Thousands of Vicks nasal sprays recalled over bacteria contamination fears

Well, with all the fear for the both the swine flu and the vaccine, not to mention its recent mutation and shady Baxter business, is this just a coincidence or is it part of the same apparent scheme to make millions sick and who knows how many die.

Thousands of Vicks nasal sprays are being recalled amid fears they could be contaminated by a dangerous bacteria.
Routine testing in Germany showed the decongestant spray could contain the bacteria B. cepacia, which can cause serious infections in people with a weak immune system or those with underlying lung conditions.
Those infected with the germ often go on to develop pneumonia which if untreated can result in death.
More than 40,000 of the 15ml Vicks Sinex Micromist Aqueous Nasal Spray solutions have been recalled from store shelves in Britain with a further 80,000 in the U.S. and Germany.

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...


How does something like this happen. It seems to be happening more and more lately.

I find it interesting that one of the over the counter remedies for stuffy noses (it is flu season) accidentally has been contaminated by bacteria that can cause pneumonia, in three countries!!!

[edit on 21-11-2009 by really]

I find it funny that bacteria that can damage the lungs of somebody with a weakened immune system is found on a nasal inhalant designed to help someone who almost definitely has a weakened immune system and problems breathing....

People need to stop believing the hype of their pandemic, and stop taking their medicine. We must build our own immunities up to fight of sickness and disease.

The big pharmaceuticals seem to do this a lot. The track record is grim.

reply to post by really


Great you get the dreaded swine flu and have a blocked nose so you use a vikc's inhaler.If one doesn't get you the other one will.They have been selling these inhaler's ever since I was a kid in the seventies( i am 40) bit of a coincidence that when we really do need flu and cold relief at the time of a global pandemic this is the time that they find bacteria in the inhaler's.

[edit on 21-11-2009 by tarifa37]

reply to post by Seiko


I agree. In the last year alone we have had Bayer aspirin contaminated with HIV, the Baxter Incident, this, and vaccines with squalene and other adjuvants. It's more unhealthy to take the "cure" half the time.
What gets me the most is how the pharmaceutical companies are allowed to get away with this? Isn't their job to produce products to make us well and healthy when we get sick?

reply to post by tarifa37


I'm with you. I'm 36. Vicks is the coca-cola of nasal inhalers. It's a household word. You'd think they'd take more care when shipping their products. Isn't there a dude there in the factory saying something like, "Hey Bobby keep the bacteria B. cepacia away from the Vicks bottles."

Thanks to the latest mutation the virus goes straight for the deepest part of the lungs and does not remain in the upper respiratory tract.

If this is part of the "big conspiracy" it sounds like someone didn't coordinate very well and that the various safety systems such as drug recalls caught it.

I dunno, if it's part of the plan I'm certainly not impressed.

reply to post by ecoparity


Maybe. There might also be thousands of people with a contaminated bottle of Vicks in their house, right now. I haven't found this in many mainstream news publications. Considering that the "old" non-mutated version of the swine flu is still kicking around, this could easily give it a helping hand.
Then again, it might just be another of the colossal screw-ups to add to the list of pharmaceutical company screw ups this year. Where's the UN when you need it. They give us codex alimentarius, making it harder and more expensive to get natural remedies but the crap the drug companies give us is ok.

[edit on 21-11-2009 by really]

Great find, and very valid topically right now.

Probably another attempt to create complications with flu and kill people off - another one caught, and tried in the court of the internet

Guilty as charged.

reply to post by Amagnon


Thanks Amagnon,

Here's some info on the critters:

What you should know about Burkholderia cepacia infection
March 26, 2004
About Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia)

B. cepacia is the name for a group or “complex” of bacteria that can be found in soil and water. B. cepacia bacteria are often resistant to common antibiotics.

Populations susceptible to B. cepacia infection

B. cepacia poses little medical risk to healthy people. However, people who have certain health problems like weakened immune systems or chronic lung diseases, particularly cystic fibrosis (CF), may be more susceptible to infections with B. cepacia. B cepacia is a known cause of infections in hospitalized patients.

www.cdc.gov...

This is why i use onions, just boil onions, and breath in the steam, it will clear your congestion just as good.

A bit more:

Pathogenesis

BCC organisms are typically found in water and soil and can survive for prolonged periods in moist environments. Person-to-person spread has been documented; as a result, many hospitals, clinics, and camps have enacted strict isolation precautions for those infected with BCC. Infected individuals are often treated in a separate area than noninfected patients to limit spread, since BCC infection can lead to a rapid decline in lung function and result in death.
[edit]Diagnosis

Diagnosis of BCC involves culturing the bacteria from clinical specimens such as sputum or blood. BCC organisms are naturally resistant to many common antibiotics including aminoglycosides and polymyxin B.[3] and this fact is exploited in the identification of the organism.
Oxidation-fermentation polymyxin-bacitracin-lactose (OFPBL) agar contains polymyxin (which kills most gram-negative bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and bacitracin (which kills most gram-positive bacteria and Neisseria species).[4][5] It also contains lactose and organisms such as BCC that ferment lactose, turn the pH indicator yellow, which helps to distinguish it from other organisms that may grow on OFPBL agar, such as Candida species, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Stenotrophomonas species, and Proteus species.

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by andy1033
This is why i use onions, just boil onions, and breath in the steam, it will clear your congestion just as good.

Speaking about onions this is a weird little twist:

History

B.cepacia was discovered by Walter Burkholder in 1949 as the culprit of onion skin rot, and first described as a human pathogen in the 1950s.[10] In the 1980s, it was first recognized in individuals with cystic fibrosis, and outbreaks were associated with a 35% death rate. Burkholderia cepacia has a large genome, containing twice the amount of genetic material as E. coli.

en.wikipedia.org...

