If you find yourself weighing the pros and cons of the flu vaccine vs. actually getting the flu, then this post is for you. Chances are you have already done a bit of research, but what is true versus sensationalized or fear-based information?

For all of you who followed me last year on Facebook, you may know that my ENTIRE family got the flu last Christmas. It was a good TWO weeks before we all were “flu-free.” But we still will not get the flu shot this year. Think we’re crazy?

Read on to see why we are perfectly sane.

This is Part 9 in my vaccine series discussing which vaccines we decided to give to our children and why. You may also want to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles + MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

The Pros and Cons of the Flu Vaccine vs. the Flu

Vaccine Effectiveness

The first thing we need to look at when weighing the pros and cons of the flu vaccine is exactly HOW effective the flu vaccine really is.

When I wrote my posts about, for example the measles, I wrote how difficult our decision was because of the rapid effectiveness of that vaccine after initial uptake.

With flu vaccine, the effectiveness after vaccination is not impressive and actually wanes considerably after initial injection.

A Canadian study looking at this past flu season’s vaccine suggested 10-17% protection to the most severe form of flu, H3N2 in the individuals studied. For all flu strains total (in most flu vaccines there are three to four strains total,) protection was believed to be 40-55%.

In the U.S, similar numbers have been reported by the CDC (where the same flu vaccine technology has been used) with anywhere from 40-60% total effectiveness and 33% effectiveness against the more severe H3N2 flu.

Flu vaccine effectiveness is defined as “protects against the risks of the flu.” This means that participants in studies may have been infected by the flu virus, but they did not need medical intervention or die from the flu, (meaning they could still spread flu and be sick enough to stay home from work- or not.)

You can find additional studies on U.S. populations and Spanish populations from 2017-2018, here.  The results were all similar, from 25-45% efficacy.

In this 2013 study of ~1,441 people including 839 children, there was no difference in flu occurrence between individuals vaccinated and those who chose not to receive the vaccine.

This right here is why I find it appalling that so many in the medical profession are required to get flu shots or they’ll be fired from their job. The science is just not backing this up and perhaps even adding a dangerous false sense of security amongst those vaccinated.

Vaccine-induced flu immunity wanes quickly.

A study of 45,000 flu-vaccinated people published last month in Clinical Infectious Diseases found that vaccine-induced flu immunity wanes up to 16% every 28 days after vaccination. This means someone vaccinated early on in the flu season, may be practically non-immune at the peak of flu season, especially since vaccine effectiveness maxes out at ~50% with currently offered vaccines.

A look at flu mortality statistics since 1900:

This look at data above from 1900-2004 shows that the flu vaccine had very little to do with the reduction of mortality from flu and pneumonia combined since 1900. (Source)

Flu vaccination was not widely used until the late 1980’s. The vaccine was first recommended in 1960 and earlier versions were available in the 1940’s.

Even in 2018, we are seeing influenza vaccination rates of around 50% of adults and 60% of children according to the CDC. (Source)

I know that I personally had never even heard of a flu vaccine until the early 2000’s and my family had never received one. It just wasn’t marketed like it is today.

The influenza statistics below (b.) begin in 1930 and are monthly calculations from July-June of each flu “season”, NOT annual numbers but show similar reductions and pattern. (Source)

You can see on these graphs that flu mortality has been stable since the late 1970’s.

From the study…

“For the years 1900 through 1904 and 1910 through 1936, monthly death figures were obtained through the annual Mortality Statistics reports published by the Bureau of the Census. I obtained additional figures for the years 1937 through 1993 and 1999 through 2004 from Vital Statistics of the United States or other mortality reports maintained or produced by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.”

The overall decline in influenza-attributed mortality over the 20th century cannot be the result of influenza vaccination, because (influenza) vaccination did not become available until the 1940s and was not widely used until the late 1980s.”

Another study from 2005 of over 30 influenza seasons “could not correlate increasing vaccination coverage after 1980 with declining mortality rates in any age group” (…including those over 65 and infants under 6 months old.)

Since the above graph’s data trail stopped in the early 2000’s, here is the annual flu data from 1999-2015 for those of you curious about that. (Which decreased from 22.8 deaths per 100,000 to 17.8 per 100,000- the vast majority which are in the elderly.)

Combined Influenza and Pneumonia Fatalities

Another point to remember is that influenza data is actually COMBINED influenza and pneumonia data. It is difficult to compare influenza data alone since so many cases go unreported and are not laboratory confirmed, so the CDC uses an estimate system, that is new as of 2017 and combines pneumonia as well.

During October 1, 2017–May 19, 2018, the same flu season that the CDC has estimated there were 80,000 deaths from flu (or more accurately flu + pneumonia combined), clinical laboratories tested 1,210,053 specimens for influenza virus; where 224,113 (18.5%) tested positive. (Source)

This means that 71.5% of cases were non-influenza disease (commonly referred to as “influenza like illness” or ILI) and would not have been affected by the flu vaccine.

Flu Statistics are Skewed and the Media is NOT Trustworthy

This article is the best one I have found looking at the evidence behind last month’s CDC report stating that there were 80,000 deaths from the flu in the 2017-2018 flu season.

What the media does not tell you is that the NFID news conference that reported the 80,000 flu death numbers from last year’s flu season was supported, in part, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MedStar Visiting Nurse Association, and through unrestricted educational grants from Genentech, GSK, Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Seqirus, all pharmaceutical companies that market and sell their flu vaccines. NFID also received funding and other support from Sanofi Pasteur. (Source)

This is NOT unbiased information that the media is reporting. These are SPONSORED recommendations.

Basically, the CDC took an estimate based on reported flu deaths (which they assume is vastly underreported), and then they use their own statistical system to give us the 80,000 number.

The problem is, these numbers have absolutely no published evidence to back them up and are based on estimates. As of this writing, we don’t know the exact number of death certificates filed in the 2017-2018 flu season with “influenza” as the cause, but we do know that there have been an average of ~1,000 reported adult flu deaths in previous years.

Childhood deaths from flu last flu season, which are mandatorily reported were 180. (Source)

The only place I could find that actually gave the independent flu numbers by week was here and you can see the significant difference in flu death numbers compared to pneumonia above for previous years. For example, in week 37, the last week of the 2017-2018 flu season, 7 flu deaths were reported compared to 2,329 pneumonia deaths! (See below- Source– via Fluview dashboard.

We are being marketed to…

I think this data is so incredibly important to remember because we are on the constant receiving end of fear-based news and inflated and misleading statistics from the TRILLION dollar vaccine industry.

The CDC even has a marketing plan for how to get more people to get vaccines. You can see the entire presentation here, but this has to be my favorite excerpt (from page 8):

Fostering demand, particularly among people who don’t routinely receive an annual influenza vaccination, requires creating concern, anxiety, and worry. For example:

• A perception or sense that many people are falling ill.
• A perception or sense that many people are experiencing bad illness.
• A perception or sense of vulnerability to contracting and experiencing bad illness.”

-Glen Nowak, Ph.D, CDC Director of Media Relations

The revenue earned by vaccine manufacturers for sales of influenza vaccine is AT LEAST $5 billion each year. You can see the market report HERE that projects that to double in the next few years.

This all on top of the fact that no vaccine manufacturer has been liable for a vaccine injury since the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. In fact, the majority of injury claims paid out by the court (which is funded by taxes placed on the vaccines themselves and paid by the recipient) is from the adult influenza vaccine.

You can see in the official report from the National Vaccination Compensation Program that influenza vaccine-injury cases were four to five times MORE likely to be confirmed and paid out for than other vaccines.

*** Translation: Vaccine injury from the influenza vaccine is 4 to 5 times more common than vaccine injury from any other vaccine! ***

Types of Flu Vaccines

Even with all of the information above, I know there are still some of you that will still want to get your flu vaccine or are advising other family members on what to do. Here’s a bit more about the actual vaccine and how to make an educated choice on which one to receive based on yours or your family’s situation.

In 2018 there are now many brands of flu vaccine available based on age, allergies, and how you prefer to receive it, but there are pros and cons to all.

All flu vaccines are Category B and C drugs, meaning they have not been proven to be safe in pregnant women.

The CDC does provide several studies stating 50-60% less flu severity and death in those vaccinated with the flu vaccine. Many of those studies are listed on this page.

Types of Flu Vaccines and their ingredients:

• Standard trivalent (three virus, approved for 6 months +) – Afluria
• High dose trivalent (for those 65 and older) – Fluzone high dose
• Adjuvant-added flu vaccine (for 65 and older) – Fluad
• Standard quadrivalent (four virus strains- two influenza A and two influenza B) – several brands – Afluria Quadrivalent, Fluarix Quadrivalent, FluLaval Quadrivalent, and Fluzone Quadrivalent. See vaccine inserts for age approval.
• Quadrivalent egg-free flu vaccine- Flucelvax Quadrivalent (for 4 years and older) and Flublok Quadrivalent (for adults 18+)
• Nasal spray quadrivalent flu vaccine – FluMist – (for non-pregnant individuals ages 2-49)

Common ingredients Found in the Injectable Vaccines:

• Various forms of flu virus- both dead and weakened
• Formaldehyde
• Aluminum salts (aluminum toxicity is a real problem- especially when injecting it annually. Read more here.)
• Thimerosal (50% ethylmercury in composition) – mercury-based preservative (this ingredient is a no-go for me. At 25 mcg per flu shot EACH YEAR, this is troubling. Read much more about this here.)
• Chicken egg proteins
• Gelatin
• Antibiotics
• Variety of animal cells and other viral components (see full CDC list here and scroll down to page 2- influenza vaccines.)

Flumist Nasal Vaccine and Ingredients:

The nasal vaccine has been off the market for several years after finding that it was ineffective and sheds substantial amounts of flu virus from the nasal cavity after vaccination, but today it has been approved again for use. Ingredients:

• Four weakened live influenza viruses
• Monosodium glutamate
• Gelatin
• Arginine
• Sucrose
• Dibasic potassium phosphate, monobasic potassium phosphate
• Gentamicin (antibiotic.)

The CDC on the “improvement” of the FluMist vaccine:

“For the 2018-2019 season, the manufacturer of LAIV4 has included a new H1N1 vaccine component. Some data suggest this will result in improved effectiveness of LAIV4 against H1N1. However, no published effectiveness estimates for this vaccine component against H1N1 viruses are yet available.  ACIP and CDC voted to resume the recommendation for the use of LAIV4 based on evidence suggesting that the new H1N1 component will result in improved effectiveness of LAIV against these viruses. ” (Source)

So basically, we will see how the nasal vaccine does, but no studies have been done to figure out how effective it really is compared to the 5% effectiveness in children when they decided to pull it off the shelf in 2016.

And then there’s this study (from the Flumist vaccine insert) on how it sheds flu virus in vaccinated individuals. Here’s the data table from the vaccine insert:

The FluMist website does state:

Vaccine recipients or their parents/guardians should be informed by the healthcare provider that FluMist Quadrivalent is an attenuated live virus vaccine and has the potential for transmission to immunocompromised household contacts.”

They do, however go on to say that this likelihood is low (1-2%,) but then again they profit billions each year from the sale of their vaccine and have very little accountability. You make the call.

Flu shots have never been studied for safety in pregnant women

Influenza vaccines are all Category B or C drugs which means they have not been adequately studied on pregnant women to confirm fetal safety.

Terminology from several vaccine inserts:

“There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, this vaccine should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed.” (exact wording from several flu vaccine inserts including Fluzone.)

Even with that lack of information, the CDC still recommends flu vaccination for women more than 14 weeks pregnant:

“Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with influenza virus vaccine. It is also not known whether influenza virus vaccine can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Although animal reproductive studies have not been conducted, the prescribing health care provider should be aware of the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The ACIP states that if used during pregnancy, administration of influenza virus vaccine after 14 weeks of gestation may be preferable to avoid coincidental association of the vaccine with early pregnancy loss.”

If you are pregnant and debating on getting the flu vaccine, these are excellent points to bring up with your OBGYN who may be pressuring you about the vaccine. Also, according to the CDC, only 36% of pregnant women receive the flu vaccine which is a good indicator, that despite all of the pressure from the medical community, women are still not comfortable receiving this vaccine while pregnant.

Flu Prevention + Treatment

As I mentioned before, my entire family got the flu, or more accurately “FLI”- or “flu-like-illness” as it is officially referred to. We did not go into a doctor’s office to get an official flu test, but I can’t imagine any other virus in “flu season” being much worse than this!

I explain in this post how it started and spread through our family and a great more in detail of how we recovered, but here is a quick summary:

#1: REST and Embrace Your Fever

I go into much more detail in my post on flu care, but with influenza infection- fever is your friend. Let it work. There are ways to manage fever without breaking it. I discuss all of this in my post on caring for a family (and yourself) with the flu. Also- so important to stay hydrated with the flu!

#2: Oscillococcinum

Oscillococcinum is a homeopathic remedy shown to reduce the length of the flu when taken at the onset of symptoms. I learned of this after everyone had gotten the flu but me last year, and since I was the last one to get it I had it on hand to take for myself. Sure enough- my flu symptoms lasted half as long, really only about 3 days vs. the week it took everyone else to recover (or longer in the case of my husband!)

#3: Vitamin D3/K2 Combo

Virtually every person living a “modern” mostly indoor lifestyle is deficient in Vitamin D. Vitamin D is actually a hormone that, if deficient can noticeably affect the function of our immune system and ability to respond to infection. Vitamin D supplementation has been found to help reduce flu susceptibility and complications in children.

#4: Avoid Pneumonia Complications

The best way to avoid pneumonia complications with the flu is to keep our nasal passages clear. The best way I have found to do this is to use a nasal irrigation system such as the Neti Pot for adults or NoseFrida with saline drops for children. Again, I write more about this in my post on flu care.

#5: Additional Supplements and Garlic

There are a dozen other recommendations I have for supplements and natural remedies for flu such as garlic internally and topically, elderberry syrup, beta glucan, probiotics, and more. Find all of that in my post on flu care.

A warning about Tamiflu

In a nutshell, Tamiflu is a prescription antiviral and “go to” for pediatricians and doctors during flu season when you come into their office with the flu. The problem is that Tamiflu has been shown to be not only ineffective (perhaps shortening symptoms by a day or so maybe), but it can be extremely unsafe in children and adults.

I have reviewed all of the below articles and studies and think they do an excellent and thorough job explaining why you should avoid Tamiflu this and every flu season:

The Myth of Tamiflu: 5 Things You Should Know (Forbes Magazine)

Evaluation of the Safety and Efficacy of Tamiflu (concluded it was rushed to market with menial effectiveness and sometimes severe side effects.)

Dr. Tenpenny: Why You Should Avoid Tamiflu

British Medical Journal “Slams” Tamiflu (USA Today)

The BMJ study that finds no sufficient data (or the date will not be provided) showing Tamiflu is significantly effective.

Easy to Read Article simplifying several studies on why Tamiflu is ineffective and unsafe

Bottom Line:

My experience with the flu vaccine in the past is typical of MANY people. In 2004 I received my first flu nasal vaccine at the school I was teaching at. TWO days later I came down with HORRIBLE flu. That was the first flu vaccine I had and the last- I haven’t had one since.

The next time I got the flu was nine years later- in 2013. I knowingly (and stupidly) went to someone’s house who said they had the flu the past two weeks but was better now (although they still coughed often while I was there.) The next night I quickly went downhill and was in bed the next four days with high fever and symptoms coming from every area of my body. My husband also got it that year but my kids never did (even though I nursed my 8-month old daughter the entire time.) It was wretchedly miserable, and I now know NOT to downplay how serious the flu can get. We used many of the natural remedies I discussed above and recovered completely at home.

During that particular flu recovery I actually remember thinking- “I TOTALLY see why people want to avoid this and ‘cover their bases’ by getting the flu shot” (even though it’s effectiveness is so-so and the ingredients are concerning.)

The next time flu hit our house was last Christmas through New Years Eve, 2017. I was the last to get it this time, but when it was over, all five of us in my family went through it.

At this point, I think I have settled on the fact that the flu is just part of life and part of being human. Three times with the flu in twenty years is a number I can work with and what I see as a part of the human experience.

I have read studies stating that the flu shot is effective (somewhat- even the CDC says the ~50% number that you saw above,) and studies showing it is extremely ineffective.

I have read stories of people dying from flu and of people dying after the flu vaccine.

The flu statistics over the past 100 years that I mentioned above really does show very little difference between modern mortality in America pre-flu vaccine vs. today.

Our Decision:

Frankly, I have a very difficult time trusting what the media and governing health departments say about vaccination and public health in general. Their statistical “successes” are unimpressive (~50% flu vaccine efficacy max), and yet they continue to promote universal flu vaccination with incredibly forceful and powerful language.

Their dogmatic, fearful tactics around influenza vaccination combined with complete ignorance of preventative care via healthy diet and lifestyle (with complete focus on vaccines and pharmaceutical drugs), makes the decision about the flu vaccine for my family an easy one.

We’ll pass indefinitely.

The post The Pros and Cons of the Flu Vaccine vs. Getting the Flu appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

In my last post I wrote way too many words about the measles portion of the MMR vaccine. Measles tends to be the attention-getter of this one, (Disneyland anyone?) But the MMR also contains live-virus mumps and rubella and a whole bunch of other interesting and controversial ingredients.

In today’s post about I’m going to talk all things mumps, rubella, rubella in pregnancy, outbreaks, at-home care, and even how my sister found out that she lost all her vaccine-induced rubella immunity when she was tested in pregnancy, 25 years after her MMR vaccine! Of course when she needed it most.

Glad you are here!

This is Part 8 in my vaccine series discussing which vaccines we decided to give to our children and why. You may also want to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles + MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

Part 9: The Flu Vaccine

Mumps: 

Overview: (CDC)

Mumps is a contagious disease caused by a virus. It is spread by saliva, often by sharing utensils, cups, kissing, etc, but can also be spread through sneezing and coughing. When it is experienced in childhood, before puberty it is a harmless disease. Most complications occur in post-pubescent older children and adults. Mumps virus has a very long incubation period and symptoms usually occur 16-18 days after exposure. Full recovery usually occurs in 3-7 days and immunity is lifelong and permanent.

