Every industry from health-care, education, telecommunications, energy and transport are in a state of total dysfunction once they were transformed from utilities to serve social need, to instruments for extracting profit for private greed.
On Aug 20, 2:45 am, Bruce Majors <[email protected]> wrote: > Your question seems to betray a complete inability to think > Private markets produce everything better than government, from shoes to > aspirin. > > Vaccines are heavily regulated and the government decides which ones shall > be made and who shall get them,and it once again has fucked it up by its own > metrics > > Vaccine Production Is Horribly Outdated. Here Are 3 Ways to Fix It. > > The traditional method of growing vaccines in chicken eggs may be too slow > and inefficient to protect the U.S. > by Allison Bond > > published online July 27, 2009 > > Yahoo! > Buzz<http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=discover_maga7&guid=http%3A%2...> > ShareThis <javascript:void(0)>[image: > Email]<http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/27-vaccine-production-horrib...>[image: > Print]<http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/27-vaccine-production-horrib...>[image: > Rss] <http://discovermagazine.com/topics/health-medicine/rss.xml>[image: > Increase - Decrease Font Size] <javascript:mySetActiveStyleSheet('Small > Text',1);>[image: Increase - Decrease Font > Size]<javascript:mySetActiveStyleSheet('',1);>[image: > Increase - Decrease Font Size] <javascript:mySetActiveStyleSheet('Large > Text', 1);> > > Current vaccine production methods > > Image: iStockphoto > > From the day it was first > reported<http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm58d0430a2.htm> in > Mexico, swine flu took less than four months to become a full-fledgedworldwide > pandemic<http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/06/10/swine-flu-to-be-...>. > So what’s the most effective way to stop the virus from infecting most of > the globe? Widespread vaccination—which is why U.S. health officials are > debating a nationwide swine flu vaccination > program<http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/07/10/how-the-federal-...> > that > would mandate the creation of 600 million immunizations, more than five > times the 115 million vaccines administered each > year<http://http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31571476/ns/health-swine_flu/> > to > battle the seasonal flu. > > Because of the flu virus’s notorious ability to mutate, a large-scale > immunization program would require manufacturers to quickly produce vast > quantities of vaccine. > > Unfortunately for all of us, it’s unlikely that current vaccine production > methods<http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/04/28/as-swine-flu-spr...>—which > have been in use for more than half a century—could produce the quantity of > vaccine that would be necessary in an emergency. Today’s vaccine production > is so slow, costly, and inefficient that the U.S. Department of Health and > Human Services allotted $1 billion in > 2006<http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2006/05/sec-06050...> > toward > the development of new techniques. > ------------------------------ > advertisement | article continues below > [image: Click > here!]<http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/388e/0/0/%2a/o;216740984;0-0;0;1...> > ------------------------------ > > With the first trials for a swine flu > vaccine<http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/07/24/swine-flu-vaccin...> > currently > underway in Australia, the question of how to produce huge quantities of > vaccine quickly has never been more pressing. In particular, three new > techniques under development could be the answer should another pandemic > occur. > > Vaccines work by exposing the body to particles called antigens, which > trigger an immune response. In most modern vaccines, antigens come in the > form of bits of deactivated virus. When the body senses these particles, it > kick-starts specialized immune defenses, including the production of immune > cells known as lymphocytes, which learn to recognize and attack viral DNA. > Once the body eliminates the invaders, it stores a "memory" of that > particular invader for years, guarding against future infections. > > The traditional way to produce vaccines involves injecting live viruses into > a fertilized chicken egg, then letting the egg incubate and become infected > with the virus. Afterwards, the liquid inside the egg is removed and mixed > with an embalming fluid called formalin. It renders the virus incapable of > causing an infection but still provokes the immune response that will > protect vaccine recipients against future infections. Not all vaccines are > produced using the same antiquated system; for example, the HPV vaccine > known as Gardasil, which was approved by the FDA in 2006, is made in yeast > cells. But flu vaccines are still produced within eggs. > > Unfortunately, this process is fraught with problems: It’s slow (the eggs > typically need to incubate for about half a year), inefficient (on average, > it takes one to two > eggs<http://www.scribd.com/doc/7010590/Flu-Vaccine-Eggs-and-CellCultures> > to > yield a single dose of vaccine), and unreliable: Not only can the eggs > spoil, but they may also produce the virus at varying rates. As a result, > the serum they yield may be too weak or impure to provide immunity with the > lowest possible incidence of side effects. > > For these reasons, scientists are working on new methods to combat these > problems. Of course, often the new methods present problems of their own, > which the researchers must iron out before the techniques become ready for > wide-scale production. > > *You Can't Have Dessert Till You Eat Your Vaccines* > One technique involves genetically modifying edible plants to produce > vaccine antigens. Scientists have already developed a potato that boosts > immunity against Hepatitis B, and are working on vaccine-producing > peanuts<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T4X-4W0XB6...> > .Rakesh Tuli <http://www.nbri-lko.org/>, of India’s National Botanical > Research Institute in Lucknow, is developing antigen-spiked nuts to protect > against cholera and rabies. He says that because the nut crop is high in > protein, it produces vaccine antigens more efficiently than does a leafy > plant. In fact, his analysis indicates that a football-sized field plot > could yield 450 million doses of vaccine. “Two acres of land is enough to > vaccinate a population the size of India,” Tuli says. > > Unfortunately, although these plants show promise, it’s questionable whether > these edible vaccines will ever be mass-produced for flu or any other > disease. The technique remains highly controversial among environmentalists, > despite the enthusiasm of researchers like Tuli. “In the last few years, > we’ve decided that it’s probably not a good idea to produce [vaccines] in > food products,” says Hugh > Mason<http://sols.asu.edu/people/faculty/hmason.php>, > an Arizona State University vaccine researcher who helped develop the first > edible vaccine. “No matter how careful you are, even if you establish > regulations, there’s always a chance that someone would not follow the > guidelines,” thereby contaminating wild plants or food crops with > genetically engineered ones, he explains. If modified plants escape into the > natural environment, they could contaminate water supplies, irreversibly > alter wild species, or even enter the human food chain, which nearly > happened in > 2002<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2002/dec/24/food.research> > . > > There’s also the matter of antigen regulation. Because many of these > genetically modified vaccines are meant to be eaten, it can be difficult to > regulate exactly how much antigen a half-cup of potato or a handful of > peanuts delivers. “Ultimately, an edible vaccine might lose its antigenic > activity,” Mason says. > > Still, some scientists maintain their faith in plant-produced vaccines, > saying that the plants could be grown in a greenhouse to make sure modified > plant material remains separate from wildlife. “We are talking about > isolated, protected cultivation to make sure that vaccine plants will not > get mixed up with non-vaccine plants,” says Tuli, who believes the cost of > an acre-large greenhouse would be small compared to the efficiency and > savings of the new method. > next page » > <http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/27-vaccine-production-horrib...> > [1] > 2<http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/27-vaccine-production-horrib...> > Related Articles > > > > On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 9:39 PM, SgtUSMC <[email protected]> wrote: > > > How many units of vaccine has the civilian medical industry produced? > > > On Aug 18, 8:12 pm, Bruce Majors <[email protected]> wrote: > > > So the government bureaucrats we are supposed to let nationalize and > > > centrally plan the medical industry have failed (again) to produce and > > > deliver the number of units of flu vaccine they say are needed. Hmmmm.- > > > Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
