In Response to the Recent “Pro-Vaccine” Articles

In recent weeks I have seen a lot of pro-vaccine articles emphasizing the importance of getting your children and yourself vaccinated for the prevention of disease. I think its important that I take some time to go over the actual peer-reviewed literature regarding vaccination, and hope you will look at the actual facts instead of reading ignorant pseudoscience posted by the mainstream media – and largely re-posted by people who have never even read a single peer-reviewed article in the biomedical journals regarding vaccination. The biggest mistake you can make when it comes to making informed health decisions is to take a doctor’s advice without researching the benefit-to-risk ratio associated with those decisions.

There are many diseases we are told to vaccinate against, but one that has gotten a lot of hype lately in the U.S. is Bordetella Pertussis (whooping cough). This is a highly contagious bacteria that affected nearly 27,500 Americans in 2010, resulting in 27 reported deaths, according to the CDC. This particular bacteria must be confirmed by a specific lab test that is rarely ordered, because physicians rely on a list of symptoms to diagnosis this condition. Therefore, misdiagnosis is a common problem when it comes to these values, but for argument’s sake let’s assume that the reported value is correct. There are approximately 308 million people in the United States. In one year, 27,500 were diagnosed with whooping cough. Of those 27,500 diagnosed cases, 27 people ending up dying from complications related to B. Pertussis. To place these values into a risk assessment, the chance of contracting whooping cough and then developing a fatal complication is estimated at 1 in 11,400,000. To put this number into perspective, a child’s chance of dying in a car accident is 1 in 23,000; mathematically speaking, your child is 496 times more likely to die on the way to get the vaccine than to die from the bacteria itself.

That’s the risk argument, but there is also the effectiveness argument. As demonstrated by the table below, around 1918 the death rate for pertussis was about 17 per 100,000, or 0.017%. By the time the pertussis vaccine was widely used, the rate of death had already declined to about 0.002%. Whooping cough was on the decline, and in fact almost totally wiped out, by the time the vaccine was introduced for widespread use. Improved sanitation and hygiene, not a vaccine, are largely responsible for the reduction in the number of pertussis cases.

Risk and effectiveness aside, there is still the issue – and it’s a huge one – of side effects. Depending upon the vaccine manufacturer, the pertussis vaccine may contain varying amounts of inactivated pertussis toxin, filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA), pertactin, fimbriae, formaldehyde, polysorbate 80 (Tween 80), gluteraldehyde, 2-phenoxoyethanol, aluminum and thimerosal (mercury), among other things. Now, most vaccine advocates will say “yes the vaccine contains all those adjuvants but, only in trace amounts so it’s not harmful to your body.” This argument is among the most ignorant I have ever heard. If I were to take all the preservatives in the vaccines that are recommended for our children and inject them into an apple, and then asked you to eat it, I can guarantee that you wouldn’t do it! If I dumped those same adjuvants into a lake, I’d be arrested for contamination. So why is it ok to inject those things directly into our bloodstream, and then say it doesn’t “harm the body?” And for what - to help “prevent” 27 deaths? The irony is that many people who choose to vaccinate also choose to buy organic foods because they don’t want their kids to consume trace amount of insecticides and pesticides, yet they run to their family doctor for vaccinations that contain known carcinogens to help “prevent” sickness.

Every 4-5 years there is always going to be a spike in pertussis outbreaks, no matter what country you look at or what the vaccination rate is. The massive decline in the prevalence of pertussis in the mid-1900’s was due to advances in sanitation and cleanliness, not because of vaccination. I would encourage everyone reading this post to read the article “Unexpectedly Limited Durability of Immunity Following Acellular Pertussis Vaccination in Pre-Adolescents in a North American Outbreak” published in the Journal of Clinical Infectious Disease. All the references cited in this article are from the peer-reviewed biomedical journals.

It is so frustrating to hear other healthcare professionals proudly state that vaccines are safe and effective “according to the research.” When asked “what research?” They will respond in 1 of 2 ways: Either they are completely surprised because no one has ever asked that question, or they will point to literature that has been published regarding scientific studies funded by the pharmaceutical companies selling the vaccine. Double Blinded Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT’s) are the gold standard for conducting scientific studies. Did you know that there are absolutely no double blinded RCT’s to date that test the safety and effectiveness of ANY vaccines? Yet I hear all too often that “the research” shows how effective these vaccines are. Very interesting. There has also never been any research conducted on how these vaccines might affect our genetic code. On all packaged vaccine inserts, it is clearly stated that these vaccines have not been tested for carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, or impairment of fertility. Below is a picture of an insert for the vaccine Daptacel, which is a DTap (diptheria + tetanus + pertussis) vaccination, so you can see for yourself.   

Just so you know, mutagenesis is something that causes mutations within genes. Carcinogenesis is a something that causes cancers. When it comes to scientific research, it is important to disclose that “only 15% of all medical procedures have been found to be supported by any literature at all and only 1% of that literature has actually been deemed scientifically rigorous” according to an article published in the British Medical Journal, a highly respected peer-reviewed journal (Smith R. Br Med J 1991;303:798-799). So, for those of you who like to preach vaccination and point fingers in an attempt to ostracize the families who choose not to vaccinate, I highly recommend that you read the actual peer-reviewed literature regarding this topic before posting links from your poorly referenced, opinionated blogs, newspapers, and magazines.

This post is not intended to say it is right or wrong to choose to vaccinate or not vaccinate. The point I want to make is that you should not be so quick to judge those who choose not to vaccinate - most of the time those who judge do not have all the facts and have opinions based on misinformation. To the parents who are worried about non-vaccinated kids being in classes with your own - if you are so sure vaccines are effective, then what do you have to worry about? I want to make one thing clear: I am not anti-medicine. Medical doctors are brilliant when it comes to saving lives. I would want a medical doctor by my side if I was in some sort of life-threatening accident. M.D’s save lives every day, they “put out the fire” so you can have a second chance to live when something terrible has happened, but you do not call the same people that put out the fire to come rebuild your house.

The best thing you can do to ensure your family’s health and your own is to make sure you give the body its genetic requirements in order to express health and wellness, so that the immune system can be as strong as possible. For instance, Vitamin D is a genetic requirement and should be supplemented every day for a strong immune system. Probiotics are also a genetic requirement and are imperative for healthy immune system function and gut health – 75% percent of your immune system is located within your GI tract, therefore it is important to supplement.

Whether you choose/chose to vaccinate or not, I hope that after reading this you’ll consider looking into and educating yourselves further in order to make the best healthcare decisions for you and your family. Do not just listen to what your doctor (M.D, D.O, D.C.) tells you to do without looking into the research yourself. If I were to ask you why you chose to vaccinate or chose not to vaccinate, I hope you have a very confident answer based upon actual literature and evidence, not “because my doctor told me to.”

If anyone has any questions whatsoever regarding the information in this post, please contact me and I would love to answer your questions.

Thanks,

Dr. Brady

References:

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