Although medical
literature and the media use the terms synonymously, knowing the difference
between the two is vital to our children's health.
We've always been told
that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary. We hear how modern
civilization has been saved from the ravages of infectious disease by the
invention of miraculous vaccines. We hear how important it is for children to
get their shots so they'll be safe from disease. And we all agree: Children
have a right to be protected from harm. But there's a huge body of information
that indicates that vaccinations are dangerous.
There are just too
many unanswered questions. Do vaccines put infants at risk of sudden death? Do
vaccines really give our children immunity to disease? Are all vaccines really
necessary? Are our children unhealthy as a result of vaccination? Are the
climbing rates of infectious and degenerative diseases among adult Americans
partly attributable to the effects of vaccination?
We're programmed to
think of immunization and vaccination as synonyms. That's no accident. It cost
plenty to make us think they're the same. The word "immunization" instead of
"vaccination" is now pervasive in both medical and mainstream literature,
creating a semantic reality that cannot be supported by evidence. There is a
big difference between the two. Immunization means to make someone immune to
something. Vaccination, by contrast, according to Dorland's Medical
Dictionary, justmeans to inject "a suspension of attenuated or
killed microorganisms... administered for prevention... or treatment of
infectious disease."
Vaccination does not
guarantee immunity. Natural immunity happens only after one recovers from the
actual disease. During the disease, the microorganism usually has to pass
through many of the body's natural immune defense systems in the nose,
throat, lungs, digestive tract and lymph tissue before it reaches the
bloodstream. As it does, the microorganism triggers many biological events
that are essential in building true natural immunity. When a child gets a new
disease, he may feel sick for several days, but, in the vast majority of
cases, he will recover.
The first vaccines by
Pasteur and Koch, and also most modern ones, were and are made up of
experimental proteins from rotting, diseased samples of animal tissue (cows,
sheep, monkeys and horses) carrying some "weakened" infectious agent. Others
are toxic by-products of microorganisms that are neutralized by formaldehyde
and aluminum. Most vaccines have components called adjuvants, or helpers.
These include human blood and formaldehyde, a carcinogenic liquid, used for
embalming. Mercury is used as an adjuvant; it is added in the form of
thimerosal, a preservative. It can cause nerve damage, autoimmune disorders
and cancer. Another adjuvant, aluminum, is a proven neurotoxin, positively
associated with a number of disorders. Do we really get immunity from these
concoctions?
The thinking behind
vaccination is that if the person gets a "minor" case of the disease under the
"controlled" conditions of vaccination, he will produce his own antibodies to
the disease agent, and this will confer immunity because his immune system
will remember what the "bad bug" looks like. The next time the bug shows up,
immune defense cells will be ready to kill it. But there is no general
agreement that this truly happens as a result of vaccination.
Unproven assumptions
Researchers like Alan Phillips, author of Dispelling Vaccination Myths,
say that "natural immunity is a complex phenomenon involving many organs and
systems; it cannot be fully replicated by the artificial stimulation of
antibody production." Vaccination by direct injection is based on the unproven
assumption that the mere artificial stimulation of antibodies by the sudden
presence of a foreign agent in the bloodstream confers immunity. It doesn't.
If the body is allowed to figure out how to fight the disease on its own,
without the added confusion and burden of vaccines and drugs, the body can
develop natural immunity and will not be susceptible to the same disease in
the future. It now has a memory of how to fight the disease.
Artificial immunity
from vaccination is often temporary. This helps explain why some individuals
still develop the disease they were vaccinated against. This also is the
reason for booster shots.
Artificial immunity
from vaccination has created the modern phenomenon of atypical forms of the
original disease appearing during adulthood. The process of creating a vaccine
involves making a disease agent gradually weaker and weaker, disguising it
until it is below the threshold of making your body become ill when the
vaccine is injected into your blood. That means your immune system does not
get triggered normally.
By allowing the
inoculation of an attenuated (half-killed) virus or bacteria into the body, we
have done something nature would never permit. We have violated the sanctity
of the bloodstream. We have tricked the immune system into not mounting an
all-out response to a foreign agent. If the vaccine's microorganisms were not
attenuated, all the powers of the natural immune system would join together to
attack the invader.
