DTaP and SIDS

It wasn’t MMR that made me decide not to vaccinate, although I think doctors wish that was the case. If I said MMR and autism were the reasons I decided not to vaccinate, then they could pat me on the head and point to lots of studies from the vaccine manufacturers that say that MMR does not cause autism. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are plenty of risks with MMR, but it was DTaP that scared me silly, specifically the aP and specifically SIDS. They can still do all of the head patting with DTaP, but concern over the pertussis vaccine is kind of 1980’s and out of style. If you’re concerned about DTaP, you do more than just read the newspapers.

Dr. William Torch of the University of Reno found that of 103 children who died of SIDS, two-thirds had been vaccinated with DTP three weeks before death. (Mendelsohn 250). The most comprehensive study of the whole-cell pertussis vaccine was conducted at UCLA in 1978-1979, which compared the reactions seen in the 48 hours after vaccination in a group of children receiving the DT vaccine and those receiving the DTP vaccine. The study showed that 50 percent of DTP vaccinees developed fever, 34 percent showed irritability, 35 percent had crying episodes, 40 percent had localized inflammation, 3 percent had prolonged, inconsolable periods of crying and screaming, and 31 percent developed excessive sleepiness (compared with 14% in the DT group) (Neustaedter 127). That was just in the first 48 hours- not enough time to see if brain damage would result from the reactions. The Pollock and Morris study of 1983 tracked a very large number of children (134,000 DT recipients and 133,000 DT recipients) and noted that the chances of seizure were 5.3 times greater for DTP recipients than for DT recipients. (Neustaedter 127). Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn quoted the Journal of the American Medical Association on the pertussis vaccine in his book How to Raise a Healthy Child... In Spite of Your Doctor:

“To health professionals, of course, the dangers of DPT are nothing new. The D and T components, which were given long before the P was added in the late 1940’s, are partially purified toxoids considered to carry little risk. The whole-cell P component, consisting of 4 units of protective pertussis antigen per 0.5 ml of DPT is universally acknowledged to be relatively crude and toxic, and the advent of a safer version is eagerly awaited.

How comforting.

But now we have the acellular pertussis vaccine, health professionals say. It’s all upside now!

In fact, a 1998 study based on reports to VAERS showed that there was little change in the number of reports of deaths associated with pertussis vaccination as the DTaP and DTPH shots were introduced. (85 deaths reported in 1995, 82 in 1996, 77 in 1997 and 41 in the first half of 1998. If there about as many deaths in the second half of 1998 as there were in the first half, it would equal the number of deaths in 1996 when DTP was still commonly used. But the report conveniently doesn’t cover the second half of 1998. And reports to VAERS represent only a fraction of actual vaccine damages because of under reporting.) (Neustaedter 12)

And all of those reassuring reports about there being no connection whatsoever between SIDS and DTP have problems of their own. For example, the Griffin and Cherry studies are two large studies which are said to be proof that there is no connection between Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and the diptheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine. Dr. Marie Griffin reportedly received her funding from Burroughs Wellcome, one of the largest manufacturers of pertussis vaccine in the world. And Dr. James Cherry was a paid consultant for Ledberle Laboratories, America’s largest pertussis vaccine manufacturer. In 1988, Cherry also admitted to receiving $50,000 per year for testifying on the behalf of vaccine manufacturers in vaccine injury lawsuits. He also received $400,000 in grant funds for UCLA (which partly covered his salary and expenses) and his department at UCLA received $450,000 in “gifts” from Ledberle Laboratories (Neustaedter 21).

SIDS still remains relatively rare. But when it happens to your baby, it doesn’t matter how many other babies it doesn’t happen to. As for me, I kind of like the feeling of knowing that my baby will wake up from his naps.

Well What Would You Do If... Part IV

Well I'm back again. Had some family stuff that took up all my attention. But it's October now and this post is more relevant than ever. This concludes my "Well What Would You Do If.." series.


