One of the most frequent questions I’m asked by parents is, “What about vaccinations?” Are they safe? Are they effective? Or, are they, like other products of orthodox medicine, a hazard to our health? From the beginning let me make perfectly clear that I am not telling you you shouldn’t vaccinate your child. That is a decision you alone can make, and that you alone must be responsible for as a parent. I am not a medical doctor, I am not an authority of vaccination — but I have read a lot from those who are authorities on this subject and will pass that information on to you.
What I do wish to do is share some information regarding the problems of vaccination — information you probably haven’t heard before. The real question is, “Does the potential risk of using this vaccine outweigh the potential benefits?” My personal conviction is that, for many vaccines at least, the answer to that question is yes. Whether you vaccinate or choose not to vaccinate, either way you have to live with any consequences that may arise from that decision.
THE THEORY
As most people are aware of, the basic theory of vaccination is to inoculate you with a modified disease virus as a disease prevention measure. The idea is to “give you a little bit of the disease” and thus stimulate your immune system to produce antibodies that will protect you from getting the full-blown disease. Sounds great, but does it really work?
HAS VACCINATION WORKED?
Vaccination has been credited with stopping major epidemics such as smallpox, polio, diptheria, measles and other diseases. The fact of the matter is that history clearly shows no relationship between the advent of widespread vaccination and the elimination of any disease epidemic. If anything, the evidence suggests that vaccination contributed to the epidemics.
Take smallpox, for example. England passed a compulsory vaccination law in 1853. Prior to that the highest death-rate from the disease for any two year period had not exceeded 2000, even during the worst epidemics. But after 20 years of compulsory vaccination the greatest smallpox plague in history occured in 1870-71. It took over 23,000 lives in England and Wales alone. During the same epidemic in Germany nearly 125,000 people died, all of whom had been vaccinated!
Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. (late pediatrician and one-time head of the medical licensing board for the State of Illinois) in his outstanding book, How to Have a Healthy Child . . . In Spite of Your Doctor, says that smallpox vaccination was the only source of death from smallpox for 30 years after the disease ceased to be prevalent.
Dr. Mendelsohn notes that, without exception, every major disease epidemic was solved by improved sanitation and nutrition. In other words, get rid of the garbage and you’ll get rid of the rats, get rid of the swamp and you’ll get rid of the mosquitoes.
POLIO
Some of my worst childhood memories involve getting polio shots as a child. I was five when the Salk vaccine came out. My mother would remind me of John, a neighbor boy who had polio and wore leg braces to walk, who couldn’t run and play like the other kids. I was much relieved a few years later when the Sabin oral vaccine came out. Our whole community dutifully marched into the local elementary school gym to drink our sugar water with this new vaccine, confident we would never get polio.
Dr. Mendelsohn notes that most people think the Salk vaccine was responsible for halting the polio epidemics of the 1940’s and 1950’s. He questions, however, why did polio also simultaneously cease in Europe where the vaccines were not extensively used? Here’s another question: Why is the Sabin oral vaccine still routinely administered to children when polio is virtually non-existent? Virtually all the polio cases now occuring have been caused by taking the polio vaccine!
MMR
The MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccination is routinely given to children. English measles really isn’t much of a disease. Bed rest, fluids, and topical lotions to relieve itching are about all that’s needed. The measles vaccine, as noted by Dr. Mendelsohn though, can produce fatal conditions including encephalitis, meningitis, mental retardation, seizures, MS, Reyes syndrome, Hodgkins Disease and cancer. On top of that there’s no evidence the vaccine even works! A 1978 survey of 30 states showed that more than half the children who got measles had been vaccinated.
Likewise, mumps is an insignificant disease normally requiring no treatment other than rest. So why “protect” children against an inconsequential disease, especially when the vaccines often don’t work and may have dangerous side-effects?
Rubella, or German measles, is another non-threatening childhood disease requiring no treatment. The problem with rubella is the fear of pregnant women contracting the disease during their first trimester of pregnancy, during which time the unborn baby may be damaged. The vaccination, however, may be counterproductive. Many authorities feel that childhood rubella vaccination is not long-lasting and may result in getting the disease as an adult, when it is far more serious. These authorities feel it’s better to get rubella as a child and have natural immunity than to end up more vulnerable as an adult. In other words, childhood vaccination may produce an even greater danger from rubella among pregnant women.
DPT
Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus is yet another questionable vaccine, at least for the diptheria and pertussis part. Diphtheria is a non-existent disease — there were five cases in the U. S. in 1980. There was, however, an “outbreak” of diphtheria in Chicago in 1969, but of its 16 victimes, nine had been vaccinated!
Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a potentially serious childhood disease, usually occuring in infants. Its 1000-3000 cases result in five to twenty deaths per year in the U. S. A proponent turned opponent of the vaccine is Dr. Gordon T. Stewart of the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He notes that 30% of the whooping cough cases are occuring in vaccinated patients. Dr. Stewart also notes that death from pertussis had already gone down by 80% before the vaccine was ever introduced.
