The
threat of smallpox has reared its ugly head through the smoke, flames and
horror of recent terrorist attacks in the
United
States. There
has been talk that the devastating epidemics of smallpox, that we thought we
had seen the last of, may be once more visited upon us through acts of
bioterrorism. What is smallpox? What is the history of smallpox vaccination?
And has smallpox truly been eradicated?
the
disease
history
Smallpox
is a highly contagious disease caused by the variola virus of the genus
orthopoxvirus1.
The disease is known to have been around for thousands of years with the first
recorded cases in
Asia
, although
it is thought that there were cases among the Pharaohs of
North Africa1,2.
The mummified remains of Ramses V, c.1000 BC is believed to have smallpox lesions
on the face2.
There was no mention of smallpox in
Europe
until the
sixth century AD.
According
to Kennedy2,
while the Bubonic Plague had a devastating effect on the population, smallpox
was never as lethal in
Europe
. It became
endemic with occasional outbreaks and a widespread resistance developed
resulting in a death rate of about 10% of the population1,
2.
When smallpox was introduced to the
Americas
the story
was quite different and the disease rapidly decimated the population. Kennedy
uses the example of the Spanish attempt to settle Hispanola for sugar cane
plantations in 1509. "By 1518 every single one of the 2.5 million aboriginals
had perished, and the labour population had to be restored with African
slaves."2
The
World Health Organisation (WHO) announced in 1980 that smallpox had been "eradicated" from the globe3 with
the last natural case recorded in
Somalia
in 1977,
and several small outbreaks since as a result of laboratory exposure2.
Fisher1 writes
that "the only remaining smallpox virus at that time [1980] was reported to
exist in secure labs in the
Soviet Union
and the
United
States. However,
since then, there have been reports that Soviet scientists developed the
capacity to produce large quantities of the virus, modified to survive delivery
by missile warhead, and that some of these stocks were supplied to countries
hostile to the US."
There
are two main forms of smallpox: variola major and variola minor,
and both show similar lesions. Variola minor follows a milder course with
a case fatality rate of less than 1%. The fatality rate of variola major
is around 30%4.
There is no proven treatment for smallpox5;
historically control of the disease was through quarantine/isolation and tracing
of an infected person's contacts. The lesions were kept clean in an effort to
prevent secondary infections, which in the 19th century
were often the cause of death2.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the
US
say that
there is currently research being undertaken to evaluate new antiviral agents,
and they advise that supportive therapy (intravenous fluids, medicine to control
fever or pain, etc.) and antibiotics for any secondary bacterial infections that
occur, is the current treatment of choice5.
Authorities believe that the current vaccine protects against smallpox or
reduces the severity of the disease if administered within four days of exposure
to the virus4,
5.
the
virus
Kennedy
describes smallpox as a "poxvirus, characterised by a brick-shape, containing
linear double stranded DNA, a disk-shaped core within a double membrane, and a
lipoprotein envelope. The virion contains a DNA-dependant RNA polymerase. This
enzyme is required because the virus replicates in the cytoplasm and does not
have access to the cellular RNA polymerase, which is located in the nucleus."2
transmission,
incubation, signs and
symptoms
The
following sections describing the transmission, incubation, signs and symptoms
of smallpox are reprinted from 'Smallpox Epidemiology' in the Weekly
Epidemiological Record 4.
transmission
Human
beings appear to be universally susceptible to infection with the smallpox
virus. There is no animal reservoir (see Eradication). Insects play no role in
transmission. Smallpox is transmitted from person to person by infected aerosols
and air droplets spread in face-to-face contact with an infected person after
fever has begun, especially if symptoms include coughing. The disease can also
be transmitted by contaminated clothes and bedding, though the risk of infection
from this source is much lower.
In
the past, patients suffering from variola major (the more severe form of the
disease) became bedridden early (in the phase before the eruption of rash) and
remained so throughout the illness. Spread of infection was limited to close
contacts in a small vicinity. Variola minor, however, was so mild that patients
infected with this form frequently remained ambulatory during the infectious
phase of their illness and thus spread the virus far more widely.
Investigations
of [previous] outbreaks showed that, in a closed environment, airborne virus
could sometimes spread within buildings via the ventilation system and infect
persons in other rooms or on other floors in distant and apparently unconnected
spaces.
incubation
The
incubation period of smallpox is usually 12-14 days (range 7-17) during which
there is no evidence of viral shedding. During this period, the person looks and
feels healthy.
Persons
carrying the virus during the incubation period cannot infect others. The
frequency of infection is highest after face-to-face contact with a patient once
fever has begun and during the first week of rash, when the virus is released
via the respiratory tract. Although patients remain infectious until the last
scabs fall off, the large amounts of virus shed from the skin are not highly
infectious. Exposure to patients in the late stages of the disease is much less
likely to produce infection in susceptible contacts. As a precaution, WHO
isolation policy during the eradication campaign required that patients remain
in isolation, in hospital or at home, until the last scab had separated.
signs
and symptoms
The
incubation period is followed by the sudden onset of influenza-like symptoms
including fever, malaise, headache, prostration, severe back pain and, less
often, abdominal pain and vomiting. Two to three days later, the temperature
falls and the patient feels somewhat better, at which time the characteristic
rash appears, first on the face, hands and forearms and then after a few days
progressing to the trunk (see picture at right). Lesions also develop in the mucous
membranes of the nose and mouth, and ulcerate very soon after their formation,
releasing large amounts of virus into the mouth and throat.