Harvard Medical
School's Richard Moskowitz, M.D., explains that the way vaccines are evolved
is to make them weaker, just to the point where they don't produce any
immediate inflammatory response. He believes that, in this form, the altered
virus or bacteria can penetrate deeper into our tissues than would naturally
be possible. They can remain latent for a short time or for years. Then when
something triggers them into action, they can manifest themselves in virtually
any place or system of the body, causing major dysfunction, degenerative
disease, or even death.
There is no
convincing scientific evidence that mass inoculation can be credited with
eliminating any infectious disease. If vaccinations were responsible for the
disappearance of these diseases in the U.S., why did these diseases disappear
simultaneously in Europe, where mass vaccinations did not take place?
Undeserved credit
Medical statistician Michael Alderson, author of several classic research
texts, has shown how infectious diseases had sharply declined before mass
vaccination ever came upon the scene. Many researchers feel from looking at
the data that infectious diseases would have largely disappeared without any
vaccines, due to improvements in sanitation and hygiene before mass
inoculations took place. (See chart)
Australian medical
researcher Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., summarized her investigation of some 30,000
pages of medical literature on vaccination in "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,"
a 1999 letter to Congress: "Immunizations, including those practiced on
babies, not only did not prevent any infectious diseases, they caused more
suffering and more deaths than has any other human activity in the entire
history of medical intervention. It will be decades before the mopping-up
after the disasters caused by childhood vaccination will be completed. All
vaccinations should cease forthwith, and all victims of their side effects
should be appropriately compensated."
Jane Orient, M.D.,
Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons,
agrees: "Public policy regarding vaccines is fundamentally flawed...permeated
by conflicts of interest. It is based on poor scientific studies that are too
small, too short and too limited." Dozens of other legitimate researchers and
doctors have come to the same conclusion.
Alan Phillips adds
that the data on vaccines shouldn't really be that much of a secret: "Hundreds
of published medical studies document vaccine failure and adverse effects;
several dozen books have been written expounding on these and related
information condemning vaccines. Yet amazingly most pediatricians and parents
are completely unaware of these findings."
As of December, 2000,
40 vaccinations are currently mandated for children in the American Pediatric
Association's immunization (i.e., vaccination) schedule. The word "mandated"
doesn't mean the same thing as mandatory, but for all intents and purposes, it
might as well. Vaccination is so accepted, is seen as so necessary by most
people, that they don't even question it. If they do, the consequences can be
ostracism or worse.
Since 1986,
the US
government has paid $1.2 billion
to parents of vaccine-injured
and -killed children.
Unless parents sign
exemption forms, children must be vaccinated before they can get into school.
This is the law, and legislation is controlled by lobbying. The second most
powerful lobby in Washington is the pharmaceutical industry. We have to ask,
then, what is behind the vaccination schedule: proven health benefits for our
children or corporate profits?
Pharmaceutical
companies are inventing new vaccines every year, all with the hope of their
being included in the mandated vaccination schedule. It's very big money. And
there are more vaccines on the back burner. Yet there are never long-term
safety studies before vaccines get approved for mass use. There are also never
any follow-up studies about long-term effectiveness of vaccines. This is why
vaccines are always being altered and replaced they cause negative side
effects. That is why, since 1986, the U.S. Federal Government's National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) has paid out over $1.2 billion in
taxpayer dollars to parents of vaccine-injured and -killed children. We and
our children are "lab rats."
Vaccines and our children's declining health
Before mass vaccination programs, the term Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
didn't exist. Now at least 10,000 American babies mysteriously die each year
with the catch-all SIDS diagnosis. Meanwhile, the declining health of our
children is becoming obvious. According to the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC), the figures for asthma incidence since 1980 have gone from 6.7 million
to 17.3 million cases. Most of the increase is in children. More than 5,000
die each year from asthma attacks. The overall health of American children is
pathetic: Asthma, allergies, autoimmune disease and the very infectious
diseases for which they were vaccinated all are on the rise.
