Fisher believes
vaccinating healthy young people against the flu instead of allowing them to
recover naturally from the virus could lead to long-term health problems. The
flu shot’s protective effects last only six months, requiring re-vaccination at
the start of every flu season. But if someone catches a strain of the flu and
recovers from it they will develop an immunity which will stop them from getting
it again.
The
science of immunology is on a fast track due to recent advances in molecular
biology and genetics research. Though there is still much to be learned, it is
become evident that artificial immunity, stimulated by vaccination is not even
close to duplicating immunity received from natural exposure and may actually
work in an immune suppressive fashion.
Vaccines are destroying our immune
systems. Amazingly, the medical profession ignores the incriminating evidence
against vaccines, and continues to inflict more unnecessary and harmful vaccines
on our nation’s infants.
The
outcome of this line of thought is that, contrary to previous belief,
vaccinations do not strengthen or "boost" the whole immune system. Instead
vaccinations overstimulate the "tasting and remembering" function of the
antibody-mediated branch of the immune system (Th2) which simultaneously
suppresses the cellular immune system (Th1) thus "preventing" the disease in
question.
What in
reality is prevented is not the disease but the ability of our cellular immune
system to manifest, to respond to and to overcome the disease!
Vaccinations are usually effective in preventing an individual from
manifesting a particular illness, but they do not improve the overall
strength or health of the individual nor of the immune system. Instead,
vaccinations modify the reactivity of the immune system, decreasing acute
discharging inflammatory reactions and increasing the tendency to chronic
allergic and auto-immune reactions.
Increasing evidence suggests that
injecting a child with nearly three-dozen doses of 10 different viral and
bacterial vaccines before the age of five, while the immune system is still
developing, can cause chronic immune dysfunction. Randall Neustaedter,
O.M.D., L.Ac points to some of this evidence in his article
Do Vaccines Disable the Immune System?. Vaccines may provide immunity to a
specific disease, but they do not increase overall immunity or create healthier
children. I have seen many anecdotal reports from parents that express
unequivocally how incredibly strong their unvaccinated children’s immune systems
are. My own unvaccinated daughter is remarkably healthy. She’s been “immunized”
with four years of breastmilk, an organic whole foods diet, and plenty of love
and attention. She has never needed an antibiotic. I know her immune system is
strong enough to fight the so-called “deadly” diseases that kids are vaccinated
against. If she does get a serious infection, I am confident her strong immune
system will respond quickly to treatment
A combined vaccine
similar to the controversial MMR jab was withdrawn from use on cattle because it
did not work properly, a leading Scottish vaccine expert has revealed.
As a cluster of
measles cases were reported in an area where parents are boycotting MMR due to
suspected links with autism and bowel disorders,
Dr John March of the government-funded
Moredun Research Institute, warned that vaccines for cattle are tested more
thoroughly than jabs for children.
March believes the measles vaccine
weakens the immune systemand
that this can be problematic when it is given at the same time as other live
vaccines, such as mumps and rubella.
He said it is not
known, as yet, whether the MMR vaccine causes autism -- as some experts have
claimed -- but he believes there is the 'potential for problems'.
'Immuno-suppression can easily be detected and monitored in an individual
animal. With current human vaccine trials this would never be observed,' he
said.
A paper published in the scientific journal Veterinary Record in 1987, the year
before the MMR was licensed in this country, showed that when cows were given a
combined cattle measles and pneumonia vaccine the measles part interfered with
the pneumonia component and weakened the immune system.
Vaccinations reduce our immunity in many important ways:
1) Vaccines contain many
chemicals and heavy metals, like mercury and aluminum, which are in-themselves
immuno-suppressing. Mercury actually causes changes in the lymphocyte activity
and decreases lymphocyte viability.
2) Vaccines contain foreign
tissues and foreign DNA/RNA which act to suppress the immune system via graft-vs-host
rejection phenomena.
3) Vaccines alter our t-cell
helper/suppressor ratios ... just like those seen with AIDS. This ratio is a key
indicator of a proper functioning immune system.
4) Vaccines alter the metabolic
activity of PMNs and reduce their chemotaxic abilities. PMNs are our body’s
defenses against pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
5) Vaccines suppress our
immunity merely buy over-taxing our immune system with foreign material, heavy
metals, pathogens and viruses. The heavy metals slow down our immune system,
while the viruses set up shop to grow and divide. It is like being chained and
handcuffed before swimming.
6) Vaccines clog our lymphatic
system and lymph nodes with large protein molecules which have not been
adequately broken down by our digestive processes, since vaccines by pass
digestion with injections. This is why vaccines are linked to allergies, because
they contain large proteins which as circulating immune complexes (CICs) or "klinkers"
which cause our body to become allergic.
