LiveWell Chiropractic

The question of whether to vaccinate is a thorny one. Many people have very passionate opinions either against or in favor of vaccinations. It is easy to get caught up in either side, or to become confused somewhere in the middle, because it is not a black and white issue.

Fact: vaccines have prevented a multitude of illnesses in countless people. Fact: vaccines are essentially poison to the body.

Vaccines work by introducing a weakened disease-causing organism, usually through an injection. The immunogen isn't strong enough to cause the disease, but it is enough to trick the body into developing antibodies, which are supposed to fight off the illness. The body then "thinks" that it's had the disease.

In addition to intentionally exposing the body to disease, vaccines also contain numerous harmful substances such as mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde, as well as other preservatives, additives, and manufacturing residuals.

So it is a question of which presents a higher risk: the possibility of contracting a disease, or the potential for a vaccine’s toxic ingredients to compromise your health.

The best approach is always to make an informed decision based on what is right or you and your family. There are many elements to consider, including socioeconomic and lifestyle factors like nutrition and hygiene.1,2 It seems that universal immunization of the population is unnecessary and irresponsible, but selective vaccination might have benefits.

The reasons one might choose to vaccinate are obvious: disease prevention. However, the negative effects of this choice are not as well-known. Today we’ll consider some information that will hopefully shed some light on the sensitive subject.

Vaccine Failures

In the scientific literature, evidence exists documenting vaccine failures. Vaccine failures have two major causes. The primary cause is a failure to develop immunity to the vaccine, and the secondary cause is due to a loss of immunity after initial waning immunity. It is difficult to distinguish the two, but despite a high rate of vaccine coverage in the population, sustained outbreaks have been observed with measles, mumps, pertussis, and haemophilus influenza that bring about the question of the efficacy of vaccines. 3-6

Adverse Reactions

Adverse reactions have been documented, including seizures, rash, edema, meningitis, pyrexia, fatigue, nervous and musculoskeletal symptoms.7 Even more alarming, however, is the finding in the past few years of vaccine-induced autoimmune disorders. The pathogenesis of vaccine-induced autoimmunity may be similar to the mechanisms that have been proposed to explain the viral autoimmunity association.8

Some examples of autoimmune disorders attributed to vaccines are:

· immune thrombocytopenic purpura and diabetes mellitus (from MMR vaccine)9,10
· Guillain-Barre syndrome, reactive arthritis, and vasculitis (from influenza vaccine)11
· multiple sclerosis (from swine flu vaccine)12
· myasthenia gravis, Reiter's syndrome, and systemic lupus (from hepatitis B vaccine)13-14

Antigenic Variability

Viruses are known to evolve in response to immunologic pressure.15 The resurgence of certain diseases in the United States and globally may be due to antigenic changes in wild-type microbes. Vaccine pressure may have driven virus evolution a step forward and at a faster rate. Viruses are quite adept at evading or subverting stress thrown at them.16 With respect to long-term effects, it is suggested that future variants may accumulate enough mutations that vaccine-induced immunity may no longer prevent so-called vaccine-preventable diseases.

It’s Your Call

Only you can make the best decision for your family. It is constructive to question conventional practice and consider all the factors before choosing the approach that will best protect your family’s health.

There are many ways to enhance the body’s natural defenses against disease through a holistic approach (chiropractic adjustments, nutrition, hygiene, etc.). It’s important to know your options.

Dr. French will be offering an informative class on vaccines tomorrow night from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Comfort Inn & Suites Quail Springs (13501 North Highland Park Blvd, OKC, OK 73120). Everyone in attendance will receive the book Vaccination is not Immunization (with over 250 references) by Tim O'Shea. Come educate yourself!

References

1. Centers for Disease Control. Measles - Los Angeles county, California, 1988. MMWR 1989A;38:49-53

2. Wood D, Donald-Sherbourne C, Halfon N, Tucker MB, Ortiz V, Hamlin JS, Duan N, et al. Factors related to immunization status among inner city Latino and African-American preschoolers. Ped 1995;96:295-301

3. Hirose M, Hidaka Y, Miyazaki C, Ueda K, Yoshikawa H. Five cases of measles secondary vaccine failure with confirmed seroconversion after live measles vaccination. Scan J Infect Dis 1997;29(2):187-190

4. Briss PA, Fehrs LJ, Parker RA, Wright PF, Sannella EC, Hutcheson RH, Schaffner W. Sustained transmission of mumps in a highly vaccinated population: assessment of primary vaccine failure and waning vaccine-induced immunity. J Infect Dis 1994;169(1):77-82

5. Kenyon TA, Izurieta H, Shulman ST, Rosenfeld E, Miller M, Daum R, Strebel PM. Large outbreak of pertussis among young children in Chicago, 1993: investigation of potential contributing factors and estimation of vaccine effectiveness. Pediatr Infect Dis J 1996;15(8):655-661

6. Booy R, Heath PT, Slack MP, Begg N, Moxon ER. Vaccine failure after primary immunization with haemophilus influenza type B conjugate vaccine without booster. Lancet 1997;349(9060):1197-1202

7. Davis RL, Marcuse E, Black S, Shinefield H, Givens B, Schwalbe J, Ray P, Thompson RS, Chen R. MMR2 immunization at 4 to 5 years and 10 to 12 years of age: a comparison of adverse clinical events after immunization in the Vaccine Safety Datalink Project. The Vaccine Safety Datalink Team. Pediatrics 1997; 100(5):767-771

8. Seery JP. The link between viral infection and autoimmunity. Rev Infect Dis 1990;12:1202-1203

9. Niemimem MT, Peltola H, Syrjala MT, Majipernaa A, Kekomaki R. Acute thrombocytopenic purpura following measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. A report on 23 patients. Acta Pediatr 1993;82:267-270

10. Peltola H, Heinonen OP, Valle M, Paunio M, Virtanen M, Karanko V, Canteli K. The elimination of indigenous measles, mumps and rubella from Finland by a 12 year, two-dose vaccination program. New Eng J Med 1994;331:1397-1402

11. Blumberg S, Bienfang D, Kantrowitz FG. A possible association between influenza vaccination and small vessel vasculitis. Arch Intern Med 1980;80:847-848. 14. Kurland LT, Molgaard CA, Kurland EM, Wiederholt WC, Kirkpatrick JW. JAMA 1984;251:2672-2675

12. Biron P, Montpetit P, Infante?Rivard C, Lery L. Myasthenia gravis after general anesthesia and hepatitis B. Vaccine 1988;148:2685

13. Hassan W, Oldham R. Reiter's syndrome and reactive arthritis in health care workers after vaccination. BMJ 1994;309:94

14. Tudela P, Marti S, Bonal J. Systemic lupus erythematosus and vaccination against hepatitis B. Nephron 1992;62:236-237
vaccine. Lancet 1991;338:1174-1175

15. Rota PA, Bloom AE, Vanchiere JA, Bellini WJ. Evolution of the nucleoprotein and the matrix genes of wild-type strains of measles virus isolated from recent epidemics. Virology 1994;198:724-730

16. McFadden G. Even viruses can learn to cope with stress. Science 1998;279:40-41