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It's official, we survived H1N1

http://antiantivax.flurf.net/

Some anti-vaxers claim that squalene, a vaccine adjuvant is toxic and caused Gulf War Illness (GWI) in soldiers that received the anthrax vaccine, supposedly contaminated with squalene. However, a comprehensive review of GWI by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses observed that not only did the vaccine not cause GWI, but that the lots implicated did not contain any squalene as an adjuvant (instead, the anthrax vaccine used aluminum hydroxide). Like other claims, the anti-vaxers have no quality studies to support their contention that squalene causes severe adverse reactions.
According to the same GWI review, squalene is "an oily substance that naturally occurs in plants and animals. It is found in a variety of foods, lotions, and cosmetics. It is also used as a food supplement and has been postulated to provide therapeutic benefits. In humans, squalene is synthesized by the liver as a precursor to cholesterol, and circulates in the blood."
Squalene appears to be an effective and safe adjuvant, based on a PubMed search revealing several studies examining its use in vaccines.
It should also be noted that squalene is offered in pill form by a variety of organic and natural food stores, as well as makers of dietary supplements. Squalene is also promoted as a moisturizer.
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That doesn’t even suggest, let alone prove, that it’s harmful. But you are Deranged after all.…
 
Deranged said:
Would you say squalene is dangerous so it's not in any vaccines?
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I have yet to see any convincing evidence that it is dangerous. I am not privy to any inside information regarding decision making procedures at the FDA. The bottom line, for me, is that NO FLU VACCINE CURRENTLY LICENSED FOR THE US MARKET CONTAINS SQUALENE AS AN ADJUVANT.

Maybe if I used a larger font?
 
shawmutt said:
For some reason they stopped tested folks for H1N1 in our area (my mother-in-law is a nurse in the area and she said because of cost considerations)--but they continued testing anyone under one. My daughter, 10 months old, was really sick and we had to take her to the hospital. They did the testing, and she had it, which means that's what our whole family was sick with.

It's a really frightening thought. Our company is finally shipping out the first doses of the H1N1 vaccine. I'm probably still going to get my shot (or mist)--but damn--the what if's are bugging the crap out of me. What if this strain was just a little more deadly? Would any of my family have died?

I know my company and many others are working on a way to produce vaccine without using eggs. It's just damn scary to think that, in 2009, something as small as an influenza virus could run rampant throughout our population before we could lift a finger to prevent it. The anti-vax wonks, coupled with the rugged individualism of most US citizens, could really put a hurting on our country. It certainly is food for thought.
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H1N1 can't be over since they're talking about closing the schools around here soon for 2weeks.
I am so sorry about your family's illness. Hope all is well. D.
 
I didn't think it was approved either. You don't have to be nasty.
According to Meryl Nass, M.D., an authority on the anthrax vaccine,

"A novel feature of the two H1N1 vaccines being developed by companies Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline is the addition of squalene-containing adjuvants to boost immunogenicity and dramatically reduce the amount of viral antigen needed. This translates to much faster production of desired vaccine quantities."[v]

Novartis's proprietary squalene adjuvant for their H1N1 vaccine is MF59. Glaxo's is ASO3. MF59 has yet to be approved by the FDA for use in any U.S. vaccine, despite its history of use in other countries.

Per Dr. Nass, there are only three vaccines in existence using an approved squalene adjuvant. None of the three are approved for use in the U.S.
 
Deranged said:
I didn't think it was approved either.
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You didn't? Oh, sorry. I guess I must have gotten a little confused about that when I read this:

Deranged said:
Couldn't pay me to take it. Has SQUALENE in it that causes GULF WAR SYNDROME.
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That, and when I looked at the link you provided in the OP of the thread you started on this, a piece titled:

"H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine, Possible Side Effects and the Dangers of Squalene", which included a link to a Fox News video titled: "Doctors say that the H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine has high levels of Squalene". Is Fox News real big outside of the U.S.?
 
Funny thing is I work for the company that supposedly created the pandemic H1N1. I watch the youtube videos and get to see first hand just how deluded and misguided the anti-vax and big pharma conspiracy theorists really are.

Or...I must be a bigger part of the conspiracy than I thought. :jaw-dropp

Deranged said:
H1N1 can't be over since they're talking about closing the schools around here soon for 2weeks.
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Who said anything about H1N1 being over?
 