Over 15 years ago,
the late Robert Mendelsohn, M.D., Professor of Medicine at University of
Illinois Medical School, wrote, "There is a growing suspicion that
immunization against relatively harmless childhood diseases may be responsible
for the dramatic increase in autoimmune diseases since mass inoculations were
introduced." These include certain cancers, leukemia, rheumatoid arthritis,
multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, lupus and the motor neuron disease,
Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Some of the most
frequent complications of vaccinations "gone wrong" seem to be diseases of the
central nervous system. It's easy to understand why, in the case of children.
Their nervous systems are in the process of forming, and nerve tissue is
sensitive to minute changes in its biological environment. The insulation
around the nerves the myelin is not complete yet. The presence in the
blood of a diseased vaccine protein, plus the toxins mercury, aluminum and
formaldehyde, can trigger processes that contribute to abnormal nerve growth.
Harris Coulter,
Ph.D., has chronicled a skyrocketing incidence of post-vaccination
neurological disorders, including hyperactivity, learning disabilities, mental
retardation, encephalitis and Guillain-Barre syndrome. These statistics are
missing in the pediatric profession. Adverse reactions usually don't get
reported and are routinely met with denial: There are many documented examples
and case histories of mothers given the brush-off when reporting a vaccine
reaction to their pediatricians. Perhaps the reason is basic economics:
Vaccinations are the bread and butter of pediatricians.
What kind of money
are we talking about here? In 1998, the worldwide market for pediatric
vaccines was $1.8 billion. But a lot more is involved than just the vaccine
sales. Vaccines are the very foundation of the "well baby" programs and
therefore the livelihood of the entire pediatric industry.
Lack of adverse reaction reporting
Unbelievably, not until recently was there a centralized U.S. record-keeping
agency to which physicians could report vaccine reactions. It wasn't until
1991 that the Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System (VAERS) was set up by
the FDA and the CDC. Some 33,000 reactions were reported between 1992 and
1996. Before then, it's anybody's guess how many reactions and deaths there
were, because no agency was keeping track.
The FDA estimates that
doctors still only report a small fraction of these adverse reactions-less
than 10%. In 1998 the National Vaccine Information Center did a survey of New
York pediatric offices and found out that "only one doctor in 40 reports a
death or an injury following vaccination." Yet this information has not been
acted upon by either the FDA or the CDC, even with documented reports of death
and neurological damage to infants.
Many of the adverse
reactions to vaccination probably haven't even shown up yet. After all,
someone may not get a disease as a result of a vaccine that contained atypical
forms of a disease agent or other contaminants until years after vaccination.
And for many vaccines, a 48-hour limit has been arbitrarily set for reporting
a reaction. This means that if a baby dies 50 hours after a shot, that death
is not reported as an adverse reaction.
Chances are you won't
hear any information about vaccines from a pediatrician during a "well baby"
visit. After all, an M.D. could be committing career suicide by taking a stand
against vaccination. But it's hard not to be angry at doctors and hospitals
who so willingly and unquestioningly accept the products of drug companies,
and thereby happily share in the billions of dollars being made off vaccines.
It makes one wonder:
If those in power were faced with a choice between the health of our children
and a $30 billion industry, would they choose health over dollars? And if
those involved in the vaccine industry had done the studies and discovered
that, beyond all doubt, vaccinations are not only ineffective but are instead
the cause of much disease and death, would anyone tell us?
Clarence Darrow, the
famous early 20th century lawyer, voiced an oft-quoted objection to mandatory
vaccination that's still relevant today. He asked, if vaccinations really
work, those vaccinated will be immune to the disease, right? So what does it
matter if some people choose to go unvaccinated? What do the vaccinated have
to worry about? Aren't they protected? Shouldn't people have the choice
whether or not to have their children vaccinated a choice based on full
disclosure of risks and benefits?
A lot of medical doctors today know
enough to withhold vaccines from their own children, even though they continue
to administer them to patients. Others just take the position that "we don't
really know enough not to vaccinate people." This is an intellectually
impotent position. If a doctor is going to stick a needle into a child's arm
and inject something into the bloodstream, they should be certain that they
have a thorough knowledge of all the short-term and long-term consequences.
