OK, I just posted a new thread, that I must have somehow sent to cyberspace.

I was researching the Rituximab-PML link....that is scary enough, but I got sidetracked onto this.

During the period between 1950-1963, 98 million people were accidentally infected with SV40, a Simian virus, when they took their oral polio vaccine. Now the incidence of lymphoproliferative disorders and some rare tumors is skyrocketing....and SV40 has been isolated in tumors. Apparently there is a drift that SV40 may be at work. Also, what kills me, is they used live virus that apparent was INTENDED to shed to non-innoculated people and immunize them too. Now, I live thru that period, and likely got SV40, since my state was included in the list.

Anyway, the other virus was of course JC. JC is present in up to 90% of us as a latent virus. JC is what causes PML. I read an Italian study that found PML in 2.89 of the 821 NHL subjects treated with Rituxan. Also there was also a citation that stated PML occurs in Lupus at a rate of 1/4000, regardless of treatment. (?? doesn't make a ton of sense to me given AI disease is kind of the 'opposite of HIV)) That makes me wonder why they immunosuppress for this disease, which makes me wonder if this is behind what appears to be a real reticence of rheumatologists to do anything but prescribe Lyrica or Cymbalta.

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/101/18/1288.full

The last virus was BK and I didn't read up on that yet....I had enough for one day.

Glenn?? Have you researched this in terms of molecular mimicry?? Any one else??

They are poking holes in my grandson with all the vaccines...my son who served overseas has not been the same since he was also ambushed with needles.....I am NOT against vaccines, but....do they know what they are doing with them and these -mab drugs??? EEEESH. (not to mention my ivig....ugh)

I don't think all is viral mimicry.

Some viruses stay latent in the body... Epstein Barr and Herpes Simplex and Herpes Zoster, and many others. Our immune systems keep them in check, but they can erupt anytime. Drugs that suppress the immune system may activate them. Chemo drugs may activate them, aging or stress may activate them.
Alot depends on your genetic ability to cope with them.

The shingles virus (Herpes Zoster) lives in the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord and waits for opportune times to activate. Most of the research has been done on it.

There are even studies showing virus incorporation into the epigenetic (or so called junk) DNA in humans and being passed down thru the chromosomes in many generations to offspring!

It can get pretty complicated! Mimicry is only one form of attack.

Glenn will come on here I hope to explain molecular mimicry in more detail.

Vaccines however, may in some people with genetic inclinations, create a situation where antibodies are formed that react to the adjuvants in the vaccines, which then attack the recipient. Squalene, is one adjuvant that has been shown in animals to cause autoimmune attack.

I know polio was awful, (my friend survived it, but with sequelae) but what on earth were they thinking?? What an unmitigated disaster. Did any one ever tell us we may have received this? I can't remember a bruha.

Also, every article I read on PML gives me a different statistic on incidence.

PML is very controversial now, because of the new drug being trialed in MS.

If you go there to the MS forum and search you will find many posts on it.

I see that, but, apparently not every one that dies of it, ends up with that as diagnosis....and it is no wonder, docs don't want to fill out the adverse reaction paperwork, and potentially open up a can of ligitation worms, if that is possible with drugs like rituxan.

I see that it is being trialed in MS...it appears to be 'good' for everything...vitamin R.

How can one study say 2.89/1000 and another one article say 3/100,000?

I don't want to sound like a conspiracy buff, but, really, were these drugs not intended for life or death? I mean, if I come down with lymphoma (which is a distinct possibility), then, fine if other things fail. Thing is, people are taking this for other reasons. One researcher who started the RADAR system to track this drug, said, only when all else fails, basically, life or death.

My doc brought it up, and I am going to pass.

Also, another interesting fact, Risperdal and other antipsychotics appear to block JC entry into the brain....great if you can take these drugs. I can't....due to some dopamine disorder=movement disorder. Makes me wonder if that increases succeptibility to PML. I know that is a jump...but, I wonder if that has been looked at.

Oh, and I don't think they should be pulled, because for some people they work...I just wonder if they should be used as quickly as they are.

As I understand it, the PML virus JC is often acquired early in life and is already in the brain. The studies about the antipsychotics are pretty out of date, and I don't think pertain to most people.

You have to really use critical thinking when reading about this.
PML is showing up in those people using the new biological agents for inflammation. But even then it is a very small percentage who actually develop it.

Part of that is the problem. If you die of lymphoma, did you die of CNS complications of lymphoma or PML. Did you die of "Lupus Cerebritis" or cns complications of MS rather than PML. There is so little that really differentiates it.

Yes, up to 90% of us are infected with JC. JC it ubiquitous.

Maybe people don't need such large dosing as to annihilate the CD20 count. These are valid studies, I have been reading. I am trying to find the one in the financial realm, (which is where you get facts), that states the age, gender and diagnosis of each victim. I read it but didn't save it.

The stats are recorded here and there, as for example, 3rd Lupus patient, or 3rd RA patient. Total it looks like 57 out of several hundred thousand, but I can't find the total incidence, or the total times it was administered.

I AM critical, and the profit motive really makes me even more critical. When a drug becomes "appropriate" for so many diseases....hmm. When we are producing an HIV like B cell depletion in people suffering from chronic, not potentially terminal disease.....I dunno.

I would like a credible risk versus benefit ratio.

This is the guy that stated we need to be more mindful that these drugs are not for every one suffering degenerative maladies, basically.

Dr. Charles Bennett and his innovative RADAR Project (Research on Adverse Drug Events and Reports).

My husband has a coworker with MS, and in 2 years she has gotten so ill, I can't believe it...I have never seen a case progress this fast. She is on Avonex not ritux, and also she has been on steroids. I have some real concerns for her. She has white spots all over her brain.

I have another friend, a very good friend with Sarc, who went the old course with pred and mtx, and despite very advanced Sarc, is doing well.

Every one is individual. I would love to stop this 'stuff' I have going on, but, knowing me, and my luck...I dunno. Is it worth trading a life, even if compromised, for the fear or risk of PML....eesh. Then again, mine is slowly progressive....not like our friend with MS.

Ritux is not for an over-informed worry wart.