Symptoms:

• Fever and chills
• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue
• Swollen salivary glands along the jaw line
• In some instances, reproductive glands such as the ovaries and testes may swell.

Symptoms of mumps usually start with gland swelling on the jaw line followed by slight fever. Swelling will go down after 4-5 days. About 1/3 of cases may not have any swelling. Complications from mumps are usually in adults who did not get mumps in childhood or whose vaccine immunity has worn off. These include orchitis or inflammation of the testes (20% of post-puberty male cases,) usually in only ONE testicle. Sterility from mumps is extremely rare. In rare cases, mumps has been associated with temporary hearing loss and aseptic meningitis, a less serious form of meningitis that resolves in 3-7 days. Mumps is very rarely a deadly disease.

Management and At Home Care for Mumps:

• There is no conventional treatment for mumps. It usually just will run its course.
• Basic home care with plenty of fluids, antiviral herbs such as elderberry, and astragalus and echinacea glycerite is helpful. There is a supplement called ACF that we use for practically anything that contains many of these immune boosting properties.
• There is some evidence that high-dose Vitamin C (using lypo-spheric or sodium ascorbate vitamin C) by dosing to bowel tolerance, is very effective in reducing mumps severity and duration.
• Give cod liver oil for Vitamin A and D + anti-inflammatory properties.
• Essential oils (for pain and discomfort in the jaw area: lavender and bay laurel. Dilute 1 drop each in 1/2 tsp of carrier oil.
• For homeopathic therapy, try Parotidinum 30C as a prophylactic protocol to reduce risk and severity of symptoms. Also suggested: Aconitum napellus (Acon) 30C at onset, Arsenicum album (Ars) if discomfort is accompanied by burning pains, or Belladonna 30C if the child’s fever is above 103. For more information about using homeopathy for mumps read: The Unvaccinated Child: A Treatment Guide for Parents and Caregivers.

My Thoughts:

Mumps is mostly seen today in college campuses, camps, and schools in vaccinated populations. It is well known that the mumps portion of the MMR is greatly reduced in its efficacy within 5-15 years. By fifteen years post-vaccine, many kids are in college which is why we see most outbreaks in this population. Like measles and rubella (which you’ll see below) this has shifted the vulnerability to an age group where the disease is more dangerous and complications are likely, although it is observed that previously vaccinated adults may have lesser symptoms.

Because most mumps complications result in boys past puberty, I did not see the urgency in getting my three girls vaccinated against mumps. It is a mild childhood disease and being knowledgeable about the symptoms and treatment options, I felt prepared.

If I had boys, I would be concerned about mumps as he aged past puberty, but again- even in the highly vaccinated population, mumps is a more common issue due to vaccine waning in teenagers and college students. After TWO doses of MMR, test studies showed a range of 31% to 95% effectiveness against mumps. Even with a THIRD dose of MMR as an adult, the ACIP states that effectiveness is 61-88%.

If we had a son, we would reassess at puberty and consider a mumps titer test to see if he developed mumps immunity from childhood exposure before considering vaccination. Unfortunately, since 2009 the ACIP no longer recommends giving single vaccines for mumps, rubella, and measles, so the MMR is the only vaccine available for mumps today.

Rubella:

Overview: (CDC)

Rubella (also called “German Measles”) is a contagious disease caused by a virus. It is spread through respiratory particles from sneezing, coughing, etc. Infections usually occur between late winter and early spring. When it is experienced in childhood, it is mild and goes away on its own in a few days. Up to 50% of rubella cases are so mild that they may go completely unnoticed. Medical intervention is rarely required. The entire illness lasts 5-7 days. Immunity is lifelong in the vast majority of people.

The only population of people that rubella affects harmfully are unborn babies. In 20-25% of cases where women were exposed to rubella for the first time in their first trimester of pregnancy, their baby developed Congenital Rubella Syndrome. (more below)

Symptoms:

• Low to mid-grade fever
• Rash (much fainter and milder than classic measles)
• Sore throat
• Runny nose
• Possible swollen and tender lymph nodes
• Possible tender joints
• In adults only- arthritic feelings in joints and conjunctivitis that resolves within a month in most cases.

Congenital Rubella Syndrome:

In the 1940’s it was first noticed that women exposed to rubella in their first trimester were giving birth to babies with congenital defects such as eye problems and blindness, hearing loss, mental challenges, and heart disease. Defects are rare if the initial rubella infection occurs after 20 weeks of pregnancy. A large outbreak in the mid-1960’s led to the licensing of a rubella vaccine in 1969.

Symptoms of CRS (in infant):

• deafness (the most common complication)
• preterm delivery
• heart defects
• microcephaly
• blindness and eye defects
• bone abnormalities

CRS is the primary reason all children are vaccinated against rubella so early. It is strictly to protect the unborn fetus of pregnant women exposed to rubella. Before a large rubella outbreak in 1964-65, when there were an estimated 12 million cases of rubella and 20,000 babies born with CRS, there was not much talk of CRS. This estimate was taken from one study done in 1966.

I want to note that I searched to no avail for the source of these monstrous numbers in places other than the 1966 study, as they did not line up with the CDC’s actual statistics of typical years of rubella (~50,000 cases per year and ~60 CRS cases- see page 2.) For the years, 1964-65 their statistics are recorded as “NR= not nationally recordable) and it was truly an anomaly if their estimated statistics were indeed 12.5 million cases and 20,000 cases of CRS.

This 1967 paper states that CRS cases were an estimated 10,000-20,000 between 1964-1966. I did note here in this paper that New York City’s CRS statistics were at 1,000 cases, so perhaps they took this statistic and estimated for the rest of the country from there?

Management and At Home Care for Rubella:

• There is no conventional treatment for rubella, although immune globulin may be given to pregnant women suspected of rubella exposure that have a negative rubella antibody titer.
• Basic home care and antivirals such as elderberry, and astragalus, echinacea and osha glycerites would be helpful. My favorite supplement for acute immune support- ACF has all of these.
• Essential oils such as German chamomile, tea tree, and lavender will help with any itch and are antiviral. Use two drops of each oil in 2 tsp of carrier oil and wear gloves to apply to child.
• I would also consider an over the counter anti-itch cream if the child is extremely uncomfortable. Rest is essential to recovery.
• The homeopathic prophylaxis used for rubella is Rubeola (Rubeol) 30C. This will reduce severity of symptoms and duration. For rubella with rapid onset of symptoms try Acon 30C and Belladonna 30C. For more information about using homeopathy for rubella read: The Unvaccinated Child: A Treatment Guide for Parents and Caregivers.

My Thoughts:

As many of you know, we have three daughters so rubella and CRS were things I was concerned about when I first began my vaccine research. Also, as a woman of childbearing age I was concerned for my unborn children. A simple rubella titer test given during prenatal care as standard of care in the U.S. will give you an idea of how strong your rubella immunity is.

Some women may choose to test for this BEFORE becoming pregnant. I actually strongly advise this, as the rubella vaccine in some vaccinated women wear off by the time you reach childbearing age. This happened to my sister who found during her prenatal care with her first child that her rubella immunity from her childhood-MMR had waned and she was no longer immune.

Even though rubella has been eradicated since 2004 in the U.S., there are still cases of rubella circulating. Due to the mild nature of the disease, these often go unreported. We also need to be reassured that until 1964-65, CRS cases were a rarity and not even reported nationally. Most of these cases (40-50%) resulted in hearing disabilities, but other more severe difficulties were reported as well.

Unfortunately, since 2009 the ACIP no longer recommends giving single vaccines for mumps, rubella, and measles, so the MMR is the only vaccine available for rubella today.

Our Decision:

If you already read my last post where I talk about our decision regarding the MMR vaccine, then you you know we decided to forgo the MMR vaccine for our children altogether. Out of these three illnesses, we were most concerned about rubella as our three daughters reach adulthood.

Our plan is to forgo any vaccination for rubella and see if they contract it as children for natural immunity (since rubella is extremely mild in childhood and before the vaccine, 85% of children conferred natural immunity). We will get their antibody levels tested as pre-teenagers to see if they have rubella immunity and then go from there, considering educating them about the MMR as an option before pregnancy as they get older if they do not show rubella immunity.

Unfortunately, if they were to receive the MMR as an adult, they are much more likely to develop symptoms of acute arthritis after receiving the rubella portion of this vaccine which is also a symptom of rubella itself. 25% of adult women who receive the rubella vaccine experience this side effect, some of which results in ongoing, chronic arthritis.

This vaccine is a tough one to decide about. In my post about measles and MMR, I went over in more detail our convictions about this vaccine in relation to cancer and other issues that are becoming more prevalent in children today.

What I have said today regarding rubella non-vaccination in my young daughters may come off as insensitive to pregnant women, but it should be known that when the rubella vaccine was introduced in 1969, the U.S. and U.K. differed on their vaccination strategy. The U.K chose to vaccinate teenage girls:

 In the United States, the strategy was to vaccinate infants, so that eventually the reservoir in childhood would be abolished [52]. In contrast, the United Kingdom decided on a program of vaccinating adolescent girls [53]. Both strategies were partial successes, in that CRS incidence began to decrease. However, both were also partial failures, because in the United States pregnant women were still being exposed to rubella in children and adults, and in the United Kingdom unvaccinated girls who refused vaccination were still exposed to rubella cases….”

–Clinical Infection Diseases, Dr. Stanley Plotkin

I firmly believe that (even as a currently pregnant woman as I write,) it is the responsibility of a young woman who may become pregnant, regardless of vaccination status, to be proactive in assessing her risk of rubella infection during pregnancy. Immunity can be assessed through prenatal testing of rubella antibodies during standard prenatal care.

Even if you find that your immunity to rubella is low, if you look at pre-vaccine numbers and estimates, the chances of having a baby born with CRS were incredibly low. 1969 numbers reported 62 cases of CRS (you can look at the entire record of cases on the right side of this document) and before the “anomaly” years of 1964-65, cases were not even recorded.

Overall, rubella is extremely puzzling. What exactly happened in 1964-65 to cause such a rise in cases that hadn’t ever happened before? No one seems to have a great answer, but it is comforting to know that today we have options to protect ourselves and our children.

MMR and MMRV Vaccines:

The Mumps and Rubella vaccines were introduced in 1967 and 1969. Today they are no longer offered in their single dose format so doctors and clinics will offer the MMR and MMRV below.

Ingredients:

MMR II – (Merck)

• Measles and mumps viruses taken from individuals in the 1960’s. The rubella virus was taken from an aborted human fetus (scientifically named WI-38) in the 60’s. You can read the story of the Swedish married mother who aborted her female baby at 4 months gestation HERE.)
• culture of human lung cells (from WI-38 above)
• traces of chicken embryo cells
• Inactive Ingredients: sorbitol, sodium phosphate, potassium phosphate, sucrose, sodium chloride, hydrolyzed gelatin, recombinant human albumin, fetal bovine serum, other buffer and media ingredients, neomycin (antibiotic)

MMRV ProQuad – (Merck)

• The same measles, mumps, and rubella viruses from the MMR II above with added varicella (chickenpox) virus
• sucrose
• hydrolyzed gelatin
• urea
• sodium chloride
• sorbitol
• monosodium glutamate (0.4 mg)
• sodium phosphate dibasic
• recombinant human albumin (residual DNA from the lung of a 14 week male human fetus scientifically named MRC-5 aborted from a 27 year old psychiatric patient in 1966.)
• sodium bicarbonate
• potassium phosphate
• potassium chloride
• potassium phosphate dibasic
• bovine serum
• neomycin

Aborted Fetal Tissue in Rubella, Varicella, and Hepatitis A Vaccines:

The MMR II has been in use since the early 1990’s. The original MMR was released in 1963 and became commonly used by the late 60’s. It is one of the vaccines (the others being Hep A, shingles, chickenpox, rabies, and adenovirus,) that contain human aborted fetal cells in its production (WI-38 female fetal lung tissue cell line).

The MMRV contains MMR + Varicella (chickenpox) which contains a different strain of aborted fetal tissue in addition to the WI-38 in the MMR. Therefore the MMRV (ProQuad) contains TWO strains of aborted fetal cells and its DNA (WI-38 female cells and MRC-5 male fetus cells.)

Both vaccines contain the WI-38 female strain of lung-diploid tissue. To get to the point where they were finally successful with culturing the rubella virus in WI-38 to make the vaccine, it took dozens of abortions in trial and error. After being exposed to rubella in the 1st trimester, 26 mothers were told their babies were likely to have congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) and would be born with deformities and would likely die. With this “knowledge”, they elected to have an abortion, but it wasn’t until the 27th baby was aborted that a baby with CRS was discovered. That baby, originally named RA273 (R=Rubella, A=Abortus, 27=27^th fetus, 3=3^rd tissue explant) was renamed WI-38, was dissected, and cell lines from its lung tissue is what we inject in children today in the MMR and MMRV vaccines. (Source – from original 1960’s paper.)

How long does immunity last with the two series MMR?

It does not confer permanent immunity in all individuals and large, long-term studies testing immunity have not been conducted, although the CDC states that it is 97% effective for measles and rubella and 88% effective for mumps (these were averaged from a range of responses in test individuals.)

I have read one article suggesting immunity lasts 20 years but cannot find any studies testing antibody response in the long term (over 20 years). Why is it so hard to find these studies? If you come across any, please feel free to message me.

Adverse Reactions Reported after MMR and MMRV:

The possible complications with the MMR or MMRV are similar to the actual infections of the viruses they are designed to protect against.

Some of the top reactions listed are (from the CDC website):

• Sore arm from the injection
• Fever
• Redness or rash at the injection site
• Swelling of glands in the cheeks or neck
• Seizure (jerking or staring) often associated with fever
• Temporary pain and stiffness in the joints, mostly in teenage or adult women
• Temporary low platelet count, which can cause unusual bleeding or bruising
• Rash all over body
• Deafness
• Long-term seizures, coma, or lowered consciousness
• Brain damage

MMR and MMRV Safety:

It is important to know that very few vaccines (none that I could find that are given in the U.S.) have been exclusively tested against a saline placebo for testing.

Below is just one of the several studies for safety the MMRV (ProQuad) underwent. They compared children just given the ProQuad with children given the two separate vaccines of MMR II + Varicella.  You can read more about the safety studies conducted in the actual vaccine inserts above.

“ProQuad was administered to 4497 children 12 through 23 months of age involved in 4 randomized clinical trials without concomitant administration with other vaccines. The safety of ProQuad was compared with the safety of M-M-R II and VARIVAX given concomitantly (N=2038) at separate injection sites. The safety profile for ProQuad was similar to the component vaccines. Children in these studies were monitored for up to 42 days post-vaccination using vaccination report card-aided surveillance. Safety follow-up was obtained for 98% of children in each group.”

It is also important to note that many of these studies (if not all) did not follow up with LONG TERM problems of vaccinated children.

Clinical trials for vaccine approval are almost always done comparing the vaccine that is up for approval with ANOTHER similar vaccine- with all participants often given other additional vaccines as well. They do not use a saline placebo like other drug trials, as it is considered “unethical” and “a threat to public and individual health” to withhold a vaccine from a test subject.

There were a few vaccine studies I was able to find that were conducted in the manner of double-blind, placebo-controlled, but they were mostly for vaccines and researchers not from the U.S. I imagine there were a few more, but you can see a concise list of those HERE. None of them were the MMR or MMRV.

Concerns about Childhood Cancer

From the MMR and MMRV vaccine inserts:

“M-M-R II  has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential, or potential to impair fertility.”

“ProQuad has not been evaluated for its carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic potential, or its potential to impair fertility.”

With childhood cancer up 27% since 1975, wouldn’t it be wise to look into the relation between cancer and vaccines with a little more enthusiasm?

Childhood cancer is unique in that it is strictly thought to be the result of DNA changes early in childhood and not due to lifestyle and environmental changes like adult cancers. One would think that injecting children with fragments of cow, chicken, monkey, and both male and human fetal DNA to freely act on our own DNA would result in mutagenic occurrence, such as this study observes.

Dr. Theresa Deisher, Ph.D. genetic engineer, by far has the best explanation of the dangers of this related to vaccines and this entire video series is worth the watch.

Autism statistics and projections. Some studies place us at 1 in 36 today.

Concerns about Autism

I could go on and on about the MMR and studies both proving and disproving its involvement in the rise of childhood autism. Instead, I’m just going to provide some of these studies (both supportive and some disproving of the theory) and encourage you to read on your own.

Rebuttal of the “Taylor Study” by Autism dad, J.B. Handley

Subtle DNA changes and the overuse of vaccines in autism
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3364648/

Vaccine and Autism- a New Scientific Review (article)
http://www.cbsnews.com/…/vaccines-and-autism-a-new…/

Summary of previous Journal of Immunology
http://danmurphydc.com/…/AR-10-12-rata-AUTISM-VACCINE.pdf

Autism and Resulting Medical Conditions:
http://www.tacanow.org/…/09/autism-studies-april-2008.pdf

Mercury toxic encephalopathy manifesting with clinical symptoms of regressive autistic disorders. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17454560

Relation of mercury to high autism rates in boys
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16264412

A Positive Association found between Autism Prevalence and Childhood Vaccination
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/…/00000014/art00002…

Peer reviewed study on fetal cell contamination with retro virus associated with autism and cancer
http://www.globalresearch.ca/new-study-in-journal…/5402912

Autism and mercury poisoning
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11339848

Hypothesis: conjugate vaccines may predispose children to autism spectrum disorders
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21993250

This study provides new epidemiological evidence supporting an association between increasing organic-Hg exposure from Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and the subsequent risk of ASD diagnosis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3878266/

This study suggests that although mercury has been removed from many vaccines, other culprits may link vaccines to autism. Further study into the relationship between vaccines and autism is warranted. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21623535

This article discusses the data that Dr. Brian Thompson first told Dr S Hooker, a researcher on autism, about the manipulation of a CDC study he was a member of in 2004. Hooker analyzed the raw data from the CDC study afresh and confirmed that the risk of autism among African American children vaccinated before the age of 2 years was 340% that of those vaccinated later. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25377033

This looks at a study conducted directly by CDC epidemiologists but greatly ignored that shows a 7.6-fold increased risk of autism from exposure to Thimerosal during infancy. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24995277

Boys vaccinated as neonates had threefold greater odds for autism diagnosis compared to boys never vaccinated or vaccinated after the first month of life. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058170

A study that results showed how children from countries with the highest autism spectrum disorder prevalence appear to have the highest exposure to aluminum from vaccines http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22099159

Study that found that mercury exposure (and the inability to excrete it after injection) is capable of causing some autism spectrum disorders. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19106436

The role of thimeresol (mercury) and lack of exretion and autism specturm disorder: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3774468/

This study compares siblings (one autistic and one not) and proposed that those with a mild mitochondrial defect may be highly susceptible to mitochondrial specific toxins like the vaccine preservative thimerosal: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3697751/

Discussion of documented causes of autism include genetic mutations and/or deletions, viral infections, and encephalitis following vaccination. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21299355

A look at conjugate vaccines as a cause of autism: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21907498

This study evaluated the relationship between prenatal mercury exposure from thimerosal (49.55% mercury by weight)-containing Rho(D)-immune globulins (TCRs) and autism spectrum disorders: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17674242

A look at steroid involvement in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder and thimerosal toxicity: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15780490

A look at autism and various causes of neurotoxicity: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19043938

The role of mercury in the pathogenesis of autism: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12142947

A thimerosal study on mice and neurotoxicity: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24675092

*************************************************************

Studies Disproving the Vaccine-Autism Claim:

There are at least 17 studies which are often quoted as proving vaccines do not cause autism. These studies represent the most often cited papers by scientists, public health officials and members of the media when trying to refute any evidence of an association between vaccinations and autism.

