Why Jab Children to Protect Adults?
Hepatitis A
First, let’s look at the Vaccine Information Statement that doctors are required by Federal Law to present to you before vaccinating your child…
http://www.immunize.org/vis/v-hepa.pdf
We are told that some people should be routinely vaccinated with hepatitis A vaccine: (those in bold are considered at increased risk)
- All children 1 year (12 through 23 months) of age.
- Persons 1 year of age and older traveling to or working in countries with high or intermediate prevalence of hepatitis A…For more information see www.cdc.gov/travel
- Children and adolescents through 18 years of age who live in states or communities where routine vaccination has been implemented because of high disease incidence.
- Men who have sex with men, persons who use street drugs, persons with chronic liver disease, persons with clotting disorders, persons who work with HAV-infected primates or who work with HAV in research laboratories.
Pertussis: Yo-Yo Stats
Previous CDC articles: Stupid , Measles
Pertussis, popularly known as Whooping Cough, is an illness that ranges from mild to very dangerous. The levels of incidence seem to be a bit of a mystery. One department of the CDC claims that the vaccine is doing a great job of protecting us from death-dealing outbreaks of pertussis while another department of the same organization claims that pertussis is endemic in the United States. Follow me down the bureaucratic rabbit hole, as we try to discover the truth about The Cough!
Sisyphus and the Conjugate Vaccines – II
Part one can be found here.
Wipe out some s. pneumo with Prevnar, and more s. pneumo fills in the gap, along with some staph.
The great and shining hope with this situation all along has been an idealistic vision that perhaps the bacteria that filled in the gap would be much milder, or ideally, that nothing would fill in the gap at all. It was hoped that we could just eliminate those bacteria, and horrible diseases like bacterial meningitis would fade into distant memory, along the lines of what supposedly happened with invasive Hib disease, the ultimate conjugate vaccine success story.
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Mandatory Flu Shots for Toddlers Attending Daycare in New Jersey: WHERE is the Science?
The Public Health Council voted to require New Jersey children attending preschool or licensed day care to get annual flu shots, and to get three additional vaccines for youngsters starting Sept. 1, 2008.
This was justified, not by reference to scientific research, but with this statement:
“The amendments to the rules governing immunizations will have a direct impact on reducing illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths in one of New Jersey’s most vulnerable populations – our children,” said Commissioner Jacobs. “Vaccinations have proven to be one of the most effective and safe forms of disease prevention.”
However, a Cochrane systematic review found that:
In children under two, the efficacy of inactivated vaccine was similar to placebo.
and:
That no safety comparisons could be carried out emphasizes the need for standardisation of methods and presentation of vaccine safety data in future studies. It was surprising to find only one study of inactivated vaccine in children under two years, given recent recommendations to vaccinate healthy children from six months old in the USA and Canada. If immunisation in children is to be recommended as public–health policy, large–scale studies assessing important outcomes and directly comparing vaccine types are urgently required.
How can a vaccine that has no effect on babies and toddlers reduce illness, hospitalisations, and deaths in little ones? Compulsory placebos? This is not evidence-based medicine.
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Rotavirus: Death by Diarrhea?
Rotavirus is reported to be the leading cause of diarrhea among children, causing upwards of 55,000 hospitalizations per year in the US. Symptoms consist of vomiting and diarrhea, usually lasting between 3-8 days. Subsequent bouts of rotavirus are usually milder.
When this vaccine made its debute in 1998, I’ll admit to some skepticism. I laughed and said,“Really? Now it’s death by diarrhea!” When the first Rotavirus vaccine (RotaShield) was recalled in 1999, for causing intussusception, I felt justified in my stance. Especially when I found out that intussusception caused by this vaccine is a “compensable injury” and is paid for out of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. (1) (Intussusception is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the intestine gets blocked or twisted. One portion of the intestine telescopes into a nearby portion, causing the intestinal obstruction. The most common site is where the small intestine joins the large intestine.)
In 2006, a new rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq) was approved by the FDA. My family doctor and most of those around me were all strongly recommending the new vaccine, so I turned my attention towards some research.
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Measles: The Grim Reality
(Part I of this series: Parents: Does the CDC Think We are Stupid?)
What does the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have to say to parents about measles?
Before measles immunization was available, nearly everyone in the U.S. got measles. An average of 450 measles-associated deaths were reported each year between 1953 and 1963.
Was measles a major health problem between 1953 and 1963? Were parents begging for a vaccine? Terrified that their child would die or be permanently damaged by a dangerous disease? Well, no. Some here could give their answer to that question, but better still, ask your parents, and grand-parents what they thought about measles. Find out who in your family was “at risk” of serious complications or death.
The big question, when you see a death rate, is how many deaths occur in relation to the total number of cases? The reported cases, with something like measles, are always going to be much lower than the total cases, and reported cases will generally be more severe, more likely to be hospitalized, and more likely to have a bad outcome. I had measles when I was eight, but my parents didn’t report my case of measles, I never saw a doctor and no one in my family (including two younger siblings) caught it from me. Here, from the CDC Pink Book, is the complete story:
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Sisyphus and the Conjugate Vaccines
As a punishment from the gods, Sisyphus was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he reached the top of the hill, the rock always escaped him and he had to begin again. The maddening nature of the punishment was reserved for Sisyphus due to the mortal’s hubristic belief that his cleverness surpassed that of Zeus.
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In September, the AP reported that Prevnar…
“A vaccine that has dramatically curbed pneumonia and other serious illnesses in children is having an unfortunate effect: promoting new superbugs that cause ear infections.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20825107/
I always wonder who actually writes these science stories you see in the media.
Yes, the emerging serotypes cause ear infections and other mild illnesses, but they also cause various deadly forms of invasive disease. It’s a phenomenon called “serotype replacement” (or “replacement disease” in other circumstances) and so far all of the conjugate vaccines (Hib, Prevnar, Menactra) have done this in some form or fashion. The vaccines work extremely well against vaccine-included serotypes of streptococcus pneumoniae, but they work so well that they also prevent asymptomatic carriage of these normally commensal organisms.
And that is a problem.
For example, from The Lancet:
“FINDINGS: We noted no reduction of AOM episodes in the pneumococcal vaccine group compared with controls (intention-to-treat analysis: rate ratio 1.25, 95% CI 0.99-1.57). Although nasopharyngeal carriage of pneumococci of serotypes included in the conjugate-vaccine was greatly reduced after pneumococcal vaccinations, immediate and complete replacement by non-vaccine pneumococcal serotypes took place.”
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