Smallpox Vaccines and Heart Disease, No Coincidence

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http://www.mercola.com/2003/apr/19/smallpox_vaccines.htm

 

 

Smallpox Vaccines and Heart Disease, No " Coincidence "

 

 

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Between January 24 and March 21, 2003 the smallpox vaccine was administered to

25,645 civilian health care and public health workers in 53 jurisdictions as

part of an effort to prepare the United States in the event of a terrorist

attack using smallpox.

 

 

Seven cases of cardiac adverse events have been reported among civilian

vaccinees since the beginning of the smallpox vaccination program. In addition,

10 cases of myopericarditis have been reported among military vaccinees. This

report summarizes data on the seven cases reported among civilians and provides

background information on recent military vaccinees. Although a causal

association between vaccination and adverse cardiac events in the civilian

population is unproven, as a precautionary measure, CDC recommends that persons

with physician-diagnosed cardiac disease with or without symptoms (e.g.,

previous myocardial infarction, angina, congestive heart failure, or

cardiomyopathy) be excluded from vaccination during this smallpox preparedness

program.

 

 

The seven adverse events of cardiac origin among civilian vaccinees include

three myocardial infarctions, two cases of angina, and two cases of

myopericarditis. The median age of patients was 50 years (range: 43 to 60

years), and five were women. Two of the three patients who had a myocardial

infarction died.

 

 

As of March 23, a total of 10 cases of myocarditis and/or pericarditis have

been identified among approximately 225,000 primary military vaccinees in the

smallpox vaccination program. All had onset of chest pain six to 12 days

following vaccination and all had clinical, laboratory, electrocardiographic,

and/or echocardiographic evidence of myocardial and/or pericardial

inflammation. None of the cases were clinically severe, and all patients

recovered fully and returned to active duty. No cases of myocarditis or

pericarditis were detected among approximately 100,000 persons in the military

program who were revaccinated.

 

 

MMWR March 28, 2003/52(12);248-250

 

 

 

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Comment by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny:

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(Sherri J. Tenpenny, D.O. is a nationally renowned and respected vaccine

expert. In August 2002, I hosted a timely and important teleconference

featuring Dr. Tenpenny to discuss the real dangers of vaccines and how you can

legally avoid them. " The Danger of Vaccines, and How You Can Legally Avoid

Them " audio tape, a professionally recorded 90-minute cassette available in

my " Recommended Products " section, presents that full conference.)

 

 

Because the civilian casualties of the vaccination program ranged in age from

43 to 55 years and all patients had some form of cardiac problem in their

medical histories--including hypertension and angina--the oft repeated

vaccination industry mantra, “temporal association does not prove causality,”

is once again being used to diminish the link between the smallpox vaccine and

the deaths it has caused. Why is it that a vaccine is never the cause of a

health problem?

 

 

What is truly sad is that these deaths never should have happened, and not just

because the vaccination is unnecessary. If the CDC were to do its homework, it

would discover that the connection between the smallpox vaccine and death from

cardiovascular disease is not conjecture. Nor is it something that

needs “further study.” The mechanism of action has already been proven.

 

 

The smallpox vaccine is capable of causing death because it is a live virus

vaccine that induces a physiological state in the body

called “hypercoagulability.”

 

 

A “hypercoagulable state” is a condition in which a person has an increased

potential to develop a thrombosis, commonly known as a blood clot. There are

many causes of hypercoagulability, ranging from rare genetic conditions and a

variety of blood disorders, to surgical interventions, birth control pills and

cancer.

 

 

In addition, there is a long list of cardiovascular diseases, including

valvular defects, bypass surgery and hypertension, that can lead to

hypercoagulability.[1]

 

 

The physiology of the hypercoagulable state is complex. The cascade of events

begins when an irregularity develops on the endothelial wall, or inside lining

of a blood vessel. As the blood flows past this turbulent surface, platelet

cells are disrupted, causing the release of thrombin.

 

 

Thrombin is an enzyme that converts fibrinogen into molecules called soluble

fibrin monomers (SFM), generally referred to as fibrin. Strands of

this “sticky,” insoluble protein form a mesh that collects the other types of

blood cells involved in the formation of blood clots and scars.

 

 

However, the release of fibrin doesn’t necessarily result in the formation of

blood clots. As the body depletes its supply of circulating fibrinogen to

create fibrin, more and more fibrinogen is released into the circulatory

system. The combination of the additional fibrinogen and free, non-polymerized

fibrin fragments increases blood viscosity, meaning the blood becomes “thicker

and stickier.”

 

 

Over time, the excess “sticky” fibrin adheres to the walls of capillaries in

the microcirculation, resulting in narrowed blood vessels. Tissues become

compromised as oxygen and nutrients are blocked from entering the cells. In the

heart, this leads to ischemic heart disease and heart attacks. In the brain, it

can lead to strokes.

 

 

Cardiologists understand the phenomenon of hypercoagulability and routinely

recommend an aspirin a day and other drugs to “thin the blood.” However, these

medications are only treating the symptom and do nothing to address what is

causing the hypercoagulation in the first place.

