IS THE SWINE FLU PANDEMIC A HOAX?

The H1N1 pandemic seems to have taken on a life of its own – while the actual evidence of a serious and life-threatening epidemic has not supported the hysteria we hear in the main stream media. The news media and the World Health Organization have continued to pump out stories suggesting that we are just a few months away from Armageddon – and the mass inoculation of just about everyone with a still-untested vaccine is the only solution. Mark Horton, director of the California Dept. of Public Health announced that “millions of Californians, possibly one in four, may be affected by the coming H1V1 'swine flu' virus”. Dr. Marvin Trotter, Mendocino County's public heath officer “fears 'a perfect storm' scenario could lead to the rapid and potentially deadly spread of what the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) calls a 'novel virus'. Ukiah Daily Journal 8-30-09. The virus seems to particularly attack the lung tissue and this can lead to viral pneumonia. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology warned that “swine flu poses a serious threat: half the population could come down with the strain and 90,000 could die this season.” US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius warns that “this is not the flu we're used to”. As if to speed up their production, Sibelius has signed a document specifically granting pharmaceutical manufacturers immunity from prosecution for death or injury from the vaccine.

THE EVIDENCE SO FAR

Yet, the evidence collected to date seems to suggest that H1N1 is a relatively mild flu, similar to the common influenza we have dealt with for decades and is in fact practically indistinguishable from it. It lasts no more than a week and has caused relatively few casualties compared with the deaths attributed to conventional influenza each flu season. The CDC data shows that as of August 28th, 8843 Americans have been hospitalized with Swine Flu and 552 have died of the virus. By contrast the seasonal influenza claims on average 36,000 deaths each year in the U.S. The Swine Flu has supposedly killed 552 in five month, equivalent to 1325 per year.

Despite their dire press office releases and raising the level of the pandemic to their highest rating of 6 in June , WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) decided on July 10th that it was no longer necessary to collect data on the spread of the flu and therefore they would no longer require countries from around the world to send in data on confirmed cases. Nevertheless, WHO predicts that 2 billion could become infected over the next 2 years. WHO briefing note July 2009. They stated August 28th that “the swine flu virus H1N1 has overtaken other viruses to become the most persistent flu strain”. Around the world, 209,438 infections have now been identified in 170 countries and 2185 people are suspected to have died from H1V1. It is now the dominant influenza strain in most parts of the world”. At the same time they acknowledged that the underlying symptoms are moderate and that “most people will recover from swine flu within a week, just as they would from seasonal forms of common influenza”. Independent UK 8-22-09. WHO warned that second wave outbreaks of swine flu are expected this fall and that the actual number of cases may be much higher than their data showed. It was not clear how they arrived at their figures while no longer collecting data on the outbreak.

Nigel Dimmock, professor of biological sciences at Warwick University (UK) says it is 'surprising' that WHO has declared a virus the 'dominant strain' at such an early stage. “The scale and speed of the planned vaccination program is insane given that the overwhelming majority of those who have contracted the virus have had very mild symptoms.” Dr. Peter Holden of the British Medical Association said that “although swine flu was not causing serious illness, they were eager to start a mass vaccination campaign, beginning with priority groups.” David Icke July 2009

In Germany, Health Minister Ulla Schmidt admitted on TV on August 25th that “the swine flu vaccination campaign was a hoax and the largest ever inoculation experiment in history.” The Chair of the Health Committee in the German Parliament, Dr. Wolfgang Wogarg, warned about potential swine flu vaccine safety. “Novartis' vaccine contained cancerous animal cells. It is a great business for the pharmaceutical industry” he told Neuten Presse on August 22nd. “Swine flu is not very different from conventional flu, but the vaccine can have dangerous side effects. “

WHY THE PANIC?

“This is potentially the largest mass-vaccination program in human history” said Howard Markel, a professor at University of Michigan and advisor to the CDC. More than 2800 local health departments have begun recruiting pediatricians, obstetricians, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and even dentists to carry out the vaccination program in the United States. The CDC is formulating a $4.8 million multimedia campaign to encourage people take the vaccine.
Five pharmaceutical companies are racing to produce the vaccine with the first 45 to 52 million doses due by mid-October. It will be at least February of 2010 before the total required number of doses have been manufactured.

