From the Townsend Letter November 2007
PART 1
Our Acceptance of Vaccines
The Growing Roster of
Childhood Vaccines
Types of Vaccines
Challenging Our Assumptions
Vaccine Safety Issues
Unsound Principles of Vaccination
The Natural Evolution of Disease
Toxic Vaccine Ingredients
and Processes
The Use of Thimerosal in Vaccines
Vaccine Failure and Waning
Immunity
The Use of Unproven Vaccines
PART 2
DIPHTHERIA, TETANUS AND
PERTUSSIS VACCINE
Diphtheria Toxoid
Pertussis Vaccine
Tetanus Toxoid
POLIO VACCINE
CHICKENPOX VACCINE
HEPATITIS B VACCINE
MEASLES, MUMPS, AND
RUBELLA (MMR) VACCINE
Measles
Vaccine
Vaccine failures.
Vulnerabilities
related to the measles vaccine.
Problems with vaccine testing.
Mumps
Vaccine
Questions about efficacy.
Urabe strain and meningitis.
Rubella
Vaccine
Part 2 Notes
PART 3
Rotavirus Vaccine
Meningococcal Vaccine
Smallpox Vaccine
An Unknown Virus
Adverse Effects of the Vaccine
Activists Speak Out on
Vaccine Dangers
Provocation Disease
Economic and Legal
Issues
Right to Refuse Vaccination
Potential Downside to Exemptions
Varying State Laws
Holistic Health
Part 3 notes
Resources
Our
Acceptance of Vaccines
Public health officials have long put forth the basic assumptions
that vaccinations are safe and effective.14-16 The public and our
legislators have, by and large, accepted these assumptions as true. We think of
vaccinations as panaceas and look to science to develop new ones for many
illnesses. Vaccines are now in the Research and Development (R&D) pipeline for
diseases such as chlamydia, herpes simplex type 2, hepatitis C, West Nile virus,
Epstein-Barr virus, and others.17 The World Health Organization (WHO)
notes that intensive efforts also are underway to develop effective vaccines for
malaria, tuberculosis, dengue, and other diseases.18
Jamie Murphy, author of What Every Parent Should Know
About Childhood Immunization, attributes society's acceptance of
vaccinations largely to state laws that dictate children must receive vaccines
to attend school.19 Each state determines which vaccines it will
mandate for daycare and school entry, and state officials often rely on the
recommendations of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
and other advisers in the process of mandating specific vaccines.20
The Growing
Roster of Childhood Vaccines
The CDC's 2007 recommended immunization schedule includes more than
two dozen doses of vaccines, targeting 14 diseases for children under the age of
two. These diseases are diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae
type b, pneumococcal, polio, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella,
influenza, hepatitis A, and rotavirus. The CDC recommended the latter two –
hepatitis A and rotavirus – for routine vaccination of children in 2005 and
2006, again expanding the vaccination protocol for young children.21
By contrast, vaccines for seven diseases were included in the CDC's first
childhood immunization schedule in 1983. The vaccines (for diphtheria, tetanus,
pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella) were recommended for children up
to 18 months of age.
In addition to the vaccines received in the first two years of life, children
aged four to six receive vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio,
measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chickenpox). This second dose of
chickenpox vaccine is new, recommended by the ACIP for all children in 2006.
Recently Approved Vaccines
As noted, a new rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq) was recommended by the ACIP for
all infants in 2006. In addition, the government has recommended several
vaccines for adolescents in the past few years: a diphtheria, tetanus, and
acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine; a meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4);
and the first human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (Gardasil), which is approved
for females nine to 26 years of age. Gardasil is designed to protect against HPV
types 16 and 18, which cause approximately 70% of cervical cancers, and types 6
and 11, which cause about 90% of genital warts.22 For adults, the FDA
approved in 2006 the first vaccine to prevent herpes zoster, also called
shingles. This vaccine (Zostavax) is approved for people 60 years of age and
older.
Four main types of vaccines are used in the US,
each with its own strengths and weaknesses. As described by Kurt Link, MD, in
his book The Vaccine Controversy, these types
are as follows:23
Live Virus Vaccines
These vaccines contain an attenuated strain of the wild virus that causes a
disease. Live viruses can trigger a strong and long-lasting immunity, but they
may cause serious infections and even death in people who are immune-compromised
and sometimes may cause serious infections in people who are apparently healthy.
Live virus vaccines include measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, and oral polio
(the live polio vaccine is no longer used in the US).24
Killed Whole Vaccines
This type of vaccine cannot cause an infection, because the infectious
organism has been killed with heat or substances such as thimerosal or phenol.
Multiple initial doses and booster doses are needed to stimulate and maintain
immunity. This category includes vaccines for pertussis, polio (the inactivated
version), and anthrax.25
Purified Vaccines
These vaccines contain relatively pure chemical components of an infectious
microbe and cannot cause an infection. The hepatitis B vaccine, in particular,
is manufactured with a recombinant technology in which the hepatitis surface
antigens are produced in yeast cells. Like killed whole vaccines, purified
vaccines may require multiple doses and boosters to sustain immunity. In
addition to hepatitis B, purified vaccines include pneumococcal pneumonia and
haemophilus influenza.26
Toxoids
In this case, a toxoid causes the body to produce antibodies against toxins
secreted by a type of bacteria, not against the organism itself. Diphtheria and
tetanus are examples of toxoid vaccines.27
As noted by Dr. Link, today's vaccines not only contain material from animals,
such as monkeys, chicks, horses, and cattle, but also toxins and chemicals such
as formaldehyde, aluminum salts, and antibiotics. In the future, we hope to have
DNA vaccines that are free of impurities. With these purified vaccines, genetic
material from a microbe will be inserted directly into a person's cells,
prompting them to produce the vaccine and mobilizing a long-lasting immune
response. (Theoretically, there is a downside: if vaccine DNA is integrated into
a person's genetic makeup, the adverse effects could include cancer and
autoimmune diseases.)28
As the list of vaccines used in the US grows, we must take a close look at our assumptions and ask: are we seeing the full picture? The reasons we should challenge our beliefs about vaccination include the following:
Vaccine Safety Issues
Significant adverse effects have been reported with every type of vaccine.29,30
These reactions may occur soon after vaccination or several months to years
later.31 Delayed reactions are more insidious and less obviously
linked to vaccination and thus necessitate large-scale epidemiological studies
to be proven.
The recent history of immunization demonstrates the perils associated with
vaccines. In 1999, a vaccine for infants was removed from the market due to its
serious adverse effects. RotaShield was approved by the FDA in 1998 for the
prevention of rotavirus in infants but was withdrawn after reports to Vaccine
Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and a subsequent review showed the
vaccine was associated with intussusception, a bowel disorder.32 In
1991, an experiment with a high-titer measles vaccine in infants was halted when
studies found an increased mortality rate among female recipients compared with
those receiving the standard measles vaccine.33 And in the past few
decades, some studies have found that an increased risk of certain cancers is
associated with polio vaccines given to children from 1955 to 1963 that were
contaminated with a monkey virus.34
The CDC recently studied the safety of immunization by analyzing reports made to
VAERS during the first 11 years of the system's operation, from 1991 to 2001.
There were 128,717 reports made, 14.2% of which described serious adverse events
that "by regulatory definition include death, life-threatening illness,
hospitalization or prolongation of hospitalization, or permanent disability."
The CDC concluded that reviews of VAERS reports and studies based on those
reports during the 11-year period "have demonstrated that vaccines are usually
safe and that serious adverse reactions do occur but are rare."35
It should be noted that VAERS is a passive surveillance system and that only an
estimated one-tenth of reactions are reported (by some estimates, this figure is
even greater).36,37 The result is that reported data greatly
underestimate the real incidence of vaccine-associated complications.
Furthermore, associations are not made when adverse events occur long after the
time of vaccination.38 Indeed, a 1998 study in the Lancet and a
recent review claim that no link exists between the MMR vaccine and subsequent
long-term health events such as autism or bowel obstruction.39,40
One would think that before injecting children worldwide with hundreds of
millions of doses of vaccines, enough clinical trials would be performed to
determine exactly what the effects of this large-scale human experiment would
be. Lack of funding is not the problem. Each year, Congress appropriates more
than $1 billion41,42 to federal health agencies to develop, purchase,
and promote the mass use of vaccines in the US, but not to fund independent
researchers to investigate vaccine-related health problems.
Dr. Link points out that different people will react to the same vaccine in
different ways. Each person's reaction depends on a variety of factors,
including his or her genes, history of infections and vaccinations, and general
health. "The same vaccine will be totally ignored immunologically by one
individual, but create immunologic chaos in another," he writes. Reactions also
differ for the very young and very old.43
The people who suffer adverse reactions to vaccines often are infants and
children; 45% of reports to VAERS concern children age six and under.44
The problems incurred as a result of vaccination go far beyond sore arms and
transitory fever. Adverse events such as anaphylaxis, Guillain-Barre syndrome,
brachial neuritis, thrombocytopenia, poliomyelitis (caused by the oral polio
vaccine, no longer used in the US), acute encephalopathy, and hypotonic/hyporesponsive
episodes have been linked to vaccines.45-48
Some research also has suggested that sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is
associated with vaccinations.49-51 A study by FDA researchers of
reports to VAERS from 1991 to 1994 found that most of the reported deaths were
attributed to SIDS. The researchers concluded, however, that "the peak age of
deaths at ages one to three months could be expected on the basis of prior
studies showing that sudden infant death syndrome deaths peak at that age."52
Similarly, the CDC's study of VAERS data from 1991 to 2001 found that the
majority of deaths reported were ultimately designated as SIDS. This report also
concluded that the age distribution and seasonality of the infant deaths
reported to VAERS matched those of SIDS. The CDC cites other research
discounting an association between vaccinations and untimely deaths of infants.53,54
Critics have noted, however, that a comparison with the background rate of SIDS
among vaccinated populations, rather than comparable unvaccinated groups, is not
meaningful.55
Unsound Principles of Vaccination
When children contract a disease such as measles or mumps, they generally
develop a permanent protection against that disease. Such is not the case with
vaccines. As Jamie Murphy observes, "The medical profession does not know how
long vaccine immunity lasts because it is artificial immunity. If you get
measles naturally, in 99% of the cases you have lifelong immunity. If you have
German measles, you will have lifelong immunity [with rare second
infections].... However, if you get a measles vaccine or a DPT vaccine, [it does
not give you 100% assurance that] the vaccine will prevent you from getting the
disease."56
The Vaccine Controversy notes that by vaccinating infants and children, we shift
upward the age at which people may become ill from an infectious disease. "Mild
illnesses of children can be devastating in the adult," the author states. "This
is an issue far from resolved."57 Widespread outbreaks of pertussis
and mumps in the past few years bear out the notion that waning immunity from
childhood vaccines can leave adolescent and adults vulnerable to infection.58,59
Walene James, author of
Immunization: The Reality Behind the Myth,60
believes the full inflammatory response is necessary to create real immunity.61
James summarizes the work of Dr. Richard
Moskowitz, past president of the National Institute of Homeopathy, as
stating: "Vaccines trick the body so that it will no longer initiate a
generalized inflammatory response. They thereby accomplish what the entire
immune system seems to have evolved to prevent. They place the virus directly
into the blood and give it access to the major immune organs and tissues without
any obvious way of getting rid of it. These attenuated viruses and virus
elements persist in the blood for a long time, perhaps permanently. This, in
turn, implies a systematic weakening of the ability to mount an effective
response, not only to childhood diseases but to other acute infections as well."
Studies of vaccines show that they prompt the body to produce antibodies to a
particular antigen, called seroconversion. However, as
Alan Phillips, co-founder of Citizens
for Healthcare Freedom, writes in "Vaccination:
Dispelling the Myths," it is not clear whether the production of antibodies
constitutes immunity. "For example, a-gamma globulinemic children are incapable
of producing antibodies, yet they recover from infectious diseases almost as
quickly as other children....Natural immunization is a complex phenomenon
involving many organs and systems; it cannot be fully replicated by the
artificial stimulation of antibody production....[Our] immunological reserves
may thus actually be reduced, causing a generally lowered resistance."62,63
Phillips also questions so-called "herd immunity," in which the immunization of
enough people in a community confers protection to all. "There are many
documented instances showing just the opposite – fully vaccinated populations do
contract diseases. With measles, this actually seems to be the direct result of
high vaccination rates...," he states.64,65
The Natural Evolution of Disease
A CDC fact sheet states that vaccination programs in the US have
significantly reduced or eliminated many infectious diseases. However, this
communication does not discuss factors besides vaccination that coalesced to
improve public health in the twentieth century.66
A working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) makes the
following points about the rates of mortality in the twentieth century:67
Mortality rates declined steadily and rapidly throughout the century. As stated
by David Francis in a summary of the research, "Except for a ten-year period
between 1955 and 1965 when the mortality rate was essentially flat, mortality
rates have declined at the relatively constant rate of approximately one to two
percent per year since 1900."68 If vaccines are responsible for the
decline of disease, then shouldn't mortality rates have fallen more rapidly in
the latter half of the century when more and more vaccines were required?
In the mid-twentieth century, the continuing decline in death from infectious
diseases was due more to medical measures such as penicillin, sulfa drugs, and
antibiotics. As Francis states, "These help the elderly as well as the young,
thereby reducing mortality across the age spectrum. By 1960, 70% of infants
could be expected to survive to age 65."69 Vaccinations were not
mentioned in this paragraph.
