THE VIRUS AND THE VACCINE

The only thing I know about this vaccine is that it starts with a monkey's kidney and it ends up going into a child's arm. Could you explain a little to us the process in between?
—Edward R. Murrow, to Dr. Jonas Salk,
See it Now, CBS Television, February 22, 1955

In the spring of 1954, Jonas Salk launched the massive field trials of his polio vaccine that signaled the end of polio in the Western Hemisphere. Now, on the 50th anniversary of this seminal event, St. Martin’s Press unveils THE VIRUS AND THE VACCINE, a provocative new book which examines the dark side of this medical miracle. In THE VIRUS AND THE VACCINE, authors Debbie Bookchin and Jim Schumacher uncover a frightening and largely untold government secret that affects almost every American over age 40: In the 1950s and 1960s, the polio vaccine used to inoculate millions of Americans carried within it a monkey virus called SV40, one of the deadliest carcinogens known to man.  Even more alarming, Bookchin and Schumacher discover that the U.S. government -- fearful of the public’s reaction -- systematically covered up and disregarded the danger that SV40 poses to humans.

In THE VIRUS AND THE VACCINE, Bookchin and Schumacher reveal that SV40 has been conclusively linked to such cancers as mesothelioma, bone tumors and a variety of brain tumors; it has also been associated with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Together, these deadly cancers afflict more than 60,000 Americans a year. They also unearth some startling facts, including:

The U.S. government used its influence to try to damage the careers of researchers and doctors who attempted to expose the link between SV40 and cancer.

In the 1960s, the U.S. government allowed SV40-contaminated polio vaccine to be administered and maintained that SV40 was harmless to humans, even as the evidence pointed to the contrary.

There is evidence that SV40 is present in some blood samples taken from children today, indicating that the virus is spreading even beyond the original 100 million Americans who received widely contaminated vaccine back in the 1950s and 1960s.

There is evidence that more modern polio vaccine may, at times, have been contaminated right through the 1990s, decades after it was supposedly cleaned up.

Bookchin and Schumacher present a meticulous, well-documented investigation into this unknown story in medical history, detailing the disturbing government efforts to keep the link between SV40, cancer and the polio vaccine quiet. Likewise, they follow the recent struggles of an enterprising Loyola University Medical School doctor named Michele Carbone, whose persistence in linking SV40 to cancer has finally brought this incredible story to light. In a page-turner in the tradition of The Hot Zone, this powerfully written account takes readers on a side-by-side journey with some of today’s most prominent cancer researchers as they explore exactly how SV40 causes cancer and what might be done to stop it.

In the era of SARS, bird flu virus and other animal-to-human transmitted viral diseases, the story of how a carcinogenic monkey virus contaminated America’s polio vaccine is one that needs to be told. This is essential reading for anyone who has received polio vaccine. THE VIRUS AND THE VACCINE brings the full story to the attention of the national public for the first time.

About the Authors

Debbie Bookchin is a prize-winning journalist who has written for numerous newspapers and magazines including The Atlantic Monthly, Boston Magazine, The Nation, Utne Reader, The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Jim Schumacher has written science articles for periodicals including The Atlantic Monthly and Boston Magazine.

Both Bookchin and Schumacher, as well as Dr. Michele Carbone and other scientists, are available for interviews to discuss this important story. 

For more information about how to contact the authors for an interview contact:

Nancy Kahan
860-435-4884
nancy@nancykahanassociates.com

or

Stephen Lee
212-674-5151, ext. 531
Stephen.Lee@stmartins.com


© 2004 Debbie Bookchin & Jim Schumacher. All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by St. Martin’s Press.