Vaccinations
Vaccination is a controversial subject, and many parents worry about subjecting their children to them. Readers of my article, "Mercury on the Mind," about vaccines and dental amalgams, have asked what vaccines I would recommend their children receive. This article addresses that question.
In the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 12 vaccines are given to children before they reach the age of two. Providers inject them against the following:
Infectious disease was the leading cause of death in children 100 years ago, with diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever and pertussis accounting for most them. Today, the leading causes of death in children less than five years of age are accidents, genetic abnormalities, developmental disorders, sudden infant death syndrome and cancer. A basic tenet of modern medicine is that vaccines are the reason. There is growing evidence that this is so, but perhaps not quite in the way conventional medical wisdom would have it.
The Conventional Schedule
A 15-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC decides which vaccines should be on the Childhood Immunization Schedule. It calls for one vaccine, against hepatitis B, to be given on the day of birth; seven vaccines at two months; 6 more (including booster shots) at four months; and as many as eight vaccines on the six-month well-baby visit.
Before a child reaches the age of two, he or she will have received 32 vaccinations on this schedule, including four doses each of vaccines for Hemophilus influenzae type b infections, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis -- all of them given during the first 12 months of life. Seven vaccines injected into a 13-pound, two-month old infant are equivalent to 70 doses in a 130-pound adult.
The schedule states, "Your child can safely receive all vaccines recommended for a particular age during one visit." Public health officials, however, have not proven that it is indeed safe to inject this many vaccines into infants. What's more, they cannot explain why, concurrent with an increasing number of vaccinations, there has been an explosion of neurologic and immune system disorders in our nation's children.
Fifty years ago, when the immunization schedule contained only four vaccines (for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and smallpox), autism was virtually unknown. First discovered in 1943, this most devastating malady, in what is now a spectrum of pervasive developmental disorders, afflicted less than 1 in 10,000 children.
Today, one in every 68 American families has an autistic child. Other, less severe developmental disorders, rarely seen before the vaccine era, have also reached epidemic proportions. Four million American children have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). One in six American children are now classified as "Learning Disabled."
Our children are also experiencing an epidemic of autoimmune disorders: Type I diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and bowel disorders. There has been a 17-fold increase in Type I diabetes, from 1 in 7,100 children in the 1950s to 1 in 400 now. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis afflicts 300,000 American children. Twenty-five years ago, this disease was so rare that public health officials did not keep any statistics on it. There has been a four-fold increase in asthma, and bowel disorders in children are much more common now than they were 50 years ago.
The Deteriorating Health of Children
Health officials consider a vaccine to be safe if no bad reactions -- like seizures, intestinal obstruction or anaphylaxis -- occur acutely. The CDC has not done any studies to assess the long-term effects of its immunization schedule. To do that, one must conduct a randomized controlled trial, the lynchpin of evidenced-based medicine, where one group of children is vaccinated on the CDC's schedule and a control group is not vaccinated.
Investigators then follow the two groups for a number of years (not just three to four weeks, as has been done in vaccine safety studies). Concerns that vaccinations in infants cause chronic neurologic and immune system disorders would be put to rest, and their safety certified, if the number of children who develop these diseases is the same in both groups.
No such studies have been done, so vaccine proponents cannot say that vaccines are indeed as safe as they think they are. (One proponent, interviewed by Dan Rather on 60 Minutes, who has financial ties to the vaccine industry that he did not disclose, claims that vaccines "have a better safety record than vitamins." He neglected to mention that the U.S. government has paid out more than $1.5 billion in its Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to families of children who have been injured or killed by vaccines.)
There is a growing body of evidence that implicates vaccines as a causative factor in the deteriorating health of children. The hypothesis that vaccines cause neurologic and immune system disorders is a legitimate one -- vaccines given in multiple doses, close together, to very young children following the CDC's Immunization Schedule. This hypothesis should be tested by a large-scale, long-term randomized controlled trial.
Rather than obediently following the government's schedule, there is now sufficient evidence, grounded in good science, to justify adopting a more user-friendly vaccination schedule. One which is in the best interests of the individual as opposed to what planners judge best for society as a whole.
New knowledge in neuroimmunology (the study of how the brain's immune system works) raises serious questions about the wisdom of injecting vaccines in children less than 2 years of age.
A Child's Best Time Table
The brain has its own specialized immune system, separate from that of the rest of the body. When a person is vaccinated, its specialized immune cells, the microglia, become activated (the blood-brain barrier notwithstanding). Multiple vaccinations spaced close together over-stimulate the microglia, causing them to release a variety of toxic elements -- cytokines, chemokines, excitotoxins, proteases, complement, free radicals -- that damage brain cells and their synaptic connections. Researchers call the damage caused by these toxic substances "bystander injury."