In one analysis of health trends among Americans in the twentieth century,70
the authors state that nearly 85% of the "spectacular" reduction in child
mortality occurred before World War II, and nearly 90% of the decline in child
mortality from infectious diseases occurred before 1940. Few antibiotics or
vaccines were available during that time. The major declines in child mortality
in the first third of the century, they say, have been credited to public health
measures involving water treatment, food safety, organized solid waste disposal,
and education regarding hygienic practices. Housing improvements and less
crowding in cities also played a part.71
Given the factors involved in declining death rates, are vaccinations the magic
bullets we believe them to be? Dr. Harris
Coulter, an expert on the pertussis vaccine and co-author of
A Shot in the Dark,72 concludes
otherwise.73 Regarding infectious diseases of the past, he states,
"The incidence of all of these infectious diseases was dropping very rapidly,
starting in the 1930s. After World War II, the incidence continued to drop as
living conditions improved. Clean water, central heating...these are the factors
that really affected people's tendencies to come down with infectious diseases
much more than vaccines. The vaccines might have added a little bit to that
downward curve, but the curve was going down all the time anyway."
Toxic Vaccine Ingredients and Processes
Walene James cautions parents to consider the content of vaccines that enter a child's body without benefit of the digestive or liver functions. She says there are three main types of vaccine ingredients:
This last category also includes some
thimerosal, the mercury preservative
that has been removed from vaccines commonly given to young children (with the
exception of the influenza vaccine, which may still contain mercury). Thimerosal
also may be found in some vaccines used in children above age six and in adults,
such as DT, Td, TT, and influenza vaccines. According to the FDA, all new
vaccines licensed since 1999 do not contain thimerosal as a preservative.74
In What Every Parent Should Know About Childhood
Immunization, Jamie Murphy seconds
the views of James: "What could formaldehyde, aluminum, phenol...or any number
of other deadly chemical substances used in vaccines possibly have to do with
preventing disease in children? The fact that they are needed at all in the
vaccine formula argues that the product is toxic, unstable, and unreliable with
or without their presence."75
The Use of Thimerosal in Vaccines
One aspect of vaccination that has fueled considerable controversy is the
use of thimerosal
(which is approximately 50% ethylmercury by weight) as a preservative.
This substance was contained in vaccines for many decades before the US Public
Health Service (PHS) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a
statement in 1999 urging its removal.76 Although the PHS agencies and
AAP said this step was being taken as a precautionary measure – not because the
mercury in vaccines had caused harm – the fact remains that as more vaccines
were being mandated for children, the cumulative level of mercury to which some
infants were exposed through vaccination exceeded that deemed safe by a federal
guideline.77,78
Thimerosal has since been eliminated from or reduced to trace amounts in all the
vaccines routinely given to children age six and younger, reports the FDA. The
only exception for this age group is the influenza vaccine, for which a limited
supply of a preservative-free version was available in 2006.79 (Trace
amounts of thimerosal may remain in some vaccines given to children, because it
is used in the manufacturing process, not from its use as a preservative). With
the new vaccines (excluding influenza), the maximum cumulative amount of
ethylmercury an infant would be exposed to in the first six months of life
through routine vaccinations is now < 3 mcg. This exposure is down from a
maximum of 187.5 mcg previously.80
While this change is certainly welcomed, we should ask why a neurotoxin such as
mercury was allowed to be used in vaccines in the first place. Mercury exposure
has been associated with nerve cell degeneration,81 adverse
behavioral effects,82 and impaired brain development.83 It
also has been linked to degenerative chronic conditions such as Alzheimer's
disease. The developing fetal nervous system is the most sensitive to its toxic
effects, and prenatal exposure to high doses of mercury has been shown to cause
mental retardation and cerebral palsy.84
At the center of the debate over the use of mercury in vaccines is whether this
substance has contributed to an increased incidence of autism in the US. An
analysis of VAERS and the Vaccine Safety Datalink found that mercury exposure
from thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs) was a significant risk factor for
neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs).85 Other research, as discussed by
David Kirby in Evidence of Harm, has
suggested an association between mercury in the body and autism.86-89
However, a number of population studies have found that there is no association
between TCVs and the incidence of autism spectrum disorders.90-92 The Institute of Medicine
determined in a 2004 report that "the body of epidemiological evidence favors
rejection of a causal relationship" between TCVs and autism and between the MMR
vaccine, in particular, and autism.93
Concerns about the safety of mercury in vaccines continue. In 2006, Washington
State passed a law banning the use of thimerosal in vaccines given to young
children and pregnant women. This law made Washington the seventh state – after
Iowa, California, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, and New York – to limit the use
of mercury in vaccines. More than a dozen other states have introduced similar
legislation.94
A study published in 2006 provides the first epidemiological evidence that the
number of neurodevelopment disorders has decreased in the US as thimerosal was
removed from vaccines. This study analyzed certain NDs – including autism,
mental retardation, and speech disorders – reported to VAERS from 1991 to 2004.
It found "significant reductions in the proportion of NDs reported to VAERS as
thimerosal was [beginning] to be removed from childhood vaccines in the US from
mid-1999 onwards."95
A continuing concern is the use of thimerosal in vaccines that may be given to
children age seven and older (such as some flu and tetanus-diphtheria vaccines)
and to adults who are elderly or immune-compromised. The CDC recommended in 2004
that children six to 23 months of age receive the flu vaccine each year, and in
2003, it approved the "first live attenuated influenza vaccine licensed for
five- to 49-year-old persons."96 As late as the 2004-2005 flu season,
however, two types of influenza vaccines were still on the market: some
contained thimerosal as a preservative, and some were preservative-free. The CDC
said then that the amount of preservative-free flu vaccine would continue to
increase as the capabilities of manufacturers grew.97 However, one
wonders how many children are still suffering the effects of mercury-toxic
injections from past flu seasons.
The FDA, for its part, says that with the maximum cumulative exposure to mercury
for children under six months reduced to less than 3 mcg, "an infant could
receive a thimerosal-containing influenza vaccine at six and seven months of
age." The FDA reasons that the maximum exposure from routine vaccinations would
be 28 mcg, which is "well below the EPA calculated exposure guideline for
methylmercury of 65 micrograms for a child in the 5th percentile body weight
during the first six months of life."98
Vaccine Failure and Waning
Immunity
The medical literature documents many cases in which vaccines have failed to
protect recipients from the targeted disease, either due to primary failure (a
lack of seroconversion) or secondary failure (the waning of protection over
time). In recent years, for example, large outbreaks of pertussis and mumps
among both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people have brought these two
"vintage bugs," as Newsweek referred to them in
2006, back into the news.99-103
Pertussis is the only vaccine-preventable
disease that is increasing in the US.104 It is re-emerging even
though estimated rates of childhood vaccination coverage with three or more
doses have exceeded 90% since 1994.105 Reported cases of pertussis
reached 25,827 in 2004, compared with a low of 1,010 in 1976106 – two
years before the DTP vaccine was mandated for school admission. This represented
the largest pertussis outbreak in more than 40 years, and the actual incidence
is likely higher due to underreporting. The majority of reported cases are now
occurring in adolescents, who the CDC says become susceptible to pertussis some
six to ten years after receiving their childhood vaccines,107 and in
adults. But younger children who have been vaccinated against pertussis may be
affected as well.108
The re-emergence of pertussis is not limited to the United States. Canada,
Australia, and some European countries also have experienced a resurgence of
this disease. A 2005 report concludes that "pertussis is far from being
controlled in Europe."109 Another analysis from the same year states
that "an increased incidence of infant, adolescent, and adult pertussis has been
observed worldwide since the introduction of widespread vaccination."110
Like pertussis, mumps
also has had a resurgence in the US. The largest outbreak of mumps since
the late 1980s occurred in 2006, when 5,783 cases were reported to the CDC
between January 1 and October 7. Although the CDC does not have complete data on
vaccination status in this nationwide outbreak, vaccination coverage for 1,798
patients in Iowa, where the outbreak started, was 49% for two doses of the MMR
vaccine and 14% for one dose. The vaccination status of 30% of these patients
was not known.111 Other outbreaks of mumps have occurred in
vaccinated populations.112,113
Another
vaccine that may fail to protect recipients during an outbreak is the varicella
(chicken-pox) vaccination. Numerous studies have found that vaccinated
schoolchildren are still at risk of contracting this disease.114,115
In an outbreak of 25 cases of chickenpox at a daycare center, the authors
concluded that "vaccination provided poor protection" (44% against varicella of
any severity) and that "breakthrough infections in vaccinated, healthy persons
can be as infectious as varicella in unvaccinated persons."116 In
other studies of chickenpox outbreaks, the numbers of vaccinated people among
infected individuals were: 29 of 54 cases,117 26 of 83 cases,118
43 of 49 cases,119 18 of 21 cases,120 and 14 of 41 cases.121
Vaccine effectiveness against varicella of any severity in these studies ranged
from 59% to 87%.
The Use of Unproven Vaccines
A contentious area of vaccination is the use of experimental vaccines in the
US military, particularly with personnel of the Gulf War of 1990-91, without
their informed consent. Approximately 150,000 service members deployed to the
Gulf received the anthrax vaccine.122
Some Gulf troops also received the botulinum vaccine. In addition, the anthrax
vaccine has been given to hundreds of thousands of military personnel since
1998,123 when the Department of Defense (DOD) began a mandatory mass
vaccination program to inoculate all 2.5 million members of the military against
a potential attack with anthrax.124
Although the FDA licensed the anthrax vaccine in 1970, it was not approved for
inhalation exposure. The DOD's mandatory anthrax vaccine program was ruled
illegal in 2004 when a federal judge said the FDA had not followed its licensing
regulations for the vaccine. The DOD was directed to "stop giving the
experimental vaccine to military personnel without their voluntary, informed
consent," according to the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), which
recently launched the Military and Biodefense Vaccine Project to provide
information on related vaccines. However, the FDA issued a Final Order in
December 2005 stating the anthrax vaccine was safe and effective, and the DOD's
anthrax vaccination program was again made mandatory in October 2006.125
The NVIC reports that when the FDA issued
its Final Order in 2005, it "failed to provide evidence the vaccine was
effective against inhalation (weaponized) anthrax and failed to address
published research studies and 5,000 adverse event reports received by FDA
demonstrating that anthrax vaccine is causing serous health problems."126
The anthrax vaccine is one possible cause of what is commonly referred to as
Gulf War syndrome, the collection of chronic symptoms (such as fatigue, joint
pain, headaches, skin rashes, and cognitive problems) that have been reported by
veterans of this war. According to the Institute for Molecular Medicine, which
studies chronic diseases, it is likely that a variety of exposures are
responsible for the illnesses experienced by veterans with Gulf War Illness.
These exposures include chemical mixtures, such as organophosphates, antinerve
agents, and possibly nerve agents; radiological sources, including depleted
uranium ammunition and possibly fallout from destroyed nuclear reactors; and
biological sources, such as bacteria, viruses, and toxins.127 (It
should be noted that the Institute of Medicine stated in September 2006 that
there is no unique cluster of symptoms that comprise a Gulf War syndrome.128)
Regarding vaccines, a study of Kansas Gulf War veterans found that veterans who
were vaccinated during the war but were not deployed to the region "may
experience some of the same health problems" as veterans who served in the war.
Among nondeployed veterans, 12% of those who received the vaccines had Gulf War
illness, compared with four percent who did not receive the vaccines.129
This researcher cites other studies that have found that vaccines against
biologic warfare agents (such as anthrax and plague) and multiple routine
vaccines in Gulf War veterans were associated with multisymptom illness as
classified by the CDC.130,131
Notes
1. Glezen WP. A response to strategy #2: streamlining
the regulatory process. Clin Infect Dis.
2006;42 Suppl 3:S141-144.
2. Jacobson SH, Sewell EC. Designing pediatric vaccine formularies and pricing
pediatric combination vaccines using operations research models and algorithms.
Expert Rev Vaccines.
2003 Feb;2(1):15-19.
3. Brennan MJ. Moving new vaccines for tuberculosis through the regulatory
process. Clin Infect Dis.
2000;30 Suppl 3:S247-249.
4. Jacobson SH, Sewell EC. Stockpile levels for pediatric vaccines: how much is
enough? Vaccine.
2006;24(17):3530-3537. Epub 2006 Feb 20.
5. Coleman MS, Sangrujee N. Factors affecting U.S. manufacturers' decisions to
produce vaccines. Health Aff
(Millwood). 2005;24(3):635-642.
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Influenza vaccine prebooking and
distribution strategies for the 2005-06 influenza season.
MMWR.
2005;54(12):307-308.
7. Djomand G, Katzman J. Enrollment of racial/ethnic minorities in NIAID-funded
networks of HIV vaccine trials in the United States, 1988 to 2002.
Public Health Rep.
2005;120(5):543-548.
8. Bisno AL, Rubin FA. Prospects for a group A streptococcal vaccine: rationale,
feasibility, and obstacles – report of a National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases workshop. Clin Infect Dis.
2005;41(8):1150-1156. Epub 2005 Sep 2.
9. Mayeaux EJ, Jr. Harnessing the power of prevention: human papillomavirus
vaccines. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol.
2006;18 Suppl 1:s15-21.
10. Vaccines schedule for children. MayoClinic.com. Available at:
www.mayoclinic.com/health/vaccines/HQ01629. Accessed July 26, 2007.
11. Evans B. An incomplete picture. DailyPress.com. December 4, 2005. Available
at:
www.dailypress.com/news/dp-anth-day1dec02,0,7450119.story?coll=dp-widget-news.
Accessed July 27, 2007.
12. Froeschle J. (Connaught Laboratories, Swiftwater, Pa.) Testimony to the
Institute of Medicine, 1992. Available at:
www.vaccinationnews.com/Adverse_Reactions/VAERS/credible_estimates.htm.
Accessed July 27, 2007.
