Vaccine Scene:
An Overview
By
Harold E Buttram, MD
Updated
February 6, 2001
In
our office we are frequently asked our opinion
and position on vaccination in both children
and adults. This lengthy monograph is an attempt
to express a minority view and position that
is contrary to current government, public
and medical opinion on the subject. However,
whatever position on the vaccination decision
one chooses to adopt, we feel the most important
point is parental choice! Therefore, we ardently
believe the best approach to this very controversial
subject is to present both the pros and cons,
good and bad, known and unknown about immunizations,
and then help guide the patient or parents
to choose what is best for them or their children.
This is termed "informed consent"
and should be the basis of every medical test
or treatment; vaccinations being no exception.
Consequently, our Healing Research Centers
honor and respect the patient's or parent's
choice in this matter and will immunize or
not immunize accordingly.
Any
medical therapy must balance the "effectiveness"
versus the "safety" of its actions
on the human body. For instance, aspirin therapy
is effective in preventing a second heart
attack after having a first heart attack;
and it is quite safe, only having a small
incidence of stomach or intestinal bleeding
as a potential long-term side effect. As you
read the following monograph, please keep
these key points in mind in terms of "effectiveness"
versus "safety" of vaccinations:
-
Scientific evidence does support the effectiveness
of immunizations. They do prevent infectious
diseases; some better than others, but this
point is not disputed.
- Scientific evidence does not support the
safety of immunizations.
- Safety studies on vaccinations are limited
to short time periods only: several days to
several weeks. There are NO (NONE!) long-term
(months or years) safety studies on any vaccination
or immunization.
- There is limited but rapidly growing scientific
evidence of long-term adverse side effects
of vaccines that need much more study.
In
August, l999 and April, 2000 Congressional
hearings were held in Washington D.C. dealing
with questions of vaccine safety. Congressman
Dan Burton, Chairman of the U.S. House Government
Reform Committee, called the hearings. On
the weekend of October 2nd and 3rd, l999,
an autism conference was held at Cherry Hill,
New Jersey, sponsored by the Autism Research
Institute of San Diego, California. Over l,000
people were in attendance, the great majority
of whom were parents of autistic children.
At one point in the meeting, when the chairman
asked those in the audience who believed that
their child's autism was caused by vaccines
to stand, a largely majority of the audience
rose to their feet. With these and other indications
of growing public concerns about current childhood
immunization programs, it is hoped that this
review will be of timely interest.
Are
the Benefits of Vaccines Exaggerated?
From an historical perspective it is important
to keep in mind that, in the early days of
immunizations, there were relatively few vaccines,
and for the most part they were given separately.
Also, it would appear that it was in those
early days that vaccines had their greatest
successes, with eradication of smallpox from
the world (although there are disturbing reports
of current appearances in parts of the Far
East), and eradication of polio from the Western
Hemisphere, the last case of wild polio having
taken place in l979.
Parenthetically,
the average person today believes that mass
smallpox vaccines were responsible for eradicating
smallpox from the world. This is not so, for
the simple reason that mass vaccination programs
did not take place in many areas. In some
third world countries 10% or less of the populations
were immunized against smallpox due to financial
and other limitations, which necessitated
a policy of "quarantine and containment,"
whereby all contacts in an infected village
and outlying areas were immunized. If limited
vaccines together with quarantine were effective
in the case of smallpox, this raises question
about the necessity of ongoing mass vaccines
in other diseases as well, a question which
we believe will assume growing importance
as more is learned about the adverse effects
of vaccines.
Among vaccine's other successes, there were
less than l00 reported cases of measles in
the U.S.A. in l998, and most of these were
imported.
However,
vaccine proponents would have us believe that
vaccines have been largely responsible for
controlling virtually all of the former epidemics
of killer diseases in the U.S.A. With the
exceptions cited above, the facts do not bear
this out. According to the records of the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, from
l911 to l935 the four leading causes of childhood
deaths from infectious diseases in the U.S.A.
were diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough),
scarlet fever, and measles. However, by l945
the combined death rates from these causes
had declined by 95% before the implementation
of mass vaccine programs.(l) Other statistical
information provided much the same pattern.(2)
According to a report in Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report, July 30, l999, improvements
in sanitation, water quality, hygiene, and
the introduction of antibiotics have been
the most important factors in control of infectious
diseases in the past century. Although vaccines
were mentioned, they were not included among
the major factors.(3)
Another
factor, which is commonly overlooked, is that
the virulence of micro-organisms tends to
be weakened or attenuated with the passage
of time and with the serial passages through
human hosts.(4) Also, populations develop
immunity with continued or repeated exposure.
One example of this is whooping cough (pertussis)
which is clearly a milder disease in Western
nations than it was l00 or so years ago.