Cancer and AIDS- Maybe the medical world knows something I don’t, but I have been under  the impression that cancer and AIDS are not acute diseases and behave nothing like smallpox virus or measles. I was always told that AIDS is a terminal diagnosis and that cancer (even after being “cured”) can come back. I have never heard of anyone getting better from cancer or AIDS and thereby gaining immunity from the disease. There is absolutely no proof that immunization will prevent cancer or AIDS. So why are we attempting to create vaccines for these diseases? Well, it lines pockets and the public loves the idea of a “magic pill” that prevents them from having to take responsibility for their health via healthy eating and chastity.

But this is an issue that reaches beyond responsibility, vaccine advocates say. Around 5% of the total population of Sub-Saharan Africa has HIV/AIDS. (1) It’s epidemic there and these people don’t have a choice. Furthermore, all it takes is one sexual encounter to contract HPV or HIV. Everyone is at risk. And around 12% of women will develop invasive breast cancer during their lives. (2) Another epidemic! It’s October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) So wear pink! Buy pink ribbon yogurt, energy drinks, cookies, soda pop, processed cereal, processed soup, and Rice Krispy Treats! (Incidentally, the National Cancer Institute estimates that there will be more new cases of prostate cancer than breast cancer in 2011, though breast cancer will have a slightly higher death rate. (3,4) Where are all the yogurts, energy drinks, cookies, soda pop, processed cereal, processed soup and Rice Krispy Treats for prostate cancer?)

So, yes, I could develop breast cancer. Or I could end up as the victim of a rape and contract HIV or HPV. It is possible. But if I ever did, I doubt that having a shot of a killed HIV or HPV virus or killed cancer cells would protect me since cancer and HIV do not behave like measles or smallpox.

And if I did contract cancer or AIDS, you would not find me in the hospital. I would go to the Gerson Institute in Mexico or the Creative Health Institute in Michigan. I know that is absolute heresy but that is what I would do. Radiation kills not only cancer cells, but everything else in the body. And I can hear the naysayers right now: “Well, my cousin/ aunt/ sister-in-law/ stepmother’s best friend’s cousin’s daughter tried those alternative therapies and she died! The doctors told her they could beat the cancer with chemo, but she flew to Switzerland/ Mexico/ Hungary and she was dead 6 weeks later and she left behind a husband and 2/ 3/ 4 children!”

Fair enough. Not everyone makes it out of alternative treatments alive. But how about mainstream treatments? Not everyone makes it out of those alive either. And the doctor’s word is not a guarantee. It is possible to get a good prognosis and still die. Furthermore, much is made over “early detection” for cancer, even though this early detection can lead to unnecessary treatment and by that token, unnecessary deaths. (5) However, a number of people have recovered from cancer using “alternative” therapies. Robyn Openshaw has shared some really great examples of these success stories on her blog. (6) I love reading this post because it reminds me of the people who do make it using unconventional therapies. So, thanks but no thanks, I’ll pass on the breast cancer vaccine. I’m going to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month with the color green.

Sources

(1) http://www.avert.org/africa-hiv-aids-statistics.htm
(2) http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-key-statistics
(3) http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/prostate
(4) http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast
(5)http://discovermagazine.com/2007/sep/the-body-can-stave-off-terminal-cancer-sometimes/article_view?b_start:int=4&-C=
(6) http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/blog/2011/09/09/the-10-day-detox-and-rebuild-program/

Well What Would You Do If... Part III

Tetanus- A friend of mine worked on the now defunct Oakland Temple Pageant and told me that at the beginning of pageant season there was quite the to-do over tetanus shots. It had been recommended that all crew members get one in case someone got cut by something rusty, but some people hadn’t for whatever reasons. So much zealousness was then directed at getting crew members to receive a tetanus shot and of course the mandate of vaccines for missionaries was invoked which was taken to mean that vaccination was virtually a commandment. Little did the crew of the Oakland Temple Pageant know that of all the Church’s pageants, they were the least likely to have any trouble with tetanus because they were the only indoor pageant. Tetanus is caused by a microorganism that lives in the soil and intestinal tracts of animals and enters the body through deep, uncleaned, open wounds. (Neustaedter 255) Thus the classic rusty nail scenario isn’t a matter of rust spreading tetanus, rather it’s a matter of the moist conditions providing a good environment for the bacteria to grow on  the nail and the nail providing an excellent means for a deep puncture wound. This also means that the cast and crew of the Oakland Temple Pageant had very little to fear from scrapes and cuts on rusty, indoor lockers. In fact, my unvaccinated friend received a severe gash from a rusty locker and had no problems with tetanus. However, if I or my child were to step on the hypothetical rusty nail, there are two options other than a tetanus shot I would look at:

• Tetanus Immune Globulin shot- This is a shot of tetanus immune globulin and is used to fight tetanus infection once it has taken hold. According to Neustaedter, it has not been associated with severe reactions like the tetanus toxoid shot has been. (262)
• Homeopathy- I am surprised that Neustaedter states that there are no alternative treatments for tetanus (especially since he is a homeopath). According to the Materia Medica, strychninum purum, physostigma venenosum, and cicuta virosa can treat tetanus and hypericum perforatum can prevent it.

Well What Would You Do If... Part II

Polio- Polio is the “poster child” disease for vaccination. Those who question vaccination will be treated to tales of cousins who were confined to iron lungs and mothers who lived in fear of their children being sent home from school sick. They will hear about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who contracted polio at the age of 39, and not as a child) being confined to a wheelchair. These narratives will be accompanied by speeches about how Jonas Salk was one of the greatest and most courageous scientific minds of the twentieth-century.

We’ve all been lead to believe that polio invariably causes death or paralysis. However, this is not the case. In fact, 95% of people who have been naturally exposed to the polio virus will exhibit no symptoms, even in an epidemic, and of those who do contract the disease, only about 1 in 1,000 will suffer paralysis, leading researchers to believe that some people are simply more susceptible to polio than others (1). Polio was also on the decline before the vaccine was introduced, though there was a sharp spike in polio cases in the 1940’s when DTP vaccination became widespread. From 1923 to 1953 the polio rate in the United States  declined 47%. In England, it declined by 55% between 1923 and 1953. Many European countries did not use the polio vaccine until some time after 1953 and still saw declines in polio rates. Even after the vaccine became available in these countries it remained optional, and still the polio rates declined (2).

Polio is an enterovirus, and though the CDC claims that polio has been eliminated from the Western Hemisphere, they still warn of the possibility of “non-polio enteroviruses”. In fact, the CDC says that these type of viruses are very common, second only to cold viruses as the most common infectious agents in humans. These viruses can cause “summer colds” and aseptic meningitis. Actually, the symptoms of non-polio enteroviruses are identical to the ones caused by the poliovirus: flu-like illness with fever, muscle aches, and rash. They can even cause paralysis. Curiously enough, there is no vaccine for these viruses. And despite the striking similarities between poliovirus and non-polio enteroviruses, the CDC strongest recommendation for stopping the spread of non-polio enteroviruses is handwashing. (3) But if handwashing is the best defense against non-polio enteroviruses and the symptoms they create are so similar why do we have a vaccine for polio and not for other enteroviruses? Why not just use handwashing to combat polio?

Also of concern with the vaccine itself are animal byproducts contained in polio vaccines, which are often contaminated with animal viruses. Animal virus contamination should not be taken lightly. Simian Virus 40 is an example of what animal viruses in vaccines can do. Simian Virus 40 (SV40) was in monkey cell cultures used for growing polio vaccines 1954 to 1963. An estimated 98 million Americans and hundreds of millions worldwide received the contaminated vaccine. A 1990 study found a higher incidence of brain tumors in recipients of the contaminated vaccine. A 1988 study of 58,000 women who had received the vaccine showed a thirteenfold increase in brain tumors among the children of these women. Laboratory testing later confirmed the relationship between SV40 and cancer when lab animals injected with the virus developed cancer. More than 60 studies have found SV40 in brain, bone, and lung cancers and linked the monkey virus to early childhood brain tumors. Researcher Michele Carbone found an unopened case of the 1955 vaccine in a Chicago doctor’s office, compared the strains of SV40 from the vaccine to  the strain in human bone and brain tumors and in monkeys and found they were identical, providing proof that the vaccine was the source of the spread to humans. (4) More detailed information can be found in the book Malignant Mesothelioma: Advances in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Translational Therapies, edited by Harvey I. Pass, Nicholas J. Vogelzang, and Michele Carbone.