The
centrifugal distribution of lesions, more prominent on the face and extremities
than on the trunk, is a distinctive diagnostic feature of smallpox and gives the
trained eye cause to suspect the disease. Lesions progress from macules to
papules, to vesicles, to pustules. All lesions in a given area progress together
through these stages. From
8
to 14 days
after the onset of symptoms, the pustules form scabs which leave depressed,
depigmented scars upon healing.
*
* * * * *
Fisher
describes several rare types of smallpox1:
-
variola
sine eruptione: involves a rash but no eruption of any lesions;
-
malignant
smallpox: the disease remains in the rash stage and pustular lesions do not
erupt; it is almost always fatal;
-
haemorrhagic
smallpox: the patient develops fever, bone marrow depression, a drop in
platelets (thrombocytopenia), and uncontrollable bleeding into the skin and
mucous membranes leading to death.
complications
The
main complication is secondary infection of the lesions usually caused by staphylococcus
aureus. Other complications include conjunctivitis; bacterial pneumonia;
viral arthritis; sepsis; encephalomyelitis and osteomyelitis, and may lead to
permanent damage including blindness, brain damage, and severe facial and body
scarring1.
history
of
vaccination
The
history of smallpox vaccination is effectively the early history of all
vaccination. To be technically correct the shots that are administered today are
inoculations, that is the introduction of an agent (killed, weakened or
attenuated virus or bacteria) into the body for the purpose of stimulating
antibodies against the disease which that agent causes. Strictly speaking,
vaccination is inoculation with the cowpox virus (vaccinia) and
variolation is inoculation with the smallpox virus (variola).
early
smallpox prevention
Attempts
to prevent smallpox infection may date back as far as several centuries BC in
China.
Doctors
there ground up the dried matter from smallpox lesions and blew the material
into the noses of healthy people1,
2.
In
other parts of the world (Asia Minor,
Africa
and
Europe)
people
swallowed smallpox scabs, or scratched smallpox lymph into their skins in a
procedure that is known as variolation1.
"Although smallpox variolation worked for some, it left one in 300 dead and
others with severe enough smallpox that they were permanently scarred or blinded
from the intervention. Many others were unknowingly infected with syphilis,
tuberculosis and hepatitis because the biological matter from smallpox lesions
was taken from persons also suffering from those serious diseases." Ultimately
this practice was forbidden in
England
by an Act
of Parliament because of the very high numbers of deaths9.
edward
jenner
If
you go to your local library and do a search in the catalogue for "Edward
Jenner" you will find numerous books labelling Jenner as a hero. He is placed
alongside other heroes in books about great scientific and medical discoveries
and inventions. In reality Jenner was no hero; he was a fraud!
In
1796 Edward Jenner inoculated eight year old James Phipps with cowpox
(vaccinia) by scraping pus from lesions of a child infected with cowpox
onto the skin of the boy1.
Jenner later exposed James to smallpox by scraping pus from the lesions of a
person with smallpox onto his skin. It was apparent that the child did not
develop smallpox and as a result of this Jenner earned himself a place in the
pages of history as the inventor of vaccination.
Jenner
(left) was not a doctor and did not have any medical qualifications. However, after
working for a country surgeon and apothecary, and then an eminent
London
surgeon,
Jenner set himself up as a surgeon and apothecary. In 1787 he was made a Fellow
of The Royal Society on the basis of a fraudulently written natural history
paper. In 1790 he obtained an M.D. degree from St. Andrew's University upon
payment of 15
pounds6.
Dr Charles Creighton described Jenner as "vain and petulant, crafty and
greedy, a man with more grandiloquence and bounce than solid attainment,
unscrupulous to a degree, a man who in all his writings was never precise when
he could possibly be vague, and never straight-forward when he could be
secretive."7
The
idea of vaccination, far from being Jenner's own, had been tested in 1774,
when Benjamin Jesty inoculated his wife with cowpox. McBean writes that "Jesty, a farmer, Plett a teacher and Jensen, a farmer, were named as
'successful experimenters' in the field of cowpox vaccination several years
before Jenner's first innoculation."8 This
theory upon which Jenner based his experiments with James Phipps (right) -
that
inoculating a person with cowpox would protect them against subsequent infection
with smallpox - was what Hadwen called "superstition among the dairymaids of
Gloucestershire" and McBean says: "these and all subsequent vaccination
experiments were then, and still are, haphazard and unscientific attempts at
solving the problem of disease prevention".
For
his "wonderful discovery" Jenner was paid handsomely by the government of
the day. On the strength of a dairymaid's superstition, and Jenner's promise
of lifelong immunity8 he
received a total of 30,000 pounds. This, despite there never being any proof of his
claims, and abundant evidence that not only did vaccination not confer immunity
from smallpox but that it spread other diseases and had devastating adverse
reactions6,
8.
When Jenner was faced with clear evidence that vaccinated people still
contracted smallpox despite having been vaccinated, his response was that a) the
vaccine used was not the genuine vaccine8,
or b)
the vaccination had mitigated the disease7.
Jenner's idea of disease mitigation ignored the fact that many vaccinated
people died from smallpox.
Smallpox
vaccination is based entirely on Jenner's theory (in turn based on
superstition) that cowpox is smallpox of the cow8,
a premise which he attempted to give some credibility by calling "cowpox (a
disease which bears no analogy to smallpox) variolae vaccinae"9.