An
example of this process is provided in the
text, Vaccination, l00 Years of Orthodox Research
Shows that Vaccines Represent a Medical Assault
on the Immune System, by Vera Scheibner, Ph.D.,(5)
in which the author reviews the Swedish experience
with whooping cough (pertussis) and the pertussis
vaccine. In l979 Sweden banned the pertussis
vaccine because of a return of the disease
in fully vaccinated children and also because
of side effects which they considered unacceptable,
including brain damage. In spite of this ban,
which remains in effect today, the infant
mortality in Sweden from pertussis is no greater
than in fully vaccinated populations (3 infant
deaths were recorded in Sweden l987 to l99l,
as compared with 4 infant deaths in New South
Wales, Australia, during a slightly longer
time period).
However,
it must be recognized that pertussis remains
a serious illness in many third world countries,
carrying significant morbidity and mortality
due to factors which often include poor sanitation
and lack of adequate medical facilities. Also
many are "virgin populations" in
which whooping cough is a relatively new infection,
and therefore they are lacking in natural
immunity which is present in most Western
nations where there is inherited immunity
from earlier epidemics.
Vaccine
Safety not Proven:
It should be pointed out that today's children
receive from 22 to 35 vaccines before school
age, whereas most of today's senior citizens
received only one, the smallpox vaccine. Some
of the vaccines contain mercury, a known neurotoxin
under some circumstances.
With
the growing public concern about potential
adverse reactions of these heavy burdens of
foreign immunologic materials on the immature
immune systems of children, it is reasonable
to ask ourselves what is known about these
reactions.
A small but growing minority of physicians
and scientists are becoming aware that safety
testing for the various vaccines has been
woefully inadequate. As one of
many examples, a l994 special committee of
the National Academy of Sciences (Institute
of Medicine) published a comprehensive review
of the safety of the hepatitis B vaccine.
When the committee, which carries the responsibility
for determining the safety of vaccines by
Congressional mandate, investigated five possible
and plausible adverse effects, they were unable
to come to conclusion for four of them because
they found that relevant safety research had
not been done. Furthermore, they found that
serious "gaps and limitations" exist
in both the knowledge and infrastructure needed
to study vaccine adverse events. Among the
76 types of vaccine adverse events reviewed
by the IOM, the basic scientific evidence
was inadequate to assess definitive vaccine
causality for 50 (66%). The IOM also noted
that "if research…(is) not improved,
future reviews of vaccine safety will be similarly
handicapped.(6)
The
clear implication of this report, which in
our experience is fairly representative of
a haphazard pattern towards issues of safety
throughout the vaccine field, is that adverse
reactions to the vaccines may be occurring
on a large scale without being recognized
as to their true nature.
In
support of this statement, two pioneering
studies will be reviewed below, one from l955
and the other from l984, both sounding alarms
on potential side effects from vaccines:
One
of the most intriguing studies from older
medical literature dealing with the pertussis
vaccine was that of A.L. Low (Chicago, l955)
who performed electroencephalograms (EEGs)
on 83 children before and after pertussis
immunization. In 2 of these children he found
that the EEGs turned abnormal following the
immunizations without other signs or symptoms
of abnormal reactions. In his report he commented:
"This study shows that mild but possibly
significant (emphasis ours) cerebral reactions
may occur in addition to the reported very
severe neurological changes."(7)
Another
intriguing study, this one from Germany, was
reported in a little-noted letter-to-the editor
in the New England Journal of Medicine, in
l984.(8) In the study, a significant though
temporary drop of T-helper lymphocytes was
found in ll healthy adults following routine
tetanus booster vaccinations. Special concern
rests in the fact that, in 4 of the subjects,
the T-helper lymphocytes fell to levels seen
in active AIDS patients.
The
implications of these two studies are enormous.
In regards to the latter (German) study, if
this was the result of a single vaccine in
healthy adults, it is sobering to think of
the possible consequences of multiple vaccines
(18 vaccines within the first six months of
life at latest count) given to infants with
their immature and vulnerable immune systems.
Unfortunately, other than clinical observations,
we can only speculate as to these consequences,
as this test has never been repeated.
As
for the Low study with EEGs before-and-after
pertussis immunization, at a time when myriads
of our children are suffering from various
degrees and phases of brain dysfunction, it
is possible that vaccine reactions may be
occurring on a large scale, unrecognized as
to their true nature, and contributing to
this pool of unfortunate children.
It
is both sad and shameful that neither of these
studies have had follow-ups in American laboratories
and medical centers, as should have been the
case. Had they been done, discovering and
documenting adverse neurological and immunological
effects of the vaccines, they would have led
to safer forms and combinations of childhood
vaccines than at present.