 

 

 

Pathogens that can activate the fibrin-forming cascade include a long list of

bacteria, fungi, mycoplasma and viruses. Because these pathogens are primarily

anaerobes, they thrive in cells that are deprived of oxygen. Fibrin-narrowed

vessels deliver less oxygen, allowing the pathogens to become embedded in

tissue and to propagate at the local level, creating tiny tissue “abscesses”

that fester and cause inflammation.[2]

 

 

This process is thought to be one of the causes of the muscle aches seen in

fibromyalgia, and why aerobic exercise seems to decrease pain.[3]

 

 

In addition, viruses create a self-perpetuating hypercoagulable state by

adhering to the blood vessel wall. When this occurs, fibrin covers the virus to

isolate it from the rest of the body. The result is the formation of

additional “bumps” on the inside of the blood vessels, increasing the blood

flow turbulence and continuing the thrombin-fibrin-deposition cycle. [4]

 

 

The primary blame for narrowed blood vessels and clot formation is placed on

elevated cholesterol levels.

 

But it is the adherence of microbes to the endothelial lining of the blood

vessels and subsequent fibrin deposition that is the underlying mechanism of

action for cardiovascular disease.[5] In a word: heart disease is an infection.

 

 

In fact, a recent edition of Critical Care Medicine describes in detail the

number of different types of viruses that can cause hypercoagulability:

 

 

“Direct interaction between microorganisms and endothelial cells can also

occur, especially in the case of viral infections. Endothelial cell

perturbation [disturbance] is a common feature of viral infection and can alter

hemostasis in both a direct and indirect manner. Endothelial cells can be

directly infected by a number of viruses (e.g., herpes simplex virus,

adenovirus, parainfluenzavirus, poliovirus, echovirus, measles virus, mumps

virus, cytomegalovirus, human T-cell lymphoma virus type I, and HIV. In

particular, viral infection of endothelial cells has been demonstrated in

hemorrhagic fevers (e.g., Dengue virus, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, Hantaan

virus, and Lassa virus).”[6]

 

 

 

Even though vaccinia, the virus that is the active component of the smallpox

vaccine, is not specifically mentioned in this list, it should be. The link

between vaccinia and hypercoagulability is the reason why cardiologists admit

that the connection between the vaccine and cardiovascular side effects

is “biologically plausible.”

 

 

Smallpox vaccination causes a low-grade infection and initiates the

hypercoagulability cascade.[7] Researchers have documented that a similar type

of hypercoagulability is induced by the anthrax vaccine.[8]

 

 

It took many years for conventional medicine to identify the bacteria, H.pyoli

as the culprit in gastric ulcer disease. I wonder how many years it will be

before viral infections are routinely considered the cause of cardiovascular

disease.

 

 

Even if conclusive evidence existed that viruses were responsible, the lack of

a pharmaceutical answer to the problem would diminish their role. Some

investigators have been studying the connection between Chlamydia and

cardiovascular disease, but this hypothesis is being discarded.

 

 

In fact, a very recent study concluded that treating two groups of patients

with the antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax) for two weeks and three months

respectively had “no effect” on the brachial artery response to nitroglycerin.

[9] It is difficult to imagine how an antibiotic could affect a microbe buried

beneath a layer of fibrin.

 

 

The CDC is deeply disturbed over highly publicized anxiety surrounding the

smallpox vaccine. Once the complications from this vaccine are exposed, we are

only one, small precarious step away from questioning the unspoken impact that

all vaccines have on health.

 

 

After all, the vast majority of vaccines are viral vaccines--including measles,

mumps, rubella, chicken pox and oral polio. Even more, they are “live virus”

vaccines, just like the smallpox vaccine.

 

 

It is my personal opinion that the impact of the viral load caused by vaccines

has been overwhelmingly underestimated and is creating hypercoagulability

problems in people of all ages. The virus-hypercoagulability connection will

eventually prove to be the “missing link” in connecting a myriad of health

problems to our one-size-fits-all mass vaccination policies.

 

 

It is good that the CDC is taking a cautionary stance regarding the smallpox

vaccine and those with a history of cardiovascular disease. Many others have

already been medically exempted from the vaccine.

 

 

It is estimated that at least 10 percent, or more than 28 million people in the

United States, have eczema.[10] There are 184,000 organ recipients,[11] 850,000

individuals with diagnosed and undiagnosed HIV infection or AIDS,[12] and 8.5

million people with cancer.[13] The presence of these health conditions

constitutes a reason for avoiding the vaccine.

 

 

An even more extensive list of people at risk is the untold millions who are

taking immunosuppressive drugs such as corticosteroids. Prednisone and Medrol,

given to both adults and children, are prescribed for dozens of conditions

including but not limited to: asthma, emphysema, allergies, Crohn's disease,

multiple sclerosis, herniated spinal discs, acute muscular pain syndromes, and

all types of rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune diseases. All of these

patients would be at risk for serious complications from contact with a

smallpox vaccinated individual.

 

 

And now those with a history of cardiovascular disease are being excluded from

receiving the smallpox vaccine. Nearly 61 million Americans (almost one-fourth

of the population) live with cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease

is a leading cause of premature, permanent disability in the U.S. workforce.

[14]

 

 

When adding up the number of Americans who should not receive this vaccine, it

comes to more than 98.5 million people. Who is left? Perhaps the rush to spend

$780 million to develop this vaccine will turn out to be the industry’s

ultimate boondoggle.

 

Related Articles:

 

 

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Smallpox Bioterrorism

 

Smallpox Myths, Revisited

 

Safe Minds’ Assessment of the Thimerosal-Containing Vaccine Study

 

When Your Doctor is Wrong: Hepatitis B Vaccine & Autism

 

 

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