H1N1 Vaccine - Tested in Animals First
posted by: Sharon Seltzer 57 days ago
With blessings from the FDA and the CDC, distribution of the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine has begun. But before it was shipped to cities across the U.S. it first had to be tested on live animals.
Did you know that all pharmaceuticals for “therapeutic purposes” are legally required to run through a series of experimental studies on animals before they can be approved and offered to the public?
This came about after the drug Thalidomide was released in the 1960’s. Researchers later found that the medication caused extreme birth defects that affected an entire generation.
However the requirement to test drugs on animals has a huge caveat. The amount of testing can be decreased if there is an urgent need for the medication. And with the World Health Organization declaring H1N1 a pandemic in June 2009, Novavax developed the new swine flu vaccine in a record time of only four weeks.
ANIMAL TESTING
As required by law the new vaccine was tested on live animals. Novavax used a group of ferrets for their trial series. Apparently ferrets are the “closest animal to humans when it comes to being infected with influenza.”
Researchers infected the ferrets with a virus taken from a patient who was confirmed to have the swine flu. Then three weeks later, the ferrets that received the vaccination were exposed again to the H1N1 virus from a female patient with “severe respiratory disease.”
“By day five after challenge, immunized ferrets at all vaccine dose levels had cleared the H1N1 virus and showed no sign of disease,” said a Novavax representative.
The infected ferrets that did not receive the vaccine all showed signs of the flu with “lethargy, elevated body temperatures and shed infectious virus for up to six days.” However all of the ferrets survived the experiment.
IS IT WORTH THE PAIN AND SUFFERING?
Even though all of the ferrets survived the swine flu vaccine, thousands of other animals in laboratories are tortured every day in the name of medical research. Organizations like PETA and In Defense of Animals both agree that most tests done on animals is unnecessary and outdated. Both groups promote more modern methods to study new drugs that are effective and don’t require the use of animals.
But there is another question to ask in regards to the suffering we put animals through in trial testing. Do the results really translate into good medicine for humans? If you ask the people who received the vaccine for the swine flu outbreak in 1976, the answer would be a resounding – NO.
THE LAST SWINE FLU EPIDEMIC
In 1976 after 200 soldiers at Fort Dix came down with flu-like symptoms the CDC and the country began to fear a pandemic of the swine flu was about to hit. The CDC identified the virus as being similar to the 1918 flu that killed thousands. The new 2009 H1N1 virus is also being compared to the 1918 swine flu.
The CDC called for a massive public vaccination program and pharmaceutical companies went to work. They were able to develop a vaccine quickly and experimental trials were performed on animals. But the results were disastrous when the vaccine was delivered to the American public.
Some people became sick with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease that makes the immune-system attack itself. “GBS is relatively rare in the general population but 10 times more prevalent among those who received the swine flu vaccine – particularly those whose immune systems may have already been compromised”, stated Medpage Today.
Ultimately the inoculation program was called off due to the risk and because the swine flu pandemic never materialized. The program was a key example of how experimental tests on animals doesn’t always translate to good medicine for humans.
CALL TO ACTION
In Defense of Animals is one organization that would like to stop mandatory medical testing on animals. Here is what they have to say on the subject:
"Most people believe that experiments on animals are necessary for medicine and science to progress. However, this is not the case. The belief that we must experiment on animals is being challenged by a growing number of physicians and scientists who are utilizing many research methods that do not harm or kill animals. More and more physicians and scientists are also seeing the negative consequences of using one species to provide information about another species; often the results of animal experiments are misleading or even harmful to humans."
READ MORE OF OUR CARE2 H1N1 PROJECT HERE:
THE VACCINE: Swine Flu Vaccine: What to DO? H1N1 Vaccine - Tested In Animals First Safety Concerns Swirl Around H1N1 Vaccine PREVENTION: Keep Swine Flu Out Of Your House Swine Flu Symptoms & Prevention Swine Flu: The Single Best Way to Prevent Illness Swine Flu: Can Cinnamon Fight It? IMPACT: H1N1 A Challenge For Working Mothers Toxic Pollution And The Swine Flu Vaccine The Experts: Swine Flu (H1N1) Experts And Bill Maher On The Vaccine And Managing Your Risk
Other source: Wikipedia
Read more: flu, influenza, pandemic, 1976, animal welfare, 1918, animal testing, swine flu, h1n1
comments
http://www.drcarley.com/Horrors_of_Vaccination_Exposed.pdf
Take a read of this book written in 1920, by Chas. Higgens. "Horrors of Vaccine Exposed". It WILL astound you. They've known the dangers of ALL vaccines and as many people died taking it, as those that did not...in fact, more died taking the vaccine than the diseases.
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Yeah...but the same flu vaccine KILLED the all the ferrets, or did folks not hear about that. No...it was tested on 1,500 people..but no one heard the outcome. If you go to Dr. Mercola.com and look it Swine flu vaccine...you'll find a link to a site that is all complaints of pregnant women, who's doctors pushed them into the vaccine, and they lost their babies within 48 hours of taking the shot...and too many to be a coincidence. Many said they were sorry they didn't go with their gut instinct.
I felt so badly for these ladies. Not one of them has ever had and abnormal pregnancy before and were looking forward to a new baby.
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Juliana - I absolutely agree. That is why I am very careful what I will take and what I will allow my children to have, to include the vaccines they will receive. I have refused some and the one for H1N1 is an example
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To Gabi: didn't you know that we, humans, are still the guinea pigs? Their testing on animals is just to cover their as..., there are numerous "new drugs" that do not work. Only some are removed frm public.
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Michael C; More ridiculous is frm the vivisectors"scientists" to keep us with the poisoning, perforing skulls, damaging brains of animals "will lead" to a cure to OUR diseases. Stop that BS, fake doctors, you only want easy money torturing and killing animals in labs. How many more years, millions of dollars and animal lives do you need so we can "enjoy" a reliable drug or vaccine? More ridiculous is to ask for specifics to us, but when vivisectors are invited to discuss their "job" in labs with non-vivisector scientists, they never show up. Why? Because now it is very obvious (and thanks to technology) their useless and cruel work. They are an insult to Science and real scientists.
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Naomi : Agree with you 100%
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The old bloke who said it was Leonardo da Vinci!
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Mike Elias
There are many useless emptyheaded and evil humans that I would place well below most animals in the race for the lifeboat. I would rather side with one old bloke from a few centuries ago who said: "The time will come when people such as I will look upon the murder of animals as we now look upon the murder of men."
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Visit www.pcrm.org for information about alternatives to animal testing.
Also, make sure to watch Earthlings and see for yourself:
http://www.earthlings.com/earthlings/video-full.php
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Just because of what the vaccine is comprised of, I do NOT get it. If you had read the attached information, even a large majority of doctors do not believe in animal testing as the tests can prove inconclusive. The same old adage, you can't compare apples to oranges. So how do we compare to ferrets, rats, mice. Do they use humans to develope rabies, distemper and other vaccines for animals. Of course not, it isn't the same. So how does testing on animals relate to humans.????? If you can grow it in a petrie dish, use it to test your virus results. Again, there are MILLIONS OF DOLLARS spent on research each year and if the research were to come to an end, so would the $$$$$.
When you have the time read up on Dreys Testing, if you have the stomach for it. Then tell me that testing on animals isn't cruel. Spray a little oven cleaner into your eye and tellme that it doesn't hurt or pour a little acid on your bare skin. Anyone with a brain in their head would know the end results but guess what, they still do it.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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