I think reading these individually is an important part of a decision regarding vaccines:

14 Studies Disproving the Vaccine-Autism Link + the more recent and widely publicized and quoted “Taylor Study” 

VAERS Report:

In 2015, there were ~3,176 adverse events and 11 deaths were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) after completion of MMR vaccine. (Remember this reported number is estimated to be 10-100 times less than the actual number and is a volunteer-based reporting system.)

In 2016, these numbers showed a decrease at ~2,797 adverse events and 6 deaths reported after MMR vaccination.

For the Proquad MMRV there were 2,027 adverse event and 1 death reported in 2015 and 2,173 adverse events and 4 deaths reported  in 2016.

Also remember that there are 5-6 other vaccines given at the same time at the 12-month visit, so until there are studies showing INDIVIDUAL vaccine safety studies, we won’t know what truly caused these adverse reactions.

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The post Making A Decision About Vaccines: Part 8- Mumps, Rubella + MMR appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

The MMR vaccine for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella is a HOT topic with lots of angles to explore. The vaccine itself is designed to prevent three distinct illnesses, but MEASLES tends to get most of the headlines and media attention, especially right now as outbreaks are making the headlines and legislation for government mandated vaccines comes down the pipe in many states.

Throughout my research on all three illnesses, there was a noticeable disconnect between the fearful and emergency-like undertones from the mainstream media and what I learned from reading actual primary resources (along with talking to mine and my husband’s grandparents who both went through these childhood illnesses with their children and as children themselves.)

Then there’s this video showing the Brady Bunch kids in the 60’s laughing and joking about having the measles in contrast to a current-day Law and Order SVU episode where they declare a measles state of emergency. It’s seriously baffling. Stop everything and watch it before you read on.

I originally discussed all three MMR diseases in this post but decided after writing such a lengthy amount about measles that I was going to break them into two with an additional post on the MMR alone. You can find the other parts of the MMR in the Mumps and Rubella portion in Part 8 and read the data, ingredients concerns, alternative vaccine schedules, and more about the possible autism link in my next post on the MMR.

This is Part 7 in my vaccine series discussing which vaccines we decided to give to our children and why. You may also want to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles

Part 7 1/2: MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

Part 9: The Flu Vaccine

Measles Basics:

Overview (CDC)

Before the measles vaccination program started in 1963, an estimated 3 to 4 million people developed measles infection each year in the United States (although only ~500,000 were reported each year to the CDC.) Approximately 400-500 people died each year from complications with measles in the U.S prior to the vaccine (about 0.2 out of every 100,000 people.)

• Measles is a contagious viral infection characterized by high fever and bodily rash.
• Measles is spread through respiratory particles (sneezing, coughing, etc.)
• Rash begins on average 14 days after initial exposure.
• Measles may be transmitted from 4 days before to 4 days after rash onset. It is most contagious from onset of fever through the first 3–4 days of rash.
• Before the vaccine, children ages 5-9 were the most common group to get measles and approximately 90% of Americans had immunity by age 15 through natural infection.
• Since the measles vaccine has been around for several generations, measles complication risk has shifted to adults and the very young (since vaccinated mothers do not have the same antibody protection as naturally exposed mothers- see population studies from the 1980’s further down in this post).
• Malnutrition and overall wellness of the child will affect severity of symptoms (One of many sources showing this.)

Measles Symptoms:

• High fever (103-105 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Cough
• Runny nose
• Flat, red (itchy) rash that lasts 5-6 days beginning at the hairline and working its way down to the feet and arms. It recedes in the same order it appears.
• Loss of appetite
• conjunctivitis (red, watery eyes) with sensitivity to light
• Koplic spots (white spots present in the mucous membranes such as the mouth) may occur 1-2 days before typical measles rash.
• Complications from measles (mostly in children under 5): diarrhea (8% of cases), ear infections (7% of cases), pneumonia (6% of cases- most measles deaths occur from pneumonia so knowledge of care is essential- see below), acute encephalitis (0.1% of cases), seizures (0.6-0.7% of cases.)
• This group of measles case studies from Johns Hopkins in 1957 gives us an excellent idea of what measles complications and their longterm outcomes looked like before the vaccine. This also varies greatly depending on the nutrition and nourishment of the population, especially with Vitamin A deficiency.

You can find the complete list of these statistics used for this graph HERE. (Thank you to Dr. Suzanne Humphries and Roman Bystrianyk for compiling this graph.)

In the late 1800’s and early 20th century we saw a significant decrease in ALL diseases, most BEFORE the vaccine era. Public sanitation improvements such as water treatment, indoor plumbing (solid waste disposal,) regulations on overcrowded housing, and public programs for improved nutrition and health departments, were SIGNIFICANT in this improvement. Also- proper disposal of animal feces and animal control were addressed in the early 20th century along with trash service and hand washing campaigns.

Many diseases such as scarlet fever, cholera, dysentery, tuberculosis, yellow fever and typhoid fever didn’t have a vaccine at all (or their vaccine was never widely used) and we rarely see these diseases today in developed areas. You can see some graphs depicting this HERE.

The fact is that in 1962, the year before the vaccine was introduced, measles killed 0.2 of everyone 100,000 people in the U.S. (which for the population of 189,000,000 at the time was 408 people).

Compare this to Influenza/ Pneumonia which killed 32.3 per 100,000 (~60,000) people and cancer which killed 150 per every 100,000 (~283,000) people. Heart disease killed 400 per 100,000 (~750,000) people! Source: MMWR Annual Report, 1963

In 1963, the year the vaccine was introduced (although it didn’t become widely used until the late 60’s,) there were 363 deaths from measles. Meanwhile, over 43,000 people died in car accidents and over 700,000 people died from heart disease. You were much more likely to be one of the 9,200 people murdered in that year than to die from measles. And lastly- over 20,000 children died from congenital defects, 46 times more than died from measles. Source: MMWR Annual Report, 1964

0.2 out of every 100,000 is a significantly low chance of dying from measles. That means if I get measles tomorrow, I have a 1 in 10,000 chance of dying. Of course it saddens me to hear of anyone dying from anything, but today I get upset when I hear that over 250,000 people each year die from medical errors and 72,000 people die from pharmaceutical drug misuse and yet we get dramatic reports of measles outbreaks where no one died as headline news.

If these pre-vaccine numbers were translated to today’s population of 327 million, we would see ~1,000 deaths per year from the measles (although I imagine this would be slightly higher due to the vaccine shifting measles vulnerability – see below.)

There have been no confirmed deaths from measles in almost 20 years in the U.S. except for one woman in 2015 who, according to the Washington Department of Health, “had several other health conditions and was on medications that contributed to a suppressed immune system. She didn’t have some of the common symptoms of measles such as a rash, so the infection wasn’t discovered until after her death. The cause of death was pneumonia due to measles.”

There apparently have been 10 deaths from measles reported on death certificates in the U.S. since 2000, but none of these were confirmed and were considered questionable enough that they have not been included in the CDC mortality statistics.

Measles Vulnerability Has Shifted Due to the MMR:

Most of the complications we have seen in the last 30 years from measles have been because the vaccine has shifted the age of measles vulnerability towards adulthood when vaccine immunity has worn off, or in young babies that are too young to get the vaccine. This makes them vulnerable because their unvaccinated mothers do not have antibodies from natural measles immunity to pass on to them. It is true that in post-MMR outbreaks from the 1980’s and 1990’s deaths HAVE occurred in as frequent as 1 in 1,000 cases because of this shift in vulnerability.

Some doctors also noted that a large percentage of populations where outbreaks occurred were urban areas dealing with poverty and overcrowding and nutrition was a factor (in both Europe and the U.S.)

From the CDC pink book:

During the 1989–1991 measles resurgence, incidence rates for infants were more than twice as high as those in any other age group. The mothers of many infants who developed measles were young, and their measles immunity was most often due to vaccination rather than infection with wild virus. As a result, a smaller amount of antibody was transferred across the placenta to the fetus, compared with antibody transfer from mothers who had higher antibody titers resulting from wild-virus infection. The lower quantity of antibody resulted in immunity that waned more rapidly, making infants susceptible at a younger age than in the past.”

I found this really interesting newspaper clipping from a 1992 North Carolina newspaper on the “new problem” of babies getting measles dangerously earlier in life than their mothers did because their mothers were the first generation to have been vaccinated and lacked natural immunity.

The CDC’s conclusion? We just need to vaccinate these babies earlier, driving the move in the early 90’s from a 15-month-old MMR to a 12-month MMR. There have even been talks recently about moving it up to 9 months. This outbreak is also the reason why a second MMR was added to the schedule at 4-5 years as a booster even though measles incidence was already significantly low (and death was extremely rare.)

You can read the abstract of studies comparing antibody immunity titers of unvaccinated mothers to vaccinated mothers here:

Passive Immunity Against Measles During the First 8 Months of Life

Passive Acquired Immunity Against Measles in Infants Born to Naturally Infected and Vaccinated Mothers

Measles Antibodies in Women and Infants in the Vaccine Era

“The course of rubeola (measles) is benign and the patient’s recovery rapid.”

 

– Dr. H. Richard Tyler, MD, The Department of Neurology and Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University, 1957

Minneapolis newspaper article from the 1950’s discussing how to entertain a child home with the measles.

Management and At Home Care for Measles:

Two generations ago, parents would have been very knowledgeable about how to care for children with measles and many other childhood illness at home. (You can see my conversations with my own grandmother below.) Today we are taught to take children to the doctor for even the most basic maladies and measles would be treated as an absolute emergency. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Here is a rundown of at-home care for measles:

• At first sign of respiratory congestion, runny nose, or cough, begin basic home care and keep children home from school and public places. Measles is most contagious once the fever occurs but can be spread through sneezing and coughing before then.
• Have children lay down and rest and allow fever to stay unless they become uncomfortably restless/ in pain or it rises above 104 degrees. Homeopathic remedies such as Belladonna can be used to bring the fever down to a safer, more comfortable level but will not interfere with the fever process of fighting the virus as giving ibuprofen would. You can read about that and additional homeopathy uses for measles HERE.
• In cases of stubborn fever above 104 degrees that won’t come down with homeopathy, a warm bath, wet sock hydrotherapy, or a cool washcloth on the forehead can be tried. (Take note that studies have shown that it is important for a positive measles outcome to avoid giving fever reducers such as ibuprofen and aspirin as long as possible. However, if my child’s fever gets over 104 or they are in pain and the above ideas aren’t working, I may consider giving a dye-free ibuprofen in a smaller dose to bring it down just a few degrees to comfort so they can rest.)
• Morbillinum (Morb) 30C is the homeopathic prophylactic used for measles to reduce symptoms and longevity. (There are many other remedies found in The Unvaccinated Child: A Treatment Guide for Parents and Caregivers.)
• Hydration is essential. Give water or an electrolyte lemonade (add 1/8 tsp Celtic sea salt to this recipe – electrolytes are especially important if diarrhea is present.)
• Basic nutritional support includes homemade bone broth, immune boosting and antiviral supplements such as ACF, a daily probiotic, garlic and garlic socks, and antiviral herbs such as elderberry syrup, astragalus, osha, and echinacea glycerides.
• Consider a 100,000-200,000 iu Vitamin A protocol under supervision of a holistic practitioner. Cod liver oil is a good source.
• German chamomile essential oil has antiviral properties and that along with lavender soothes rash and itching.
• To avoid respiratory complication it is important to keep nasal passages clear. Use a nasal irrigator for young children such or a Nose Frida for babies and toddlers too young to blow their nose.
• Complete recovery takes about a week after fever onset. If measles is treated early using nutritional and natural wellness approaches, it is important to note that rash can be mild or even non-occurring.
• If fever gets uncontrollably high or you are concerned about your child’s well being, seek emergency care.
• If your child is exposed to measles and you would like to explore pharmaceutical intervention through immune globulin or post-exposure MMR see the CDC discussion of this under the section “Post-exposure Prophylaxis”.

I also was amused at the lack of urgent reaction to this question posed on the “measles frequently asked questions” page on the CDC website which actually gives instructions for measles home care:

From the CDC measles FAQ page:

Q: My doctor or someone from the health department told me that I have measles. What should I do?

My Thoughts:

Several years back, after the Disneyland measles “outbreak” of 2015, I found myself negatively affected by the media and my confidence in our decision to forgo the MMR was bruised. I am more confident today thanks to spending the time to publish my research and share it publicly, but it can still be frustrating to be labeled simply as an “anti-vaxxer” when we studiously considered each vaccine and learned about each disease. We are NOT anti-vaccine, we are pro-RESEARCH and ultimately pro-choice.

When we decided to delay and then eventually forgo vaccines, my husband and I were incredibly intentional about where the greatest risks were for disease exposure. As you read in my other vaccine posts, even after my husband lost his job in 2009 and we were living off of my teacher’s salary, we worked opposite shifts so one of us could be home with our first daughter after she was born.

We stayed home from school and church when any of us were sick, ate a mostly organic and high plant-based diet, and invested each month in supplements we knew were studied to show increased immune cell activity such as Beta-1, 3D Glucan, appropriately strained probiotics, and a food-based vitamin. I also breastfed (or pumped for) all of our children for 12-18 months.

When our kids are small and their immune systems are still developing we take precautions in public places by choosing outdoor environments, washing hands as soon as we get home, and covering the baby carrier in less-ventilated places like in an elevator or a small room. We even attended church in the evening, a less popular time for large amounts of kids in one room, reducing our risk. When we did require childcare for several years before I was able to stay home with our kids, we chose a small home-based day care.

This is not to say we are hermits- our children still attend normal activities as they get older and their immune systems are more developed. They go to the children’s environment at church, gymnastics class, ballet, the gym daycare once they’re over 9 months, and eventually public school, where we have started our oldest when she reached 2nd grade. An often ignored benefit of homeschooling until 2nd grade was healthy SLEEP. I find that keeping them all home and allowing them to sleep until they wake up each day is also a contributing part of them staying so healthy all of these years.

Over nine years later, we have four unvaccinated kids who are healthy, bright, and have never had or taken an antibiotic (or any pharmaceuticals) for today’s common childhood maladies such as ear infections, strep throat, hand foot and mouth disease, sinus infections, bronchitis, or had autoimmune issues, allergies or asthma. We have been fortunate enough to have had success caring for them at home and have avoided the doctor’s’ office in this time span altogether. They have also never had the measles, something I am prepared for if they were to.

My Grandmother’s Wisdom:

While I was on a routine call with my 93-year-old amazing grandmother one day, I decided I wanted her perspective on measles and felt blessed that she was still around and had such a superhero memory to answer my questions!

Our conversation went like this:

Me: “Grandma, can I ask you something about measles.”

Grandma: “Sure. (chuckling) Why are you asking about measles (chuckling)?”

Me: “So, did you or any of your kids have measles back in the day?”

Grandma: “Everyone got the measles back then. When your father was in grade school he got it and I sent the rest of the kids to sleep in his room so they would all get it at the same time and we could get it over with!”

Me: <shocked> “REALLY??? <still shocked> Did any of them get really, really sick?”

Grandma: “Fevers could get pretty high but it was similar to a bad cold with a rash. Just kept them inside resting and drinking lots of liquids. It passed in a week and you never had to deal with it again.”

I couldn’t believe that was all she had to say about it.

She completely under-reacted and even chuckled at my prompting! It is right in line with the video I mentioned above.

Our ability as parents to recognize symptoms and keep our children home, perform basic at-home care, know how to manage fevers, properly remove mucus and drainage from our children, and understand when to seek emergency care is essential if a measles infection were to occur.

My conversation with my grandmother also got me thinking of all of the nutritional, medical, and therapeutic resources and knowledge we have today compared to the 1960’s if measles complications did occur (see treatment section above.) Natural remedies can be delivered to our doorstep overnight and emergency care is readily available if needed.

Even though most babies are born to vaccinated mothers today (like myself) and therefore have lower antibody protection (see studies above), significantly more babies are breastfed today, resulting in better equipped immune systems with more protection than formula fed counterparts. In the 1950’s and 60’s it was advised best (and was a status symbol) to give babies formula and yet death from measles was a rarity.

Study after study has confirmed that proper nutrition and hygiene has everything to do with positive measles outcome (if not all disease outcome.) Comparing impoverished areas in other countries to the U.S. is comparing apples to oranges, but global statistics are often the only ones brought up by the media when reporting about the death rates and severity of measles.

Addressing the Protection of Immunocompromised Children:

“But what about kids with cancer, the immunocompromised or babies that can’t be vaccinated?”

A common argument amongst the public and presented in the media is about the need to vaccinate the healthy “herd” in order to protect kids too young to be vaccinated or the immunocompromised, such as people with cancer going through chemotherapy.

