Get Vaccinated: It's the Law

A growing number of parents in Oregon aren’t vaccinating their children against deadly diseases because they believe vaccines can have irreversible adverse health effects. Oregon leads the national exemption list, with 5.8 percent of kindergartners (or more than 2,600 children) being exempt from vaccines last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

However, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in April that eight young children who were taken into state custody last year could be vaccinated. Their parents have claimed that religious beliefs exempt the children from vaccination. The Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) has argued and carried the point that because the state has custody of the children, the state can also make medical decisions for the children.

DHS had checked with a doctor to make sure the children didn’t have allergies or other medical conditions. The doctor recommended immunizations, and DHS turned to a judge for permission when the parents refused. The Oregon appeals court noted that North Carolina and Georgia courts have also denied parents without custody of their kids a say in immunizations. Conversely, Arizona ruled in favor of a mother who didn’t want her child vaccinated.

Oregon continues to represent ground zero in the childhood vaccine debate with the state Senate voting in May on a bill that would require parents to be educated about vaccines before they can exempt their children from them. The number of unvaccinated kindergarteners increased to 6.4% this year and officials fear a public safety disaster similar to the recent measles outbreak in Wales.

The bill stipulates that parents enrolling unvaccinated children in school would have to prove they consulted a physician for information, or show a certificate verifying they watched an online educational video about the risks and benefits of immunization. In 2011, Washington passed similar legislation. Although Oregon has debated both sides of this bill, it was passed by the Oregon Senate on Thursday, June 6th and is now in the Oregon House.

“The more people you have that are unvaccinated, the more likely you are to have those diseases spread,” Dr. Jay Rosenbloom, a spokesman for Oregonians for Healthy Children stated. “The percentage of Oregon parents signing personal-beliefs vaccine exemptions has been rising steadily since 2001, but declining a vaccination doesn’t just affect the individual.”

The vaccine debate will continue, both with parents of young children and in other areas. Vaccine Watch urges those concerned about vaccines to speak with a doctor about the risks and benefits before making a decision.

New Study: Autism and Vaccines Not Linked

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new study in March that proves there is no connection between the number of vaccines a child received and his or her risk of autism spectrum disorder. The study also showed that even though more vaccines are administered, today’s vaccines contain fewer substances that provoke an immune response.

Frank DeStefano is the director of the Immunization Safety Office of the CDC and led the study. The CDC researchers compared the vaccine histories of 250 children who had autism spectrum disorder with those of 750 typical kids, looking at antigens. Antigens are substances in vaccines (also naturally found in bacteria or viruses) that cause the body to produce antibodies, proteins that help fight off infections.

DeStefano noted that the antigens from vaccines received during the first two years of life weren’t related to the development of autism spectrum disorder. It was also proved that there are fewer antigens in today’s vaccines. In the late-1990s there were several thousand antigens in vaccines, but today’s vaccine schedule only contains 315, because vaccines have become much more precise.

“The sad part is, by focusing on whether vaccines cause autism spectrum disorders, they’re missing the opportunity to look at what the real causes [of autism] are. It’s not vaccines,” states Ellen Wright Clayton, a pediatrics professor at Vanderbilt University who works with the Institute of Medicine.

Geraldine Dawson, the top scientist for Autism Speaks, an advocacy and research group, noted that the study results should clear the way for research on other potential causes of autism. Other causes of autism may include: nutrition (which can affect a baby’s brain development in the womb), medications and infections during pregnancy, or an infant’s exposure to pesticides or pollution.

Dawson concludes: “As we hone in on what is causing autism, I think we are going to have fewer and fewer questions about some of these things that don’t appear to be causing autism.”

Vaccine Watch encourages parents to carefully review the CDC study and consult with their child’s pediatrician to make informed choices.

Review of Vaccines and Autism

In February, the Liberty Beacon posted about a scientific review on the theoretical causes of abortion. Citing the 2011 article in the Journal of Immunotoxicology entitled “Theoretical aspects of autism: Causes—A review” written by Helen Ratajczak, the post claims that vaccines and autism are related.

Ratajczak is a retired senior scientist from a pharmaceutical firm who reviewed the body of published science since autism was first described in 1943. She states that autism is the result of genetic defects and/or inflammation of the brain, and discusses vaccine-related culprits. One culprit, she claims, is that the immune system is tricked into associating harmful viruses with human DNA.

“Because it’s human DNA and recipients are humans, there’s homologous recombinaltion tiniker. That DNA is incorporated into the host DNA. Now it’s changed, altered self and body kills it. Where is this most expressed? The neurons of the brain. Now you have body killing the brain cells and it’s an ongoing inflammation. It doesn’t stop, it continues through the life of that individual,” Ratajczak states.

The article in the Journal of Immunotoxicology continues that 92% of children have been given vaccines made using aborted fetal cell lines. According to Liberty Beacon, the polio, measles, mumps and rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis A and rabies vaccines all contain aborted fetal tissue.

