterpene that when injected, produces an acute inflammatory response, and more pain and stiffness than with non-adjuvanted flu vaccines, and even transient fever. Some experts are concerned that Squalene may trigger a chronic inflammatory reaction in the immune defense system, and may induce the production of lupus antibodies, cause autoimmune arthritis and other autoimmune syndromes. Vaccinations may be a factor in immune deficiency and dysfunction diseases associated with increasing incidences of cancer and allergies. These are certainly a rising problem in cats and dogs, especially in certain breeds who have been given other adjuvant-containing vaccines over the past several years. Similar and even more questionable adjuvants are widely used by the livestock industry.

Some health experts have raised the issue of viral susceptibility in children with low Vitamin D levels, and adults who are advised to take 2,000 IUs daily. Taking a few drops of nascent iodine at repeated intervals once ‘flu symptoms appear may be a low-cost, safe and effective remedy. Hoffman-La Roch’s anti-viral drug Tamiflu, and GSK’s Relenza, (both being neuraminidase inhibitors), which at best shorten recovery by 1-2 days, can have psychotic side effects resulting in delirium, hallucinations, severe injuries and death.

 Good nutrition, sanitation (not sanitization), physical activity, rest, and clean air, water and living environments are the best preventive medicines. Many have queried this ‘pandemic’ as a media-hyped panic that primarily benefits vaccine and drug manufacturers and their investors, since infections are usually mild. Fatalities occur in those with other underlying health problems and in healthy young adults who over-react to infection (so called Cytokine storm) and for whom various anti-inflammatory phytochemicals, inhaled and ingested, may prove highly beneficial. Cases of dreaded paralytic Guillain-Barre syndrome have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control in the US, developing soon after  H1N1 vaccination.