• Security incident: ISF was recently accessed by intruders. Please change your password, and change it anywhere else you used it. Read more

Swine Flu in San Diego

skepticdoc said:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/2006-oct.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/2006-oct.shtml

Epidemic Influenza and Vitamin D



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16959053
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=469543
Epidemiol Infect. 2006 Dec;134(6):1129-40. Epub 2006 Sep 7.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&...t&th=120ee0bff7e6d81a&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&zw
Comment in: Epidemiol Infect. 2007 Oct;135(7):1091-2; author reply 1092-5. Epidemiol Infect. 2007 Oct;135(7):1095-6; author reply 1097-8. Epidemic influenza and vitamin D.

Cannell JJ, Vieth R, Umhau JC, Holick MF, Grant WB, Madronich S, Garland CF, Giovannucci E.
Atascadero State Hospital, 10333 El Camino Real, Atascadero, CA 93422, USA. [email protected]
In 1981, R. Edgar Hope-Simpson proposed that a 'seasonal stimulus' intimately associated with solar radiation explained the remarkable seasonality of epidemic influenza.

Solar radiation triggers robust seasonal vitamin D production in the skin; vitamin D deficiency is common in the winter, and activated vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2D, a steroid hormone, has profound effects on human immunity.

1,25(OH)2D acts as an immune system modulator, preventing excessive expression of inflammatory cytokines and increasing the 'oxidative burst' potential of macrophages. Perhaps most importantly, it dramatically stimulates the expression of potent anti-microbial peptides, which exist in neutrophils, monocytes, natural killer cells, and in epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract where they play a major role in protecting the lung from infection.

Volunteers inoculated with live attenuated influenza virus are more likely to develop fever and serological evidence of an immune response in the winter.

Vitamin D deficiency predisposes children to respiratory infections.

Ultraviolet radiation (either from artificial sources or from sunlight) reduces the incidence of viral respiratory infections, as does cod liver oil (which contains vitamin D).

An interventional study showed that vitamin D reduces the incidence of respiratory infections in children.

We conclude that vitamin D, or lack of it, may be Hope-Simpson's 'seasonal stimulus'.
Click to expand...
I saw this stuff earlier. It is describing an hypothesis based on a review. Where are the original studies I highlighted there?

Of course ultraviolet radiation decreases the incidence of flu. It would be expected to kill the virus on outdoor surfaces exposed to the Sun. Were they claiming a sunburn kills an infection already in progress? Why compare UV light to oral intake of Cod Liver Oil?

And how do you then explain influenza in the tropics? There's plenty of Sun in Mexico.

Come on Doc, surely you can post original sources instead of stuff like this.
 
Daughter 20 and diabetic 17 year old son I have some worries about with this.

It's the second wave that I'm concerned about...the tales from 1918 are incredible...healthy one day literally dead the next.....:boggled:
 
skeptigirl said:
I tried to get people here to use the scientific numbers but still some insist on the political numbers that fit their preconceived beliefs.
Click to expand...
I appreciate the information you have posted here, which so far seems to me to be accurate, but it is not true what you say above. Mostly we are not trying to make the numbers fit our preconceived ideas. Mostly we are just trying to figure out what sort of threat this flu actually poses.
At least that was my intention in reading this thread

BJ
 
My daughter is also twenty.
(And her two brothers are only one year and two years behind)
 
Looks like the time has passed for this strain to be included in the flu vaccine for the 2009/10 season:

http://www.fda.gov/Cber/flu/flu2009.htm

FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) met in Silver Spring, Maryland, on February 18, 2009, to select the influenza virus strains for the composition of the influenza vaccine for use in the 2009-2010 U.S. influenza season. During this meeting, the advisory panel reviewed and evaluated the surveillance data related to epidemiology and antigenic characteristics, serological responses to 2008/2009 vaccines, and the availability of candidate strains and reagents.

The panel recommended that vaccines to be used in the 2009-2010 influenza season in the U.S. contain the following:

  • an A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1)-like virus; *
  • an A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2)-like virus; **
  • a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus.

*A/Brisbane/59/2007 is a current vaccine virus; A/South Dakota/6/2007 (an A/Brisbane/59/2007-like virus) is a current vaccine virus used in live attenuated vaccines.
**A/Brisbane/10/2007 and A/Uruguay/716/2007 (an A/Brisbane/10/2007-like virus) are current vaccine viruses.

The influenza vaccine composition to be used in the 2009-2010 influenza season in the U.S. is identical to that recommended by the World Health Organization on February 12, 2009, for the Northern Hemisphere's 2009-2010 influenza season.
Click to expand...

