Vaccinations

Please note that this section contains my personal notes from my readings on this topic.

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“The science is largely complete.  Ten epidemiological studies have shown MMR vaccine doesn’t cause autism; six have shown thimerosal doesn’t cause autism; three have shown thimerosal doesn’t cause subtle neurological problems; a growing body of evidence now points to the genes that are linked to autism; and despite the removal of thimerosal from vaccines in 2001, the number of children with autism continues to rise.  Now it’s up to certain parent advocacy groups, through their public relations firms, lawyers, and celebrity spokespersons, to convince the public that all of these studies are wrong — and to convince them that the doctors who proffer their vast array of alternative medicines are the only ones who really care.”

– Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure (2008) by Paul A. Offit, M.D.; pages 242 – 247

“Seven vaccines were routinely given to infants and young children in 1983: measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and polio.  And fourteen are given today; the additions are Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, pneumococcus, chickenpox, and influenza.”

– Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure (2008) by Paul A. Offit, M.D.; pages 242 – 243

“Although vaccines have probably saved more lives than any other medical intervention, they have come with a price — occasionally causing severe, even fatal, side effects.  Epidemiological studies have been the single most powerful tool to show that vaccines, like all medicines, are imperfect.

In 1998, the FDA licensed a rotavirus vaccine, and the CDC recommended it for all infants.  The vaccine, designed to prevent a common cause of fever, vomiting, and diarrhea, had been tested in 10,000 babies before licensure…  Of the 1 million children who had received this vaccine, 100 suffered intussusception, and one died…

In 1976, public health officials in the United States, fearing that an unusual outbreak of influenza among soldiers at Fort Dix (New Jersey) signaled the start of the next influenza pandemic, immunized millions of Americans with what was called the swine flu vaccine.  Unfortunately, some people immunized with the vaccine developed a rare form of paralysis called Guillain-Barre Syndrome.  Epidemiological studies showed that the vaccine was the cause.  One of every 100,000 people who got swine flu vaccine — 400 people among 40 million — had been afflicted.

Problems caused by vaccines as rare as one in 10,000, one in 25,000, or one in 100,000 have been readily detected by epidemiological studies.  If autism, a disease that affects one of every 150 American children, was caused by thimerosal, epidemiological studies would have detected it.  Indeed, even if thimerosal in vaccines accounted for only 1% of autism — one in 15,000 children — epidemiological studies would have found it.  Instead, after examining the records of hundreds of thousands of children, investigators working in both North America and Europe couldn’t find any evidence of a relationship between thimerosal and autism.  It wasn’t that their studies were poorly designed or that they had been part of a vast international conspiracy to hide the truth.  They couldn’t find a relationship because it wasn’t there to be found.”

– Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure (2008) by Paul A. Offit, M.D.; pages 110 – 111

Below (and linked) are my notes on vaccinations, as I assess them from a parent’s perspective. This is a work in progress so it will be revised and updated as I learn more.

• Vaccine Efficacy
• Statistical Risk of a Severe Vaccine Reaction
• Statistical Risk of Suffering from a Severe Reaction from a Vaccine-Preventable Disease
• Vaccine Ingredients
• Vaccine Safety Research
• Vaccine Side Effects
• Minimize Vaccine Side Effects

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Children receive about thirty-three doses of ten vaccinations by the age of five years. (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations by Stephanie Cave, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. with Deborah Mitchell; September 2001; page 11)

The information contained throughout this blog / website should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician / physician.