I've always been skeptical of vaccinations and the ever-increasing schedule of childhood inoculations. I've heard the whispers about feared possible connections between vaccines and autism. I have also heard in recent years of the elimination of thimerosal from vaccines and their improved safety. Either way, now that I have my own child, I wanted to truly investigate and educate myself about the practice that is considered routine and beneficial: childhood immunizations.
Unfortunately, I feel that my skepticism was justified, and I opened a Pandora's box of issues and concerns in regards to vaccination. I started out by looking at numbers - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics, Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) (which, keep in mind, is grossly underreported). I then moved on to various pieces of literature from the local library, highlighting both sides of the issue. What I have taken away from this research is profound. I shall cover just a few of my thoughts/findings:
- Childhood diseases that vaccinations prevent against are, in most cases, benign illnesses that strengthen and benefit the immune system and provide the best protection for lasting immunity.
- By vaccinating against these diseases in childhood, it shifts the incidence rates from age-groups unlikely to experience problems (children) to age-groups most likely to suffer from severe complications (infants and adults).
- During outbreaks of diseases (measles or pertussis for example) an overwhelming majority of those who become infected have been adequately vaccinated against the disease. Vaccinations do not guaranty immunity.
- In infants the blood-brain barrier (a protective membrane that prevents harmful substances from reaching the brain) is not yet capable of keeping out toxins that can damage the brain. Therefore toxins used in vaccines can do harm.
- Toxins in vaccines can include aluminum, formaldehyde, phenol and thimerosal.
- The polio vaccine contains monkey kidney cell culture and calf serum. Other vaccines are prepared in chick embryo. These are foreign proteins - biological matter composed of animal cells. Because they are injected directly into the bloodstream, they are able to change our genetic structure (N. Z. Miller "Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective?")
- Babies die at a rate seven times greater than normal within three days after getting a pertussis shot. The three primary doses are given to infants at two months, four months, and six months. Approximately 85 percent of SIDS cases occur in the period one month through six months, with the peak incidence at age two to four months. (A. M. Walker "Does Pertussis Vaccine cause Sudden Infant Death?")
- The long-term effects of continuing to mass vaccinate our children are unknown.
- Since mass vaccination was implemented in the U.S. there has been an increase in the incidence of immune system and neurological disorders. "Rates of asthma and attention-deficit disorder have doubled; diabetes and learning disabilities have tripled; and most states have experienced a 300 percent or more increase in autism" (B. L. Fisher, NVIC)
- "Autism, once an uncommon disorder in the U.S., has reached epidemic proportions. In the late 1960s the incidence of autism was 1 child out of every 2,000. In the year 2,000 it was 1 in 200" (S. Cave "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations") Is it only coincidence that this coincides with the dramatic increase of vaccinations given to infants and young children?
I could go on and on... but I won't. Well, maybe just a little bit more. There is just so much that isn't known about what these vaccines do to us on a cellular level and I believe there isn't enough research being done. I also feel that the many of the things children are vaccinated against aren't necessarily as big a threat as the vaccines themselves. I would have rather caught measles as a child than have had the vaccination. I would then have a deeper, lasting immunity to measles, and I would be able to pass on my immunity to my child. Unfortunately, since I was vaccinated and developed an artificial immunity, my breastmilk is incapable of providing that to my child. It upsets me that now the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine is being recommended and even required in some states. I had chicken pox and it is no big deal. Now the vaccine is shifting another harmless disease to age groups where it can cause harmful complications. There have already been reported cases of shingles in those who have received the varicella vaccine.
Perhaps the most upsetting is the intentions of mass immunization. Varicella was developed because government was looking for a way to save businesses hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production time (from mothers staying home with their sick children). The mumps vaccine was developed to protect males who did not acquire the disease in childhood to avoid the rare possiblity that they would become sterile. Mass immunization for the disease rubella was targetted at young children because the CDC hoped to eliminate the risk of exposure among pregnant women (the only population at risk from rubella). Apparently many vaccines are designed to protect not the recipient of the vaccine, but another popoulation.
Vaccines have done a lot of good, but I also feel that in many ways there has been a price paid. I wish more people would stop and question the 'standard' practice of childhood vaccinations and really look into the risks and benefits involved. As the saying goes, knowledge is power, and the more you know about something the more you can know what to do about it.
Last night Steven had a scrimmage at Jacob's park... and L and I tagged along to watch. It was L's first attendance to one of his games outside of the womb. I'm sure she was quite at ease since it all sounded familiar to her; however I think she was mostly grateful to be out of her carseat after a 2 1/2 hour trip back home to Tucson from Scottsdale.
