Introduction

Routine vaccinations are given to many children. Physicians refer to them as the "baby shots." There are also special vaccinations for people in high-risk settings—such as travelers about to enplane to a hazardous country.

How should we relate to vaccinations for ourselves and our children? Here is some data which may provide help.

Because there are many questions about vaccinations, and because there is a strong movement on foot to require every child in the land to receive a complete series of them—this brief overview of the vaccination problem has been prepared.

However, the decision whether or not to vaccinate is a personal one. The author is a researcher and not a health practitioner. This is a decision you must make personally. It is hoped that this data will provide you with the basis for additional study on your own. Only in that way can you make an intelligent decision.

Vaccines primarily consist of dead or weakened ("attenuated") germs of the same type of disease, which are injected into the body in the hope that it will stimulate the organism to produce protein antibodies to protect it against disease.

There is growing pressure, from special interest groups, to require nationwide vaccination of children. In view of that fact, there is an urgent need to examine the information available on this matter.

"There is a growing suspicion that immunization against relatively harmless childhood diseases may be responsible for the dramatic increase in autoimmune diseases since mass inoculations were introduced. These are fearful diseases such as cancer, leukemia, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and the Guillain-Barr� syndrome.

"An autoimmune disease can be explained simply as one in which the body’s defense mechanisms cannot distinguish between foreign invaders and ordinary body tissues, with the consequence that the body begins to destroy itself. Have we traded mumps and measles for cancer and leukemia?"— Robert Mendelsohn, How to Raise a Healthy Child, p. 211.

The Mandatory

"My name is Wendy Scholl. I reside in the State of Florida with my husband, Gary, and three daughters, Stacy, Holly, and Jackie. Let me stress that all three of our daughters were born healthy, normal babies. I am here to tell of Stacy’s reaction to the measles vaccine . . where according to the medical profession, anything within 7 to 10 days after the vaccine to do with neurological sequelae or seizures or brain damage fits a measles reaction.

"At 16 months old, Stacy received her measles shot. She was a happy, healthy, normal baby, typical, curious, playful until the 10th day after her shot, when I walked into her room to find her lying in her crib, flat on her stomach, her head twisted to one side. Her eyes were glassy and affixed.

"She was panting, struggling to breathe. Her small head lay in a pool of blood that hung from her mouth. It was a terrifying sight, yet at that point I didn’t realize that my happy, bouncing baby was never to be the same again.

"When we arrived at the emergency room, Stacy’s temperature was 107 degrees. The first 4 days of Stacy’s hospital stay she battled for life. She was in a coma and had kidney failure. Her lungs filled with fluid and she had ongoing seizures.

"Her diagnosis was ‘post-vaccinal encephalitis’ and her prognosis was grave. She was paralyzed on her left side, prone to seizures, had visual problems. However, we were told by doctors we were extremely lucky. I didn’t feel lucky.

"We were horrified that this vaccine, which was given only to ensure that she would have a safer childhood, almost killed her. I didn’t know that the possibility of this type of reaction even existed. But now, it is our reality."—Wendy Scholl, testimony given to Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment; 98th Congress, 2nd Session, December 19, 1984; in Vaccine Injury Compensation, p. 110.

Most cases of measles (more rarely called rubeola or English measles) are not serious, when large numbers of the population have been exposed to the germ. The symptoms generally leave within two weeks. However, one case in 100,000 leads to subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), which produces hardening of the brain and is generally fatal.

By 1955, there were .03 deaths per 100,000. Then, in 1963, a research team headed by J.F. Enders, developed the measles vaccine. Mass inoculations began.

According to a November 1969 National Health Federation report, a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) disclosed that people who have been vaccinated for measles have a 14 times greater chance of contracting the disease than those who were not vaccinated. A 1985 study by the U.S. government noted that 80% of "non-preventable" cases of measles occurred in people who had been vaccinated (20th Immunization Conference Proceedings, May 6-9, 1985, p. 21).

"Measles transmission has been clearly documented among vaccinated persons. In some large outbreaks . . over 95% of the cases have a history of vaccination."— Federal Drug Administration Workshop to Review Warnings, September 18, 1992, p. 27 (reported by Dr. Atkinson of the Centers for Disease Control [CDC]).

"The World Health Organization did a study and found that while, in an unimmunized, measles-susceptible group of children, the normal rate of contraction of disease was 2.4%; in the control group that had been immunized, the rate of contraction rose to 33.5%."—Paavo Airola, Ph.D., Every Woman’s Book, 1979, p. 279.

A survey of pediatricians in New York City reveals that only 3.2% of them were actually reporting measles cases to the health department.

A study of medical books reveals that measles vaccine may cause learning disability, retardation, ataxia, aseptic meningitis, seizure disorders, paralysis, and death.

Secondary complications associated with the vaccine include encephalitis, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, multiple sclerosis, toxic epidermal necrolysis, anaphylactic shock, Reye’s syndrome, Guillain-Barr� syndrome, blood clotting disorders, juvenile-onset diabetes, and possibly Hodgkin’s disease and cancer (R.S. Mendelsohn, How to Raise a Healthy Child, p. 215).

"Although one of the reasons for giving measles vaccine is to prevent the known complications of encephalitis and pneumonia, the vaccine itself may cause encephalitis. Further, one-half of all the reported cases of measles in the last few years have been in vaccinated individuals."—The Dangers of Immunization, 1987, p. 53.

"Measles in former days was one of the more common childhood diseases. Although it can cause serious complications, it is a relatively minor illness in the vast majority of cases . . today’s promotional campaigns for the vaccines seldom mention that the measles vaccine itself is known to be associated with serious complications including encephalitis with severe, permanent brain damage and mental retardation."—Dr. Alan Hinman, Centers for Disease Control, quoted in The Dangers of Immunization, 1987, p. 56.

For some reason, since measles vaccination began in 1963, adolescents and young adults have more frequently been getting measles. Yet they are at greater risk of pneumonia and liver abnormalities than children (Infectious Diseases, January 1982, p. 21).

The youngest children receiving the vaccine are especially at risk. For example, 15-month-old children are at greatest risk (CDC: Measles Mumps, and Rubella, 1991, p. 1). By 1993, children under a year constituted more than 25% of all measles cases, yet it was quite rare for such small children to contract measles before the vaccine was discovered in 1963. When asked about this strange situation, CDC officials said it was due to mothers who were themselves vaccinated as children. Here is a fact which the experts know: When a child is vaccinated, and does not therefore contract measles, he develops no natural immunity to the disease. Therefore immunity cannot be passed on to his children (D.Q. Haney, "Wave of infant Measles Stems from ’60s Vaccinations, "Albuquerque Journal, November 23, 1992, p. B3).

According to the New England Journal of Medicine (October 4, 1990), vitamin A helps protect the body of the child against serious complications, stemming from measles.

Strange, new forms of "measles" came into being with the advent of measles vaccinations. Similar results have followed the introduction of other vaccines. These are diseases with a startling new array of complications.

"The syndrome of ‘atypical measles’—pneumonia, petechiae [skin blotching], edema, and severe pain—is not only difficult to diagnose (as being "measles") but is often overlooked entirely. Likewise, symptoms of atypical mumps—anorexia, vomiting, and erythematous [red] rashes, without any parotid [near the ear] involvement—require extensive serological testing to rule out other concurrent diseases."—W. James, Immunization: The Reality Behind the Myth, 1988, p. 34.

A 1973 JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) article discussed 84 U.S. cases of neurologic disorders, each of which started within less than 30 days after live measles-virus vaccinations were given. Seventy-one of the 84 were clearly linked to the vaccine: 11 resulted from fevers brought on by the vaccinations, one case met diagnostic criteria for subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, and 59 showed clinical features of encephalitis or encephalopathy. Forty-five (76%) of the cases had onset between 6 and 15 days after vaccination ("Neurological disorders Following Live Measles-Virus Vaccination," JAMA, March 1973).

Here are several interesting statistics to compare: During the Second World War, there were 12 recorded cases of tetanus. Four of them occurred in military personnel vaccinated against the disease. There have been less than 100 cases of tetanus in the entire nation (U.S.) since 1976. The majority of those cases were over 50. During that time, no deaths occurred among any tetanus cases under 30 years of age. Tetanus vaccines are not responsible for the success, since they only immunize for 12 years or less, and most of the vaccines are given to children. Yet, in contrast, the tetanus vaccine itself results in a variety of serious complications, including recurrent abscesses, high fever, inner ear nerve damage, anaphylactic shock, loss of consciousness, and demyelinating neuropathy (progressive nerve degeneration). (See U.S. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports for additional information on these statistics.) Why then are children vaccinated for tetanus?

Tetanus infection steadily decreased throughout the twentieth century because of better attention to wound hygiene. And that was before the tetanus vaccine was developed. Although 40% of the population is not now vaccinated against tetanus, the disease continues to decline.

Wounds should be cleansed well and not allowed to close until healing has occurred beneath the surface of the skin. Careful washing with soap and water, hydrogen peroxide, etc. are said to eliminate the danger of tetanus infection.

According to Issac Golden, Ph.D., in his Vaccination: A Review of Risks and Alternatives (1991, p. 31), there have been such severe reactions to tetanus shots, that the vaccine has been heavily diluted—causing it to be clinically ineffective in preventing the disease.

A New England Journal of Medicine study (November 26, 1981) revealed that tetanus booster vaccinations cause T lymphocyte blood count ratios to temporarily drop below normal—with the greatest decrease coming two weeks after the vaccination. If you have read articles about AIDS, you will recognize the danger here—since it is reduced T lymphocytes which bring on full-blown AIDS. The NEJM article went on to explain that these altered ratios are similar to those in AIDS patients.

