Swine-Flu Vaccine Production Hits a Snag. WHO Decides to “Tweak” the Virus. WHY!?!

Published on July 17th, 2009

Posted by John C Dvorak in Health Care, medical

Swine-Flu Vaccine Production Hits a Snag – WSJ.com — Let me get this straight. The virus is going to be altered by the World Health Organization? This is ridiculous. Are they going to weaponize it next. Or make it so it can kill more people? This is not right.

To make vaccine against a flu virus, the virus is cultivated, inactivated and blended into antigen, the main ingredient used in the shots. But the H1N1 virus being used for swine-flu vaccine is so far yielding a “low” level of antigen, Swiss drug maker Novartis AG said Thursday. It said the yield so far is about 30% to 50% of what the company normally gets for seasonal flu vaccines.

Robert Parkinson, chief executive of Baxter International Inc. , also described “yield optimization” as a challenge.

The WHO said Monday it is attempting to tweak the H1N1 virus and send manufacturers a new copy that might yield more vaccine. In the meantime, Novartis said it is attempting to adjust its production process to improve the yield.

Experts aren’t yet sure how much antigen will be needed per shot; human studies to be carried out later this summer will make that clear. The less antigen necessary, the more shots can be produced. Booster ingredients called adjuvants may also be used to increase the effectiveness of the antigen.

Found by John Stec.

28 users responded in " Swine-Flu Vaccine Production Hits a Snag. WHO Decides to “Tweak” the Virus. WHY!?! "

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# 1 RTaylor said, on July 17th, 2009 at 9:28 am

To introduce a capsule protein that allows the virus to grow better in the eggs they’re incubating it in. They’re newer methods of incubating virus other than hen eggs, but they could not me up and running for production by Fall.

# 2 Fat_Anarchy said, on July 17th, 2009 at 9:55 am

I don’t really see what the problem is from this article. It is just saying how they are going to make it to they can get more boosters per antigen.

I think JCD is getting swept up in the conspiracy nut stuff from hanging around with AC too much.

# 3 denacron said, on July 17th, 2009 at 10:16 am

The H1N1 virus was popular before -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6271833.stm

# 4 Somebody_Else said, on July 17th, 2009 at 10:18 am

This conspiracy crap is getting old.

# 5 nadrew said, on July 17th, 2009 at 10:19 am

john when did your curmudgeonly ass become such a luddite? “frankenvaccine, omg!”

# 6 Troublemaker said, on July 17th, 2009 at 10:19 am

Fat_Asshole said:

I don’t really see what the problem is from this article. It is just saying how they are going to make it to they can get more boosters per antigen.

I think JCD is getting swept up in the conspiracy nut stuff from hanging around with AC too much.

50,000 people die in the US every year from the REGULAR flu.

So far, 256 people, in the US, have died from the SWINE flu in the first 6 months of this year.

You don’t see a problem here?

# 7 dusanmal said, on July 17th, 2009 at 10:20 am

@#: “I don’t really see what the problem is from this article. It is just saying how they are going to make it to they can get more boosters per antigen.” – which indirectly means that it will be at least more virulent. We do not have capability to predict what other changes this may cause. Nor is (or could be) the containment 100% proof. There is reasonable probability that the virus can become more dangerous and escape to general population. That is the (scientifically based) worry of cautious people. WHO and the makers of vaccine ignore this aspect for profit and “coverage” which should be obviously unconscionable.

# 8 nadrew said, on July 17th, 2009 at 10:23 am

#6 as a matter of proportion, you do raise a good point. why all the hysteria? although, novartis tweaking process to increase yields doesn’t disturb me, and i generally agree that vaccines are efficacious…

# 9 nadrew said, on July 17th, 2009 at 10:29 am

#7 couching your argument in pseudo scientific terms, doesn’t change the fact, that Michael Chrichton was – a novelist.

# 10 Improbus said, on July 17th, 2009 at 10:31 am

I don’t get regular flu shots and unless swine flu becomes a killer pandemic (like the 1918 Spanish Flu) I won’t get that shot either.

# 11 Dale said, on July 17th, 2009 at 10:44 am

Where do you sign up for the “Human studies?” I need a job.

# 12 bobbo, having thrown a party or two said, on July 17th, 2009 at 11:04 am

Every notice when you plan for a Saturday Night Party and you want a lot of ice for all the drinks you either have to make sure the local store has lots of bags or you have to start 2-3 weeks before hand making your own ice cubes===because when the party starts, its too late to start freezing water.

Same with vaccines except there is no local store. You people seem to think ice comes from an ice tray by snapping your fingers.

Silly Hoomans.