13. Kretzschmar M, Wallinga J. Frequency of adverse events after vaccination
with different vaccinia strains. PLoS Medicine.
2006; 3(8):e272.
14. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. Vaccines: a safe choice for
parents. Available at: www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/vacsafe-parents.htm. Accessed
July 27, 2007.
(Dec. 2007:
Now:
http://www.cdc.gov/od/science/iso/general_info/parents.htm)
15. Barnett A, McVeigh T. UK babies given toxic vaccines, admits Glaxo.
The Observer, June
30, 2002. Available at:
http://www.iahf.com/20020702.html.
16. US Food and Drug Administration. Vaccines provide effective protection and
FDA makes sure they are safe. February 2002. Available at:
www.fda.gov/opacom/factsheets/justthefacts/19vaccine.html. Accessed July 27,
2007.
17. Initiative for Vaccine Research, World Health Organization. New vaccines
against infectious diseases: research and development status. April 2005;
updated February 2006
18. World Health Organization. Development of new vaccines. Revised December
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19. Murphy J. What Every Parent Should Know
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20. Edwards KM. State mandates and childhood immunization.
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23. Link K. The Vaccine Controversy: The
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24. Ibid, p. 13-14.
25. Ibid, p. 15.
26. Ibid, p. 16.
27. Ibid, p. 16-17.
28. Link, op. cit., p. xi, 150.
29. Howe CJ, Johnston RB, Alexander ER, eds.
Research to identify risks for adverse events following vaccination: biological
mechanisms and possible means of prevention.
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30. Chance T. Shots all around. DailyCamera.com, August 18, 2006. Available at:
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31. Ward BJ. Vaccine adverse events in the new
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32. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance for safety after
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33. Garenne M, et al. Child mortality after high-titre measles vaccines:
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34. Vilchez RA, Kozinetz CA, Arrington AS, Madden CR, Butel JS. Simian virus 40
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35. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance for safety after
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36. Connaught, op. cit.
37. The anthrax vaccine: new questions, weak data. Charlotte.com, Dec. 11, 2005.
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38. Vaccine long-term studies. Available at:
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39. Peltola H, Patja A, Leinikki P, et al. No evidence for measles, mumps, and
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1988; 351:1327-8.
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40. Demicheli V, Jefferson T, Rivetti A, et al. Vaccines for measles, mumps and
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41. American Immunization Registry Association. Update on FY 2007 Labor HHS
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42. Remarks by Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of Health And Human Services, before
the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Education March 20, 2003,
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43. Link, op. cit., p. 164.
44. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, op. cit.
45. Stratton KR, Howe CJ, Johnston RB Jr. Adverse events associated with
childhood vaccines other than pertussis and rubella. Summary of a report from
the Institute of Medicine. JAMA.
1994; 271(20):1602-1605.
46. Howson CP, Fineberg HV. Adverse events following pertussis and rubella
vaccines. Summary of a report of the Institute of Medicine.
JAMA. 1992;
267(3):392-396.
47. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Update: vaccine side effects,
adverse reactions, contraindications, and precautions. Recommendations of the
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
MMWR. 1996;
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48. Centers for Disease Control. Update: Guillain-Barre syndrome among
recipients of Menactra meningococcal conjugate vaccine – United States, June
2005-September 2006. MMWR.
2006; 55(41):1120-1124.
49. Torch WC. Diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) immunization: a potential cause
of the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Neurology. 1982; 32(4).
50. Baraff L, et al. Possible temporal association between diphtheria-tetanus
toxoid-pertussis vaccination and sudden infant death syndrome.
Pediatric Infectious Dis.
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51. Ottaviani G, Lavezzi AM. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) shortly after
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52. Braun MM, Ellenberg SS. Descriptive epidemiology of adverse events after
immunization: reports to the Vaccine Advers Event Reporting System (VAERS),
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53. Fleming, PJ, Blair PS, Platt MW, et al. The UK accelerated immunization
programme and sudden unexpected death in infancy: case-control study.
BMJ. 2001;
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54. Institute of Medicine. Adverse Effects of
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Consequences of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines.
Howson CP, Howe CJ, Fineberg HV, eds. Washington, DC: National Academy Press;
1991:125-143 [cited by CDC].
55. Sandy Gottstein (Mintz), president of
Vaccination News. Institute of Medicine
testimony, January 16, 1993.
www.vaccinationnews.com/Authors/SandyMintz/IOMTest1993.htm.
56. Gary Null Interview with Jamie Murphy, December 18, 1997.
57. Link, op. cit., p. xi.
58. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pertussis – United States,
2001-2003. MMWR.
2005; 54(40):1283-1286.
59. Kancheria VS, Hanson IC. Mumps resurgence in the United States.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006; 118(4):938-941.
60. James W. Immunization: The Reality Behind
the Myth. Massachusetts: Bergin & Gervey;
1988.
61. Gary Null Interview with Walene James, April 6, 1995.
62. Phillips, Alan. Vaccination: dispelling the myths.
Nexus. October-November 1997.
63. Briss PA, Fehrs LJ. Sustained transmission of mumps in a highly vaccinated
population: assessment of primary vaccine failure and waning vaccine-induced
immunity. J Infect Dis.
1994; 169(1):77-82.
64. Ibid.
65. Auwaerter PG, Hussey GD. Changes within T cell receptor V beta subsets in
infants following measles vaccination. Clin
Immunol Immunopathol. 1996;79(2):163-170.
66. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What would happen if we stopped
vaccinations? Last modified November 19, 2003.
67. Cutler D, Meara E. Changes in the age distribution of mortality over the
20th century. NBER Working Paper No. 8556. October 2001. Available at:
www.nber.org/digest/mar02/w8556.html. Accessed July 27, 2007.
68. Francis DR. Why do death rates decline? NBER
Digest. March 2002.
69. Ibid.
70. Guyer B, Freedman MA, Strobino DM, et al. Annual summary of vital
statistics: trends in the health of Americans during the 20th century.
Pediatrics. 2000;
106:1307-1317.
71. Ibid.
72. Coulter, Harris L. Vaccination, Social
Violence, and Criminality. Berkeley, CA: North
Atlantic Books; 1990.
73. Gary Null Interview with Dr. Harris Coulter, April 6, 1995.
74. US Food and Drug Administration. Thimerosal in vaccines and frequently asked
questions. Last updated September 25 and 29, 2006. Available at:
www.fda.gov.
75. Murphy, op. cit., p. 5.
76. Thimerosal in Vaccines: A Joint Statement of the American Academy of
Pediatrics and the Public Health Service. MMWR.
07/09/1999; 48(26):563.
77. US Food and Drug Administration. Thimerosal in vaccines. Updated September
25, 2006.
78. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mercury and vaccines (thimerosal).
Modified October 12, 2006. Available at:
www.cdc.gov.
79. US Food and Drug Administration. Thimerosal in vaccines. Updated September
25, 2006. Available at: www.fda.gov.
80. US Food and Drug Administration. Thimerosal in vaccines: frequently asked
questions. Last updated September 29, 2006. Available at:
www.fda.gov.
81. Sakamoto M, et al. Widespread neuronal degeneration in rats following oral
administration of methylmercury during the postnatal developing phase: a model
of fetal-type minamata disease. Brain Res.
1998; 784(1-2):351-354.
82. Echeverria D, et al. Neurobehavioral effects from exposure to dental amalgam
Hg(o): new distinctions between recent exposure and Hg body burden.
FASEB J. 1998;
12(11):971-980.
83. Myers GJ, et al. A review of methylmercury and child development.
Neurotoxicology.
1998; 19(2):313-328.
84. Myers GJ, et al. Prenatal methylmercury exposure and children: neurologic,
developmental, and behavioral research. Environ
Health Perspect. 1998; 106 Suppl 3:841-847.
85. Geier DA, Geier MR. A two-phased population epidemiological study of the
safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines: a follow-up analysis.
Med Sci Monit. 2005;
11(4):CR160-170.
86. Kirby D. Evidence of Harm: Mercury in
Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy.
New York; St. Martin's Press; 2005.
87. Holmes AS, Blaxill MF, Haley BE. Reduced levels of mercury in first baby
haircuts of autistic children. Int J Toxicol.
2003; 22(4):277-285.
88. Bradstreet J, Geier DA, Kartinel JJ, et al. A case-control study of mercury
burden in children with autistic spectrum disorders.
J Am Phys Surg. 2003;
8(3):76-79.
89. James SJ, Cutler P, Melnyk S, et al. Metabolic biomarkers of increased
oxidative stress and impaired methylation capacity in children with autism.
Am J Clin Nutr.
2004; 80(6):1611-1617.
90. Hviid A, Stellfeld M, Wohlfahrt J, et al. Association between thimerosal-containing
vaccine and autism. JAMA.
2003; 290(13):1763-1766.
91. Stehr-Green P, Tull P, Stellfeld M, et al. Autism and thimerosal-containing
vaccines: lack of consistent evidence for an association.
Am J Prev Med. 2003;
25(2):101-106.
92. Madsen KM, Lauritsen MB, Pedersen CB, et al. Thimerosal and the occurrence
of autism: negative ecological evidence from Danish population-based data.
Pediatrics.
2003; 112(3 Pt 1):604-606.
93. Immunization Safety Review Committee. Immunization safety review: vaccines
and autism. 2004.
94. A-CHAMP (Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning).
State legislation to ban mercury in vaccines. Available at:
www.a-champ.org/state.html. Accessed July 27, 2007.
95. Geier DA, Geier MR. An assessment of downward trends in neurodevelopmental
disorders in the United States following removal of Thimerosal from childhood
vaccines. Med Sci Monit.
2006;12(6):CR231-239. Epub 2006 May 29.
96. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccines timeline. Last modified
April 29, 2005. Available at:
www.cdc.gov/nip/vaccine/vacc-timeline.htm. Accessed July 27, 2007
97. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Availability of thimerosal-free
vaccines. Last modifed May 11, 2004. Available at:
www.cdc.gov.
98. Thimerosal in vaccines: frequently asked questions, op. cit.
99. Carmichael M. Health: "Vintage" bugs return.
Newsweek, May 1,
2006. Available at: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12440760/site/newsweek. Accessed July
27, 2006.
(Dec. 2007: Use
http://www.newsweek.com/id/47607)
100. Khan FN, Lin M, Hinkle CJ, Franklin P, Luther R, et al. Case-control study
of vaccination history in relation to pertussis risk during an outbreak among
school students. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2006;
25(12):1132-1136.
101. Schafer S, Gillette H, Hedberg K, Cieslak P. A community-wide pertussis
outgreak: an argument for universal booster vaccination.
Arch Intern Med.
2006; 166(12):1317-1321.
102. Kancheria VS, Hanson IC. Mumps resurgence in the United States.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006; 118(4):938-941.
Epub 2006 Aug 28.
103. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mumps outbreak at a summer camp
– New York, 2005. MMWR.
2006; 55(07)175-177.
104. Brooks DA, Clover R. Pertussis infection in the United States: role for
vaccination of adolescents and adults. J Am
Board Fam Med. 2006; 19(6):603-611.
105. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pertussis – United States,
2001-2003. MMWR.
2005; 54(40):1283-1286.
106. Pertussis Outbreak Digest 2004. Available at:
www.pertussis.com/digest/index.html.
Accessed July 27, 2007.
(Not live as of Dec. 2007)
107. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pertussis – United States,
2001-2003. MMWR.
2005; 54(40):1283-1286.
108. Khetsuriani N, Bisgard K, Prevots DR, Brennan M, Wharton M, et al.
Pertussis outbreak in an elementary school with high vaccination coverage.
Pediatr Infect Dis J.
2001; 20(12):110801112.
109. Celentano LP, Massari M, Paramatti D, et al. Resurgence of pertussis in
Europe. Pediatr Infect Dis. J
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110. Tan T, Trinade E, Skowronski D. Epidemiology of pertussis.
Pediatr Infect Dis J.
2005; 24(5 Suppl):S10-18.
111. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brief report: Update: Mumps
activity – United States, January 1-October 7, 2006.
MMWR. 2006;
55(42):1152-1153.
112. Cheek, JE, Baron R, Atlas H, et al. Mumps outbreak in a highly vaccinated
school population. Evidence for large-scale vaccination failure.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.
1995; 149(7):774-778.
113. Briss PA, Fehrs LJ, Parker RA, et al. Sustained transmission of mumps in a
highly vaccinated population: assessment of primary vaccine failure and waning
vaccine-induced immunity. J Infect Dis.
1994; 169:77-82.
114. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outbreak of varicella among
vaccinated children – Michigan, 2003. MMWR.
2004; 53(18):389-393.
115. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Varicella outbreak among
vaccinated children – Nebraska, 2005. MMWR.
2006; 55(27):749-752.
116. Galil K, Lee B, Strine T, et al. Outbreak of varicella at a day-care center
despite vaccination. N Engl J Med.
2002; 347(24):1909-1915.
117. Lee BR, Feaver SL, Miller CA, et al. An elementary school outbreak of
varicella attributed to vaccine failure. J
Infect Dis. 2004; 190(3):477-483. Epub 2004
Jun 29.
118. Haddad MB, Hill MB, Pavia AT, et al. Vaccine effectiveness during a
varicella outbreak among schoolchildren: Utah, 2002-2003.
Pediatrics. 2005; 115(6):1488-1493.
119. Lopez AS, Guris D, Zimmerman L, et al. One dose of varicella vaccine does
not prevent school outbreaks: is it time for a second dose?
Pediatrics. 2006;
117(6):e1070-1077.
120. Tugwell BD, Lee LE, Gilette H, et al. Chickenpox outbreak in a highly
vaccinated school population. Pediatrics.
2004; 113(3 Pt 1):455-459.
