Natural Health Newsletter

Randall Neustaedter OMD

Vaccine info breakthrough

Wonder of wonders. The San Francisco Chronicle, usually the bastion of vaccine defense, has broken through with a human-interest story that places vaccines in the unusual light of consumer choice. Titled Vaccination Backlash, the article documents how over 50 percent of entering kindergarteners in the Yuba River Charter School have opted out of vaccinations in an idyllic Sierra foothills town called Nevada City. Their parents refused the kindly entreaties of Nevada County health department personnel, who have quit trying to increase the vaccination rate among these committed parents. This is news, and the San Francisco Chronicle has followed the lead with a six-page weekend magazine cover story. Are the resident parents of this rural community a little flaky, hearkening back to rebellious sixties commune folk? So we are led to believe, since the parents interviewed see naturopathic doctors, homeopaths, midwives, and acupuncturists for their health care, pursue an organic lifestyle, and religiously practice recycling. But wait, aren’t parent groups organizing and refusing vaccination in urban centers all over the country? This article could describe parents in Minneapolis, Nashville, or Washington DC. The grand state of Texas has one of the most vocal and active vaccination-choice parent groups in the country, www.vaccineinfo.net.

The reporter, Katherine Seligman, and the Chronicle should be congratulated for taking the controversial position that refusing vaccines may be a wise choice for parents. I urge every one of you to read her article at

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/05/25/CM171959.DTL

and send her an email kseligman@sfchronicle.com. It has a matter of fact tone that conveys the confidence of these parents’ decision not to vaccinate. “Many parents say they considered the pros and cons of vaccination and believe that their children are better off without the shots.” The article contains none of the hysteria of other recent depictions, and refuses to become mired in the controversies swirling over mercury, autism, and government shenanigans. It mentions the suspicious vaccine/autism connection, and relates how a quarter of all parents believe that vaccines weaken or damage the immune system. This is a bold article for mainstream media.

Unfortunately, parents who read the article are left to find their own resources for vaccine choices. She does not mention the national parents’ organization  NVIC www.909shot.com or books like The Vaccine Guide and What Your Doctor May Not Tell You about Childhood Vaccinations. Nonetheless, the parents described in the article come across as thoughtful and committed to their children’s health. The exhortations of NIH authorities sound weak and futile. Holding down a child for that dreaded injection sounds much worse, and as one mother puts it in the article, “It doesn’t feel right.” Congratulations to the Chronicle for beginning to question the accepted dogma of the vaccination-manic, medical-media propaganda machine.

Randall Neustaedter OMD, LAc
Classical Medicine Center
1779 Woodside Rd #201C
Redwood City, CA 94061
650 299-9170

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Author of The Vaccine Guide, North Atlantic Books, 2002