DIPHTHERIA

Dennis Hillier was a healthy English boy who excelled in football, running, and other games. After the first vaccination, he had slightly confused speech, but no one had connected it with the injection. Two months after his second diphtheria inoculation, he died in October 1942 of a rare form of encephalitis. In later describing the case, Dr. W. Russell Brain said at a meeting of the Section of Neurology of the Royal Society of Medicine in February 1943: "The patient, a boy of eleven, developed symptoms after anti-diphtheria inoculation." He then described several other cases of nervous disorders and poliomyelitis occurring within a few days after vaccination against diphtheria. Then he concluded, "The relation of the infection to the inoculation was at present unsettled."

Cases of diphtheria are rare. In America, only five cases were reported in 1980. From 1900 to 1930, a greater than 90% decline in diphtheria cases occurred. Later on, the diphtheria vaccine was developed. Scientists tell us the decline was due to better nutrition and sanitation.

The Bureau of Biologics, working with the FDA, came out with a 1975 report (November 20-21, 1975) which disclosed that diphtheria toxoid "is not as effective an immunizing agent as might be anticipated." Noting that diphtheria may occur in vaccinated individuals, they said that "the permanence of immunity induced by the toxoid . . is open to question."

On the average, 50% of the cases occur in those who have been vaccinated (R.S. Mendelsohn, How to Raise a Healthy Child, p. 223).

An interesting sequence of events occurred during World War II: The diphtheria rate throughout Europe was low by the late 1930s. But, after Germany began compulsory diphtheria vaccinations in 1939, 150,000 vaccinated cases of the disease developed within three years. France had refused it, but was forced to give compulsory diphtheria vaccinations after German occupation. By 1943, there were nearly 47,000 cases. But, in nearby Norway, which consistently refused to vaccinate for the disease, there were only 50 cases (E. McBean, Ph.D., Vaccinations Do Not Protect, 1991, p. 8). In Sweden, diphtheria virtually disappeared without any immunizations.

"In regard to the decline of diphtheria in Great Britain during 1943 and 1944, we are reminded that the 58 British physicians who signed a memorial in 1938 against compulsory immunizations in Guernsey were able to point to the virtual disappearance of diphtheria in Sweden without any immunization. On the other hand, if we turn to Germany, we find that after Dr. Frick’s order for compulsory immunizations, [Germany] in 1945 had come to be regarded as the storm-center of diphtheria in Europe. From 40,000 there had been an increase to 250,000 cases.

"An article, March 1944, in a publication called Pour Ia Famille points out the rise in cases of diphtheria after compulsory immunization. For instance, the increase in Paris was as much as 30%. In Hungary where immunizations had been compulsory since 1938 the rise was 35 percent in two years. In the Canton of Geneva, where immunizations have been enforced since 1933, the number of cases trebled from 1941 to 1943."—E.D. Hume, Bechamp or Pasteur? 1963, pp. 217-218.

"During a 1969 outbreak of diphtheria in Chicago, four of the sixteen victims had been ‘fully immunized against the disease,’ according to the Chicago Board of Health. Five others had received one or more doses of the vaccine, and two of these people had tested at full immunity. In another report of diphtheria cases, three of which were fatal, one person who died and fourteen out of twenty-three carriers had been fully immunized."—Robert Mendelsohn, M.D., Confessions of a Medical Heretic, 1979, p. 143.

POLIO

Polio can result in severe paralysis; however, 90% of those who are exposed to it, even during an epidemic, produce no symptoms (M. Burnet and D. White, Natural History of Infectious Disease, 1972, p. 16). From 1923 to 1953, polio in the U.S. had declined by 47%. A similar decline occurred in Europe. Its steep rate of decline continued after the Salk vaccine was produced in 1955, and the Sabin oral vaccine came on the market in 1959. Today polio is almost non-existent. Many European countries refused to use the polio vaccines, yet their rate of decline continued at the same pace as in America.

Scientific studies have been made of areas in which mass polio vaccinations have occurred. Frequently, the rate of polio infection more than doubled afterward. Studies in half a dozen states are discussed in Allen Hannah, Case Against Vaccinations, 1985, p. 146. For example, during a one-year period from August 30, 1954 to August 30, 1955, Massachusetts had 273 cases before mass inoculations began, and 2,027 cases afterward. That was a 642% increase in the polio rate.

Dr. Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine in 1955. It used dead polio viruses. In 1976, he testified before a congressional committee that the live-virus (oral) vaccine (for practical purposes, the only kind used in America since the early 1960s) was "the principle, if not the sole cause" of all reported polio cases since 1961.

The next year Dr. Salk made this statement in Science magazine:

"The live polio virus vaccine has been the predominant cause of domestically arising cases of paralytic poliomyelitis in the United States since 1972. To avoid the occurrence of such cases, it would be necessary to discontinue the routine use of live polio vaccine."—Dr. Jonas Salk, Science, April 4, 1977.

In 1955, a new disease began being reported. It was named "paralytic polio." This new disease was entirely caused by polio vaccinations.

As the "wild" polio continued to lessen, the vaccine-induced type greatly increased. (Polio which has been contracted naturally—that is, not from polio vaccination—is so rare in the last several couple decades that medical experts have given it a special name: "wild polio.")

In an in-depth study of the ten-year period from 1973-1983, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that 87% of all polio cases were caused by polio vaccine. In 1992, the CDC officially stated that the oral polio vaccine was responsible for nearly all polio cases in the United States. Their conclusions, based on research covering the years 1982 to 1992, bore this significant title: "Epidemiology of Polio in the U.S. One Decade after the Last Reported Case of Indigenous Wild Virus Associated Disease" (Stebel, et al., CDC, February 1992, pp. 568-579). The report said that every case of polio in the United States (with the exception of imported cases) during those years was caused by the vaccine. The report also noted that five Americans contracted polio during that time while traveling overseas, and that three of them had previously received polio vaccine.

There is a special—very dangerous—problem associated with the oral polio vaccine which you should be aware of: The vaccine can be injected into a child; then you can touch that child and contract paralytic polio! The son of a nurse who lives near the present writer had that experience several years ago. He was in medical school on the West Coast and, one evening, held a baby in his arms that had received the oral polio vaccine. The baby did not contract paralytic polio, but the young man which briefly held him did.

The primary cause is touching a minute amount of the baby’s stool. Somehow, some of it must have been on the baby’s blanket and the young man touched it. The polio virus from the vaccine, which is extremely contagious, passed through his skin. He was crippled for life because of the incident.

"The second anxiety about your unvaccinated child’s exposure to others concerns polio. Children who are immunized early in life with the oral, live vaccine may shed the virus in their stools. Exposure of your child to recently vaccinated children is a potential hazard . . Parents should be vocal about their concerns. Ask whether playmates and other children in day care have recently received the oral polio vaccine."—Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., The Immunization Decision, 1990, p. 89.

"The only likely means of exposure to polio are travel to a foreign country, and contact with the feces of a child who has been immunized with the oral vaccine within the previous 6 to 8 weeks."—Op. cit., p. 41.

The following abstract (summary) from a 1993 research study clearly testifies to this remarkable danger. As many as 80% of those babies can infect others! ("Revertant" means that the oral polio virus in the stool returned to its original, fully deadly nature.)

"Abstract: Fecal shedding of virulent revertant polioviruses was examined in isolates from infants previously immunized with >1 dose of orally administered live attenuated oral polio vaccine (OPV) alone, enhanced-potency inactivated polio vaccine (EPIV) alone, or a combination of both. After administration of OPV alone, vaccine poliovirus serotypes were recovered in feces within 1 week and for as long as 31-60 days in 30%-80% of subjects after 1 or 2 doses and in 30%-50% after immunization with >3 doses. No revertant poliovirus shedding was observed after OPV challenge in subjects immunized previously with >3 doses of OPV. However, fecal shedding of revertant poliovirus after OPV challenge was observed in 50%-100% of subjects previously immunized with >3 doses of the EPIV. These findings suggest that prior immunization with EPIV does not prevent fecal shedding of revertant polioviruses after subsequent reexposure to OPV."—"Shedding of Virulent Poliovirus Revertants during Immunization with Oral Poliovirus Vaccine after Prior Immunization with Inactivated Polio Vaccine," Journal of Infectious Diseases 1993; 168.

In 1948, Benjamin F. Sandler, a physician at the Oteen Veterans Hospital in North Carolina, published a book entitled, Diet Prevents Polio. Sandler had done careful research into nutrition and how the polio virus worked. The book revealed that when a person ate a sizeable amount of food containing processed sugar, that sugar leached the calcium from their bones, muscles, and nerves. The polio virus was able to attack the weakened nerves—and crippling polio was the result. Statistics showed that countries with the highest per capita sugar consumption had the most polio cases. Sandler noted that children eat the most sugar foods (soft drinks, ice cream, candy, etc.) in hot weather, and it was well-known that polio especially strikes in the summer. (Processed sugar, taken into the body, absorbs calcium and other minerals from the body in order to be used. This is because the purified sugar has had the minerals naturally accompanying it removed. This leaching of minerals can result in polio.)

Sandler did not stop with the book; he went on the radio in the spring of 1949 and warned people throughout North Carolina not to eat sugar foods that summer. The newspapers picked up the story and carried it throughout the state. Alerted to the danger, people feared to eat high-sugar foods that summer. The North Carolina Department of Health later reported that there were 2,498 polio cases in 1948 and only 229 in 1949. (See pages 43 and 146 in the 1951 edition of Dr. Sandler’s book.)