From
a careful gleaning of medical literature over
many years, we have been able to find only
3 other reports in the literature of studies
done before-and-after immunizations, all from
foreign medical centers:
-
In a study from Japan, immunizations (DPT,
DT, or BCG) were given to 61 children with
a history of febrile seizures or epilepsy,
who had not had a seizure for one year. Following
immunizations there was a significant increase
in "epileptic spikes" in post-vaccine
electroencephalograms as compared with those
done preceding vaccines.(9)
-
In January, l993, a Czechoslovakian medical
journal published the results of a study of
89 children with adverse clinical reactions
following administrations of various combinations
of vaccines. Detailed case histories were
taken and blood tests were done to examine
various parameters of cellular and humoral
immunity. It was found that children with
adverse reactions had marked increases in
abnormal blood parameters as compared with
children who had had no clinical reactions.(10)
-
In l997 a study from the University of Alberta,
Canada, reported on findings from before-and-after
MMR vaccine in which the effects on both the
measles specific antibodies and cell mediated
immunity, as indicated by cytokine generation,
were tested.(11) The significance of this
report may not rest so much on the specific
findings, which will be reviewed later, as
on the fact that it opens up an entirely new
avenue of research, designed to reveal the
specific mechanisms of actions of the vaccines,
and also possibly revealing their side effects.
With
these 3 reports from reputable medical centers,
published in peer-review journals, the flood-gates
of medical research have been opened. The
truth about vaccine mechanisms, effects, as
well as adverse reactions cannot be long in
following. Although late, we would hope that
our own medical and research centers would
join in this search.
What
Is Known about Adverse Vaccine Reactions:
(A Cursory Review of the Literature)
Before turning to medical and scientific reports
on adverse vaccine reactions, we must reluctantly
point out an almost insuperable difficulty
in getting dependable data on these reactions
due to the extreme reluctance of doctors to
report on vaccine reactions, a pattern which
has existed since the earliest days of childhood
vaccines. There are a number of reasons for
this. From their earliest years of training,
medical doctors have been taught to look upon
vaccines as one of the greatest achievements
in medical science, and any question about
them is often looked upon as disloyalty to
the profession. In addressing this issue in
the classic text, Shot in the Dark, by Coulter
and Fisher, the authors quoted an attorney
specializing in vaccine-damaged children.
In commenting on the deficiency in doctors'
reporting of vaccine reactions, the attorney
commented, "As is the case with many
pertussis-vaccine-injured children, none of
the treating physicians would commit themselves
to a final etiological diagnosis. It is strange
that parents of pertussis-vaccine-damaged
children often can only get an etiological
diagnosis by hiring an attorney and seeing
one of the few recognized experts in the U.S.
on post-pertussis vaccine encephalopathy."(12)
In
passing, we believe it is appropriate to mention
that we have noticed this same pattern in
our office. Having seen quite a few autistic
children in the past several years, more than
a few of which became autistic in a time-related
fashion following vaccination, we have yet
to see a single case in which other doctors
have implicated vaccines as a possible cause
of the autism.
Recombinant
Hepatitis B Vaccine - Anecdotal Reports of
Adverse Reactions:
A scattering of reports suggest that the hepatitis
B vaccine may play a major role, as yet largely
unrecognized in hemorrhagic complications
from vaccines. In a collection of abstracts
from Medline research from l990 to October,
l997 on adverse reactions from the recombinant
hepatitis B vaccine, Dr. Andrea Valeri of
Italy catalogued a total of 45 different types
of reactions in the world literature.(13)
Among these were necrotizing vasculitis,(14)
vaccine-induced autoimmunity,(15) and segmentary
of occlusion of the central retinal vein.(16)
In addition, a report of vasculitis following
hepatitis B vaccine is found in the British
Medical Journal.(17) Thrombocytopenia is listed
as a possible complication in the current
Physicians' Desk Reference. In a report of
18 deaths of neonates following the hepatitis
B vaccine by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting
System, l991-l998, hemorrhagic phenomena were
common including 2 with cerebral hemorrhages,
4 with pulmonary bleeding, l with bloody diarrhea,
and several with blood in upper airway passages.(18)
A report in Post-Graduate Medicine on acute
hemorrhagic encephalitis sites vaccines as
one of the possible causes.(19)
Reports
of autoimmune/neurological type reactions
from hepatitis B vaccine include the following:
Polyneuropathy,(20) uveitis,(21) Guillain-Barre
Syndrome,(22) myasthenia gravis,(23) erythema
nodosum,(24) CNS demyelination,(25-27) optic
neuritis,(28) transverse myelitis,(29) visual
loss,(30) rheumatoid arthritis,(31) Reiter
Syndrome and arthritis,(32) and autism &
colitis.(33)
Tetanus
and Hemophilus Influenza (Hib) Vaccines:
The tetanus vaccine does not carry an aura
of controversy which surrounds some of the
other vaccines, but in l991 a report by the
National Institute of Medicine did find a
causal relation between the tetanus vaccine
and anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening
allergic reaction.(34) The Hib vaccine shares
with the pertussis vaccine a notoriety for
its sensitizing potentials,(35) so much so
that it has a paradoxical reaction in causing
a temporary reduction in antibody in most
adults and children following immunization,
which may increase the risk of invasive disease
should the individual be harboring H influenza
micro-organisms at the time of the Hib immunization.(36)
Pertussis
(Whooping Cough) and Vaccine-Induced Encephalitis
The Pertussis vaccine carries the dubious
distinction as having survived the longest
period of controversy among any of current
vaccines. This controversy mainly surrounds
reports of pertussis-vaccine-induced encephalitis
which have beset the vaccine since its earliest
days in the late l920's and l930's. It is
true that public health officialdom maintains
that there is no controversy and that brain
damage from the vaccine is extremely rare.
