Chicken Pox Vaccine

[phamton]

Originally posted by ennazus

The chicken pox vaccine is developed with the use of aborted fetuses (as well as other vaccines)

The anti-vaccination lobby appears to have recently (late 1997) revived this old story which gained prominence in the mid 1990s when the mass vaccination campaign against measles and rubella was planned and subsequently carried out in the United Kingdom. Viruses are parasites and depend for their existence upon repeated invasion of other cells which are destroyed as the viruses utilise them in their life cycle. Moreover, viruses are generally specific as to the type of cells they inhabit. Rubella, for instance, is a human disease only, the rubella virus requiring human cells in which to exist, rather than other animal cells which it does not invade.

The rubella component of MMR II, the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine used in Australia, is a live virus (Wistar RA 27/3 strain) which was adapted to and propagated in the WI-38 human diploid cell culture. This cell culture was derived originally from human fetal lung tissue obtained from a fetus aborted at approximately 3 months gestation of a Caucasian female in about 1966. By a process of repeated cultivation it is possible to produce an “immortal” self-replicating group of cells known as a “cell line”. A cell line thus produced is not identical to the cells of the original species from which it is derived but has similar genetic characteristics.

Cell lines are used widely in the culture of other organisms. No new tissue has been added since the original samples were taken over 30 years ago and the cells, although uniform, no longer resemble the originals. No other fetal tissue is used in any way in research or manufacture of rubella vaccine.

Press clippings from 1994 indicate that there appears to be no ethical problem to the use of rubella vaccine in the eyes of the Catholic church. Statements supporting the use of the vaccine are quoted from Mary Brogan, President, National Board of Catholic Women in the UK who also indicates the support of the board’s Episcopal Liaison, Bishop Vincent Malone. Also quoted as supporting use of the vaccine is Father Norman Ford, a lecturer in medical ethics at the Catholic Theological College at Clayton in Victoria.

Chicken pox (varicella) vaccine is also grown on a human diploid cell line originally derived from a fetus many years ago and the varicella virus used in the vaccine strain came from a young boy infected with chicken pox. The cell line used is MRC-5. The MRC-5 cell line was developed in September 1966 from lung tissue taken from a 14 week fetus aborted for psychiatric reason from a 27 year old physically healthy woman. So the abortion happened almost 40 years ago. The bovine serum is used to culture the cells.

http://www.nevdgp.org.au/other/project/immunemyths/vaccsafe.htm
http://www.cogforlife.org/mrc-5.htm

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Yes, it has been required here for entering Kindergartener's for the last couple of years. Both my kids got the shot about 5 years ago and have been fine. I knew someone whose DD almost died from an infection and another child who had brain damage from them. CP is nothing to mess around with.
I "think" Japan has utilized the shot for lots longer than us.

 

[ennazus]

phamton-
I think the article that you cut & pasted as your post could be summed up by this sentence:

So the abortion happened almost 40 years ago.

So what? It's still an abortion.

And as far as what the Catholic or Episcopal church says... (I'm Episcopal with Catholic roots) I don't base my ethical or moral decisions upon what the hierarchy of a church says. Simply looking at the 10 commandments would be enough for me to decide that an abortion is unethical.

Parents who object in conscience to abortion-derived vaccines may apply for religious or philosophical exemptions by contacting their state department of health.

Some more food for thought:
Development of the rubella vaccine actually involved not one, but twenty-eight abortions.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

my sister did not need the shot for college since I had it years ago

 

[Disney Dee]

i for one wish the vaccine was never invented. There seems to be a link between the vaccine and other viral problems that I and many others believe may have contacted being exposed to the vaccine.

 

[Mermaid02]

I heard a radio commercial here in Maine the other day stating that if your school age child has NOT been vaccinated, if there is a single child in your child's school who gets CP all children who have NOT produced proof of vaccination will have to stay home. Don't ask me HOW they will determine if a child has had CP or not... I mean someone could say "Oh little Jonny had CP when he was 2"

As far as how vaccinations are developed, the things that save our lives aren't always pretty are they?

 

[AirForceRocks]

DD is 9, and the vaccine wasn't offered to us during her vaccination regimen. DS is almost 7, and he received the CP vaccination at 15 months.

DD got CP when she was in kindergarten, and it was awful. DS, on the other, didn't get a single spot.

The vaccination is required at our school, and the only exemption is a letter from an MD stating that the vaccination would be dangerous to the child's health.

As to the handwringing over the fact that an abortion 40 years ago led to the creation of this vaccine, I can only say that I hope those same people are as committed to their cause if and when their lives ever depend on a medication or a treatment that is a result of experimentation on aborted fetuses.

 

[laceemouse]

My older kids, DD12and DD10 had the chicken pox as toddlers. The vaccine was not widely available at that time. My two younger kids had the shot. It is required now at our schools. I had the CP in college, it was horrible! I had high fever and was covered with the things, even in my mouth and ears. I feel that the shot is better than this! BTW, my oldest DD had the shingles at 10, very rare!

 

[Disney Dee]

laceemouse, my 10 yr old neice has shingles. Her Mom gets tthem alot also. I got Meneries, an inner ear condition that the Ear institute is studying right now, they believe it is viral and you can get it from being exposed to the CP vaccine. Its not a terminal condition, but the symptoms can cripple you.