(This article was originally published in our March-July 2012 newsletter.)
The battle over AB 2109 has caused us to do far more detailed research into the vaccine controversy than we have in the past. Most parents know many of the dangers of communicable diseases, but rarely know the critical details of the life-and-death dangers of different vaccines. We urge you, as caring parents who are trying to protect your families from danger, to be courageous and persevering in informing yourself and others on the questionable safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Please read the very good introductory article below on vaccinations. A good starting place is the National Vaccine Information Center at www.nvic.org.
VACCINATIONS: PARENTS’ INFORMED CHOICE
by Lynne Born, Weston A. Price Foundation; Nov. 2007
[Condensed edited version by permission. Comments inside brackets and emphases are from the editor of this FPM Newsletter.]
Because the misinformation surrounding vaccination is so extensive, many parents don’t even question whether or not they should vaccinate their child, overlooking one of the most important decisions a parent can make. Since medical authorities say vaccination is safe, most parents simply go ahead with vaccination, completely unaware of the potential dangers and are unable to recognize a serious reaction when it does occur.
And since government health departments and school authorities give the impression that vaccination is mandated for every child in the United States, most parents believe they are legally required to vaccinate their child. But currently in all 50 states, you are free to decline vaccination entirely, or adopt a partial vaccination schedule, an important decision about the health and welfare of your child.
However, parents face tremendous pressure from doctors, the media, schools and even other parents, to follow the standard vaccination schedule and subject their child to an ever-escalating protocol of multiple injections at various stages of their young lives, even including injections with several vaccines in the same shot.
Misinformation
Most people assume that vaccines have been subjected to thorough trials and rigorous studies proving that vaccines are safe and effective. Parents have been told that mass vaccination campaigns ended multiple epidemics around the world, that vaccines are effective at preventing the illnesses they are targeted against, and that side effects are rare and generally consist of only sore arms or mild fevers that pass quickly….
However, parents who take the time to dig deeper find that these assertions lack solid scientific backing. Not only has there never been a single long-term study comparing the health and welfare of vaccinated to unvaccinated children, multiple examples can easily be found of vaccinated children acquiring the very illness they have been vaccinated against. Furthermore, there is overwhelming evidence that vaccines can be extremely harmful, permanently disabling and even deadly to our children. And the current system for tracking and reporting adverse reactions to the FDA is sloppy, poorly executed and voluntary rather than mandatory, even when a child has been permanently disabled or killed by a vaccine.
Vaccination Prevents Natural Immunity
When a baby becomes infected with a communicable disease, his immune system responds through a sophisticated web of interlocking reactions that can produce immunity for life to naturally acquired childhood diseases. These miraculous defenses exist, in part, to keep invading microbes and viruses from taking hold in the deeper systems and organs of the body.
But vaccines contain both live and dead viruses, killed bacteria, genetically engineered DNA and chemical preservatives, which are injected directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the natural immune response. This deprives the body of the ability to naturally develop life-long immunity in all its multifaceted complexity to normal childhood diseases like measles, mumps and chicken pox.
So Many Shots
Thirty years ago, children received a total of four vaccines, but today a fully vaccinated child receives a whopping 37-50 [number is constantly increasing]vaccine injections during the early, formative years of a child’s life, when his developing immune system is most vulnerable. While unvaccinated children will never develop every disease for which children are given a vaccine, their bodies are forced by the [state-prescribed] vaccination schedule [for school entrance] to respond to them all.
Furthermore, the DPT vaccine [also “DTaP” and “Tdap” vaccines] forces an immune response to diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis [whooping cough] on the same day, an event that would never happen in real life. Plus, there are virtually no studies or scientific research on the effects of multiple viral and bacterial vaccines given in combination or in close succession, and how they affect the human body.
Evidence of Vaccine Harm
The medical profession is extremely reluctant to acknowledge adverse reactions to vaccination, even when the reaction is instantaneous or occurs within a few hours, and even with adults who can clearly verbalize their negative reactions, which infants are unable to do. And since no studies have ever tracked negative effects that occur over the long term, reactions that occur days, weeks or years later are almost never attributed to the vaccine [or reported].