However, there are many parents as well as
a growing number of physicians and researchers,
though still a minority, who consider the
pertussis vaccine potentially dangerous.
For
those who are interested in a more in-depth
review of this intriguing subject, we recommend
the following 3 books: Shot in the Dark by
Coulter and Harris(12), Vaccination…,
by Vera Scheibner, Ph.D.,(5) and Vaccination
and Behavioral Disorders, by Greg Wilson,(37)
The
basic question surrounding the pertussis vaccine
is whether or not, by itself or in combination
with other vaccines, it is contributing to
the epidemic of neurobehavioral problems now
taking place among American children as a
result of subtle encephalitic-type brain damage
from the vaccine. At the very least, the studies
of Low(7) and Nuono(9) suggest this as a possibility.
This question, which has never been addressed
in a meaningful way, becomes of over-riding
importance in view of the current adverse
health trend among American children, as reflected
in an article in a major news magazine which
cited a "dramatic rise in learning disabilities
among American children" with "one
of every six suffering from autism, aggression,
dyslexia, or attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder."(38)
Could it be that modern medicine has a huge
blind spot to a medical problem taking place
on a large scale? Historically it has happened
before, as in the case of the Austrian obstetrician,
Ignaz Semmelweis, who in the mid l800's was
unable to convince his peers to wash their
hands before delivering babies or performing
surgery.
Returning
now to our review of the literature, medical
reports of pertussis-vaccine-induced encephalitis,
rare at any time in the past, have virtually
ceased since the early l990's when a series
of articles appeared in major medical journals
attempting to dismiss encephalitis-like events
following the pertussis vaccine as coincidental.(39-41)
For this reason, aside from earlier literature,
one must search elsewhere to gain some insight
into the nature and frequency of adverse pertussis-vaccine
reactions taking place today. Although research
in this area is largely stagnant, there are
a few highly pertinent animal studies which
help define the nature of pertussis endotoxin
and its potentially damaging effects on the
brain.
Turning
to these animal models, attempts to dismiss
pertussis-vaccine-encephalitis as a myth would
appear to founder or should have foundered
from the outset based on the simple fact that
vaccines like pertussis are actually used
to induce encephalitis (experimental allergic
encephalomyelitis) in laboratory animals.(42)
Among animal models, four will be cited here:
-
In an experimental encephalomyelitis performed
by Munoz and coworkers, elicited in mice by
injecting pertussigen, a derivative of Bordetella
pertussis, along with mice spinal cord extract,
there were histological findings of perivascular
infiltrates, consisting largely of lymphocytes
in the brain and spinal cord.(43)
-
Although Munoz mentioned nothing about the
presence or absence of brain edema, Iwasa
stressed the finding of brain edema as a feature
of pertussis-induced encephalopathy.(44) Parenthetically,
there are anecdotal reports of brain edema
in infants who showed signs of increased intracranial
pressure, as manifested by bulging fontanelles,
following DPT immunizations.(45-47)
-
In a study devised to provide an animal model
for the systemic and neurological complications
sometimes observed following the pertussis
vaccine in children, Steinman and coworkers
discovered a lethal shock-like syndrome in
mice after immunization with B pertussis vaccine
and sensitization to bovine serum albumin.
Post-mortem examination of the brains revealed
diffuse vascular congestion and hemorrhages
in both cortex and white matter.(48)(Emphasis
ours)
-
In a review of the effects of bacterial endotoxin
in microcirculation of the body, McCuskey
described the effects of endotoxin in causing
vascular inflammation, leading to a pro-coagulation
state of the endothelium.(49)
Other
than those articles previously mentioned,
and a few to be reviewed in a subsequent section
of this paper dealing with allergies, there
is a virtual vacuum of meaningful information
in the current literature on the pertussis
vaccine and vaccine-induced encephalitis.