Dr J.W. Hodge wrote in his book The Vaccination Superstition8 that
cowpox was a myth: "that cowpox is a disorder not natural to the cow; that it
never occurs in bulls or steers, nor in young heifers that have never been
milked; that it is a disease of milk cows, which has been communicated to them
from sores on the hands of milkers who were suffering from syphilis" (see Vaccination
and the Spread of Disease).
McBean8 provides
a comparison of the symptoms and progression of syphilis and cowpox. They are
exactly the same. The symptoms and progression of smallpox differ markedly. In
addition the "manifestation of after-effects" in cowpox and syphilis are
exactly the same.
Renowned
bacteriologist, E.M. Crookshank said in Bacteriology and Infectious Diseases
(Fourth Edition): "Cowpox has never been converted into human smallpox, and in
their clinical history and epidemiology, natural cowpox and human smallpox are
so different, that the comparative pathologist is no more prepared to admit
their identity than he is prepared to admit the identity of cowpox and sheep-pox
or smallpox and the plague."8
If
Hodge, Crookshank, and others such as Dr. Charles Creighton, were correct then
quite obviously the "cowpox" based vaccine - in fact a sort of bovine
syphilis - would never protect anyone against smallpox. In addition, the
assault on the immune system by a mutated syphilis virus, plus any other virus
that happened to be present in the lesion from which the "cowpox" virus was
taken, would be enough to weaken a vaccinee and make them more susceptible to
contracting smallpox.
When
it became increasingly evident that vaccination did not prevent smallpox, Jenner
exhorted doctors "to be slow to publish fatal results after vaccination" as
the reports of failure would bring vaccination into disrepute and "so disturb
the progress of vaccination" - a procedure that had become a substantial
cash-cow for many doctors8.
early
vaccination
Both
the manufacture of the vaccine and the administration of it were disgusting
procedures. Jenner experimented with the pus from infected people and cows in
his efforts to prevent smallpox, extracting the pus from a lesion and scraping
it onto the skin of a healthy individual. When this failed he added pus from the
hooves of horses - infected with a type of equine syphilis - and created a
concoction of pus from the horse and cow from which he made a serum with which
to inoculate people8.
Dr.
Thomas Skinner, of
Liverpool
, described
how he obtained the lymph with which to inoculate the daughter of the Chaplain
at the Orphan Girls' Asylum in Liverpool10:
"A
young lady, fifteen years of age... was revaccinated by me at her father's
request, during an outbreak of smallpox in
Liverpool
in
1865..." Skinner took the fluid (lymph) from the mature vesicle of an orphan
girl who had been vaccinated some days before. "On the eighth day I took off
the lymph [from the vaccinated orphan] in a capillary glass tube, almost filling
the tube with clear, transparent lymph. Next day,
7th March,
1865
, I
revaccinated the young lady [the Chaplain's daughter] from this same tube, and
from the same tube and at the same time I revaccinated her mother and the cook.
Before opening the tube I remember holding it up to the light and requesting the
mother to observe how perfectly clear and homogeneous, like water, the lymph
was, neither pus nor blood corpuscles were 'visible to the naked eye'."
The
"young lady" died eighteen days after being vaccinated from "the most
frightful form of blood poisoning ... a low form of acute peritonitis set in,
with incessant vomiting and pain, which defied all means to allay. At last
stercoraceous vomiting, and cold, clammy, deadly sweats of a sickly odour set
in, with pulselessness, collapse, and death, which closed the terrible scene on
the morning of
the 26th
March, 1865
. Within
twenty minutes of death rapid decomposition set in, and within two hours so
great was the bloated and discoloured condition of the whole body, more
especially of the head and face, that there was not a feature of this once
lovely girl recognisable."
William
Tebb also describes the administration of the smallpox vaccine:
"The
lymph used was of unknown origin, kept in capillary glass tubes, from whence it
was blown into a cup into which the lancet was dipped. No pretence of cleaning
the lancet was made; it drew blood in very many instances, and it was used upon
as many as 276 during the first day (on board ship). ... no one can estimate the
number of healthy, innocent children, as well as adults, who are inoculated with
syphilis or other foul disease."11
A
further discription of the vaccination process
comes from an F. Scrimshaw (1883) "The doctor, dipping his lancet in the
bottle of mystery, wiped it on a spot on the arm, and cut and cross-cut the
skin, and then, after rapidly stretching and closing the incisions with his
thumbs, gave the wretch his ticket and passed him on."
vaccination
and the spread of disease
Not
only did smallpox vaccination not prevent smallpox (in fact it made the
recipient more likely to contract smallpox - see The Rise And Fall of
Smallpox) it contributed to the spread of other diseases, most notably
syphilis and tuberculosis, but also leprosy, scarlet fever, tetanus and
infantile paralysis (polio)8.
Given that there was a complete lack of sterile and scientific procedures in the
manufacture of the vaccine, and that no identifiable virus was isolated, it is
little wonder that smallpox vaccination was a vehicle for the spread of disease.
Tuberculosis
is a widespread problem in cattle and it is only logical that in inoculating
people with the pus from a diseased cow, or from the vaccine lesion of a person
already vaccinated, that more than the "cowpox" virus was transferred. James
Phipps and Edward Jenner's son died from tuberculosis at 20 and 21 years of
age, respectively, both having been Jenner's "guinea pigs" and subjected
to multiple inoculations7,
8.
