— CHAPTER TWO —
The Smallpox Vaccine
Smallpox is one of the most contagious diseases known to
mankind. It attacks persons of all ages. In severe epidemics, 30 of 100 persons
contracting the disease may die. In mild epidemics, the death rate may be less
than 1 in 100. Significantly, in those areas where few people had been
previously exposed for years to the disease, the death rate is higher when an
epidemic strikes. In past centuries, large numbers have succumbed to this
plague.
SMALLPOX AND ITS VACCINE
Name. Smallpox (variola major)
is caused by a filterable virus, called variola. It is a type of orthopoxvirus,
or pox-producing virus.
Transmission. Smallpox is transmitted by tiny droplets of
moisture transmitted during coughing, sneezing, and even talking. The disease
can even be transmitted through clothing, bedclothes, and utensils.
The droplets enter the mucous lining of the nose and throat
of another person. From there, they invade the entire body. The virus is also
present in the "pox," the skin eruptions.
Symptoms. The first signs and symptoms of smallpox
usually appear 12 to 14 days after infection, although the incubation period can
range from 7 to 17 days. During this time, an infected person may look and feel
normal.
Following the incubation period, a sudden onset of flue-like signs and
symptoms often occur. These may include fever, chills, malaise, severe fatigue,
headache and severe back pain, nausea, and vomiting.
A few days later (usually 3-4 days after the disease begins),
the characteristic smallpox rash appears as flat, red spots (lesions) on the
skin. Within a day or two, these spots have raised and become blisters filled
with fluid (vesicles) and then with pus (pustules). On about the 14th day, they
reach their largest size.
Physicians can clearly identify smallpox from similar
diseases (such as chicken pox) from the fact that the spots usually appear first
on the face, hands, and forearms, then on the trunk and legs. They may be
especially prominent on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Lesions
also develop in the mucous membranes of the nose, mouth, and vagina.
The skin distribution pattern of the pox (lesions, or spots)
is quite different in chicken pox: In this disease, the lesions are more
superficial than those associated with smallpox, and they occur primarily on the
trunk. Chicken pox comes in waves—with spots, blisters, and crusted lesions
all present at the same time.
Lab tests. Lab tests can, of course, also be used for
diagnostic purposes. Fortunately, researchers at the Mayo Clinic, working with
those at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the U.S. Army, have recently
(summer of 2002) developed a new rapid laboratory test for the smallpox virus.
The test can deliver results within three hours.
Simple math. The CDC estimates that, at the very least,
each known case will infect 3.5 to 6 additional people. At that rate, the
disease could sweep through the general population. It would be especially
difficult to control a smallpox outbreak in any of our large cities.
A chilling possibility. William Bicknell of the Boston University School
of Public Health wrote: "If I were a terrorist, I’d get 10 infected
people to come to the country, go to a ball game, Penn Station, Union Station,
the Times Square subway station . . By then, a lot of people would be exposed.
And there is no possible scenario I can conjure up where those [exposed] people
can be identified."—Boston Globe, Sept. 24, 2002.
Aftereffects. If the patient survives, the fever drops,
the blisters dry up; and he begins improving. Scabs form and later drop off. Red
or brown discolorations remain. In severe cases of skin eruptions, pockmarks
always remain on the skin.
Prevention. Careful, temperate living and eating only
good, nutritious food builds a strong immune system and helps prevent a wide
variety of diseases. However, smallpox is so virulent, that exposure to a person
who has it could likely lead to infection.
Vaccination. It is generally believed that the only way
to successfully combat smallpox is by vaccination, which was developed in 1796
by Edward Jenner, an English physician. He used cowpox germs as a method of
preventing smallpox. All clothing and eating utensils used by the patient should
be sterilized.
Smallpox can attack a person who has been vaccinated more
than five years prior to exposure, but the previous vaccination may still limit
the severity of infection.
Before 1971, vaccinations against smallpox were routinely
available in the United States. They were given to children between the ages of
1 and 2 years old, and then every five years.
Smallpox was eradicated in the United States in 1949. The
last case, worldwide, occurred in 1977. So one might think that should forever
solve the problem. Unfortunately, as we will learn below, it only added to it.
Shared samples. Two high-security laboratories possess
samples of the variola virus. One is in Russia and the other in the United
States. It is considered very likely that quantities of the virus have fallen
into the hands of countries who want to use them as weapons.
The U.S. government declares with certainty that Iraq now has
supplies of smallpox. This is one of the reasons why the Bush Administration
wants to invade Iraq—in order to get rid of those supplies.
If attacked. But an invasion could
result in serious problems: First, Saddam Hussein can rather easily hide his
supplies of smallpox. Second, if attacked, he could easily spread it in Iraq,
infecting both U.S. forces and his own people. Third, he could have previously
arranged to send packets of the virus to America, Europe, Israel, and other
nations—there to be released when he is nearing his own end. Fourth, if faced
with arrest, imprisonment, or death, Saddam would be very willing to take
extreme measures—even to killing of his own people and millions elsewhere. He
is that kind of a person.
No one is prepared. The problem, of course, is that no
one on the planet has contracted smallpox in over 25 years. Therefore, any
outbreak of it would quickly decimate thousands of people. Regardless of whether
it initially occurred in the Near East or the U.S., it is doubtful that it could
be contained. Instead, it would quickly spread to other nations. There is an
enormous amount of surface, sea, and air travel today. A vast number of merchant
ships journey from continent to continent.
CDC action plan. The CDC has a response plan in case of a
smallpox outbreak. The people in contact with those infected would be vaccinated
first. This would be medical workers. Anyone with an active infection would be
isolated, to prevent infection of others. The CDC points to the fact that the
vaccine can prevent or lessen the severity of smallpox, if given within 4 to 7
days of becoming infected.