# 13 nadrew said, on July 17th, 2009 at 11:10 am

from Wikipedia:

Current pandemics

2009 influenza A/H1N1
Main article: 2009 flu pandemic
The 2009 outbreak of a new strain of Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 created concerns that a new pandemic was occurring. In the latter half of April, 2009, the World Health Organization’s pandemic alert level was sequentially increased from three to five until the announcement on 11 June 2009 that the pandemic level had been raised to its highest level, level six. [2] This was the first pandemi0.017%c on this level since 1968. Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), gave a statement on 11 June 2009 confirming that the H1N1 strain was indeed a pandemic, having nearly 30,000 confirmed cases worldwide.

ok, according to troublemaker, 50,000 people/year die in america from regular flu. pop. approx. 300,000,000
for a rate of 0.017% approx.

now, to date 30,000 people have died from H1N1. with a world pop. of 6+ billion yields a rate of 0.005% approx.

ok this is a reach…

Definition

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met:[1]

emergence of a disease new to a population;
agents infect humans, causing serious illness; and
agents spread easily and sustainably among humans.
A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious. For instance, cancer is responsible for many deaths but is not considered a pandemic because the disease is not infectious or contagious.

Is it possible that the ~~military/industrial~~, pharmaceutical conglomerates might be influencing our dear own WHO?
Just saying…

# 14 Fat_Anarchy said, on July 17th, 2009 at 11:13 am

The problems with all this fluttering about the swine flu is that there is a big lack in understanding about the flu virus, and the nature of vaccines. I can’t be bothered to go into it all now, but a lot of these people are using very pseudo-scientific arguments. Yes right now there are less deaths from the swine flu than the normal flu. However the normal flu is understood, and people are still urged to get vaccinated against it. However it is well known and is in a state of balance with a regularly yearly cycle and accurate estimates of the death rates. However, when a new strain of the flu is discovered it opens the door for the possibilities of it behaving differently. Yes, sometimes it will end up not being very harmful and eventually fizzle out. No doubt people will then use that as the basis for claiming that all future potential epidemic diseases are nothing but hyped up fear mongering from the government. There is also the possibility however that it will mutate into a very contagious and very deadly strain. History has shown that diseases can do this and wipe out millions. This is the possible outcome when a new disease comes out, so yes, we have to monitor it carefully. Hopefully it will fizzle out, but it also might not be, so we buy lots of vaccines incase that does happen.

#7 That vaccine is not a version of the virus. It is a sterilized version of the virus which makes the antibodies come out, but doesnt affect the body as the virus would. Its basically is the virus without the DNA. There is no chance of it breaking out, so containment will not be an issue.

There is just too much conspiracy rubbish on here. I won’t pretend that the vaccine companies and politicians are saints. They can be incompetent, and at worst, corrupt. But there is not big conspiracy to wipe out half the population. Cool your jets people.

# 15 soundwash said, on July 17th, 2009 at 11:22 am

Will someone please stop this farce already?

anyone notice how in about two weeks time, both the CDC and WHO have the essentially stopped updating the statistical data for H1N1 and no longer have it front and center on their websites (they have now all but buried the statistical data)

so far, i cannot find any new stats after July, 6th. it may say the 16th, but the data is from the 3rd or 5th.

At same time, we suddenly get bombarded with pie in the sky stats of 50% jumps in infection rates, possible 4+ million infected by fall and hear of swine flu diagnosis being down over the phone!?

wtf?

To add insult to injury apparently, (like global warmng) the “science” must be settled because the WHO now “says the swine flu pandemic is the fastest-moving of all time and that it is now pointless to count every case.”

Pointless to count??? -someone pinch me.

Did they even say this?? i cannot find it on the WHO website and it does not show up in 10 pages of google searches, nor in a WHO site search, yet i get 1300+ hits on google stating it as such.

Google Search:
http://tinyurl.com/naszh9

How can anyone take any of this seriously?

As of the 6th we have global totals of 94512 infected and mere 429 deaths

This doesn’t even come near approaching standard flu stats for the U.S., let alone global.

(and the H1N1 hyper madness in Argentina.. 2485 infected, 60 dead omg! stop the presses!)

One you could easily find 100 other stats, both viral based and disease/physical injury based yearly stats that would dwarf these numbers.

This whole swine flu farce must be exposed. -if one could get to the root of this, i’d bet good money that the vaccine producers are the ones rattling everyone’s cage.

as it stands now, they (and their co-conspirators are the only ones who look to profit from this..

In addition to all this, to date, i have only seen TWO people on 3 subway lines the past 2months here in NYC actually sneezing/coughing (and only briefly, i might add) on the subway.

The numbers just don’t stand up to the hype.

-s

# 16 pedro said, on July 17th, 2009 at 11:45 am

#11 We’re living socialist times, so it’s free and mandatory, sorry.