There
are numerous recorded cases of vaccine recipients developing tuberculosis soon
after vaccination, despite having no history of the disease. In the US Army
tuberculosis was the leading cause of discharge among officers and enlisted
soldiers. No men with tuberculosis were admitted to the army and it was after
they were vaccinated for smallpox that tuberculosis and "diseases of every
description" developed. During the First World War there were 31,106 hospital
admissions for pulmonary tuberculosis and 1,114 deaths among American troops.8 In
the Vaccination Inquirer it was reported in 1883 that "there is no
question among veterinarians that tuberculosis is communicable in the milk and
flesh of animals to man; and if thus communicable in the process of digestion,
how much more must it be communicable when the products of disease from
tuberculous animals are inoculated in the blood under the euphemism of 'pure
lymph from the calf!' "12
McBean
details the cases of many children who died from syphilis (accompanied by
distressing photographs) following vaccination8.
The mothers of the children were often accused of being syphilitic and having
passed the disease to their children. However, investigations showed that this
was not the case: "In
Wales
when 4,000
infants were found to be syphilitic after their vaccinations, all the parents
were examined by the doctors in an effort to lay the blame on them, but the
parents were found to be free from syphilis."8
It
is clear that vaccination was responsible for the spread of syphilis and
tuberculosis. In addition the assault on the immune system by this foul, disease
bearing substance, euphemistically referred to as lymph (but in essence the pus
from diseased animals and people) was responsible for a morbidity and mortality
rate far exceeding that which was ever suffered from smallpox itself.
rise
and fall of smallpox
At
the time Jenner was carrying out his experiments using "cowpox" to vaccinate
against smallpox, smallpox deaths had fallen from 500 per 100,000 population to
200 per 100,000 population in
England
over a
period of 200 years13.
Jenner himself admitted that smallpox was almost unknown when he inoculated
young James Phipps8.
The
unvaccinated, as they are today, were often blamed for the spread of smallpox.
However, Creighton's independent research, reported in the Ninth Edition of
the Encyclopedia Britannica, provided evidence of the exact opposite:
"It is often alleged that the unvaccinated are so much inflammable material in
the midst of the community, and that smallpox begins among them and gathers
force so that it sweeps even the vaccinated before it. Inquiry into the facts
has shown that at
Cologne
in 1870 the
first unvaccinated person attacked by smallpox was the 174th in order of time,
at
Bonn
the same
year the 42nd, and at Liegnitz in 1871 the 225th."23
Smallpox
is a disease of unhygienic and insanitary conditions. In
Austria
it was
called the Beggar's Disease14 and
epidemics have been associated with poverty, war, 'pestilence' and a general
lack of sanitary measures8,
14.
When sanitation reforms were implemented in
England
just prior
to 1800, together with improvements in general nutrition, smallpox and other
infectious diseases began to wane.
However,
once smallpox vaccination was introduced, then made compulsory, smallpox
incidence and mortality rose, while other diseases for which there were no
vaccines continued to decline. Hadwen wrote in 1923: "Before the passing of
the Public Health Act of l875 in this country, every succeeding epidemic of
smallpox was worse than its predecessor in spite of more and more compulsory
vaccination; but with less and less vaccination and more and more sanitation
smallpox has become a comparative curiosity."14
The
Compulsory Vaccination Act was passed in
England
in 1853
followed by strict enforcement of the law in 18676.
In the 1857-59 epidemic 14,244 people died; in the 1863-65 epidemic 20,059
people died13.
In May 1871 the Chief Medical Officer announced that 97.5% of the population had
been vaccinated. In 1872
England's worst
ever smallpox epidemic claimed 44,840 lives13 (refer
to graph at right).
In
1887-8 in
Sheffield
(England) 98% of the
population had been vaccinated; the epidemic resulted in 7000 cases of smallpox.
"The medical profession helplessly cried 'vaccinate' and 'revaccinate' - as if the pubic had not already had enough of it."14
McTaggart15 writes
that after the epidemics in the 1870s claimed large numbers of lives despite
vaccination, the population of
Leicester
refused to
be vaccinated. In the 1892 epidemic the town relied on improved sanitation and
quarantine of infected people. There were only 19 cases of smallpox and one
death per 100,000 of population. This contrasted with the town of
Warrington
which had a
99% vaccination rate, and had six times the incidence of smallpox and 11 times
the death rate.
The
comments of Dr. Druitt succinctly sum up the efforts of the authorities to
prevent smallpox: "You may just as well try to stop smallpox epidemics by
vaccination as to prevent a thunderstorm with an umbrella."16
In
the 15-year period to 1923 there were 145 cases of smallpox deaths in vaccinated
people in
England
with only
78 deaths in the unvaccinated9.
Vaccination rates at the time (after compulsory vaccination had been abolished)
were about 25%. Hadwen reports that "during the same 15-year period there is
recorded... the terrible toll of 165 deaths from 'cowpox and other effects of
vaccination!' In short, vaccination not only failed to save 145 persons from
death, but actually killed another 165 in addition!"9 Hadwen's
concluding remarks were that "the only way, so far as I can see, that those
165 poor little victims of the eighteenth century Gloucestershire dairymaid's
superstition were prevented from having smallpox (if they were ever likely to
get it) was in being killed by the 'preventive' before the disease could
attack them."
It
was only when people began to refuse vaccination that the death rate in
England
and
Wales
began to
decline (see Table below)8.
|
Ten
Year Period
% of Babies
Smallpox deaths
Ending
Vaccinated
(per million)
1881
96.5
3708
1891
82.1
933
1901
67.9
437
1911
67.6
395
1921
42.3
12
1931
43.1
25
1941
39.9
1 |
It
was not only in
England
and Wales
that
(compulsory) smallpox vaccination led to a devastating increase in morbidity and
mortality. For example:
Germany:
"No
European country has had such severe vaccination laws as
Germany. They
started in 1834, and enforced continual revaccinations. Yet in 1871-2 smallpox
carried off no fewer than 124,948 in
Prussia
alone.
