I learned two things today; (1) scientific innovation is dependent upon free access to information and materials, and (2) the universe is oblivious to the concept of "fairness." Of course I knew both of these things before today intellectually, but they now sit upon my consciousness with a weight and a tangibility that they had not previously possessed.As I write, the shouts and merrymaking continue unabated. They have taken to the streets to celebrate the vaccine for the Hong Kong Flu. Edwin Kilbourne's work is heralded as the solution to global influenza pandemics. At my core, I am very happy for this wonderful news, but at a level slightly closer to the surface than my core, I feel uneasy. I do not begrudge him any of the adulation that he has already started to receive, and will undoubtedly continue to receive for some time, but I worry that this hero worship devalues the contributions of all of the other brilliant researchers working in the field. Should they be forced to toil in anonymity just because they do not have the full backing of the federal government? And let us be serious; it's just the flu, it's not like he cured poliomyelitis or something. Sabin's oral polio vaccine: now that was a vaccine!
As we have heard ad nauseum, the vaccine is based on the killed virus itself. Obviously, access to the H3N2 virus was crucial to his work. It is an advantage that my work did not enjoy. When I asked the CDC for samples, they declined to provide one, citing my lack of an "official" medical doctorate and my "strangely worded letter" as excuses. Despite this insult, I labored on, knowing my work was not to satisfy my pride, but to better the lot of humanity. Whenever my resolve flagged, I had simply to think of the thousands of hippies throwing up at their sit-ins around the world to re-inspire myself.
Without the live virus to work with, I focused on alternate means of eradicating the flu, utilizing western and non-western strategies. With the aid of a Shaman with whom I am acquainted, I have most recently been experimenting with an alpaca poncho that's infused with camphor, antimicrobials, and ancestor spirits. One would think a line of research as exciting as this would have immediate governmental backing, but innovation means nothing to the kind of people who resist my work, and the federal government is full of them. So, because I will not sanitize my work to make it palatable for the unimaginative (I mean that figuratively, all of my instruments are sterile), or "lower my voice" (here I am being literal) I was forced to fund the work with my own assets.
While I stand by my work, and believe the poncho is only months away from entering clinical trials, I can't help but assume that it would be my name that the crowds would be chanting, had I been given access to those H3N2 samples by the CDC.
