- Hi Jeff - Serratia Marcescens was the bacteria that
was sprayed on San Franscisco from warships off the coast in a test of
chemical and biological against its own citizens. However, many people
ended up checking into the hospital seriously ill...and one man
died.
-
- Chiron had the almost 50 million doses of flu vaccine
packed and ready to ship this fall. Evidently, the company was willing
to risk the lives of people who would take the vaccine. If Chiron's
license
had not been pulled, the company would have allowed the vaccine to be
shipped,
marketed and, probably would have denied any and all claims of deaths
and/or
harm caused by it.
-
- Patricia Doyle
-
- Bacteria Causes US Flu Vaccine
Shortage
By Connie Cass
Associated Press
10-10-4
-
- WASHINGTON - The reddish
bacterium to blame for this year's shortage of flu vaccine has a colorful
history.
-
- Until the 1960s, Serratia marcescens was considered
harmless
- so safe, in fact, that the military secretly dispersed it across U.S.
cities in germ warfare studies. Today, Serratia is blamed for urinary tract
infections, infected surgical wounds and pneumonia, usually spread among
hospital patients.
-
- The germ that tainted the flu vaccine at a British
factory
is a common contaminant in labs - and lots of other places. Serratia is
found in people's intestines, and possibly growing as pinkish scum in the
shower, too.
-
- "Most of us carry it every day of our lives,"
said Martin Blaser, chairman of medicine at the New York University School
of Medicine. "A great paradox of life and health is we have all these
bad organisms we carry around OK in our intestinal tracts, and if we move
them over one inch to our bladder, for example, they make us
sick."
-
- Serratia thrives in damp places, from bathroom walls
to improperly sanitized medical equipment. It is partial to bread and other
starchy foods, where it shows up as blood-colored splotches.
-
- In fact, it is considered a likely scientific explanation
for the "miracle of Bolsena" in 1263, when what was believed
to be Christ's blood appeared on communion bread at a church in Bolsena,
Italy. Raphael later depicted the scene in a fresco in the Vatican.
-
- It was not until 1819 that Serratia was discovered and
named by an Italian pharmacist, Bartolomeo Bizio. He found it in a dish
of polenta, or cornmeal mush.
-
- Before the 2004 flu season, Serratia was most notorious
for its role in germ warfare studies.
-
- During one such test in 1950 - "Operation
Sea-Spray"
- Navy vessels cruised the San Francisco coast, spewing huge amounts of
the bacterium into the air over the city. At least one hospital noticed
an increase in pneumonia patients.
-
- In the 1970s, when the military disclosed the tests,
a San Francisco family sued over a pneumonia death they blamed on Serratia.
Courts ruled the government was immune from such lawsuits.
-
- http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald
- /living/health/9878890.htm?1c
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads
- /postlist.php?Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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