http://www.mercola.com/2001/feb/14/chicken_pox_vaccine.htm
Maryland and
federal health officials will converge on Takoma Park Elementary School next
week to find out why at least 12 students contracted chickenpox in the past two months despite receiving
vaccinations against the disease.
Of the 16 cases of chickenpox tallied so far at the Montgomery
County school, all but four involved youngsters who reportedly
received the vaccine before they
were 3 years old.
Physicians are not required to report
chickenpox to government agencies, and it isn't clear whether the number of
cases logged at the school so far is accurate -- especially because some cases
are so mild that parents aren't aware of them.
Officials with the Montgomery County
Department of Health and Human Services, the state Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will use
a survey to nail down the numbers and help whether the vaccine has failed in
some way.
Jane Seward, acting chief of CDC's child
vaccine and preventable diseases branch, said she is not alarmed by Takoma Park
Elementary's outbreak.
It is possible the high percentage of
cases among reportedly vaccinated children merely reflects the Maryland chickenpox
vaccination rate, one of the highest in the nation, she said.
"That's what you start to see when a
state achieves a high coverage rate for a vaccine," she said. In 1999, 78.5 percent of Maryland children in the target age group
were vaccinated, the third-best
performance of any state, she said.
Since chickenpox vaccine was licensed in
1995, its use has grown steadily, she said. Doctors never expected it to wipe out the illness; instead the vaccine is supposed to prevent
chickenpox in 80 to 85 percent of those who receive it and prevent severe cases
from developing in the rest, she said.
Severe cases bring hundreds of painful
blisters, high fever, excruciating itchiness, possible infection caused by
scratching, and decreased appetite caused by sores in the mouth.
In extreme cases, patients can develop
pneumonia, brain infection or bleeding disorders, Seward said. CDC says more
than 5,000 people are hospitalized and about 100 die of chickenpox nationwide
each year.
Washington Post February 2, 2001;
Page B08
DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:
A number of amazing statistics in here.
The most obvious is that the vaccine did not appear to offer protection for
many of the children who received it. Even more amazing is that the experts
predicted that the more children who receive the vaccine, the more this would
happen.
If a child eats properly, the
likelihood of any complications from naturally acquired chickenpox is quite
minimal. The natural infection is far better at providing an immune protective
response.
These scientists are fooling with some
potentially huge problems. Now the vaccine is not working to protect the
children from chickenpox. What will happen to these kids and others as they
grow older and are far more prone to developing the adult manifestation of
chickenpox, herpes zoster (shingles)?
It is interesting that all of the news
reports mention that the cases of chicken pox in the vaccinated children were
"mild", insinuating that this is somehow preferable to a
"normal" case. However, what exactly does this REALLY mean?
Well, according to the CDC's website, in people
vaccinated the "cases of disease caused by the wild virus...are typically
very mild, with fewer than 50 skin lesions and no fever." The fact that
there is no fever caused by the chicken pox should throw up a BIG red flag to
everyone. It means that the natural immune response of the body, of which fever
is an important part, is being suppressed.
A good strong immune response to the
varicella virus that causes chicken pox is important for several reasons.
First, it is a virus that will remain in the body forever, as it lives in the
nervous system even after the typical lesions are long gone. In a healthy adult
who had the natural illness, this should not be a problem, as the immune system
will keep the virus in check.
However, the "mild" chicken
pox seen in some children given the vaccine may not provide adequate lifelong
protection from complications or reactivation of the latent virus. Also, the
varicella virus is a member of the Human Herpes virus family and is also known
as human herpesvirus 3 (HHV3). Since other viruses in this family can cause
problems, naturally acquired chicken pox may provide some protection against
these other viruses as well. Herpes viruses have been implicated in causing cancer,
Bell's
Palsy, and Multiple
Sclerosis .
"The
Virus Within", an excellent book by Nicholas Regush is a pioneering
investigation into the potential adverse health effects of Human Herpes Virus 6
(HHV-6), and maintains that the virus may play an important role in AIDS and
chronic fatigue syndrome.
Chicken pox may be severe in infants,
but if the mother has had the natural disease and is breastfeeding, this should
provide adequate protection from complications, although it may be prudent to
have the infant monitored by a competent physician, just to be safe. I am not
sure if this protection extends to mothers who were vaccinated, although I
would guess that their antibody levels would be much lower and therefore they
may not be able to provide as much protection. Premature infants are also at
greater risk, due to lower antibody levels against the virus that are normally transferred
from the mother.
In addition to infants, chicken pox can
also be severe in adults, causing a higher rate of complications and deaths
than in children. This highlights another big problem with the vaccine. Since
it produces much lower antibody levels than the natural infection, it is likely
that when vaccinated children become adults, they will be at a higher risk of
these complications.
The topic of chicken pox is very
apropos right now, as the incidence peaks in the late winter and spring.
Related
Articles:
Chicago Tribune
Opposes Chickenpox Vaccine Mandate
Chicken Pox
Vaccine Reactivates When Immunity Declines
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