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Vaccines: Think Again

Mass immunizations have helped stem infectious diseases, but can alsoresult in serious side effects, chronic illness, and death. It's timefor reconsideration and better study.

by Harold Buttram, M.D., & Woodlands Healing Research Center, Quakertown PA

This article is an attempt to express a minority view and positionthat is contrary to current government, public and majority medicalopinion on the subject. However, whatever position on the vaccinationdecision one chooses to adopt, we feel the most important point isparental choice. Therefore, we ardently believe the best approach tothis very controversial subject is to present both the pro and con,good and bad, known and unknown about immunizations and then helpguide the patient or parents to choose what is best for them or theirchildren.

This is termed "informed consent" and should be the basis of everymedical test or treatment; vaccinations being no exception.Any medical therapy must balance the "effectiveness" versus the"safety" of its actions on the human body. For instance, aspirintherapy is effective in preventing a second heart attack after havinga first heart attack and it is quite safe, only having a very smallincidence of stomach or intestinal bleeding as a potential long-termside effect. As you read the following, please keep these key pointsin mind in terms of "effectiveness" versus the "safety" ofvaccinations:

Scientific evidence does support the effectiveness of immunizations.They do prevent infectious diseases; some better than others, but thispoint is not disputed.
Scientific evidence does not support the safety of immunizations. Safety studies on vaccinations are limited to short time periodsonly: several days to several weeks. There are no long-term (months toyears) safety studies on any vaccination or immunization.
There is small but increasing scientific evidence of long-term sideeffects from immunizations that need much more study.

Inadequate Proof of Benefit of Vaccines

It is true that there may be situations where extreme measures may bejustified to preserve life and health. The basic question, therefore,is whether the benefits of current childhood vaccines outweigh theharm, or whether the reverse is true. As to the benefits of vaccines,polio has been eliminated from the Western Hemisphere, and smallpoxmay have been eliminated worldwide.

Vaccine proponents would have us believe that vaccines have beenlargely responsible for controlling virtually all of the formerepidemics of killer diseases in the US. With the exceptions citedabove, the facts do not bear this out. According to the records of theMetropolitan Life Insurance Company, from 1911 to l935 the fourleading causes of childhood deaths from infectious diseases in the US.were diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), scarlet fever, andmeasles. However, by l945 the combined death rates from these causeshad declined by 95 percent, before the implementation of massimmunization programs (1). By far the greatest factors in this declinewere sanitation through public health measures, improved nutrition,better housing with less crowded conditions and the introduction ofantibiotics. Also, the virulence of microorganisms tends to becomeweakened or attenuated with the passage of time and serial passagesthrough human hosts (2), one example of which is whooping cough(pertussis) which is clearly a much milder disease today in Westernnations than it was l00 or so years ago (3).

Safety Not Proven

It should be pointed out that today's children receive 22 or morevaccines before school age, whereas today's senior citizens receivedonly one, the smallpox vaccine. Some of these vaccines containpotentially toxic mercury [though mercury-free types have recentlybeen produced in response to safety concerns]. With growing publicconcerns about potential adverse reactions on the immature immunesystems of children, it is reasonable to ask ourselves what is alreadyknown about such reactions.

There is a school of thought that the so-called "minor childhoodillnesses" of former times, including measles, mumps, rubella (Germanmeasles) and chicken pox, which entered the body through the mucousmembranes, served a necessary and positive purpose in challenging andstrengthening the immune system of these membranes (4). In contrast,so the theory goes, the respective vaccines of these diseases areinjected by needle directly into the system of the child, therebybypassing the mucosal immune system. As a result, mucosal immunityremains relatively weak and stunted in many children, complications ofwhich may be the rapid increase in asthma and eczema now being seen,both in terms of frequency and severity (5).

This concept tends to be confirmed by four controlled studies, widelyseparated geographically, in which vaccinated children were found tohave significantly more atopic disorders than controls (6, 7, 8, 9).In commenting on the increased incidence of asthma and other atopicdisorders in the United Kingdom in the article, "Measles and atopy inGuinea-Bissau," cited above, the authors made the following comment: "The rise of allergic disease among children in the UK over the past30 years remains unexplained. One hypothesis is that infections inearly childhood prevent allergic sensitization, and that successivegenerations of children have lost this protection as their exposure toinfectious disease in early life has declined. Consequently theprevalence of atopy and concomitant allergic disease has risen."

It is true that in former times there were occasional seriouscomplications from these childhood diseases, but this is an area inwhich nutritional approaches and homeopathy traditionally have been attheir best. If these approaches were made widely available, it isprobable that most of these complications could be eliminated. No one wants to see serious complications in our children,but the vaccine route may in time prove to be the worst possiblechoice that could have been made, as concerns the minor childhooddiseases.