Before a parent lets a doctor do such
a thing, they need to be equally well-in-formed. The CDC's statistics on
adverse reactions show that vaccinations carry significant risk. A parent
needs to say to the pediatrician, "Before you inject my child, can you prove
to me that vaccines are safe and necessary?"
Contact:
Tim O'Shea is a
chiropractor and clinical nutritionist in San Jose, California. His articles
have appeared in holistic periodicals throughout the world. His two current
books are The Sanctity of
Human Blood, from which this article was excerpted, and Conventional
Medicine vs. Holistic. His
website is www.thedoctorwithin.com, at which a complete reference list for
this article may be found.
Recommended Rending:
Immunization: The
Reality Behind the Myth, by
Walene James. Paperback (2nd ed.; 1995) Bergin & Garvey. Info: www.whale.to/vaccines/james1.html
The Doctor's Guide to
Protecting Your Health Before, During and After International
Travel, by W. Robert Lange, M.D.,
M.P.H. Paperback (1997) Pilot Books
How to Raise a
Healthy Child... In Spite of Your Doctor, by Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D.
Paperback (1990) Ballantine Books
The Case Against
Immunizations, by Richard
Moskowitz, M.D. Reprints of lectures on vaccinations given by Dr. Moskowitz
available for $3.00. Write to 173 Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown, MA 02172.
The Vaccine Guide:
Making an Informed Choice, by
Randall Neustaedter, 0.M.D. Paperback (2nd ed.; 1996) North Atlantic Books
Vaccination: The
Issue of Our Times, by Peggy
O'Mara (Editor). Paperback (1997) Mothering Magazine. Info: www. mothering.
com
Vaccines: What Every
Parent Should Know, by
Paul A. Offit, M.D., and Louis M. Bell, M.D. Paperback (2nd ed.; 1999) Hungry
Minds, Inc.
There's a way of determiningin advance
how likely a child is to react to certain vaccines. This technique is also
used to neutralize many vaccine side effects and to remove residuals (such as
live viruses). The technique is eletrodermal screening (EDS) combined with
homeopathy. EDS is also known as computerized EDS, or CEDS, and is sometimes
referred to by an older name, electroacupuncture according to Voll (EAV). It
uses a noninvasive probe placed at acupuncture points along the body's energy
meridians to read minute electrical signals from these points. The signals are
then compared with signals from substances in test reference vials. In the
hands of skilled health practitioners, EDS conveys key information for
diagnosis. Different acupuncture points as well as organs can be tested to
determine a person's response to many substances and then to guide the
preparation of the appropriate homeopathic remedies.
"If we are going to
vaccinate, we should do it without creating all the side effects." says Harold
Whitcomb, M.D., a retired internist in Aspen, Colorado, who specialized in
environmental and preventive medicine. Dr. Whitcomb tells the story of a child
who had a strong adverse reaction to his second and third DPT shots. For two
years afterwards, the child didn't thrive or grow. Dr. Whitcomb tested him
using EDS and prepared a homeopathic antidote to neutralize the vaccine
damage. The computerized EDS system can draw on a large database of test
substances, all stored as energy signals, which are used to identify a remedy
that will reverse or neutralize a particular reaction. "This allowed me to
make a remedy that neutralized the pertussis," says Dr. Whit-comb. "The boy
recovered and started to grow again."
Perhaps even more
important is the ability to prevent certain vaccine side effects by EDS
testing. Before giving a DPT vaccine, for example, EDS could be used to assess
how a child's system might react especially to the pertussis component,
which should be avoided for high-risk children. Depending on test results, the
pertussis component could be avoided entirely, or the dosage adjusted. (See
"Step One in Preventing Illness," by Burton Goldberg, Alternative Medicine,
No. 32, November 1999. Also see "Reversing Autism with Nutrition," by
Patricia Kane, Ph.D., Alternative Medicine, No. 19, September, 1997).