I already addressed the concern about healthy younger babies above, but the truth of the matter regarding cancer patients is complicated. Kids going though chemotherapy or who have an immune system condition shouldn’t be around germ infested places like schools and daycares and jumpy house places anyways.

It is a season where these environments would be unsafe, regardless of vaccination status. Even kids who have received all of their vaccines get sick with hundreds of other diseases that aren’t on the vaccine schedule (and even with ones that actually are such as whooping cough, rubella, flu, rotavirus, and chickenpox which they can actually shed and spread to others, too.)

This is why you will often see signs in cancer centers or hospitals about not visiting if you have recently been vaccinated with the live flu or chickenpox vaccines.

From MMRV insert: “Vaccine recipients should attempt to avoid, to the extent possible, close association with high-risk individuals susceptible to varicella (chickenpox) for up to 6 weeks following vaccination. In circumstances where contact with high-risk individuals susceptible to varicella is unavoidable, the potential risk of transmission of the varicella vaccine virus should be weighed against the risk of acquiring and transmitting wild-type varicella virus.”

Many cancer treatment centers will actually recommend that patients get any vaccines they may “need” before their treatment starts. Here’s a sample of the recommended vaccines and their time-frame before chemotherapy from MD Anderson. Although the MMR cannot be given during treatment- the MMR insert states that “patients with leukemia in remission who have not received chemotherapy for at least 3 months may receive live virus vaccines. Short-term (<2 weeks), low- to moderate-dose systemic corticosteroid therapy, topical steroid therapy (e.g. nasal, skin), long-term alternate-day treatment with low to moderate doses of short-acting systemic steroid, and intra-articular, bursal, or tendon injection of corticosteroids are not immunosuppressive in their usual doses and do not contraindicate the administration of [measles, mumps, or rubella vaccine].”

This leaves a very small percentage of patients who could not receive a vaccine (who was not already old enough before their cancer to receive an initial dose or both doses of MMR.)

And for the record- if my child is exhibiting ANY symptoms of illness (runny nose, cough, fever, etc) or has recently had ANY of that, or even if it is just cold and flu season, I am not going to bring them into a hospital setting, to see a friend with a young baby, or visit an elderly relative regardless of their vaccination status. I may consider not even bringing them into such a vulnerable place at all just as a precaution.

Respectful human being / common sense kind of stuff there.

****Make sure to visit my MMR Vaccine post to see specifically why this vaccine concerned us and the data that proved that this vaccine is NOT 100% safe nor effective. You can check that post out HERE.****

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The post Making A Decision About Vaccines: Measles appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

I am so happy to get this list of Atlanta Vaccine Friendly Pediatricians out there to you guys!

Many of these suggestions came from the experiences and research of wonderful and dedicated naturally-minded moms in the Atlanta metro community. Through our connections over social media and local meetups, we have been able to share our experiences about which doctors are accepting of our precious kiddos’ unvaccinated or delayed vaccination status and respectful of our wishes to care for our children in the ways we believe is best.

If you are looking for vaccine friendly doctors in other states, please see Dr. Sears complete list of vaccine friendly doctors.

If you are looking for Atlanta area holistic physicians for adults, you can check out my post on Atlanta Holistic and Alternative Doctors and Doctors for Cancer (and overall wellness.)

Feel free to post your questions, suggestions, and experiences in the comment section for myself and other moms (and dads) who come along!

And if you haven’t seen it yet, I am in the middle of an ongoing vaccine series on how we made our decision about which vaccines to give our children. You can find that entire series below:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio and the Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles + MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

Part 9: Influenza Vaccine

Atlanta Vaccine Friendly Pediatricians

Note: the best way to find a provider in your area is to use the search option on your computer (Command or Control key + F) and type in your city or a city near you. You can also scroll and search.

I update this post frequently, so if you have anything to add please leave a comment in the section at the bottom. It takes a village, especially when dealing with vaccine education and choice.

Updated: September 26, 2018

Brookhaven Intown Pediatrics

Brookhaven and Atlanta, GA

Dr. LaKimberly Price, MD

Deneta Sells, MD

www.intownpediatrics.com

Note: Non-and delayed vaccine friendly but you do have to sign a consent form (called and confirmed this with the very friendly receptionist.) **Update 2/21/2021: Intown Pediatrics are no longer taking delayed or non-vax patients. 

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Rainbow Pediatrics

Dr. Carol Hermann, MD

Decatur, GA

www.rbkdoc.com/

Note: Only delay or select vax. Focused on optimal diet but does require four vaccines to stay in her practice: Hep A, DTaP, PcV and Hib (I called and received this information from the receptionist.)

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Centrespring MD + Pediatrics

Johns Creek, GA + Brookhaven, GA

www.centrespringmd.com/pediatrics

Note: Holistic and integrative practice. Vaccine-choice friendly. Do not make you sign vaccine waiver. Very busy as Dr. Taz is a nationally recognized doctor and has an adult practice as well. Does not take insurance but you can pay for a monthly “concierge” membership which includes a number of sick and well visits.

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All Worlds Health and Pediatrics

Roswell, GA

Dr. Arlene Dijamco, MD

www.allworldshealth.com

Note: Dr. Dijamco does not offer vaccination as part of her practice, and includes craniosacral therapy, homeopathy, herbal remedies, diet changes, and emotional considerations as suggestions and options for treatment. She does not take insurance but you can be reimbursed for any lab testing if needed.

All of the services I’ve received from her were reimbursable through the insurance-alternative we use, Samaritan Ministries.

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The M Wellness Center

Roswell, GA

Dr. Maia Walton, MD

Dr. Monica Scales, PHd

www.themwellnesscenter.com

Note: I’m impressed with the amount of holistic care they provide, as they are both mothers of vaccine-injured children. I will update with more as I hear from other moms. They have just opened their practice as of 2018 here in Georgia, moving from California. Lots to read on their website about their philosophy! They DO accept insurance but you will handle the bill yourself with the superbill they give you at check out. Their appointments are longer than a usual in-network doctor appointment (initial visit is 2 hours!)

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Alpharetta Pediatrics

Alpharetta, GA

Laura Bleekrode, MD

Niccole Edwins, CNP certified in homeopathy and essential oils

www.alpharettapediatricsonline.com

Note: If considering non-vax ask to see the Nurse Practitioner, Niccole. Dr. Bleekrode is seemingly friendlier with delayed-vax parents rather than non-vax.

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One Family Pediatrics

**Updated 7/2020: Just got word that they are no longer taking unvaccinated patients. Call to confirm.**

Cumming, GA

Dr. Hiral Lavania, MD

www.onefamilypediatrics.com

Note: Dr. Lavania is also schooled in alternative and nutritional medicine and is a lactation consultant. Does ask that you sign vaccine refusal waiver.

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Primary Care Pediatrics

Cumming, GA

Dr. Margaret Boudreaux, MD

www.primarycarepediatrics.com/

Note: Highly recommended by many of my personal friends. Dr. Boudreaux is a mother of six and knowledgeable of alternative medicine, nutrition, and proper supplements. Vaccine-choice friendly.

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Family Wellness MD

Dr. Nadia Taylor

Duluth, GA

www.familywellnessmd.com

Note: Holistic and integrative practice. Vaccine-choice friendly.

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Sunshine Pediatrics

Dr. Dana Hogan

Watkinsville, GA

www.sunshine-pediatrics.com

Note: Dr. Hogan considers herself a “holistic” pediatrician and does include dietary allergen testing as part of her practice. She is slow to prescribe antibiotics as a first option for treatment but does use vaccines as part of her preventative care.

**Update: 2/21/2021. I have gotten a few reports that Sunshine Peds is no longer serving unvaccinated families. I called and asked if they would take a delayed vaccine or non-vaccinated child as a new patient and the very kind receptionist said that “they are currently not accepting new patient on a delayed schedule but are serving current patients.” She was not sure if they are going to reopen to new non-vax or delayed patients but they WILL take families who will fully vaccinate on the CDC schedule.

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All About Kids Pediatrics

Lawrenceville, GA

Jill Overcash, MD

Claire Wilkiemeyer, MD

www.AllAboutKidsGeorgia.com

Note: (from their website) “All About Kids Pediatrics is a small practice with three pediatricians who are also moms. We want to know you and your child and we will strive to take the drama out of doctor visits. We are “vaccine friendly”, which means our pediatricians make an extra commitment to provide extensive counseling on vaccines and to accommodate all requests and concerns in regard to vaccines.”

***One mom noted recently in the comments that they now require you to sign the vaccine consent form when declining vaccines.

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Kennesaw Pediatrics

Kennesaw, GA

www.kennesawpediatrics.com

Note: Kennesaw Pediatrics has a large staff of doctors. We saw them after our home birth to receive the required Georgia newborn testing. They are a conventional practice and did prompt us about vaccines but did not disrespect us about our decision. I have heard good things about them from other non-vax and delayed vax parents.

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Children’s Pediatrics

Canton, GA

Dr. Michael Anderson, MD

Stephanie Anderson, DNP

www.childrenspediatrics.com

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Pediatric Medicine of Cartersville

Cartersville, GA

Tom Ryan, MD

www.pediatricmedicinecartersville.com

Note: Dr. Ryan is understanding and supportive of parental concerns with vaccines and the current vaccine schedule. You can see his statement on this HERE.

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Westcare Pediatrics

Villa Rica, GA

www.westcarepeds.com

Note: Dr. Josephine Ediale only

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Vibrant Kids Pediatrics

Newnan, GA

Dr. Jill Dickerson

www.vibrantkids.us

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Kenneth Akey, MD

Newnan, GA

www.kennethakeymd.com

Note: I have heard WONDERFUL thing about Dr. Akey from several people. He recently moved to Georgia from the mandatory-vaccination state of California to be closer to his children and grandchildren and to practice medicine in the form he believes is best which is preventative care and individual choice.

Additional Practices (need more information)

The following practices were given to me by my homebirth midwife who keeps a list of “vax-choice tolerable” doctors her homebirth clients have used for their newborn checkups and pediatric care. Here are those additional practices, and I would love to hear if you have any experience with them in the comments below. I update this post frequently so I can remove or add doctors if needed.

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John Potts, MD

Fayetteville, McDonough, and Hampton, GA (3 offices)

770-461-5003

Note: Need to hear experiences from more families who go here but apparently “vax-choice” tolerable.

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Covenant Care Pediatrics

Dr. Patrick Pulliam

Stockbridge, GA

www.covenantcarepediatrics.com/

Note: Need to hear experiences from more families who go here but apparently “vax-choice” tolerable.

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Pediatric Partners of Georgia

Ingrid Newman, MD

Watkinsville or Bogart, GA

http://www.pediatricpartnersga.com/about.html

Note: Need to hear experiences from more families who go here but apparently “vax-choice” tolerable.

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Whole Family Medicine

Decatur, GA

Marion Owen, MD

www.wholefamilymed.com

Note: I really feel like this would be a great practice for a family concerned about vaccine safety, but Dr. Owen makes it clear on the video on their website that she is more in support for a delayed schedule than a non-vax situation. This is also a membership-type practice and does not take insurance. I would call to discuss your situation with her staff.

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If you are a pediatrician’s office or practitioner in the Atlanta area and you would like to be added to this list, please let me know in the comment section and I’ll add you to the list.   

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The post Atlanta Vaccine Friendly Pediatricians: List of Non-Vax, Delayed Schedule, and Holistic Doctors appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

The rotavirus vaccine is a newish vaccine that jumped onto the CDC childhood vaccine schedule in 2006. It has some interesting quirks regarding its development, use, and history. Making a decision about rotavirus vaccine isn’t easy, but I think this post will help you get to a more confident place. Here we go.

This is Part 6 in my vaccine series discussing which vaccines we decided to give to our children and why. You may also want to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles + MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

Part 9: The Flu Vaccine

Rotavirus

Symptoms:

• frequent, watery diarrhea
• fever
• vomiting
• abdominal cramping
• sometimes respiratory symptoms such as runny nose

Overview: (CDC)

• Rotavirus is passed through fecal matter getting into the mouth by unclean hands. You can get it repeatedly, even with the vaccine, although its severity is seemingly reduced.
• Rotavirus occurs everywhere but it is a serious concern in impoverished populations where basic emergency care and clean water are difficult to come by.
• Diarrhea episodes can be frequent, up to 12 times per day is not unusual.
• Incubation period is short, less than 48 hours.
• Symptoms can last anywhere from 3-9 days.
• Affected person can stay contagious for 2-3 weeks after exposure.
• It has a seasonal preference, popping up in the winter months through May.
• Rotavirus can lead to sever dehydration if not cared for properly (see holistic and emergency care below).

In the U.S. the primary concern of rotavirus is economic. From the CDC website:

“The gastrointestinal symptoms generally resolve in 3 to 7 days…“Annual direct and indirect costs were estimated at approximately $1 billion, primarily due to the cost of time lost from work to care for an ill child.”

From the CDC again: “In the pre-vaccine era… (for this vaccine, pre-2006,)…“rotavirus accounted for 30% to 50% of all hospitalizations for gastroenteritis among U.S. children younger than 5 years of age; the incidence of clinical illness was highest among children 3 to 35 months of age.”

“In the pre-vaccine era an estimated 3 million rotavirus infections occurred every year in the United States and 95% of children experienced at least one rotavirus infection by age 5 years. Rotavirus infection was responsible for more than 400,000 physician visits, more than 200,000 emergency department (ED) visits, 55,000 to 70,000 hospitalizations, and 20 to 60 deaths each year in children younger than 5 years.”

Prevention:

Rotavirus is resistant to anti-bacterial gels and hand sanitizer and even anti-bacterial soap. Washing hands with simple hand soap for at least 20 seconds in warm water is your best bet.

Your child is much more likely to contact rotavirus in a large daycare setting, so choosing a smaller daycare setting or working out home care is best for prevention.

Breastfeeding provides protection against rotavirus.

Holistic and Emergency Care:

Care for rotavirus in children (and adults) should focus on staying hydrated. The main complication from having diarrhea multiple times a day is dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, so a caretaker must be diligent that the child is getting enough fluids. Here are a few tips (from experience.)

• If you breastfeed, keep feedings as normal since breastfeeding is protective.
• Make fruit smoothie popsicles (sweetened with a bit of honey if needed) or frozen bananas for snacks and offer often.
• Mix a probiotic in with applesauce twice daily.
• Encourage small sips of homemade chicken or vegetable broth with a 1/8 tsp of sea or Celtic salt.
• Make electrolyte-rich “lemonade water” for them and add 1/8 tsp Celtic or sea salt.
• Use a Roman Chamomile-Thyme essential oil blend using 1 drop of each added to 1 Tbsp of coconut oil as a carrier. Rub on abdomen 3-4 times daily.
• Among first sign of symptoms, the homeopathic remedy Arsenic Album has shown to be effective in reducing severity and leads to a quicker recovery. Consulting with a certified homeopath can help you with dosing.

If child exhibits extreme fatigue or listlessness, a trip to the emergency room for IV fluids should be considered.

Basic natural home care would also be a great addition to your treatment plan. You can also read more about homeopathic and herbal options in The Unvaccinated Child: A Treatment Guide for Parents and Caregivers.

Rotavirus Vaccine

Ingredients:

RotaTeq (Merck):

• LIVE and WHOLE cross-bred rotavirus strains (G1, G2, G3, G4, and P1) from cows and humans grown in a mix of monkey kidney cells
• sucrose (sugar)
• sodium citrate, phosphate, and hydroxide (for electrolytes)
• polysorbate 80
• cell culture medium (unspecified by manufacturer)
• traces of fetal cow blood

Rotarix (GlaxoSmithKline):

• LIVE and WHOLE most common human virus strain cultured in monkey kidney cells
• sucrose
• dextran (used as a binder or carrier)
• sorbitol (a sugar)
• amino acids
• Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle medium (used to grow and store virus in) —-> made from sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate, ferric (III) nitrate, sodium phosphate, sodium pyruvate, D-glucose, concentrated vitamin solution, L-cystine, L-tyrosine, amino acids solution, Lglutamine, calcium chloride, sodium hydrogenocarbonate, and phenol red.
• calcium carbonate
• xantham gum
• sterile water

Rotavirus vaccine is given in 2-3 doses depending on which vaccine is used: 2 months, 4 months, (and additionally 6 months for RotaTeq.)

The vaccine is ORAL (given by mouth- not injected) and apparently pleasant tasting (sweet.) It is often a relief to many parents and children that this is not an injectable form vaccine like the rest.

It is important to note that the first dose of Rotavirus vaccine must be given before 15 weeks of age and the last by age 8 months if deviating from the CDC schedule. It cannot be given outside of that time frame.

Another virus, porcine circovirus, a pig and bird virus is found within the Rotavirus vaccine, but the CDC claims it does not affect humans negatively.

Up to 25% of infants given the Rotavirus vaccine will shed viral load in their stools for up to 30 days after vaccination. 

It is not unusual for babies to have mild diarrhea or vomiting after a rotavirus vaccine.

In an older version of the RotaTeq vaccine, a noticeable percentage of children developed intussusception- a type of bowel blockage that is treated in a hospital and could require surgery. This complication occurs less with the newer RotaTeq vaccine (the CDC gives a large range: 1 out of 20,000-100,000), but it does still happen.

Vaccine immunity is believed to be at least 3 years but is generally unknown.

VAERS Report:

In 2015, ~2,589 adverse events and 22 deaths were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) after completion of the Rotavirus vaccine. (Remember this reported number is estimated to be 10-100 times less than the actual number and is a volunteer-based reporting system.)

In 2016, these numbers were consistent at ~2,804 adverse events and 20 deaths after vaccination.

Also remember that there are 5-7 other vaccines given at the same time as the rotavirus vaccine, so until there are studies showing INDIVIDUAL vaccine safety studies, we won’t know what truly caused these adverse reactions.

My Thoughts:

It is no joke if you have dealt with diarrhea for any amount of time. It ranges from being mildly no fun to HORRIBLE and persistent.

But very rarely in our first world coziness is rotavirus deadly (this is very different in third world country where dehydration in children is a leading cause of death due to lack of medical care and clean water.)