Dr. Jay L. Wile counters this argument: “…it is impossible for vaccines (or any other injected medicine) to contain human tissue. The reason is simple: if you are injected with anything containing tissue from another person, your body will immediately recognize it as an invader and begin attacking it. The immune response is often quite radical and can easily lead to death! That is why blood from a donor to a recipient must be carefully matched before the recipient can receive it. Thus, there is no human tissue of any kind in vaccines.”

Dr. Wile continues to point out that the vaccines listed above are grown in human cells and the anti-vaccine movement has latched onto that and created a lie. The cells used to grow the vaccines have been used for 35 years, as they are continually reproducing and creating more cells.

“This (the article in the Journal of Immunotoxicology) is a review of theories. Science is based on facts. To draw conclusions on effects of an exposure on people, you need data on people. The data on people do not support that there is a relationship. As such, any speculation about an explanation for a (non-existing) relationship is irrelevant,” states Dr. Brian Strom of the University of Pennsylvania.

Anti-Vaccination Messages Targeted To Children

Stephanie Messenger is an Australian anti-vaccine activist and self-published author.  She recently published a children’s book, the title is Melanie’s Marvelous Measles.

According to Messenger’s website, she wrote the book to:  “Educate children on the benefits of having measles and how you can heal from them naturally and successfully. Often today, we are being bombarded with messages from vested interests to fear all diseases in order for someone to sell some potion or vaccine, when, in fact, history shows that in industrialized countries, these diseases are quite benign and, according to natural health sources, beneficial to the body.”

Unfortunately, the message that Messenger missed was that measles is responsible for thousands of tragic deaths each year.  These deaths could be prevented through vaccination.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2011 there were 158,000 deaths from measles, or 18 deaths per hour. 

WHO also states that measles vaccination resulted in a 71% drop in measles deaths worldwide between 2000 and 2011.  However, 158,000 deaths a year for a disease we have a vaccination for is unacceptable.  Measles is a highly contagious virus and most of those who died were children under the age of five.  There is nothing marvelous about measles.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the game company Tiltfactor has been using games to educate people about vaccinations.  Previously, Tiltfactor had developed a game called Pox to address misinformation about vaccines and recently introduced zombie-themed games. 

In addition to Pox, Tiltfactor now has a zombie invasion board game, an iPad app and a card game.  In each of the games, players figure out which people need to be vaccinated to slow the spread of the zombies.  To date the board game and card game have been the most popular, and the most effective at raising awareness about vaccinations.

Children's books and games have the potential to educate parents and kids about the value of vaccination. These opportunities should be capitalized on to answer questions and relieve unnecessary fears. Anti-vaccination messages delivered in children's books are a whole new face of the Anti-Vaccine movement that should not go unanswered. 

Meningitis Vaccine and Paralysis

In early January, the website VacTruth published a blog post by Christina England about how meningitis vaccination in a small town in Chad (northern Africa) paralyzed 40 children.  The blog quoted an anonymous relative of one child and spoke of parents being paid off not to talk about the paralysis.  The only other source was LaVoix, a weekly print-only paper in Chad.

The meningitis vaccine that VacTruth claims has caused the paralysis is called MenAfriVac and is manufactured by Serum Institute of India Limited.  This vaccine is unique because it can travel outside of the cold chain.  VacTruth claims that 40 out of 500 children vaccinated with MenAfriVac in the town of Gouro were paralyzed.  That is 8% of all vaccinated. 

According to the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), in December 2012, MenAfriVac was administered to its 100 millionth person in the “meningitis belt” of Africa, which includes Chad.  The vaccine has been on the market for two years after being introduced in Burkina Faso, and has been administered to millions of others outside of Africa.  Further research by Vaccine Watch can find no other cases of paralysis from MenAfriVac.

The International Federation of the Red Cross and other agencies have been working to control a severe meningitis outbreak in Chad since 2011.  The symptoms stated in the VacTruth article are consistent with a meningitis outbreak, and not a reaction to the vaccine.

All meningitis vaccines, including MenAfriVac need to be administered individually, as they can have adverse reactions when mixed with other vaccinations.  Because of the meningitis outbreak in Chad and other variables that could have affected the administration of MenAfriVac, Vaccine Watch believes it is premature to jump to conclusions that the injuries these children have are because of MenAfriVac.

The Meningitis Vaccine Project currently has a team in Chad investigating the claims first published by La Voix.  Vaccine Watch will continue to watch for developments on this story and seek the truth from reliable sources.  Readers should be wary of sites like VacTruth that distribute misinformation without reliable sources.

Natural News and the Misuse of Vaccine Statistics

The website Natural News continues their anti-vaccination campaign with several articles in the last few weeks encouraging readers not to have their children vaccinated.  Natural News contends that children risk death by being vaccinated.  The first of these most recent articles is about a new study that declares infants receiving the most vaccines are the most likely to be hospitalized and die. The author of the article, Neil Z. Miller, was also one of the two authors of the study.  The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Human and Experimental Toxicology and was co-authored by NZ. Miller who is associated with the anti-vaccination group the Think Twice Global Vaccine Institute.

