Who is Looking After Our Kid's?
CHAPTER II
Current Childhood Vaccination Programs: Do They Cause More Disease Than They Prevent?
It is unpleasant but necessary to point out that there are now serious trends of increasing health problems among American children. Allergic diseases such as eczema and asthma are increasing both in frequency and severity. As one example, surveys have shown a 46% increase nationwide in deaths from asthma between 1977 and 1991. (1) Asthma among children has increased 200% in the past 20 years. (2) Ear, sinus, throat, and bronchial infections are occurring on a scale unknown in earlier generations. Young parents have commented to me that, a majority of the children of their friends and acquaintances,are on antibiotics frequently or, in some instances, continually. It was not like this even 20 or 30 years ago. With each passing year, there appear to be manifestations of increasing crippling of children's immune systems. Surveys among elementary school teachers confirm this trends. (3)
Among young adults the chronic fatigue syndrome, now recognized to be an immunologic disorder (4) is widespread. Autoimmune diseases, those in which the immune system attacks the body's own cells and tissues, are also increasing.
No one knows the full answer for these unfortunate trends, but there is now a great deal of evidence that current childhood vaccine programs may be one of the underlying causes. (5-6)
The time is long overdue to rethink the entire matter of ongoing mass childhood vaccinations. It is a general impression that the vaccines played a major role in controlling infectious diseases which, in earlier times, decimated populations of children. This is doubtful. As carefully reviewed in the text on vaccinations by Viera Scheiboer, PhD, (6) these diseases had declined by up to 90% before any vaccine was used in mass proportions. Dr. Scheibner further cast doubt on the effectiveness of the vaccines by reporting recent epidemics of measles and whooping cough in fully vaccinated children. In view of the valid questions about the efficacy of modern vaccines and growing concerns about harmful side effects, which appear to be greatly underestimated, an objective reappraisal is needed.
Basic concerns about current childhood vaccines:
1. Multiple vaccines during early infancy:
Current vaccine programs call for numerous vaccines during the first six months of life. It would appear it is taken for granted that the immune reservoir of the infant has an unlimited capacity to respond to these vaccines, but this is far from the case. The newborn comes into the world with a highly immature and undeveloped immune system which does not ordinarily become fully developed until about 12 years of age. The process of maturation requires a series of natural infectious challenges to become mature and strong. According to standard pediatric texts these are spaced an average of once every six weeks, the great majority of which occur without illness.
The host of simultaneous vaccines given repeatedly over a short period of time comprise a wide variant from this natural spacing of challenges. Also, all vaccines, with the exception of one which is given orally, are injected directly by needles into the system, thereby bypassing the mucosal immune system (the Secretory IgA system) of the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems which otherwise would cushion a large majority of infectious challenges. It is difficult to conceive that these intensive challenges would not over stimulate and use up the highly immature and undeveloped immune capacity of the infant to an abnormal extent, leaving it more vulnerable to other infections. As observed by Coulter Harris, it may be more than coincidental that a host of infections often follow these vaccines. (7)
Viral vaccines have been shown to depress cellular immunity, (8-9) which serves as the body's first line of defense against infections. In 1984 a little noted letter was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (10) which reported a significant, though temporary drop of T-helper Lymphocytes in 11 healthy adults given routine tetanus vaccinations. In explanation, the T-helper Lymphocytes are a class of white blood cells which help to govern the immune system. Special concern rests in the fact that drops in T-helper Lymphocytes are characteristic of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and in four of the 11 recipients of the tetanus vaccine the T-helper Lymphocytes dropped to levels seen in active AIDS patients.
This was the effect in healthy adults. One must wonder what the effects of multiple vaccines given to infants must be on various parameters of the immune system, but as far as I am aware, this has not been tested.
2. Live virus vaccines incubated in animal tissues
Live virus vaccines require incubation in animal tissues. The oral polio vaccine is incubated in monkey kidneys and the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is incubated in chick embryos. Viruses, being made up of purely genetic material, are prone to the process of "jumping genes" whereby the viruses may incorporate genetic material from the animal tissues in which they are incubated and subsequently introduce this material into the child receiving the vaccine. In theory, this could set the stage for later immune disorders including autoimmune diseases. (11-13)
3. Live virus vaccines subject to viral contamination
Special concern for viral contamination is justified for the oral polio vaccine, which is incubated in monkey kidneys. African monkeys are now known to carry simian immuno-deficiency viruses (SlVs), and it is now generally accepted that some mutation of one of the varieties of SlVs was the original source of the AIDS epidemic. In 1985, a SIV was discovered very similar to the AIDS virus. This, together with the fact that the earliest known cases of AIDS were near in time and location to the polio vaccine programs in Africa, raises the question whether the polio vaccine, possibly contaminated with the SIV, could have been the original source for AIDS.