121. Galil K, Fair E, Mountcastle N, et al. Younger age at vaccination may
increase risk of varicella vaccine failure. J
Infect Dis. 2002; 186:102-105.
122. Deployment Health Clinical Center. Environmental exposures: anthrax
vaccine. Available at:
www.pdhealth.mil/deployments/gulfwar/enviro_anthrax_vac.asp. Accessed July
27, 2007.
123. National Network for Immunization Information. Vaccine information:
anthrax. Last updated March 11, 2005.
124. Nass M. The anthrax vaccine program: an analysis of the CDC's
recommendations for vaccine use. Am J Public
Health. 2002; 92(5):715-721.
125. Vaccine safety advocates oppose Pentagon's return to mandatory vaccination
of US Military Personnel. National Vaccine Information Center. Press release,
October 16, 2006.
126. Ibid.
127. Gulf War illnesses research. Institute for Molecular Medicine. Available
at:
www.immed.org/illness/gulfwar_illness_research.html. Accessed July 27, 2007.
128. Institute of Medicine. Gulf War and Health:
Volume 4. Health Effects of Serving in the
Gulf War. Released September 12, 2006.
129. Steele L. Prevalence and patterns of Gulf War illness in Kansas veterans:
association of symptoms with characteristics of person, place and time of
military service. Am J Epidemiol.
2000; 152(10):992-1002.
130. Unwin C, Blatchley N, Coker W, et al. Health of UK servicemen who served in
the Persian Gulf War. Lancet.
1999; 353(9148):169-178.
131. Hotopf M, Davis A, Hull L, et al. Role of vaccinations as risk factors for
ill health in veterans of the Gulf War: cross sectional study.
BMJ. 2000; 320(7246):1363-1367.
PART 2 An Updated Analysis of the Health Risks
DIPHTHERIA, TETANUS AND PERTUSSIS VACCINE
Diphtheria Toxoid
According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), the incidence of
Diphtheria
was reduced to zero by 2004, from an estimated
average of 21,053 cases per year in the 20th century.1 But as with
other infectious diseases, much of the decline in mortality from diphtheria had
occurred before the vaccine was used. This mortality rate fell from 40 deaths
per 100,000 in 1900 to approximately 16 per 100,000 in 1920, when the diphtheria
vaccine was introduced in the US.2
Pertussis Vaccine
Despite high levels of childhood vaccination coverage for pertussis
(whooping cough), the largest outbreak of this disease in four decades has
occurred in recent years. There were 25,827 reported cases of pertussis in 2004
(the actual incidence could be higher due to underreporting), compared with a
low of 1,010 in 1976.3
According to the CDC, the reported rate of
Pertussis per 100,000 population increased from
1.8 in 1994 to 8.9 in 2004. The 2004 rate was the third consecutive annual
increase in the incidence of pertussis. The CDC notes that two-thirds of
reported cases of pertussis now occur among adolescents and adults due to the
waning of vaccine-induced immunity. This waning occurs five to ten years after
receipt of the vaccine. 4
Similar trends in pertussis were noted nearly 20 years ago in a 1988 report.
After the US mandated whooping cough vaccination in 1978, the incidence of the
disease in the next eight years trebled. The highest incidence was in infants
less than one year old. However, the highest relative increase was in
adolescents and adults.5
In 2006, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP) addressed the rise of whooping cough among adolescents by
recommending that they receive another dose of pertussis vaccine. The Tdap
vaccine (which also contains tetanus and diphtheria toxoids) is now recommended
for all children age 11 to 18 and replaces the tetanus-diphtheria booster
previously given to adolescents. The Tdap booster adds to the five doses of
diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus that children already receive before their
seventh birthday.6
Several research papers suggest that immunization programs have not yet brought
pertussis under control. A 2006 article reports that pertussis "has re-emerged
worldwide as a cause of substantial morbidity and mortality in infants,
children, and adolescents, despite high vaccination rates."7 Another
report, published in 2005, states that an increased incidence of pertussis "has
been observed worldwide since the introduction of widespread vaccination." These
researchers say that there has been "a general shift in the age distribution of
pertussis toward older groups" and that "despite high coverage rates for primary
immunization in infants and children, pertussis continues to be a global
concern, with increased incidence widely noted."8
On the other hand, the merit of the pertussis vaccine is indicated by a 2006
paper. This research evaluated state-level rates of nonmedical exemptions (those
based on religious or personal beliefs) to mandatory vaccination from 1991 to
2004 and the incidence of pertussis among people 18 and younger from 1986 to
2004. The study found that an increased incidence of pertussis was associated
with state policies granting personal-belief exemptions and the easier granting
of exemptions.9
Replacement of the whole cell pertussis vaccine. The US made a major vaccine
substitution in the 1990s when it replaced the diphtheria, tetanus, and whole
cell pertussis vaccine (DTP) with a diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis
vaccine (DTaP).10 The whole cell vaccine has been associated with
serious adverse reactions (such as seizures and encephalopathy).11
Studies have since found a decline in the number of adverse reactions to
pertussis-containing vaccines. An analysis of reports made to the Vaccine
Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from 1991 to 2001 found that the overall
reporting rate decreased substantially after use of the acellular petussis
vaccine compared with the whole cell version (12.5 vs. 26.2 reports per 100,000
net doses distributed).12
An analysis of
VAERS
data from 1995 (when the whole cell vaccine was in use)
to 1998 (when the acellular vaccine was predominant) found that the number of
reports concerning pertussis fell from 2071 in 1995 to 491 in the first half of
1998. Events categorized as "nonfatal serious" fell from 334 in 1995 to 93
(first-half '98). However, the decrease in reports involving deaths was modest,
from 85 deaths in 1995 to 77 in 1997 and 41 in the first half of 1998.13
Recent comparisons of the whole cell and acellular pertussis vaccines confirm
that the older version caused more adverse reactions. One study of VAERS
evaluated the number of emergency room visits, life-threatening reactions,
hospitalizations, disabilities, deaths, seizures, infantile spasms,
encephalitis/encephalopathy, autism, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and
speech disorders that began within three days of receipt of pertussis-containing
vaccines. The study found statistical increases for all of these events, except
cerebellar ataxia, following whole cell vaccination compared with acellular
vaccination.14 In Japan, an analysis of two decades of use of the
acellular vaccine showed that while neurological illnesses were rare with both
types of pertussis vaccine, the incidences of encephalopathy/encephalitis and
status epileptics/frequent convulsions, febrile seizures/provocation of
convulsions, and sudden deaths were significantly lower with the acellular than
the whole cell vaccine.15 A study in Canada reported a 79% decrease
in febrile seizures and a 60% to 67% decrease in hypotonic-hyporesponsive
episodes following the introduction of the acellular vaccine there.16
Other research has associated the whole cell vaccine with neurological
complications, including convulsions, hypotonic-hyporesponsive episodes,
paralysis, and encephalopathy.17,18,19,20,21,22 Sadly, the DTP
vaccine also has been associated with SIDS,
the unexpected death of an infant for which autopsy cannot reveal a determining
cause. In 1982 William Torch reported that his investigation of 70 SIDS cases
(which was triggered by a report of 12 such deaths occurring within
three-and-one-half hours to 19 hours of DPT vaccination) found that two-thirds
of the victims had been vaccinated from a half-day to three weeks prior to
death.23
Torch reaffirmed a link between DTP and SIDS in 1986, when he presented 11 new
cases of SIDS and one of near-miss syndrome occurring within 24 hours of DTP
injection24 Analysis of these and more than 150 cases of DTP
post-vaccinal deaths reported in the literature—about half of which were sudden
or anaphylactic—led Torch to conclude: "Although many feel that the DPT-SIDS
relationship is temporal, this author and others maintain a casual relationship
exists in a yet-to-be-determined SIDS fraction."25
Other researchers also have uncovered a relationship between DTP and SIDS.26,27
However, the CDC reported in 199628 that several studies conducted in
the 1980s did not find an association between DTP vaccination and SIDS.29,30
Pertussis vaccination and
Asthma. A 1994 study found that
children immunized against whooping cough were five times more likely to suffer
from asthma than those who did not receive the vaccine.31 Another
study of almost 2,000 children born between 1974 and 1984 showed that
vaccination against whooping cough was associated with a 76% increased risk of
developing asthma and other allergic diseases later in life.32 On the
other hand, a study published by the CDC of more than 160,000 children did not
find an association between the DTP vaccine and the risk of asthma.33
A 2006 report from the Netherlands also found that receipt of the DTP/polio
vaccine in infancy was not related to reported atopic disorders at primary
school age.34
Tetanus Toxoid
The literature includes articles on neurological reactions to the tetanus
vaccination35-40 and other adverse reactions.41-43
Three types of polio vaccines have been used
throughout the world: 1) the OPV,
or oral polio vaccine (Sabin vaccine), consisting of live attenuated poliovirus;
2) the
IPV,
or inactivated polio vaccine (Salk vaccine), consisting of killed poliovirus and
given by injection; and 3) the eIPV, an enhanced potency inactivated polio
vaccine, consisting of killed poliovirus with high viral antigen content.
In the United States, the IPV (enhanced potency version) has been recommended
for routine childhood vaccination against polio since 2000. Before that, the
live attenuated OPV was the polio vaccine of choice for more than three decades.
This vaccine, however, actually caused polio—vaccine-associated
paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP)—in a small percentage of recipients.44
The risk of VAPP "became more difficult to justify" as polio was controlled
worldwide and importations of wild poliovirus to the US became less likely,
according to an article in the Journal of the American
Medical Association.45
As a result, in 1996 the government recommended a
sequential schedule using both IPV and OPV for the childhood polio vaccination
series. The ACIP then recommended the all-IPV schedule in 2000.
According to the CDC, the overall risk for VAPP is approximately one case in 2.4
million OPV doses distributed, while the first-dose risk is one case in 750,000
doses distributed. The OPV has caused the only indigenous cases of polio
reported in the US since 1979. Between 1980 and 1998, 144 cases of VAPP were
reported.46 Another VAPP case occurred in 1999, and in 2005, a case
of imported VAPP was reported in the US after an unvaccinated American woman
traveled to Central America and was exposed to an infant vaccinated with OPV.47
In late 2005, four cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) involving a
poliovirus strain used in the OPV were identified in unvaccinated children in an
Amish community in Minnesota. The source of these infections is not known, since
the OPV has not been used in the US since 2000.48
During the time that the trivalent OPV was used in the US (from 1963 to 1999),
an inactivated polio vaccine was available. The original IPV, developed by Jonas
Salk, was used to immunize American children from 1955 to 1962. According to the
JAMA article, the OPV became preferred to the
IPV because it provided better intestinal immunity, was able to indirectly
vaccinate susceptible contacts through transmission of vaccine polioviruses, was
easier to administer, and cost less.49
Although IPV does not cause VAPP, the severity profiles of reports to VAERS on
IPV and OPV in infants up to six months of age were "remarkably similar." Among
the most frequent symptoms reported for IPV were fever, SIDS, convulsions,
agitation, apnea, and stupor. Reports of fatalities in 1998 per 100,000 doses
distributed were somewhat higher for IPV than for OPV. Of 142 fatalities
reported for both IPV and OPV in 1997-1998, 89 indicated SIDS.50
Polio vaccine and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
GBS is a disease that involves the nervous system and is characterized by muscle
weakness, numbness, loss of reflexes, and paralysis.
In Finland, in 1985, there was an increase in the incidence of GBS a few weeks
after the implementation of a nationwide campaign using OPV.51,52 And
in Brazil, an analysis of 38 cases of paralysis diagnosed as GBS led in all
cases to the isolation of the vaccine strains of the poliovirus. All patients
had been vaccinated with the OPV months or years before the onset of symptoms.53
In contrast, two other studies failed to find a correlation between GBS and the
OPV.54,55
Vaccine viruses also have been isolated from patients with paralysis diagnosed
as transverse myelitis (TM), and in patients with facial paralysis (FP).56
Most individuals with TM and FP had received the OPV months or years prior to
the onset of disease, indicating that the virus may remain latent and revert to
virulence later in time.
Polio vaccine and SV40-related cancers.
Research conducted in the past few decades has revealed that several types
of cancer may be associated with the receipt of polio vaccines more than 40
years ago that were contaminated with a monkey virus.
In 1960, it was discovered that the Salk IPV was contaminated with SV40 (simian
virus 40), which was derived from the monkey cells used to grow the vaccine
viruses. The SV40 survived inactivation with formaldehyde, the method used to
kill the poliovirus for use in the vaccine. More than 98 million Americans were
vaccinated during the time period (from 1955 to 1963)57 that
injectable and oral doses of the polio vaccine were contaminated with SV40.
These people today have SV40 sequences integrated into their genetic code.