"In the history of poliomyelitis, from the time of widespread epidemics in previous decades up to the present, there is another side of the story which has seldom been told. This is the relationship between polio and dietary sugar. When one considers that sugar in any form was rare or even unknown to the vast majority of people until relatively recent times, and when we realize that the consumption of sugar has risen precipitously since the turn of the century to the present level of 125 pounds per year for every man, woman, and child in America, then we should begin to suspect the harm that is being done to human health."—The Dangers of Immunization, 1988, p. 59.

In spite of the facts, efforts have continually been made to suggest that polio is being "stamped out" by polio vaccines. But, in a 1983 television interview, Dr. R.S. Mendelsohn said that polio disappeared in Europe during the 1940s and 1950s without mass vaccination, and that polio hardly exists in the Third World where only 10% of the people have been vaccinated against polio (Phil Donahue Show, January 12, 1983).

During Congressional hearings on bill 10541, these facts were brought out: In 1958, Israel carried out mass polio immunizations. Immediately, a major "type I" polio epidemic occurred. In 1961, Massachusetts had a "type III" polio outbreak after an earnest effort to inoculate the population.

"There were more paralytic cases in the triple vaccinates than in the unvaccinated.

"In 1957, a spokesman for the North Carolina Health Department made glowing claims for the efficacy of the Salk vaccine, showing how polio steadily decreased from 1953 to 1957. His figures were challenged by Dr. Fred Klenner who pointed out that it was not until 1955 that a single person in the state received a polio vaccine injection. (The polio vaccine was not invented until that year.) Even then, injections were administered on a very limited basis because of the number of polio cases resulting from the vaccine. It was not until 1956 ‘that polio vaccinations assumed inspiring proportions.’ The 61% drop in polio cases in 1954 was credited to the Salk vaccine, when it wasn’t even in the state! By 1957 polio was on the increase."—W. James, Immunization: Reality Behind the Myth, 1988, p. 27.

Polio vaccination began in the mid-1950s. Since then, there has been such a remarkable upturn in the number of polio cases that the trend has been to officially report polio cases as "meningitis.

"In a California Report of Communicable Disease, polio showed a 0 (zero) count, while an accompanying asterisk explained, ‘All such cases are now reported as meningitis.’"—Organic Consumer Report, March 11, 1975.

"It is now seriously suggested that the slow virus may be the cause of a number of degenerative diseases—including rheumatoid arthritis, leukemia, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. It is further possible that some of the attenuated [live, but chemically weakened] strains of vaccines that we advocate may be implicated with these diseases. Of polio immunization . . Fred Klenner (North Carolina) has stated, ‘Many here voice a silent view that the Salk and Sabin vaccines, being made of monkey kidney tissue, have been directly responsible for the major increase of leukemia in this country."—Glen C. Dettman, "Immunization, Ascorbate, and Death," Australian Nurses Journal, December 1977.

A British researcher, Martin, was the first to point out the connection between polio and vaccinations against diphtheria or pertussis. He also noted that the paralysis tended to affect the arm which had received the injection:

"Concerning the subject of ‘provocation poliomyelitis,’ Martin (1950) in London first drew attention to the relation between inoculation against diphtheria or pertussis and an attack of poliomyelitis when he described fifteen cases that he had seen between 1944 and 1949. Paralysis came on, as a rule, seven to twenty-one days after injection and affected the left arm, into which injections are commonly given, four times as often as the right. Interest in this relationship was greatly stimulated by the observations of McCloskey in Australia and Geffen in London. McCloskey (1950) investigated 375 cases of poliomyelitis during an epidemic in Victoria in 1949 and found that 31 of the patients had been inoculated against diphtheria or pertussis, alone or in combination, within five to thirty-two days.

"In London, Geffen (1950) noted that in the 1949 epidemic, 30 out of 182 paralytic patients under five years of age had been immunized against diphtheria, pertussis, or both within four weeks of contracting polio. In all these cases the limb last injected was paralyzed.

"The conclusion drawn from these various reports was greatly strengthened by the statistical analysis carried out by Hill and Knowelden (1950) which showed an excess of poliomyelitis cases in children who had been inoculated within the previous twenty-eight days with pertussis vaccine or combinations of the triple vaccine."—Randolph Society, The Dangers of Immunization, 1987, pp. 44-45.

They then quote Wilson as saying:

" ‘The mode of action of the injected vaccine is open to doubt. The most probable explanation is that it acts like a fixation abscess and allows viruses circulating in the bloodstream to settle down at the site of injection and thence proceed via the nerve fibers to the spinal cord. The greater the irritating effect of the vaccine, the more likely this is to happen."—Op. cit., p. 45.

MUMPS

Mumps is rarely harmful in childhood, and usually disappears within ten days after contracting it naturally. Lifelong immunity is the result. But it is dangerous for males after puberty to contract it. About 35% develop orchitis, or inflammation of the testes. This can result in sterility.

Because the mumps vaccine gives an immunity which is not lifelong—but gradually disappears, boys who have received the mumps vaccine can develop mumps later in life, with hazardous complications. Statistics reveal that mumps after childhood is becoming more frequent, as a result of mumps vaccinations (R.S. Mendelsohn, M.D., How to Raise a Healthy Child, pp. 29-30, 213-214).

The mumps vaccine can also cause immediate and harmful reactions, including febrile seizures; rashes; unilateral nerve deafness; and, occasionally, encephalitis.

A recently developed mumps vaccine is said to produce a higher incidence of encephalitis ("Clinical and Epidemiological Features of Mumps Meningoencephalitis and Possible Vaccine-Related Disease," Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, November 1989, pp. 751-754).

"Use of the mumps vaccine, which has been associated with serious side effects, seems unjustifiable. Administering the vaccine during adolescence may just prolong the problem of wanning immunity and shift the disease and its complications to an even older population."—Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., The Immunization Decision, 1990, p. 60.

It has been said that children should be inoculated against rubella in order to protect pregnant women from catching the disease from them. But a study by Dr. Stephen Schoenbaum and colleagues in 1975—specifically done to find out about that—revealed the surprising fact that adult women contract rubella from other adults, not from children (S.C. Schoenbaum, et al., "Epidemiology of Congenital Rubella Syndrome: The Role of Material Parity," Journal of the American Medical Association, 1975, Vol. 233, pp. 151-155).

The following was reported in the American Journal of Diseases of Childhood:

"A 20-month-old white boy was well until ten days after inoculation with the combined mumps-rubella vaccine. Initial complaints were the inability to stand on the left leg and pain in all extremities. The weakness progressed to include both legs and ascended to involve all extremities. Examination revealed an apprehensive child with a complete flaccid paralysis of all extremities and inability to hold his head up. The patient had marked soft tissue tenderness of all extremities. Neurologic evaluation revealed no muscle stretch reflexes."—J.R. Gunderson, "Guillain-Barr� Syndrome: Occurrence Following Combined Mumps-Rubella Vaccine," American Journal of Diseases of Childhood, 1973, Vol. 125, pp. 834-835.

INFLUENZA (FLU)

Most people call influenza "the flu." The flu vaccines vary in type and effects, from year to year. New strains are constantly being developed in an effort to conquer the latest flu epidemic. Of course, this also means that last year’s flu vaccination can do little to help a person the next year.

"In 1976 more than 500 people who received their flu shots were paralyzed with Guillain-Barr� Syndrome. Thirty of them died. During that same year, the incidence of Guillain-Barr� among flu-vaccinated U.S. Army personnel was 50% greater than among unvaccinated civilians. Dr. John Seal of the National Institute of Allergy and infectious Disease believes that ‘any or all flu vaccines are capable of causing Guillain-Barr�.’ "—N.Z. Miller, Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective? 1992, p. 44.

Medical records reveal that one of the effects of the swine influenza vaccine program was multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barr� Syndrome. Commenting on this relationship, Dr. Waisbren suggested that it may be that the myelin coating on the outside of the nerves may have been damaged or destroyed by viruses in the swine-flu vaccine.

"Is it possible that antigen in the swine-influenza vaccine evokes in some patients an immune response to myelin basic proteins—those that surround the peripheral nerves in patients who developed Guillain-Barr� Syndrome, and those around the central nerves in patients who developed a disorder similar to multiple sclerosis?"—Burton A. Waisbren, M.D., "Swine influenza Vaccine," Annals of Internal Medicine, July 1982, p. 149.

Dr. Robert Couch, Baylor University, Houston, Texas, testified before the U.S. Public Health Service Immunization Practices Advisory Committee in January 1982. He told them of various elderly individuals who had a history of chronic disorders. After they received influenza vaccination, some of their allergies and other problems worsened; some with hypertension had increased blood pressure; some with diabetes had higher blood sugar; some with gout got worse; some with Parkinson’s disease had increased clumsiness.

"Reports linking immunizations to Reye’s Syndrome continue to appear.

"In an epidemic affecting 22 children in Montreal, five had received vaccines (consisting of measles, rubella, DPT, and Sabin polio vaccines) within three weeks prior to their hospitalization.

"While the Center for Disease Control had been quick to suggest a relationship between Reye’s Syndrome and certain flu outbreaks, they have not, to my knowledge, given equal time to a consideration of an association between this disease and the flu vaccine itself."—Robert Mendelsohn, M.D., San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 1978.

GERMAN MEASLES (RUBELLA)

The other name for German Measles is rubella. When a child contracts it, the result is a mild disease with few problems. In fact, most of the time few recognize that they have it. The symptoms are a runny nose, sore throat, very slight fever, and somewhat enlarged, tender lymph nodes on the side of the neck. Pink, slightly raised spots appear on the skin.