In Japan,
DPT vaccinations are not given until the child is two years old, while in
the U.S., they are given at two months
There are several reasons why a young
child cannot handle pertussis or other vaccines, says Dr. Whitcomb. In some
cases, the child is simply too young and has an immature immune system; in
Japan, DPT vaccinations are not given until the child is two years old, while
in the U.S., they are given at two months. In other cases, a child's health
history, diet, or family history may preclude an early vaccination, Dr.
Whitcomb says. "If I have a child with recurrent ear infections, which is very
common, I will never approve a vaccination."
Similarly, if the child is not
well-nourished and has a diet of sugar and processed "junk" foods, or if the
home environment is not nurturing and stressful, these are also factors
contraindicating a vaccine. "If you give a child living under these conditions
a vaccination, they will have more trouble with that vaccine than healthier,
stronger children. In such a case, I would delay the vaccine until,
according to EDS, the child can handle it."
F. Fuller Royal,
M.D., H.M.D., medical director of the Nevada Clinic and Secretary-Treasurer of
the Nevada State Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners, says that parents who
feel that their children should receive some vaccinations should look for a
licensed doctor of homeopathy who can use EDS to determine reactivity. The
doctor should then be able to prescribe the proper homeopathic substance to be
taken before vaccination and for a period thereafter, to avoid adverse
reactions and residual ill effects.
Harold Whitcomb, M.D., is a board qualified internist
with an emphasis in environmental and preventive medicine. He may be
contacted at: Aspen Clinic for Preventive and Environmental Medicine at
Internal Medicine Associates, 100 E. Main St., Aspen, CO 81611; tel:
970-920-2523 or 970-925-5440; fax: 970-920-2282.
This table shows how diseases have
resolved on their own during this century. The numbers in red indicate
the approximate year that mass vaccinations were introduced.
Year
Polio
Smallpox
Diphtheria
Pertussis
1901-
6,911
48,839
33,094
1906-
352
28,225
26,436
1911-
354
20,350
20,285
1916-
495
15,623
21,382
1921-
7,229
781
12,267
14,724
1926-
6,038
227
7,074
13,047
1931-
4,545
51
4,388
9,850
1936-
3,666
9
2,189
6,809
1941-
3,539
9
1,135
4,399
1946-
799
6
467
1,460
1951-
3,826
0
125
558
1956-
1,604
0
45
206
1961-
1,076
0
22
82
1966-
928
0
15
32
1971-75
0
5
12
122
Year
Tetanus
Measles
Influenza
1901-
28,065
1,956
15,496
1906-
16,318
10,837
10,109
1911-
11,503
7,615
7,086
1916-
8,596
7,926
54,283
1921-
7,818
4,919
13,673
1926-
6,040
3,994
17,602
1931-
4,709
2,957
11,191
1936-
3,275
1,238
8,449
1941-
2,384
1,013
4,366
1946-
1,697
469
1,736
1951-
2,093
268
1,178
1956-
788
203
938
1961-
550
162
553
1966-
282
44
633
1971-755
22
7
491
The chart below shows when mass vaccinations for these diseases were
introduced in the U.S.
Disease
Year Mass Vaccinations Began
Polio
1955
Smallpox
1902
Diphtheria
mid-1940s
Pertussis
mid-1940s
Tetanus
mid-1940s
Measles
1963
H. influenzae
1985
Comparing these dates to the mortality rates above, it
is obvious that diphtheria, pertussis, influenza, etc., were on their
way out long before their respective vaccines were introduced on a mass
scale.
Source: International Mortality Statistics, by Michael Alderson
Making Informed
Decisions
The National Vaccine
Information Center (NVIC) is a national, non-profit educational organization
founded in 1982. It is the oldest and largest national organization advocating
reformation of the mass vaccination system and is responsible for launching
the vaccine safety movement in America in the early 1980's. Located in Vienna,
Virginia, NVIC is dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths
through public education. NVIC provides assistance to parents whose children
have suffered vaccine reactions; promotes research to evaluate vaccine safety
and effectiveness as well as to identify factors which place individuals at
high risk for suffering vaccine reactions; and monitors vaccine research,
development, policy-making and legislation. NVIC supports the right of
citizens to exercise informed consent and make educated, independent
vaccination decisions for themselves and their children.
