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Vaccinations…
To Be or Not To Be?

There is controversy brewing. So what else is new, might you ask? The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), is calling for a moratorium on all government mandated vaccines and has passed a resolution to that end at their 57th Annual Meeting in St. Louis recently. (A copy of their resolution is provided at the end of this article).

Jane M. Orient, MD, AAPS Executive Director said, “Our children face the possibility of death or serious long-term adverse effects from mandated vaccines that aren’t necessary or that have very limited benefits”. This vote, says Dr. Orient, “is not a vote against vaccines”. “This resolution only attempts to halt blanket vaccine mandates by government agencies and school districts that give no consideration for the rights of the parents or the individual medical condition of the child”.

Back in the early 1900’s, most people were unvaccinated. They did not suffer from infectious diseases with any greater frequency than those who were vaccinated. I think we would all agree that medicine has changed over time and is always changing. What appears to be the right thing to do and prudent at the time, often is repudiated decades later.

Remember when doctors wanted every child’s tonsils out? Mothers wonder why doctors now insist that they should stay in. Where doctors once prescribed antibiotics for every sore throat, prescription-dependent patients and physicians alike are now being blamed for new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria because of overuse. More prescribed drugs are being withdrawn from the marketplace today even though the FDA has approved their usage yesterday. Change continues to evolve.

With diphtheria and whooping cough causing life threatening events in the 1900’s, it was understandable and readily accepted that vaccinations were a critical part of improving public health standards. Today, far more children suffer from chronic immune system disorders, allergies, asthma and others than from infectious disease. So why does our nation insist that the benefit of vaccinations outweigh its risk?

“The problem with immunization in this country is that there are too many given too soon”, says Ifeoma Ikenze, MD, pediatrician and homeopath at the Elizabeth Center in San Anselmo, CA. Many children are required to have 22 shots before first grade and this number is likely to increase as more vaccines are developed and mandated. Could this doctor be on to something?

Each year, the federal government receives 12,000 to 14,000 reports of adverse reactions to vaccines with 20% classified as serious, meaning life threatening, causing disability, hospitalization or death. This is also considered a very conservative report. All of this data is centralized in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) operated jointly by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and the FDA. By 1997, more than $802 million had been paid out for injuries and deaths caused by mandated vaccines.
Data continues to mount documenting the risks and dangers of vaccines. The MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is linked by some researchers to incidences of brain inflammation (encephalitis) autism, and higher rates of diabetes.

Many folks may remember the fear of polio in the 1950’s when it ran rampant throughout the states. Dr. Jonas Salk’s vaccine and the scourge of polio began to diminish and subsequently from every corner of the earth. This was to be considered one of the greatest public health triumphs in history and largely because immunization against the polio virus was required everywhere in the United States.
We must ask ourselves why there are so many other vaccines administered today when there is little or no threat of the disease or as Philip Incao, MD of the Cilpin Street Holistic Center in Denver says, “The question is not whether vaccines prevent illness. They do. The real question is whether preventing illness confers health”.

Live vaccines are made by passing the virus or bacterium through animal or human tissue many times to weaken it. The polio virus is passed through monkey kidneys, the measles virus through chick embryos and the rubella virus through human fetal tissue.

Whether the vaccine contains live or dead organisms, it is injected into the bloodstream. This foreign vaccine never enters the digestive system, where it could be broken down. Instead, it forms large immune complexes, which have been linked to allergies and autoimmune diseases that are some of the major concerns holistic doctors express.

With all this information being circulated throughout, it has become a heated and controversial topic of discussion. There are credible professionals on both sides adamantly espousing their positions. We know that we have seen a disappearance of disease in this country because of vaccines. But on the other hand, there is more growing concern about the serious nature of some of their adverse reactions and long-term effects they may have on the immune system.

The bottom line is that parents need to be informed. Seek clarification and understanding of this topic. The decision rests with parents in becoming educated about the issue and learning about the available options.
Some considerations:

Delay vaccinations
Get one shot at a time
Be selective
Don’t vaccinate

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), a nonprofit education organization that was founded in 1982 by parents whose children were injured or died following vaccine reactions, advises parents to ask the following questions when making vaccination decisions:

Has my child had a bad reaction to a vaccination before?
Does my child have a personal or family history of vaccine reactions, convulsions or neurological disorders, sever allergies or immune system disorders?
Do I know if my child is at high risk of reacting?
Do I have full information on the vaccine’s side effects?
Do I know how to identify a vaccine reaction

Some Useful Web Sites
Gary Null’s Natural Living: www.garynull.com
House committee on Government Reform: www.house.gov/reform/
National Immunization Program: www.cdc.gov/nip
National Center for Homeopathy: www.homeopathic.org
Citizens for Healthcare Freedom: www.unc.edu/~aphillip/www/chf/index.htm
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System: www.vaers.org
www.mercola.com
http://www.909shot.com
http://www.vaccines.net/
http://www.access1.net/via/
http://home.sprynet.com/~gyrene/index.htm

AAPS RESOLUTION CONCERNING MANDATORY VACCINES
"Ethical Medicine"
AAPS Annual Meeting
October 25 - 28, 2000
St. Louis, MO

WHEREAS: The statement of Patients' Freedoms adopted by the Assembly at the 47th annual meeting of AAPS in 1990 provides that "Patients have the freedom ... to refuse medical treatment even if it is recommended by their physician and to be informed about their medical condition, the risks and benefits of treatment, and appropriate alternatives"; and
WHEREAS: There are increasing numbers of mandatory childhood vaccines, to which children are often subjected without meaningful informed consent, including information about potential adverse side effects; and
WHEREAS: Parents who exercise their freedom to refuse one or more vaccines may be subjected to penalties ranging from deprivation of the right to enroll their child in school, to threats of removing the child from parental custody and forcible vaccination; and
WHEREAS: Safety testing of many vaccines is limited and the data are unavailable for independent scrutiny, so that mass vaccination is equivalent to human experimentation and subject to the Nuremberg Code, which requires voluntary informed consent; and
WHEREAS: The process of approving and "recommending" vaccines is tainted with conflicts of interest;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED: That AAPS calls for a moratorium on vaccine mandates and for physicians to insist upon truly informed consent for the use of vaccines.

Working together will make healthcare freedom and choice a reality of generations to come.

References:
Journal of the American Medical Association (1994) 271: 1602-1605
CDC
Chicago Tribune, April 25, 2000
The Vaccine Guide: Making an Informed Choice (North Atlantic Books, 1996)

Health Disclaimer: The information provided on this site should not be considered as personal medical advice. Readers should research and consult with appropriate healthcare practitioners on matters related to their personal health and well-being. The information and opinions on this site are believed to be accurate and scientifically sound, based upon the best judgment available to the author. References are noted where appropriate. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions.

Last Updated: January, 2010