I read on the CDC website that before the vaccine rotavirus accounted for 30-50% of gastroenteritis cases in children before the first vaccine came out in 2006. This means that there are STILL 50-70% of tummy bug/ diarrhea cases that are going to keep on keepin’ on and we do not (yet) have a vaccine offered to us, such as for norovirus and adenovirus.

If you choose NOT to give this vaccine, your child could possibly be more at risk of getting a longer case of diarrhea, but as you saw above, there are multiple options for prevention and holistic care if you find yourself in this situation.

If you chose to give this vaccine, it is not as controversial as some of the others and does not contain aluminum or mercury, so I feel a little better about it (except for the viral stool shedding- yuck!)

Our Decision:

Our plan of action for possible rotavirus infection was to monitor our child carefully for dehydration. I understood it would not be unusual for her to have diarrhea 10 or so times daily with rotavirus infection. Keeping electrolytes in her through the methods I discussed in the treatment section above would be helpful to rehydrate.

We would also give a higher than usual doses of probiotics to restore her healthy gut flora.

With our first world living conditions and emergency care, even severe diarrhea is treatable and non-life threatening.

Infants in daycare and formula-fed babies are at a much higher risk for rotavirus infection and complications. Since my daughter didn’t have these risk-factors in her first year of life (when rotavirus is most severe,) I was not overly concerned.

As of this writing my daughter is 8 years old and we have two younger daughters who all have never had a severe cases of rotavirus (to our knowledge- doctors do not typically screen for rotavirus anyways.)

None of them are vaccinated with the rotavirus vaccine. We have had a few cases of diarrhea and tummy bugs to contend with over the years, but I knew how to care for them and all three have recovered in a few days or less.

Sources Cited:

• https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/rota.html
• (Breastfeeding + rotavirus study) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045187004000512
• The Unvaccinated Child: A Treatment Guide for Parents and Caregivers
• https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/rotavirus.html
• VAERS: Vaccine Adverse Reaction System: https://vaers.hhs.gov/
• Underreporting of VAERS statistics: https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Safety/MedWatch/UCM201419.pdf
• RotaTeq vaccine information: https://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM142288
• Rotarix vaccine information: https://www.gsksource.com/pharma/content/dam/GlaxoSmithKline/US/en/Prescribing_Information/Rotarix/pdf/ROTARIX-PI-PIL.PDF

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The post Making A Decision About Vaccines: Part 6- Rotavirus Vaccine appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

The Pneumococcal (PcV) vaccine is the fifth vaccine in this series and was added to the CDC childhood vaccine schedule in 2000.

This is another one that I did not receive myself since it was not on the 1983 childhood vaccine schedule (see below.) As I researched whether to give this vaccine to my first daughter, there were definitely some convincing reasons to do so. And also many reasons to stay clear of it.

Let’s take a closer look.

This is Part 5 in my vaccine series discussing which vaccines we decided to give to our children and why. You may also want to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles + MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

Part 9: The Flu Vaccine

Pneumococcal Disease

Symptoms:

• sudden onset of fever or chills
• chest pain
• ear pain
• cough
• congestion
• rapid breathing
• purplish or bluish tint in lips
• lethargy
• headache
• seizures
• for bacterial meningitis cases, stiff neck may be present along with confusion and possibly blotchy purple rash

Overview: (CDC)

Streptococcus pneumoniae, the technical name for pneumococcal disease, causes bacterial infection. Pneumococcal bacteria is the most common cause of ear infections in children. The most severe complications but also more rare are pneumococcal bacteremia (bloodstream infection) and bacterial meningitis.

Incubation period is short, only 1-3 days. Symptom length and severity will vary.

Pneumococcal bacteria is present in up to 90% of non-symptomatic carriers. The rates for infection is significantly higher for immunocompromised individuals, people receiving chemotherapy or other immunosuppressant drugs, and the elderly.

According to the CDC, children at greatest risk for invasive pneumococcal disease are those who have sickle cell anemia, immunocompromised, those of certain Native populations, African American, those exposed to second hand smoke at home, and children attending childcare centers (who are 2-3 times more at risk than children in home care.)

Pneumococci bacteria is responsible for 50% of bacterial meningitis cases (where the infection causes inflammation in the meninges of the spinal cord fluid and brain) each year, approximately 3,000-6,000 cases with the majority occurring in the elderly.

Before the vaccine there were about 700 cases annually of bacterial meningitis in the U.S. in children under the age of five. 200 of those children died from complications with the infection.

Pneumococcal disease is not an “outbreak disease,” as in there are not pockets of involvement- and severity can differ from person to person depending on how far the infection has traveled. It has never been a common disease amongst children but does affect the elderly.

Emergency Care:

Care for pneumococcal disease in children will vary depending on the severity of disease progression. If your child experiences prolonged fever and chest cough for over a week and fever is worsening, that is a good sign that you need to seek emergency care and antibiotics orally or intravenously.

In severe cases of infection and bacterial meningitis cases, hospitalization would be needed.

I was surprised at the amount of natural therapies for pneumonia infection available. From essential oils to herbs to homeopathy, I found many options in The Unvaccinated Child: A Treatment Guide for Parents and Caregivers.

Much of the early symptoms of streptococci infection mimic a mild cold, so basic natural home care should begin immediately regardless of official diagnosis or not.

Prevnar 13 Vaccine (PcV)

Ingredients:

• Pc sugar/ diphtheria toxoid complex, (PCV7 serotypes: 4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F, 23F plus additional serotypes 1, 3, 5, 6A, 7F and 19A)
• Aluminum – 125 micrograms
• Polysorbate 80 Succinate (buffer)

PcV Vaccine is given in 4 Doses: 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and between 12 and 15 months.

The original childhood pneumococcal vaccine, put into use in 2000, Prevnar 7 was designed to prevent the most common 7 (out of 90 strains) of pneumococcal bacteria in children. Eventually less common strands became more common and more aggressive, (chasing the mutation) and additional strains were added. In 2010, Prevnar 13 was developed to cover the 13 most common strains of pneumococcal bacteria.

Prevnar has never been studied against a pure control group. The approval studies done used an experimental meningococcal vaccine with no reaction profile instead of using a placebo. In the same study, children were all given the DPT vaccine as well.

VAERS Report:

In 2015, ~4,500 adverse events and 37 deaths from both Prevnar 7 and Prevnar 13 vaccines combined were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). (Remember this reported number is estimated to be 10-100 times less than the actual number and is a volunteer-based reporting system.)

In 2016, these numbers were consistent at ~4,100 adverse events and 38 deaths after vaccination.

CDC infographic targeting at-risk populations for pneumococcal vaccination. (Source: cdc.org)

My Thoughts:

Invasive pneumococcal disease is pretty scary to read about, but there some important things to note when making a decision about whether to give this vaccine or not. There is a very defined population who is most at risk for invasive disease.

If your child falls into any of these categories, you may want to consider this vaccination if it worries you, but I do believe that the type of daily preventative care and home care at the beginning of illness can make a huge difference in your child’s outcome:

• they have sickle cell anemia
• they are immunocompromised,
• they are of certain Native American descent
• they are African American
• they are exposed to secondhand smoke at home
• they attend a childcare center
• they are not breastfed to at least 6 months

**If you choose to give this vaccine, or any vaccine do NOT give Tylenol before or after since it can block the child’s detoxification pathways and lead to brain inflammation. Find an integrative pediatrician to help you with a pain relief that is right for your child.

I would also recommend spacing this vaccine out from others since it is an aluminum containing vaccine. See Dr. Paul Thomas’s alternative schedule HERE.

This vaccine is not without risk. In both 2015 and 2016, more than 30 children were reported to have died after receiving this vaccine (although they most likely received the other 4-6 vaccines for months 2, 4, 6 and 12 at the same visit.)

The CDC states that up to 90% of the population carries pneumococcal bacteria in our nasal passages at one time or another without it causing any problems. When your immune system is weakened, you will be more prone to infection.

Breastfeeding reduces the risk of contracting pneumonia and complications with pneumococcal bacteria significantly. This study from 2013 found that breastfeeding for at least 6 months and preferably beyond one year, reduced the likelihood of invasive pneumococcal disease in children in countries around the world, regardless of socioeconomic status.

This study from 1999 found that non-breastfed or babies who were supplemented with formula were 17 times more likely to be hospitalized for pneumonia than those being breastfed without formula supplementation.

It is important to know that pneumonia does not HAVE to occur just because you came in contact with the bacteria. This was so important in making our decision. Symptoms can show up as only a minor to moderate cold and rarely travels to the lungs, bloodstream, or brain.

Yes, it is scary to read that before the vaccine, 200 children died each year from bacterial pneumococcal meningitis, but I think it is important to point out that we do not know the underlying factors in these cases. Were they breastfed? Were they cared for at home? Were they given an optimal nutrient-dense diet? Did their parents have knowledge of herbal remedies and appropriate home care? Was their gut biome cared for? Since it was the 1990’s and before, probably not.

If pneumonia does develop it is treatable with antibiotics and emergency care if needed, although it is known that pneumococcal disease can be resistant to first-attempt antibiotics due to the overall overprescription of antibiotics we have seen over the past few decades.

Our Decision:

Ultimately, our decision NOT to vaccinate with the PcV vaccine was due to the knowledge that we were not in a high-risk category for complication from pneumococcal infection. We were committed to exclusive breastfeeding, childcare at home (my husband and I worked opposite shifts,) and proper supplementation of probiotics through diet and supplements.

Our plan of action for pneumococcal infection is to monitor our child carefully for ongoing fever, cough, chest congestion/ breathing problems, lethargy, and especially stiff neck and headache in case of rare meningitis infection. At onset of mild cold symptoms we would begin home care through necessary supplements, probiotics, Vitamin D and much needed rest to allow her body to recover and also begin proper aspiration of mucous (via NoseFrida- my favorite), to avoid infection traveling to her lungs.

We would not hesitate to seek emergency care immediately for regular or IV antibiotics if symptoms of meningitis were present.

Sources Cited:

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/pneumo.html

https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/quick-facts-brain,-spinal-cord,-and-nerve-disorders/meningitis/bacterial-meningitis

https://vaers.hhs.gov/data.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3847465/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC27869/

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The post Making A Decision About Vaccines: Part 5- Pneumococcal Vaccine (PcV) appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

Before the birth of our first child and prior to starting my research on vaccines, this is about how much I thought I knew about polio and the polio vaccine:

1. Polio was a really big problem before the vaccine.
2. Lots of people were paralyzed from polio before the vaccine and many died.
3. After the vaccine everyone was saved from polio! The end.

It’s not quite that simple though. And I think it’s so important for parents evaluating this vaccine to know the big picture around the rise of polio and all of the factors going on at the time just before and after its peak.

The process of writing this post about polio and the polio vaccine was incredibly intense. At times I just wanted to give up this entire series on vaccines because research on polio was difficult and puzzling. Whereas my other posts on vaccines took a few weeks of compilation and research, this post took months. I’m a huge proponent of “doing hard things”, but when it comes to the history and science and statistics of polio, there is just SO MUCH.

So much history, so much varying opinion, so much politics, and so much FEAR. It’s taken a lot of time to detangle the story and break it down to you guys in a way I think makes sense and stays factual.

To complicate the story even more, just as I was about to wrap up my research on this post, a bombshell was dropped on everything I thought I believed about polio. I found out that my own DAD had polio when he was a toddler. I’m not sure how this never came up in conversation, seeing how big of a deal it is in our culture. But my family never mentioned it.

Last night I had an excellent talk with my 93-year-old grandmother about what it was like going through a polio diagnosis with her child. I knew I had to talk it through with her before I published this post, and what she said cemented my confidence in my decision about polio vaccination even more.

This is Part 4 in my vaccine series discussing how we made our decision on which vaccines to give our children. You may also want to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles + MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

Part 9: The Flu Vaccine

Part 4: Polio

Polio Symptoms:

• fever
• sore throat
• nausea and vomiting
• muscle weakness
• pain and stiffness in neck or back
• paralysis

Overview: (CDC)

Poliomyelitis or polio is a transient virus of the gastrointestinal tract. It enters the body through the mouth and can colonize in the pharynx (throat) or in the gastrointestinal tract. There are three poliovirus serotypes, P1, P2, and P3. The virus can invade the lymph tissue, bloodstream, and then in less than 1% of cases it can travel to the central nervous system where permanent paralysis can occur. The virus is excreted from the bowels and can be found in stool up to three weeks after infection.

• Incubation period for polio is 3-6 days with paralysis (<5% of cases) occurring usually 7-14 days after exposure.
• Polio is spread through oral ingestion of microscopic fecal matter usually through contaminated water or food. It is less commonly spread through oral or nasal secretions.
• Polio typically circulates through communities in the summer months.
• Approximately 72% of polio cases have no symptoms. Another 24% infected with polio have minor symptoms such as low grade fever and sore throat. This is a total of 96% of total polio cases without any paralysis or major illness with complete recovery in less than a week.
• 1-4% of those infected with polio have temporary paralysis lasting up to 10 days where after complete recovery occurs.
• Less than 1% of people affected by polio maintain a state of paralysis for more than ten days and have ongoing effects from paralysis. (1 in every 200 infected people)

Timeline: Rise of Polio and the Polio Vaccine Campaign

Polio cases significantly rose from a rare illness of mild symptoms in the 1800’s to an alarming and mind-boggling disease in the mid-20th century. Its rise coincided with many of our national industrial, cultural, and military milestones that I think are important to look at as well.

Once I started wondering about the statistics and the mysterious rise of polio in the 1950’s, I began to look for connections with what was going on in our country at the time. My research ended with me leaning more towards “puzzled” than fearful. There was plenty of information that just didn’t add up with what we are commonly told about polio and its eradication.

• Pre-1900: I have had such a hard time finding information or statistics about polio in the 19th century or earlier. It was a rare and mild disease that wasn’t for much concern from a public health perspective. In some states, such as Connecticut, polio was so rare it wasn’t even a reported disease until 1921. I could find very little to no 19th century data on polio like I could for the other diseases in this vaccine series.
• 1890’s-1920’s: During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s cities significantly cleaned up with community sanitation efforts, indoor plumbing, sanitized water supply, and sanitation efforts in hospitals. The most popular mainstream theory for the rise of polio is related to this which I’ll go into later in this post.
• In 1916 in New York City over 6,000 people died from complications with polio and many were paralyzed. There were 27,000 total paralytic cases and most of the effect of this was felt in the large metropolitan areas of New York City and the mid-Atlantic. There is a strange connection to the area of the initial breakouts in New York City in poorer immigrant neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the location of the Rockefeller-funded research lab where research was being conducted on a strain of monkey polio virus. It is well documented that the 1916 polio strain was unlike typical wild polio in its severity and ability to spread. Nothing like it has been seen since.
• During the years of World War I (1914-1917), the Great Depression (1929-1940), and World War II (1941-1945), the use of chemicals and dumping of toxic waste with unknown consequences at the time, were of great un-concern because of American war and recovery efforts. So much of what we know now about toxicity when it comes to chemical waste exposure was not applied then as it is now. Studies were still being performed to figure out what was causing this mysterious paralysis, eventually landing on the viral-only theory.

1900-1960’s: Breastfeeding decreases significantly as cows’ milk use and formula production and mass distribution becomes a social status consideration as well as easier for mothers in the workforce (reducing protective antibody exposure to infants.) By 1930, commercial formula takes over the use of both cow’s milk supplementation and breastfeeding. By 1950 breastfeeding is seen as socially unacceptable and an option for the poor or done in secrecy. Although I could not find any scientific literature studying the relationship between breastfeeding rates dropping, cows’ milk use and formula use with polio rates, I can imagine just from looking at the the sanitation theory of polio and how maternal antibodies were the key to protecting children from wild polio virus exposure, that DECREASED breastfeeding rates would result in DECREASED maternal antibody protection. Again- just my thoughts and I have NO IDEA why this hasn’t been addressed or studied!

• 1945-1951: Polio case rates double from 19,000 in 1945 to over 40,000 in 1950. 
• October, 1951: Dr. Albert Sabin publishes the sanitation theory of polio in The American Journal of Public Health after studying indigenous populations low occurrence of paralytic polio vs. westernized cultures. He hypothesizes that infants exposed to polio earlier in life through fecal contamination develop asymptomatic, lifelong immunity to polio. And since they are still protected by maternal antibodies when exposed, they don’t have symptoms nor suffer paralysis. When exposure is delayed in more developed cultures with advanced sanitation, polio infection occurs later when maternal protection is no longer present.
• 1952: Polio rates in the U.S. gradually rise reaching a high of 58,000 cases (both paralytic and non-paralytic combined.)
• 1953: 36,000 cases of polio in U.S. Dr. Jonas Salk announces 90% successful injectable polio vaccine.
• 1955: Salk Vaccine (IPV) in widespread use in the U.S. Polio rates drops to 29,000 cases (both paralytic and non-paralytic combined.)
• April, 1955: More than 200,000 children receive the IPV (Salk) polio vaccine that did not use a proper amount of formaldehyde and left active polio virus to take hold, causing hundreds to thousands of cases of paralytic polio and killing 10. This came to be known as the Cutter Incident.
• Late 1955: Diagnosis criteria of polio is changed automatically reducing polio cases by up to 60% to only paralytic polio cases. (see discussion below.)
• 1956-1960: Polio cases drop to ~5,000 cases annually after diagnosis criteria changes, eliminating paralytic cases lasting under 60 days (only paralytic polio now recorded as a polio case.)
• 1961: Dr. Sabin’s Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) goes into widespread use in the U.S, especially in schools where children receive their polio vaccine dose on a sugar cube.
• 1962: Discovery that some IPV (Salk) vaccines used from 1955-1963 were contaminated with simian virus 40 (SV40) from the monkey culture used to produce the vaccine. As many as 100 million people injected with SV40 contaminated vaccine. People who received a contaminated vaccine have an increased risk of cancer. We have since then learned that SV40 can also can be passed down to next generations through the mother.
• 1979: wild polio considered eradicated from the U.S
• 2000 – today: OPV discontinued in U.S due to live virus “VAPP” or vaccine associated paralytic polio. Injectable IPV takes its place as the standard vaccine. OPV is still the most affordable and widely used polio vaccine used overseas in countries targeted for eradication which continues today.

