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GlaxoSmithKline Released 45 Liters of Live Polio Virus
ferespo sends this news out of Belgium: As reported to ECDC by Belgian authorities, on 2 September 2014, following a human error, 45 liters of concentrated live polio virus solution were released into the environment by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline in Rixensart city, Belgium. The liquid was conducted directly to a water-treatment plant (Rosieres) and released after treatment in river Lasne affluent of river Dyle which is affluent of the Escaut/Scheldt river. Belgium's High Council of Public Health conducted a risk assessment that concluded that the risk of infection for the population exposed to the contaminated water is extremely low due to the high level of dilution and the high vaccination coverage (95%) in Belgium.
You're thinking of smallpox. Polio is still endemic in pakistan/afghanistan/india.
We have not eradicated polio; in fact, there's an outbreak now in Syria because of poor conditions and missed vaccinations. The vaccine is manufactured from the virus, hence why a drug company had a supply of active virus.
[I was clearly wrong to have used the phrase "Right now". I should have said, till about 10 or 15 years ago]
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
And those unfortunate enough not to be able to be vaccinated.
Not that much of an issue really in western europe or even europe.
So many responses are like "meh, polio, who cares."
The devastating effects of this virus are obviously forgotten by this generation. It results in paralysis that is fatal when it hits things like lungs and hearts, and results in sometimes temporary, sometimes life-long paralysis in many victims. I knew people who permanently lost their ability to talk, others with one paralyzed leg, others who lost an arm, others with distorted facial muscles and other ugly effects. In the early 1960s when it was released people lined up for the vaccine, they would lie, cheat, and steal to get the vaccine when supplies were still limited.
In you're case, you're basically discounting anyone under age 6? Polio is a 4-dose vaccination where the last dose usually isn't until age 4-6. Google says that is a half million people in Belgium. That's "not much of an issue"?
Anyone who has had a reaction to one of the components and cannot have the series, they also are irrelevant? It's probably a million or so of the population. Again, you're okay with them getting a permanently disabling disease?
The vaccines are not 100% effective, many people who were vaccinated according to schedule are still able to become sick. No idea what the percentage is, but anything other than 0 is too much. Are they really not that important?
What would you think if it was YOU or a loved one in the hospital bed, hooked up to a ventilator because your lungs were paralyzed, hoping that the paralysis is temporary in your case.
Now, if we could limit the infections just to anti-vaxers (not the innocent children of anti-vaxers) that would be something else entirely. Anti-vax for chicken pox or milder diseases are not that bad, but anti-vax for polio and other seriously ravaging diseases is just stupid.
Polio is so close to global eradication. I applaud those like the Gates Foundation that are funding killing off the last few known wild cases.
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
It is very nearly eradicated globally. Good thing too.
The paralysis aspect is horrible. Those who got the disease didn't know if they would be hit by the paralysis. Those who were hit with the paralysis didn't know if it would become permanent.
Some people who had the paralysis hit lungs or heart and didn't make it to the hospital quickly enough were occasionally considered lucky. Some very unfortunate people were condemned to spend the rest of their lives on a ventilator. I knew several people (most are dead today) who had deformed faces, arms, and legs from the virus resulting in permanent paralysis. I knew several older folks with a gravely whispered voice as a result of the paralysis. I heard horror stories about people fighting in lines as the vaccine became available in the 1960s.
Last year the WHO declared a surge in polio as a world health emergency, it had jumped from below 200 globally known cases to over 400.
They track the progress and update it weekly. the web site says there are 209 year to date with a new outbreak in Syria.
It is a horrible, destructive disease. The Gates Foundation has made enormous donations, $1.8B last year. This year the Larry Ellison foundation threw in another $100M. The disease is so incredibly close to global eradication, it just needs that one final little nudge to the finish line.
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
Calley was convicted. Nixon pardoned him.
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.