Elsevier

Medical Hypotheses

Volume 56, Issue 5, May 2001, Pages 677-686
Medical Hypotheses

Regular Article
Polio, hepatitis B and AIDS: an integrative theory on a possible vaccine induced pandemic

https://doi.org/10.1054/mehy.2000.1171Get rights and content

Abstract

The hypothesis that simian virus 40 (SV40) infected polio vaccines may be linked to the evolution of acquired immunodeficiency disorder (AIDS), and certain cancers, has been advanced. Most recently, investigators discussed the likelihood of gene-reshuffling following SV40 infection as a precursor to acquired immune dysfunction. Findings of recent SV40 infections in four children born after 1982 suggest infections were transmitted vertically along gene lines. Earlier observations proved activation of a retrovirus gene by a hepatitis B virus (HBV) protein. This paper proposes a new integrative theory on the origin of AIDS. It advances the possibility of genetic recombinations with oncogene activation by HBV involving simian viruses that likely infected polio vaccinated blood donors to the initial hepatitis B (HB) vaccine trials conducted on gay men in New York City and Ugandan Blacks in the early to mid-1970s. The socio-economic and even military ramifications associated with this politically challenging thesis are discussed.

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