Other Factors Considered in Polio Incidence:

COMPARISONS OF POLIOMYELITIS 1951-1959

Reclassification of Polio to Only Long Term Paralytic Cases:

Before 1954 and before the vaccine, polio was diagnosed when a patient had “partial or complete paralysis of one or more muscle groups, detected on two examinations at least 24 hours apart.” These are WHO recommendations. So, basically, when any kind of muscle weakness or paralysis occurred in you or your child, you saw a doctor who noted you have muscle weakness of some sorts and flagged you for possible polio infection. Then 24 hours later you returned to the doctor and if you still had symptoms of weakness or paralysis- BAM- a polio diagnosis. This would amount for a whole lot of cases of polio- which is what we saw in the mid 1940’s to mid 1950’s.

In 1955, after the Salk vaccine campaign was in full effect, the official diagnosis criteria CHANGED and the patient had to have paralytic symptoms at the initial doctor visit and then instead of 24 hours later, they had to now have paralysis at least 20 and then 60 days later to be a confirmed case! This eliminated anyone whose symptoms went away between days 2 and 59, and with it a ton of polio cases! Even vaccine researchers admit  <— (see page 2) that this is automatically a lot of polio cases GONE with or without the vaccine. You would no longer be a case on the graph if your symptoms went away before 60 days.

In order to qualify for classification as paralytic poliomyelitis, the patient had to exhibit paralytic symptoms for at least 60 days after the onset of the disease. Prior to 1954, the patient had to exhibit paralytic symptoms for only 24 hours. Laboratory confirmation and the presence of residual paralysis were not required. After 1954, residual paralysis was determined 10 to 20 days and again 50 to 70 days after the onset of the disease. This change in definition meant that in 1955 we started reporting a new disease, namely, paralytic poliomyelitis with a longer lasting paralysis.

-Dr. Bernard Greenberg, head of the Department of Biostatistics of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health

The graph above is a helpful visual to digest what I’m talking about. The areas with the striped bar are cases of polio that would not have been classified as polio under 1954 criteria bringing a much less dramatic reduction of polio cases to the table.

After 1958 there was a new push to separate paralytic polio cases from other paralysis-causing diseases such as transverse myelitis, aseptic meningitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, spinal meningitis, Reye’s syndrome, and several others including acute flaccid paralysis. Before this effort, these would all have been classified under the “polio” umbrella of disease.

By 1960, polio cases could only be diagnosed by confirmed stool sample from a laboratory, creating even more strict criteria and less polio cases.

Environmental Factors and Chemical Usage:

The graph above really paints a well-rounded picture of what was going on around the time of increased polio incidence in the U.S.

The amount of back and forth between different experts disagreeing about the relationship of chemical use and polio made my head spin at times. It is sensical that with increased industry and chemical usage on crops and in our water and dairy supply after World War II, problems would occur. Whether polio is one of these problems is debatable but in the early 1950’s Dr. Morton S. Biskind studied the topic thoroughly and was widely dismissed and shunned by a medical culture entrenched in the viral-only theory of polio.

He says:

“Since the last war there have been a number of curious changes in the incidence of certain ailments and the development of new syndromes never before observed. A most significant feature of this situation is that both man and all his domestic animals have simultaneously been affected. In man, the incidence of poliomyelitis has risen sharply…

“When the population is exposed to a chemical agent (DDT) known to produce in animals lesions in the spinal cord resembling those in human polio, and thereafter the latter disease increases sharply in incidence and maintains its epidemic character year after year, is it unreasonable to suspect an etiologic relationship?”

You can see in the below graph the work of the Weston A. Price Foundation comparing DDT chemical use in the U.S to the incidence of polio. The article it accompanies is excellent and includes many other sources in its bibliography. You could easily study this topic for years.

Source: westonaprice.org

I tend to lean towards an environmental influence on the invasive nature of paralytic polio incidence due to chemicals such as DDT and the arsenic-lead compounds that came before it. Whether it affected us by altering our gut biome allowing for polio virus to access the central nervous system more easily, or if it was simply direct poisoning is discussed in much of the scientific literature on the topic of DDT and other insecticides and polio incidence.

Many of the generation born in the 1940’s and 1950’s remember the DDT trucks circulating neighborhoods spraying lawns, trees and swimming pools in the summertime to kill mosquitoes (also the time when polio surged each year.) Some remember even playing in the spray as the trucks rode by. In India where cases of acute flaccid paralysis (a renamed version of polio symptoms) is on the rise today, DDT is still sprayed several times a year.

DDT being sprayed in pool, 1950’s

Injection-Induced Polio (Provocation Polio):

There have been several studies done on the link between paralytic polio infection and the rise of pertussis vaccination in the late 1940’s and then with widespread polio vaccination in the 1950’s. The idea is that by getting an injection into the muscle (most likely the DTP vaccine) while having active, but most likely asymptomatic polio- invasion of the central nervous system can occur leading to paralytic polio.

A 1998 study was able to reproduce this effect in mice:

“Muscle injury due to injection of vaccines or therapeutic agents is common in medical practice. It has been observed that, if concurrent with PV infection, such injury may increase the risk of neurological complications…we have shown that muscular trauma induced by multiple injections can lead to rapid progression of PV-induced paralysis”

You can also read more in these studies on injection-induced polio:

The Relation Between Injections and Poliomyelitis in Children

The New England Journal of Medicine, 1995: INTRAMUSCULAR INJECTIONS WITHIN 30 DAYS OF IMMUNIZATION WITH ORAL POLIOVIRUS VACCINE — A RISK FACTOR FOR VACCINE-ASSOCIATED PARALYTIC POLIOMYELITIS

Tonsillectomies:

I’m including the theory of excessive tonsillectomies in with this discussion because of a significant amount of study and research done in relating polio incidence in children and adults who received a tonsillectomy in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

Tonsillectomies were the most common medical procedure performed in the U.S. from 1900-1965. In 1959 alone 1.4 million tonsillectomies were performed, mostly in middle to upper class children.

The concern was not so much that these children were more prone to polio infection, but that they had a significantly higher rate of developing bulbar polio, the kind that had the worst forms of paralysis and affected your lungs. These patients were the rarest of polio infection and were the ones you see in the pictures of the iron lung wards. (see above)

In one study of a Utah 1943 polio outbreak, it was found that 43% of the children with bulbar paralytic polio had a tonsillectomy performed within 30 days of the onset.

Dr. Albert Sabin, creator of the oral polio virus (OPV) vaccine even studied and took note of this.

For additional reading on this, you can check out:

American Journal of Public Health, 1954: Tonsillectomy and Poliomyelitis

Journal of the American Medical Association, 1954: Absence of tonsils as a factor in the development of bulbar poliomyelitis

Journal of the American Medical Association, 1952: OCCURRENCE OF POLIOMYELITIS IN RELATION TO TONSILLECTOMIES

AFP in the U.S. and in India:

When evaluating polio and the polio vaccine, this last point is so important to reinforce. Polio was reclassified and all non-paralytic cases of polio were thrown away with the change in 1954. This dropped the data overnight. With it came new diseases and the acknowledgement of old diseases.

There are many other viruses and conditions that cause temporary to permanent paralysis that are seen still today and documented in the early 20th century including Coxsackie virus, aseptic meningitis, Guillain Barre Syndrome, transverse myelitis, certain enteroviruses, and acute flaccid myelitis, amongst many others. In 2015 alone over 3,000 cases of acute flaccid myelitis were diagnosed in our country. CNN even surprisingly reported about it! Coincidentally, acute flaccid myelitis also peaks in summer and lessens in winter just like polio. Another name for acute flaccid myelitis is “Acute Flaccid Paralysis” which we often hear when referring to India’s paralysis problem that is magically not polio- but has risen since the “eradication” of polio in India since the early 1990’s.

In the 1950’s many of these would have been classified as “polio.”

See below.

Polio Vaccine Information: (CDC)

Vaccine Ingredients:

IPV (Salk inactivated polio vaccine- used in the U.S. – injectable)

• All three inactivated strains of poliovirus
• M-199 culture medium made from saline, vitamins, amino acids, sucrose, glutamate, monkey kidney cells, and human albumin
• 2-phenoxyethanol- about 0.5% of the solution
• Formaldehyde (about 0.02% of the solution)
• Residual amounts of antibiotics
• Traces of calf serum

According to the CDC, the IPV gives 90% or more immunity after 2 doses and at least 99% immune after 3 doses. Duration of immunity not known with certainty.

OPV (Sabin oral polio vaccine- used overseas, discontinued from use in the U.S. in 2000 due to risk of shedding in stool) For ingredients and information see the CDC Pink Book.

It’s important to note that this vaccine is often given in combination with other vaccines at 2, 4, and 6 months.

VAERS reported 657 adverse reactions in the U.S. from the IPV, inactivated polio vaccine and combo vaccines with 2 reported deaths after vaccination in 2016. 

VAERS reports have the potential to be a great tool for transparency in vaccine research, but unfortunately data there is significantly underreported. Many vaccine injuries are cumulative and have slow or gradual onset and go unnoticed until it is serious later on. Also, VAERS reports are volunteer-based so it relies on doctors spending their time filling out vaccine injury reports or parents doing it themselves (even though many parents don’t even know it is there to use). Because of this, there is increasing popular belief that vaccine injuries are most likely 10 to 100 times higher than what is actually reported in VAERS.

Emergency Care:

Obviously the chances of developing paralytic polio in our country are extremely rare, but if you suspected your child had paralytic polio, seeing a practitioner that is versed in emergency care for polio would be essential. Having a plan ahead of time and discussing this with your practitioner is important.

In the U.S. a case of polio in an unvaccinated child would be headline news. Choosing to treat a child at home with herbs, nutrition, and home care would realistically- probably end us up in jail. So talking to a trusted practitioner who is supportive of your vaccination decision ahead of time would be a responsible move and would give you more peace. Again though, unless you travel internationally often, chances of polio infection is incredibly low.

I definitely wonder if polio would have been an issue in the early 20th century if people back then knew what we know now about chemical exposure, nutrition, and the importance of breastfeeding for antibody protection against polio.

Consumption of organic fruits and vegetables not sprayed with chemicals, cultured and fermented food on a weekly basis and daily probiotic to protect gut health (as a compromised gut could increase likelihood of nervous system involvement) are important in prevention of paralytic polio.

If infection is suspected, early intervention of high dose Vitamin C therapy, nutritional nourishment, and antiviral herbal remedies such as elderberry and astragalus, osha, and echinacea as glycerites can prevent occurrence of paralytic polio. (Source)

I personally would make sure my child was sufficient in B vitamins, selenium, Vitamin D3/K2 and magnesium which will help relax the nervous system.

Homeopathic remedies and homeoprophylaxis (although discredited and dismissed by mainstream medicine) have shown to be effective towards polio in smaller populations studies. You can read more about that HERE.

Thankfully, the old practices of isolation of muscles in cases of paralysis were already losing popularity to the physical therapy methods taught by Sister Kenny in the 1950’s.

My Thoughts:

My Dad’s Polio Story

As I mentioned above, just as I was about to publish this post, I found out from my dad that HE HAD POLIO as a toddler. He knew very little details about it so I called my 93-year-old grandmother to get the facts. She was able to recall the entire situation like it was yesterday.

She told me that when my dad was born he was a very sickly child. I asked her about his birth and she said she labored for a bit and then they gave her a shot in the hospital and she passed out and doesn’t remember the rest but he was delivered normally after using “the tools that help get the baby out.” They took my dad from her immediately after she held him for the first time. She said she wanted to nurse him but the doctor told her that her milk was too rich so they put him on Carnation formula in a can. She said they discovered that his bowel was obstructed at birth and it caused a lot of problems. He lost 3 pounds in two weeks and the doctors didn’t think he would make it. “He was a miracle.” She said he began to tolerate the formula better but as he got older he could only eat foods that were plain and no citrus foods or rich foods as they would cause him to have stomach problems.

Around his first birthday he started walking. Shortly afterwards “he got sick and then couldn’t get up to walk and his legs were very weak.” The pediatrician sent them to the children’s hospital in Detroit and there they taught my grandparents “Sister Kenny’s physical therapy” that they did for several weeks at home until his legs were strong enough to walk again.

My grandmother also mentioned that the house they lived in had no indoor bathroom and they had an outhouse with a septic tank. She and my grandfather had bought a “house shell” for $3,000 and were gradually saving up to add a completed bathroom and kitchen. They even installed their own electricity and plumbing with the help of their parents and siblings! 1948 was such a different time than how we live today.

Looking back at my dad’s story, I wonder how different it would have been if he would have entered the world today with what we know about disease prevention and avoiding unnecessary medical intervention. What if he would have received maternal antibody protection from polio through breastfeeding, had an indoor toilet in their home, and had appropriate care for his bowel obstruction? Just like with tonsillectomies and with the polio-injection provocation theory, could it have been my dad’s bowel obstruction and gut problems created a pathway for polio to gain access to the central nervous system? I find myself being incredibly grateful he was able to receive appropriate physical therapy and my grandparents were mindful for how to care for him. So many others didn’t have this option or information.

Our Decision:

Deciding on whether to give the polio vaccine was a difficult decision to make. The public health aspect is important to me and the IPV has been in use for over 40 years in the U.S. and is considered the “safest” of the vaccines due to its seemingly low side-effect profile.

Even with that information, my husband and I were still not comfortable with the idea of bypassing our daughter’s natural defense barriers and injecting a foreign substance into her bloodstream so early in life. The ingredients in the vaccine are also concerning. There is still so much to learn about the cumulative effects and role in chronic disease and cancer in relation to vaccination.

With all that I learned about the entire history of polio in the U.S. I felt that so much of what was causing the polio problem and vulnerability towards paralytic polio in the early 20th century were things we have already corrected from past generations (with high plant-based organic diet, focus on gut health, unmedicated childbirth, exclusive breastfeeding, hand washing, knowledge of supplemental nutrition, etc.)

Since we would not be traveling outside of the U.S. to at-risk areas, our daughter was exclusively given breast milk and was cared for at home, and we became knowledgeable about polio risk factors, symptoms and options for care and treatment, we have chosen to DELAY polio vaccination indefinitely. 

We understand that the risk for polio infection in the U.S. is significantly low and have many reasons to believe (as discussed above) that other factors such as exposure to pesticides and insecticides, unnecessary tonsillectomies, nutritional deficiencies and availability of emergency care and appropriate physical therapy for paralysis early on- could possibly alter disease outcome.

If she goes into the medical or mission field or travels to polio-prone areas as an adult, we will discuss the risk with her of polio where she is traveling and discuss with our holistically-minded MD and homeopath before making a decision on vaccination. If a vaccine for polio is ever necessary and given in the future, we would follow up with an appropriate detoxification protocol.

Any thoughts on polio or the polio vaccine? I’d love to chat with you. Leave your comments below! 

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The post Making A Decision About Vaccines: Part 4 – Polio Vaccine (IPV) appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

This is Part 3 in my vaccine series discussing how we made our decision on which vaccines we give our children. You may also want to check out the other two posts in this series: Part 1: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility and Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines.

So, to be perfectly transparent- this was the vaccine I most deeply considered. I was scared of my child getting whooping cough and diphtheria sounded horrible, too. Drug manufacturer propaganda tapped into my mama fears big time. Remember that commercial with the grandmother dressed up as a wolf disguised with killer whooping cough? I thought I was putting my baby at THAT kind of risk.

Nowadays everyone, even pregnant women are recommended for TDaP boosters (the adult version of DTaP) every ten years to help out with the “whooping cough problem”.

Today we are going to look into what’s really going on with pertussis and discuss the details of the other diseases that the DTaP is recommended for: diphtheria and tetanus.

This is Part 3 in my vaccine series discussing which vaccines we decided to give to our children and why. You may also want to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles + MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

Part 9: The Flu Vaccine

Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis

Diphtheria 

Overview: (CDC)

Diphtheria (D) is a serious throat infection that is caused by bacteria. Incubation period is 2-5 days. The toxin produced by the bacteria causes irritation to the throat and upper lungs causing severe coughing and breathing difficulty. It is transmitted through air and saliva.

Diphtheria was a significant cause of death in the pre-sanitation era. It was typically seen at epidemic levels in lower socioeconomic populations. You can see from the purple line in the below graph that in 1900, death from diphtheria was 40 per every 100,000 people in the U.S, the vast majority of these cases were infants. By 1945, death from diphtheria had dropped to less than 2 per 100,000. This is BEFORE the vaccine was in widespread use in the late 1940’s.

U.S. Diphtheria Mortality 1900-1970 (source)

Diphtheria Symptoms:

• sore throat with swelling that can be severe
• swollen glands
• fever
• weakness and fatigue

Emergency Care and Treatment:

Diphtheria is extremely rare in the U.S. today, but if it were to be something I suspected our children had I would seek immediate medical care. Most people in the U.S. who develop diphtheria have been traveling overseas and contract it, so make sure to tell your doctor if you suspect possible diphtheria infection after international travel. The diphtheria antitoxin is still used to treat diphtheria overseas. The antitoxin is also available in the U.S. but is not certified by the FDA. The CDC has released it and allowed it for dispersion as an “investigational new drug.”

Just like with any disease, the severity of the illness depends on the health of the individual- so prevention through diet, supplementation, and nourishing lifestyle habits (good sleep, outside time, sunshine, etc.) are important.

My Thoughts:

Diphtheria death rates were lowered to less than 2 per 100,000 even before the vaccine and we rarely see a case in the U.S. today. This was not a disease I am concerned about and we did not choose to give this vaccine. In times where diphtheria was epidemic it was typically seen in overcrowded, poor living conditions without available nutrition, clean water and indoor plumbing.

If my children were to travel overseas to areas still prone to diphtheria, we would research incidence and available emergency medical care in the area before deciding on vaccination.

Tetanus

Overview: (CDC)

Tetanus (T) is a bacterial infection contracted through deep puncture wounds that are infected with tetanus bacteria from contaminated soil, needles, or fecal matter. In developing countries, tetanus can also be contracted by dirty tools used to cut umbilical cords or used in abortions. Incubation period can be from 3 – 21 days. Once a person is infected, the tetanus toxin produced causes temporary paralysis that can affect the entire body and usually starts in the jaw.