However, there is one area which promises
to be fruitful in clinical and scientific
knowledge about this field, however tragic
it may be from a human standpoint:
There
are at present increasing rates of imprisonment
of parents or caretakers on conviction of
infant deaths from the "shaken baby syndrome."(SBS)
From first hand knowledge of one case and
familiarity with others, we believe with virtual
certainly that some of these convictions have
been the result of misdiagnosis, the true
cause of deaths having been vaccine reactions.(50)
In one case, for instance, 6 vaccines were
given at 8 weeks of age to a severely compromised
baby. Following a period of clinical deterioration,
the baby became apneic about 14 days following
the vaccines and, although later resuscitated
in a hospital, died shortly after. The father
was subsequently charged with death of his
infant from SBS. During the subsequent jury
trial, vaccines were never mentioned by any
witness or offered as a possible cause of
the infant's death. As a result of this and
other factors, the father was convicted of
murdering his infant son and is now serving
a life-sentence. If the truth were known,
probably this story could be told many times
over.
The MMR Vaccine (Measles - Mumps - Rubella)
and Autism:
Probably the greatest concern with vaccines
today rests with their possible causal relationship
with the growing epidemic of neurobehavioral
problems, especially autism, as reviewed in
the previous section. Parenthetically, statistics
may be open to question, but one cannot question
the observations of veteran elementary school
teachers who, in our experience, unanimously
and emphatically report a marked increase
in these disorders in recent years.
In
regards to autism, probably the best statistics
come from California, where a survey mandated
by the California state legislature found
a 273% increase incidence during the previous
ll years.(51) Reports from education departments
of several states and reports from the U.S.
Congress on the rapidly increasing needs of
classrooms for developmentally delayed children
reflect comparable changes throughout the
nation.(52)
As
clearly shown in a graph prepared by Bernard
Rimland, Ph.D., founding director or the Autism
Research Institute with headquarters in San
Diego, sharp rises in the incidence of autism
in the U.S.A. took place immediately following
the introduction of the MMR vaccine in l975,
and in the United Kingdom following its introduction
in l988.(53)
In
our own practice we have carried out a partial
sampling of the charts of autistic children
seen here in the year 2000. Among 32 charts
that were reviewed, it was found that in l6
cases (50%) the onset of autistic features
in a previously normal child took place in
a time-related fashion following the MMR vaccine.
It
is important to point out that an uncombined
measles vaccine had been in use in the U.S.A.
since l961, with only a slight rise in autism
from l961 to l975 when the combined MMR vaccine
came into use, bringing with it the sharp
increases in autism.
As
a result of this, some are coming to believe
that the 3 vaccines should be given separately,
about which more will be said later.
In
our opinion, one of the prime researchers
in the field of autism is Vijendra Singh,
Ph.D., Department of Biology, Utah State University,
who published the report of a study in which
he found that a large majority of autistic
children tested had antibodies to brain tissue
in the form of antibodies to myelin basic
protein. He also found a strong correlation
between myelin basic protein antibodies and
antibodies to measles (almost all of the children
had been immunized with the MMR vaccine, and
none had had these diseases).(54)
If
the MMR vaccine is causing autoimmune reactions,
what would be the mechanism? Although research
in this area is in its infancy, we do know
this: Both measles and mumps fractions of
the MMR vaccine are cultured in chick embryo
tissue. As purely genetic material, viruses
are highly susceptible to the process of "jumping
genes," in which they incorporate genetic
material from the tissues in which they are
cultured.(55) Furthermore, protein sequences
in the measles virus have been found to have
similarities to those found in brain tissues,
(56) so that by the process of "mimicry,"
the formation of antibodies against one may
cross react with the other, which the work
of Dr. Singh tends to confirm.
As
another factor, it is possible that the reaction
rates in the second-generation vaccine recipients
of today may be happening on a much larger
scale due to previous sensitization of mothers
from their vaccines, this sensitization being
transmitted in turn to the fetus.(57)
A
second prime researcher in the field of autism,
in our view, is Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Reader
in experimental gastroenterology, Royal Free
Hospital and University College Medical School,
London. This researcher and coworkers were
the first to suggest a possible link between
the triple MMR vaccine and clinical combination
of autism with bowel disorder, now referred
to as the autistic enterocolitis syndrome.