Articles have appeared reviewing this matter and calling for further research. (14-15) Although polio vaccines are now screened for the AIDS virus, the question is more academic. New SlVs continue to be discovered, so that there still exists the possibility of viral contamination.
4. Interactions of the immune and nervous systems
If childhood vaccines are capable of bringing about derangements of the immune system by mechanisms outlined above, it is probable that they may in some instances bring about comparable disturbances of the brain and nervous system. Hugh H. Fudenberg, MD, considered by many to be one of the
leading immunologists of our times, has pointed out that there is a uniquely close association between the nervous system and the immune system with many cell receptors common to both systems. (16) If immunologic injuries are brought about by vaccines, it is reasonable to assume that they may at times be transferred to the brain and nervous system, this, in turn, can result in various forms of neuro-behavioral problems. (17)
5. Interference with natural processes
In earlier times, measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles) were referred to as minor childhood diseases because, in the vast majority of instances, children passed through these illnesses without serious complications. Could it be that these minor childhood diseases were friends in disguise, compelling the immune system through struggle and exercise to become strong and better able to defend the body? At least one authority thinks so.
In Great Britain, there was a sharp increase in Crohn's disease, a potentially serious intestinal disorder, among children of East Indian origin who had been raised in Britain and therefore had been immunized with the MMR vaccine. In contrast, Crohn's disease remains rare in India where vaccines are not widely administered. Dr. John Walker-Smith of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, a specialist in intestinal diseases of children, offered the following concept:
It is possible that the decline of many childhood infections might allow children in the west to grow up without the vigorous development of their immune systems that such infections would ordinarily promote.
One wonders whether that stimulation of the immune system, particularly in early childhood, may be advantageous in later life. (18)
A survey reviewed in Lancet (34: 1071-1074) reported a 3.01 increased risk of Crohn's disease and a 2.53 increased risk of ulcerative colitis in people who had received the measles vaccine compared with unvaccinated people. The authors concluded that the measles vaccine may play a role in development of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
It is true that there were occasional serious complications from these diseases. For instance, measles in former times was complicated by encephalitis in one out of every 1,000 or 2,000 cases, sometimes leading to blindness, deafness, or death. If we take a position against the MMR vaccine, does this mean we accept these occasional complications? By no means. Good nutrition and a clean environment are highly protective against the serious complications. In Third World countries, high doses of vitamin A over short periods of time have been found to be protective with marked reduction of complications. (19)
There may be other answers
A rational position about the MMR vaccine would be this: If it is found to cause more serious diseases than it is preventing - and there are many reasons for believing this is the case - then other answers should be sought.
6. The Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine, surrounded by controversy
In a 1990 medical report it was stated that, throughout the world, pertussis remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among infants, with an estimated 600,000 deaths annually. (20) Because of fear of a return of pertussis epidemics, the pertussis vaccine is one of the most strongly supported measures by public health services in the United States, but it is also one of the most controversial.
The seldom publicized history of the pertussis vaccine in Sweden, gives an entirely different point of view from that of the US public health service. Sweden banned the pertussis vaccine in 1979, and yet Sweden now has the second lowest infant mortality rate in the world, whereas the United States ranks a very poor 20th or lower.
During the 1970s in Sweden, despite general pertussis immunization, pertussis returned after more than ten years of absence. (21) The disease became endemic. Surveys showed that 84% of children with pertussis had been fully vaccinated against the disease. Concluding that the pertussis vaccine was ineffective, it was banned in 1979. Subsequently, the incidence of the disease gradually increased, but deaths remained rare. One authority concluded that the disease is now much milder than in earlier times as an explanation for the very low death rate.