HEPATITIS B
Hepatitis B is generally a sexually transmitted disease, though it may come from exposure to infected blood, injected drug used, and occupational or home contacts. Infants can contract this disease from an infected mother. However, women can be tested during pregnancy to determine infection and then be vaccinated.
The current practice of vaccinating all infants at birth for Hepatitis B is absurd, since only children exposed to infected mothers are at risk. And the vaccination won’t help them by the time they are sexually active or exposed to other risk factors, due to reduced antibody levels.
The potential side-effects of this vaccination are severe, including autoimmune reactions, arthritis, Guillain-Barre’ syndrome, thrombocytopenia, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
S.I.D.S. (CRIB DEATH)
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or crib death, kills 5000 to 10,000 infants per year in the U. S., and may cause 100,000 reactions per year. The peak incidence occurs at two months and four months of age, the exact times of the first two routine immunizations. In spite of contradictory studies proving or disproving the relationship, disturbing facts remain.
In the mid 1970’s Japan raised their vaccination age from two months to two years — the incidence of SIDS dropped profoundly. Vaccine injuries at age two and after remained constant.
I recommend Dr. Viera Scheibner’s book, Vaccination: One Hundred Years of Orthodox Research Shows That Vaccines Represent a Medical Assault on the Immune System, New Atlantean Press, 1993. It has a considerable amount of information on SIDS and other vaccine-related problems.
VACCINATION ALTERNATIVES
So, if you refuse vaccinations, what’s the alternative? First, we have to get clear on the concept that germs are not the primary cause of disease, any more than flies cause garbage or mosquitoes cause swamps. As discussed at my SICK & TIRED SEMINAR, germs are only a secondary cause after the primary cause of a suitable environment is provided. Thus, building up your immune system is perhaps the most important issue. Not to sound trite, but healthy bodies don’t get sick.
You can build up your body by getting off junk food (especially refined sugar), get off foods you’re allergically sensitive to, using emulsified vitamin A (beware of too high a dosage), buffered vitamin C, zinc, herbs like echinacea and garlic, and homeopathic formulas.
The importance of practicing good sanitation cannot be underestimated. Most of the places in the world still affected by the diseases we’re vaccinating for have tainted water, no sewage disposal, and a general lack of cleanliness. One of the primary health messages of the Bible is found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy in the sanitation laws. These were amazing statements for the time of Moses (like washing with running water), but have largely been incorporated in our culture today with great health benefit.
LEGAL ASPECTS
Perhaps the most frequent question I’m asked about vaccinations concerns the perception that parents are required by law to have their children vaccinated. This is not true, though school officials will bully and intimidate you if you don’t know any better. I must add, though, that avoiding vaccination hassles is reason number 983 to home school your children (if reason number 1 through 982 weren’t enough to persuade you).
All states have medical (health of your children would be adversely affected) and religious exemptions for vaccination. Many also have philosophical exemptions. Here in the Northwest, Oregon is the most restrictive, having only medical and religious exemptions — and for the religious exemption, you have to be a member of a group with an anti-vaccination teaching (e. g. Jehovah’s Witnesses). Washington and Idaho both offer medical, religious and philosophical exemptions, and their religious exemptions do not require membership in a specific group. (If you need legal help with a religious exemption, it is recommended that you contact The Rutherford Institute, P. O. Box 7482, Charlottesville, VA 22906. Tel. 804-978-3888.)
OTHER RESOURCES
This short article can’t do justice to the immense amount of information that exists on this subject. There is a ton of information on the Internet (located under “vaccination dangers”). Some books you may want to look at include:
How to Have a Healthy Child (In Spite of Your Doctor) by Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. (available at Pacific Health Center)
The Vaccine Guide: Making an Informed Choice by Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., North Atlantic Books, Berkely, CA, 1996.
Dispelling Vaccination Myths by Alan Phillips (available on the Internet at http://www.livelinks.com/sumeria/health/myth2.html or from Vaccine Awareness, P. O. Box 62282, Durham, NC 27715.
In conclusion, let me emphasize this is your decision and your responsibility based on your convictions. I encourage all parents to get educated on this subject and then make your decision accordingly. Expect opposition from doctors, schools, and especially well-meaning, but ignorant relatives. Standing up for what is right has a price, but it has an even greater reward.
Better Health Update is published by Pacific Health Center, PO Box 1066, Sisters, Oregon 97759, Phone (800) 255–4246 with branch clinics in Boise, Idaho, Post Falls, Idaho and Portland, Oregon. E-Mail: drkline@pacifichealthcenter.com. Monte Kline, Clinical Nutritionist, Author. Reproduction Prohibited.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose illness nor prescribe treatment. Rather, this material is designed to be used in cooperation with your nutritionally-oriented health professional to deal with your personal health problems. Should you use this information on your own, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but neither the author nor publisher assume responsibility.