Flu Shots Urged for Pregnant Women Despite Unknown Effects
The flu vaccine is widely recommended for pregnant women, despite a lack of adequate safety testing. It was around this time in 2014 that a study came out in the New England Journal of Medicine stating the flu vaccine provided partial protection against confirmed influenza in pregnant women and their infants. The media began touting headlines like “flu vaccine safe…
European Agency Declares HPV Vaccines Safe, But Denmark, Japan Skeptical
A handful of countries, like Denmark and Japan, remain skeptical about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, even though the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee’s (PRAC) safety review in 2015 did not change the agency’s position that the benefits of HPV vaccinations outweigh the risks. In July 2015, the PRAC in Europe launched a probe to investigate the safety of the three HPV vaccines available both in the United States and to countries in the European Union—Merck and Co.’s Gardasil and Gardasil 9 and GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix. Continuing reports of several HPV-related adverse events prompted the investigation.
Merck’s Peanut Oil Adjuvant
On September 19, 1964, an article titled “Peanut Oil Used In A New Vaccine” appeared in The New York Times. It was written by Stacey V. Jones. The piece noted that an influenza vaccine, which had just recently been patented by Merck & Co. Inc.. carried a key ingredient known as Adjuvant 65, which contained peanut oil. The adjuvant, aimed at slowly releasing antigens to “stimulate the creation of antibodies,” was described as “an emulsion of refined peanut oil in water to which are added an emulsifier and a stabilizer.”
Formaldehyde: A Poison and Carcinogen
Warning of the dangers of formaldehyde in the workplace, the government’s own Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says, “health hazards of formaldehyde are primarily due to its toxic effects after inhalation, after direct contact with the skin or eyes by formaldehyde in liquid or vapor form, and after ingestion” adding that “Ingestion of as little as 30 ml of a 37% solution of formaldehyde (formalin) can result in death” and “Diverse damage to other organ systems including the liver, kidney, spleen, pancreas, brain, and central nervous systems can occur…
Bad Batches: The Effect of Temperature Fluctuations in Vaccines
Parents can easily research the ingredients in vaccines and know their family’s medical history to determine the benefit-to-risk profile of those vaccines. But what if a vaccine is altered by temperature variations? Most people, including medical staff, are unaware that the quality and effectiveness of vaccines is critically dependent on proper transport, handling and storage by both the manufacturers and providers. And it seems that bad batches of vaccines, due to temperature variations, may be occurring more often than people realize, creating a largely overlooked and growing global problem of waste and revaccination.
HPV Vaccines Raise International Red Flags
The debate has always been hot about the risk-benefit ratio of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, ever since Merck’s Gardasil-4 vaccine was fast tracked to licensure by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006 followed by persistent reports of young girls suffering serious health problems after vaccination. Now, new international investigations and reports of failure are hitting the headlines, prompting additional worries about severe reactions to HPV vaccines. Three HPV vaccines are available both in the United States and the European Union. Merck and…