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MORATORIUM ON VACCINES RECOMMENDED BY NATION OF ISLAM'S HEALTH MINISTER Further, Dr. Horowitz cites evidence that Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, in charge of testing and approving vaccines for drug makers, have known of these contamination problems since the early 1970s” “The moratorium on U.S. Government required vaccines will be seriously considered by Nation of Islam leaders this week, Dr. Muhammad said. Once decided, it may be lifted only following the probe by independent investigators and a Congressional committee's review of all the published facts. In addition, methods of producing safe vaccines for members of the Nation of Islam are currently under investigation by Dr. Muhammad's staff.” 

 
Plasma derivatives and viral hepatitis.  
Gerety RJ, Aronson DLTransfusion 1982 Sep-Oct 22:5 347-51 Transfusion • Volume 22 • Issue 5 Abstract   Plasma derivatives can be separated into those with either a low or a high risk of transmitting viral hepatitis. Low-risk products, with few exceptions, will remain low-risk irrespective of the plasma from which they are manufactured because they are heated at 60 degrees C for 10 hours (Albumin, Plasma Protein Fraction) or because they contain protective antibodies (Immune Globulin). This would appear to be the case not only for hepatitis B but also for non-A, non-B hepatitis. The risk of hepatitis B associated with plasma derivatives is reduced but not eliminated by HBsAg screening of donors. Further decreasing the risk of hepatitis B associated with AHF or Factor IX lots, as well as newer products like AT-III, alpha-1 antitrypsin, Fibronectin, C-1 Inactivator, and Factor XIII, may be accomplished either by the combination of stabilization and heating or by assuring that these products contain an excess of anti-HBS. For highly-purified products with little residual immunoglobulin it may be necessary to add anti-HBs. The addition of antibodies against non-A, non-B hepatitis agents when they are identified, could prevent transmission of both forms of viral hepatitis by plasma derivatives. Methods to stabilize and heat high-risk plasma derivatives to inactivate hepatitis viruses have the potential to remove both hepatitis B and non-A, non-B hepatitis infectivity. 


 MATILDE KRIM'S AIDS-ORIGINS-THEORY; 
Strangely Mum Since Her 1980's Comments; Two Takes On A Suspicious Mystery; Compiled by Badpuppy's GayToday 
"By 1987 a few scientists like Matilde Krim publicly theorized that a biological accident could have initiated the AIDS epidemic in gay men. In a published conversation with Larry Kramer (Interview Magazine, February 1987), Krim speculated that AIDS could have originated from virus-contaminated batches of "gamma globulin" which were inoculated into gay men for the purpose of protecting them from hepatitus virus inflection.
Krim is a well-known AIDS expert and cancer virologist associated with Sloan-Kettering Hospital in Manhattan. She is also co-chairperson of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFar). 
In the interview, Krim tries to dispel the notion that gay men were the cause of AIDS in America. She explains that, "We probably gave it to gay men to start with, by inoculating them with infected gamma globulin, which is probably what happened." Krim postulates that gamma globulin in the early 1970's was made from "pooled" human blood brought in from Africa and the Caribbean. 
At first, Krim (like Strecker) suspected that contaminated experimental hepatitis vaccine used in the New York City trials in gay men might have exposed them to the AIDS virus. But after "checking the dates" of the trials, she reasoned that "these trials started in '78 and '79." She dismissed the hepatitis connection because "that's too late; we already had cases then. The (AIDS) infection occurred at least five years prior to that...in the early 1970's." 
Krim speculates, "The for-profit blood industry was buying blood from prisoners and from overseas, including Africa and the Caribbean." She reasons that the gamma globulin may not have been properly prepared and purified to kill the AIDS virus.   

 

Hepatitis C Origin Points to Possible Military Link


DOCUMENTS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT
VIETNAM ERA EXPERIMENTS
ED WENDT
Copyright 1999 by Forward Times