Before the vaccine, the U.S reported around 1,300 cases of tetanus per year. Now we see about 50-100.

In the below graph (which is government data from England and Wales), you can see the downward trend in death from tetanus before widespread vaccine use began in the late 1940’s.

Tetanus Symptoms:

• jerking generalized spasms
• locking up of the jaw
• difficulty swalowing
• possible fever and sweats

Emergency Care and Treatment:

Tetanus is an infection that requires emergency care and tetanus immune globulin is recommended as soon as possible. Wounds should also be cleaned immediately with hydrogen peroxide and any debris removed.

My Thoughts:

Since my daughter was an immobile baby and she wouldn’t be running around barefoot where there were farm animals and unknown risks of nails in the soil, I didn’t feel tetanus was an incredible risk in her first year and she did not receive the tetanus vaccine.

If I’m honest, 1,300 cases of tetanus each year (pre-vaccine stats) doesn’t seem endemic to me. And this was from an era where farms and farm incident of tetanus were more common and the world was at war.

Our family will continue to take precaution in always wearing shoes when in areas that pose a risk. With modern wound and emergency care, even unvaccinated adults who receive deep puncture wound tetanus infections rarely have complications.

We have hydrogen peroxide at home for immediate cleaning and a great urgent care nearby if we needed a professional opinion. If my children had an injury from a nail or an animal bite I would definitely go in for another opinion (and probably be prepared for a vaccine lecture.)

If needed, we would consider the tetanus immune globulin (especially if the injury occurred near animal feces and was a deep wound.) But in general, I really hope my girls wouldn’t be playing barefoot in a field with possible sharp metal with nearby animal feces- yuck.

Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

Overview: (CDC)

Pertussis (aP), or “whooping cough” is an infectious disease caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacterium. Over 200,000 cases were reported annually with as much as 9,000 deaths each year before the earlier DTP vaccine became widely used in the 1940’s.

There is no permanent immunity to pertussis although additional infections are typically less serious. Pertussis is most severe in children under two months. The incubation period for the illness is 7-10 days. (CDC)

The “whooping cough” is due to mucous forming deep in the bronchial tubes. The pertussis bacteria toxin actually “eats” away at the fine cilia hairs that help move the mucous up and out of the bronchial tubes and keep mucous from getting into the lungs. The number one cause of death with pertussis is complications with bacterial pneumonia- when mucous gets into the lungs, typically of young babies whose bronchial passages are too small and their cough reflexes are weak.

Pertussis Symptoms:

There are three stages of pertussis infection:

• Stage 1: (1-2 weeks) Runny nose, sneezing, low-grade fever, and mild occasional cough- similar to the common cold. Many do not have a fever at all.
• Stage 2: Low-grade fever and increased severity of cough. Rapid bursts of severe cough, especially at night. It is not uncommon for breathing to be difficult or for patient to turn red and then blue from lack of oxygen. Vomiting can occur due to coughing. It is not uncommon for children to have a coughing fit and then to appear totally normal. This stage lasts 2-3 weeks but can last longer.
• Stage 3: The recovery stage. Cough will gradually decrease but it is not unusual to have sporadic cough for several months.

Treatment and Emergency Care:

Whooping cough is typically a disease that needs to run its course for full recovery, although antibiotics are usually recommended to make the infected person less contagious. In severe cases in infants, hospitalization is needed especially if disease progresses to pneumonia.

As a parent, it is important to remember that pertussis presents with low to no fever. If your child has a moderate to high fever, it is not pertussis. Croup cough is also a common childhood illness that can be confused for whooping cough but whooping cough will typically be a DRY cough.

I have spoken to other moms about their experience with a child having whooping cough or read testimonies for many years now. They have all been extremely relieving and has boosted my confidence of my ability to care for a child with whooping cough. Many of them have used the Vitamin C protocol that Dr. Suzanne Humphries recommends for whooping cough and it seems to significantly reduce the severity and length of the illness. Having ascorbic acid or liposomal Vitamin C on hand at home is an important part of choosing not to vaccinate for whooping cough. Also, become familiar with the Vitamin C protocol and be prepared to start Vitamin C at first signs of pertussis.

Pertussis Incidence vs. Mortality

The charts below are fascinating. I’ve included the mortality statistics from three “westernized” countries who all experienced a revolution in sanitation, nutrition, and medical care availability all about the same time, between 1880 and 1930. The pertussis vaccine was not used in these countries until the 1940’s and into the early 1950’s.

Pertussis is naturally cyclical in nature, with peaks in disease every 3-5 years which you can see clearly in the charts below.

Death rates are per 100,000 people, the equivalent of a very large college football stadium.

U.S Mortality Statistics- Pertussis:  1900-1970

You can see on this chart using data from the U.S Vital Statistics Record and the Historical Statistics of the U.S. that pertussis deaths were on the significant decline before the vaccine was introduced.

We see the same similar pattern in England with a significantly more obvious decline in whooping cough death before the vaccine was in widespread use.

And again in Australia. Significant improvement in whooping cough survival before the vaccine was introduced. Australia paints an especially interesting picture since mass vaccination didn’t start until even later and yet they showed the same declining pertussis rates as Great Britain and the U.S.

So the DEATH rates are better, but what about the INCIDENT rates?

My skeptic brain wouldn’t let this one alone. I saw that YES, many anti-vaccine activists provide these mortality graphs as part of their argument, and for good reason. They speak volumes about how improved community sanitation, nutrition, and emergency care made a positive impact on overall survival from whooping cough BEFORE the vaccine.

But the pertussis INCIDENCE graphs like the one above told a very clear story. The original DTP vaccine DID INDEED have an impact on the INCIDENCE of whooping cough, lowering it drastically within twenty years (even though the side effects from the DTP were of such concern a replacement vaccine was created.)

But the DEATH rate did not see the dramatic decline because it had already declined. You can see pertussis as a cause of death had already begun to decline from 1900-1945 (before the vaccine era- see the green line in the first graph further up.) You can see this much more clearly by percentages of deaths by year in the chart on the left side of this page under the column “death rate.”

My Thoughts:

I did not see the above graphs until recently, but they confirmed what I felt in my gut back in 2008 when I was researching the pertussis vaccine for my first daughter. Whooping cough, although very scary and no fun to go through with your child, is not the deadly monster it was in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

I am not underplaying the severity of the disease and need for action by any means, but I think it is important to know that we have options for treatment if our children were to contract it as well as availability for prevention and optimal nutrition.

Today, whooping cough is on the rise, even in the fully vaccinated. In 2012, the U.S. saw the most cases since the 1950’s at more than 48,000. The confusing part is that the vast majority of these cases were fully vaccinated!

Since the U.S. switched over from the more reaction-prone DTP vaccine (which many of us receiving in the 1980’s and before) to the less controversial but less effective DTaP vaccine in 1997, we have seen a RISE in whooping cough. The DTaP wanes dramatically– up to 34% by 48 months! This is why boosters are needed in order for the vaccine to maintain effectiveness and why they are also encouraged for the entire adult population every ten years. In a 2006 study, scientists concluded that 86% of whooping cough cases that year were in fully vaccinated individuals!

In 2014, scientists from the USDA tried to recreate and discover what could be going on with the increasing incidence of whooping cough. The study discovered that baboons given the acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) actually contract pertussis after vaccination and store the bacteria in their nostrils (although they were virtually symptomless.) These baboons would then spread pertussis to the unvaccinated populations of baboons.

The study also showed that the unvaccinated population of baboons- although they experienced more obvious pertussis symptoms, acquired the strongest and most long lasting immunity to pertussis. Most importantly, the unvaccinated population was NOT the reason for increased pertussis occurrence. The authors concluded that there was a great need for a more effective pertussis vaccine.

And although this is unscientific and simply observational, just before our daughter was born and I was going out on maternity leave- TWO of my elementary aged students came down with whooping cough in my class. I legally had to be notified since I was pregnant. Both students had been fully vaccinated and it was suggested that I get the TDaP booster vaccine since I was so close to delivery.

I imagine you could guess my response to that! I never got the booster vaccine, never got whooping cough and neither did my baby.

To me, choosing the DTaP vaccine for my daughter felt like a cheap and risky band-aid that we would have to keep on applying for it to stick.

After quite a bit of back and forth, my husband and I decided to forgo the pertussis vaccine.

Whooping Cough is serious but I felt educated enough about the symptoms and emergency care to deal with a possible case if it occurred.

Being knowledgeable of how to use the Vitamin C protocol was our chosen defense against the possibility of whooping cough, along with providing immune support early on with isolation from sick people and crowded places for her first 2-3 months of life (this was admittedly not adhered to as much as we would have liked- and especially with our additional children but we committed to breastfeeding and close maternal contact and did our best!)

We have a strong faith in the nourished, unaltered human immune system and were educated on how to care for her if we we thought she had pertussis. We knew the symptoms and had liposomal Vitamin C on hand and instructions for Dr. Suzanne Humphries’ Vitamin C whooping cough protocol for immediate care.

DTaP  and TDaP Vaccine Information:

There are multiple options for this vaccine. If you want to look more into all of the various ingredients, here are links for your research. Many of the ingredients bring up great concern.

• Sanofi Pasteur: Diphtheria & Tetanus or DT) Vaccine Package Insert
• Infanrix – (Diphtheria, Tetanus & Pertussis or DTaP) Vaccine Package Insert
• DAPTACEL – (DTaP) Vaccine Package Insert
• Pediarix – (DTaP, Hepatitis B & Polio) Vaccine Package Insert
• KINRIX – (DTaP & Polio) Vaccine Package Insert
• Pentacel – (DTaP, Polio & Haemophilus Influenzae b or HIB) Vaccine Package Insert

There were 5,857 adverse reactions reported to VAERS in 2016 from the DTaP, DT, and TDaP and combo vaccines with 44 resulting in death after the DTaP and D,T, or P combo vaccines and 5 deaths after TD and TDaP vaccines.

VAERS reports have the potential to be a great tool for transparency in vaccine research, but unfortunately vaccine adverse reaction data is significantly underreported. Many vaccine injuries are cumulative and have slow or gradual onset and go unnoticed until it is serious later on. Also, VAERS reports are volunteer-based so it relies on doctors spending their time filling out vaccine injury reports or parents doing it themselves (even though many parents don’t even know it is there to use). Because of this, there is increasing popular belief that vaccine injuries are most likely 10 to 100 times higher than what is actually reported in VAERS.

Regarding TDaP during pregnancy, this is directly quoted from the CDC:

“No study has assessed the safety of repeated doses of Tdap in pregnant women. CDC will monitor and assess the safety of Tdap use during pregnancy.”

What are your thoughts about the DTaP vaccine? Would love to chat with you below!

Next up: The Polio vaccine…

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The post Making A Decision About Vaccines : Part 3- Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DTaP) appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

This is Part 2 in the series on how we made the decision about vaccines for our family. You can find Part 1 here and I strongly recommend reading it to get our family’s backstory before reading on. 

If you read my last post then you know that after months of research and amidst my healing from cancer while pregnant, we decided to delay vaccination for our daughter at birth. We had a lot on our plate and did not feel comfortable making such a big decision that we couldn’t reverse. When we decided this we weren’t necessarily sure HOW LONG we would delay but knew we weren’t comfortable with either decision yet.

I left off in my last post with our decision to delay vaccination at birth. So let’s pick up right there.

In the first six months of life, it is recommended that our babies receive TWENTY-FIVE doses of vaccine antigens against EIGHT diseases. Today we’re going to take a look at the first two of those vaccines: Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).

This is Part 2 in my vaccine series discussing which vaccines we decided to give to our children and why. You may also want to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles + MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

Part 9: The Flu Vaccine

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib

Hepatitis B

Overview: (CDC)

Hepatitis B (HBV) is a virus that is transmitted through blood, semen, and less commonly other body fluids. Babies born to HBV positive mothers are likely to contract the disease. Populations most at risk for HBV are intravenous drug users and sexually active adults with  multiple partners.

HBV is not transmitted through hugging, kissing, breastfeeding, sharing utensils, etc. HBV is commonly an acute illness that can be recovered from in adults, but infants are 80-90% likely to develop chronic HBV and have complications such as cirrhosis to the liver and liver cancer as they grow.

Hepatitis B Symptoms:

• fever
• fatigue
• nausea and vomiting
• abdominal pain
• dark urine
• clay-like stools.

Hepatitis B Vaccine Information:

• Widespread use of the Hepatitis B vaccine began in the early 1990’s.
• Hepatitis B vaccine is given at birth to protect babies who may be born to mothers infected with the Hepatitis B virus. Additional vaccine doses are given at 1 month and 6 months.
• In the U.S. the CDC recommends that all babies be vaccinated at birth for HBV regardless of their mother’s infection status.
• The Hepatitis B Vaccine does not contain a live virus, but only DNA from the virus. There is no way to catch HBV from the vaccine.
• HBV vaccine ingredients include:
  •      Hepatitis B surface antigen
  •      aluminum (250 mcg per DOSE)
  •      saline
  •      yeast proteins
  •      formaldehyde
• Side effects: Reactability from the Hep B vaccine occur in 10-15% of children, primarily flu-like symptoms. Other serious complications have been reported, although rare. (CDC)

Emergency Care:

Hepatitis B is mostly dealt with as a long term, symptom-free virus. Many believe the best option for long-term wellness is simply self-care and healthy living. If infection were to occur in any of my family members, especially during acute infection, nourishing the body with clean foods, juices, and immune boosting supplements would help tremendously. Acute symptoms do not last long and pass similarly to the flu in most cases. When liver failure is present, some doctors will recommend antiviral medication. (source)

My Thoughts:

I knew my daughter would be at an extremely low-risk for Hepatitis B. As part of routine prenatal testing, I knew I was HBV negative. HBV screening is a normal part of prenatal testing in most women, but be sure to ask your health provider to make sure.

My husband and I also were able to work opposite shifts (I was a teacher and he worked from home), so we were able to keep our daughter out of daycare for her first two years. Although the risk is extremely rare, if a daycare worker were infected with Hepatitis B, there is a very small chance that a child could contract the virus from them.

It is also important to note that VAERS reported 3,365 adverse reactions from the Hepatitis B vaccine and combo vaccines with 38 resulting in death.

VAERS reports have the potential to be a great tool for transparency in vaccine research, but unfortunately data there is significantly underreported. Many vaccine injuries are cumulative and have slow or gradual onset and go unnoticed until it is serious later on. Also, VAERS reports are volunteer-based so it relies on doctors spending their time filling out vaccine injury reports or parents doing it themselves (even though many parents don’t even know it is there to use). Because of this, there is increasing popular belief that vaccine injuries are most likely 10 to 100 times higher than what is actually reported in VAERS.

Since our daughter was at very low risk for contracting Hepatitis B we have chosen NOT to vaccinate her with the Hepatitis B vaccine.

If she goes into the medical field as an adult, we will discuss the risk with her of Hepatitis B. Adults who I would recommend considering Hepatitis B vaccination would be emergency workers who come into contact with blood, drug users, and adults who have multiple sex partners.

Haemophilus influenzae: type b (Hib)

Overview: (CDC)

Hib disease is a bacterial disease with a primary concern of resulting bacterial meningitis or pneumonia from infection. Hib is spread through contact with infected cough, mucous, or saliva. In most case, Hib is contained in the nose, throat, or ears of the person and symptoms are very minor. In rare cases it travels to the blood stream resulting in more severe bacterial meningitis or pneumonia.

Hib is bacterial so it does NOT give lifelong immunity. Hib is most serious before age 2. Hib meningitis has a 5% fatality rate and in about 25% of cases there is permanent damage such as hearing loss, etc.

Hib Symptoms:

•  fever
• lethargy
• vomiting and poor appetite
• stiff neck
• headache
• hallucination.

Vaccine Information: 

• Widespread use of the Hib vaccine began in the late 1980’s. Doses are given at 2, 4, 6, and 12-15 months of age.
• Before the vaccine, 20,000 case of Hib were reported each year and about 1,000 of these died. Now only about 25 cases are reported annually and death from Hib is rare.
• Side effects for Hib vaccine can be difficult to decipher since it is usually given for the first time along with several other vaccines, but VAERS reports are minimal.
• Several studies on HIB vaccination have reported reduced immune response to Hib in the week following vaccination. This was more concerning when Hib was more common in the early 1990’s.
• There are three brands of Hib vaccine currently used and all are produced differently:
  •      ActHIB brand contains HIB sugar/tetanus toxoid complex, sugar water, and saline.
  •      PedVaxHIB brand contains HIB sugar/ protein complex, saline, 225 mcg aluminum.
  •      HibTITER brand contains HIB sugar/ diphtheria toxoid complex, saline.

Emergency Care:

Hib is a mild illness unless it travels to the bloodstream. People with weakened immune systems and young babies, especially non-breastfed and those in a large daycare setting are more susceptible to this. If your baby exhibits any of the symptoms above and is unresponsive, it warrants a trip to the emergency room. Hib is treatable with intravenous antibiotics.

My Thoughts:

Hib is one of those diseases that has been obviously impacted by vaccination. It is now extremely uncommon.

There are better options for the Hib vaccine than many of the other vaccines. There are three vaccines to choose from and two of them are aluminum-free and only have a few ingredients.

At first look it seemed like a no-brainer to me that vaccinating against Hib (especially with a non-aluminum brand) would be a wise parenting choice. But I was still concerned that we would still be injecting a foreign, genetically altered substance into our child’s body bypassing all natural infection pathways.

The VAERS database also reported 2,248 vaccine reactions from Hib and Hib combo vaccines in 2016, with 472 being serious injury requiring hospitalization and 36 resulting in death.

There is also the consideration of how eradicating Hib disease from our population has impacted the rise of Pneumococcal Pneumonia. See Dr. Sherri Tenpenny discuss this HERE.

Our decision about Hib was difficult. The data on efficacy was clear and the vaccine risk seemed minimal. But I also knew that there is much that has not been studied about the overall impact of vaccination and long-term effects like autoimmune disease and cancer. My gut was unsettled with the entire vaccination experiment.