In
Berlin
itself
there were 17,038 vaccinated cases of smallpox, of whom 2,240 were under ten
years of age, and of these vaccinated children 736 died."
|
|
The
decrease in smallpox deaths after the decline
of vaccination (McBean8;
Hadwen6) |
Phillipines:
When the
US
took
control of the Philippine islands they implemented a mass vaccination scheme.
This was followed by the country's worst ever smallpox epidemic8.
All Filipinos had been vaccinated from one to six times8 and
the 1919 epidemic resulted in 60,612 cases and 43,294 deaths14
- a death rate of 71%.
Bavaria: In 1871 of
30,742 cases 29,429 were in vaccinated persons, or 95.7 percent23
the
renaming game
A
popular tactic among the supporters of vaccination is renaming of a disease when
it occurs in the vaccinated so that the statistics do not reflect the true
numbers of vaccinated people contracting the disease, thus concealing the fact
that the vaccine does not work.
George
Bernard Shaw was a member of the Health Committee of London Borough Council at
the turn of the century: "I learned how the credit of vaccination is kept up
statistically by diagnosing all the revaccinated cases (of smallpox) as pustular
eczema, varioloid or what not - except smallpox."8
Hadwen
reports similar statistical manipulation: "In 1886, there were 275 cases of
smallpox deaths altogether throughout England and Wales; there was only one
vaccinated child that died from smallpox under ten years of age, but there were
93 children who died from 'chickenpox.' And the Registrar-General, in
commenting upon the fact, declared that nearly, if not all, those cases should
have been registered as smallpox, because chickenpox 'never kills'; and Dr.
Ogle, the chief in the Registrar-General's Department, told the Royal
Commission as a witness before it, that he had never known chickenpox kill a
child in his life. Why were they not registered as smallpox?" Hadwen goes on
to say that in 1893, the last year for which he had figures, there were 127
children who were reported to have died from 'chickenpox', deaths
that were almost certainly as a result of smallpox not chickenpox16.
the
decline of smallpox
It
is clear that the decline of smallpox has been as a result of improved hygiene
and sanitation measures as well as effective containment (isolation and
quarantine) during outbreaks. Not only did vaccination not prevent smallpox but
it made vaccinees more susceptible to the disease and caused many, many deaths
through adverse reactions and the spread of other debilitating and deadly
diseases.
In
England
in 1880 the
Registrar-General reported that smallpox was the only infectious disease which
showed a rise in the death rate and that was after 30 years of compulsory
vaccination16.
Numerous
authors have reported greater deaths from vaccination than from smallpox. In
addition many who survived vaccination were left with permanent disability and
ongoing illhealth8,
16.
It was not only in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries
that this was the case. Chaitow writes that "smallpox vaccination continued
for many years after the disease itself had disappeared, producing the
anachronistic obscenity of no less than 115 children, under the age of five
dying from smallpox vaccination over a 28 year period up to 1961, during which
not a single child born in England or Wales died of the disease."3
According
to the July 1969 issue of Prevention Magazine, between 1948 and 1969, 300
children in the
US
died from
complications of the smallpox vaccine while in that same period there was not
one reported case of smallpox13.
Despite
claims by the vaccine propagandists and agencies such as WHO, the decline of
smallpox cannot be credited to vaccination. Obomsawin23 cites
the article Vaccines a Future in Question which presented statistics
showing that less than 10 percent of children in developing countries received
the vaccine. The article went on to say that the WHO campaign was not a real
factor in the "eradication" of smallpox.
Glen
Dettman and Archie Kalekerinos in the Australasian Nurses Journal (cited
in Obomsawin23)
said: "...we claim that if the evidence is honestly evaluated that smallpox
has actually been prolonged and that the so called protective vaccinations
actually put the recipient at risk from ... the disease itself. Authorities now
realise this and the 'top world' countries are making vociferous protests
about third world countries' continuing use of smallpox vaccination because
... suddenly it has become recognised that it is an extremely dangerous
procedure..."
the
"modern" vaccine
Widespread
use of the smallpox vaccine ceased in 1980 after WHO announced the global "eradication" of smallpox. However, the vaccine is still available for use
by laboratory workers who may come in contact with the stores of virus (or
closely related orthopox viruses, e.g. monkeypox, "cowpox", and others) but
the vaccine is not available to the general public17.
Supplies of the vaccine are extremely limited with approximately 90 million
doses of the vaccine worldwide5.
The storage conditions and potency of those stocks is unknown although there are
reports that the vaccine has deteriorated badly1.
the
existing vaccine
The
existing vaccinia vaccine for the prevention of smallpox is a suspension
containing a strain of living virus of vaccinia ("cowpox" virus)17 which
is not closely related to variola (the smallpox virus)5.
Even today, the Medical Establishment clings to the belief that vaccinia can
stimulate immunity against variola despite abundant evidence to the
contrary.
The
vaccinia is grown in the skin of a deliberately infected bovine calf;
when the calf is killed the pustules are scraped to recover fluid117,
18.