But the situation is entirely different if a pregnant woman develops the disease within the first trimester (the first three months of pregnancy). Her baby may be born with birth defects such as limb defects, mental retardation, impaired vision, damaged hearing, or heart malformation.

Obviously, it is dangerous to inoculate a young girl against rubella! Later, when the immunity wears off, she has grown up—and then may contract rubella during early pregnancy. The result may be a defective child. For this reason alone, rubella vaccinations should never be indiscriminately given to children. Although it is a known fact in medical circles that approximately 25% of those vaccinated against rubella lose that immunity within five years (R.S. Mendelsohn, The Risks of Immunizations, 1988, p. 4), yet children—including girls—are routinely given their MMR shots—which includes rubella vaccine.

"Rubella vaccine is unnecessary to administer to boys, rubella illness being of little consequence for males. But the danger of infection of pregnant women by rubella virus is a very serious concern. J. Anthony Morris, Ph.D., former Food and Drug Administration executive, pointed out in the National Health Federation Bulletin in 1977, ‘No boy should be given rubella vaccine because in boys rubella is a relatively minor disease . . Rubella vaccination increases the chances that a pregnant mother can contract the vaccine virus from a son who has been recently vaccinated.’ "—The Dangers of Immunization, 1987, p. 53.

"As much as 26% of children receiving rubella vaccination in national testing programs developed arthralgia and arthritis. Many had to seek medical attention, and some were hospitalized to test for rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis."—"Science Aftermath," Science, March 26, 1977.

"It is clear that vaccination of children (for rubella], which has only been done for several years, is not very successful."—Dr. Plotkin, professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

A study made, during a Casper, Wyoming, German Measles epidemic, revealed that 73% of the children developing it were already immunized against it. In an outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, 80% of all army recruits who contracted the disease had received rubella vaccination four months earlier (Australian Nurses Journal, May 1978).

Negative side effects of rubella vaccinations include arthritis, arthralgia (painful joints), and polyneuritis (peripheral nerve pain, numbness, or paralysis).

You may know someone with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which the scientists call Epstein-Barr Virus. Before 1982, it did not exist in the United States. We are making new diseases all the time!

Researchers now know that the new rubella vaccine (first administered in America in 1979) produced it. Once a child receives that vaccine, the Epstein-Barr virus can remain in his body for years and, through casual contact, be transmitted to others (A.B. Allen, M.D., "Is RA27/3 a Cause of Chronic Fatigue?" Medical Hypothesis, Vol. 27, 1988, pp. 217-220; and A.D. Lieberman, M.D., "The Role of Rubella Virus in the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," Clinical Ecology, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 51-54.)

In an article reviewing the statistical evidence of adverse effects of compulsory rubella vaccination in the State of New Jersey, the following comments were made:

"The HEW (the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare) reported in early 1970 that as much as 26 percent of children receiving rubella vaccination in national testing programs developed arthralgia and arthritis. Many had to seek medical attention and some were hospitalized to test for rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis. In New Jersey this same testing program showed that 17% of all children vaccinated developed arthralgia and arthritis . . The HEW report indicated that in 1969 only 87 congenital rubella syndrome cases were reported in the entire U.S.; twelve cases were reported in New Jersey.

"These statistics hardly justify the crippling of an estimated 340,000 children in the state of New Jersey as a result of the rubella vaccine.

"Further, writing in the current New England Journal of Medicine, Nobel Prize Winner Dr. John Enders, of Harvard University, expressed the concern that young girls vaccinated today may be more likely to get the disease when they grow up and start having children than if they had gotten the disease naturally in their childhood. Findings indicate that vaccination may establish only partial resistance that is not as long lasting nor as protective as natural infection."—Science, March 26, 1977, p. 9.

It is a strange fact that two medical journals have reported that in many hospitals all employees are required to be vaccinated for rubella—but physicians (they are the ones who read the medical journals) refuse to take the rubella vaccine while the other hospital employees receive them ("Rubella Shots for Hospital Employees," The Doctor’s People: A Medical Newsletter for Consumers, August 1991, pp. 1-2). In a second research report, it was noted that 90% of the obstetricians and over two-thirds of the pediatricians refused to take the rubella vaccine ("Rubella Vaccine and Susceptible Hospital Employees: Poor Physician Participation;" Journal of the American Medical Association, February 20, 1981). Those physicians are in the two medical specialties which are the most expert in the dangers of vaccines.

"On August 7, 1989, I had Rubella, Measles, and Varicella Zoster Titre IGG [chicken pox] vaccines. I am a nursing student. Within three weeks I began feeling weak, tired, and sluggish. This lead to numbness in both hands and feet. By November I developed Guillain-Barr� Syndrome and was hospitalized for two months. I was unable to walk, had difficulty moving my upper extremities, suffered urinary and abdominal problems, partial facial paralysis, and I lost a substantial amount of weight. Previously, I was an active healthy woman, eager to finish my nursing program."—Vaccine Reaction Report, National Vaccine Information Center, November 25, 1991, pp. 23-24.

In the following statement, "herd immunization" is an Australian term for what we would call "mass immunization": It is not referring to animal vaccination.

"In October 1972, a seminar on rubella was held at the Department of Pathology, University Department, Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Beverly Allan, a medical virologist, gave overwhelming evidence against the effectiveness of the vaccine. So stunned was she with her investigations that it caused her, like a growing number of scientists, to question the whole area related to herd immunization."—G. Dettman, Ph.D., and A. Kalokerinos, M.D., "Does Rubella Vaccine Protect?" Australian Nurses Journal, May 1978.

When parents take their children to see the doctor for a routine checkup, it is standard procedure for the physician to give them the MMR shots. These are supposed to immunize them against mumps, measles, and rubella. Medical guidelines recommend that this shot be given at about 15 months of age.

WHOOPING COUGH (PERTUSSIS)

"We would like to enjoy reduction in disease at little or no cost. But this goal is difficult to achieve because the reason for immunity to pertussis is obscure; hence, we have little knowledge of the immunizing principle of the bacterium. To accomplish protection we find it necessary to give the entire bacterium and to allow the host to sort out the effective immunologic response. The cost of doing this is the inclusion of all components of the bacterium, including the toxic ones."—Vincent Fulginiti, M.D., 1984, quoted in H.L. Coulter and B.L. Fisher, A Shot in the Dark, p. 205.

The medical name for whooping cough is "pertussis." This can be a dangerous disease. The heavy coughing can so weaken the body that the individual dies from lack of oxygen. In most cases, the disease is not fatal, but is the most dangerous when infants under six months of age contract it. No known antibiotics and cough suppressants seem to lessen the condition.

"Curiously, the United States appears to be the only major Western nation with compulsory pertussis immunization. It is not mandated in England, France, West Germany, Canada, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Norway, or the Netherlands. In fact, the only part of Europe where pertussis vaccination is universally imposed is the Soviet Union and the formerly ‘iron curtain’ countries of Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.

"Mass vaccination in our ‘free society’ is not voluntary. Since the repeal of the draft in the 1970s, mandatory vaccination remains the only law that requires a citizen to risk his life for his country."—H.L. Coulter and B.L. Fisher, A Shot In the Dark, p. 204.

Actually, the number of cases of whooping cough were declining in the years before the pertussis vaccine was introduced. From 1900 to 1935, the death rate from this disease declined 79 percent in the U.S. (International Mortality Statistics, 1981, pp. 164-165). Due to problems with the vaccine, since that vaccination began, the death rate has risen again.

"Reports in the medical literature of serious adverse consequences—shock and brain damage—in infant recipients of pertussis vaccine extend from the 1930s to the present time."—The Randolph Society, The Dangers of Immunization, 1987, p. 56.

The whooping cough vaccine has a high percentage of neurologic complications, including death. Several physicians I know do not give it at all."—Robert Mendelsohn, "Vaccinations Pose Hazards," Idaho Statesman, December 19, 1977.

"One case they described was that of an eight-month-old boy, whose first pertussis shot was given at seven months. That shot was followed by irritability and drowsiness, which cleared up in about three days. Three weeks later he was given a second shot and ‘rapidly became irritable, restless, febrile (feverish), and held his right arm stiffly. About seventy-two hours after the inoculation, [he] had two severe generalized convulsions and was admitted to another hospital.’ 

When he was seen by his family physician eight months later, ‘he was blind, deaf, spastic and helpless.’ "—1948 research study by Randolph K. Byers and Frederick C. Moll of Harvard Medical School, as reported in H.L. Coulter and B.L. Fisher, A Shot In the Dark, pp. 22-23.

Dr. Vincent A. Fulginiti, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on infectious Diseases, wrote a 1976 paper, "Controversies in Current Immunization Practices: One Physician’s Viewpoint." It was included in a 1982 statement submitted by J. Anthony Morris, Ph.D., to a U.S. Senate subcommittee:

"To me, it is inconceivable that we can steadfastly recommend and employ pertussis vaccine without a parallel commitment to resolve the outstanding issues. It is my belief that the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and CDC should constantly encourage competent authorities to investigate the unanswered questions and attempt definitive answers."—V.A. Fulginiti, M.D., quoted in J.A. Morris, Ph.D., statement to U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Investigations and General Oversight, Committee on Labor and Human Relations, June 30, 1982.

On those occasions when enough of the public learns about it, it is shocked at what pertussis inoculations are doing to the children. Storm waves keep arising over the matter, which state health departments try to quiet with words of peace and safety. But the outcry finally led, in 1986, to a congressional law (NCVIA, discussed in some detail near the close of the present book).

"The vaccine controversy has reached its emotional and political zenith with the publicity generated by pertussis vaccine reactions. Public awareness was fueled by television documentaries, books in the popular press (Coulter & Fisher, A Shot in the Dark, 1985), and many magazine articles. Children in Great Britain and Sweden no longer receive the pertussis vaccine.