Not a single study exists to prove that vaccines are safe over the long term. However, evidence of vaccine harm is not really a secret — hundreds of published medical studies have documented both vaccine failure and vaccine harm, even though most pediatricians continue to vaccinate and most parents remain completely unaware of these studies.1
One well-known example of a long-term negative vaccine reaction occurred with the polio vaccine used in the late 1950s into the early 1960s. This vaccine was later found to be contaminated with a monkey virus, SV40, which had tainted the vaccine during production.2 And even though the virus was discovered in 1960, the contaminated vaccine continued to be given to American children for three more years with the full knowledge of government health authorities, until it was withdrawn in 1963. Thirty years later, SV40 has been isolated in bone, brain and lung cancers of disabled and deceased adults. The SV40 vaccine debacle proves a direct connection between a vaccine and a slow-growing cancer which developed decades after the vaccine.3 Unfortunately, authorities made no effort to find and track adult recipients of the vaccine.
Delayed negative reactions to vaccines have also been confirmed by the work of Dr. Viera Scheibner, who developed a baby monitor in an effort to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).4 Her monitor sounds an alarm if the baby stops breathing or shows patterns of stress breathing during sleep. In designing the monitor, she had no preconceived intention of specifically tracking vaccination reactions, as she had never conceived of the fact that vaccinations were in any way problematic or harmful.
In due course of tracking infant breathing at night, she recorded the breathing patterns of babies following the DPT [diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus also in “DTaP” and “Tdap”] injection. She found that the vaccine caused babies a great deal of stress and that this stress showed a remarkable uniformity, with stress flare-ups immediately following the vaccine on day 2 or 5, or delayed reactions on the 15-16th or 20-25th day in babies who recovered and those who subsequently died from SIDS. Scheibner’s monitor proved that death from the vaccine sometimes occurs weeks after the injection.
Adverse Events Not Reported Or Tracked
One of the great dangers of the current pro-vaccine mentality is the fact that negative vaccine reactions are very rarely reported to the adverse event reporting system, a system rife with problems. When a vaccine is released onto the market, post-marketing surveillance is supposed to track any negative reactions from the millions of people taking the newly released vaccine. However, not only is the adverse reporting system entirely voluntary, 90 to 99 percent of all adverse reactions are never reported, according to David Kessler, head of the FDA [Federal Drug Administration] for most of the 1990s5 And no oversight of any kind ensures that reports made directly to the pharmaceutical companies are then forwarded to the FDA–the process is run entirely by the “honor system.”
Hepatitis B Vaccine At Birth
Hepatitis B is primarily an adult disease transmitted through blood and body fluids. High-risk populations include drug users, heterosexuals and homosexuals with many sexual partners, health care workers exposed to blood, and babies born to infected mothers.
In spite of the low risk for children in general, and in spite of the ability to target at-risk children by specifically testing their mothers before birth, the CDC added the hepatitis B vaccine to the recommended vaccination schedule in 1991, with the first of three doses to be administered on the very day of birth before leaving the hospital.
Since the vaccine is recommended for the first day of life, Merck was asked for safety data on newborns. They replied, “We have none. Our studies were done on 5- and 10-year-olds.”6
Since the introduction of this vaccine, there have been hundreds of reports in the medical literature (mostly published in international medical journals outside of the United States) citing central nervous system diseases, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, arthritis, severe rashes, fever, chronic fatigue, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) as a direct result of the vaccine. Parents have filed tens of thousands of adverse event reports with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, including emergency room visits, hospitalization and deaths. A study in New Zealand reported a 60 percent increase in juvenile diabetes after a massive campaign to vaccinate babies from 1988 to 1991 with the hepatitis B vaccine.7 Even Merck itself admits to systemic complaints such as fever, joint pain, fatigue and weakness in up to 17 percent of all hepatitis B injections. And perhaps most telling of all, over 50 percent of the doctors surveyed in the UK refused to take the hepatitis B vaccine themselves, citing the known dangers from the vaccine.
But most disturbing is the fundamental question of why this vaccine was recommended for infants in the first place. In 1996, there were 1,080 reports of adverse reactions among 0-1 year olds from the vaccine, including 47 deaths. If only 10 percent of the true deaths and injuries are being reported–an extremely conservative estimate–this means that there were actually over 10,800 adverse reactions and 470 deaths from the vaccine. Yet in that same year, there were only 54 cases of the disease reported in the 0-1 year old group. This frightful equation reveals that for every child that acquires hepatitis B, the vaccine kills 9 babies and injures 200.
Why subject tens of millions of infants to the known dangers of this vaccine when the few babies actually at risk for the disease can be identified by simply screening the mother?