As a result Dr. Wakefield has become the center
of a storm of controversy in the United Kingdom,
as well as a highly sought speaker at conferences
in the U.S.A. Although coauthor of many peer-reviewed
clinical and scientific papers, the course
of Dr. Wakefield's pioneering work in this
field can be found in a series of three articles,(58-60)
as well as his presentation to the United
States House of Representatives Committee
on Government Reform, April 6, 2000.(61)
In
summary, Dr. Wakefield and coworkers have
studied over l50 developmentally delayed children
with colitis, in which enlarged and inflamed
intestinal nodes are a prime feature. Wakefield
stressed that patterns in these children appear
to be distinct from other forms of inflammatory
bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease and
ulcerative colitis.
Working
in collaboration with a state-of-the-art laboratory
in Ireland, subsequent molecular studies from
intestinal biopsies performed on these children
detected measles virus genetic material in
24 out of 25 specimens (96%), in contrast
with only 5% of detected measles virus in
control specimens sent in a "blinded"
fashion.
In explaining the ability of the MMR-derived
measles virus to establish itself in the intestinal
mucosa of affected children, Wakefield cited
earlier reports warning of the potential of
viral interference in the triple MMR vaccine,
whereby one virus could interfere with another.(62,63)
Commenting on these early articles, Wakefield
stated, "The ability of mumps virus to
interfere with the cellular immune response
to certain strains of measles virus and thereby,
in particular combinations potentially to
reduce viral clearance and increase the risk
of persistent (intestinal) infection, is an
intriguing hypothesis to some of those involved
in the current debate."(61)
Parenthetically,
Dr. Wakefield is not opposed to the measles,
mumps, and rubella vaccines, but he does believe
that their administration should be widely
separated.
In an article just released at time of this
writing in the Adverse Drug Reaction &
Toxicology Review,(64) Andrew Wakefield and
coauthor Scott Montgomery carefully reviewed
the inadequacies of the early pre-licensing
trials of the MMR vaccine with a maximum follow
up of 28 days and even shorter periods in
some of the studies. They stressed that such
short periods of observation following the
vaccine were totally inadequate to detect
delayed reactions, including pervasive developmental
delay (autism), immune deficiencies, and inflammatory
bowel disease, which are known from earlier
published reports to occur following both
the natural measles infection and the measles
vaccine.
Again
the authors reviewed earlier evidence of viral
interference in which the near proximity in
time of the natural infections of mumps, measles,
chicken pox, and other viral infections in
the pre-vaccine days resulted in increased
incidence of autism and enterocolitis. This
is particularly true because the measles virus
is an enteropathic virus capable of causing
acute gastroenteritis, mesenteric adenitis,
and ileocolitis.
Perhaps
the most interesting feature of the article
is that it was reviewed by four leading British
authorities, all of whom had previously held
positions in the regulation and licensing
of medicines.(65)
Taken
as a body, the reviewers were supportive of
the Wakefield/Montgomery paper, three highly
so. Professor Duncan Vere, former member of
the Committee on the Safety of Medicines,
agreed that the periods for the tests were
too short. "In almost every case,"
he wrote, "observations periods were
too short to include the time of onset of
delayed neurological or other adverse events."
He also added, "one not insignificant
detail is whether compensation for vaccine
damage is available to an injured child and
family, or is denied by the authorities who
advocate the vaccine whilst denying the risks
on the inadequate (if extensive) evidence
available."
Peter Fletcher, formerly a senior professional
medical officer for the Department of Health
wrote, "being extremely generous, evidence
on safety (of the MMR) was very thin."
Noting that single vaccines for measles, mumps,
and rubella already existed, he argued, "caution
should have ruled the day…The granting
of a product license was definitely premature."
Childhood Immunizations and the Increasing
Incidence of Atopy (Allergies):
The increasing incidence of allergic disorders
in Western nations is now universally recognized,
with every third child in industrialized societies
having an allergic disorder.(66) In some areas
the incidence of asthma has increased 200%
in the past 20 years.(67) Another survey showed
a 46% increase in death rate nationwide from
asthma between l977 and l991.(68)
There
is a school of thought that the so-called
minor childhood illnesses of former times,
including measles, mumps, rubella (German
measles), and chicken pox, which entered the
body through the mucous membranes, served
a necessary and positive purpose in challenging
and strengthening the immune system of these
membranes.(69)
In
contrast, the respective vaccines of these
diseases are injected by needle directly into
the system of the child, thereby bypassing
the mucosal immune system. As a result, mucosal
immunity remains relatively weak and stunted
in many children, complications of which may
be the rapid increase in asthma, eczema, nasal
allergies, food allergies, and a general pattern
of sickness in today's children.
