Australia: Infected polio jabs to be investigated

[Guest guest]

[two articles and an interview follow]

 

Infected polio jabs to be investigated

By Lucy Beaumont

Health and Science

October 24, 2004

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/23/1098474929013.html?oneclick=true

 

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott has ordered a departmental review into

contaminated polio vaccine, released into the community in the 1950s and

1960s by the then government, and its possible links with cancer.

 

Mr Abbott's call came after a report published in The Age yesterday

revealed that almost 3 million Salk polio vaccine doses, produced between

1956 and 1962, were contaminated by a virus called Simian Virus 40, or SV40.

 

The investigation showed that two batches of the vaccine were released

after testing positive for contamination, while others were released before

they could be tested. The virus came from monkey kidney cells used to

develop polio vaccine.

 

Mr Abbott had asked his department to investigate the report and review

research on the issue, his spokeswoman said.

 

Experts quoted in The Age called for more research into possible links

between SV40 and rare cancers of the human lung, brain and blood, including

mesothelioma. But Australia's chief medical officer, John Horvath, said

there was no evidence that millions of Australians exposed to the

contaminated vaccine were at increased risk of cancer.

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SV40 had been shown to cause cancer in hamsters, Professor Horvath said.

 

" This issue was reviewed at an international workshop on SV40 in the USA in

January 1997, " he said. " The meeting concluded that there is no evidence of

increased cancer risk in people who were given vaccine containing SV40.

Much research has been undertaken overseas since that time. In 1997 and

again in 2001, Australian health authorities reviewed the most up-to-date

literature and came to the same conclusion. "

 

The public health benefits of the Salk polio vaccine, no longer used in

Australia, far outweighed the contamination risks, Professor Horvath said.

 

He said the Therapeutic Goods Administration ensured that all polio

vaccines used today were free of contaminants.

 

Australian researchers had found SV40 in mesothelioma tumour samples and

cancer cells, The Age reported, noting that Australia has the world's

highest rate of the disease.

 

Professor Bruce Robinson, head of the University of Western Australia's

school of medicine, called for more Australian research into whether the

virus caused cancer and SV40's transmission from person to person.

 

" With mesothelioma, the main cause is still undoubtedly asbestos and it's

still uncertain whether this virus is a co-factor or not, " Professor

Robinson said on radio yesterday.

 

" We do know for example, that in Australian mesothelioma tissue this virus

can be found, but what we don't know is how much effect it's had. It might

just be a passenger. "

 

Cancer Council of Victoria director David Hill agreed there was a need for

investigation. " I certainly support that it raises an issue and calls for

further research, " said Professor Hill.

 

However, he said there was no cause for panic given the small number of

such cancers in Australia.

 

A spokeswoman for the National Health and Medical Research Council said it

would be happy to work with the authorities, such as the TGA and the

Department of Health and Ageing, to assess the research needs in this area

and understood that the Government was monitoring research by the Centres

for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Applications for funding would be assessed on their merits, she said.

 

 

 

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Polio review launched

October 23, 2004 - 4:29PM

Federal health authorities will investigate allegations that polio vaccines

contaminated with a monkey virus - since linked to cancers - was knowingly

released in the 1960s.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/23/1098474921306.html

 

Fairfax newspapers reported that almost three million doses of the vaccine

were released between 1956 and 1962 despite tests showing they were

contaminated.

 

The monkey virus, known as SV40, is known to cause cancer in animals but

there is still debate among scientists as to whether it has any negative

effects in humans.

 

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott asked his department to review the

risks associated with the contaminated polio vaccine.

 

This is although Australia's chief medical officer reassured people

vaccinated against polio in the 1950s and '60s that they were not at

increased risk of cancer.

 

Professor John Horvath released a statement saying there was no evidence of

an increased cancer risk to those exposed to the vaccine.

 

" This issue was reviewed at an international workshop on SV40 in the USA in

January 1997. The meeting concluded that there is no evidence of increased

cancer risk in people who were given vaccine containing SV40, " he said.

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" Much research had been undertaken overseas since that time. In 1997 and

again in 2001 Australian health authorities reviewed the most up-to-date

literature and came to the same conclusion. "

 

Prof Horvath said Australia's medicine watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods

Administration (TGA), ensured all polio vaccines used today were free of

SV40 and other contaminants.

 

A spokeswoman said Mr Abbott wanted to reassure the public that there were

no risk from vaccines used today.

 

" He has asked the Department of Health to review the research on this

matter and what happened in the early 1960s, " she said.

 

" But there is absolutely no question about the safety of current vaccines. "

 

Acting Victorian Premier John Thwaites urged people not to be put off

having polio vaccinations because of the publicity over contaminated vaccines.

 

" People should absolutely continue with vaccinations, " he said.

 

" The current vaccinations are totally safe, the proposed vaccinations are

totally safe - this is not an issue associated with any vaccines that are

currently being used. "

 

The Fairfax papers reported today that the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories

had released the contaminated vaccines even after tests showed it carried SV40.

 

Internal research conducted by the laboratories in 1962, but never made

public, showed that the monkey virus was a potential cause of cancer in

humans, it was reported.

 

Cancer Council CEO professor Alan Coates said more research was needed to

determine the potential impact of SV40 on humans but there were no signs

the infected vaccines from the 1960s had caused an outbreak of cancer.

 

Professor Coates said Australian researchers had found the virus in

cancerous and healthy cells of people vaccinated with the contaminated batches.

 

He said the scientific journal Oncogene had recently brought together all

the epidemiological studies on the effects of SV40 from the past 40 years.