In addition to problems with genetically engineered vaccines, many vaccines–notably the MMR, chickenpox and Sabin polio vaccines–inject live viruses into the body. Various stabilizers and preservatives are added including formaldehyde, lead, aluminum and MSG. Unknown amounts of RNA and DNA from animal and human cell tissue culture have been found as well. And even though concerned parent groups have fought for the removal of the mercury-based preservative thimerisol from childhood vaccines, the pharmaceutical industry still uses mercury in flu vaccines, a new addition to the recommended yearly vaccination schedule for children starting at age 6 months.8
Additionally, the medical industry has continued to use old lots of thimerisol-containing vaccines until supplies are exhausted, rather than pull them from the market immediately, as they should.
Mercury in Vaccines and Autism
More than 500,000 children suffer from autism, with 40,000 new cases diagnosed every year. The disease was unknown until 1943, when it was identified and diagnosed among eleven children born after thimerosal was first added to baby vaccines in 1931.
The CDC counters parental anger and negative publicity by citing studies that vindicate thimerosal, studies opponents claim are doctored and highly suspect. “You couldn’t even construct a study that shows thimerosal is safe,” says Dr. Boyd Haley, a biochemist and one of the world’s authorities on mercury toxicity and head of the Chemistry Department at the University of Kentucky. “It’s just too darn toxic. If you inject thimerosal into an animal, its brain will sicken. If you apply it to living tissue, the cells die. If you put it in a petri dish, the culture dies. Knowing these things, it would be shocking if one could inject it into an infant without causing damage.”9
Thimerosal enables the pharmaceutical industry to package vaccines in vials that contain multiple doses. The larger vials cost half as much to produce as smaller, single-dose vials, and are needed to make mass vaccination programs cost effective.
Families “Compensated” For Loss Of Their Child
Because of the dramatic increase in the number of injuries from childhood vaccines over the past decades, Congress enacted the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, setting up a fund to compensate parents for injured or dead children (as if a parent could ever be “compensated” for the loss of their child due to vaccination).
The many excellent organizations10 that work to inform doctors and parents of the risks of vaccines describe the anguished phone calls they receive, recounting the devastation, guilt, confusion and distress that follow.11 Parents describe babies who within hours or days of their vaccination, run fevers, become restless or listless, fall into deep sleeps interspersed with piercing screams, arch their backs strangely while they cry, fall into comas or repetitive seizures, twitch, jerk, or stare into space blankly. Or, parents describe a general decline in overall health with constant ear infections, sudden sensitivities to foods and food allergies, sleep disturbances, asthma, unexplained rashes, and loss of developmental milestones replaced instead with repetitive head banging or body rocking. Many parents and doctors believe the staggering increase in chronic childhood illness is a reaction to the dozens of vaccines that are now part of the standard vaccination schedule.
Childhood asthma, autism, diabetes, attention deficit disorder, and obesity have skyrocketed as well.12
Do Vaccines Even Work?
Even if parents find out about the risks of vaccines on their own, their doctors usually assure them that the risk is worth the almost certain benefit of freedom from infectious disease that their child receives. However, time and again, vaccines have simply not worked against the disease they are targeted to prevent. A 1990 Journal of the American Medical Association article stated “Although more than 95 percent of school-aged children in the US are vaccinated against measles, large measles outbreaks continue to occur in schools and most cases . . . occur among previously vaccinated children.” The medical literature is filled with example after example of the failure of vaccination to furnish protection against common childhood diseases. [Recent reports of whooping cough (pertussis) outbreaks have revealed that the vast majority that were infected were current on their recommended whooping cough vaccinations.]13
But rather than accept the premise that the entire system of vaccination is fundamentally flawed, the medical industry calls for “booster” shots and re-vaccination, without any solid, long-term studies to see whether immunity is actually achieved and, if so, for how long.
Vaccine Manufacturers Create Pressure to Vaccinate
The children of the United States represent the most highly vaccinated population in the world. Millions of dollars are provided by the multi-national pharmaceuticals to create front organizations like “All Kids Count” and “Immunization Action Coalition,” groups with friendly, neutral names that disguise the pharmaceutical funding behind their mandate to promote vaccination. Vaccines produce billions of dollars a year for the drug companies, in part because the federal government funds massive vaccination drives by buying vaccines with our tax dollars and then giving state health departments millions of dollars with the goal of achieving 100 percent vaccine compliance.
How To Opt Out
While vaccines may be recommended by the CDC, they are not “legally required.” No one has the legal authority to vaccinate your child against your wishes.