Animal studies have demonstrated the ability of SV40 to integrate its DNA into
that of the host cell and induce malignancy. Unfortunately, studies show that
the virus retains these same properties in humans and is associated with
increased rates of certain cancers.58 Integration and replication of SV40 has
been documented in 13% to 43% of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas,59,60 47% to
83% of mesotheliomas (malignant tumors of the lining of the lungs),61,62
11% to 90% of different types of brain tumors,63-66 50% of
osteosarcomas,67 more than 33% of other types of bone tumors,68,69
and 28% of bronchopulmonary carcinomas.70
A continuing concern is that SV40 may be transmitted from person to person. The
virus has been detected in people born in the 1980s and 1990s, decades after the
tainted polio vaccine was no longer in use.71 SV40 is now present in
children, as noted by Kurt Link, MD, in his 2005 book
The Vaccine Controversy, and the CDC takes this as evidence that SV40 is
a naturally acquired infection unrelated to exposure to the contaminated polio
vaccine. But as Dr. Link states, it is more likely that people infected by the
vaccine have transmitted SV40 to others or to their offspring (such as through
semen). The implication, he says, is that "any SV40 problems may not, as had
been hoped, fade away with time. There is even now, ironically, work being done
to provide a vaccine against SV40."72
It should be noted that other research indicates there is no association between
SV40 and an increased risk of rare cancers such as ependymomas, osteosarcomas,
and mesotheliomas. One study compared rates of cancer after 30 years in birth
cohorts who were likely to have received SV40-contaminated vaccine as infants
and children with rates in people who not unexposed. Age-specific cancer rates
were not significantly elevated for those exposed to the tainted vaccine.73
Another study found no increased number of cancer deaths among 1,073 people who
received SV40-contaminated vaccine,74 and a 35-year follow-up found
no deaths from the types of tumors that have been linked to SV40.75
Another example of changes to the US vaccination
protocol was the addition in 2006 of a second dose of
varicella (chickenpox) vaccine to the
childhood immunization schedule. This dose is recommended for universal
vaccination of all children at ages four to six and for any child, adolescent or
adult who previously has received only one dose. The first dose of the varicella
vaccine was recommended for children in 1995.76
The ACIP recommended the second dose at four to six years of age "to further
improve protection against the disease."77 The fact is, outbreaks of
varicella have occurred despite increasing coverage with the first dose of the
vaccine. In a survey of 59 jurisdictions (states, large cities, and US
territories) by the CDC, 45 jurisdictions were notified of at least once
varicella outbreak in 2004, and 13 were notified of six or more. Data obtained
on 190 outbreaks in 2004 showed that two-thirds occurred in elementary schools.78
Varicella outbreaks may occur even in highly vaccinated communities, and
vaccinated children are still at risk of contracting the disease.79-81
According to the CDC, 11% to 17% of vaccinated children have developed
chickenpox—so-called "breakthrough varicella"—in recent outbreaks of the disease
among vaccinated schoolchildren.82 In three studies, rates of
infection in vaccinated individuals ranged from 18% to 34% anywhere from five to
ten years following immunization.83-85
In other recent studies of chickenpox outbreaks, vaccine effectiveness against
varicella of any severity ranged from 44% to 87%. Effectiveness was as high as
97% for moderate or severe illness.86-91 Research also shows that
people with breakthrough varicella tend to have milder illness than do
unvaccinated people who contract the disease,92 although the
vaccinated individuals can be just as infectious.93
VAERS received 6,574 reports of adverse events for the varicalla vaccine from
March 17, 1995 to July 25, 1998. Approximately four percent of reports concerned
serious events (such as anaphylaxis, thrombocytopenia, pneumonia, and
convulsions) and deaths.94
The dangers of adult chickenpox.
In most cases chickenpox is a benign, self-limiting disease in children, and
the natural immunity derived from contracting the disease is permanent.
Vaccine-induced immunity, on the other hand, lasts only an estimated six to ten
years. The temporary nature of vaccine-induced immunity can create a more
dangerous situation by postponing the child's vulnerability until adulthood,
when death from the disease is 30 times more likely.
The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), Vienna, Va., advises parents to
seriously consider not using the chickenpox vaccine in healthy children.
According to Barbara Loe Fisher, cofounder and president, "The case/fatality
ratio in healthy children is one death per 100,000 children. In adults, it rises
to 31 deaths per 100,000. So it basically is an experiment. That is really what
happens with most of these vaccines that they bring out. They really don't know
what the long-term effect is going to be." Dr. Link, however, cautions that if
most children are immunized according to the current US policy of universal
vaccination, "it may be unwise to try to avoid vaccination because of the hazard
of later acquiring varicella as an adult."95
The temporary immunity provided by the vaccine is a particular concern for
pregnant women. Normally, 90% of adult women are immune to varicella and
transfer this immunity to their babies during pregnancy. But the immunity
induced by vaccination, which lasts only five to ten years, may be gone by the
time a woman enters her reproductive stage, leaving pregnant women at risk of
contracting the infection and transmitting it to the fetus. Fetal varicella
syndrome is characterized by multiple congenital malformations and is often
fatal for the fetus.96 In addition, children born to women whose
vaccine-induced immunity has faded are unprotected during the first year of
life, when their immune system is still developing, and may suffer fatal
complications if exposed to the infection.
Another potential problem in the coming years is an increase in the rate of
shingles due to widespread use of the varicella vaccine. As Dr. Link explains,
the varicella zoster virus causes both chickenpox and herpes zoster (shingles).
The virus could lie dormant for many years and later become active and cause
shingles due to a reduction in immunity. One report states that mass vaccination
with varicella "is expected to cause a major epidemic of herpes zoster."97
And while some research has not found in increase in the rate of shingles,
reports Dr. Link, it will be years before we know whether the vaccine virus is
too weak to be activated or the immunity produced by the vaccine is too weak to
control the virus.98
It is of interest that the FDA approved the first vaccine for herpes zoster in
2006. Zostavax is a live vaccine licensed for use in people age 60 and older. In
a study of approximately 38,000 people, the vaccine reduced the incidence of
herpes zoster by about 50% overall. Effectiveness ranged from 64% for people age
60-69 to 18% for those 80 and older.99
The
Hepatitis B vaccine became
commercially available in the US in 1982 and was recommended for certain
high-risk groups of people. However, when vaccination programs aimed at these
groups did not stem an increase in hepatitis B infections, the ACIP recommended
universal immunization of infants against this disease in 1991.100
An analysis of reports made to VAERS over 11 years—from 1991 to 2001—found that
hepatitis B was the most frequently mentioned vaccine in 1991-1995 reports and
the second-most commonly mentioned (after varicella) in 1996-2001 reports.101
An earlier study found that 12,520 adverse reactions to hepatitis B were
reported to VAERS from 1991 to 1994, with 14% of these reactions involving
newborns and infants.102 Approximately one-third of reactions
involved an emergency room visit or hospitalization, according to the
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). There were 440 deaths,
about 180 of which were attributed to SIDS.103
Dr. Jane M. Orient, executive director of
AAPS, has stated that according to a federal government study, "Children younger
than 14 are three times more likely to die or suffer adverse reactions after
receiving hepatitis B vaccines than to catch the disease."104
In adults, hepatitis B vaccination was associated with serious autoimmune
disorders in one analysis of VAERS data and a review of the literature,
published in 2004. These disorders included arthritis, pancytopenia/
thrombocytopenia, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, myelitis,
Guillain-Barre syndrome, and optic neuritis. In adult use of the hepatitis B
vaccine, there were 465 positive re-challenge adverse events.105
Other articles associate the hepatitis B vaccine with complications of the
nervous system106-110 and joints111-116 and other adverse
effects.117 The Institute of Medicine stated in 2002 that "the
epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between the
hepatitis B vaccine in adults and multiple sclerosis." (The evidence was
inadequate to accept or reject a causal association with other demyelinating
conditions.)118 A case-control study published by the CDC in 2003
also found that the hepatitis B vaccine is not associated with an increased risk
of multiple sclerosis or optic neuritis.119 However, a case-control
study published in 2004 concluded that its findings "are consistent with the
hypothesis that immunization with the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine is
associated with an increased risk of MS, and challenge the idea that the
relation between hepatitis B vaccination and risk of
MS is well
understood."120
The purpose of vaccinations is to reduce the risks of complications associated
with the diseases they are designed to prevent. Complications from a vaccine
should not outweigh those derived from the disease. And yet, according to
Dr. Philip Incao, who has studied
vaccinations and the immune system for three decades, in the case of hepatitis
B, "...the conclusion is obvious that the risks of hepatitis B vaccination far
outweigh its benefits."121
Are vaccine-induced antibodies
only temporary? Vaccine supporters claim that the development of an
antibody response to a vaccine virus equals protection against the disease. So
we now vaccinate children against hepatitis B to prevent them from contracting
the disease later in life. But for this to occur, the level of antibodies that
are supposed to be protective must remain high for very long periods of time.
A study published in 2004 reports that antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen
(anti-HBs) had disappeared by five years of age in most of the low-risk children
studied who were vaccinated from birth against hepatitis B.122 A
study in the Gambia found that fewer than half of vaccinees had detectable anti-HBs
15 years after vaccination and that vaccine efficacy against infection among 20-
to 24-year-olds was 70.9%. A positive finding was that hepatitis B vaccination
in early life can provide long-lasting protection against carriage of the
hepatitis B virus—a major risk factor for liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular
carcinoma—despite decreasing levels of anti-HBs.123
One study of adult hepatitis B vaccination evaluated the persistence of
anti-hepatitis-B antibodies in 635 homosexual men immunized against the virus.
After five years, antibodies no longer existed in 15% and had declined
sharply—below levels deemed to be protective—in another 27%. Hepatitis B
developed in 55 men, and two became carriers of the virus.124 Another
study found that after three years, 36% of individuals who initially responded
to the hepatitis B immunization lost anti-hepatitis-B antibodies.125
Why then are we needlessly vaccinating millions of children if by the time
they'll be adults and might be exposed to the virus, they won't have the
antibodies that are supposed to protect them? And, in any case, are these
antibodies offering protection against the disease?
MEASLES, MUMPS, AND RUBELLA (MMR) VACCINE
In recent years, two of three diseases targeted by
the
MMR
vaccine—measles and rubella—have been virtually eliminated in the United States.
The last major resurgence of measles occurred in 1989-1991, when more than
55,000 cases and approximately 120 deaths were reported. The ACIP recommended in
1989 that a second dose of measles-containing vaccine be added to the childhood
vaccination schedule, and the incidence of measles began to fall in 1992. A
record low of 37 cases were reported in 2004.126,127 In 2000, a panel
of experts convened by the CDC determined that measles was no longer endemic in
the US.128 Similarly, the incidence of rubella fell to nine cases in
2004, and it was determined that rubella is no longer endemic in the US.129
Despite this success, concerns remain about adverse effects of MMR vaccination.
The Institute of Medicine has found evidence that this vaccine can cause
anaphylaxis, thrombocytopenia, and acute arthritis.130,131 Other
research has associated the vaccine with adverse effects on the nervous system132-137
gastrointestinal tract,138 and joints.139-141
Meryl Dorey, editor of the Australian
publication Vaccination? The Choice is Yours and
president of the Australian Vaccination Network, points out that the MMR vaccine
is associated with Guillain-Barre paralysis, multiple sclerosis, and aseptic
meningitis, a swelling of the lining of the brain that can be fatal. The CDC has
noted that while cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome following MMR vaccination have
been reported, the IOM has found the evidence "insufficient to accept or reject
a causal relationship."142
Vaccine
failures. A study published in
1994 evaluated all US and Canadian articles reporting measles outbreaks in
schools and found that, on average, 77 % of these infections occurred in
vaccinated people. The authors concluded, "The apparent paradox is that as
measles immunization rates rise to high levels in a population, measles becomes
a disease of immunized persons."143
The New England Journal of Medicine has
reported that 60% of all measles cases among American schoolchildren between
1985 and 1986 occurred in those who were vaccinated.144 Other studies
confirm a high percentage of measles among vaccinated subjects.145,146
Vulnerabilities related to the measles vaccine.
Natural immunity to measles—derived from
contracting the disease—is permanent and is transferred from mothers to babies
in utero through the placenta. Babies born to mothers who have had the disease
are protected from the infection during their first year of life by the presence
of a high concentration of natural antibodies circulating in their blood.
Measles vaccination, on the other hand, induces lower antibody titers than does
natural infection. Neutralizing measles antibodies passed by vaccinated women to
their newborns disappear rapidly, leaving the babies susceptible to the
infection in their first year of life, when they are more at risk of
complications.
This difference in infants' immunity levels is reflected in a 1995 study.
Researchers found that 71% of nine-month-olds and 95% of 12-month-olds had no
detectable neutralizing measles antibodies in their blood. All infants with
detectable measles antibodies at nine or 12 months had mothers born before 1963,
before the vaccine era.147
Research confirms that antibody response to the vaccine virus is only temporary.
One study shows that four years after MMR vaccination, measles antibodies fell
below the putative protective levels in 28% of children and were no longer
present in another three percent of vaccinees.148 Experimenting with
high-potency vaccines produced even poorer results.149
Jamie
Murphy,
author of What Every Parent Should Know About
Childhood Immunization, argues that
rather than preventing measles, the vaccine may simply suppress it, only to have
it manifest as other forms of disease with age.150 He asserts that
quite a few diseases are associated with the measles vaccine, including "encephalopathies
(brain damage), aseptic meningitis, cranial nerve palsy, learning disabilities,
hyperkinesis, and severe mental retardation...."151 Several studies
have documented that measles vaccination produces immune suppression that
contributes to an increased susceptibility to other infections.152,153
One study links measles vaccination to Crohn's disease.154
Problems with vaccine testing.
In a response to information provided by
the
World Health Organisation
, author and lecturer
Trevor Gunn has identified shortcomings in the testing of vaccines and the
rationale for mass immunization, particularly with regards to measles.155
One problem is that vaccine studies use seroconversion, or antibody presence in
the bloodstream, to indicate effectiveness. When UK health authorities say that
the measles vaccine is 90% effective, they do not mean that it reduces the
incidence, severity, or death rate of the disease by 90%, but rather that 90% of
recipients produce a certain level of antibodies to the viral agents. However,
the level of serum antibodies does not correlate with the body's ability to
fight illness. People with low antibody levels may demonstrate immunity, while
people with higher antibody levels may have no immunity.