Japan has postponed pertussis immunization until children are two years old, and the United States Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act [NCVIA] to provide compensation to parents of children injured by vaccines."—Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., The Immunization Decision, 1990, p. 43.

The most comprehensive pertussis study was conducted in Los Angeles during 1978-1979 by UCLA (reported in Pediatrics, 1981, 68:650-660). In a large number of cases, reactions occurred within the first 48 hours after pertussis injection were recorded. Serious problems were found to exist with the pertussis vaccine. Unfortunately, the research only concerned the first 48 hours after inoculation. Dr. Coulter comments on the many cases of brain damage caused by the vaccine, which occur more than 48 hours after the injection:

"Severe neurologic sequelae [plural of ‘sequela,’ an abnormal condition resulting directly or indirectly from a previous disease or vaccination] may also occur after vaccination in the absence of an acute reaction. When the baby reacts to a DPT shot with ‘a slight fever and fussiness for a few days,’ this may be, and often is, a case of encephalitis which is quite capable of causing quite severe long-term neurologic consequences . . Any researcher who ignores or rejects the possibility that a vaccination can cause the most serious neurologic disorders in the absence of a marked acute reaction will have to find grounds for distinguishing post-vaccinal encephalitis from encephalitis due to other causes."—Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., The Immunization Decision, 1990, p. 46.

Although the study was restricted to only the initial 48 hours after a pertussis injection, the UCLA research still revealed that 50% of those receiving the vaccine developed fever, 36% had irritability, 35% had crying episodes, and 40% had localized inflammation. More significantly, 3% had persistent crying, and 31% had excessive sleepiness.

Three research studies were made on the relationship that the pertussis vaccine had to death. Each one specifically examined DPT vaccinations, and each found a decided relationship. In Waler’s case-control study, the relative risk of the child having SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) within 3 days after immunization was 7.3%! Did you hear that? That is almost one child out of every ten vaccinated with DPT (the diphtheria-pertussis-typhoid vaccine, a standard vaccination given to school children).

(The three studies were: Baraff, et al., 1983, reported in Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 1983, Vol. 2, pp. 7-11; Torch, 1982, reported in Neurology, 1982, Vol. 32, p. A 169; Waler, et al., 1987, reported in American Journal of Public Health, 1987, Vol. 77, pp. 945-951.)

In a research paper submitted to the Australian government, Drs. Dettman, Kalokerinos, and Ford have urged that something be done about the pertussis vaccine problem. Among other things, they noted evidence linking pertussis vaccine with the later appearance of asthma and hay fever ("A Supportive Submission," The Dangers of Immunization, Biological Research Institute, Warburton, Victoria, Australia, 1979, p. 74).

Not only is the pertussis vaccine about 40-45 percent effective ("Persistence of Pertussis in an Immunized Population," November 1989, pp. 686-693), but its immunity is short-lived (Vaccination Bulletin, February 1987, p. 11), there is a 95% chance of infection, only 12 years after vaccination ("Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus Vaccine," Pediatrics, February 1979, pp. 256-260).

Edward B. Shaw, a physician teaching in the medical school at the University of California, said this:

"I doubt that the decrease in pertussis is due to the vaccine, which is a very poor antigen and an extremely dangerous one—with many serious complications."—E.B. Shaw, M.D., Journal of the American Medical Association, March 10, 1975, p. 1026.

Here are several additional comments on the pertussis vaccine:

"There is a natural tendency to under-report whooping cough when it occurs in a vaccinated population, and to over-report it when it appears to be occurring in an unvaccinated population."—H.L. Coulter and B.L. Fisher, DPT: A Shot in the Dark.

A new whooping cough vaccine, known as the "acellular pertussis vaccine," was put on the market in 1981. Also known as "Japanese whooping cough vaccine," Japanese scientists developed it to be "safer and more effective" than the pertussis vaccines in current use. But the new vaccine has brought death to some of those receiving it. The first U.S. test was made on Swedish children in 1988; five of the children died.

"In Japan, the replacement of whole-cell with acellular vaccine resulted in a 60% reduction of ‘mild’ side effects, particularly febrile seizures. But the rate of severe reactions did not differ significantly between the acellular and whole-cell vaccine (Noble, et al., 1987). The Japanese experience with acellular vaccine has included only children 24 months or older. There is no data that allows us to predict the rate of severe reactions for infants given the new vaccine."—R. Neustaedter, The Immunization Decision, 1990, p. 80.

"The pertussis vaccine is dangerous in all forms developed thus far . . Infants will continue to be severely damaged by these pertussis vaccines, and the true extent of undetected, long-term disease will probably never be discovered."—Op. cit., p. 81.

In 1987, 66 Japanese victims of the new shots won immense court awards from the government. The judge said the government was at fault and had victimized the people (report of Marian Tompson, an investigative reporter, noted in R.S. Mendelsohn, M.D., Risks of Immunizations, 1988, p. 96).

An outstanding book on the whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine has been written! It is entitled A Shot in the 

Dark. The subtitle is Why the P in the DPT Vaccination May be Hazardous to Your Child’s Health. Authored by Harris L. Coulter and Barbara Loe Fisher, it is extremely comprehensive. Coulter is a medical historian, and Fisher is founding member and vice-president of Dissatisfied Parents Together, a Virginia-based organization which tries to help parents who have had problems—before or after—vaccinations. (See the section, "For More Information," for the address.)

DPT VACCINE

DPT is a combination vaccine, composed of diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and typhoid vaccines. It is probably the vaccine most commonly given to small children. It is also one of the most dangerous. The following account appeared in the distinguished journal, Pediatrics:

"A 16-month-old baby girl . . had been previously healthy and developmentally normal . . In September 1983, 14 days after measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination, she had subjective fever, cough, conjunctival infection, and a generalized macular erythematous rash. Two days later, the majority of these symptoms abated, but the conjunctival infection worsened, her pupils became dilated, and she began walking into objects . . On admission to the hospital, examination revealed a vigorous toddler who would not reach for objects and had only minimal light perception. Ophthalmologic examination showed a diffuse chorioretinitis with perivascular retinal edema, mild papilledema, and a stellate macular configuration . . Repeat Fundoscopic [eye] examination several days later demonstrated evolution into a ‘salt and pepper’ pigmentary pattern distributed radially along the retinal veins. These changes were most consistent with measles retinopathy. On follow-up examination 7 months later, her visual acuity had improved; she was able to ambulate freely but still sat close to the television set and held objects close to her face. Fundoscopic examination revealed macular scarring."—G.S. Marshall, et al., "Diffuse retinopathy following measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination," Pediatrics, 1985, Vol. 76, pp. 989-991.

Measles, normally "caught" the natural way, never causes such problems. But, when weakened measles viruses are given in injections, the result can be weird ("atypical") types of physical damage which would never occur if a child caught the disease naturally.

We have already viewed the dangers of measles, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccines. DPT combines them all into one package, which health department officials in every state routinely require every child to be injected with, in order to attend public school.

Diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus vaccines are generally given in one dose, called the "DPT vaccine." Formaldehyde, thimerosal (a form of mercury), and aluminum phosphate—all strong poisons—are used to "stabilize" the germs in DPT, as well as a number of other vaccines.

Just for a moment, let us discuss this matter of "stabilized" and "attenuated" viruses: If you half-kill a plant or animal, it is in bad shape. It may become diseased, it may die, it might recover its full strength. The same applies to the half-killed ("attenuated") viruses in vaccines. The poisonous chemicals used to "stabilize" them have caused some to become diseased, some dead, and some to recover quite well. —Then the whole mess is pumped into the arm of a small child. And we wonder why he develops a strange sickness afterward.

One child will develop one kind of disease, another a different kind. It all depends on which direction a majority of the weakened viruses injected into that particular child happened to go—before and after being injected. It also depended on what other viruses happened to be in the bovine or monkey pus which the viruses came from. It also depended on the child’s general health and diet at the time. It also depended on how many vaccines he received at one time. It also depended on whether this was the first vaccination or the third or fourth in a series.

Another point should be mentioned:

After being injected, the fast-flowing bloodstream carries off the entire collection of chemicals and viruses in the vaccine—and quickly separates the viruses from the chemicals which kept them in a weakened condition. What happens to the viruses next, now that they are back in an ideal growth environment? What do the deadly chemicals do? Very likely, the chemicals weaken the body’s immune system, as the foreign viruses set to work to grow and multiply.

A 60-Minute documentary, entitled "DPT: Vaccine Roulette," produced by reporter Lea Thompson, was aired over WRC-TV, Washington, D.C., in April 1982. It reviewed a shocking number of incidents of neurological damage to children following DPT vaccination.

"To health professionals, of course, the dangers of DPT are nothing new . . Almost from the inception of widespread DPT immunization, severe reactions have been reported, beginning with Byers’ and Moll’s study of vaccine-associated encephalopathy in 1948."—Journal of the American Medical Association, July 2, 1982.

"We have shown that triple antigen injections (DTP) given to scorbutic children [low in vitamin C] can result in massive immunological insults which may cause death (as reported in Medical Journal of Australia, April 7, 1973). Obliged to investigate this phenomenon, we were surprised to find the whole subject of herd [mass] immunization is controversial and not nearly so well authenticated as we would have our recipients believe.

"It is now seriously suggested that the slow virus may be the cause of a number of degenerative diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, leukemia, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. It is further possible that some of the attenuated [chemically weakened] strains of vaccines that we advocate may be implicated with these diseases. Of polio immunization . . Fred Klenner (North Carolina) has stated, ‘Many here voice a silent view that the Salk and Sabin vaccines, being made of monkey kidney tissue, have been directly responsible for the major increase of leukemia in this country."—Glen C. Dettman, "Immunization, Ascorbate, and Death," Australian Nurses Journal, December 1977.