After the addition of phenol in sufficient concentration to "kill bacteria but
not so high as to inactivate the vaccinia virus, the vaccine is
freeze-dried and sealed in ampoules for later resuspension in sterile buffer and
subsequent intradermal inoculation by multiple puncture with a bifurcated
needle."5 Fisher
reports that the vaccine, known as Dryvax, "contains trace amounts of
polymyxcin B sulfate, streptomycin sulfate, chlortetracycline hydrochloride and
neomycin sulfate, as well as glycerin (50%) and phenol (0.25%). Phenol is an
extremely poisonous compound obtained by distillation of coal tar and used as an
antimicrobial. Ingestion or absorption of phenol through the skin can cause
colic, weakness, collapse and local irritation and corrosion."1
Fisher
also cites
Harrison's Principles
of Internal Medicine (1994) which states that "vaccinia virus never
underwent controlled trials to establish safety and efficacy before
licensing."
immunity
The
authorities admit that "immunity" lasts for as little as
five to ten
years1,5.
The CDC state that if smallpox is contracted by a vaccinee, the symptoms are
milder and vaccinated people shed less virus and therefore are less likely to
transmit the disease5,
despite historical evidence that showed that there was no mitigation of the
disease symptoms or progression. The efficacy of the vaccine was never measured
precisely during controlled trials and the level of antibody required for
protection against smallpox infection is unknown (CDC cited in Fisher1).
side-effects
Even
the Medical Establishment and such pro-vaccine agencies as the CDC and WHO admit
that the smallpox vaccine has a very high level of adverse reactions including
death5,
to the extent that they advise that the vaccine should not be administered
unless there is a very real threat of exposure. Since the September 2001
terrorist attacks and apparent anthrax bioterrorism attacks in the
US,
authorities (including WHO) have generally been opposed to widespread and/or
compulsory vaccination. A notable exception has been American President, George
Bush, who has considered compulsory vaccination19.
Authorities admit that side-effects may occur in both the vaccinee and close
contacts. Using WHO figures, Fisher estimates that one in 4000 vaccinees would
suffer a serious adverse reaction to the smallpox vaccination1.
Localised
and limited reactions to the modern vaccine can include: fever, fatigue,
irritability swollen lymph glands (which may persist for months), inadvertent
inoculation at other body sites (occurs when the recently vaccinated person
touches or scratches the lesion at the vaccination site and transfers the live
vaccinia virus to other parts of the body - such as the face, eyelid, nose,
mouth, genitalia and rectum - and more lesions form), rashes and hives1.
WHO
recognise four main types of serious smallpox vaccine reactions: eczema
vaccinatum, progressive vaccinia (vaccinia necrosum), generalised vaccinia and
post-vaccinal encephalitis4.
Eczema
vaccinatum occurs in people suffering from, or with a history of, eczema4.
The vaccinee or contact develops high fever, swollen lymph nodes and widespread
inflammation and the appearance of lesions on areas of skin previously affected
by eczema (see picture at right) which can then spread to areas of healthy skin1.
Particularly severe cases can occur when people who suffer from eczema come in
contact with someone who has been recently vaccinated. The CDC states "Eczema
vaccinatum might be more severe among contacts than among vaccinated persons."
Eczema vaccinatum can be mild and self limiting but also can be severe and fatal1.
Progressive
vaccinia (vaccinia necrosum) occurs where there is an underlying immune
deficiency. The lesion at the vaccination site fails to heal1,
4 and
there is a progressive destruction of large areas of skin (necrosis),
subcutaneous tissue, viscera (internal organs) and bone1.
Progressive vaccinia usually results in death two to five months later4.
Generalised
vaccinia is the outbreak of a generalised rash (see picture at left), sometimes over the whole body
some six to nine days following vaccination4.
It occurs in about one in 4,100 vaccinees1 and
appears to have no lasting effect.
Post-vaccinal
encephalitis is the most serious adverse reaction and occurs in two main forms.
The first, most often in infants aged under two years is charcaterised by
convulsions. Recovery is often incomplete, with residual brain damage and
paralysis1,
4.
The second form, most often in children older than two years, is characterised
by fever, vomiting, headache and malaise, followed by such symptoms as loss of
consciousness, amnesia, confusion, restlessness, convulsions and coma. The
fatality rate is about 25 - 50%, with death usually occurring within a week1.
Other
serious adverse reactions can include: development of skin cancer; basal cell
carcinoma in a smallpox vaccination scar; discoid lupus erythematosus in a
smallpox vaccination scar; diabetes; thrombocytopenia purpura; cardiac
complications leading to heart damage; clubfoot in babies whose mother's were
vaccinated in the first trimester; and chromosomal breakage and changes in
children after revaccination1.
contraindications
Listed
contraindications include people with immune disorders or undergoing
immune-suppression therapy, HIV/ AIDS sufferers, pregnant women and people with
a history of eczema5.
It is interesting that breastfeeding women are left off this list despite
warnings against the use of other live virus vaccines in breastfeeding women
because of the risk of transmitting the virus to the infant20.
Barbara Loe Fisher's research also includes people with disorders of the
central nervous system and neoplasms of the reticuloendothelial system1.
new
vaccine research
The
CDC state that a "safer" vaccinia-based vaccine, produced in a cell
culture (rather than in a live animal because the vaccine "inevitably contains
some microbial contaminants"1)
is being researched5.
It is likely that the new vaccine will be cultured in human foetal cells (MRC-5
or W138)5 or
chick embryo cells18.
They go on to say that "there is also interest in developing monoclonal
antivariola antibody for passive immunisation of exposed and infected
individuals, which could also be safely administered to persons infected with
HIV."