Given this disconnect, says Gunn, we must "place a greater reliance on obtaining
efficacy results of immunisation from population studies." These studies measure
the level of disease protection in populations after they've been inoculated,
using cohort groups matched for age, population, and disease exposure
similarities, and so forth. Although WHO quoted references to a number of
population studies in its communication with Gunn, the author says that all of
the studies were conducted in developing countries. Thus, the results cannot be
"directly extrapolate to developed countries," where people may fear that the
risks of vaccination outweigh the risk of contracting a disease such as measles.
In addition, notes Gunn, population studies referenced by WHO show the
difficulties of vaccine testing. One study, for example, suggests that measles
vaccination reduces childhood mortality by 30%. However, the control group was
not non-vaccinated, but rather included children who did not seroconvert and
thus were assumed to have no immune response to the vaccine. In this case, we
would not know whether deaths in the control group were due directly to the
vaccine, to its lack of effectiveness, or to lack of natural immunity provided
by the measles itself. In another group in this study, 15 of 123 did not have
antibody conversion after vaccination, so their results were excluded as well.
Three of this group actually died. We do not know the cause of these deaths, or
whether the remaining 12 in the group were prevented from getting the disease.156
In another study, the cohort group was cherry-picked for people who did not have
a history of measles. This group may have been less likely to die from measles
in general or may be heartier in general than the people who were selected
against in the study.157
Although mumps infection is a largely benign
disease when contracted during childhood, it becomes more dangerous in older
children and adults, who are more susceptible to severe neurological,
testicular, and ovarian complications from the infection. It is alarming to see
that vaccination is clearly shifting the occurrence of this disease from young
children toward those who are older.158
A large outbreak of mumps occurred in the United States in 2006, with 5,783
cases being reported to the CDC in less than ten months (from January 1 to
October 7). The median age for the mumps patients was 22 years, and the highest
age-specific rate was among people 18 to 24 years of age, many of them college
students.159
Questions
about efficacy.
The resurgence of mumps raises concerns about
vaccine failure. Although the CDC does not know the vaccination history of all
the 2006 cases, it has reported that 63% of 1,798 patients in Iowa (which had
the highest number of cases) had received one or two doses of the MMR vaccine.160
Other mumps outbreaks have occurred in highly vaccinated populations in the US
and Europe.161-163 The populations in several of these studies had
virtually complete vaccination coverage. In a high school population with more
than 95% coverage, 53 of 54 students who got the disease were vaccinated.164
In a Tennessee school with 98% coverage, 67 of 68 students who got mumps were
vaccinated. Thus, mumps cases in this instance were attributed mostly to vaccine
failure.165
Perhaps the boldest statement on the efficacy of the mumps vaccine comes from
the authors of an epidemiological study conducted in Switzerland. They found a
fivefold increase in the number of mumps cases from 1990 to 1993, especially in
vaccinated children. Among the authors' conclusions was: "The Rubini [mumps]
strain vaccines, which are the most commonly used in Switzerland, seem to have
played an important role in the clear increase in mumps cases since 1990."166
Urabe
strain and meningitis. Another
strain of mumps virus used in vaccines has been associated with the development
of aseptic meningitis.167 The
Urabe
strain is not used in vaccines in the US, but it
has been used in Canada and the United Kingdom in the past. This strain of mumps
virus was identified as the cause of aseptic meningitis in 1989 in patients who
developed meningitis 21 days after injection. The virus isolated from these
patients was identical to that used in the vaccine.
The Urabe strain of the mumps virus was removed from Canadian vaccines in 1989168
because of a
Meningitis
outbreak. The strain was removed in the
UK in 1992. According to Trevor Gunn, when laboratory and hospital reports were
cross-linked to vaccination records there, "the [perceived low risk of
meningitis from this particular vaccine] rose to between one in 4,000 and one in
21,000."169 Despite these vaccine withdrawals, a mass immunization
campaign targeting children one to 11 years old was carried out in 1997 in
Salvador, Brazil, with a Urabe-containing MMR vaccine. An outbreak of aseptic
meningitis followed, with 58 cases diagnosed.170
A study published in 1981 found that 15 years after receiving rubella vaccination, one in 11 children lost protection and became susceptible to re-infection.171 This is worrisome because rubella infection is especially dangerous when contracted during pregnancy, since the fetus may develop malformations if exposed to the virus. Again, the lack of permanent immunity offered by vaccinations is creating serious problems down the line.
Viera Scheibner, a retired research scientist, notes that in a 1991 report on the adverse effects of pertussis and rubella vaccines from the Institute of Medicine, "the evidence indicated a causal relationship between RA 27/3 rubella vaccine and acute arthritis in 13% to 15% of adult women. Also some individuals were shown to go on to develop chronic arthritis."172
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46. Ibid.
47. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Imported vaccine-associated
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48. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Poliovirus infections in four
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49. Alexander, op. cit.
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56. Friedrich F. Rare adverse events associated with oral poliovirus vaccine in
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74. Mortimer EA, Lepow ML, Gold E, et al. Long-term follow-up of persons
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76. National Immunization Program. New ACIP recommendations.
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77. Ibid.
78. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health response to
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79. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outbreak of varicella among
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80. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Varicella outbreak among
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81. Buchholz U, et al. Varicella outbreaks after vaccine licensure: should they
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82. National Immunization Program, op. cit.
83. Clements DA, et al. Over five-year follow-up of Oka/Merck varicella vaccine
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84. Johnson CE, et al. A long-term prospective study of varicella vaccine in
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85. Takayama N, et al. High incidence of breakthrough varicella observed in
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86. Galil K, Lee B, Strine T, et al. Outbreak of varicella at a day-care center
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87. Lee BR, Feaver SL, Miller CA, et al. An elementary school outbreak of
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88. Haddad MB, Hill MB, Pavia AT, et al. Vaccine effectiveness during a
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89. Lopez AS, Guris D, Zimmerman L, et al. One dose of varicella vaccine does
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90. Galil K, Fair E, Mountcastle N, et al. Younger age at vaccination may
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91. Tugwell BD, Lee LE, Gilette H, et al. Chickenpox outbreak in a highly
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92. Bernstein HH, et al. Clinical survey of natural varicella compared with
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93. Galil K, Lee B, Strine T, et al. Outbreak of varicella at a day-care center
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94. Wise RP, Salive ME, Braun MM, et al. Postlicensure safety surveillance for
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95. Link, op. cit., p.52-53.
96. Connan L, et al. Intra-uterine fetal death following maternal varicella
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97. Brisson M et al. Exposure to varicella boosts immunity to herpes zoster.
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98. Link, op. cit., p. 52-53.
99. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Product approval information – licensing
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100. Freed GL, Bordley WC, Clark SJ, et al. Reactions of pediatricians to a new
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101. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance for safety after
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102. Niu MT, Davis DM, Ellenberg S. Recombinant hepatitis B vaccination of
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103. Statement of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons on
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104. Dunbar B. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy
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105. Geier MR, Geier DA. A case-series of adverse events, positive re-challenge
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106. Tourbah A, Gout O, Liblau R, et al. Encephalitis after hepatitis B
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107. Herroelen L, et al. Central-nervous-system demyelination after immunisation
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108. Viral Hepatitis Prevention Board. Hepatitis B vaccine and central nervous
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109. Nadler JP. Multiple sclerosis and hepatitis B vaccination.
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111. Geier DA, Geier MR. A one year followup of chronic arthritis following
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112. Birley HD, et al. Hepatitis B immunisation and reactive arthritis.
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114. Bracci M, et al. Polyarthritis associated with hepatitis B vaccination.
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115. Hachulla E, et al. Reactive arthritis after hepatitis B vaccination.
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116. Vautier G, et al. Acute sero-positive rheumatoid arthritis occurring after
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117. Grotto I, et al. Major adverse reactions to yeast-derived hepatitis B
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118. Institute of Medicine. Immunization safety review: hepatitis B vaccine and
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121. Incao, Philip, M.D. Letter to Representative Dale Van Vyven, Ohio House of
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125. Pasko MT, et al. Persistence of anti-HBs among health care personnel
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126. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles, mumps and
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136. Kazarian EL, et al. Optic neuritis complicating measles, mumps, and rubella
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137. Kline LB, et al. Optic neuritis and myelitis following rubella vaccination.
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139. Chiba Y, et al. Abnormalities of cellular immune response in arthritis
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141. Roberts RJ, et al. Reasons for non-uptake of measles, mumps, and rubella
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142. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles, mumps, and rubella –
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143. Poland GA, Jacobsen RM. Failure to reach the goal of measles elimination.
Apparent paradox of measles infections in immunized persons.
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144. Markowitz LE, Preblud SR, Orenstein WA, et al. Transmission in measles
outbreaks in the United States, 1985-1986. N Engl J Med
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145. Edmonson MB, Addiss DG, McPherson Jt, et al. Mild measles and secondary
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146. Gustafson TL, et al., Measles outbreak in a fully immunized
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147. Maldonado YA, et al. Early loss of passive measles antibody in infants of
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148. Miller E, et al. Antibodies to measles, mumps and rubella in UK children 4
years after vaccination with different MMR vaccines.
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149. Whittle H, et al. Poor serologic responses five to seven years after
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150. Murphy J. What Every Parent Should Know About
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151. Gary Null Interview with Jamie Murphy, April 7, 1995.
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153. Ward BJ. Changes in cytokine production after measles virus vaccination:
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155. Gunn T. Response to W.H.O. evidence for vaccine safety and effectiveness.
156. Aaby P, et al. Child mortality related to seroconversion or lack of
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157. Clemens JD, Stanton BF, Chakraborty J. Measles vaccination and childhood
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158. Hersh BS, et al. Mumps outbreak in a highly vaccinated population.
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activity---United States, January 1—October 7, 2006.
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160. Ibid.
161. Cheek, JE, Baron R, Atlas H, et al. Mumps outbreak in a highly vaccinated
school population. Evidence for large-scale vaccination failure.
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162. Briss PA, Fehrs LJ, Parker RA, et al. Sustained transmission of mumps in a
highly vaccinated population: assessment of primary vaccine failure and waning
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163. Vandermeulen C, Roelants M, Vermoere M, et al. Outbreak of mumps in a
vaccinated child population: a question of vaccine failure?
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164. Cheek JE, op. cit.
165. Briss PA, op. cit.
166. Zimmermann H, et al. Mumps epidemiology in Switzerland: results from the
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167. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Update: vaccine side effects,
adverse reactions, and precautions. MMWR 1996;
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168. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccines timeline. Last
modified April 29, 2005.
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169. Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. Vaccines and their future
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MMR and MR Factsheet.
170. Dourado I, Cunha S, Teixeira MG, et al. Outbreak of aseptic meningitis
associated with mass vaccination with a urabe-containing measles-mumps-rubella
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171. Hillary IB, et al. Persistence of rubella antibodies 15 years after
subcutaneous administration of Wistar 27/3 strain live attenuated rubella virus
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172. Howson CP, Fineberg HV. Adverse events following pertussis and rubella
vaccines. summary of a report of the Institute of Medicine.
JAMA 1992; 267(3):392-396.
Rotavirus Vaccine
In 2006, the Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended vaccination of all infants at two,
four, and six months of age with a new vaccine designed to prevent rotavirus
gastroenteritis. RotaTeq (Merck & Co.) is a live, oral vaccine that contains
five reassortant rotaviruses developed from human and bovine strains.1
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also recommended routine use of this
vaccine in infants in 2006.2
The
RotaTeq
vaccine will almost certainly draw comparisons
with a previous oral rotavirus vaccine,
RotaShield,
which was released by Wyeth
Laboratories in 1998. The ACIP
and AAP recommended universal use of RotaShield for healthy infants. A year
later, however, RotaShield was removed from the market after the Vaccine Adverse
Event Reporting System (VAERS) received reports of bowel intussusception—an
obstruction in which one segment of the intestine telescopes inwardly into
another—in babies who had received RRV-TV, as RotaShield was called. By the end
of 1999, 121 reports of intussusception in infants administered RRV-TV had been
received by VAERS.3 (Of the first 15 reported infants who developed
intussusception, eight required a surgical reduction.)
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) points out that RotaShield was
rhesus-based. By contrast, the parent rotavirus strains of the newly released
RotaTeq are human and bovine.4 RotaTeq was not associated with an
increased risk of
Intussusception
compared with placebo in a trial
involving more than 70,000 children.5 The CDC does note, however,
that children who have already had this bowel obstruction should not get the
rotavirus vaccine, because anyone who has had intussusception is at an increased
risk of getting it again.6
An estimated one million US infants were vaccinated with RotaShield following
its approval. This vaccine's history is made worse by the fact that prelicensure
trials demonstrated that RotaShield caused bowel intussusception at rates 30
times higher than those expected. This is what emerged from an analysis of
prelicensure trial data by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.7
If it was already known that the vaccine could cause a potentially lethal
condition, why did the FDA approve it? Why had nobody warned doctors to watch
for this complication? These and other questions prompted the AAPS to request a
Congressional investigation of the vaccine approval process. As Dr. Jane Orient,
executive director of the AAPS, wrote in a letter to Representative Dan Burton,
"The situation with the rotavirus vaccine may be a clue to a far more serious
problem with the vaccine approval process." Dr. Orient makes the important point
that "Decisions about vaccines given to children should be made by parents in
consultation with the child's attending physician, not mandated by a small group
of 'experts' with minimal accountability."8
Meningococcal Vaccine
In its first year on the market, the new meningococcal conjugate
vaccine (MCV4) was potentially associated with an increased risk of
Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a rare neurological disorder that causes
increasing weakness in the limbs. The meningococcal vaccine (Menactra) was
recommended by the ACIP in May 2005 for routine vaccination of adolescents,
college freshmen who live in dormitories, and other high-risk individuals.9
By September 2006, 17 confirmed cases of GBS in recipients of MCV4 had been
reported to VAERS (all affected individuals had recovered or were recovering).10
Although this association does not necessarily mean the vaccine caused the
illness, the CDC has reported that the timing of the onset of GBS
symptoms—within one to five weeks of vaccination—is of concern. As of October
2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CDC were monitoring the
situation, and the CDC continued to recommend the vaccine for adolescents and
others.11
Smallpox Vaccine
The
Smallpox
vaccine was given to infants in the US until
1972. At that time, the global incidence of this disease was well under control,
and routine vaccination against smallpox ended. According to the National
Network for Immunization Information, it was believed then that the risk of
serious adverse events from the smallpox vaccine, including death, outweighed
the risk of contracting the disease itself in the US.12 The World
Health Organization (WHO) certified that smallpox was eradicated worldwide in
1980.