ETA: This is the real problem, isn't it? If the technology for rapid influenza vaccine production existed, thus allowing the choice of which strains to include in the vaccine to be delayed until much closer to flu season, flu pandemics would be much less of an issue.
 
Last edited:
How to make a flu vaccine.



PS. All you guys must be real old! (except Ivor, who is 18)

PPS. Sad to see the BBC perpetuating the myth that swine flu vaccine was a killer, causing lethal episodes of Guillain Barre Syndrome
A vaccine was used to protect humans from a version of swine flu in the US in 1976.
However, it caused serious side effects, including an estimated 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome. There were more deaths from the vaccine than the outbreak.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Ivor the Engineer said:
Looks like the time has passed for this strain to be included in the flu vaccine for the 2009/10 season:
Click to expand...
I would have thought so too, but the CDC's acting director Dr. Richard Besser is quoted as saying at a news briefing today: "We do know that seasonal flu vaccine production is moving forward, and we don't want to delay that, but [adding the new virus to the seasonal vaccine] is under consideration,"
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/apr2809briefings.html
 
BillyJoe said:
I appreciate the information you have posted here, which so far seems to me to be accurate, but it is not true what you say above. Mostly we are not trying to make the numbers fit our preconceived ideas. Mostly we are just trying to figure out what sort of threat this flu actually poses.
At least that was my intention in reading this thread

BJ
Click to expand...
I started that answer using the pronoun, "you", and was referring to one poster. Then I thought better and changed it to the less personal, 'some'. I certainly never said 'most'.
 
Deetee said:
...
PPS. Sad to see the BBC perpetuating the myth that swine flu vaccine was a killer, causing lethal episodes of Guillain Barre Syndrome
Click to expand...
Ron Paul is also repeating that garbage and claiming he knows because he's a doctor, and claiming he told 'them' the 1976 vaccine was a bad idea and sure enough, he was right. :rolleyes: He thinks flu is not a dangerous disease.
 
Last edited:
Dymanic said:
I would have thought so too, but the CDC's acting director Dr. Richard Besser is quoted as saying at a news briefing today: "We do know that seasonal flu vaccine production is moving forward, and we don't want to delay that, but [adding the new virus to the seasonal vaccine] is under consideration,"
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/apr2809briefings.html
Click to expand...
After listening to several expert opinions about this today, my take was the vaccine for the Mexican Jumping Flu strain (aka swine) may not grow fast. That means waiting to add it to the seasonal dose could delay production. In addition, they may want to evaluate the new vaccine first to see if one or two doses might be needed.

My guess is the vaccine companies are not going to want to fold it into the seasonal vaccine which they've already given us a fixed price for. (I have a guaranteed price for my Fall order.) The companies are going to want to sell this separately. And I'll bet if the government doesn't get involved, we can expect the market price to be high if the virus remains scary.

Capitalism gets us the R&D investment but at a higher cost in the end, socialism gets us the better price but everyone has to pay in. My preference would be the public investment. It would pay off in the long run, even for those who would otherwise have not bought the vaccine, because everyone pays for the sick time and added medical costs of disease burden.
 
Last edited:
Deetee said:
PPS. Sad to see the BBC perpetuating the myth that swine flu vaccine was a killer, causing lethal episodes of Guillain Barre Syndrome
A vaccine was used to protect humans from a version of swine flu in the US in 1976.
However, it caused serious side effects, including an estimated 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome. There were more deaths from the vaccine than the outbreak.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Trying to sort out the myth:
My understanding is that there were 500 cases of GBS among the 40-45 million vaccinated, resulting in 25 deaths. However, because there is a background rate of GBS, not all of these cases were actually caused by the vaccine. Leading epidemiologists at the time concluded, however, that the number of cases of GBS appeared to be greater in the vaccinated population that in the non-vaccinated population. Unfortunately, I cannot find any reference to any actual number of excess cases of GBS or excess deaths from GBS.
However, the pandemic did not eventuate, and hence it would appear that the vaccine did cause more harm than good.
Is that an accurate summary or have I missed something?

BJ
 
Only 7 official deaths so far...

The World Health Organisation today dismissed the death toll from the virus as more than 150 people and said only 7 deaths, all in Mexico, had been officially attributed to swine flu.
Click to expand...

But yet no official estimates of the number of Mexicans who have been infected.
 
Correction: 8

But that article is still sticking to 159 deaths in Mexico.
Outside Mexico there has been 1 death amongst 105 confirmed cases.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

ISF - Join now!

Every member here is approved by hand. No bots, no spam, just people who care about evidence and honest debate.

Membership is free!

Create your free account

Back
Top Bottom