The Fallacy of the Hepatitis A Vaccine

The following was provided by Dawn Richardson from PROVE.

Hepatitis A viral infection is acquired primarily by the fecal-oral route by either person-to-person contact or ingestion of contaminated food or water. Proper sanitation and hand washing are widely recognized as the most effective and least expensive means of prevention of hepatitis A virus.

Hepatitis A vaccine proponents claim that giving the vaccine to children will break the cycle and prevent them from getting the infection as adults, but the most recent package insert for Smith Kline Beecham's Hepatitis A Vaccine, Inactivated Havrix claims no guarantees:

"At present, the duration of protection afforded by Havrix has not been established. Therefore it is unknown if the protection provided to immunized children will last until adulthood."

However, "while 67% of cases occur in children, over 70% of the deaths occur in those over the age of 49." Even with those risks for adults, complications are rare and infection from hepatitis A is generally followed by complete recovery.

There are only around 100 deaths per year in the entire United States from hepatitis A virus amongst all modes of transmission in all age groups. Hepatitis A infection is asymptomatic in 70% of young children and natural immunity acquired is often lifelong.

The concentrations of hepatitis A antibodies produced after vaccination are 10 to 100 times lower than those produced after natural infection.

The diagnostic assays to measure lower levels of antibody had not been reviewed by the FDA by the time Hepatitis A vaccination policies were adopted by the CDC in October 1999. The absolute lower limit of antibodies required to prevent HAV has not even been defined. The manufacturer's package insert admits that the duration of protection from the vaccine is unknown.

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations on the prevention of hepatitis A through immunization focus "primarily on vaccinating persons in groups shown to be at high risk for infection (e.g., travelers to countries with high or intermediate disease endemicity, men who have sex with men, injecting-drug users, persons with clotting-factor disorders), persons with chronic liver disease because they are at increased risk for acute liver failure from hepatitis A, and children living in communities with high rates of disease."

(See MMWR, October 01, 1999 / 48(RR12);1-37: Prevention of Hepatitis A Through Active or Passive Immunization: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at http://www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr4812a1.htm)

It is irresponsible of the CDC and TDH to recommend adding this vaccine the schedule because there have been NO long term studies on the cumulative effect on the child's developing immune system of combining this vaccine with all the required vaccines together, the biological mechanism for why some children react to this vaccine is not understood, and there are no genetic or other lab screening tests available to determine which children will react to this vaccine.

The disease incidence is highly disproportionate amongst different ethnic groups, and this one-size fits all policy makes all children take the risk of the vaccine when the risk of contracting the disease is much lower amongst some ethnic groups than others.

According to the vaccine manufacturers' own product inserts, the hepatitis A vaccine has NOT been "evaluated or tested for its carcinogenic potential, mutagenic potential, or for impairment of fertility" or "reproductive capacity".

More than 1,200 head of Texas cattle are under quarantine because a small amount of ruminant meat and bone meal was accidentally mixed into 22 tons of feed, in violation of an FDA rule. The rule was implemented in 1997 as a precautionary measure to prevent mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE).

The hepatitis A vaccine is manufactured using in human diploid (fetal or embryonic) cells . The vaccine contains residual fetal DNA and protein. This proposed directive to a mandate ignore and disrespect the moral conflicts many families may have with the production of these vaccines and use in their children. The current religious exemption will not service these families.

14% of adults receiving this vaccine reported experiencing a headache after vaccination.

Other adverse events following vaccination indicated by the manufacturer are:

induration, redness, swelling, fatigue, fever (>37.5°C), malaise, anorexia, nausea, hematoma, pruritus, rash, urticaria, pharyngitis, other upper respiratory tract infections, adominal pain, diarrhea, dysgeusia, vomiting, arthralgia, elevation of creatine phosphokinase, myalgia, lymphadenopathy, hypertonic episode, insomnia, photophobia, vertigo, anaphylaxis/anaphylactoid reactions, somnolence, syncope, jaundice, hepatitis, erythema multiforme, hyperhydrosis, angioedema, dyspnea, convulsions, encephalopathy, dizziness, neuropathy, myelitis, paresthesia, Guillain-Barre syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and congenital abnormality.

Vaccination is a medical procedure that carries the risk of injury and death and there have been hospitalizations, serious permanent injuries and death occurring in individuals after receiving the Hepatitis A vaccine reported to the FDA's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System. To view almost 700 of these reports, link to http://www.fedbuzz.com/vaccine/vac.html and select Hepatitis A.

The current restrictive vaccine exemptions do not service parents with any of the above concerns.

Dawn Richardson
President and Co-founder, PROVE

PROVE provides information on vaccines, and immunization policies and practices that affect the children and adults of Texas. Our mission is to prevent vaccine injury and death and to promote and protect the right of every person to make informed independent vaccination decisions for themselves and their family.

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

Fortunately hepatitis A is not one of the mandated vaccines yet. The CDC currently recommends for areas that have a high endemic rate of hepatitis A.

If this vaccine does ever come up to be mandated for your state like it is in Texas then you will want to team forces with Dawn Richardson's group, PROVE, so you can educate the legislators at to the truth about this vaccine.

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