After the terrorist threats of 2001, the US developed a plan to reintroduce the
smallpox vaccine, if necessary,13 to counter a potential attack using
the virus as a biological weapon. In State of Immunity, author James Colgrove
reports that the Bush Administration announced an ambitious plan in 2002 to
vaccinate emergency personnel, health care workers, and adults in the general
public on a voluntary basis. The administration failed to win the support of the
program from health care providers, however, and less than a year later, the
smallpox vaccination plan was ceased.14 Approximately 39,000 civilian
health care and public health workers received the smallpox vaccine in 2003.15
Although this vaccination program failed, the proposal to immunize Americans
against a biological attack with smallpox should cause us to take a closer look
at this vaccine. (The old smallpox vaccine is stockpiled in the US, and new
smallpox vaccines are in development.16)
An Unknown Virus
The modern smallpox vaccine does not contain the smallpox virus itself, but
rather a virus called "vaccinia" whose origins are unknown. The CDC states, "The
vaccinia virus is the 'live virus' used in the smallpox vaccine. It is a
'pox'-type virus related to smallpox. When given to humans as a vaccine, it
helps the body to develop immunity to smallpox. The smallpox vaccine does not
contain the smallpox virus, and it cannot cause smallpox."17 The
University of Florida College of medicine information page adds this: "Vaccinia
is the virus that was used for vaccination against smallpox. Its exact origin is
unknown, however, as it does not appear to be related to any other known pox
virus. Some people think that it is a recombinant of smallpox and cowpox, while
others think that it may be a derivative of horsepox, a virus that no longer
exists (if it ever did)."
Adverse Effects of the Vaccine
The CDC reports that while the smallpox vaccine is safe for most people,
serious and life-threatening reactions do occur in rare cases. Serious reactions
include a rash or outbreak of sores in one area of the body (the virus may be
spread from the vaccination site to other parts of the body or to other people);
a widespread vaccinia rash that occurs when the virus spreads from the
vaccination site through the bloodstream; and a toxic or allergic reaction to
the vaccine. Life-threatening reactions to the smallpox vaccine include eczema
vaccinatum (a serious rash involving widespread infection of the skin in people
with conditions such as eczema or atopic dermatitis), progressive vaccinia (an
infection of the skin with tissue destruction that often leads to death), and
postvaccinal encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).18
Another potential complication of the smallpox vaccine is myopericarditis, or
inflammation of the heart. The CDC says that while the link between the smallpox
vaccine and this condition is not proven, data from recent smallpox vaccinations
are "consistent with a causal association" between the two.19 In 2005
the FDA added a new black-box warning to Dryvax (the smallpox vaccine produced
by Wyeth) regarding the increased risk of cardiac problems experienced by some
recipients of the smallpox vaccine.20
What might the consequences of mass smallpox vaccination be? That was the
question addressed in a 2002 article. Using historical data on adverse reactions
to the vaccine, the authors estimated that, after excluding high-risk people and
their close contacts, a vaccination strategy targeting people one to 29 years
old would result in approximately 1,600 serious adverse events and 190 deaths.
Vaccination of people from one to 65 years old would result in approximately
4,600 adverse events and 285 deaths. The researchers note that the smallpox
vaccine "has a higher complication rate than any other vaccine currently being
used." They conclude that a mass vaccination campaign would have to be careful
to exclude high-risk people and their contacts to minimize the complications,
but that this approach would leave some people susceptible to the disease.21
In a 2006 paper, researchers estimated the expected frequencies of post-vaccinal
encephalitis and death from smallpox vaccines containing two different strains
of vaccinia virus: the New York City Board of Health (NYCBH) strain and the
Lister strain. They note that other studies of the consequences of smallpox
vaccination commonly have used an incidence of approximately one death per
million vaccinations. However, these analyses "may give serious underestimates
of the number of deaths resulting from vaccination." This study estimates that
vaccination with the NYCBH strain (stockpiled in countries such as the US) would
lead to an average of 1.4 deaths per million vaccinations. Vaccination with the
Lister strain (stockpiled in countries such as Germany) would lead to an average
of 8.4 deaths per million vaccinations.22
Activists Speak Out on Vaccine
Dangers
Those who take issue with universal immunization point out that the programs
do not distinguish between children who may benefit from a certain vaccine and
those who may be hurt by it. Infants are given blanket immunization regardless
of their previous or current state of health and their varying susceptibilities
to side effects. Ideally, the vaccination system should be much more selective,
with parents being given complete information, so they can decide whether the
risks associated with a particular procedure outweigh its potential benefits.
Just as different races may suffer disproportionately from allergies and food
sensitivities, studies indicate that they may experience different reactions to
vaccines.
People engaged in the fight against government-mandated vaccines share their
concerns here about several vaccination issues.
Provocation Disease
One of the most hazardous and insidious effects of vaccination lies in its
potential to induce other forms of disease, a phenomenon known as provocation
disease.23-27 The mechanisms that cause this to happen are unclear,
although many scientists believe that latent viruses—those already existing in a
person—may be stimulated by vaccinations and that this process may be enough to
activate a particular illness. Vaccination, therefore, may not be the sole cause
but rather the final trigger of an illness.
In his book Vaccination
and Immunization: Dangers, Delusions and Alternatives,28 Leon
Chaitow states that there is no way of knowing when such latent or incubating
situations may be operating, and therefore no way of knowing when a vaccine may
produce this sort of provocation.29 He warns that provocation of a
latent virus is a potentially dangerous possibility with every vaccination
procedure.
Many diseases thought to be caused at least partially by vaccinations do not
surface until years later, by which time it is difficult to prove a connection.
Two examples of conditions that may be provoked by vaccines are as follows:
Economic and Legal Issues
Cynthia Cournoyer has noted that vaccines are the only products in the US
that are legally mandated to be used by every person born.44 Barbara
Loe
Fisher, cofounder and president of the
National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), Vienna, Va., has advocated the right
of individuals to make informed, independent vaccination decisions for
themselves and their children for two decades. She paints an ominous picture of
things to come: "As consumers, we can bring very little economic pressure on the
system to have that product improved or removed, because all of us are required
by law to use it. It's a dream for the pharmaceutical industry involved in
making vaccines, because there's no way anybody can say no. It's a stable,
ready-made market, and the enactment of the compensation law in 1986 has removed
almost all liability for drug companies...."
Fisher cautions that state health departments may develop electronic systems to
monitor the vaccination status of each child. "…If we don't act now, the public
health infrastructure is going to get more power to intrude in our lives,
intrude in our health care choices. It all comes down to whether or not we, as
individuals, are going to fight for the right to make informed health care
choices, including vaccination choices, for ourselves and our children, and
whether we are going to hold the drug companies and government health officials
accountable for the injuries, deaths, and chronic illnesses caused by the
vaccines they produce, sell, and promote for mass use."45
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 created a no-fault
compensation program through which plaintiffs can seek compensation for injuries
from vaccines recommended for routine administration. The law also provided,
however, that evidence of gross negligence would be needed to seek punitive
damages against vaccine manufacturers.46 The NVIC said in 2003 that
it and other parent groups "have been critical of how adversarial the system is
and how difficult it is to get an award."47 Through fiscal year 2001,
the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program had paid $1.3 billion in total
awards (petitioner's awards and attorney's fees) for approximately 1,660
compensable petitions.48
The compensation program is funded through an excise tax on vaccines. As a
result, consumers foot the bill for any injuries or deaths that may result from
medical procedures they are required by law to undergo.49-51 Alan
Phillips, co-founder of Citizens for Healthcare Freedom, notes: "[Pharmaceutical
companies] have been allowed to use gag orders as a leverage tool in vaccine
damage legal settlements to prevent disclosure of information to the public
about vaccination dangers. Such arrangements are clearly unethical; they force a
non-consenting American public to pay for vaccine manufacturers' liabilities,
while attempting to ensure that this same public will remain ignorant of the
dangers of their products."52,53
Vaccine critic Randall
Neustaedter
adds: "When lawsuits leveled at drug companies began wiping out profits
gleaned from the pertussis vaccine, the manufacturers simply stopped production
of the vaccine. The United States government stepped in to pay these
vaccine-damage claims. Only then did the drug companies agree to resume vaccine
production...."54
Right to Refuse
Vaccination
All states have laws mandating the vaccination of children before they enter
school, but these laws also allow for various types of exemptions to compulsory
vaccination. Parents may seek exemptions on behalf of their children. According
to the NVIC, all 50 states allow exemptions based on medical reasons, 48 states
allow exemptions for people who have a sincere religious belief opposing
vaccination, and 18 states allow exemptions based on philosophical, personal, or
conscientiously held beliefs.55
The ease of obtaining a vaccination exemption may depend on the type sought and
the requirements of the individual's state. In the journal Pediatrics,
researchers say that "in many states, it is easier to claim a religious or
philosophical exemption than to adhere to mandated immunization requirements."56
On the other hand, Kurt Link, MD, states in The Vaccine
Controversy that exemptions are often very difficult to obtain and that
less than two percent of people who apply for a vaccination exemption obtain
one. Link says that parents who are denied an exemption and try to defy the
vaccination mandate may have their children excluded from school, may be charged
with criminal child abuse or neglect, and may have their children taken into
state custody.57
Potential
Downside to Exemptions
Parents who refuse vaccinations for their children should be aware of other
potential consequences as well. The literature shows that unvaccinated children
may be at greater risk of contracting diseases covered by routine vaccines. In
the Pediatrics article,58 the authors
cite research showing that "exemptors" were 22 times more likely to contract
measles than were vaccinated people and six times more likely to contract
pertussis.59 In addition, unvaccinated people account for the
majority of recent cases of tetanus.60 A study published in 2006 also
found that states allowing personal-belief exemptions and states with easier
exemption processes were associated with a higher incidence of pertussis.61
Another consideration is that pediatricians may dismiss patients who refuse to
be vaccinated. In a survey of 1004 members of the American Academy of Pediatrics
published in 2005, 39% said they would dismiss a family for refusing all
vaccinations, and 28% would dismiss a family for refusing select vaccines.62
Varying State Laws
According to the NVIC, parents who want to exempt a child from mandated
vaccination must know what types of exemptions the law in their state allows and
the type of proof that may be required. In many states offering philosophical or
personal-belief exemptions, for example, a parent must object to all vaccines,
not particular ones. With medical exemptions, some states will accept without
question a letter from a physician saying that one or more vaccines would be
detrimental to the health of the patient, while the health departments in other
states review such exemptions and may decide one is not justified. With
religious exemptions, says the NVIC, state laws differ regarding the definition
of the exemption and the proof needed of one's religious beliefs opposing
vaccination. In fact, the NVIC does not provide or recommend a prewritten waiver
for religious exemptions. If a prewritten waiver does not meet your state's
requirements, you may draw attention to your child and, if challenged on the
exemption, end up in litigation with your state or county health department in
which you must prove your religious beliefs.63
Another website, Vaccination Liberation, provides links to exemption forms ,and
information by state and to sample exemption letters (http://vaclib.org).
Joseph Mercola, DO, provides an article on how to legally avoid vaccinations on
his website (www.mercola.com/article/vaccines/legally_avoid_shots.htm).
Dr. Mercola's newsletter has covered other vaccination topics as well.
Fisher of the NVIC offers advice for two particular vaccination situations in
her book The Consumer's Guide to Childhood Vaccines64:
The point is that individuals need the freedom to
choose. They should not be forced in one direction or another. Fisher stresses
this: "Our organization does not tell a parent what to do.67 I want
to make that clear. We are an information clearinghouse, and we believe in
education. We believe that parents should take the responsibility for making
their own decision. In this society, we ought to have the right to make the
right decisions without being bullied and harassed and threatened into
vaccinating if we do not believe that it is in the best interest of our child."
Alan
Phillips
adds, "I don't advocate that people do or do not vaccinate. I say that there's a
lot of information that people should investigate before they make a decision
one way or the other. We're so steeped in what I would now call the myth of
vaccination that it seems nonsensical and counterintuitive to even raise the
question. In fact, the first time that I raised the question with a pediatrician
I got yelled at. While I think that was unprofessional of the pediatrician, it
does demonstrate the degree to which assumptions about vaccinations are held."68
Dr. Dean Black, author of Immunizations: Compulsion or
Choice, states, "As a parent, there might be times I choose to immunize
my child. Maybe I would find scientific evidence to back its validity in a case
where a disease is so fraught with risk that I dare not expose my child. Maybe
then I would choose [to vaccinate]. But I would do so having thoroughly thought
about it....What I believe we cannot tolerate as a free nation is to have
government bureaucrats come in and say—based upon false statistics—if you don't
immunize your child, you will suffer penalty of law. That, to me, is a gross
injustice that simply has to be changed."69
Holistic Health
Fisher
believes that if we are concerned about our health and our freedoms, we should
be worrying about the future. "I truly believe that unless the public wakes up
to what is happening, and starts standing up for their right to be fully
informed about vaccines and their right to make informed independent vaccine
decisions, the day will come when we won't have that right. We will be forcibly
vaccinated by law without exception."70
Fisher urges everyone to stop being complacent, to start becoming informed about
vaccines and diseases, and to act. Specifically, she states, "You are going to
have to work to amend your state's laws. If you would like to be better informed
and to help get the truth out, please join our grassroots vaccine safety
movement."
