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The Vaccine Cocktail

According to Merck & Co., each 0.5 mL dose of Varivax contains the following: a minimum of 1350 plaque-forming units (PFU) of Oka/Merck varicella virus, 25 mg of sucrose, 12.5 mg hydrolyzed gelatin, 3.2 mg sodium chloride, 0.5 mg monosodium L-glutamate, 0.45 mg sodium phosphate dibasic, 0.08 mg potassium phosphate monobasic, 0.08 mg potassium chloride; residual components of MRC-5 (cloned, aborted-fetus) cells including (guinea pig) DNA and protein; and trace quantities of sodium phosphate monobasic, EDTA, neomycin, and fetal bovine serum.

Varivax contains no preservative, so you don't have to worry about thimerosal. But what about that MSG, MRC-5 cells, guinea-pig DNA, and fetal bovine serum? Well, MSG is a neurotoxin. Enough said. Allegedly, chromosomal abnormalities in the vaccine's MRC-5 cells exceed generally accepted limits. But Merck concluded that these abnormalities were not tumorigenic and were therefore "safe."

As for guinea-pig DNA, according to Merck, detectable infectious agents were not present in the material used to produce Varivax. To see the half-truth in Merck's statement, one need only remember the 1960 controversy over the use, in early polio vaccines, of monkey DNA containing SV40, a then-undetectable monkey virus.

Every year, previously "undetected" viruses are discovered in fetal bovine serum. Contamination citations include bovine viral diarrhea virus, bovine herpesviruses 1 and 4, and bovine polyomavirus.1, 2

Another detail in Merck's small print: "Varivax has not been evaluated for its carcinogenic or mutagenic potential, or its potential to impair fertility."

Sounds like Pox Party time!

NOTES
1. R. L. Levings, S. J. Wessman, "Bovine Diarrhea Virus Contamination of Nutrient Serum, Cell Cultures, and Viral Vaccines," Dev Biol Stand 75 (1991): 177-181.
2. László Egyed, "Replication of Bovine Herpesvirus Type 4 in Human Cells in Vitro," Journal of Clinical Microbiology 36, no. 7 (July 1998): 2109-2111.