What's helpful for those who
are trying to make these decisions, say Fisher and NVIC's co-founder/director
Kathi Williams, is to begin with this checklist:
Become Familiarwith diseases and their
vaccines, even while pregnant: The first vaccine is given within 12 hours of
birth.
Interview the baby's doctor ahead of time about
your vaccine concerns and be a part of the decision-making process. Give the
doctor a detailed family history, including any autoimmune and neurological
problems in the family. If these are part of your family history, children
could be at greater risk of reacting.
Consider the medical evaluation and history for
each individual child. If it's evident that certain vaccines are
contraindicated such as the "P" part of the DPT vaccine because of a
family history of neurological problems then you're on a different
decision-making path than someone for whom the risks aren't as defined.
Stay informed of new vaccine developments,
including recalls and new formulations. For example, vaccines that are free
of mercury-based preservatives are now available in single-dose vials.
Know your state law, including which vaccines are
mandated. Every state offers a medical exemption to vaccination. All states
except West Virginia and Mississippi offer a religious exemption, and 17
states have a philosophical or personal belief exemption.
If you're going to vaccinate, ask to see the vial,
the expiration date and the lot number.
Keep in mind that "not all the diseases we
vaccinate for are killer diseases for most children," says Fisher. "Ask
yourself, is it better to protect children against infectious diseases early
in life through temporary immunity from a vaccine, or are they better off
contracting certain contagious infections and attaining permanent immunity?
We have to weight whether vaccine complications cause more injury and death
than the diseases do."
If a child does have an adverse reaction to a
vaccine, report it. (The NVIC will help you to make an official report to
the FDA. Go to the NVIC website. Your privacy will be respected.) Doctors
are required by law to report any injury, hospitalization or death within 30
days of vaccination, but many do not. As a parent, the law allows you to
report the reaction.
Contact: National Vaccine
Information Center: 512 W. Maple Ave., Suite 206, Vienna, VA 22180; website:
www.909shot.com; tel: 800-909-SHOT or
703-938-DPT3; Fax: 703-938-5768; e-mail:
info@909shot.com.
Childhood Diseases Are Important to
Long-Term Health
While many health professionals tell us that childhood illnesses such as
measles, mumps, chicken pox and whooping cough should be avoided, Phillip
Incao, M.D., believes that they are necessary and beneficial. Building on
a theory proposed in the 1920s by Austrian scientist Rudolf Steiner, the
founder of the Anthroposophic approach to medicine, Dr. Incao and other
alternative physicians believe that acute inflammatory childhood illnesses
are of key benefit to a child's developing immune system. It is therefore
inadvisable to suppress these illnesses with vaccinations.
Vaccinations activate only the humoral immune response, the part of the
immune system that produces antibodies. By contrast, childhood illnesses
trigger not only antibody production but also the cell-mediated immune
functions, which involve other vital responses, including activating white
blood cells to attack pathogens. The development of cell-mediated immunity
is critical: It is these responses that provide deeper, lasting immunity.
Avoiding normal childhood illnesses by use of multiple vaccinations can
lead to a greater incidence of chronic health problems later on. Studies
show, for example, that certain illnesses trigger a child's immune system
in a way that confers protection against asthma a condition that has
skyrocketed and now causes at least 33% of all pediatric emergency-room
visits.
Instead of preempting non-life-threatening childhood diseases with
vaccines (and antibiotics), Anthroposophic physicians deal with childhood
illnesses by supporting the discharging of the illness from the body. Dr.
Incao has followed this course for more than 25 years, using
individualized non-toxic homeopathic, Anthroposophic and other natural
remedies that support children's immune systems and ease them through
their illnesses.
To contact Dr. Incao: Philip Incao, M.D.,
Gilpin Street Holistic Center, 1624 Gilpin Street, Denver, CO 80218;
tel: 303-321-2100; fax: 303-321-3737.
To keep informed about
vaccine problems, contact:
National
Vaccine Information Center, 512 West
Maple Ave., Suite 206, Vienna, VA 22180; tel: 703-938-0342; fax:
703-938-5768.
