Novartis has begun shipments of  Fluvirin, the seasonal influenza vaccine in the United States for the 2012-2013 influenza season.

What are the Fluvirin Flu Vaccine Ingredients? Here is the package insert so you can view the cocktail list for yourself. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/ucm123694.pdf

FLUVIRIN® is a trivalent, sub-unit (purified surface antigen) influenza virus vaccine prepared from virus propagated in the allantoic cavity of embryonated hens’ eggs inoculated with a specific type of influenza virus suspension containing neomycin and polymyxin.” (aka antibiotics)

It is designed for protection of the following viruses:

A/Christchurch/16/2010, NIB-74 (H1N1) (an A/California/7/2009-like virus)

 A/Victoria/361/2011, IVR-165 (H3N2)

 B/ Hubei-Wujiagang/158/2009, NYMC BX-39 (a B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like virus).

It contains some trace of thimerosal, a mercury derivative.

“Each dose from the multidose vial or from the prefilled syringe may also contain residual amounts of egg proteins.,,”  Chick Embryonic Fluid is a foreign animal proteins and genetic information injected into the human body.  We’re not scientists but as we understand it, you are getting chicken DNA- is that better than the flu?

CLUCK. CLUCK.

…”≤ 1 mcg ovalbumin), polymyxin (≤ 3.75 mcg), neomycin (≤ 2.5 mcg), betapropiolactone (not more than 0.5 mcg) and nonylphenol ethoxylate (not more than 0.015% w/v).

The U.S. EPA says, http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/propiola.html

Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure to beta-propiolactone causes severe irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and respiratory tract in humans.  Acute dermal exposure may cause irritation of the skin, blistering, or burns in humans.  Contact with the eyes may cause permanent corneal opacification.  Burns of the mouth and stomach may occur in humans following acute exposure via ingestion.  No information is available on the chronic (long-term), reproductive, developmental, or carcinogenic effects of beta-propiolactone in humans.  Squamous cell carcinomas of the forestomach have been reported in orally exposed rats.  In dermally exposed rodents, skin tumors have been observed.  The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified beta-propiolactone as a Group 2B, possible human carcinogen.

PHILADELPHIA, July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — GlaxoSmithKline [NYSE: GSK] announced today it has begun shipping the first lots of 2012-2013 FluLaval®(Influenza virus vaccine) and Fluarix® (Influenza Virus Vaccine) to CDC distribution centers and U.S. healthcare providers. This follows approval of this season’s GSK seasonal influenza vaccines by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1jyay)

• Split, trivalent, inactivated vaccine
• Manufactured from purified, egg-grown viruses
• Standardized according to USPHS requirements for 2011-2012 influenza season
• Thimerosal-free
• Preservative-free
• Each 0.5 ml vaccine dose contains 15 µg hemagglutinin of each of the recommended strains:
• A/California/7/2009 NYMC X-181 (H1N1)
• A/Victoria/210/2009 NYMC X-187 (H3N2) (an A/Perth/16/2009-like virus)
• B/Brisbane/60/2008 via http://www.gsksource.com/gskprm/en/US/adirect/gskprm?cmd=ProductDetailPage&product_id=1244169218783&featureKey=600572#nlmhighlights

Not to be left out of the zillion dollar industry

SWIFTWATER, Pa., July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi , announced today that the first lots of Fluzone vaccine began shipping to U.S. health care providers following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensure of the 2012-2013 formulation. This initial shipment represents the first of more than 60 million doses of seasonal influenza vaccine the company plans to deliver to health care providers in the U.S. this influenza season. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sanofi-pasteur-begins-shipping-fluzone-influenza-virus-vaccine-in-us-for-2012-2013-season-2012-07-16?reflink=MW_news_stmp

And the ingredient list for Fluzone- Formaldehyde and http://www.rxlist.com/fluzone-drug.htm 

CLUCK. CLUCK.

While humans are not ideal hosts for H5N1, bird flu viruses do sometimes manage to adapt for easy transmission from human to human, and the results can be devastating. In 1918, one such transformation led to the Spanish flu pandemic, a global outbreak that claimed an estimated 50 million people.

To better understand the possibility of H5N1 making a similar transformation, two teams of scientists recently manipulated the virus until it could spread through the air from one ferret to another. If a flu virus can infect a ferret, then it could theoretically infect other mammals, including humans. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/science/the-evolution-of-bird-flu-and-the-race-to-keep-up.html?pagewanted=all

Getting back to the eggs.

Avian influenza (AI)–the bird flu–is a virus that infects wild birds (such as ducks, gulls, and shorebirds) and domestic poultry (such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese). There is a flu for birds just as there is for humans and, as with people, some forms of the flu are worse than others.

From the FDA-http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm085550.htm

“AI is primarily spread by direct contact between healthy birds and infected birds, and through indirect contact with contaminated equipment and materials. The virus is excreted through the feces of infected birds and through secretions from the nose, mouth and eyes.

Contact with infected fecal material is the most common of bird-to-bird transmission. Wild ducks often introduce LPAI into domestic flocks raised on range or in open flight pens through fecal contamination. Within a poultry house, transfer of an HPAI virus between birds also can occur via airborne secretions. The spread of avian influenza between poultry premises almost always follows the movement of contaminated people and equipment.

AI also can be found on the outer surfaces of egg shells and in the case of HPAI, can infect the inside of the egg which includes the yolk and albumen or the egg white. Transfer to eggs is a potential means of AI transmission. Airborne transmission of virus from farm to farm is highly unlikely under usual circumstances.

HPAI can be spread from birds to people as a result of extensive direct contact with infected birds. Broad concerns about public health relate to the potential for the HPAI virus, such as the HPAI H5N1, to mutate, or change into a form that could spread easily from person to person. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is aggressively working to ensure public health is protected.”

CLUCK. CLUCK.

To address the variability in the egg supply, Sanofi Pasteur restructured its flock management so that embryonated eggs would be available to support vaccine production at full capacity throughout the year. Because embryonated eggs are themselves potentially susceptible to avian influenza, flocks associated with vaccine production are under strict contract and must be completely housed, monitored by veterinarians, and raised under biosecurity regulations. With government support, Sanofi Pasteur has also established contingency flocks as a backup against avian influenza and other risks. http://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/EngineeringandVaccineProductionforanInfluenzaPandemic/Egg-BasedProductionofInfluenzaVaccine30YearsofCommercialExperience.aspx

Biosecurity chickens. Who’d have thought? Yup-  Not much security if u ask us. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/birdbiosecurity/biosecurity/

Product names are registered trademarks of respective owners.

This article, “Flu Shot Vaccine Ingredients 2012-2013,”  is not medical advice. Educate yourself so that in making a decision where you or your child is concerned, you should take an active role in learning. http://www.anh-usa.org/main-menu/resources/position-papers/862/ and the U.S. Government at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2012-2013.htm#us-vaccine

Smiling is infectious, you can catch it like the flu. Someone smiled at me today, And I started smiling too.

And the number one post in our Flu Section is about an associated rash from either the flu or the vaccine. https://ahrcanum.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/swine-flu-rash-hives-symptoms/

Stay tuned and have a good day, one day it will be your last.  God Bless.

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