Another example of vaccination-spread animal viruses causing health problems is the African green monkey virus in other polio vaccines. In 1995, Dr. John Martin published his findings about an unusual virus he discovered in cultures isolated from two patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. It was a cytomegalovirus-like “stealth” virus, so called because lacking target antigens for recognition by the body’s cellular immune system, it failed to provoke an inflammatory response. Comparisons of the stealth virus and other viruses showed its DNA sequences to be very similar to a simian cytomegalovirus found in African green monkeys. Dr. Martin identified stealth viral infection in the following conditions: chronic fatigue syndrome, autism, fibromyalgia, Gulf War Syndrome, adult depression and dementia, and children’s attention deficit and behavioral disorders. The most likely route of transmission is the polio vaccine since it contains African green monkey tissues (5). Dr. Martin’s first study was published in Clinical and Diagnostic Virology, volume 4, issue 1, in July 1995.

It is a documented fact that paralytic polio cases can and do follow DTP injections. This was first documented in 1909 and subsequently seen in the polio outbreaks of the 1950’s in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (6). This fact has been known for years and is corroborated by the findings in several studies such as HV Wyatt’s 2003 study (8), a 1995 study by Strebel et. al. (9), and the 1949 JK Martin study (10). We’ve all been told that polio ran rampant in the 1950’s because of a lack of vaccines, but in fact the opposite is true. But don’t take my word for it, take the word of Sister Neva Borden in the April 1986 Ensign:

“I first became interested in the DPT vaccine when my daughter contracted polio from her DPT shots. Afterwards, my pediatrician told me that I could have “buffered” her against such a strong reaction by giving her Vitamin C just before she received the shot. Each time I buy her a shoe lift, I think of how this belated advice could have saved my daughter from the deformity she now must live with all her life.”

(Of course Sister Borden’s letter was countered by a dismayed nurse in the June 1986 Ensign who warned that we are all going to suffer death and serious injury if we don’t vaccinate our children and ourselves. Despite her good intentions, it is doubtful that Sister Miller of Ames, Iowa was aware of any of the studies and evidence pointing to the unnecessary nature of the polio vaccine. If you’re out there Sister Miller, and haven’t changed your position since 1986, I would encourage you to read this blog.)

Other cases of polio have been caused by the vaccine itself as the case of Brother Alvin Martinez in the August 1994 New Era shows. Brother Martinez was born healthy but was vaccinated for polio like most other Filipino newborns. The vaccine attacked his nervous system, rendering his right arm and leg immobile. The oral polio vaccine has been implicated numerous times for causing polio, but is still being administered in many third world countries. However, in the United States, OPV is no longer used for this very reason. (7) So it’s not safe to give American children the OPV, but it is safe and even necessary to give third world children the OPV? And we call this humanitarian aid?!

And speaking of polio in third world countries, the global “War on Polio” just isn’t working. The April 23, 2010 edition of the Wall Street Journal describes how Bill Gates is having to rethink his stance on battling polio in Africa with vaccines. Mr. Gates gave $700 million dollars for a mass polio vaccination campaign in Nigeria. Despite the campaign, which included door-to-door vaccinators, polio still persists in Nigeria and in fact, half of the 1,600 cases of polio reported in 2009 happened in vaccinated individuals. (8) Evidence also points to fully vaccinated children transmitting polio during a 1988-1989 outbreak of the disease in Oman. (9)

So you can see why I don’t get all misty-eyed about polio vaccination and Jonas Salk. But if my child did happen to catch a severe case of paralytic polio, here is what I would do:

• Homeopathy- An uncontrolled study conducted during the 1950’s and published in the 1961 Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy of 50,000 children who received Lathyrus, a homeopathic treatment for polio, showed that only one child contracted polio and that case was non-paralytic. In a study of a 1902 smallpox outbreak in Iowa, 2,806 people were given a homeopathic preventative for the disease, 547 were exposed to the disease, and 14 actually contracted it. This was published in the North American Journal of Homeopathy, volume 58; a summary can be seen on page 781. (Neustaedter 97-99)
• Chiropractic care

• Herbs to soothe any symptoms such as sore throat or cough.