Documents obtained by Forward Times under the Freedom of Information Act, for an investigation of the hepatitis C epidemic, reveal that U.S. servicemen were used to test experimental vaccines while they were in Basic Combat Training during the Vienam Era.
Responses to the request by the Department of Defense indicate that soldiers at major U.S. military training bases during the late 1960s and 1970s were used to test vaccines for spinal meningitis and other diseases.
Hepatitis, not Hepatitis C, was a serious medical condition for military personnel during the Vietnam War. Thousands of servicemen contracted the disease and the Pentagon was determined to do something about it to resolve a drain on combat readiness.
Forward Times, under the Freedom of Information Act, requested the following:
* Any information, documents, research reports, and records pertaining to experimental and/or test vaccines administered to trainees in Basic Combat Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in 1970 for spinal Meningitis and hepatitis.
* The criteria in which trainees were selected for said vaccines, and details of any follow up done by the Department of the Army on the soldiers who participated in the vaccinations.
* Any studies and research on Hepatitis C contracted by soldiers in the United States Army.
The information on studies and research on Hepatitis C were sought in response to fears by some veterans that Hepatitis C could have evolved from Pentagon experiments on servicemen to find a vaccine for hepatitis during the Vietnam War.
The Department of Defense responded to the Forward Times request only after intervention by U.S. Representative Gene Green, D-Houston.
The Pentagon revealed that the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army established a "hepatitis C registry" during the early 1990s.
But the Department of Defense, according to the response, "discontinued the hepatitis C virus diseases registry on October 21, 1993 after concluding that the "infection rates among Army personnel were low, about one percent."
According to the response, the Pentagon concluded "that hepatitis C did not constitute a significant drain on either personnel or medical resources. The Department of Defense admitted that "the registry was neither complete nor a truly random sample."
The response, written by Anne Johnson-Winegar, stated that the original intent of the registry was to:
* "Maintain a list of individuals who had tested positive for hepatitis C virus antibodies in orer to evaluate screening tests."
* "Track the natural progression of hepatitis C virus and infection and disease in soldiers and other beneficiaries."
* "Attempt to assess the impact of hepatitis C virus disease on military personnel and readiness."
* "Establish a database of infected persons who could be followed over time."
"Data was collected from May 1990 through October 1993," said Johnson-Winegar. "Data was collected from medical treatment facility blood banks and clinical laboratories, from prevention medicine services, and from the references at WRAIR. The reporting of patient data by the preventative medicine services was mandated by OTSG, but compliance varied from post to post. In the absence of patient data from preventative medical resources, only hepatitis C virus antibody tests results were known for an individual."
While the Pentagon disbanded the hepatitis C registry for military personnel in 1993, after concluding that the infection rate was only one percent, recent studies indicate that military veterans have the highest hepatitis C rate in the nation.
Statistics by the American Liver Foundation show that 1.8 percent of the U.S. population is Hepatitis C positive. Twelve to 14 percent of those infected are veterans.
African-Americans, at 3.2 percent, are the largest infected ethnic group, followed by Mexican-Americans with 2.1 percent, and 1.5 percent for whites.
More than four million Americans have hepatitis C. It is estimated that 300,000 of those who have tested positive contracted the virus through blood transfusions they received before 1992.
Government officials are being urged to mobilize health resources to educate the public on hepatitis C. Houston City Council, among other agencies, is being targeted to adopt education and outreach programs on the virus.
The governor of New York recently signed into law Assembly Bill 86868. The legislation directs the commissioner of health to develop educational materials on diagnosis, treatment and prevention of hepatitis C for health care professionals and persons at high risk.
Hepatitis C warriors are urging other political subdivisions, including the city of Houston, to adopt similar measures.
Inquiries reveal that the Houston Health Department is doing very little to educate the public on hepatitis C.
Veterans’ organizations throughout the nation are mobilizing to combat hepatitis C and to lobby governmental entities to launch an all-out war against the disease.Many veteran victims are concerned that Vietnam Era soldiers, who received blood transfusions for wounds on the frontlines of the war, may have contacted the virus through contaminated transfusions and spread the disease upon returning home and becoming part of society.
Hepatitis C was not identified until 1989. However, blood samples of American servicemen taken in 1948 were recently reviewed during a study. Those samples detected the hepatitis C virus.
California, like New York, is cracking down on hepatitis C. A California Senate hearing recently revealed that little action has been taken by the state to stop the spread of the killer virus which is expected to kill more people than AIDS.
Center for Disease Control statistics provided to the panel revealed that minority groups are more at risk for hepatitis C.
CDS statistics show that California ranks first in the hepatitis C prevalence rate. Texas ranks second, New York ranks third, and Florida ranks fourth. 
Studies prevented to the panel indicated that if detected early enough, about 40 percent of hepatitis C patients successfully respond to treatment. However, most infected people are not aware that they have hepatitis C until irreversible liver damage has occurred.
The studies concluded that even for those who do not respond to treatment, it is important that they become aware, because there are interventions that can significantly slow down the progression of hepatitis C damage to the liver by abstaining from drinking alcoholic beverages and making sure they are immunized to protect from hepatitis A and B.
Information about hepatitis C can be obtained from
the Texas Liver Institute by calling 713-791-8668.

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