Concerns
have been expressed that millions of Americans, and presumably many more around
the globe, will refuse vaccination if the vaccine is produced using cells from
an aborted human foetus
(presumably the same people are unaware that several mandatory early childhood
vaccines used in the US and NZ) are cultured on cells from aborted human
foetuses).
Apparently the CDC has asked Acambis, one of three companies bidding to produce
new vaccine stock, to keep the details of vaccine production secret21.
However, a Florida-based group has issued a statement saying: "While many
debates have circulated among Catholic theologians and ethicists on whether or
not it is morally permissible to use the vaccines [cultured on foetal cells],
all agree that alternatives must be sought and no further products should be
developed. Consider the outcome if the only vaccine we have next year is derived
from aborted foetal tissue and hundreds of thousands of Americans refuse it."21
"eradication"
Officially,
the last recorded natural case of smallpox was in Somalia in 1977 (laboratory
exposure has caused several outbreaks in the intervening period), and on May 8,
1980, WHO announced that smallpox had been "eradicated" from the globe as a
result of mass vaccination2,
3, 22.
They claim that the success of the smallpox eradication programme was reliant on
a number of parameters including that the smallpox virus has a single, stable,
serotype and there is no animal reservoir - humans are the only hosts2.
Obomsawin
and Scheibner23,
22 ask
whether or not it has been eradicated and several authors have said that any
cases of smallpox since 1980 (excluding those caused by laboratory exposure to
the virus) are simply called something else - monkeypox, whitepox, etc.22,
24 Scheibner,
following a discussion on the inability to distinguish between various pox
viruses (monkeypox, whitepox, camelpox, etc.) and the variola (smallpox) virus
in the laboratory, concludes that "Smallpox has not been eradicated. It has a
potent animal reservoir."
Although
it is patently obvious that the decline of smallpox cannot be credited to
vaccination, we must question assertions that it has been eradicated by any
means. The question is best answered by quoting from Obomsawin's report:
"An
article in the New Scientist indicates that 'the smallpox family of
viruses is genetically unstable,' and that new viral strains which threaten
the 'WHO smallpox eradication programme, could emerge anywhere.' It is thus
of interest that in a 1980 article in the Australasian Nurses Journal,
Dettman and Kalokerinos pointed out that electron-microscopy cannot distinguish
between the various poxviruses. This fact led them to raise a vitally
significant question 'as to whether smallpox may be declared conquered with
the possibility of it masquerading under the guise of a similar pox.' Their
line of evidence and reasoning is summarily stated:
'In
turning to recognised textbooks on human virology and vertebrate viruses we find
that attention has been given since 1970 to a disease called "monkeypox,"
which is said to be 'clinically indistinguishable from smallpox.' Cases of
this disease have been found in
Zaire,
Cameroon,
Nigeria,
Ivory Coast,
Liberia, and
Sierra Leone
(by May
1983, 101 cases have been reported). It is observed that '... the existence of
a virus that can cause clinical smallpox is disturbing, and the situation is
being closely monitored.'"
bioterrorism
For
most people who question the role of vaccination in their lives, smallpox
vaccination has been little more than an historical curiosity. Those of us who
are old enough to have lived in, or travelled to or from, parts of the world
where smallpox vaccination was compulsory, had the vaccination at an age and in
a period when it was highly unlikely that we would have questioned its
advisability.
In
general we have not had to consider the safety and efficacy of the smallpox
vaccine as we have considered other vaccines such as DTP, MMR, polio, Hib and so
on. The terrorist attacks in the US last September and subsequent anthrax
bioterrorist scares have led governments and health officials around the world
to talk about the possibility of a return to compulsory, or at the very least,
widespread vaccination for smallpox.
While
the source of the anthrax at the centre of recent bioterrorism scares in the
US
remains
unknown, it has brought the possibility of biological warfare using viruses into
sharp relief. Sources of smallpox virus include US and former
USSR
medical
research archives, and may include hostile regimes that have obtained and
preserved samples1
, 2, 21.
Another possibility is that Soviet scientists have succeeded in genetically
engineering the smallpox virus making any existing drug or vaccine ineffective
against it25.
Smallpox
is a viable candidate as a biological weapon; it "is a relatively stable virus
in the natural environment and may retain its infectivity for as long as 24 to
48 hours if it is aerosolised and not exposed to sunlight or ultraviolet
light."1 The
delivery methods of choice would be release of the virus into a building, subway
or airplane ventilation system or by dropping a warhead loaded with the virus
from a plane. However the seriousness of the threat depends on several factors.
The terrorists must:
-
have
succeeded in obtaining the smallpox virus;
-
have
the technical expertise and laboratory facilities to culture and maintain the
viability of the virus;
-
have
the ability to transport the virus in liquid or powder form without destroying
its effectiveness; and
-
have
the technology to deliver it to large numbers of susceptible people26.
The
CDC strategy, should there be a bioterrorist attack using the smallpox virus,
focuses on "ring" vaccination. "Confirmed and suspected smallpox patients
would be isolated. People who had been near them would be vaccinated and
monitored closely, to keep the very infectious disease from spreading."27 The
CDC have said that there is not enough vaccine to vaccinate those not at risk of
exposure. They have estimated that at least 40 million doses of the vaccine in
the
US
would be
needed to effectively respond to a terrorist attack, however there is a stock of
only 15 million in the US18,21.
Misdiagnosis
is a potential problem with a bioterrorist attack involving smallpox. In the
ensuing panic people may fear they have contracted smallpox when in fact it is
some milder disease. Fisher reports that doctors have in the past confused
chicken pox with smallpox1.