The packet insert for the DPT vaccine says that "symptomology related to neurological disorders" and "excessive screaming" can follow vaccination with DPT.

Dr. John Fox, of the University School of Medicine, issued a warning to the Australian government that the risk of paralytic complications from injecting certain vaccines is too great. He cited vaccines containing antigens for measles, polio, whooping cough, and tetanus (Drs. A. Kalokerinos and G. Dettman, " ‘Mumps’ the word, but you have yet another vaccine deficiency, "Australian Nurses Journal, June 1981, p. 17).

"[DPT can cause] fever over 103 degrees F., convulsions alterations of consciousness; focal neurologic signs, screaming episodes . . shock; collapse; thrombocytopenic purpura."—Physician’s Desk Reference, 1980, p. 1866.

Edward Brandt, Jr., M.D. testified before a U.S. Senate Committee on May 3, 1985, and stated that every year 35,000 children suffer neurological reactions because of the DPT vaccination (Health Freedom News, May 1985, p. 38).

Under "Side Effects and Adverse Reactions" of DPT, you will find the following listed:

"1. Severe temperature elevations—105� or higher. 2. Collapse with rapid recovery. 3. Collapse followed by prolonged prostration and shock-like state. 4. Screaming episodes. 5. Isolated convulsions with or without fever. 6. Frank encephalopathy [brain damage] with changes in the level of consciousness, focal neurological signs, and convulsions with or without permanent neurological and/or mental deficit. 7. Thrombocytopenic purpura [blood and skin disorder]. The occurrence of sudden infant death syndrome [SIDS] has been reported following administration of DPT."—Physicians Desk Reference, 1980, p. 1866.

Reye’s Syndrome often is a fatal disease, which may be caused by various vaccines:

"Reports linking immunizations to Reye’s Syndrome continue to appear.

"In an epidemic affecting 22 children in Montreal, five had received vaccines (measles, rubella, DPT, and Sabin polio vaccines) within three weeks prior to their hospitalization. "While the Center for Disease Control has been quick to suggest a relationship between Reye’s Syndrome and certain flu outbreaks, they have not, to my knowledge, given equal time to a consideration of an association between this disease and the flu vaccine."—R.S. Mendelsohn, M.D., news column in San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 1978.

Beware of the piercing cry! Think of that cry BEFORE you decide to let your child receive the injection. Why? Because that cry can be a symptom that the child is suffering slight, partial, or major brain injury. The result in after years may be only a slight nervous condition or it may be strong excitability, slight or greater retardation, partial or complete paralysis.

"The scientists studying the pertussis vaccine have little conclusive evidence of its side effects. For years, crying spells that develop on the day the shot is given were considered insignificant. Today, some doctors believe they are evidence of a neurologic reaction to the shot. And the manufacturers of the vaccine now recommend that children with such reactions do not receive the shot. [Yet that reaction comes after the shot, not before.]

"A study on DPT effects by researchers at the University of California, the first such study to be done in the U.S. in 25 years, found that one in 13 vaccinated children suffers persistent, piercing crying spells the day after receiving a DPT injection. Because the first three shots are given to children when they are still under one year old, they cannot explain the exact nature of their distress.

"However, the crying is usually accompanied by a fever and drowsiness. Some experts theorize the crying is due to slight damage to the nervous system, but the connection has not been proven."—Michael D’Antonio, "School Shots: More Harm than Good?" Family Weekly Magazine, August 15, 1982.

"Some interesting statistics emerged; however, these figures are very conservative because doctors don’t report reactions, and what does get reported is the result of some special study commissioned by the government. A recent study at UCLA estimates that as many as one in every 13 children had persistent high-pitched crying after the DPT shot.

" ‘This may be indicative of brain damage in the recipient child,’ Dr. Bobbie Young said. Later on he said, ‘You know, we start off with healthy infants, and we pop ’em not once, but three or four times with a vaccine . . The probability of causing damage is the same each time. My greatest fear is that very few of them escape some kind of neurological damage out of this.’ One child in 700 has convulsions or goes into shock. These reactions sometimes cause learning disabilities or brain damage . . But these figures represent only the reported effects occurring within 48 hours after the administration of the vaccine.

"An even more recent figure on the reaction to the DPT vaccine indicates that 1 in 100 children react with convulsions or collapse or high-pitched screaming. One out of 3 of these [screaming babies]—that is, 1 in 300—will remain permanently damaged."—Walene James, Immunizations: The Reality Behind the Myth, 1988, pp. 13-14.

The standard DPT vaccination schedule for infants is DPT-1 at 2 months, DPT-2 at 4 months, DPT-3 at 6 months, DPT-4 at 15 months, and DPT-5 at 4-6 years. The immunization schedule for children up to 7 years of age is DPT-1 at first visit, DPT-2 at 2 months later, DPT-3 at 4 months later, DPT-4 at 6-12 months after DPT-3, and DPT-5 at 4-6 years of age. Have you already started your child on his series of five DPT shots?

"Should they [the parents] continue with boosters once they have started? All those other shots might be wasted. If you have doubts at any point, you can stop giving the vaccines. Remember that vaccines often cause severe reactions only after the third or fourth shot."—Randall Neustaedter, The Immunization Decision, 1990, p. 91.

Here is an abstract (summary) of an in-depth research report, showing that, at whatever age the child received the DPT vaccine, a sizeable percentage experienced varying levels of sickness and/or physical damage:

"Abstract: 82 infants, aged 2-12 months, were prospectively studied for infectious episodes following DPT immunization. The occurrence of infectious episodes during the month following vaccination was compared to that during the month prior to its administration. The 3 days following vaccination were not included. In comparison to the month prior to immunization, during the month following there were significantly more infants with fever (6.1% vs. 24.4%, p < 0.001), with diarrhea (7.3% vs. 23.1, p < 0.005), and with cough (37.7% vs. 52.4%, p N.S.). After the first month of the study, there was an increase in morbidity in the region, so those cases were reevaluated which had been seen during the latter 3 months. The same trend one month after immunization, there were significantly more infants with fever (53% vs. 25%, p < 0.005), with diarrhea (10.5% vs 28%, p <0.02), and with cough (26% vs. 54%, p <0.01). There was no correlation between the incidence of these episodes and the age at vaccination. In addition to reactive fever during the first 3 days following DPT immunization, an increase in infectious episodes seems to occur in infants during the month following administration of this vaccine."—"Infectious Episodes Following Diphtheria Pertussis Tetanus Vaccination," Clinical Pediatrics, October 1988.

In order, for legal reasons, to admit there is danger, without hardly admitting it, the two primary DPT manufacturers provide these carefully worded sentences in their DPT product insert:

"SIDS has occurred in infants following the administration of DPT. One study has showed no casual connection."—Connaught Laboratories, DPT product insert, 1986. 

"The occurrence of SIDS has been reported following administration of DPT. The significance of these reports is unclear."—Wyeth Laboratories, DPT product insert, 1984.

In reality, there have been dozens of studies showing a very strong correlation (see Bibliography at the back of this book for a few samples).

DPT AND

SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME

A great mystery surrounds SIDS. This is the abbreviation for sudden infant death syndrome. It is popularly known as "crib death." What is it? And more important: What causes it?

Parents fear the terrible possibility that—suddenly—their baby may die. As is happening in many other homes in the nation, they fear that, at any time, they may walk to the crib and find that their infant is no longer alive.

The most popular medical theory about SIDS is that the central nervous system has somehow stopped functioning properly, so that the involuntary act of breathing is suppressed. The child stops breathing and dies.

But only a shadowy mystery lies beyond that. What causes SIDS?

Yet there is information available. Every mother in the land should be made aware of it.

Dr. William Torch, of the University of Nevada School of Medicine at Reno, issued a report that the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) shots may be the cause of SIDS. He found that two-thirds of 103 children who died of SIDS had been immunized with DPT vaccine within three weeks before their deaths! Many died within a day after getting the shot. Torch maintained that this was no mere coincidence, but that a causal relationship was involved.

In 1978-1979, during an expansion of the Tennessee Childhood Immunization Program, eight cases of SIDS were reported immediately following routine DPT immunizations. The U.S. Surgeon General quietly had the manufacturer recall all unused doses of that batch of vaccine.

In 1983, the UCLA School of Medicine, working with the Los Angeles County Health Department, reported a study of 145 SIDS deaths. DPT vaccinations were routinely being given, and it was found that 27 died within 28 days after being immunized; 17 of them within a week after receiving the shot; 6 within 24 hours after.

It was also noted that breast-feeding is one of the best ways a mother can help her child avoid SIDS. It is well-known in the medical world that mother’s milk contains substances which help protect the infant against disease, until its own immune system grows stronger.

DPT vaccinations continue to this day throughout the land. Every so often infants suddenly die. And people wonder. Why?

Although a quantity of case studies implicating vaccinations have been collected, yet nothing is done to stop the vaccination of infants."

In March 1979, it was suggested that there might be an association between immunization with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine absorbed (DPT), Wyeth Lot 64201, and the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in Tennessee. An extensive investigation following this report neither established nor refuted a causal relationship (Hutcheson, "Follow-up on DTP Vaccination and Sudden Infant Deaths: Tennessee," Morbidity-Mortality Weekly Report 28:1351 1979; Brunier and others, "Diphtheria-Tetanus Toxoid-Pertussis Vaccination and Sudden Infant Deaths in Tennessee," Journal of Pediatrics, 101:419-421, 1982).