Shawmutt, I'm relieved for your family.

Dr. Imago, is it true that one-third of the deaths are from asthma?

We just found out it's going through the kids' school. Our 6-year-old has asthma and has been hospitalized a few times in the past few years. Every winter we go through the same thing, every time he gets a cold it goes into wheezing and we have to start the steroids and nebulizer treatments and occasionally he has to be hospitalized.

My husband wants to take him out of school but we were told this could go on through March. I wish I knew whether to take him out of school or just do as we're doing and hope for the best.

It's scary.

The school told us that the problem is that the H1N1 symptoms come on quite suddenly. So parents send a healthy-looking kid to school in the morning and by noon the child has a fever of 102 and is developing a cough. The school then sends them home but by then it's too late for the kids who have been exposed to that child.
 
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ExMinister said:
The school told us that the problem is that the H1N1 symptoms come on quite suddenly. So parents send a healthy-looking kid to school in the morning and by noon the child has a fever of 102 and is developing a cough. The school then sends them home but by then it's too late for the kids who have been exposed to that child.
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It's even worse than that, because influenza is contagious for a day or so before the onset of symptoms.

There's some pretty good evidence indicating that well-timed school closures can be an effective community mitigation strategy, but once it became apparent that this strain wasn't exactly going to be Captain Trips, the CDC recommendation shifted to "keep the schools open, but send the sick kids home". Using that approach, more kids are likely to get sick, but the assumption is that most of them won't be all that sick.

My past experience has been that I can yank the kid out of school for about a month before I start catching serious heat from the administration. It makes sense to me that under the circumstances, there might be a little extra slack this year for those kids most vulnerable to flu due to asthma or whatever -- or those with high risk household contacts -- but then, it makes sense to me to just close the schools and be done with it. Since both of those apply to my kid, I have a feeling that before this is all over we're going to be finding out just how much extra slack there is; but for now, I'm still sending him. It's basically a decision I'm making on a day by day basis depending on what my best guess as to what the present level of flu activity is in my community.
 
ExMinister said:
Shawmutt, I'm relieved for your family.

Dr. Imago, is it true that one-third of the deaths are from asthma?

We just found out it's going through the kids' school. Our 6-year-old has asthma and has been hospitalized a few times in the past few years. Every winter we go through the same thing, every time he gets a cold it goes into wheezing and we have to start the steroids and nebulizer treatments and occasionally he has to be hospitalized.

My husband wants to take him out of school but we were told this could go on through March. I wish I knew whether to take him out of school or just do as we're doing and hope for the best.

It's scary.

The school told us that the problem is that the H1N1 symptoms come on quite suddenly. So parents send a healthy-looking kid to school in the morning and by noon the child has a fever of 102 and is developing a cough. The school then sends them home but by then it's too late for the kids who have been exposed to that child.
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The H1N1 vaccine is almost here. I will be giving FluMist starting next week and the killed vaccine probably the following week. In the meantime, if your child does contract the H1N1 flu before he has a chance to be vaccinated, if he starts Tamiflu within a day or 2 of symptom onset, he should be fine. Talk to your doctor ahead of time so if your son needs the Tamiflu you will be able to get it promptly, like if he gets sick on the weekend.
 
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skeptigirl said:
The H1N1 vaccine is almost here. I will be giving FluMist starting next week and the killed vaccine probably the following week. In the meantime, if your child does contract the H1N1 flu before he has a chance to be vaccinated, if he starts Tamiflu within a day or 2 of symptom onset, he should be fine. Talk to your doctor ahead of time so if your son needs the Tamiflu you will be able to get it promptly, like if he gets sick on the weekend.
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Thanks, Skeptigirl. We were also told there is already a shortage of Tamiflu in our area, so most people are being sent home by their doctor without it. That's apparently because they are trying to keep some in reserve for high-risk people, which my son would be.

Dymanic, thanks for the posts and the interesting link.

Having a child with asthma is scary. It seems like when they start to have trouble getting enough oxygen, the signs aren't always obvious at first, and they can't always convey what's happening with them. So the entire cold/flu season is stressful, even without the threat of H1N1 to complicate things.

Most of the cases have been relatively mild at least so far, I was told. Miserable for the sufferers as any flu, but not life threatening.
 
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