Threat of Brain Damage

Perhaps the greatest concern with vaccines today rests with theirpossible causal relation to the growing epidemic of childhood autism,developmental delay and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD). Regarding the latter, a recent news item stated that ADHD hasincreased from 900,000 in l99l to nearly 5 million today (10).Statistics may be open to question, but one cannot question theobservations of veteran elementary school teachers who, in ourexperience, unanimously and emphatically report a marked increase inthis disorder in recent years. Regarding autism, a recent surveymandated by the California state legislature found an increase of 273percent in California in the past 11 years (11).

At present primary suspicion for this epidemic of neurobehavioraldisorders rests with the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine. Althoughscientific evidence has not yet reached the standards of scientificproof, one pioneer researcher in this area, Dr. Vijendra Singh withthe Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, has publishedthe report of a study in which he found that a large majority ofautistic children tested had antibodies to brain tissue in the form ofantibodies to myelin basic protein, a protein strongly correlated tomeasles antibodies (almost all of the children had been immunized withthe MMR vaccine, and none had had these diseases) (12).

This study tends to confirm the results of a similar study publishedin The Lancet in l998 by Dr. Andrew Wakefield and coworkers of theRoyal Free Hospital in London, indicating a possible link between MMRvaccination, Crohn's disease of the bowel, and autism (13).

If the MMR vaccine were causing an autoimmune reaction involving thebrains of autistic children, what would be the mechanism? Althoughresearch in this area is in its infancy, we do know some things. Boththe measles and mumps fractions of the MMR vaccine are cultured inchick embryo tissue. As purely genetic material, viruses are highlysusceptible to the process of "jumping genes," in which they mayincorporate genetic material from tissue in which they are cultured(14). Furthermore, protein sequences in the measles virus have beenfound to have similarities to those found in brain tissues (15). As aresult, once this foreign genetic material is introduced into thechild by a vaccine, it may set in motion an immunologic attack onbrain tissues, a process which the work of Dr. Singh would tend toconfirm.

Stealth Virus

A similar process may have taken place with the oral (Sabin) poliovaccine, which is cultured in monkey kidney tissue. Years ago Dr. JohnMartin, then serving as director of the viral oncology branch withinthe US Food and Drug Administration, found foreign DNA in contemporarypolio vaccines. He later learned that a simian (monkey) cytomegalicvirus had been found in all of the 11 African green monkeys importedfor production of the polio vaccine (16).

After leaving the FDA Dr. Martin took a position as professor ofpathology with the University of Southern California. There he testedblood samples from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, autism, andother nervous system disorders. This work led to his discovery ofunique cell-destroying viruses that were not recognized by the immunesystem. Termed "stealth viruses," some of which he thought had clearlyoriginated from the simian cytomegalic virus, these viruses weremissing specific genes which ordinarily would induce immune responsesfrom the host (17, 18). It should be admitted that this work ispreliminary. No definitive conclusions can be drawn from it, but theneed for further intensive investigation should be apparent.

Overdue in the opinion of many, on June l7, l999 US governmentofficials voted to withdraw their recommendation for the use of thelive oral polio vaccine and to recommend exclusive use of the inactive(Salk) polio vaccine, because the former vaccine has been the onlyremaining source of polio cases in the USA since l979.

Damage May Yet Escalate

As another concept, it is highly pertinent that many of today'schildren are second-generation vaccinees; that is, they are born tomothers previously vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and/or rubellavaccines. It is possible that the reaction rates in thesecond-generation vaccines may be happening on a much large scale dueto previous sensitization of mothers from their vaccines, thissensitization being transmitted in turn to the fetus during pregnancy(19). If this process is taking place, something we cannot know untilappropriate research is done, there predictably will be additionalincreases in autism beyond that already taking place, should theprocess be continued into a third generation.

Time may prove that vaccine programs went awry when they deviated fromthe most basic of all medical ethics, the right of parents to acceptor reject vaccines for their children. Freedom of choice provides asystem of checks and balances now lacking. At the very least, thiswould provide the parents the power to compel better safety screeningof vaccines.

Today we have a system in which vaccine production by thepharmaceutical companies is largely self-regulated. Naturally thesecompanies are interested in profits from their products which, initself, is not wrong. However, when arbitrary decisions in themandating of vaccines are made by government bureaucracies, who arehighly partisan to the pharmaceutical companies, with no recourse opento parents, we have all the potential ingredients for a tragedy ofhistorical proportions.