It has not gone unnoticed that the increasing
incidence of atopic disorders has coincided
in a time-related fashion with the childhood
vaccine programs, and reports are now appearing
from widely separated geographic areas in
which vaccinated children were found to have
significantly more allergic disorders than
children with limited or no vaccines.(70-73)
The
suspected role of the pertussis vaccine in
potentiating allergic disorders tends to be
confirmed in animal studies(74-76) as well
as a human study.(77) Thimerosol, an organic
mercurial compound widely used as a preservative
in vaccines, also has been studied for its
sensitizing properties.(78)
Among
these, the study by Kosecka and coworkers(74)
deserves special emphasis: In the study rats
were sensitized to ovalbumin (OA) by injection
of OA alone or together with a very small
dose of pertussis toxin. In each group secretory
responses to nerve stimulation, serum IgE
levels, and intestinal mast cell counts were
determined. It was found that sensitization
was very transient (l4 days) when OA was given
alone but when the OA was combined with pertussis
toxin, the intestinal mast cell count, serum
IgE levels, etc, remained elevated for 8 months.
The authors concluded that their findings
indicated that when tiny amounts of pertussis
toxin were administered with a food protein,
it would result in long-term sensitization
to the antigen and altered intestinal neuroimmune
function.
Are
Vaccines Skewing the Human Immune System?
In brief summary, the immune system is divided
into two major classes: Cellular immunity,
in which the mucous membranes of the body
play a prominent role, and humoral immunity,
with the production of antigen-specific antibodies
by plasma cells in the bone marrow. Cellular
immunity, which involves macrophage activation
and the cytotoxic T lymphocyte as its major
agents, is responsible for control of viruses,
fungi, as well as bacteria. Humoral immunity,
on the other hand, is predominantly involved
in control of bacteria.
Both
of these classes are governed by TH lymphocytes,
the "T" referring to the thymus
gland, from which they are derived, and the
"H" referring to a helper or activating
activity. Early in life these "naïve"
or uncommitted TH lymphocytes are differentiated
into either armed TH1 cells, which governs
in cellular immunity or armed TH2 cells, which
governs in humoral immunity. This initial
differentiation , at which naïve TH cells
become either armed TH1 cells or armed TH2
cells has a critical impact on the outcome
of adaptive immune response, depending on
whether it is dominated by macrophage activation
of the former or antibody production of the
latter.(79)
It
has been found that this differentiation is
profoundly affected by cytokines, which are
produced by lymphocytes and serve as chemical
messengers. The two cytokines, Interleukin
12 and Interferon gamma, in vitro, tend to
promote the development of TH1 cells. Interleukin
4, 5, 6, and l0, on the other hand, tend to
promote the differentiation of TH2 cells.(80)
Once
one subset becomes dominant, it is difficult
to shift the response to the other subset,
as the cytokines from one subset tend to dominate
the other. The overall effect is that certain
reponses are dominated either by humoral (TH2)
or cell-mediated (TH1) responses.(81)
Among
the different cytokines, some have been shown
to have damaging effects: Interleukin I may
cause increased blood brain barrier permeability
and meningeal inflammation(82) and brain damage
in experimental animals.(83) Interferon-gamma
has been found to reduced the intestinal barrier
and increase permeability,(84,85) and to bring
about profound morphological, functional,
and permeability changes in human brain blood-vessel
endothelial cells.(86) The study by Pabst
and coworkers, previously mentioned as the
first of its kind, with the testing of cytokines
before-and-after the MMR vaccine, found that
the predominant response was an increase in
interferon-gamma.(11) As has just been shown
(references 84 and 85), interferon gamma increases
intestinal permeability. Does this tie in
with the findings of increased intestinal
permeability that has been found in children
with autism(87) and consequently with the
MMR vaccine?
In
both the New England Journal of Medicine(88)
and the journal, Thorax,(89) articles have
appeared stating that a healthy immune system
has a "bias" towards the TH1 immune
system, while people with allergies, asthma,
and diseases of an autoimmune origin have
what is known as the TH2-skewed immune response.
However, either antibodies or T cells of the
cellular immune system can cause tissue damage
in autoimmune diseases.(90)
A
study of cytokine levels in 20 autistic children
by S Gupta and coworkers found that TH1 cytokines
were consistently lowered and TH2 cytokines
were consistently elevated as compared with
controls.(91) Once again, does this tie in
with immunizations? Are immunizations tilting
the immune systems into TH2-skewed immune
response? Considering that vaccines are administered
by parenteral injection, designed primarily
to stimulate antibody response, this would
appear to be the case.
However,
we cannot know the answers to this and other
similar questions until definitive studies
are done, testing both the immediate and long-term
effects of vaccines on the human system. Among
these, the testing of cytokines and related
lymphocyte subpopulations before-and-after
immunizations appear to be the most promising.