Partial immunity. It is known that those who were
vaccinated before 1972 (when those vaccinations ended in the United States),
might still have partial immunity to smallpox. Yet the vaccine loses full
effectiveness in 5 to 10 years. If infected, such people might have milder
symptoms, a lower chance of dying, and be less contagious. Yet, in case of an
outbreak, the CDC recommends that everyone be vaccinated again.
It would be nice if we could stop here. But there is more information.
The immune system problem. It is known that those with
medical conditions such as severe eczema, immune-system suppressing conditions,
or pregnancy could contract the full-blown disease, if given a smallpox shot.
On September 24, the Boston Globe reported that 20,000 health
care workers will receive the smallpox vaccine. This is a serious matter; for
some of those receiving it, if their immune system is in poor shape, could
experience severe side effects—and either develop smallpox or spread it.
"Doctors, nurses, and others who receive the smallpox
vaccine might need a three-week furlough because, in rare cases, the
vaccination could spread sickness, the [CDC] plan says. Under the draft plan,
the vaccine would be given on a voluntary basis to health workers in emergency
rooms or ambulances and specialists in skin disease. The main risk of the
vaccination is that a small number of people who receive it could have severe
side effects or, in some instances, die from the dosage."—Michael
Kranish, Boston Globe, September 24, 2002.
The HHV-6 factor. The number of medical workers who might
suffer adverse side effects could be far worse because the CDC has not told the
American public about a massive epidemic of immune dysfunction associated with a
virus called Human Herpes Virus 6 (HHV-6).
There are several different types of herpes infection: Herpes
simplex (Type 1) is a mild form which causes cold sores on the lips.
Herpes zoster causes chicken pox and, as a secondary
infection, shingles. Shingles is something you do not want.
Genital herpes (Type II) is also very serious, and is the
most prevalent sexually transmitted disease in America.
Serious immune damage from HHV-6. This is the disease that is hardly ever
mentioned. Like Type II, it has the same cause, but it more severely affects the
immune
system. The problem is that, because they show no symptoms,
people usually do not realize that they have HHV-6. Yet all the while it is
seriously weakening their body’s immune factors. It is almost impossible to
cure.
HHV-6 was first isolated in 1986 from people with AIDS. It
has since been found to be relatively common in the population as a whole,
although those with AIDS almost always have it. HHV-6 is frequently diagnosed as
"chronic fatigue syndrome." The scientific community agrees that HIV
damages the immune system more than almost any other infection. Yet HHV-6
damages the immune system almost as much as HIV. The cause of HHV-6, and the
lack of symptoms, are the reasons why this widespread disease is often diagnosed
as something else.
Random sampling tests have consistently disclosed that a very
large number of Americans have the HHV-6 virus. As mentioned earlier, it is
well-known in the medical community that people with weakened immune systems
should not be vaccinated for smallpox—because the vaccine would transmit the
disease to them.
THE BAYLOR EXPERIMENT
Jon Rappoport has worked as a free-lance investigative
reporter for 20 years. He has written articles on a variety of topics for
newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and Europe.
The following article by Rappoport is provided courtesy of
Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz and Tetrahedron Sandpoint, in Idaho. All emphasis
theirs.
"Smallpox Vaccine Results Are In, by Jon Rappoport.
December 9, 2002. The first returns are in on the smallpox vaccine. A recent
multi-center U.S. government clinical trial on 200 ‘young adults’ has been
completed.
"MSNBC reports. The volunteers who got the shot were very healthy to
begin with. One researcher, Kathy Edwards, called them the ‘crème de la
crème.’
"Okay? So get this. ‘Yet when she [Edwards]
inoculated them with smallpox vaccine, arms swelled, temperatures spiked and
panic spread [at Baylor University]. It was the same at clinics in Iowa,
Tennessee, and California.’
"Stats: After the shot, one-third of the volunteers
missed at least a day of work or school. 75 out of 200 experienced high fever.
‘Several were put on antibiotics because physicians worried that their
blisters signaled a bacterial infection.’
"Wow.
"And look, smallpox is a virus, and antibiotics
don’t work against viruses. So, in essence, the researchers were inferring
that the vaccine suppressed the immune systems of the volunteers—thus
allowing bacterial infections to bloom suddenly—or the vaccine was
contaminated with bacteria to begin with.
"Researcher Edwards, who headed up the study, said,
‘I can read all day about it [the adverse effects of the vaccine], but
seeing it is quite impressive. The reactions we saw were really quite
remarkable.’
"When a researcher makes a comment like this, you know
some very bad things are happening.
"And this was a population of extremely healthy
volunteers. Young adults who should be at the very peak of life, with their
immune defenses fully intact.
"Of course, this story didn’t get much play in the
press. But the handwriting is on the wall. Anyone can see what’ll happen if
they start shooting up people by the millions with the vaccine. For example,
people who don’t qualify as severely immune suppressed by any obvious
assessment, but still do, in fact, have reduced immune capacity—and that is
a whole lot of people. These folks will be at great risk from the vaccine.
"This government study is key. Because later on, they will try to cover
up the devastating effects of the vaccine. They will lie, distort, omit. But
right now, here it is. Out in the open. The results, for all to see.
"Let me tell you something. The CDC wanted to release
the results of this study. They wanted to go on the record now, before the
stuff really hits the fan. They are very frightened of being nailed for
killing people with the vaccine."
It is not certain whether the problem is the danger of
live-virus vaccine or contaminants in the vaccine. As you may know, this is a
common problem in many other vaccines. For example, the MMR
(measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine, when given to children, is believed to be the
cause of autism. There is ongoing research on that subject, and is discussed
later in this book.
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