For doctor referrals: Physicians Association for
Anthroposophic Medicine, 7953 California Avenue, Fairoaks, CA 95628;
tel.: 916-966-1417; fax: 916-966-5314.
Do
Vaccines
Impair Immune Function?
A healthy immune system gives us the ability to resist
or subdue infection, allergy, chronic illness and degenerative disease. As we
mature and age, the immune foundation we develop during our first years of
life will remain vitally important.
At birth, certain immune defense mechanisms are already in
place. Substances secreted in the skin and mucous membranes serve as the first
line of defense, and white blood cells that destroy disease agents by
engulfing them (phagocytosis) and other functions are a second line of
defense.
Although newborns aren't able to produce all the antibodies
and other immune defenses they will need, they are already capable of
recognizing more than a million different identifying characteristics of
foreign substances, or antigens. Infants who are breast-fed receive maternal
antibodies and immune-cell stimulating substances from breast milk. For the
first few months of life, these maternal antibodies can provide passive
immunity against many specific infections.
During the first year of life, babies develop their own
antibodies. Other immune defenses also continue to develop as body cells
mature and the child is exposed to numerous bacteria, viruses and fungi in the
environment, which stimulate long-term or even lifelong immune-cell memory.
The subsequent resistance to a specific antigen is called natural immunity.
By contrast, artificial immunity as conferred by vaccination
against diseases such as polio and pertussis is quite different. Vaccinated
immunity relies only on antibody response to inoculation with specific antigen
strains. The hope is that the immune system will be sufficiently stimulated
and produce enough antibodies to create immunity to the vaccine antigen.
While we might be at
reduced risk of contracting the formerly crippling and lethal diseases
that we were inoculated against, it's the vaccines themselves that are now
the cripplers.
But there is intrinsic problems with vaccination theory. The
immune system is not a one-truck fire station: Antibodies aren't the only way
to snuff out invading disease agents. There are many, many immune defense
mechanisms (including biological response modifiers such as interferon,
produced by white blood cells) and different biochemical
A larger problem with vaccination, however, is that it appears
to have an adverse effect on immune function. In the case of childhood
vaccination, it is thought that current vaccines cause serous defects in
immune development and function.
While the assumption has always been that we can have both
vaccinated immunity and a healthy immune system, this is apparently
untrue. When an immune system, especially a developing one, is bombarded with
"inactivated" antigens suspended in solutions of toxic additives, contaminants
and solvents, immune function can become impaired.
While we might be at reduced risk of contracting the formerly
crippling and lethal diseases that we were inoculated against, it's the
vaccines themselves that are now the cripplers.
Many health professionals are speaking out about their concern
that childhood vaccines harm the developing immune system. At the same time,
questions are being raised about the skyrocketing rate of chronic illness and
disease among children. It doesn't seem likely that processed foods,
environmental toxins, psychological stress and overused antibiotic drugs are
the only culprits. Do these factors explain, for example, the appalling rise
in asthma and diabetes in children?
Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., L.Ac., CCH, who practiced
homeopathy and traditional Chinese medicine for more than 20 years, and in
1996 wrote The Vaccine Guide: Making an Informed Choice, believes that
vaccines can disable the immune system. Observing that illnesses tend to begin
when babies are three or four months old the point at which maternal
antibodies are beginning to wear out, leaving babies susceptible to
environmental microbes Dr. Neustaedter asks, "Why aren't these babies
developing their own antibodies in response to the initial viral or bacterial
infections?
A 1996 study in the New England Journal of Medicine
revealed that tetanus vaccine disables the immune system in HIV patients.
Tetanus vaccination produced a drop in immune T cells, a classic marker of
immune deficiency, in 10 of 13 patients, with a rise in viral replication.
Dr. Neustaedter notes that the immune-destructive effect of
vaccines can persist over a long period of time, although we don't yet know
how long. In one study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases,
it was shown that the measles vaccine has a long-term depressive effect on
interferon production. The vaccination of one-year-olds with measles vaccine
caused a precipitous drop in their level of alpha-interferon production. This
decline was still persisting one year following vaccination, when the study
was terminated.