To clarify this issue, the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, conducted a study of SIDS in Los Angeles County (Baraff and others, "Possible Temporal Association between Diphtheria-Tetanus Toxoid-Pertussis Vaccination and Sudden infant Death Syndrome, "Pediatric Infectious Disease, 2:7-11, January 1983).

"Parents of 145 SIDS victims who died in Los Angeles County between January 1, 1979, and August 23, 1980, were contacted and interviewed regarding their child’s recent immunization history. Fifty-three had received a DPT immunization. Of these, 27 had received a DPT immunization within twenty-eight days of death. Six SIDS deaths occurred within twenty-four hours, and seventeen occurred within one week of DPT immunization. It was concluded these SIDS deaths were significantly more than expected were there no association between DPT immunization and SIDS. "—H.E. Buttram, M.D. and J.C. Hoffman, Ph.D., 1991, p. 54.

It appears that SIDS, so destructive of human life and so terrifying to parents who experience it in their own home, is totally unnecessary.

"In a study in Queen Alexandra Hospital, Hobart, Tasmania, reported by Dr. Viera Scheibner, about one half of the babies who succumbed to cot death (SIDS) had recently been vaccinated ("Cot Death Due to Exposure to Nonspecific Stress: Its Mechanisms and Prevention," a scientific paper for the Association for Prevention of Cot Death in Blackheath, New South Wales, 1990). In examining and discussing the basis for deaths following vaccination, Scheibner pointed out that noxious substances such as formaldehyde (used as a fixative in some vaccines) can cause serious organ damage. ‘The single most common and preventable cause of death in infants due to stress for noxious substances is vaccination,’ she wrote. Yet, she said, the effect of vaccinating babies has never systematically been studied, recorded, and analyzed.

"Moreover, Dr. Scheibner declared, parents of infants brain damaged after DPT vaccination are led to believe that unless the damage occurs within twenty-four hours it was not caused by the shot. However, the damage often occurs two weeks later."—Ibid.

Monitors placed on infants who have been vaccinated show severe alterations in breathing patterns after the DPT (diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus) vaccine is injected. A precise breathing monitor, called "cotwatch," was used in a special study of SIDS. The children’s breathing pattern was measured before and after DPT vaccination. The data clearly demonstrates that it was the vaccine which caused an extraordinary increase in episodes where breathing nearly ceased or actually stopped completely! Scheibner, the author of the study, concluded that "vaccination is the single most prevalent and most preventable cause of infant deaths."

On March 9, 1979, the Tennessee Department of Health reported to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) that four sudden unexplained deaths occurred since November 1978, in infants who had been vaccinated during the 24 hour period prior to death. These four deaths were classified as SIDS and all had just received their first DPT vaccination and oral polio vaccine. Altogether, in Tennessee, between August 1977 and March 1978 and from August 1978 to March 1979, there were 52 recorded SIDS and/or "deaths resulting from unknown causes."

At the thirty-fourth Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in 1982, William C. Torch and other researchers discussed over 150 DPT postvaccinal deaths. About 50% of the deaths happened within 24 hours of DPT, 75% in 72 hours, 90% in 1 week, and the rest within 20 months following protracted reactions. About one-half were sudden (SIDS-like) or anaphylactic; about one-half followed neurotoxic or systemic symptoms (apnea, shock, seizures, dyspnea, irritability, lethargy, apathy, coma, paralysis, etc.; Neurology, April 1986, pp. 148-149).

Another study, this one in Los Angeles County, was undertaken to determine if there is a temporal association between SIDS and DPT vaccinations. Parents of 145 SIDS victims who died in that county between January 1, 1979 and August 23, 1980, were interviewed regarding their child’s recent vaccination history. Fifty-three had received a DPT vaccine. Of these, 27 had received a DPT vaccination within 28 days of death. Six deaths occurred within 24 hours and 17 occurred within 1 week of DPT vaccination. These SIDS deaths were "significantly more than expected were there no association between DPT vaccination and SIDS." An additional 46 infants had a physical/clinic visit without DPT vaccination prior to death. Forty of these infants died within 28 days of this visit, 7 on the third day, and 22 within the first week following the visit. The report concluded that there was a definite relationship between the DPT vaccination and SIDs (Pediatric Infectious Disease, January 1983, pp. 5-11).

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) reports that the form of the vaccine used and sanctioned by the Centers for Disease Control kills as many as 900 children per year and leaves one of every 62,000 children immunized with permanent brain damage.

It is a horrifying fact; U.S. drug firms refuse to produce a purified vaccine which is available and virtually reaction-free. It has been produced and used in other countries for over 15 years, using technology the U.S. abandoned in the 1970s. The problem is that it costs $9 more per injection. While most parents would happily spend the additional nine dollars to ensure their children’s safety, drug companies have lobbied Congress to delay the use of the purified (acellular) vaccine as long as possible, because it would reduce somewhat their immense 50% profit margins per vaccination.

Here is the story behind this: By 1972, six major U.S. pharmaceutical companies had developed a purified (acellular) form of the pertussis vaccine which was virtually reaction-free. Unfortunately, the purification process yielded less of the active component necessary to confer immunity, increasing the cost of production from cents to dollars per dosage. Acellular vaccine production was abandoned in America.

In 1977, British researcher Dr. Gordon T. Stewart, of the Department of Community Medicine at the University of Glasgow, documented adverse reactions to DPT vaccine for children in the United Kingdom (G.T. Stewart, "Vaccination against Whooping Cough: Efficacy vs. Risks," Lancet, January 29, 1977).

His research demonstrated that a number of the children receiving the vaccine suffered encephalopathy (brain disfunction) with rare instances of mental retardation ensuing.

Other symptoms included fits of screaming, unresponsiveness, shock, vomiting, localized paralysis, and convulsions. Of the 160 adverse cases he examined, 40% demonstrated hyperkinesis (increased muscle movements accompanying brain dysfunction), infantile spasms, flaccid paralysis, and partial or complete amentia (severe mental retardation).

He determined that adverse events were severely under-reported or overlooked, that no protection from the disease was demonstrable in infants, and that claims by official bodies that risks of whooping cough exceeded those of vaccination were very questionable.

Sweden banned the pertussis vaccine from its vaccination program in 1979, related to concerns of safety and its questionable effectiveness. That country decided it would rather endure the disease as opposed to the vaccine.

In 1980, German researchers, Tonz and Bajc, compared incidences of seizures caused by the pertussis vaccine in Germany with those in America. German children suffered seizures at the rate of 1 per every 4,800 infants immunized. In America, children had one seizure for every 600 infants immunized; one child in 1,750 would collapse in shock from the dose.

Japan totally replaced the traditional whole-cell pertussis vaccine with the purified, acellular vaccine. By 1983, studies indicated that the efficacy of Japanese acellular vaccines was equal that of the whole-cell vaccines, and complication rates had been cut by 83%. But the average cost of each shot was a little more in Japan. So U.S. pharmaceutical firms wanted nothing to do with it, knowing it would reduce their profits a little. They would rather let your children and grandchildren experience brain damage, paralysis, blindness, and death ("Acellular and Whole Cell Pertussis Vaccines in Japan," JAMA, Vol. 257, No. 10, 1987).

When the major U.S. vaccine manufacturers lobbied Congress in 1986 to pass the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) to absolve them of all liability related to adverse reactions caused by their products, they wanted to stop the flood of lawsuits against them. With this Act, the National Vaccine Injury Fund was established by levying a user tax against citizens for immunizing their children. Since its initiation, the fund has compensated 579 vaccine-induced deaths, adjudicated through the Federal Court of Claims in the amount of $700 million dollars. Forty percent of these vaccine-induced deaths (227 of the 579) were originally misdiagnosed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

What arrogance! The drug companies get American taxpayers to pay the cost of their children’s vaccine tragedies—through vaccines which the drug companies get the States to require children to receive!

The major manufacturer and supplier of DPT in the U.S., Wyeth-Lederle, watched its profits soar 300% since the passage of this Act. Wyeth-Lederle earned $350 million in sales of DPT last year.

In one 20 month period alone, the National Vaccine Information Center documented 54,000 adverse vaccine reactions which included 700 deaths. Dr. David Kessler, commissioner of the FDA (now retired), added that only 1 of every 10 adverse events associated with vaccines are reported.

MMR VACCINE

Along with DPT, the MMR vaccine combination is the other major inoculation given to children. It is composed of weakened viruses of measles, mumps, and rubella. This injection is generally given as a single shot at 15 months of age or older.

MMR will include all the problems discussed separately above, under measles, mumps, and rubella. In addition—as with DPT—because three shots are combined in one, there is added danger of placing too much of a load on the child’s immunization system at one time.

"Mass immunization of children for mumps, measles, and rubella has resulted in a shift in the pattern of these diseases. The age distribution has changed significantly since the vaccinations were introduced in the 1960s. Now these are increasingly becoming diseases of adolescents and young adults. This is a problem since the diseases themselves cause more complications in this older population. Secondly, the vaccines seem to have caused atypical [peculiar] forms of the diseases to appear."—Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., The Immunization Decision, 1990, p. 52.

"Despite the history of serious vaccine side effects, which includes polio caused by the oral vaccine, deaths and brain damage caused by DPT, and the many problems of live measles and mumps vaccines, drug companies and the medical profession persist in the development and rush to market of new vaccines. Few studies and little experience precede licensure of these new products. Haemophilus, chicken pox, and pneumococcal vaccines are the most recent experiments conducted on America’s children."—R. Neustaedter, The Immunization Decision, 1990, p. 73.