#14 said: “That vaccine is not a version of the virus. It is a sterilized version of the virus…”

I’m not trying to say that vaccines are bad but man, if you wanna say something meaninful, you gotta use your brain.

That brainfart you wrote there puts you right next to Mustard & conFusion in the Biggest Nonesense Writter Dept.

And no, death & sick numbers do not add up for the level of terror the “authorities” are showing.

# 17 Fat_Anarchy said, on July 17th, 2009 at 12:07 pm

# 16

So to sum up, your reply is “I don’t have any counter arguments, so I’ll just call you stupid”

Nice!

# 18 LDA said, on July 17th, 2009 at 12:17 pm

Chinese toys contain lead, international story.

Bloomberg “Baxter Sent Bird Flu Virus to European Labs by Error (Update2)” very little coverage.

The contaminated vaccines were discovered and apparently no harm came from it.

Vaccines are a magnificent discovery. Contaminated or rushed vaccines, not so much.

Technocratic dictatorship, very bad news.

P.S. No one plans to forces me to buy Chinese toys.

# 19 pedro said, on July 17th, 2009 at 12:41 pm

#17 I wasn’t making any counter arguments. I was making a counter argument of what you said.

See? I use the same logic you used on that brainfart of yours.

Good to know you got the point.

# 20 nadrew said, on July 17th, 2009 at 12:44 pm

# 14 so, to sum it up?

virri are virulent – some more than others. although not alive, when doing their thing, virii sometimes incorporate snips of host dna, causing mutations that could cause an exponential increase in virulence/lethality. people are more mobile than in the past. the potential exists for a MAJOR pandemic. then a bunch of people die and whoever lives passes on immunity and life goes on.

# 21 FoolontheHill said, on July 17th, 2009 at 1:00 pm

This is a setup article!
Ohhh no we don’t have enough antigens!! oohhnoo
he but wait no worries!!
We got Squalene QS-21 we tested it in the Golfwar!!
and its A.O.K!!
SSoo roll up to the Vaccination bus and get your shot of protection!!

# 22 SparkyOne said, on July 17th, 2009 at 1:18 pm

the WHO can do what they want to the virus

a/n1h1 patent is theirs

# 23 brendal said, on July 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

Baxter is right down the street from me here, John – want to put me on assignment?

# 24 Mr, Fusion said, on July 17th, 2009 at 6:01 pm

The epidemiologists look at the emerging flues in late winter in order to predict the most prevalent types the next winter. So far it has been mostly a winning crap shoot for the scientists. They have been right far more than they have been wrong.

The problem with the Swine Flu (H1N1) is that it is emerging in the summer. The flu likes to transmit in the closed rooms and areas we have in winter.

# 25 Arnold the pig said, on July 17th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

No Agenda has made it easy for me to figure out what to do.

# 26 Glenn E. said, on July 17th, 2009 at 9:24 pm

This is identical to what happened with the first “Swine Flu” vaccine. They couldn’t make enough of it, fast enough. So they substituted some faster growing strain, that was supposed fairly close to the original. Or so the maker claimed. But did it REALLY immunize against the then swine flu strain, at all. Or did it just end up making a lot of people sick. All I know is that military personnel had no choice but to become guinea pigs, and take the shots. And like myself, got very sick for a night or more. And the services basically ignored our reactions to these shots. I wasn’t even sent to the hospital or back to my quarters. I had to suffer in agony, while at work. Shivering in a corner, with a lot of coats piled on. After that, all bets were off. I swore I’d never reenlist. Not when it’s policy to dump this crap on soldiers, just to make a profit, before attempting to sell the public on it. Or dump out-of-favor meds, like Valium, on service personnel, for every medical complaint.

Now this “new” strain of swine flu shows up, conveniently, when the economy is very bad, and I’m betting the vaccine makers aren’t doing so well. BAILOUT! This flu germ isn’t proving to be anymore deadly, than regular flu. But since it’s “Swine” related, they got the excuse to go postal on its case. And shot every one up with whatever they can concoct, quickly and cheaply enough, to try and stop it. But more than likely it will end up being the year-round flu, that never leaves.

# 27 deowll said, on July 17th, 2009 at 9:51 pm

Right now the regular flu looks like more of risk so I will get that shot. I may wait till next year for the swine flu shot when they have things sorted out a bit better. Of course by then you may just have to take one shot.

# 28 brian t said, on July 18th, 2009 at 2:44 am

If I’m going to get it, it will be in the couple of weeks, since I’m jumping on planes from Ireland to the USA at the end of the month. Good thing I don’t have work to do when I get there, and people to look after me before I give it to them.

I’m one of those folks who will not be getting a vaccine under any circumstances, since I’m on a trial immunosuppressant medication (FTY720), made by … Novartis.

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