by Tiffany M. Harris

Created on: April 14, 2009   Last Updated: April 23, 2009

Choosing to have your children vaccinated is not a decision that should be taken lightly. Twenty-five years ago vaccinations were a thing that your family doctor provided to prevent certain viral threats; today it is literally a choice between life and death.

In March 2009, news broke that Baxter International Inc. an American laboratory responsible for the creation and distribution of the ever-so-popular flu vaccine; commonly injected into children ages infant 18yrs., pregnant women, and the elderly was contaminated with the Avian (Bird) Flu Virus. For those not familiar with the Avian Flu Virus the

Center for Disease Control and Prevention Website describes it as; "Avian influenza A viruses usually do not infect humans, rare cases of human infection with avian influenza A viruses have been reported. Most human infections with avian influenza A viruses have occurred following direct contact with infected poultry. Human clinical illness from infection with avian influenza A viruses has ranged from eye infections (conjunctivitis) to severe respiratory disease (pneumonia) to death."

Baxter distributed the contaminated flu vaccine to 18 Countries; this contamination is believed to be nothing less than intentional by many due to the Biosafety Level 3 restrictions placed on works with infectious agents like the avian flu virus. Basically, the BSL-3 status requires that laboratories adhere to strict rules and guide lines while dealing with the agents; unless, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Website " It is recognized, however, that some existing facilities may not have all the facility features recommended for Biosafety Level 3 (i.e., double-door access zone and sealed penetrations). In this circumstance, an acceptable level of safety for the conduct of routine procedures, (e.g., diagnostic procedures involving the propagation of an agent for identification, typing, susceptibility testing, etc.), may be achieved in a Biosafety Level 2 facility, providing 1) the exhaust air from the laboratory room is discharged to the outdoors, 2) the ventilation to the laboratory is balanced to provide directional airflow into the room, 3) access to the laboratory is restricted when work is in progress, and 4) the recommended Standard Microbiological Practices, Special Practices, and Safety Equipment for Biosafety Level 3 are rigorously followed..."

I suppose that the question as to weather or not to have your children vaccinated can only be trumped by the greater questions; How well do you trust your government and its "regulated" facilities?; and How can such a thing "happen" in a country that does not miss a beat when they are owed taxes, but yet manages to allow an American company (weather intentional or not) to distribute a fatal virus, that was found to not only infect humans with the Avian Flu Virus (H5N1), but was also combined with the seasonal flu virus used for vaccinations (H3N2) thus allowing humans to pass the deadly virus, as if it were merely a common cold?

The lethal combination was discovered to have killed ferrets during a lab test in the Czech Republic. The Baxter research facility in Ortho-Donau, Austria is the origin of the contaminated lot. If a pandemic were to occur, an expected 20-50% of the world's population would become infected with the H5N1 virus; though a more accurate number cannot be reached at this time it is known that over 50% of the people who have been infected with the avian flue virus in the past, have died.

Is this some sort of sick form of population control; a New World Holocaust? or simply a HUGE "ut, oh"? Are any of the justifications, really worth risking the life of your child?

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