EV-D68: Is there a vaccine-link?

First off let me give credit where credit is due - the genesis of this blog post comes from a Facebook post of a friend, Cynthia Janak, who re-posted the information from someone else (I will update this post once I have her permission to be named - Tami Rainmom, updated Oct 10, 2014). I had seen reports linking illness from Enterovirus 68 with vaccines but was personally skeptical of the link primarily because vaccination is so widespread and EV-D68 is common, so linking vaccination with EV-D68 would be difficult. What is new is the virulence of this strain of EV-D68, leading to many children needing to be hospitalized for treatment with reports of some also becoming paralysed.

To be sure, this does not prove anything - it does not link vaccination with EV-D68, but it is intriguing and may well be a smoking gun. At the least it is an avenue that begs further research - the real question is if it will be pursued. I will not be surprised if concerned citizens are told "move along, nothing to see here" ... so as not to disturb the status quo of "there must be a vaccine for that"! So very many are extremely inve$ted in not changing a thing when it comes to vaccination (other than requiring more vaccines).

Also, enteroviruses are not new (nor is the virus implicated in the current outbreak), but what is concerning is the reports of increased virulence. Entero-virus means it can live in the gut and there are many different types, causing many kinds of illness. The virus that causes polio is one of many types of enteroviruses.

Contamination with residual DNA from the culture on which a viral antigen is grown is a known issue in vaccines - it is simply not possible to remove all such contamination from the final product. For that matter, it is not just residual DNA that contaminates vaccines, but also animal viruses as well (depending upon the cell culture used) ... and insects are now also being used as a culture medium too, so add insect diseases and DNA to the growing list of potential vaccine contaminants.

This link will take you to a Google doc for a patent that degrades residual DNA from the original cell culture in which a vaccine antigen is grown. According to the patent this
product:

"Specifically, the invention provides an improved method of degrading any residual functional cell culture DNA remaining associated with the cell culture generated product."

Improving the degrading of functional DNA means there may well be some remaining functional DNA left. In other words, this product purportedly leaves less functional DNA remaining than other products (or perhaps previous versions of this product). Functional or no, I do not want to be injected with any DNA! Do you? Do you want your children injected with DNA, human/animal/insect? The issue of residual DNA in vaccines is not new - there are several vaccines produced using cell lines formed from aborted babies (among them, chickenpox vaccines) - see this post.

The document lists the types of antigens for which/on which this product/invention might be used - among the long list is:

"[0037] Enterovirus: Viral antigens may be derived from an Enterovirus, such as Poliovirus types 1, 2 or 3, Coxsackie A virus types 1 to 22 and 24, Coxsackie B virus types 1 to 6, Echovirus (ECHO) virus) types 1 to 9, 11 to 27 and 29 to 34 and Enterovirus 68 to 71. Preferably, the Enterovirus is poliovirus. Enterovirus antigens are preferably selected from one or more of the following Capsid proteins VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4. Commercially available polio vaccines include Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) and Oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV)."

Has anyone examined the vaccine history of those who have come down with EV-D68? Is recent vaccination for polio a common variable? Did they all receive the same vaccine from the same manufacturer? Same lot? Click here to see Wyeth's response to a "hot lot". Is it possible that there has been some kind of synergistic interaction (or recombination) between the polio vaccine (or some other vaccine) and this virus that has lead to the increased virulence and paralysis?

Widespread use of antibiotics has lead to the problem of antibiotic resistance which can make it difficult to treat pathogenic infections (and their widespread use also affects beneficial bacteria as well). There is research linking widespread vaccination with mutations in pathogens that may well be implicated in their resurgence (specifically whooping cough or pertussis). Other mechanisms are also discussed in this brief post.

Interestingly enough, a Dr. Jackson is quoted in this article that the primary strategy (aside from symptomatic treatment of those who are ill) is to let the virus run through the community (also known as "the herd"). This begs the question if perhaps that might not be a reasonable strategy for so many other infections. Why are we spending so much money and accepting risks to our health by vaccinating against infections that are generally mild, self-limiting and seldom result in serious short or long-term sequelae?

Given that vaccines are increasing the possibility of genetic recombinations (both in our own DNA as well as among pathogens) people (parents of children and all other adults) should be able to determine for themselves, free of coercion or manipulation, if they will or will not receive any vaccine.

There are so many unknowns - those who perceive vaccination as providing more benefit than risk should get them, those who believe the risks outweigh the possible benefits should not be punished for declining this invasive medical intervention.