The vaccination effort carries great risks for the Obama Administration: if the outbreak fizzles, they could be criticized for wasting $5 billion for 600 million doses of the vaccine. In addition the costs of administering the vaccine are estimated to run to $9 billion according to the Association of State and Territorial Heath Officials. On the other hand, if the pandemic really breaks out this fall and there will not be enough vaccine available, they will be accused of under-preparation. The last swine flu scare in 1976 fizzled and although 40 million were vaccinated, only one death was attributed to it. However it was blamed for the outbreak of a rare paralyzing disorder known as Giuilain-Barre Syndrome, for which there is no known cure.

“This is over reaction” said Barbara Lee Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center: “There is no national security threat here, why are we operating like this? This is not polio, this is not smallpox.”

The US Military is ready to jump into the pandemic. The Northern Command is awaiting Defense Secretary Gates' approval of a plan for military task forces to work with FEMA and provide assistance in support of civil authorities to assure that all Americans are vaccinated. This is a direct violation of the Posse-Comitatus Act.

GUILLAIN-BARRE SYNDROME

There will be no data available from clinical testing of the vaccine on humans before the inoculation program begins in October of this year. The first to be inoculated will be children, pregnant women, and health care workers. It is unheard of for a vaccine to bypass the precautionary procedures normally involved with clinical trials. Yet no one in a position of authority seems particularly concerned as they rush to get this still-untested vaccine out on the market. One of the vaccine ingredient: the adjuvant “squalene', has been directly linked to cases of the Gulf War Syndrome from the 1990s. This same adjuvant is planned to be added as a means to boost it effectiveness and stretch limited supplies. Ten laboratories in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia have documented squalene as inducing autoimmune diseases in animals. The Swedish Kartolinska Institute has demonstrated that squalene alone can induce rheumatoid arthritis in animals and the Florida Medical School has shown that it induces the production of antibodies associated with systemic lupus etythematosus. Paul Joseph Watson, Global Research 7-27-09.

This is not the first time that fear of a flu epidemic has generated hysteria. The avian flu scare in 2005-06 caused the US and UK governments to buy 34.6 million doses of Tamilflu vaccine at a cost of billions. These stockpiles are now reaching the end of their shelf life. There has been no avian flu pandemic to support this hysteria and there is a considerable history of US soldiers who were forced to take the vaccine and who become ill as a result. In 2003 the SARS virus was predicted to have a 25% chance of killing tens of millions. The virus actually killed 774 between Nov. 2002 and July 2003 and there hasn't been a single infection in the past six years. The BSE virus was said to have the potential to infect up to 10 million Britons. The disease itself did virtually no damage, yet 6 million beef cattle were slaughtered and the meat industry in the UK was savaged. Paul Watson Prison Planet.com 5-1-09.

EFFICACY OF THE VACCINE – 30,000 COULD WELL BECOME PARALYZED

The H1N1 vaccine will be acceptable to the Food and Drug Administration if it creates a protective antibody level in 30% of recipients. For those over 65, this figure drops to 18%. In other words, the vaccine is likely to be ineffective in 70% of recipients under age 65. This does not seem to suggest that its much of a cure.

CDC estimates that 30,000 Americans could have potentially lethal adverse reactions to the novel H1V1 vaccine and get Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) for which is no treatment and which can lead to paralysis and death. This is based upon the experience of 1976, when 40 million received a swine flu vaccine, and 4,000 developed GBS. If all 300 million Americans are vaccinated, then the experience of 1976 then as many as 30,000 could very well die just from the side-effects of this vaccine.

Given that the vaccine will provide protection to only 30%, is it reasonable to put at risk 30,000 lives when the swine flu itself is experienced as only a mild one-week illness? Dr. William Schaffer Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University and a member of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, wrote in an e-mail that: “I am skeptical of finishing the vaccine before we know the appropriate dose to be included in each inoculation, before immunogenicity studies are complete, or before safety assessments have been finished. We should not make vaccine available before the trials are completed and the results carefully assessed.” Yet the Obama Administration has elected to start vaccinations in mid-October without waiting for the clinical trials.

“I fear that a rush towards vaccinating the population without completing trials risks leading to the harmful outcome that we witnessed during the 1976 swine flu scare” wrote Dr. A. Afkhami of George Washington University. In that instance, “the government advocated rapid production and vaccination of the population without adequate safeguards, which led to an unexplained increase in cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) amongst other complications, and massive liability for the government”. Dr. Afkhami is a international recognized expert on the 1918 Influenza pandemic and an advisor to the US State Department and the World Bank. He warns that “we must learn from lessons of the past and be mindful of not jumping from the proverbial frying pan into the fire by putting people's health at risk without adequate production and safety monitoring of the vaccines”.