Vaccination-An Updated Analysis of the Health Risks Pt1-Townsend

Vaccination: An Updated Analysis of the Health Risks -Part 1 by Gary Null, PhD, and Martin Feldman, MD A major controversy is brewing in the United States as people question whether the vaccines we give to children are safe and effective. In this three-part series, we explore the vaccine controversy to help separate the myths from the facts. We have conducted an extensive review of the scientific literature to examine the safety and efficacy of vaccines and the health effects of these often-mandated medical procedures. Does the process of vaccination represent good science? What is the proof that the numerous vaccines given to infants are safe? Do the manufacturers and physicians who provide them support conjecture or sound scientific practice? Our society rarely looks at the safety and efficacy of the products of medical manufacturers that have enormous power to influence the decisions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).t·8 Although the public rarely hears of the tragedies and side effects associated with vaccines, we do hear that vaccines promise to prevent a new condition (such as cervical cancer and genital warts9) . 84 The reality is that we are inundating the developing baby’s body with a growing list of vaccines,10 often overwhelming the immune system with resultant negative effects. A full picture of the effects of immunization has not emerged due to a deep-seated under-reporting of the adverse events associated with vaccinations.11’13 Our Acceptance of Vaccines Public health officials have long put forth the basic assumptions that vaccinations are safe and effective.14•16 The public and our legislators have, by and large, accepted these assumptions as true. We think of vaccinations as panaceas and look to science to develop new ones for many illnesses. Vaccines are now in the Research and Development (R&D) pipeline for diseases such as chlamydia, herpes simplex type 2, hepatitis C, West Nile virus, Epstein-Barr virus, and othersY The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that intensive efforts also are underway to develop effective vaccines for malaria, tuberculosis, dengue, and other diseases.18 Jamie Murphy, author of What Every Parent Should Know About Childhood Immunization, attributes society’s acceptance of vaccinations largely to state laws that dictate children must receive vaccines to attend school.19 Each state determines which vaccines it will mandate for daycare and school entry, and state officials often rely on the recommendations of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and other advisers in the process of mandating specific vaccines.20 The Growing Roster of Childhood Vaccines The CDC’s 2007 recommended immunization schedule includes more than two dozen doses of vaccines, targeting 14 diseases for children under the age of two. These diseases are diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal, polio, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, influenza, hepatitis A, and rotavirus. The CDC recommended the latter two -hepatitis A and rotavirus -for routine vaccination of children in 2005 and 2006, again expanding the vaccination protocol for young children. 21 TOWNSEND LETTER -OCTOBER 2007 By contrast, vaccines for seven diseases were included in the CDC’s first childhood immunization schedule in 1983. The vaccines (for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella) were recommended for children up to 18 months of age. In addition to the vaccines received in the first two years of life, children aged four to six receive vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chickenpox). This second dose of chickenpox vaccine is new, recommended by the ACIP for all children in 2006. Recently Approved Vaccines As noted, a new rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq) was recommended by the ACIP for all infants in 2006. In addition, the government has recommended several vaccines for adolescents in the past few years: a diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine; a meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4); and the first human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (Gardasil), which is approved for females nine to 26 years of age. Gardasil is designed to protect against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause approximately 70% of cervical cancers, and types 6 and 11, which cause about 90% of genital warts. 22 For adults, the FDA approved in 2006 the first vaccine to prevent herpes zoster, also called shingles. This vaccine (Zostavax) is approved for people 60 years of age and older. Types of Vaccines Four main types of vaccines are used in the US, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. As described by Kurt Link, MD, in his book The Vaccine Controversy, these types are as follows:23 Live Virus Vaccines These vaccines contain an attenuated strain of the wild virus that causes a disease. Live viruses can trigger a strong and long-TOWNSEND LETTER-OCTOBER 2007 lasting immunity, but they may cause serious infections and even death in people who are immune-compromised and sometimes may cause serious infections in people who are apparently healthy. Live virus vaccines include measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, and oral polio (the live polio vaccine is no longer used in the US).24 As noted by Dr. Link, today’s vaccines not only contain material from animals, such as monkeys, chicks, horses, and cattle, but also toxins and chemicals such as formaldehyde, aluminum salts, and antibiotics. In the future, we hope to have DNA vaccines that are free of impurities. With these purified vaccines, genetic material from a .. . different people will react to the same vaccine in different ways. Each person’s reaction depends on a variety of factors, including his or her genes, history of infections and vaccinations, and general health. Killed Whole Vaccines This type of vaccine cannot cause an infection, because the infectious organism has been killed with heat or substances such as thimerosal or phenol. Multiple initial doses and booster doses are needed to stimulate and maintain immunity. This category includes vaccines for pertussis, polio (the inactivated version), and anthrax.25 Purified Vaccines These vaccines contain relatively pure chemical components of an infectious microbe and cannot cause an infection. The hepatitis B vaccine, in particular, is manufactured with a recombinant technology in which the hepatitis surface antigens are produced in yeast cells. Like killed whole vaccines, purified vaccines may require multiple doses and boosters to sustain immunity. In addition to hepatitis B, purified vaccines include pneumococcal pneumonia and haemophilus influenza. 26 Toxoids In this case, a toxoid causes the body to produce antibodies against toxins secreted by a type of bacteria, not against the organism itself. Diphtheria and tetanus are examples of toxoid vaccinesY microbe will be inserted directly into a person’s cells, prompting them to produce the vaccine and mobilizing a long-lasting immune response. (Theoretically, there is a downside: if vaccine DNA is integrated into a person’s genetic makeup, the adverse effects could include cancer and autoimmune diseases-)28 Challenging Our Assumptions As the list of vaccines used in the US grows, we must take a close look at our assumptions and ask: are we seeing the full picture? The reasons we should challenge our beliefs about vaccination include the following: Vaccine Safety Issues Significant adverse effects have been reported with every type of vaccine.29•30 These reactions may occur soon after vaccination or several months to years later.31 Delayed reactions are more insidious and less obviously linked to vaccination and thus necessitate large-scale epidemiological studies to be proven. The recent history of immunization demonstrates the perils associated with vaccines. In 1999, a vaccine for infants was ,.. 85