Gulf
War Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and
Fibromyalgia
In a study of 33 veterans suffering with symptoms
of Gulf War Syndrome, there were marked increases
in markers indicating increased coagulability
of the blood of the subjects as compared with
healthy controls.(92) The authors hypothesized
that exposures to chemical, biological, warfare
pathogens, and/or vaccine adjuvants (including
the controversial anthrax vaccine) during
the Persian Gulf War had brought about immune
reactions which had activated the coagulation
system by the cross reaction of antibodies
with antithrombotic (anticlotting) proteins
lining the endothelial surfaces of blood vessels,
the end result being a deposition of fibrin
within blood vessels and a reduction of blood
flow. Similar hypercoagulability states have
been found in patients with the chronic fatigue
syndrome.(93)
At
this point no one knows to what extent each
of the various exposures (chemicals, biological
warfare, and/or vaccines) played in the pathogenesis
in the Gulf War Illness, but serious investigators
have little doubt it was a combination of
these exposures that caused the illness. Considering
that the GWS and CFS have much in common clinically
as well as in laboratory findings, should
we not be investigating the possibility that
two conditions have similar causes?
Are
Vaccines Bringing about Genetic Change?
In a Letter-to-the-Editor of Science Magazine
in October l967, Joshua Lederberg, Department
of Genetics, Stanford University School of
Medicine, warned about live-virus vaccines:
"In
point of fact, we (are practicing) biological
engineering on a rather large scale by use
of live viruses in mass immunization campaigns…..Crude
virus preparations, such as some in common
use at the present time, are also vulnerable
to frightful mishaps of contamination and
misidentification."(94)
In
a larger sense, the question about the possible
effects of vaccines in causing adverse genetic
changes might be considered as the black hole
of scientific knowledge. Even if it is taking
place, do we have the technology to identify
it? For the present, however, genetic abnormalities
have been found only in persons with major
vaccine-related health disorders, as reviewed
below:
To
date, a careful review of the world's literature
has disclosed only two publications reporting
on adverse genetic changes known or suspected
to be related to vaccines: In a study from
Italy, 30 patients with post-vaccine diseases
of the central nervous system were tested
for Herpes virus and tissue typing (HLA A,B,C,
HLA DR-DQ). The comparison of the patients
with controls showed an increased presence
of HLA A3 and DR-7, reflecting genetic change
in 73.3% of patients.(95) In the second report,
a three-year study was done in collaboration
with the University of Michigan School of
Medicine involving 24 Gulf War veterans with
a pattern of symptomatic health disorders
that have been referred to as the Persian
Gulf War-Related Illness, or Gulf War Syndrome.
Among these, 50% were found to have abnormal
RNA, indicating chromosomal damage after "toxic
events."(96) Although the report from
the University of Michigan Medical School
comments only on toxic chemical exposures
in the Gulf War, vaccines may also have played
a role, especially the controversial anthrax
vaccine.(97) Perhaps the greatest significance
of these reports, aside from the findings,
is simply in the fact that scientific investigations
have begun in this very important area.
Conclusions:
Having in mind the foregoing material and
today's vaccine scene, one is reminded of
Hamlet's words when he said, "The times
are out of joint."
By
federal, state, and school policies, parents
are being compelled to keep up-to-date on
their children's vaccines whether they wish
it or not, and then when serious health problems
ensue, as appears to be increasingly the case,
parents are told that the vaccines had nothing
to do with it.
In
more than a few instances, parents are threatened
with having their children placed in a foster
home if they refuse to complete the recommended
course of vaccines, and in some cases this
has actually been carried out.
Today
we have a system in which vaccine production
by the pharmaceutical companies is largely
self-regulated. Naturally these companies
are interested in profits from their products
which, in itself, is not wrong. However, when
arbitrary decisions in the mandating of vaccines
are made by government bureaucracies, who
are highly partisan to the pharmaceuticals,
with no recourse open to parents, we have
all the potential ingredients for a tragedy
of historical proportions.
Nothing written in this paper is intended
to imply that immunizations, when used in
judicious moderation, do not at times serve
a necessary purpose. However, simple observation
throws strong suspicion on childhood vaccines,
in their present numbers and forms, as posing
one of the major causes of the increasing
pattern of sickness, allergies, autism, and
other neurobehavioral problems now being seen
in our youngsters.
For
sake of argument, let us assume that scientific
proof eventually implicates the vaccines as
one of the prime sources of these problems
and that, in addition, it becomes known that
safer methods could have been found to accomplish
the same ends if they had been sought. If
we continue to enforce the vaccine programs
as at present, one shudders to think what
future generations will think and write about
us. Mistakes might be forgiven, but not the
enforcement of those mistakes. If such does
prove to be the case, we can rest assured
that they will be neither kind nor charitable
in their judgments of us.
________
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