Sources

(1,2) Vaccine Safety Manual For Concerned Families and Health Practitoners: Guide to Immunization Risks and Protection by Neil Z. Miller, 14
(3) Non-polio enteroviruses http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/non-polio_entero.htm
(4) The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults by Randall Neusteadter, 58-9
(5) The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults by Randall Neusteadter, 65
(6) The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults by Randall Neusteadter, 51
(7) OPV causes polio http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/09/opinion/la-oe-orent-polio-20110209
(8) Polio vaccine failure in Nigeria http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303348504575184093239615022.html
(9) Vaccinated children spread polio in Oman http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PII0140-6736%2891%2991442-W/abstract
(10) The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults by Randall Neustaedter, 97-99

Miscellaneous Illogical Pro-Vaccination Arguments

My husband has  commandeered my writing skills for his website over the past week, so I haven't had time to post. But I'm back now with responses to common pro-vaccine arguments.

• “Vaccines save lives!” This warm-and-fuzzy statement plays on your fear of losing your child. It also conveniently does not address the fact that the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) has received over 200,000 reports since 1990, and about 30,000 reports annually, with 13% being associated with hospitalization, serious injury, disability or DEATH. (1) Since most infectious diseases we vaccinate for and deaths from them had declined substantially before the advent of vaccines, it hardly seems reasonable to assume that it is absolutely certain that an unvaccinated individual would contract a “vaccine preventable” disease and die from it. Nevertheless, vaccine advocates love to make the (unfounded) assertion that death and destruction will surely follow if we stop vaccinating. Have you ever heard of the “Jenny McCarthy Body Count” website that supposedly counts the number of deaths that have occurred from failure to vaccinate? The methods used to calculate these numbers are highly unscientific, by the site’s creator’s own admission:

“Q: How do you know that all of these illnesses and deaths are due to people not being vaccinated?

A:    I don’t and I don’t believe that anyone can say that all vaccine preventable illnesses and vaccine preventable deaths are due to people not being vaccinated.  However, in nearly all of the outbreak cases that I have read on the CDC website the “index patient” has been an unvaccinated child.” (2)

The site’s creator just assumes that everyone who dies from a “vaccine preventable illness” was unvaccinated because the index patient is sited as being an unvaccinated child. Furthermore, just because the CDC cites the index patient as being an unvaccinated child, doesn’t mean that an unvaccinated child was the cause of an outbreak. Vaccinated children contract diseases like measles and pertussis all the time, yet are very conveniently never cited as an index case for an outbreak.