(Pediatricians and other professional colleagues who question this should read these two reviews by the neurosurgeon Russell L. Blaylock: "Interaction of Cytokines, Excitotoxins, Reactive Nitrogen and Oxygen Species in Autism Spectrum Disorders," in the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association [JANA 2003;6(4):21 -- 35], with 167 references. And "Chronic Microglial Activation and Excitotoxicity Secondary to Excessive Immune Stimulation: Possible Factors in Gulf War Syndrome and Autism," in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons [JAPS 2004;9(2):46 -- 52], posted online, with 54 references.)
In humans, the most rapid period of brain development begins in the third trimester and continues over the first two years of extra uterine life. (By then, brain development is 80 percent complete.) Until randomized controlled trials demonstrate the safety of giving vaccines during this time of life, it would be prudent not to give any vaccinations to children until they are 2-years-old.
From a risk-benefit perspective, there is growing evidence that the risk of neurologic and autoimmune diseases from vaccinations outweigh the benefits of avoiding the childhood infections that they prevent. An exception is hepatitis B vaccine for infants whose mothers test positive for this disease.
A user-friendly vaccination schedule prohibits any vaccines that contain thimerosal, which is 50 percent mercury. Flu vaccines contain thimerosal, which is reason enough to avoid them.
One should also avoid vaccines that contain live viruses. This includes the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine; chickenpox (varicella) vaccine; and the live-virus polio (Sabin) vaccine. This stricture would not apply to the smallpox vaccine (also a live-virus one), if a terrorist-instigated outbreak of smallpox should occur.
Finally, a user-friendly vaccination schedule requires that vaccinations, after the age of two, be given no more than once every six months, one at a time, in order to allow the immune system sufficient time to recover and stabilize between shots.
Which vaccines should be put on this schedule (among those that do not contain live viruses or thimerosal) is not entirely clear. The top four would be:
Perhaps, it should only contain these four vaccines. A good case can be made for avoiding the three other newer vaccines on the CDC's schedule: The hepatitis B, pneumococcal conjugate (PCV7) and Hemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccines.
Your Doctor Won't Like This
Your pediatrician will not like this schedule. They are taught in medical school and residency training that childhood immunizations are essential to public health. As one pediatrician puts it, "Achieving adequate and timely vaccination of young children is the single most valuable thing a doctor can do for a patient." They do not question what their professors teach them, nor are they inclined to critically examine studies in Pediatrics and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) that tell them vaccines are safe.
There were 482,000 cases of measles in the U.S in 1962, the year before a vaccine for this disease became available. Now, with all 50 states requiring that children be vaccinated against measles in order to attend school, there were only 56 cases of measles in a population of 290 million people in 2003.
These facts are well known and proudly cited by vaccine proponents. What is less known, and doctors are not taught, is that the death rate for measles declined 97.7 percent during the first 60 years of the 20th century. The mortality rate was 133 deaths per million people in the U.S. in 1900, and had dropped to 0.3 deaths per million by 1960. Measles caused less than 100 deaths a year in the U.S. before there was a vaccine for this disease (in 1963).
Continued in Part 2
Allergies and asthma can severely diminish quality of life and work productivity, and should not be ignored. So when we discuss the overuse of vaccinations, autism is not the only health hazard worthy of note and serious consideration. Contrary to Popular Belief, Avoiding Vaccinations is Not a Sign of Ignorance
As illustrated in this Clarion Ledger article, the topic of vaccinations is often emotional for both sides of the camp. People who have not done their research are quick to say that it is highly irresponsible and foolish to avoid vaccinations. However, this is quite the oxymoron because mothers with college educations and higher incomes are actually LESS likely to vaccinate their children than those with less education. One 2006 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that children whose mothers have less than a high school education are 16 percent more likely to have received vaccinations than toddlers whose mothers have graduated college. Of course, anyone, regardless of education level or income, is capable of making an educated decision about whether or not to vaccinate their children. But college-educated women are perhaps more likely to have read articles questioning vaccine safety -- or at least to have heard about such controversies. The trend toward not vaccinating has been growing for some time now. Close to 70 percent of physicians say that the number of concerns from parents have increased significantly in recent years. And rightfully so. Vaccines given to newborns contain an array of potentially toxic chemicals including:
The Insanity of the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule
I published Dr. Donald Miller's excellent article, A User-Friendly Vaccination Schedule in 2004. At that time, 12 different vaccines were given to children before they reached the age of two.
As of 2008, the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that number has risen to 14 in the first 24 months, plus the meningococcal vaccine, which is to be administered between the age of two and six.