 

" The conclusion is that, putting all the studies together, there was no

evidence of an excess of cancers among people exposed to this virus or of

any particular cancer, so that's reassuring, " he said.

 

The polio vaccines had been grown in labs on monkey kidney cells and some

of these had been infected with SV40, he said.

 

When people were given the vaccine the virus then inserted itself into

their DNA.

 

Professor Coates said there had been concern that SV40 might encourage the

development of mesothelioma in smokers or people exposed to asbestos.

 

But the lack of an outbreak of cancer in people given the infected vaccine

across the world implied the risks were small.

 

" It is pretty widespread and many people my age, who had all sorts of

different polio vaccines, were probably exposed to it and are carrying it, "

he said.

 

" They have been carrying it for half a century and if people were going to

get into trouble you would expect to have seen it by now. "

 

 

 

 

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[is this damage control below?]

 

Cancer linked to polio vaccine used in the 50s and 60s

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1226425.htm

 

AM - Saturday, 23 October , 2004 08:04:00

Reporter: Rafael Epstein

 

HAMISH ROBERTSON: Now to new claims this morning linking the deadly cancer

mesothelioma to a commercial organisation. But in this case it's not James

Hardie that's under the spotlight, but the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories.

 

An investigation by the Age Newspaper has revealed that millions of batches

of polio vaccine used in Australia in the 1950s and 60s were contaminated

with the monkey virus SV40.

 

The virus has an as yet undetermined link with mesiothelioma. It is present

in the cancerous cells, but no one yet knows if it's a cause, a

contributor, or simply a passenger. Australia has the highest incidence of

mesothelioma in the world.

 

As Rafael Epstein reports, the now privatised Commonwealth Serum

Laboratories continued to release some of the tainted batches, even after

the contamination was uncovered.

 

RAFAEL EPSTEIN: It's been known for nearly a decade that large batches of

the polio vaccine used in the US, Russia and Europe in the 50s, 60s and 70s

were contaminated with this particular monkey virus.

 

But today's Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers reveal four batches of

contaminated vaccine were released in Australia as well, in the 50s and the

1960s. Each batch contains 700,000 doses of the vaccine.

 

So what does that mean for the hundreds and thousands of people, or perhaps

millions who might have had a contaminated dose, as part of their three

course vaccination?

 

The SV40 monkey virus has been found in the cancerous cells of mesothelioma

patients, but the link is unclear.

 

Professor Bruce Robinson is head of the mesothelioma research unit at

Perth's Charles Gardner Hospital.

 

BRUCE ROBINSON: I wouldn't be terribly worried to be perfectly honest. With

mesothelioma, the main cause is still undoubtedly asbestos and it's still

uncertain whether this virus is a co-factor or not and it's debated around

the… every time I go to a conference around the world on this disease,

which has been twice in the last three months, people stand up and sit down

at microphones arguing about whether this virus actually does have a role

in mesothelioma or not.

 

RAFAEL EPSTEIN: So the question is whether or not that monkey virus might

make you more predisposed to mesothelioma?

 

BRUCE ROBINSON: That's right – whether it would work together with asbestos

to increase your risks. I mean, if you put that monkey virus on the cells

in the laboratory, you can make it turn into cancer, there's no doubt about

that. But whether it actually does that in humans, we're not sure.

 

RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Do you think the attitude was, the risk factor is so low or

do you think it was such a totally different approach to public health?

 

BRUCE ROBINSON: I don't know which… I couldn't really go back and guess,

but you know, it's always hard to know when you're not sure whether

something is a risk or not. I mean, because vaccines tended to be grown in

animal cells and it was always hard to know whether something was or wasn't

a danger.

 

RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Do you think it's acceptable that it did happen in the past?

 

BRUCE ROBINSON: Look, that's very hard to say. But I mean, let me just draw

a clear distinction. If you have something like a HIV-contaminated thing,

you know for sure it's going to be dangerous, so you don't use it.

 

This virus at the time – and I've just told you they're not even sure now

whether it's dangerous in truth – it would never be allowed to be used now

because it could be dangerous, but in those days I imagine decisions were

made on whether it was known to be dangerous. And compared to, say, polio,

which they knew, which was the thing being treated, which was dangerous. I

mean, everyone knows how effective the polio vaccine has been.

 

RAFAEL EPSTEIN: I suppose the significance of what's in the newspaper is

that in recent decades we've found out that in the US, Russia, Europe,

people now know that their polio vaccines were contaminated with this

monkey virus. Now we know in Australia. How does that help us?

 

BRUCE ROBINSON: For people like us who are researching mesothelioma it

helps us, hopefully, to track which patients have and which patients have

not had that particular vaccine so that we can then begin to follow and see

if it does make any difference.

 

So, for example, if patients who have had a polio vaccine that did not have

the virus and their risk of mesothelioma is the same as someone who did

have the vaccine, given the same amount of asbestos exposure, we know that

it's not a factor.

 

RAFAEL EPSTEIN: So it might even help you track down the link, whether or

not there is a link between the monkey virus and mesothelioma?

 

BRUCE ROBINSON: Absolutely. I mean, we do know for example, that in

Australian mesothelioma tissue this virus can be found, but what we don't

know is how much effect it's had.

 

In other words, it might just be a passenger, and this kind of information

you're talking about, about what was available in the '60s and who is

likely to have been contaminated, will help us to sort that out.

 

HAMISH ROBERTSON: Professor Bruce Robinson head of the mesothelioma

research unit at Charles Gardner Hospital in Perth. He was speaking there

to Rafael Epstein.