7) Vaccines deplete our body of
vital immune-enhancing nutrients, like vitamin C, A and zinc, which are needed
for a strong immune system. It is nutrients like these that primes our immune
system, feeds the white blood cells and macrophages and allows them to function
optimally.
8) Vaccines are neurotoxic and
slow the level of nervous transmission, and communications to the brain and
other tissues. Now we know that some lymphocytes communicate directly with the
brain through a complex set of neurotransmitters. Altering these factors will
also depress our immunity.
Altered synthesis of interleukin-12 and type 1 and type 2
cytokinesin rhesus macaques during measles and atypical measles.
Polack FP, Hoffman SJ, Moss WJ, Griffin DE.
W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
21205, USA. fpolack@jhsph.edu
Immunosuppression during and after measles results in increased susceptibility
to other infections and 1 million deaths annually. The
mechanism by which measles virus (MV) induces immune suppression is
incompletely understood, but a type 2 skewing of the cytokine response after
infection has been documented. In vitro studies suggest that lack of
interleukin (IL)-12 production by monocytes and dendritic cells plays an early
role in the skewed response. In
addition, immunization with an inactivated measles vaccine before measles
develops appears to lead to an even stronger type 2 skewing of the cytokine
response and atypical measles.
In this study, the cytokine responses in rhesus macaques were compared after
vaccination with live and formalin-inactivated vaccines and after challenge
with MV. In vivo production of IL-12 was decreased during the viremic
phase of the illness, and production of IL-4 was increased during and after
atypical measles, compared with measles.
Suppression of immune response and protective immunity to a
Japanese encephalitis virus DNA vaccine by coadministration of an
IL-12-expressing plasmid.
Chen HW, Pan CH, Huan HW, Liau MY, Chiang JR, Tao MH.
Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
IL-12 plays a central role in both
innate and acquired immunity and has been demonstrated to potentiate
the protective immunity in several experimental vaccines. However, in this
study, we show that IL-12 can be detrimental to the immune responses elicited
by a plasmid DNA vaccine. Coadministration of the IL-12-expressing
plasmid (pIL-12) significantly suppressed the protective immunity elicited by
a plasmid DNA vaccine (pE) encoding the envelope protein of Japanese
encephalitis virus. This suppressive effect was associated with marked
reduction of specific T cell proliferation and Ab responses. A single dose of
pIL-12 treatment with plasmid pE in initial priming resulted in significant
immune suppression to subsequent pE booster immunization. The pIL-12-mediated
immune suppression was dose dependent and evident only when the IL-12 gene was
injected either before or coincident with the pE DNA vaccine. Finally, using
IFN-gamma gene-disrupted mice, we showed that the suppressive activity of the
IL-12 plasmid was dependent upon endogenous production of IFN-gamma.
These results demonstrate that coexpression
of the IL-12 gene can sometimes produce untoward effects to immune responses,
and thus its application as a vaccine adjuvant should be carefully evaluated.
Vaccination and autoimmunity-'vaccinosis': a dangerous
liaison?
Shoenfeld Y, Aron-Maor A.
Department of Internal Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
shoefel@post.tau.ac.il
The question of a connection between vaccination and autoimmune illness (or
phenomena) is surrounded by controversy. A heated debate is going on regarding
the causality between vaccines, such as measles and anti-hepatitis B virus
(HBV), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Brain antibodies as well as clinical
symptoms have been found in patients vaccinated against those diseases. Other
autoimmune illnesses have been associated with vaccinations. Tetanus toxoid,
influenza vaccines, polio vaccine, and others, have been related to phenomena
ranging from autoantibodies production to full-blown illness (such as
rheumatoid arthritis (RA)). Conflicting data exists regarding also the
connection between autism and vaccination with measles vaccine. So far only
one controlled study of an experimental animal model has been published, in
which the possible causal relation between vaccines and autoimmune findings
has been examined: in healthy puppies immunized with a variety of commonly
given vaccines, a variety of autoantibodies have been documented but no frank
autoimmune illness was recorded. The findings could also represent a
polyclonal activation (adjuvant reaction). The mechanism (or mechanisms) of
autoimmune reactions following immunization has not yet been elucidated. One
of the possibilities is molecular mimicry; when a structural similarity exists
between some viral antigen (or other component of the vaccine) and a
self-antigen. This similarity may be the trigger to the autoimmune reaction.
Other possible mechanisms are discussed.
Even though the data regarding the
relation between vaccination and autoimmune disease is conflicting, it seems
that some autoimmune phenomena are clearly related to immunization (e.g.