When looking at common death of children under one year old, I saw that both SIDS and unintentional accidents were above 1,000 deaths each year in the U.S. Before the vaccine, similar numbers presented for Hib. I understood that Hib was another risk to simply being human. I would do my best to prevent it by taking precautions and caring for her immune system, just as I would taking precautions to other threats.

Ultimately, we decided NOT to vaccinate our daughter with the Hib vaccine. She was exclusively breastfed from a mother with an optimal, high plant-based diet and cared for at home. I was knowledgeable about the symptoms and had a plan of action and would seek emergency care immediately if I was concerned.

Please check back soon for Part 3 in this series: The DTap vaccine.

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The post Making A Decision About Vaccines : Part 2- Hepatitis B and Hib appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while then you know I’m a bit hesitant to engage in this whole vaccine discussion publicly. And I imagine I’m not the only one here who feels that way.

A few months ago I attempted to publish this series and discuss vaccines for the first time ever on my blog.

But the fear kept me quiet and I decided against it.

Time has gone by and I still haven’t been able to shake the conviction to talk about it publicly, even if I have to deal with some backlash.

So I decided to simply just tell my story. This is MY story. MY family. I figured that I would share it and let you know that although this is not medical advice, it is what I’ve learned along the way. I hope you all find it immensely helpful in sifting through this uncomfortable but very important decision.

I want to preface this post with the fact that I did my best in linking up the studies I bookmarked, books I read, and notes from talks with our pediatrician, as well as other references over the last almost ten years of research since my first pregnancy, but as any mother of three little ones would know- there’s just not enough time for perfection.

So to sum it up, my disclaimer is: Ponder on my words, but DO your own research. Our family dynamics, health histories, and living circumstances are all so different.

OK, here we are. And I’m really going to press the PUBLISH button this time. Here we go…NOW. 

This is Part 1 in my vaccine series discussing which vaccines we decided to give to our children and why. You may also want to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Our Vaccine Choice: Risks, Benefits, Responsibility

Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib Vaccines

Part 3: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine

Part 4: Polio Vaccine

Part 5: Pneumococcal Vaccine

Part 6: Rotavirus Vaccine

Part 7: Measles + MMR

Part 7 1/2: MMR

Part 8: Mumps, Rubella + MMR

Part 9: The Flu Vaccine

Vax and Non-Vax Risks vs. Benefits

As we all know, discussion around vaccines can provoke all kinds of unexpected responses from people. It should be added to the “topics to avoid at the dinner table” list – religion, politics, and vaccines.

At the heart of the disagreement are two completely different belief systems for managing disease in people.

You have one model (by far the most popular) saying we need to inject and “solve” the pathogen problem with patented vaccines and everyone has to participate. Individual circumstances and family health history are of little concern since the vaccines are “proven safe and effective” for everyone and far outweighs the risk of the disease. They teach us about what disease epidemics “used to be like” before vaccines and convince us into doing our part to make sure it never happens again.

The other side suggests that perhaps there is a cumulative and long-term consequence to all of these vaccines so early in life or at any time. They are saying that perhaps we need to “build the patient up from the inside out” and “allow the immune system to work optimally” by giving it proper nutrition and gentler preventative care.  Public sanitation has been perfected with clean water, indoor plumbing, trash collection, and food safety. We are also in the golden age of emergency care if needed and knowledge of proper nutrition and vitamins and minerals are well studied and available.

So who is right? And is there a middle ground?

Is it possible to find the gray?

But First, A Cancer Diagnosis

When we were making our decision whether to fully vaccinate, delay, or choose none of the recommended childhood vaccines for our first daughter we were fresh off of my 2008 cancer diagnosis and overwhelmed with yet more medical choices.

But because we chose to treat my cancer with alternative methods– primarily optimal plant-based nutrition, supplementation, and proper detoxification we saw first hand how the body behaves differently when it is treated properly and given the resources it needs. In my situation- my body HEALED from NLP Hodgkin’s lymphoma over the course of six months without any chemotherapy, radiation, or other drugs. Over ten years later in 2019, I am still cancer-free.

You can’t unlearn this kind of thing. You can’t un-experience the beauty and innate healing capability of the body when you go through reversing cancer without all of the drugs and procedures you were told you needed. Procedures they said you would need to do or you would eventually die.

How after all of that could I easily believe that “the need for my child to have vaccines or else” is somehow different?

Perhaps my experience is an exception to what typically happens after a cancer diagnosis, but my point is that we are culturally taught from an extremely young age that there is only ONE WAY to prevent and treat illness and disease: with patented pharmaceuticals exclusive to the western, for-profit medical model.

“Vaccinate fully on the CDC recommended schedule or else you’re risking your child’s life!”

“You need to use a prescription to relieve symptoms or you won’t get well!”

“Use chemotherapy and radiation or else you’ll die.”

It’s not true and it’s not that simple.

My Primary Concerns About Vaccines:

Like I said before, when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter in 2009 and found myself having to decide my stance about vaccines, I was still dealing with my own cancer diagnosis and healing. Choosing natural therapies required intense lifestyle overhaul. I was learning that so much of what we use in our modern world is toxic and unnatural to the human body outside of living in the woods and eating plants straight from the ground.

It’s maddening.

Pesticides, EMF’s from technology, 5G, chemicals in water, pollution from cars on the road, chemicals in hygiene products, deodorant, shampoos, face wash, chemicals in tampons, chlorine in the pool, flame retardants on your carpets, mattress, and clothes….and you know you are probably thinking of at least 10 more as you read this list!

I told you it’s maddening.

And I was gradually but fervently removing all of this from my life in efforts to restore my health.

So knowing all of this and seeing the healing that was taking place in my body from IMMUNE SYSTEM cancer, I became extremely uneasy about the idea of INJECTING harmful chemicals and foreign biological products into my daughter to modulate her own brand new, immature immune system.

She had my genetics…and a long history of cancer in my family.

Holy Doses Batman!

Once I really started digging into research on the CDC vaccine schedule, one of the first things to shock me was that there were SIXTY-FIVE doses recommended by 11 years of age and over SEVENTY by age 18! As a kid born in 1982 I received 22 by the time I went to high school!

I questioned why on earth that many more doses were needed from the 1980’s to today when our emergency care and technological advances in medicine have only improved. Could I prevent those diseases in another way? What about all we know about natural medicine nowadays? Having healed from cancer the way I did, I couldn’t believe these less severe diseases were any different.

With all of these questions still there, I knew that we would delay vaccination until I felt completely educated and confident about my decision. I had learned that the doctor did not always know best and that my instincts mattered. I could always vaccinate slowly or gradually if there were a particular concern, but I could never UN-vaccinate.

I had to find peace between my fear of the vaccines’ chemicals and long-term implications from bypassing the body’s natural defense barriers through injection- and the diseases that they could be susceptible to if we didn’t vaccinate.

I could always vaccinate slowly…but I could never UN-vaccinate.”

Research Begins:

It’s important to note that NONE of my vaccine concerns came from an “anti-vaccine” website I read, an anti-vax celebrity I heard, or horrible vaccine injury story.

It came from within my own healing experience and months and months of education around healing my own body from cancer. I had a basic understanding of how the immune system worked, but I didn’t feel I was “expert” enough about the actual reality of these disease risks and vaccine ingredients to make this decision. I needed to understand and wanted to inform myself to make an educated decision.

The first book I found extremely helpful for starting off was the ‘The Vaccine Book‘ book by Dr. Sears. It was extremely helpful since it took a balanced, middle-ground approach to vaccination and the risk-benefit for each vaccine and the diseases they are used for.

(A side note: The best place for vaccine ingredient research and where Dr. Sears’ got his information for his book from, is going to be the actual vaccine insert on the current schedule. Here is a list with access to all of the vaccine inserts online or get them from your pediatrician.)

Here’s a bit of my initial concerns once I started reading the book, some of which I was quite shocked from!

• Multiple vaccines contain cells, cellular debris, protein, or DNA from aborted babies including the childhood schedule vaccines of Polio, Dtap/Polio/HiB combo vaccine, Hep A, Hep A/Hep B Combo, MMR, MMRV, and Varicella (chickenpox.)
• There were other troubling ingredients: thimerosal (ethyl mercury),  formaldehyde, propylene glycol, aluminum, polysorbate 80, and monosodium glutamate, among others.
• I was especially curious as an immune system cancer patient (lymphoma) about the unstudied effects on the immune system by modulating artificially through injection (bypassing the natural barriers to infection), regardless of what the ingredients were, and also that NO VACCINE HAS BEEN STUDIED FOR CARCINOGENIC EFFECT.

I also had a lot of other questions like:

• Has the compounding effects of multiple vaccines on the same day been studied?
• Why is it that the vaccine schedule and uptake percentage in the 80’s or even 60’s was significantly less than now and yet we haven’t seen an epidemic increase in disease or death in those generations?
• Why is it that even though we have had IMMENSE advancement in emergency medical care since the 60’s, we have more than tripled the number and dosage of vaccines?
• Why is it that autism occurrence has skyrocketed since the 80’s and the number of autoimmune disorders and behavioral disorders are increasing in kids?
• What about delayed vaccination in these brand new babies? Are their immune systems developed enough to have a complete immune response to the vaccine? Have any studies been done on breastfed babies vs. non-breastfed babies and their likelihood of getting any of these diseases?
• What about moms’ diet? Kids’ diet? Does the CDC schedule take variations in diet into consideration?
• Has there ever been a study of the overall health of unvaccinated kids verses fully vaccinated kids?
• Why do we lump the entire population under ONE schedule when the risk for each disease varies depending on the population?
• If my child were to get a “vaccine preventable disease” – what is the emergency care like?
• Does the risk factor change whether a baby is in a daycare situation vs. home care situation?
• Why can’t I pick and choose vaccines for the diseases that concern me the most?

I realized that ALL of my questions and concerns were valid because I wasn’t at peace with the information I was given at that point. I began to trust my gut over the opinions of people trying to scare me into any decisions.

I’m going to address some of these questions throughout this series on vaccines.

Although correlation does not always equal causation, this graph showing autism rates from 1975 (when the vaccine schedule was a quarter of what it is today) and 2009 shows astronomical increase in autism rates. In 2017 it has continued to rise to 1 in 68.

Choosing a Path for Immune Modulation

I am in full support of a family’s choice for however they want to modulate their child’s immune system. The primary purpose for vaccines is to elicit an immune response to a possible future infection in individual people.

The same goes for those choosing responsible living and education for how to support their unmodulated (non-vaccinated) immune system.

The concept of debated vaccine-induced herd immunity does not apply here. I’m talking about individual people and how they protect themselves.

Choosing Vaccination

If your research leads you to choosing some or all vaccines for your child, you are most likely not facing as much backlash or judgement for your decision. The vast majority of people will thank you for your decision because it is agreeable with what they believe and have known all their lives. You are also on your doctor’s side for being an agreeable patient. This significantly reduces stress, especially if you suffer from people-pleasing syndrome (like myself) and don’t want to shake up anyone’s boat.

You will also experience relief in that you  believe you are protecting your child against all of the diseases that vaccines are designed to protect against.

It’s also great to have a trillion dollar industry behind you with thousands of articles, funded research, and aggressive marketing tactics to help their customers feel better about their decision.

You might however have to deal guilt, especially if your child has any reactions after vaccination or any other problems that you may blame on their vaccines- especially if you have read much of the research on the ingredients in vaccines (see above.)

By choosing vaccination you are also subscribing to a lifelong dependency on vaccines for depending on “immunity’ from diseases through booster vaccines.

Nowadays it is very common in parenting circles to ask the question, “What are you doing about vaccines?” so perhaps the only judgement you could receive is from yourself in thinking someone is judging you for your decision (or from the ballsy naturally-minded parent who is brave enough to question your decision.)

Choosing NOT to Vaccinate

This is by far the more difficult choice faced with adversity. Parents of unvaccinated children can face discrimination from the government level down to their family and friends. I’ve heard stories many times of family not coming to see other unvaccinated relatives and cousins not being able to play with unvaccinated cousins because of their mother’s fear (even though their own children were vaccinated.)

Doctors “firing” families who choose to delay vaccination or not vaccinate at all, and kids getting denied school entrance because of their non-vaccinated status are extremely common. In three states (and growing) there is no entrance into school without record of state mandated vaccines.

A great benefit to delaying or choosing not to modulate your immune system with vaccination is a naturally functioning immune system.

You miss out on the dozens of doses of viruses, bacteria, and chemicals and biological cocktails that come with vaccines. You give your body a chance to respond to its environment naturally and can be educated on how to prevent and treat illness both naturally and with conventional medical care in case of an emergency.

Perhaps the most significant downside in choosing not to vaccinate is the commitment to being different and the resulting criticism, hate, and ignorance towards you and your children- which can be heart wrenching at times.

If your child does come down with (what used to be normally occurring childhood diseases) such as chickenpox, measles, mumps, or whooping cough, you could be looked down upon by your pediatrician.

There is also a great responsibility, if choosing not to vaccinate, for being educated on what to do if your child is sick. At-home self care and the knowledge of the symptoms of common diseases is very important. We also have a responsibility to keep our kids out of hospitals and from around immunosuppressed populations (just as any sick kid should be- vaccinated or not.)

A well-known benefit in the “non-vax” community is that unvaccinated children do not get what are known today as “common” issues of being a kid.

You can see in this observational study of non-vaccinated and vaccinated homeschooled kids that acquisition of certain illnesses such as ADD, ADHD, sinus infections, strep throat, and ear infections is significantly less for the unvaccinated group. Although a small study (and perhaps not “scientific enough” for the uber critics,) it supports what is a well known observation amongst parents of unvaccinated children.

Back and Forth.

As I continued to go back and forth between the concern over vaccination ingredients and implications and the possibility of disease, another concerning point practically smacked me in the face.

I found out that there has never been a large scale study of vaccinated kids’ overall health vs. unvaccinated kids’ overall health overtime or AT ALL.

1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act 

I also learned that vaccine manufacturers are completely protected from being sued by the families whose children are injured by the very products they say are safe. I can’t say this surprised me, but taxpayer money is actually collected and placed in large fund for awarding families who go through the often difficult and arduous process of proving their child was injured by a vaccine in vaccine court.  And this began in 1986 after the DTP vaccine caused so many problems and deaths in children that the pharmaceutical companies lobbied congress for “financial protection” under the guise that “herd immunity” was being affected from parents choosing not to give that vaccine. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act was passed into law and with it came dozens of additional vaccines to the CDC schedule and into our children and the vaccine injury court, funded by taxes on the vaccines themselves.

The Tradeoff

Now this is totally anecdotal but it’s something to pay attention to. It is incredibly hard to watch these vaccine injury testimonies without crying (or getting angry.) Listening to the hearts of hundreds of parents as they talk about their child’s vaccine injuries will raise concern for many. Adverse reactions are a reality and vaccines are not without risk.

We have traded the disease concerns of the 19th century and early 20th century for our increasing modern childhood issues of autism, eczema, ADHD, ADD, allergies, and asthma and the sometimes life-altering complications that come with these.

I wonder if finding that gray area of vaccine use would help so much of this disagreement and the problems that arise from a strict belief system- one way or the other?

And then there’s the Creator.

It’s hard to write about this when you know it could be seen by the harshest critics and trolls the internet has to offer, but I have to say it.

Deep down at my gut level, I believe that our immune system was designed perfectly. There isn’t anything wrong with it.

It was DESIGNED and has adapted perfectly to our environment. Scientists admit there is so much to still understand about it.

For thousands of years humans have been learning through trial and error about the plants and extracts that help the immune system’s natural capabilities. Over the last 200 years we have seen the impact that sanitation and clean water and proper nutrition has made on the spread of infectious disease and overall wellness. And advancements in emergency and surgical care, monitoring and testing are developments I am grateful for.

But somehow it is still the popular belief of most of us that our immune system is still “flawed.” And vaccines are our Savior.

Our Decision to Wait

My decision came down to this- vaccines are NOT irrefutably, fully safe. There are no clear, unbiased, unsponsored studies showing the obvious evidence that by fully vaccinating my children on schedule, I am NOT putting them at risk. I especially believed this to be true with the amount of vaccines we are giving SO EARLY in life and the long term and compounding effects that aren’t measurable in any current study.

Even the CDC publicly states that the drug companies are the ones that conduct the studies “proving safety”:

Clinical trials are studies conducted before a vaccine is made available. These studies are carried out by vaccine manufacturers and help the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) make decisions about whether a vaccine is safe, effective, and ready to be licensed for use.”  Source: CDC

Really? The vaccine manufacturers conduct the studies? I wondered could there possibly be any opportunity for skewing data or manipulating outcomes.

There is enough sufficient evidence supporting the argument that vaccines can cause harm (especially in the amount and frequency of the recommended CDC schedule) that it deserves attention and concern.

My deep, deep distrust of the pharmaceutical industry and conventional care model of western medicine had a significant influence on my decision as well. I did not need a single study to prove to me what my personal experience and gut instinct had shown me.

As time got closer to our daughter’s birth and after weighing all of our research- my husband and my decision was to delay all vaccines until we learned more.

I knew I definitely did not feel comfortable with her being so young and receiving THAT many vaccines, but I knew I also had the responsibility to her and my community to help with disease prevention.

I wanted to know what to do in the meantime to protect her and also to become more knowledgeable about the symptoms for each disease and emergency care if I needed it.

I also knew that by breastfeeding her exclusively and keeping her close to me (to gain passive and acquired immunity,) I would significantly reduce her risk of disease exposure.

My husband also began working from home allowing us to work opposite shifts and keep her out of daycare. This was hugely comforting to me as it allowed her to be in her own home environment as her immune system developed.

All of this bought us time to delay vaccines until our research gave us peace to make a decision.

I knew I could go slowly with vaccination if needed, but like I said before- I could never UN-vaccinate.

Over the next few posts in this series I am going to talk about the next seven years of our vaccine decision journey. I will look into the entire U.S. vaccine schedule by each individual disease and its vaccine profile.

I also want to go much deeper into preventative nutrition and holistic care for any disease or infection. This is the foundation of what allows for our body to heal and should not be dismissed or ignored.

Check out the next post in this series, Part 2: Hepatitis B and Hib.

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The post Making A Decision About Vaccines : Part 1- Risks, Benefits, and Responsibility appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.