Vaccines Part 2

More interesting vaccine-related tidbits:

1. Flu (Influenza) - The media erroneously reports the flu causes 36,000 deaths each year in the U.S. This number comes from the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report database, which reports flu and pneumonia deaths in the same group. The National Center for Health Statistics classifies flu deaths separately from pneumonia, and reports approximately 1,500 flu deaths each year in the U.S., over 90% of which are in people older than 64 years. The main reason babies and children are vaccinated is to limit flu exposure to the elderly. There are two types of vaccine: a live-virus nasal spray (which causes flu symptoms in approximately 2/3 of the people who are vaccinated) and a killed-virus injection. The virus for the nasal spray is grown in baby chicken kidney cells; the virus for the injection is grown in chicken eggs with chicken embryos inside. There are five brands of this vaccine, four of which contain mercury, three of which contain formaldehyde, and one of which contains MSG.
2. MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) - For the measles: This disease is transmitted like the common cold and causes a rash, fever, runny nose, and cough. There are only approximately 75 cases each year in the U.S. and only about 1 in 1,000 cases is serious. For the mumps: This disease is transmitted like the common cold and causes a rash, fever, and swollen saliva glands in the cheeks. There are only approximately 250 cases each year in the U.S. and the mumps is not serious in children. In fact, most children with the mumps are probably never diagnosed as having the disease. For rubella: Also known as the German measles, this disease is transmitted like the common cold and causes a rash and fever. The sypmptoms in children are so mild that it almost always goes unnoticed. However, if a pregnant woman catches rubella in the first or second trimester, it can infect the unborn baby and cause birth defects. The vaccine contains human blood proteins, cow fetus serum, and chicken embryo proteins. (This disease also played a prominent role in the Agatha Christie book The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side.)
   
3. Chickenpox - This disease is transmitted like the common cold. Symptoms are worse in teens and adults than they are in chlidren, and the disease is most serious for individuals with compromised immune systems. The virus was originally grown in guinea pig embryo cells and unkown human tissue cells, and is reproduced in cow fetus blood. It also contains MSG. The vaccine does not guarantee to protect a person from catching chickenpox, and what protection it does provide wears off with time, thus still making a vaccinated person succeptible to the disease as an adult. If an individual has not been vaccinated and does not catch the disease, a simple test can determine if he is susceptible or not.
4. Hep A (Hepatitis A) - This disease is transmitted through infected stool. Symptoms in children are virtually nonexistant; symptoms in teens and adults are similar to flu symptoms. There are two brands of the vaccine, both of which contain aluminum, formaldehyde, and human cell proteins; one of which contains cow blood proteins; and the other of which contains 2-phenoxyethanol and polysorbate 20.
5. Meningococcal - This disease in transmitted like the common cold. It causes an infection in the bloodstream that moves to the organs and brain, and can cause meningitis. It is recognized as the most serious and potentially deadly of all vaccine-preventable diseases. There are approximately 3,000 cases each year in the U.S., approximately 15% of which cause a permanent disability and approximately 10% of which are fatal. Most cases occur in babies between 6 months and 2 years. However, the vaccine schedule does not call for immunization until age 12.
6. HPV (Human Papillomavirus) - This disease is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S., with approximately 20 million new cases each year. Most viral strains only cause genital warts which typically "cure" themselves without treatment, but some strains cause cervical cancer. The vaccine protects against 90% of the strains that cause warts and 70% of the strains that cause cancer. If cervical cancer is detected early, it is curable by removing part of the cervix.