In closing, it may be appropriate to cite an item which, thoughseemingly small in itself, may be indicative of the problems withwhich we are faced. In January l993 a scientific journal published theresults of a study of 89 children with adverse clinical reactionsfollowing administrations of various combinations of vaccines (20).Detailed case histories were taken and blood tests were done toexamine various parameters of cellular and humoral immunity. It wasfound that children with adverse reactions had marked increases inabnormal blood parameters as compared with children who had had noreactions.

The first study of its kind as far as we are aware, perhaps the moststriking and significant feature of the report is not the results ofthe tests, which might have been anticipated, so much as the fact thatit was published in a foreign publication, Czechoslovakia Pediatrics.American science has been foremost in the development and promotion ofvaccines. That it should be laggard in basic safety testing, of whichthis study may represent one of the modest beginnings, is a sadreflection on the American scientific community. Do we not have aright to expect better?

Citations

1 Dublin, L. Health Progress, l935-l945, New York: Metropolitan LifeInsurance Company, l948, Page l2.
2 Diodati, CJM, Immunization: History, Ethics Law an Health, IntegralAspects Incorporated, Windsor, Ontario, l999, pp. 104-l06.
3 In the text,Vaccination, l00 Years of Orthodox Research Shows thatVaccines Represent a Medical Assault on the Immune System, by VeraScheibner, Ph.D.,l993, available from New Atlantean Press, PO Box9638-925, Santa Fe, NM 87504, pp. 33-46.
4 Incao, Philip, Supporting children's health, Alternative MedicineDigest, Issue l9, pp. 54-59.
5 One survey showed a 46 percent increase in death rate nationwidefrom asthma between l977 an l99l (Phildelphia Inquirer, December 8,l994, A22). In some areas, the incidence of asthma has increased 200percent in the past 20 years (The Human Ecologist (National HEAL),fall l992, (55):6.
6 Shaneen, SO et al, Measles and atopy in Guinea-Bissau, Lancet, Vol347, June l9, l996, pp. l792-l796.
7 Odent, MR, Pertussis vaccination and asthma: is there a link? J AmMed Ass'n,, Vol 27l, l994, pp. 229-23l
8 Alm, JS et al, Atopy in children of families with an anthroposophiclifestyle, Lancet, Vol 353, May l, l999, pp. l485-l488.
9 Kemp, T et al, Is infant immunization a risk factor for childhoodasthma or allergy? Epidemiology, Vol 8(6), Nov. l997:pp. 678-680.
10 Lisa Jennings, Increasing Ritalin doses in school childrenquestioned, The Intelligencer (newspaper, Doylestown, PA), September2l, l998, pp. Dl-D2.
11 Changes in the Population of Persons with Autism and PervasiveDevelopmental Disorders in California's Developmental Services System:l987 through l998, a Report to the Legislature, March l, l999,Department of Developmental Services, l600 North Street, Room 240,Sacramento, CA 958l4.
12 Singh, V & Yang, V. Serological association of measles virus andhuman herpes virus-6 with brain autoantibodies in autism, ClinicalImmunology and Immunopathology, Vol 88(l):l998, pp. l05-l08.
13 Wakefield, AJ et al, Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia,non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder inchildren, The Lancet, Vol 35l, Feb. 29, l998, pp. 637-64l.
14 Kumar, S & LK Miller, Effects of serial passage of AutographaCalifornia nuclear poly hedrosis virus in cell culture, Virus Reseach,Vol 7, l987: pp. 335-349.
15 Jahnke, U et al, Sequence homology between certain viral proteinsand proteins related to encephalomyelitis and neuritis, Science, Vol29, July l9, l985, pp. 242-284.
16 Horowitz, Leonard, DMD, MA, MPH, Emerging Viruses, AIDS and Ebola,tetrahedron Publishing Group, Rockport, MA, l997, pp. 488-493.
17 Martin, WJ et al, African green monkey origin of the atypicalcytopathic "stealth virus" isolated from a patient with chronicfatigue syndrome, Clinical and Diagnostic Virology,Vol 4, l994, pp.93-l03.
18 Martin, WJ et al, Stealth virus epidemic in Mohave Valley, I:Initial report of virus isolation, Pathobiology, Vol 65(l), l997,pp.35l-356.
19 Gupta S et al, Dysregulate immune system in children with autism,beneficial effects of intravenous globulin on autistic features, J ofAutism and Developmental Disorders, Vol 26(4);l996, pp. 439-452. (Inthis article on page 450 it is stated, "We theorize that the hightiters of rubella antibody...presented in mothers of children withautism would be transplacentally transferred and may persist for aprolonged period in the child. When such a child gets MMRimmunization, rubella antigen may complex with preexisting antibodies,and such complexes might play a role in pathogenesis of autisticfeatures.")
20 Immunologic findings in children with abnormal reactions aftervaccination, Czechoslovakia Pediatrics, Vol 48(l), January, l993, pp.9-l2.