Researchers are looking at the role vaccines play in
child-hood asthma and allergy. Results of the Christchurch Health and
Development Study in New Zealand, published in 1997 in Epidemiology,
point to higher rates of asthma and allergy episodes among vaccinated
children. And in a study using the Mumps-Measles-Rubella (MMR) vaccine at the
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, researchers investigated the
association between childhood asthma and live-virus vaccines, concluding that
"universal childhood vaccination using live viral strains may be contributory
to the rise in IgE [antibody]-mediated disorders."
Other researchers are saying that vaccines are disabling our
bodies' ability to react normally to disease, thereby creating autoimmune
conditions. In 1994, a committee of investigators at the Institutes of
Medicine directly associated vaccines with the rising occurrence of autoimmune
diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, that attack and destroy the myelin
sheaths (tubular insulation) of the nerves. They said it's "plausible that
injection of an inactivated virus, bacterium, or live attenuated virus might
induce in the susceptible host an autoimmune response by deregulation of the
immune response, by nonspecific activation of the T cells directed against
myelin proteins, or by autoimmunity triggered by sequence similarities of
proteins in the vaccine to host proteins such as those of myelin."
A study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal in
1996 revealed that an epidemic of diabetes followed a massive campaign to
vaccinate children against hepatitis B. The study showed a 60% increase in
childhood insulin-dependent diabetes, an autoimmune disease, occurring in the
years following the 1989-1991 vaccination program of children aged 6 to16.
Other studies have shown that widespread use of the Haemophilus meningitis
vaccine has resulted in diabetes epidemics. Diabetes has also been frequently
observed as a consequence of the mumps vaccine: Three European studies
reported 22 cases of diabetes that began within 30 days of mumps vaccination.
These are just a very few studies amidst the growing proof,
says Dr. Neustaedter, that tampering the the immune system can cause
devastating disease.
Contact: Dr. Neustaedter, O.M.D., L.Ac., Classical Medicine
Center, 1779 Woodside Road, Suite 201C, Redwood City, CA 94061. Tel:
650-899-9170; website: www.cure-guide.com
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
Sandy's Scandals Column
Past and current Scandals
- columns by Sandy Gottstein (aka Mintz)*
* ►March 20, 2010
- Taking
the Final Step: Implementation of a Mandatory Flu Shot Program Within a
Healthcare System - Fifth Decennial International Conference
on Healthcare-Associated Infections (abstract) - "Exemption from
vaccination was allowed for egg allergy, history of either
Guillian-Barré or a post-flu shot anaphylaxis. A formal
exemption process began as a written appeal to an internal review board
which determined exemption. For the non-exempt, the choice to not be
vaccinated resulted in termination. Rehire is conditional, based on the
intent to comply with influenza vaccination in the future. ...Over
99.99% of approximately 3800 employees received a seasonal flu shot. No
serious side effects occurred among those receiving vaccine. Of those
employees who applied for exemption but were denied, 4 chose to
terminate employement; however, one of these, a physician, chose
retirement rather than immunization. Consequences for unvaccinated,
non-employees were not explored this initial year."
* ►March 19, 2010
- Autism,
Vaccines, Thimerosal: Further Study Needed - Age of Autism -
"No study has looked at the possible effect of the synergistic toxicity
of aluminum and thimerosal, which are never supposed to be used in
combination (according to the Manufacturer Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
for thimerosal ) and are indeed combined in many shots (according to
the Vaccine Excipient Summary from the
CDC). And no controlled study, not one, exists on the effect of
low dose ethyl mercury toxicity in humans (a statement made by study
author Anders Hviid himself below on p.1765)."
* ►March 18, 2010
- FDA
to Ease Way for Multidrug Regimens (MRK,AZN) - SmarTrend News Watch
via COMTEX via Trading Markets - "At least two pharmaceutical consortia
are poised to take advantage of the forthcoming policy: a group of 10
drug companies and several nonprofit organizations convened by the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop medicines to fight
tuberculosis; and pharmaceutical giants Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK |
Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN |
Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), which are jointly testing two
anticancer agents."