Vaccines, Who Makes Them and What’s In Them?

[Vincent L. Guarisco]

http://www.naturodoc.com/library/public_health/vaccine_who_how.htm


Vaccines, Who Makes Them and What’s In Them?


Compiled by Dawn Winkler
Concerned Parents for Vaccine Safety


The following is a description of the various chemical compounds added to vaccines for stability and other marketing purposes that have nothing to do with children's health. The information was obtained from the 1997 Physician's Desk Reference. This is a representative, not a comprehensive, list of various types of vaccines. For several entries, there are direct phone numbers.
Common vaccines and their production details


BIAVAX


Rubella and mumps virus vaccine live. Merck & Company, Inc., 1-800-672-6372. Produced using neomycin, sorbitol, and hydrolyzed gelatin. Medium: human diploid cells originating from human aborted fetal tissue.


DPT


Diphtheria and tetanus toxoids acellular pertussis vaccine adsorbed. SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, 1-800-366-8900, extension 5231. Produced using aluminum phosphate, formaldehyde, ammonium sulfate, washed sheep red blood cells, glycerol, sodium chloride, and thimerosol.* Medium: porcine (pig) pancreatic hydrolysate of casein.


FLUSHIELD


Influenza Virus Vaccine, Trivalent, Types A & B. Wyeth-Ayerst, 1-800-934-5556. Produced using gentamicin sulfate, formaldehyde, po!ysorbate 80, tri(n) butylphosphate, and thimerosol.* Medium: chick embryos.


FLU VIRIN


Influenza Virus Vaccine. Medeva Pharmaceuticals, 1 -888-MEDEVA (716- 274-5300). Produced using embroyonic fluid (chicken egg), neomycin, polymyxin, thimerosol,* and betapropiolactone. Medium: embryonic fluid (chicken egg).


HAVRIX


Hepatitis A. SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, 1-800-366-8900, extension 5231. Produced using formalin, aluminum hydroxide, phenoxyethanol (antifreeze), polysorbate 20, and residual MRC5 proteins (from medium). Medium: human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue).


IM0 VAX


Rabies Vaccine Adsorbed. Connaught Laboratories, 1-800-822-2463. Produced using human albumin, neomycin sulfate, and phenol red indicator. Medium: human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue).


IPOL


Inactivated Polio Vaccine. Connaught Laboratories, 1-800-822-2463. Produced using three types of polio virus, formaldehyde, phenoxyethanol (anti-freeze), neomycin, streptomycin, and polymyxin B. Medium: VERO cells, a continuous line of monkey kidney cells.


MERUVAX II


Rubella Virus Vaccine Live. Merck & Company, 1-800-672-6372. Produced using neomycin, sorbitol, and hydrolyzed gelatin. Medium: human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue).


M-R VAX


Measles and Rubella Virus Vaccine Live. Merck & Company, 1-800-672-6372. Produced using neomycin, sorbitol, and hydrolyzed gelatin. Mediums: M & M -- chick embryo. Rubella -- human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue).


MMR


Measles Mumps Rubella Live Virus Vaccination. Merck & Company, 1-800-672-6372. Produced using sorbitol, neomycin, and hydrolyzed gelatin. Mediums: M & M -- chick embryo. Rubella -- human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue).


MUMPSVAX


Mumps Virus Vaccine Live. Merck & Company, 1-800-672-6372. Produced using neomycin, sorbitol, and hydrolyzed gelatin. Medium: human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue).


ORIMUNE


Poliovirus Vaccine Live Oral Trivalent. Lederle Laboratories, 1-800-934-5556. Produced using three types of attenuated polioviruses, streptomycin, neomycin, calf serum, and sorbitol. Medium: monkey kidney cell culture.
Rabies Vaccine Adsorbed


SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, 1-800-366-8900, extension 5231. Produced using betapropiolactone, aluminum phosphate, sodium ethylmercurithiosalicyate (thimerosol),* and phenol red. Medium: fetal rhesus monkey lung cells.


RECOMBIVAX


Hepatitis B Vaccine Recombinant. Merck & Company, 1-800-672-6372. Produced using thimerosol* and aluminum hydroxide. Medium: yeast (residual; less than 1 percent yeast protein).


VARIVAX


Varicella Virus Vaccine Live. Merck & Company, 1-800-672-6372. Produced using sucrose, phosphate, glutamate, and processed gelatin. Medium: human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue).


* Warning: Thimerosal is a chemical compound that contains 49.6 percent mercury as a preservative. Mercury is one of the most dangerous toxins known to scientists. This is 100 times the exposure that the Environmental Protection Agency's Poison Control Center guidelines consider safe for the average-sized infant, as mercury is known to cause neurotoxicity and brain damage that mirrors the symptoms of autism. For more information, see the website of Concerned Parents for Vaccine Safety http://home.sprynet.com/~gyrene/