Ecoparity and Baxter fog

First I'll present background of author of discussed "paper". It's powerpoint presentation [PP] so language is no language but points. Ok - this is bad for credibility of this "text" - I think PowerPoint style of thinking is real plague in western culture - even Pentagon have trouble with it.

Dr Roman Prymula

* Roman Prymula is currently Dean of Faculty of Military Health Sciences, Chair of Department of epidemiology in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, and Professor of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology (2007).
* Dr. Prymula received his medical degree from Charles University, Prague in 1988 and his PhD from Purkyne Military Medical Academy, Hradec Kralove in 1999. Dr. Prymula also studied at the University of Birmingham, UK, where he completed International Certificate in Hospital management in 1995. 1996 he became associate professor of epidemiology. He has specialization degrees in Hygiene and Epidemiology, Public Health and Medical Microbiology. From 2002-2004 he held position of rector of Purkyne Military Medical Academy.
* He is involved in various research activities in preventive medicine including clinical development of new vaccines such as rotavirus, MMR-V, pneumococcus, HPV, etc. In addition to his active research and teaching activities he serves as consultant for several national and international organizations. Dr. Prymula is a member of ECDC management board, chairman of Central European Vaccine Advisory Board (CEVAG), chairman of the Czech Advisory Board for Epidemiology and chairman of the Czech Vaccinological Society JEP.
* He has written numerous articles and book chapters on vaccine preventable infectious diseases and monographs on bioterrorism and SARS. He is also a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals.

As I can say this man is respectful. He is working with military but in this case it - in my view - doesn't impeach his credibility.

Now Ecoparity say:

Baxter did not issue contaminated material, they swapped one virus for another.

It was a virus to be used in testing a vaccine that was sent to 4 labs. Someone sent the avian flu sample instead of the swine flu sample

Now what PP say in general based on some experience from Sverdlovsk incident:

Lessons from Sverdlovsk
An incredibly small quantity of a substance
can have an enormous impact
Human error is possible
Poor communication among responders in
the aftermath of a release (intentional,
accidental, or natural) will increase
fatalities
Poor communication with the affected
community will increase fatalities

And about Baxter release:

Baxter H5N1 event
contamination of an experimental
live attenuated influenza A(H3N2)
challenge virus with live A(H5N1)
virus in a commercial research
setting (Orth, Donau)

From this quotas is apparent that Ecoparity didn't use proper terms. His view is in contradiction with one of "serious" info sources we have. I don't say that it is intentional bias but it is disinfo if he is calling this source as evidence. Just human error for me now.

Will continue in next post

reply to post by really


thx for the info.

I don't think something like this is part of any evil plan. Rather, when companies begin laying off workers, tightening budgets, and working the remaining employees harder to make up for the ones gone, mistakes are much more likely to happen.

I also think this is why we seem to be hearing about airplane problems more frequently as well. Food recalls, faulty toys, etc.

The truth is that companies don't make a profit from their mechanics, quality control, etc. They profit from sales, period. And in times of low cash flow -- the more product that you can get out with the least number of people working, the better a company's chance of survival. Many companies are willing to risk a possible mistake -- banking on the fact that it either won't happen or will be minor -- than continuing to end up in the red each month.

I havent read this thread, but i'm going to try to buy some. This means its probably a good way to ward off the flu.

They did the same with Zycam nose gel, i always swore by it, what did they do??? Get rid of this particular nose gel JUST BEFORE the flu scare.

Now we have timeline of Baxter incident:

H3N2 nasal vaccine candidates in ferrets trial
Approved by Board of Ministry of Industry and
Trade (no danger pathogen)
31st Jan 2009 – Start of the trial (5+5 ferrets,
BSL2)
6th Feb 2009, 17:00 - Trial stopped on sponsor´s
request
6th Feb 2009, 18:56 – e-mail info on H5N1
contamination (section of ferrets stopped, Tamiflu
to contacts-13 exposures)
9th Feb 2009, 10:55 – End of trial and
complications reported to regional veterinary
inspection
9th Feb -10 Feb 2009 – hospital examination
of contacts
11th Feb 2009 – The first info in Austrian
press
17th Feb 2009 - ECDC recognized problem
based on monitoring of Slovakian press

I'm afraid we can not do any hard conclusions based on this "text" other then:
1. Ecoparity is not honest in interpretation of sources.
2. There is Czech virologist with strong ties to military how think this "accident" is something important.

Now I'll try to contact Mr Prymula by email and ask him some questions:
1. audience of this PP address
2. his conclusions on incident (we can't realize it from PP)
3. his view of "big picture" behind

I will compose questions today and send it to him tomorrow. If you have any idea what else I should ask, please send it on this forum. I believe that public scrutiny is best way to keep reason in society.

reply to post by lpowell0627


You may be right. But, even if this is just a mistake, it's another in a string of potentially fatal mistakes by the pharmaceutical/drug industry. The UN seems to want to get involved with non-prescription sales of vitamins and holistic remedies to "protect us". Instead of making it harder and more expensive to buy vitamins perhaps they should make it harder for these companies to sell us potentially fatal products. It's the blackest of humor that someone with a cold goes out and buys an inhaler to breathe better only to be sucking up bacteria from the very inhaler that can kill them.
I would enjoy that irony in a novel, not in real life.

reply to post by zeddissad


I need to go out but I will come back in a few hours and write you a U2U. Thanks for your initiative.