Fisher believes that alternative healthcare modalities in the US will play an
important role in the vaccine safety movement.71 "Those who are
looking into…osteopathic medicine, naturopathic, homeopathic, vitamin therapy,
etc., are looking for ways to boost the immune system through more natural means
in order to be able to naturally deal with viruses and bacteria that they come
in contact with. This is a very important movement."
Dr. Black agrees. He sees vaccinations as a shortcut for people in our society
who have not taken full responsibility for their health. "It's a way of saying,
don't look at the more natural holistic way of helping the body. Medicine
believes disease is the enemy... Medicine fights disease. Natural health care
works with it... Medicine believes symptoms are evil. Natural health care
believes symptoms are the body's efforts to rid itself of disease."72
Curtis Cost, author of
Vaccines Are Dangerous: A Warning to the Black Community, adds, "…parents
do not need to be terrified into believing that the only way to protect
themselves and their children from disease is through vaccines. We know that if
parents breast-feed their babies, the risk of death and disease is dramatically
reduced because the breast milk contains all the natural nutrients that the
mother will naturally give to her child as she breast-feeds. We know that diet
has a tremendous effect on disease. If you are not eating a proper diet, your
risk of getting various diseases is much greater. So we need to focus on taking
control of our health...to focus on eating more organically grown fresh fruits
and vegetables, on drinking pure water, and on exercising. These actions build
up the immune system."73
It stands to reason that our approach might be better directed at bolstering
natural immunity, by strengthening the body's own disease-fighting capability,
than trying to manipulate a carefully balanced system which may or may not tip
to the detriment of the future individual. The old adage, "What doesn't kill you
makes you stronger" describes the credo of the vaccine industry. The problem is
that we do not yet know a single silver-bullet remedy for all childhood
illnesses that are known to cause no harm to the future adult.
Part 3
Notes
1. Parashar UD, Alexander JP, Glass RI. Prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis
among infants and children. MMWR.
2006; 55(RR12):1-13.
2. American Academy of Pediatrics. Pentavalent rotavirus vaccine implementation
for 2006. Posted Nov. 6, 2006.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance for safety after
immunization: Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)—United States,
1991-2001. MMWR Surveill Summ.
2003; 52(No. SS-1):1-24.
4. Parashar, op. cit.
5. US Food and Drug Administration. FDA approves new vaccine to prevent
rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants. Press release, February 3, 2006.
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rotavirus vaccine: what you need
to know. April 12, 2006.
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RotaShield (rotavirus) vaccine
and inusssussception: Q&A. Available at:
www.rotavirusvaccine.org/documents/RotaShield_Fact_Sheet_CDC.pdf. (59KB)
8. Devitt M. CDC calls for suspension of childhood rotavirus vaccine.
Dynamic Chiropractic.
1999;17(21). Available at:
www.chiroweb.com/archives/17/21/04.html. Accessed September 21, 2007.
9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Update: Guillain-Barre syndrome
among recipients of Menactra meningococcal conjugate vaccine – United States,
June 2005 - September 2006. MMWR.
2006; 55(41):1120-1124.
10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Frequently asked questions about
Guillain-Barre syndrome and Menactra meningococcal vaccine. Last modified
October 20, 2006.
11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Update: Guillain-Barre syndrome
among recipients of Menactra meningococcal conjugate vaccine – United States,
June 2005 - September 2006. MMWR.
2006; 55(41):1120-1124.
12. National Vaccine Information Center. Vaccine information: smallpox. Last
updated October 13, 2005.
13. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccines timeline. Available at:
www.cdc.gov/nip/vaccine/vacc-timeline.htm. Accessed September 21, 2007.
14. Colgrove J. State of Immunity: The Politics
of Vaccination in Twentieth-Century America.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press; 2006:245-247.
15. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adverse events following
civilian smallpox vaccination – United States, 2003.
MMWR. 2004;
53(05):106-107.
16. National Network for Immunization Information, op. cit.
17. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smallpox fact sheet: The live
virus smallpox vaccine. Page last reviewed February 21, 2006. Available at:
www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/vaccination/live-virus.asp. Accessed September
21, 2007.
18. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smallpox Fact Sheet: Reactions
after smallpox vaccination. March 28, 2003.
19. Ibid.
20. National Network for Immunization Information, op. cit.
21. Kemper AR, Davis MM, Freed GL. Expected adverse events in a mass smallpox
vaccination campaign. Eff Clin Pract.
2002; 5(2):84-90.
22. Kretzschmar M, Wallinga J, Teunis P, et al. Frequency of adverse events
after vaccination with different vaccinia strains.
PLoS Med. 2006; 3(8) [Epub ahead of
print].
23. Landrigan PJ, Witte JJ. Neurologic disorders following live measles-virus
vaccination. JAMA.
1973; 223(13):1459-1462.
24. Pollock TM, et al. Symptoms after primary immunisation with DPT and with DT
vaccine. Lancet.
1984 July; 21:146-149.
25. Hirtz DG, et al. Seizures following childhood immunizations.
Journal of Pediatrics.
1983; 102(12):14-18.
26. Goldwater PN, et al. Sudden infant death syndrome: a possible clue to
causation. Medical Journal Aust.
1990; 153:59-60.
27. Denborough MA, et al. Malignant hyperpyrexia and sudden infant death.
Lancet. 1982 Nov
13: 1068-1072.
28. Chaitow L. Vaccination and Immunization:
Dangers, Delusions & Alternatives.
Beekman Publishing; 1996.
29. Gary Null Report,
November 15, 1994.
30. Coulter HL, Fisher BL. A Shot in the Dark.
Garden City Park, NY: Avery; 1991.
31. Merritt HH. Textbook of Neurology.
6th Edition. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger; 1979:160.
32. Molina V, Shoenfeld Y. Infection, vaccines and other environmental triggers
of autoimmunity. Autoimmunity.
2005; 38(3):235-245.
33. James W. Immunization: The Reality Behind
the Myth. Massachusetts: Bergin & Gervey;
1988.
34. Link K. The Vaccine Controversy: The
History, Use and Safety of Vaccinations.
Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers; 2005:14.
35. Cournoyer C. What About Immunizations?
6th edition. Nelson's Books; 1995:34.
36. Ibid.
37. Immunization.
Special Edition. Santa Fe, NM: Mothering Publications; 1984.
38. Moskowitz R. The Case Against Immunizations.
Washington, DC: National Center for Homeopathy.
39. Cournoyer, op. cit., p. 35.
40. Scheibner V. Vaccination: 100 Years of
Orthodox Research Shows that Vaccines Represent a Medical Assault on the Immune
System. Victoria, Australia: Australian
Print Group; 1993:88-89.
41. Black FL, et al. Inadequate Immunity to Measles Immunity in Era of
Vaccine-Protected Mothers. Bull WHO.
1984; 62(92):315-319.
42. Lennon JL, Black FL. Maternally derived measles immunity in era of
vaccine-protected mothers. Journal of Pediatrics.
1986; 108(1):671-676.
43. Scheibner, op. cit., p. 199.
44. Cournoyer, op. cit., p. 160.
45. "Interview with Barbara Loe Fisher."
National Vaccine Information Center Newsletter
Website.
46. Colgrove J. State of Immunity: The Politics
of Vaccination in Twentieth-Century America.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press; 2006:215.
47. National Vaccine Information Center. Press release: Parent coalition for
vaccine injured children calls on congress to slow down compensation bill. March
18, 2003.
48. National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: monthly statistics report,
September 30, 2002. US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources
and Services Administration. Available at: www.hrsa.gov/osp/vicp/monthly.htm.
Accessed September 21, 2007.
(Dec. 2007: Link doesn't work. Statistics
reports now online:
http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/statistics_report.htm)
49. Cournoyer, op. cit., p. 156.
50. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 Public Law 99-690, The
Compensation System and How it Works. National Vaccination Information Center;
1990.
51. Vaccine injury compensation program statistics.
NVIC News.
August 1994;10.
52. Phillips A. Vaccination: dispelling the myths.
Nexus.
October-November 1997.
53. National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, Health Resources and Services
Administration, Rockville, MD.
54. Neustaedter R. Do vaccines disable the immune system? Internet document.
Available at:
http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?ID=539. Accessed September 21, 2007.
55. National Vaccine Information Center. Legal exemptions to vaccination.
Available at:
http://nvic.org/state-site/legal-exemptions.htm. Accessed September 21,
2007.
56. Smith PJ, Chu SY, Barker LE. Children who have received no vaccines: who are
they and where do they live? Pediatrics.
2004; 114(1):187-195.
57. Link K. The Vaccine Controversy: The
History, Use and Safety of Vaccinations.
Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers; 2005:170.
58. Smith, op. cit.
59. Feikin DR, Lezott DC, Hamman RF, et al. Individual and community risks of
measles and pertussis associated with personal exemptions to immunization.
JAMA. 2000; 284:3145-3150 [cited by
Smith].
60. Fair E, Murphy TV, Golaz A, et al. Philosophic objection to vaccination as a
risk for tetanus among children younger than 15 years.
Pediatrics.
2002; 109(1) [cited by Smith].
61. Omer SB, Pan WK, Halsey NA, et al. Nonmedical exemptions to school
immunization requirements: secular trends and association of state policies with
pertussis incidence. JAMA.
2006; 296(14):1757-1763.
62. Flanagan-Klygis EA, Sharp L, Frader JE. Dismissing the family who refuses
vaccines: a study of pediatrician attitudes.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;
159(10):929-934.
63. National Vaccine Information Center. Legal exemptions to vaccination.
Available at:
http://nvic.org/state-site/legal-exemptions.htm. Accessed September 21,
2007.
64. Fisher BL. The Consumer's Guide to Childhood
Vaccines. Vienna, Virginia: National
Vaccine Information Center; 1997.
65. Fisher, op. cit.
66. Fisher, op. cit, p. 48.
67. Gary Null Interview with Barbara Loe Fisher, April 11, 1995.
68. Gary Null Interview with Alan Phillips, December 17, 1997.
69. Gary Null Interview with Dr. Dean Black, April 7, 1995.
70. Gary Null Interview with Barbara Loe Fisher, April 11, 1995.
71. Ibid.
72. Gary Null Interview with Dr. Dean Black, April 7, 1995.
73. Gary Null Interview with Curtis Cost, December 17, 1997.
Organizations and Websites
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
1601 N. Tucson Blvd., Suite 9
Tucson, AZ 85716-3450
Tel: 800-635-1196
Website: www.aapsonline.org
Opposes vaccine mandates that violate the medical ethic of informed consent.
Gary Null's Website
Website: www.garynull.com
Provides information on optimizing health through nutrition, lifestyle factors
and alternative medicine.
Immunization Action Coalition
1573 Selby Avenue, Suite 234
St. Paul, MN 55104
Tel: 651-647-9009
Website: www.immunize.org
Provides educational materials on vaccination for health professionals and the
public to help increase immunization rates and prevent disease.
The Institute for Vaccine Safety
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N. Wolfe Street
Room W5041
Baltimore, MD 21205
Website:
www.vaccinesafety.edu
Provides independent assessment of vaccines and vaccine safety; works to prevent
disease using the safest possible vaccines.
National Immunization Program
(Including the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices)
NIP Public Inquiries
Mailstop E-05
1600 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30333
Tel: 800-232-4636
Website:
www.cdc.gov/nip/ACIP/default.htm
(Dec. 2007: Page redirects to
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/acip/default.htm)
A website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with information on
vaccines, vaccine safety, diseases, other immunization topics, and resources.
National Network for Immunization Information
301 University Blvd.
CH 2.218
Galveston, TX 77555-0351
Tel.: 409-772-0199
Website:
www.immunizationinfo.com
Provides up-to-date, scientifically valid information about immunization to help
the public, health professionals, and policymakers make informed decisions.
National Vaccine Information Center
204 Mill Street, Suite B1
Vienna, VA 22180
Tel.: 703-938-DPT3
Website: www.909shot.com
Oldest and largest parent-led organization advocating reformation of the mass
vaccination system.
MedAlert, a service of the NVIC, has organized information from the Vaccine
Adverse Event Reporting System for online searching (go to
www.medalerts.org).
Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute
P.O. Box 9638
Santa Fe, NM 87504
Website: www.thinktwice.com
Provides information on childhood vaccines and others to facilitate informed
decisions; supports the right to accept or reject vaccines.
Vaccination Liberation
P.O. Box 457
Spirit Lake, Idaho 83869-0457
Website: www.vaclib.org
Opposes compulsory vaccination laws; provides information on vaccinations not
often made available to the public.
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
P.O. Box 1100
Rockville, MD 20849-1100
Tel: 800-822-7967
Website: http://vaers.hhs.gov
Cooperative program of the FDA and CDC that collects reports on adverse events
occurring after vaccinations.
Vaccine Information and Awareness Website
Website:
http://home.san.rr.com/via
Works to ensure freedom of choice for parents regarding vaccination.
For information on exemptions, go to
http://home.san.rr.com/via/STATES/toc-states.htm.
Vaccination News
P.O. Box 111818
Anchorage, AK 99511-1818
Website:
www.vaccinationnews.com
Provides a wide range of news and views on vaccinations and vaccination policy.
VaccineWebsite
Website:
www.whale.to/vaccines.html
Provides information on vaccines, adverse events, vaccine critics, diseases
targeted by vaccines, medical politics, and more.