• “Autism may not kill your child, but diseases will.” OK, so maybe there is enough information to say that vaccines cause autism, BUT isn’t that better than losing your child? Refer to the chart from Tavia Gordon’s 1953 report to the Office of Vital Statistics. (3) Even in 1900 when sanitation and diet were bad, most people still recovered from infectious diseases that we vaccinate for. Most unvaccinated children grow up to be perfectly healthy functioning individuals who do not die from “vaccine preventable disease”. Furthermore, find me a parent who welcomed a beautiful baby into their family, a child who used to smile and laugh and light up when his mommy and daddy entered the room, a child who was learning to walk and talk and who then stopped developing, stopped looking people in the eyes, doesn’t say “I love you”, won’t be touched, and now bangs his head against a wall. Find me that parent, look her in the eye and tell her she hasn’t lost her child.
• “Thousands of people used to get sick or die from diseases before vaccines were introduced. Since mass vaccination campaigns started, theses diseases have become rare.” The measles vaccine was licensed in 1963, but by 1955, there were only about 50 deaths (.03 per 100,000) a year from measles. (4) The surge in polio cases in the 1950’s was very likely due to vaccination with DTP since injections increase the risk of polio (5,6,7,) The Hib vaccine is often touted as indisputable proof that vaccines are effective because experts can say that the number of cases of Hib decreased the very next year after the vaccine was introduced. It was said to have dramatically decreased cases of the disease in Dallas and Minnesota, but Hib was on the decline in Dallas before the introduction of the vaccine and efficacy studies in Minnesota showed the vaccine to be ineffective (8).
• “Reactions from vaccines are very, very rare”. This complacent argument was ignorantly repeated by the Missionary Medical in the March 2007 Ensign article on missionary preparation. (Yes, I am saying “ignorant”. I am not being malicious; I am calling a spade a spade. I have no doubt at all that Brother Doty had the very best intentions when he said that “The advantages of immunization overwhelmingly exceed the minuscule risks of receiving vaccines.” He was simply giving ill-researched and misguided advice.)  Again, the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) has received over 200,000 reports since 1990, and about 30,000 reports annually, with 13% being associated with hospitalization, serious injury, disability or death- and this represents only a fraction of reactions because of underreporting. Cancers and tumors have been caused vaccines, such as in the case of SV-40 and the polio vaccine. (9) Then there are all the issues like fibromyalgia, SIDS, autism, ADHD, and multiple sclerosis that many people say came on shortly after vaccination, but which the medical community curiously has no explanation for. And if reactions are so rare, why do we keep seeing vaccines being recalled? In 2007 Merck recalled PedvaxHIB (HiB) and Combivax (Hep B and HiB) for equipment contamination with the bacteria bacillus cereus. (10) In 2009, Sanofi Pasteur recalled 800,000 doses of their H1N1 vaccine because they said the strength of the shot dropped slightly. (Though they reassured parents that the shot was still safe and effective. Then why the recall?) (11) And in 2010, the rotavirus vaccine Rotarix was recalled after it was found to be contaminated with porcine circovirus 1. (12)
• “The vast majority of a population must be vaccinated to keep infectious diseases at bay.” (Herd Immunity). Do you know anyone who has scarlet fever? How about typhoid? Polio? We don’t vaccinate for scarlet fever, yet it remains relatively rare. Typhoid is virtually unheard of because of clean water supplies. But if the concept of herd immunity is true then we should all be vaccinated for typhoid. Most adults no longer have immunity to polio, yet polio is unheard of in the United States except as a result of vaccination for the disease. See my herd immunity post.
• “It’s the unvaccinated kids who are bringing all the diseases back.” Well, if that were true, then Mississippi (which only allows medical exemptions from vaccinations) shouldn’t have a pertussis problem. But they do. In August of 2007, Mississippi experienced a pertussis epidemic with 140 cases reported. (13) Even if you believe childhood vaccines to be 99.99% effective, the unvaccinated adults can be seen as spreaders of disease. But the vaccinated kids (even asymptomatic ones) are also getting diseases like pertussis, as one Israeli study showed. (14) During the 2010 pertussis outbreak in San Diego, most of the pertussis cases were found to occur in vaccinated individuals. (15)
• “Keep your germy unvaccinated kids away from my vaccinated kids so that they don’t get my kids sick!” If you really believe vaccines to be effective then what do you have to worry about?
• “Vaccines make kids healthier.” I have yet to see a vaccinated child who doesn’t get sick frequently. My friends and relatives who vaccinate their children are always taking their kids to the doctor for illnesses ranging from the flu to pneumonia. I was fully vaccinated as a baby and I can assure you I was sick all.the.time. Amoxicillin was as regular a find in my parents’ fridge as milk, bread, and eggs when I was growing up. As a baby, I had eczema so bad that my mom had to put me in mittens during the summer to keep me from scratching. The eczema outbreaks continued through childhood and I still have problems with it. My brother had tubes put in his ears at a year old and the procedure was considered for me as well because we kept getting ear infections. I had the flu once a year, several colds, and frequent strep throat. Vaccinations did not make me healthy. My little boy, on the other hand, has never had an ear infection, flu, strep throat, or anything more than a mild diaper rash or the sniffles during teething.
• “All the information saying vaccines are dangerous is just hearsay on the Internet.” And in books, medical journals, studies, articles... I have actually found a great deal of information that supports my arguments in pro-vaccination articles and information from the CDC.
• “People who don’t vaccinate are just a bunch of fear mongers.” Hey, you’re the one who thinks your kid is going to die from measles or the flu, not me!

