►January 3, 2004 - Vaccinate your child - National Post via www.canada.com - "As a general rule, parents know better than any one else how best to look after their children. That said, it seems more and more parents are making the wrong choice when it comes to vaccinating their offspring against potentially deadly diseases...Concerned than ever about the safety of vaccines, with many citing unfounded worries that the preventive shots are 'unnatural' and will cause everything from brain damage to multiple sclerosis."

Comment:  Perhaps these fears are unfounded, but it is more likely they are not.  For instance, a recent study, Risk factors of multiple sclerosis: a case-control study, found a highly significant relationship between measles vaccination and MS.  And there has always been considerable evidence of brain damage, among the most noteworthy being the report co-authored by the "father of pediatric neurology", Dr. John Menkes, entitled Workshop on neurologic complications of pertussis and pertussis vaccination.  Among the findings, it was reported that "Although the majority of seizures following pertussis vaccination are associated with fever, it was the consensus of the neurologists attending the workshop, that these do not represent febrile convulsions, but are non-benign convulsions (my emphasis)."  The Institute of Medicine, in its safety review of vaccines, found, among other things, "that the evidence is consistent with a causal relation between DPT vaccine and acute encephalopathy and shock and 'unusual shock-like state'..." While it is unknown exactly how many actual vaccine-associated adverse reactions would be identified were they assiduously followed,  cavalierly dismissing the over 100,000 of them, as if they must all be meaningless, is simply absurd.  Some idea of their full extent and import can be gleaned from examination of VAERS reports, as long as estimates of under-reporting, ranging from 90-99%, are factored in.  For instance, there were 269 reports of vaccine-associated encephalopathy, probably representing between 2,690 and 26,900 cases.  There were another 371 reports (overlap unknown) of encephalitis, representing a possible additional 3,710 to 37,100 cases.  If one takes into consideration the time between administration of vaccine and reports of infant death, and the extremely high percentage that appear to be occurring even within one day of vaccination, it should be clear that neither jubilation nor relief about the benign nature of vaccination is warranted.  If reports of vaccine reactions are taken seriously, as they should be, it becomes apparent that the only thing that is truly unfounded is the notion that fears about vaccines are "unfounded".

►January 1, 2004 - Needles and damage done - To vaccinate or not to vaccinate: Missoula’s question  - Missoula Independent - "So are these parents sensible—or just selfish? It can be unclear whether newborns need this alphabet soup of shots or whether the drug companies are just trying to move merchandise. Regardless of which side of the immunization fence one resides on, all sides agree that the decision is motivated by parents’ concern for their very young children."

►January 5, 2004 - Advocate for vaccines, but not for candidates - How should you counsel parents opposed to childhood vaccinations? - www.ama-assn.org - "In fact, when rates of coverage for certain diseases reach a certain high level, a resistance of the community to disease attack might occur because a large portion of the population is immune. This is what is known as herd immunity and allows for limited numbers of individuals to avoid vaccination, yet take advantage of vaccine protection...But parent refusal of vaccination without personal exemption status poses serious moral and legal problems that put public health at risk.

Comment: To read an overview which addresses many of the arguable points made in this article, click here.  And for another perspective on "herd immunity", go to Scandals: Is the theory of "herd immunity" flawed?