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
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