Sources

(1) VAERS statistics http://vaers.hhs.gov/about/index/#limitations
(2) Ridiculously inaccurate “statistics” on “vaccine preventable deaths”
http://jennymccarthybodycount.com/Jenny_McCarthy_Body_Count/FAQ.html
(3) Tavia Gordon’s analysis in Public Health Reports, Volume 68, No. 4 pgs. 441-444 http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:EiRAmSj6SQkJ:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2024011/pdf/pubhealthreporig00184-0087.pdf+tavia+gordon+measles+1953&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiHhK2dCKZWMqMtacuw3NRTPG4sCh2V6BzLcrVZwIVgk0rwfeXuAbEpvL08ST1n8PvUg8fRMDF7Lx2qG-zZtxz1oUHeeo5I2Tm-NsEeZmL2pmyLCE7aUGcVqdbgDR5-SWKMyK_l&sig=AHIEtbTqkVU5RdJjSxpYXQtKZNz7kvLwgQ
(4) How to Raise A Healthy Child... In Spite of Your Doctor by Robert S. Mendelsohn M.D., pg. 237
(5) Abstract of HV Wyatt study on polio and injections http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12929860
(6) Abstract of Strebel study on polio and injections http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199502233320804
(7) J.K. Martin study on polio and injections http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1988257/?page=1
(8) The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults by Randall Neustaedter, pg.166
(9) The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults by Randall Neustaedter, pg.58-59
(10) Merck recalls Pedvax and Combivax http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1694265,00.html
(11) H1N1 vaccine recall http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34432437/ns/health-cold_and_flu/t/doses-kids-hn-vaccine-recalled/#.TmoiL7-oojA
(12) Rotarix recall http://www.arabianbusiness.com/pig-virus-scare-sparks-uae-child-vaccine-recall-150362.html
(13) Mississippi pertussis outbreak http://www.msdh.state.ms.us/msdhsite/_static/23,5373,279.html
(14) Fully vaccinated, asymptomatic children catch pertussis http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol6no5/srugo.htm
(15) San Diego pertussis outbreak http://www.10news.com/news/26137516/detail.html

Missionary Department Letter

Here it is, a jpeg of the Missionary Department’s response to the letter on vaccinations for missionaries. The name and address of the sender have been blacked out to protect the sender’s privacy.

Now I can’t tell anyone what to do for their mission or their health. Whether or not you wish to be vaccinated is your decision and I think that people should have the freedom to choose to be vaccinated or not be vaccinated.

However, if I were going to serve a mission, I would personally do the following: I would find a doctor whose views are congruent with my own (the internet makes this easier; mothering.com or other natural living forums can be great places to get some referrals) or I might try seeing a naturopathic doctor or a sympathetic osteopath. I would write and sign a personal statement saying that I am exercising my right as stated the in Missionary Department’s letter to refuse any and all vaccinations. My statement would probably read something like this:

Per the policy stated in the accompanying letter from the Missionary Department’s Health Services, I (Name), am exercising my right to refuse any and all vaccines associated with a Latter Day Saint Mission. I understand that this may limit my options of locations for my mission call and am agreeable to this condition.

First and Last Name

(Signed) First and Last Name

(Dated)

Depending on legal counsel, I may even include language stating that I will hold the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints harmless if I contract a vaccine preventable illness in the mission field.

Since most of the application process for missionaries is online now, documents can be scanned and uploaded to the online application. I would take my statement and a copy of the letter to my physician or naturopath and have him or her scan and upload the documents to the “Optional Documents” section of the application underneath the heading that says “Physician’s Examination”. (In this section, the physician can upload any confidential information or other “other documents pertinent to this missionary’s recommendation”.) If for some reason there was a problem with adding the documents to the online application, I would simply send the letter and personal statement to Church Headquarters addressed to the Missionary Department.