In conformance with this outlook, a report in 1984 stated that the pertussis mortality was generally very low in industrialized countries and there was no difference in severity and incidence of pertussis between countries with high, low and zero immunizations rates. (22)
Earlier it was stated that the pertussis vaccine had been the most controversial among childhood vaccines. Briefly summarized in the following are some of the reasons:
· A 1994 survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that children receiving pertussis vaccine were about six times more likely to develop asthma than those not receiving the vaccine. (23)
· In 1974, Japan raised the age of pertussis vaccination to two years of age, rather than giving it during early infancy as is done in the United States. Since that time, there has been a decline in sudden infant deaths (cot deaths) and spinal meningitis among Japanese infants. In spite of the lack of pertussis vaccine for infants, Japan is credited with one of the lowest infant morality rates in the world. (24)
· In the Journal of Infectious Diseases in 1992 there was a report of the DPT vaccine (diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus) provoking a significantly higher incidence of paralytic poliomyelitis in Oman during a polio epidemic in that country. (25) This report can be interpreted to indicate that the DPT vaccine can lower the resistance of the vaccinated child, opening the way for other diseases. Although the wild polio virus does not exist in the United States at this time, the counterpart in this country may be the increasing incidence of common respiratory infections, asthma and other forms of allergies, and a variety of neuro-behavioral disorders.
· Perhaps the greatest source of controversy for the pertussis vaccine has been its implication in causing brain damage and various stages of autism among vaccinated children. A number of medical publications by defenders of the pertussis vaccine have attempted to dismiss this causal relationship, such as one recently issued in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (20) However, many would question the validity of this study which was limited to seven days. It did not take into account the possibility of delayed reactions, which may far outnumber acute reactions taking place within seven days. In the case of cancer we know that there may be a delay of many years between the original insult and onset of cancer, and this may be the case for brain in juries following vaccines. For this reason the true incidence of brain damage and autism from vaccines may be much greater than officially recognized.
· In a survey of a pertussis epidemic in Cincinnati in 1993 it was found that from 74% to 82% of children contracting pertussis had been highly immunized. (26) Although different interpretations were given by the authors, it would appear that this report corroborates conclusions in Sweden that the vaccine is ineffective.
7. Chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) and childhood vaccinations
CFIDS is a disease which afflicts young adults, predominantly women. It may be more than coincidental that the affected age groups, primarily in their twenties and thirties, are those in which childhood immunizations began to take momentum.
Immunologic abnormalities found in patients with CFIDS include an abnormal activation of the immune system and a decrease in uncommitted immune cells. (4, 27) As previously mentioned, Lymphocytes are a class of white blood cells that govern the immune system. These are divided into T-helper cells, which act as accelerators for the immune system, and T-suppressor cells, which act as brakes to reduce responses. In health, these two systems are perfectly balanced. In CFIDS, the T-helper cells are supercharged, turning out excessive immune proteins long after the threat is over. One of these is interleukin-2, usually excessively elevated in CFIDS patients. (27) The T-helper cells, in turn, are subdivided into "memory cells" which have been committed to previous challenges such as viruses, bacteria, or vaccines. Once committed, the memory cells are incapable of responding to new challenges. The second type of T-helper cells is the "naive cell" which serves as a reservoir for responses to new infectious or antigenic invasions. The key finding in CFIDS patients is a measurable shift in balance with increase in memory cells and decrease in naive cells. (4)
Undoubtedly this sounds complicated to those unfamiliar with these terms, but the interpretation is simple. The increase in interleukin-2 and memory cells indicates that the immune system has been over stimulated and overtaxed; the decrease in naive cells, which is necessary for new infectious challenges, means that the body is less able to defend itself. These are precisely the changes that could be predicted from childhood immunizations in their present forms and schedules. It would be highly interesting to do these tests on children after vaccinations, of course following standard scientific protocols. If it were found there are similar changes to those now being identified in CFIDS patients, then childhood vaccinations must be implicated as a predisposing cause of CFIDS.
Conclusions
All of the foregoing discussion leads to one basic question: Does society, through the agency of government, have the right to compel parents to vaccinate their children against their (the parents') wishes? Although still a minority, there does appear to be an increasing number of parents who are militantly opposed to vaccines for their children.
The proponents of compulsory or mandated vaccines take the position that, if vaccines are made optional to all parents, the level of mass immunizations may fall to the point where epidemics of former times may return. On the surface this is a compelling argument. On the other hand, there is the moral issue Of all human rights, the right of free choice as to what happens to our bodies or the choice of parents as to what is done to the bodies of their children should be one of the most sacred and inviolable. How do we reconcile these two viewpoints?
I believe that both viewpoints, that of safety and restoration of human rights, will be best served by granting parents perfect freedom to accept or reject immunizations for their children as they see fit. Growing numbers of people believe that vaccine programs have not been adequately researched to determine their long-term safety. As long as parents have the option of rejecting vaccines for their children, they have it in their power to compel technological advances that would bring greater safety in the Held. On the other hand, if current vaccination programs become universally mandated, a process already far advanced, in my opinion, the inevitable result would be scientific stagnation and a perpetuation of the dangers listed above.
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