Guillain-Barresyndrome). The issue of the risk of vaccination
remains a philosophical one, since to date the advantages of this policy have
not been refuted, while the risk for autoimmune disease has not been
irrevocably proved. We discuss
the pros and cons of this issue (although the temporal relationship (i.e.
always 2-3 months following immunization) is impressive). Copyright
2000 Academic Press.
Simmons CP, Ghaem-Magami M, Petrovska L, Lopes L, Chain BM, Williams NA,
Dougan G.
Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science Technology and
Medicine, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK. c.simmons@ic.ac.uk
Immunologic unresponsiveness
(tolerance) is a key feature of the mucosal immune system, and deliberate
vaccination by a mucosal route can effectively induce immune suppression.
However, some bacterial-derived proteins, e.g. cholera toxin and the heat
labile toxin of Escherichia coli, are immunogenic and immunomodulatory at
mucosal surfaces and can effectively adjuvant immune responses to codelivered
bystander antigens. This review summarizes some of the structural and
biological characteristics of these toxins and provides examples of how these
properties have been exploited for tolerance induction and mucosal vaccine
development.
Vaccination and systemic lupus erythematosus: the
bidirectional dilemmas.
Aron-Maor A, Shoenfeld Y.
Department of Internal Medicine B and Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba
Medical Center, Sacklea Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Hashomer,
Israel.
Vaccination has been perhaps the most important achievement in medicine of the
last century. A hoard of infectious diseases that used to claim the lives of
many, especially children, have been prevented and some even eradicated.
However, it is possible that within
this gift there is hidden a 'Trojan Horse'. During the last decade increasing
numbers of reports regarding possible autoimmune side effects of vaccination,
have been published. The existing data does not link the vaccines and the
autoimmune phenomena observed in a causal relationship, nevertheless a
temporal connection has been described. In this article we wish to address in
particular the possible link between vaccines and systemic lupus erythematosus
(SLE),
namely two aspects of this inter-relationship: the occurrence of SLE
following vaccination and outcome of immunization of known SLE
patients.
From the article: "On the
other hand, a new aspect of vaccination has been making itself known over the
last few years, as evidenced by the increasing number of reports in the
literature on autoimmune phenomena, as well as full-blown autoimmune
illness.....A wide range of additional autoimmune manifestations has been
described in relation to vaccines, including joint symptoms (as mentioned
above, and even full-blown rheumatoid arthritis), systemic lupus erythematosus
and others...Another interesting aspect of the post-vaccination auto-immune
diseases is that they affect males and females equally, unlike the naturally
occurring autoimmune diseases that have a clear female predominance...The
dilemma of whether and when to vaccinate remains unresolved, and the
polemic around this issue will sure continue until ongoing research provides
us with more definite guidelines and answers."
Department of Medicine B & Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer,
Israel.
The current review summarizes case
reports attributing autoimmune diseases and phenomena to various vaccines and
suggests potential mechanisms. It has to be emphasized that the demonstration
of a temporal relationship does not necessarily attribute autoimmunity to a
vaccine. The subject is complicated by the fact that one vaccine may cause
more than one autoimmune phenomenon, and a particular immune process may be
caused by more than one vaccine. Furthermore, vaccines differ in their
pathogenic influence on the immune system. There is no doubt that the
new recombinant hepatitis B virus vaccine is different from mumps, measles and
rubella vaccines in its ability to trigger autoimmunity, probably by
completely different mechanisms. The
data summarized here suggest that some vaccines may in rare cases induce
autoimmune disorders. The subject of the vaccine-autoimmunity
relationship is still obscure; reports have been rare, no laboratory
experimentation on this topic has been undertaken, and there are few animal
models. For the time being no conclusions can be drawn. Since vaccines are an
important prophylactic intervention, the risk-benefit ratio clearly leans
towards the advantages of infectious disease prevention. Vaccination routines
should not be changed in the healthy population or for patients with known
autoimmune disorders. Laborious clinical and laboratory studies should be
initiated in order to evaluate the new emerging subject of vaccine-induced
autoimmunity.
Distinct immunological states in murine cutaneous
leishmaniasis by immunising with different amounts of antigen: the generation
of beneficial, potentially harmful, harmful and potentially extremely harmful
states.
Bretscher PA, Ogunremi O, Menon JN.
Department of Microbiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Infection of BALB/c mice with a standard and substantial number of Leishmania
major parasites results in progressive disease, following the induction of a
parasite-specific Th2 response. These mice have been designated as
"susceptible" on this basis. We show that distinct types of immune response
can be generated in "susceptible" BALB/c mice depending upon the number of
parasites employed for infection, and that the pathophysiological consequences
of such distinct responses are dramatically different. Infection with very low
numbers of parasites results in the exclusive induction of a cell-mediated,
Th1 response, and the generation of resistance to the standard and substantial
challenge. Spleen cells from such resistant mice can confer resistance upon
normal mice when transferred to them, but these spleen cells do not contain T
cells expressing DTH or Th1 effector cells that produce IFN gamma on short
term culture (48 hrs) with parasite antigen. The immune response in this case
appears to result in the virtual elimination of parasites from the lymph node
draining the site of infection and, by implication, from the infected mouse.
We suggest that such elimination results in the absence of antigen stimulation
and hence of effector T cells, and that "memory Th1 cells" are responsible for
the capacity of spleen cells to confer resistance on normal mice. We predict
such mice will not suffer parasitemia upon immune suppression, i.e. are not
susceptible to reactivation disease. This is the "beneficial state". In
contrast to this infection with a very low number of parasites infection with
a low number usually results in one of two states: (i) The generation of a
response with a very small Th2 component, production of a small amount of
antibody, chronic parasitemia and hence chronic generation of
parasite-specific effector Th1/Th2 cells, or (ii) The generation of a response
with a greater Th2 component, the production of more antibody, the formation
of a frank lesion, and the long term generation of a stable, mixed Th1/Th2
response. We refer to the latter state as borderline leishmaniasis in analogy
with borderline leprosy. Parasites can be recovered from the draining lymph
node in both these cases many months after infection. We therefore believe
that mice infected with a low number of parasites, that harbour a chronic
subclinical infection, will suffer reactivation disease upon immune
suppression, and we consequently designate the state generated as potentially
harmful. We consider mice with borderline disease to be in a harmful state.
Mice immunised with high doses of parasite antigen produce in the long term
Th2 responses, whereas those immunised with lower doses produce Th1 responses.
Mice immunised to produce a Th2 response were subsequently infected with a
very low number of parasites that is normally contained. The generation of a
Th2 response results in the generation of a Th2 imprint, such that the
response to the low dose infection is modulated from a Th1 to a Th2 mode,
resulting in progressive disease. We
argue that immunisation/vaccination,
resulting in a state that deviates the protective response to a non-protective
mode, may result in epidemics. Such a state has the potential for being
extremely harmful.
The effect of Edmonston-Zagreb and Schwarz measles vaccines
on immune response in infants.
Hussey GD, Goddard EA, Hughes J, Ryon JJ, Kerran M, Carelse E, Strebel PM,
Markowitz LE, Moodie J, Barron P, Latief Z, Sayed R, Beatty D, Griffin DE.
Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town, South
Africa.
The effects of measles immunization on immune responses in infants and the
roles of vaccine strain and age of immunization are not known. Eighty-eight
children were immunized at 6 or 9 months of age with the Edmonston-Zagreb (EZ)
or Schwarz (SW6, SW9) strain of measles vaccine. Children were studied before
and 2 weeks and 3 months after immunization. Seroconversion was similar, but
geometric mean neutralizing titers at 3 months differed by vaccine group: SW9,
1367 mIU/mL; SW6, 982; and EZ, 303 (P = .003). Mitogen-induced
lymphoproliferation was decreased at 2 weeks in the SW9 group and at 3 months
in all groups and was negatively correlated with measles antibody level at 3
months (r = -.387, P = .003). CD8 T cells, soluble CD8, neopterin, and
beta2-microglobulin were increased at 2 weeks in the SW9 group, and soluble
CD8 and beta2-microglobulin remained elevated at 3 months.
Therefore, measles immunization
resulted in suppression of
lymphoproliferation, which was
most evident in infants with the highest antibody responses and most immune
activation.
Infectious episodes following diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus
vaccination. A preliminary observation in infants.
Jaber L, Shohat M, Mimouni M.
Department of Pediatrics, Beilinson Medical Center, Petah Tiqva, Israel.
Eighty two infants, aged 2-12 months, were prospectively studied for
infectious episodes following diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) immunization.
The occurrence of infectious episodes during the month following vaccination
was compared to that during the month prior to its administration. The 3 days
following vaccination were not included.
In comparison to the month prior to immunization, during the month following
there were significantly more infants with fever (6.1% vs. 24.4%, p less than
0.001), with diarrhea (7.3% vs. 23.1%, p less than 0.005), and with cough
(37.7% vs. 52.4% p N.S.).
After the first month of the study, there was an increase in morbidity in the
region, so we reevaluated those cases who had been seen during the latter 3
months. The same trend was found: in the month following immunization there
were significantly more infants with fever (5.3% vs. 25%, p less than 0.005),
with diarrhea (10.5% vs. 28%, p less than 0.02), and with cough (26% vs. 54%,
p less than 0.01). There was no correlation between the incidence of
these episodes and the age at vaccination. In addition to reactive fever
during the first 3 days following DPT immunization, an increase in infectious
episodes seems to occur in infants during the month following administration
of this vaccine.
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.