Other ideas I might try if I were putting in my papers:

• Get a thermographic breast scan in place of a mammogram. (There are some naturopaths who do these.)
• Get a blood titer test to measure antibodies for diseases and thereby prove immunity. If I couldn’t find a doctor who would do this for me, I would probably look into ordering my own through osteopath Sherry Tenpenny’s site.
• Or I might get a homeopathic prophylaxis for some diseases. I would look for a certified homeopath through the Council For Homeopathic Certification’s website to do this.

Conspiracy Theorists Part 2

Guess what group discovered that lung cancer was caused by smoking? Or that asbestos in the work place is hazardous to your health? What group of people advocated abstention from alcohol for health reasons? I’ll give you a clue: they invented high-fidelity audio recording, the electron microscope, and many innovations in rockets. They even had the first live television coverage at an Olympic event.


The Nazis.


Yet, despite their deranged beliefs, no one suggests that the link between smoking and lung cancer is unfounded. If OSHA investigates you for asbestos at your place of business, arguing that “The Nazis thought asbestos was harmful and they were a bunch of lunatics,” won’t get you anywhere. And we use live television broadcasting to cover General Conference. The fact that the Nazis had strange and even dangerous beliefs does not change the fact that smoking greatly increases your odds of lung cancer, asbestos causes mesothelioma, alcohol consumption can lead to liver problems, or that hi-fi sound recordings have captured some of the most exquisite music ever composed, and that the electron microscope has helped us see some of the nature’s tiniest creations and rockets have helped us view some of its grandest.


So, just because there are some people who defy logic and ascribe to some of the most wild ideas who also claim that vaccination is a bad thing, does not nullify the research against vaccines. In rhetoric, the idea that you can reject a claim just because some or all people you dislike accept that claim is a logical fallacy called “Guilt By Association”. This argument is also employed (especially by conservative people) against Jenny McCarthy: "Jenny McCarthy was a Playboy centerfold, so anything she says about autism can't be believed!" Well, Sister McCarthy's batting average for recovering a child from autism is better than that of the entire medical establishment. The medical establishment has zero recoveries, whereas Jenny McCarthy has recovered her son from the disorder. (Incidentally, former Playboy Bunny Dr. Polly Matzinger has received a lot of heat for her iconoclastic "Danger Model" of the immune system. She argues that the immune system is driven in large part by the tissues of the body and does not work in isolation. This is fascinating when you consider the facts of vaccination and also the chiropractic view that the immune system is affected by misalignments of the spine which cause the nerves to fire improperly.)

So next time someone tells you that vaccines can’t be harmful because because some proponents of this idea also don’t believe in the moon landing, ask them about their thoughts on lung cancer and smoking!

Response to the "Missionaries and Vaccines" Letter

I’ve been hearing that I need to post the response from the Missionary Department to the letter that I posted here previously. So here it is, sorry I don’t have a pdf of it yet.

22 February 2011

Dear (Name of Sender),

Your letter regarding immunization of missionaries and other issues was received and reviewed. It has been a long standing policy of the General Authorities of the Missionary Department to recommend general immunization of missionaries and immunization specific to countries where missionaries are assigned to serve that may be required for entry to those countries. Immunization is not a requirement for missionary service. Missionaries are free to opt out of any or all immunization. (Typo theirs) Should they do so, it will affect where they are assigned to serve. That is, those without immunization will be assigned to serve in their country of residence.

(Signed)
Donald B. Doty, M.D.
Chairman, Missionary Department Health Services

Now if any of you read this and were a little puzzled, join the club. I’ve heard of numerous instances prior to February 2011 where prospective missionaries were told they would not leave their hometown to serve a mission unless they had been vaccinated. Furthermore, the Utah Department of Health’s page on mission vaccinations read “required” up until the new April 2011 guidelines were issued which explicitly say that vaccines are now recommended and not required for missionaries. So obviously it was not a longstanding policy to “recommend” immunizations. However, we won’t quibble over the details like a dance of the semantic shuffle. The important thing is that there is now choice in the matter. And if I were going on a mission, I would gladly serve in Utah, Idaho, or Wyoming rather than inject myself with carcinogens, animal viruses, and aborted fetal cell cultures to serve in a tropical paradise! No offense to the people of Utah, Idaho, or Wyoming, sending lots of good vibes your way. :)