She writes: "during the first two to three days of the rash, it is almost
impossible to distinguish between the two diseases. The main symptomatic
difference between the two is that smallpox lesions are all in the same stage of
development while chickenpox lesions can be in various stages of development on
different parts of the body. Also, the smallpox rash primarily affects the face
and limbs of the body and the chickenpox rash is primarily on the trunk of the
body and almost never affects the palms of the hand or soles of the feet like
smallpox." Laboratory tests can confirm which disease has been contracted.
conclusion
An
examination of the history of smallpox and its prevention reveals that attempts
to prevent smallpox through the "vaccinia" vaccination were an
unmitigated disaster. The following conclusions can be made:
-
That
vaccinating against "cowpox" does not prevent smallpox. The hypothesis that
immunity to "cowpox" could prevent infection by smallpox was based on the
superstitions of dairymaids and there is no scientific evidence to support the
theory that this virus could somehow induce immunity to an entirely different
virus. This theory even goes against the beliefs of the modern pro-vaccine
movement which promotes the idea that inoculation with an attenuated virus will
stimulate immunity to that same virus without causing disease.
-
That
it is highly likely that "cowpox" is a form of bovine syphilis that milk
cows contracted from the syphilitic hands of dairymaids. In fact, Jenner's
vaccination resulted in millions of healthy people being inoculated with
syphilis and myriad other debilitating and deadly infections.
-
That
rather than prevent smallpox, vaccination made millions of people more
susceptible to smallpox, resulting in the most deadly smallpox epidemics seen
around the globe in recorded history.
-
That
smallpox began to decline with the implementation of improved of hygiene and
sanitation measures, better nutrition and the introduction of isolation and
quarantine procedures; that vaccination had nothing at all to do with the fact
that the disease all but disappeared.
-
That
even with modern medical techniques, including modern vaccine manufacture and
sterile administration procedures, vaccination against smallpox has devastating
and deadly consequences for many people.
-
That
smallpox has not been eradicated and that there is an important animal reservoir
of the disease.
-
That
the best prevention for smallpox on a personal level is good nutrition and
sanitary living conditions, and that on a community level impeccable hygiene,
isolation and quarantine procedures, combined with effective contact tracking is
necessary to prevent the spread of the disease.
It
is disturbing that the Medical Establishment, when faced with this history
perpetuate the myth that smallpox can be prevented through vaccination with the vaccinia
virus (or, for that matter, any other virus) and that the authorities are
considering resurrecting this vaccine and allowing it to be unleashed once
again, albeit with unusual conservatism, on the world's population.
Copyright
Sue Claridge, 2002.
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references
1.
Fisher, B., 2002: Smallpox and forced vaccination: what every American needs
to know,
National
Vaccine
Information
Center, Winter
2002 on www.909shot.com
2.
Kennedy, Graeme, 2002: Smallpox on www.seercom.com/bluto/smallpox/
3.
Chaitow,
L., 1998: Vaccination and Immunisation: Dangers, delusions and alternatives,
CW Daniel Co.,
UK
.
4.
World Health Organisation, 2001: Smallpox Epidemiology, Weekly
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Centers for Disease Control, Facts about Smallpox, on www.bt.cdc.gov/DocumentsApp/FactSheet/SmallPox/about.asp
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January 10,
1923
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McBean, Eleanor, 1959: The Poisoned Needle, Health Research,
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.
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January 3,
1923
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Tebb, W., 1884: Compulsory Vaccination in
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on
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Cox, J.K., 1883: Vaccination Inquirer, 1883 Vol. 5, p. 114, cited on
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Sinclair,
I.
, 1992: Vaccination:
the hidden facts, Ian Sinclair, Ryde, NSW.
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Hadwen, Walter, 1923: Sanitation v. Vaccination: the origin of smallpox, Truth,
January 17,
1923
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HarperCollins Publishers.
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25th, 1896.
17.
Centers for Disease Control, 2002: Vaccinia Vaccine, Division of
Parasitic Diseases (CDC) www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/professional/drgsrv_smallpox.htm
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Rosenthal, S.R., et al.: Perspective: Developing New Smallpox
Vaccines, Food and Drug Administration,
USA
,
http://www. cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol7no6/ rosenthal.htm
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Watson, R., 2001: Bush may order smallpox jabs for all, The Times,
UK
,
9 November,
2001.
20.
MMR II Data Sheet, www.medsafe. govt.nz/profs.htm/Datasheets/
21.
Wendling, M., 2001: Pro-Life Groups Upset Over Origin of Smallpox Vaccine,
CNSNews.com London Bureau Chief,
November 28,
2001.
22.
Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., 1993: Vaccination: 100 Years of Orthodox Research
Shows that Vaccines Represent a Medical Assault on the Immune System, Viera
Scheibner, Australia.
23.
Obomsawin, R. 1996: Universal Immunization: Medical Miracle or Masterful
Mirage, Health Action Network
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O'Shea, T., 2001: The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination is not
immunization,
NewWest
,
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25.
Miller, J. and
Stolberg
, S.G.,
2001: September 11 Attacks led to push for more smallpox vaccine, The New
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October 22,
2001.
26.
Spencer J, Scardaville
M. October
11, 2001
. Understanding
the bioterrorist threat: facts and figures, The Heritage Foundation
Backgrounder www.heritage.org/library/backgrounder
27.
CNN, 2001: CDC Plans Isolation As Smallpox Strategy, Officials Lack Enough
Vaccine For Everyone http://www.wral.com/health/1091841/detail.html,
November 26,
2001.
