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PBS interview on H1N1 vaccines and adjuvants

I have been an advocate for vaccine safety for many years.  I have been able to influence policy-level change for vaccine safety by my efforts on federal commissions.  But this effort is led by all kinds of advocates and we all bring unique strengths to the table.  One thing I haven’t had much experience with, mostly by choice, is working with the media.  I generally defer media inquiry’s to those who are more of a public voice for our movement.  Barbara Loe Fisher, Jenny McCarthy and others have done a magnificent job of raising public awareness. 

As I get further into this process I find myself speaking with the press.  My most recent opportunity was last week with a correspondent from PBS who works with Jim Lehrer on the News Hour.  She wrote a piece focusing on a controversial concern among safety advocates…the potential inclusion of unlicensed adjuvants into vaccines.  In order for a vaccine to work, it has to have a substance in it that hyperstimluatesthe immune systems.  Egg-culture vaccines usually rely on aluminum to do this.  The newest technology are adjuvants.  Adjuvants allow for rapid manufacturing of a vaccine using little antigen.  The safety profile of adjuvants has yet to be established.  The FDA has yet to grant approval for the use of adjuvants in any US product.  Additionally, there is some evidence to show that adjuvants were experimented with in the anthrax vaccine and some who believe this is the cause of Gulf War Syndrome.  If you are interested in more on that, I suggest reading Vaccine A by Gary Matsumoto.

With the growing demand for the H1N1 vaccine and the limited supply, the concern for safety advocates has been focused on the potential use of unlicensed adjuvants in H1N1.  The CDC has stated from the start of the campaign that they would not do this, but as the supply has been slow it’s been a concern.  And with H1N1 being declared a national emergency, it would be easy for the government to issue an Emergency Authorization to allow the use of an unlicensed adjvant in the production of the H1N1 vaccine.

Here is the link to the article written by PBS on this topic, which includes statements from my interview with her. 

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/health/july-dec09/adjuvants_11-09.html

Tags: Gary Matsumoto, H1N1, PBS, vaccine, vaccine safety