MMR VACCINE AND AUTISM

One of the earliest vaccines introduced for general use in the U.S. was the pertussis vaccine for whooping cough in the 1940s. Autism, a form of childhood schizophrenia, characterized by mental retardation, muteness (inability to speak), and a lack of responsiveness to human contact, was not known or described until 1943, about the same time that vaccinations were introduced. Here are some of the latest facts on this:

The Wakefield/Walker-Smith Study. In a 1998 study of twelve children in Britain, all twelve had intestinal problems and had suddenly lost language skills; and nine were diagnosed as definitely autistic. The significant part is that, in the case of eight of the children, parents or a doctor noticed the problems developed shortly after the child had received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine!

Serious problems can occur when children, especially small children, are vaccinated. Of these, the rubella (German measles) vaccine is especially dangerous. It is a standard part of the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) combination vaccine.

A 1998 research study, published in the British medical journal, Lancet, reveals that the MMR vaccine could be a cause of that terrible condition, known as autism.

Autism usually develops before the age of 30 months, when the sufferers lose their intellectual and higher brain functions. The children become withdrawn, self-absorbed, and unable to communicate.

Dr. Andy Wakefield (a specialist in gastroenterology) and Dr. John Walker-Smith led a research team at the Royal Free Hospital and school of Medicine in London, which discovered a new bowel disease in children which could be linked to autism and the MMR vaccination. They discovered that most of the children developed the bowel disease after the vaccination. This disclosure has aroused new fears about the safety of vaccines.

All twelve children had developed normally; but they suddenly lost skills, such as language, and developed a strange bowel problem.

Wakefield and Walker-Smith also studied 40 other patients, 39 of whom also had the same combination of intestinal and behavioral symptoms.

Wakefield said, "We were very, very surprised. We expected we might see one or two in the second group." Seven hundred more children are on the list at the Royal Free Hospital, to be assessed for the new bowel/autism syndrome.

The new bowel disease was given the name, "ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyerplasia."

The vaccine industry is big business; for, each year, it brings millions of dollars from sales into drug company coffers.

Rather quickly, medical authorities in the U.S. complained that the study was flawed, incomplete, etc. Robert Chen and Frank DeStefano, of the Vaccine Safety and Development Activity National Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, said the research was not proof that MMR vaccine causes the bowel syndrome or autism.

In their rebuff in Lancet, Chen and DeStefano made the significant comment that autism first becomes noticeable at two years of age. That happens to be when the MMR vaccine is usually given. "Not surprisingly, therefore, some cases will follow MMR vaccination," they said.

But that reasoning could support a causal relationship rather than a coincidental one. Autism is first noticed at the age of two, because the MMR vaccine was given at that time.

Pasteur Merieux MSD, a French firm which makes the vaccine used in Britain, issued this statement: "It would be unfortunate if the results of controversial studies such as these resulted in a drop in public confidence in the vaccine, which the vast majority of the informed medical profession support totally."

Over the past 15 years, the number of routine shots has risen from five to 20 for children up to 2 years old, says Margaret Rennels, a pediatrics professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

In a survey of 1,600 parents of young children last fall in the journal, Pediatrics, 25% worried that the sheer number of vaccines could overwhelm and weaken their child’s immune system.

The Wakefield/O’Leary Study: In a separate British study in the summer of 2001, scientists uncovered additional evidence that the MMR vaccine is primarily responsible for autism.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield (the same one mentioned earlier) and pathologist John O’Leary found fragments of the measles virus from the MMR jab in the bowels of autistic children who also suffer a rare form of bowel disease. This establishes a possible link between the measles virus, autism, and a related bowel disorder.

The Singh Report on MMR and Autism: In late September 2002, scientists at the Department of Biology and Biotechnology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, reported finding a strong association between the MMR vaccine and the autoimmune reaction believed to pay an important role in autism.

The research team, led by Dr. Vijendra K. Singh, analyzed blood samples from 125 autistic children and 92 children who did not have autism. (Associate members of the team were S.X. Lin, E. Newell, and C. Nelson.)

Ninety-two of the 125 autistic children had antibodies showing they had earlier had an abnormal reaction to the measles component of the MMR vaccine. Nine out of 10 of those children were also positive for antibodies thought to be involved in autism.

Dr. Singh believes that an abnormal immune response may be the underlying cause of many cases of autism. This is because, in reaction to the MMR vaccine, the child’s body produces antibodies which attack the brain by dissolving myelin. Myelin is the coating on the nerve fibers, which serves to insulate it so nerve signals can pass through the body. It is like the plastic wrapping covering copper wires.

It is highly significant that none of the non-autistic children showed the production of those antibodies, the sign of an unusual anti-measles immune response. This is powerful evidence.

More information on the Singh’s team research and findings will be found in the British Journal of Biomedical Science, July/August 2002, pp. 359-364. To date, the news of this astonishing finding, although made in Utah, has not been mentioned in the U.S. media.

"Stemming from this evidence, we suggest that an inappropriate antibody response to MMR, specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism."—Ibid.

Both British government’s chief medical officer and the British Medical Association continue to insist that there is scientific data supporting their position that the MMR vaccine is safe for children, and there is no contrary evidence. The U.S. medical establishment says the same thing.

Because this is so important, here is an abstract [research] summary of the Singh investigation:

"Abnormal measles-mumps-rubella antibodies and CNS autoimmunity in children with autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder.

"Because many autistic children harbor elevated levels of measles antibodies, we conducted a serological study of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and autoantibodies.

"Using serum samples of 125 autistic children and 92 control [non-autistic] children, antibodies were assayed by ELISA or immunoblotting methods. ELISA analysis showed a significant increase in the level of MMR antibodies in autistic children. Immunobolotting analysis revealed the presence of an unusual MMR antibody in 75 of 125 (60%) autistic sera [plural of "serum"], but not in control sera. This antibody specifically detected a protein of 73-75 kD of MMR.

"This protein band, as analyzed with monoclonal antibodies, was immunopositive for measles hemagglutinin (HA) protein, but not for measles nucleoprotein and rubella or mumps viral proteins. Thus the MMR antibody in autistic sera detected measles HA protein, which is unique to the measles subunit of the vaccine . .

"Stemming from this evidence, we suggest that an inappropriate antibody response to MMR, specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism."—Ibid., Medline abstract.

Rep. Burton demands action. On Thursday, April 26, 2001, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, confronted officials from the FDA, CDC, and NIH (National Institutes of Health).

Earlier that week, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) panel issued a report, that there was no causal connection between the combination MMR vaccine and an increased risk of autism in children.

Burton angrily wanted to know why these officials had not recalled the MMR vaccine, in view of the fact that it contains thimerosal, a preservative which uses the toxic element mercury as an active ingredient.

The officials replied that pulling MMR from the market would cause shortages in available vaccine and would send unjustified panic throughout the public about the safety of immunizations.

Burton told them his own grandson developed autism shortly after receiving the recommended vaccination shots. "If you at the federal health agencies think this issue is going to go away, you guys are blowing smoke," he said. "If the health agencies don’t deal with this and deal with it quickly, you’re going to have a big problem over here."

MMR puts measles virus in boy’s brain. A child developed severe epilepsy after receiving the MMR vaccination. Careful investigation has revealed that measles virus from the vaccine went to his brain and caused his debilitating condition. The tragedy was reported in the London Telegraph (January 21, 2001).

Her son developed an allergic rash eight days after he received the MMR vaccination when he was 15 months old. Progressively, he began to have more and more seizures until he was having 10 to 12 every month. In the summer of 1998, he descended into status epilepticus, which is a state of continuous convulsions.

By this time he was 9 years old; and physicians at a London hospital decided that he needed emergency brain surgery in the hope of saving his life. It was at this juncture that a brain biopsy was taken—and it was revealed that the cause of the problem was the MMR vaccine. The biopsy had been sent to a reputable laboratory for analysis, and the results revealed that some of the measles virus had entered his brain.

The woman (who prefers to remain anonymous), filed suit against the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine on behalf of her son.

Action by her attorney produced evidence from an earlier 1997 medical report that samples from her son’s bowel, because he had digestive problems, showed that he tested positive for the vaccine-strain virus.

After the brain operation, her son had to relearn "virtually everything," she said. His personality changed and he was no longer able to attend school, although just prior to the operation his seizures had decreased.

"All these children—not just my son—need to be acknowledged [as having their condition caused by the MMR vaccine] rather than have the continuous stream of blanket denials that have been issued by the [British] Department of Health."—Ibid.

In the same Telegraph article, British specialists, said to be investigating MMR, were reluctant to comment publicly on the case.

273% increase in autism in California. On April 17, 1999, the California State Department of Developmental Services (DDS) issued a special report to the state legislature. The report, entitled, "Changes in the Population of Persons with Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders in California’s Developmental Services System, 1987-1998, revealed a shocking increase in the number of children with autism.

State Senate President pro tem John Burton commented:

"In the past 10 years, California has had a 247% increase in the number of children with autism who enter the developmental services system, 1,685 new cases last year alone. What is generally considered a rare condition is increasing faster here than any other developmental disabilities. We need to find out why."—Ibid.

The report was produced after a law demanded by parents, human services professionals, and educators expressed concern that a dramatic increase in autistic children was occurring.

"The DDS is getting seven new kids with autism every day, seven days a week . . We need to get to the bottom of this, and we need to do it right," Burton said.

The complete report is available from the California State Department of Developmental Services, in Sacramento.

While the increase in other child disability problems has been 50%, for autism it has been 273%. This figure does not include data for the more than 13,000 children in the early start program, for 0 to 3 year olds.

In 1987, there were 2,778 cases of autism in California; in 1998, it was 10,360. That is a 272.93% increase.