Natural News notes that 38,000 reports of infant hospitalizations and deaths following vaccinations were analyzed.   Miller and Dr. Gary Goldman found that infants who received more vaccines simultaneously (i.e. 8 instead of 4 in one pediatric visit) were statistically more likely to be hospitalized or die. 

The 38,000 cases quoted in the article were collected from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is run by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to the VAERS website, more than 10 million vaccines are given every year to children less than one year of age.

Natural News says:  “Several factors could contribute to whether an infant will have an adverse reaction to vaccines, including a genetic predisposition, illness (which may be a contraindication to vaccine administration), quality of vaccines (which can vary by manufacturing methods), and sensitivity to one or more vaccine components. Some infants might be more likely to experience an adverse reaction due to biochemical or synergistic toxicity associated with concurrent administration of multiple vaccines.”

But there are reasonable explanations for the study findings that Natural News conveniently omits. Even of the original research list, there are a number of limitations that may account for the results. The VAERS states:  “At this age, infants are at greatest risk for certain medical adverse events, including high fevers, seizures, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Some infants will experience these medical events shortly after a vaccination by coincidence.  These coincidences make it difficult to know whether a particular adverse event resulted from a medical condition or from a vaccination. Therefore, vaccine providers are encouraged to report all adverse events following vaccination, whether or not they believe the vaccination was the cause.”  While 38,000 adverse reactions represents a lot of children and this number needs to be reduced, it is less than ½% of infants vaccinated.

In a second article published on Natural News, staff writer Ethan Huff writes that vaccines are responsible for causing far more injuries and deaths than gun accidents.  The only two sources listed for this article were the Natural News website and the website of Robert Scott Bell, a radio host and natural health advocate.  The statistics used in this article also came from VAERS, but Natural News contends that this only accounts for a small fraction of the injuries and deaths caused by vaccinations.  The article provides no evidence for this statement, but continues, “…it is clear that vaccines are a much more serious threat to public health than guns.”

Natural News states that 13% of the 30,000 vaccine cases reported annually lead to injury or death and writes that vaccines kill four times as many children every year than firearm accidents.  Natural News concludes by encouraging readers to teach children to build their immunity through regular sunlight exposure, clean water, superfood supplements and various other natural interventions.

Twisting statistics to draw false conclusions is a common tactic of anti-vaccine groups. The National Network for Immunization Information (NNii) points out that without vaccines, the diseases we’re currently protected from will return, because many are just a plane ride away in a developing nation.  NNii also points out that children who aren’t vaccinated for measles are 35 times more likely than immunized children to catch the disease. Parents should be weary of secondhand statistics and speak with their child’s pediatrician to make informed vaccine decisions. 

Politics, Autism and Vaccines

Politicians are frequently holding hearings and looking for more information on problems that arise in society.  Unfortunately, not all politicians have the best interest of their constituents at the top of their agendas.

Politics and vaccines made headlines earlier this month when the Committee on Oversight and Reform had a hearing about the Federal response to rising rates of autism.  Congressman Dan Burton from Indiana was at the hearing and spoke about his personal views on mercury in vaccines causing autism.  The problem with his statements was that thousands of scientists have proved Burton incorrect over the past decade.

Congressman Burton cannot be discredited for his interest in autism.  In the late 1990s, his grandson was diagnosed with autism, and his interest in finding the cause of autism is genuine.

However, using his position as an elected official to perpetuate untruths and scare people into not vaccinating their children is unacceptable.  Steven Salzberg is a professor at the John Hopkins School of Medicine and wrote:  “Burton is a firm believer in the myth that vaccines cause autism, and he arrogantly holds the position that he knows the truth better than the thousands of scientists who have spent much of the past decade doing real science that proves him wrong.”

The committee did call scientists Alan Guttmacher from the National Institute of Health and Colleen Boyle from the Centers for Disease Control to testify at the hearing.  But the committee didn’t really want to hear what Guttmacher or Boyle had to say.  Instead, they lectured the scientists and offered rapid-fire questions that were often bad science claims in statement form.  When the scientist tried to answer, committee members cut them off.

Is this really how our elected officials serve the best interests of their constituents?

At one point during the hearing, Burton stated:  “I’m convinced that the mercury in vaccinations is a contributing factor to neurological diseases such as autism.”  Burton is wrong.  Dozens of studies involving hundreds of thousands of children have proved there is no link between mercury and autism, or between vaccines and autism.   Studies have actually proven that autism rates are slightly higher in unvaccinated children.

Burton and other committee members continued to make false statements that have been proven wrong by sound science for the duration of the hearing.  Vaccine Watch is stunned that these elected officials have all of the facts, continue to ignore them, and perpetuate lies and fear in the public record. 

As citizens, we have a responsibility to demand the truth.   We want Congress to conduct oversight in medical research and help us find answers.  Congressmen who abuse that power have no place in the system. 

Vaccines save lives.  Recent outbreaks of the whooping cough, measles, chicken pox, mumps, and haemophilus in the United States and Europe could have been prevented if people like Dan Burton weren’t scaring parents with lies and convincing them not to get their children vaccinated.  Vaccine Watch encourages everyone to do their own research using sound scientific resources.