If the birth will take place in a hospital, you can amend the medical treatment forms or your birth plan, and clearly state that you do not want any vaccines for your baby while in the hospital. You should also communicate your request verbally with the staff on all shifts, either yourself or by having your spouse or advocate communicate your wishes clearly and directly. [Editor: You or your spouse can also unknowingly give permission when you sign forms in a hospital, clinic, doctor’s office, at the birth of a child, during routine check-ups, etc. So read these carefully and strike through any language that you object to, signing your name by each set of strikethroughs. Try to be with your child the whole time they are in the care of medical care staff and be aware of what is going on. Research what to expect, what different scenarios are possible, and know your options before the birth of your baby. You and your spouse make your decisions and communicate them verbally and in writing, with your current dated signatures.]
Once your child is born, the pressure to vaccinate comes from two sources–medical authorities and school authorities. Medically, you are free to make any decision at any time you feel is best regarding your child’s vaccination schedule. However, if you opt out of vaccinations, many doctors may lie about vaccines being mandatory or frighten you with exaggerated statistics about the dangers of not vaccinating and refuse to treat your child. Unfortunately, the “bread and butter” of pediatric practice are the many “well baby” visits that include vaccination throughout your child’s development.14
However, it is the entry into day care or school that triggers the need for legal exemptions. There are three types of exemptions [in the various states] — philosophical, medical and religious. [Generally, the penalty for non-compliance is to not be allowed to attend a day care center or classes in a school. Legal exemptions are determined by state law and vary from state to state.]
Once you check the laws for your particular state, you can choose the exemption type that is best for your situation.15 It is very important to submit the appropriate paperwork to the school so that your refusal to vaccinate cannot be interpreted as parental neglect. Above all, remember that no authority has the legal right to vaccinate your child without your permission. Do not be coerced or intimidated into vaccinating your child–it is your choice and your right to do what you feel is best.
The recent avalanche of drug scandals exposing death and injury from drugs fully approved by the FDA demonstrates harm far greater than specific problems with individual drugs. When it comes to your child, you are the expert most qualified to decide what is best for your child, using your intelligence and common sense.
If You Must Vaccinate:
- Wait until the child is at least 2 years old.
- Do not give more than one vaccination at a time.
- Never vaccinate when the child is sick.
- Be sure that the vaccines are thimerosal-free [and totally preservative-free – comes in individually packaged doses].
- Obtain a medical [or personal or religious or philosophical – depending on your state] exemption if the child has had a bad reaction to a vaccination before or if there is a personal or family history of vaccine reactions, convulsions or neurological disorders, severe allergies and/or immune system disorders.
[Original article available at http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/vaccinations-parents-informed-choice]
This information in this article is not intended to be nor does it constitute constitute the giving of legal or medical advice.
ENDNOTES
- 1997 Illinois Board of Health hearing, The Congressional Quarterly, August 25, 2000, pg. 647.
- http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-site-search-result.aspx?q=Thimerosal%20and%20Flu%20Vaccine
- http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-site-search-result.aspx?q=mercury%20and%20autism
- http://www.whale.to/vaccine/hayley.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntlucFwSBek
- National Vaccination Information Center: http://www.nvic.org
Think Twice Global Vaccine Institute: http://www.thinktwice.com - http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/facts-about-autism
http://www.naturalnews.com/035452_autism_vaccinations_children.html - http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/July-2010/Whooping-Cough-Outbreaks-Vaccine-Failures.aspx
http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/July-2012/ca-bill-to-restrict-personal-belief-vaccine-exempt.aspx#NVAC - See How To Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctors, by Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. for an excellent resource on parenting without vaccination.
- http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-site-search-result.aspx?q=mercury%20and%20autism
http://www.whale.to/vaccine/hayley.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntlucFwSBek - National Vaccination Information Center: http://www.nvic.org
Think Twice Global Vaccine Institute: http://www.thinktwice.com - See http://www.thinktwice.com/stories.htm
- http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/facts-about-autism
http://www.naturalnews.com/035452_autism_vaccinations_children.html - http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/July-2010/Whooping-Cough-Outbreaks-Vaccine-Failures.aspx
http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/July-2012/ca-bill-to-restrict-personal-belief-vaccine-exempt.aspx#NVAC - See How To Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctors, by Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. for an excellent resource on parenting without vaccination.
- http://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requirements.aspx