Infants and toddlers aged 0 to 6 years of age are now given vaccines to prevent the following diseases:
Hepatitis B
Rotavirus
Hepatitis A
Measles
Diphtheria
Mumps
Tetanus (lockjaw)
Rubella (German measles)
Pertussis (whooping cough)
Varicella (chickenpox)
Polio
Meningococcal
Pneumococcal infections
Influenza (yearly flu shots)
Hemophilus influenzae type b infections
If your child is vaccinated according to the CDC's recommended schedule, by the time your child starts kindergarten he or she will have received 48 doses of 14 vaccines. Of these, 36 doses will be given during the first 18 months of life.
And now consider this: one vaccine injected into a 13-pound, two-month old infant is equivalent to 10 doses of the same in a 130-pound adult. Where is the common sense in these guidelines?
Would any adult concede to being injected with 360 doses of vaccines within a couple of years’ span; equal to one injection every other day for two years?
Public health officials have NEVER proven that it is indeed safe to inject this number and volume of vaccines into infants. What's more, they cannot explain why, concurrent with an increasing number of vaccinations, there has been an explosion of neurological and immune system disorders in American children.
There are Other Options
As the trends indicate, many parents are so concerned about the potential dangers of overloading their children with this massive load of vaccines that they resort to home schooling. However, not all parents have the ability to make that type of commitment.
Fortunately, if you are unable to home school, you still have other options.
As I’ve stated before, I’m not anti-vaccine, but rather pro-vaccine safety. I also believe it is extremely important to have the right to choose; to be allowed to make informed consent decisions about what you want to inject into your child, and yourself, and when.
Dr. Donald Miller is a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle and a member of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. His more sensible vaccination schedule, which I published back in 2004, is worthy of being revisited at this time.
His guidelines can help you devise a more appropriate vaccination plan for your child – a schedule that takes the best interests of your child into consideration rather than what biased government planners cite as being best for society. His is a far better approach than the "one-size-fits-all" dogma foisted on Americans by the CDC panel.
Devising a Sensible Vaccination Plan for Your Child
Your brain has its own specialized immune system, separate from that of the rest of your body. When you are vaccinated, specialized immune cells in your brain, the microglia, become activated.
Multiple vaccinations spaced close together over-stimulate the microglia, causing them to release a variety of toxic elements -- cytokines, chemokines, excitotoxins, proteases, complement, free radicals -- that damage brain cells and their synaptic connections. (The damage caused by these toxic substances is sometimes referred to as "bystander injury.")
In humans, the most rapid period of brain development begins in the third trimester and continues over the first two years. (By then, brain development is 80 percent complete.)
From a risk-benefit perspective, there is little doubt that the risk of neurological and autoimmune diseases from vaccinations at this stage far outweigh the benefits of avoiding the childhood infections that they (supposedly) prevent. (One exception is the hepatitis B vaccine, IF the mother tests positive for hepatitis B.)
As a more sensible, “user-friendly” vaccination schedule, Dr. Miller advises the following:
And that would be pretty much it as far as vaccinations. Your pediatrician will not like this schedule, but if you have reviewed the evidence and still feel your child should be inoculated to a certain degree, this is a far safer alternative to the standard vaccination schedule.
How to Avoid the Vaccinations You Don’t Want
Remember, although exemptions for religious beliefs are becoming harder to obtain in some states like New York. All 50 states have vaccination requirements but all states provide exemptions for medical reasons while 48 states allow exemptions for sincerely held religious beliefs. Another 18 states allow parents to opt out for personal, conscientious or philosophical beliefs as well.
Mississippi and West Virginia only allow exemptions for medical reasons. In some states medical exemptions written by a licensed M.D. or D.O. must conform to CDC contraindication guidelines or public health officials will challenge them.
Maryland, despite their handling of the issue, also still offers the right to opt out for religious beliefs. My previous article, How To Legally Avoid Unwanted Immunizations Of All Kinds, spells out how you go about practicing this right.
Remember, you need to educate yourself on the dangers of the vaccines that your doctor or pediatrician insists on administering., as well as the vaccine laws in your state.
I have numerous articles detailing the dangers of various vaccines on this site, and you have the entire internet at your disposal in addition to what I have documented through the years.
There is also an entire chapter in my book Take Control of Your Health devoted to this very topic, including what you should know before vaccinating, and what to do if you decide not to. Support the NVIC -- Support Vaccine Safety Reform The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is the American vaccine safety watchdog. They are currently being flooded with vaccine reaction reports and parents reporting that their vaccine exemptions are being pulled or they can't get one. I highly recommend you make a donation to the NVIC to help support them in their efforts to raise awareness about these vital issues and implement vaccine safety reform. Funds are urgently needed to: