A small but growing minority of physicians and scientists are becomingaware that safety testing for the various vaccines has been woefullyinadequate. As one of many examples, a l994 special committee of theNational Academy of Sciences (Institute of Medicine) published acomprehensive review of the safety of the hepatitis B vaccine. Whenthe committee, which carries the responsibility for determining thesafety of vaccines by Congressional mandate, investigated fivepossible and plausible adverse effects, they were unable to come toconclusion for four of them because they found that relevant safetyresearch had not been done. (1)

The clear implication of this report, which in our experience isfairly representative of a haphazard pattern towards issues of safetythroughout the vaccine field, is that adverse reactions to thevaccines may be occurring on a large scale without being recognized asto their true nature.

In support of this statement, two pioneering studies will be reviewedbelow, one from l955 and the other from l984, both sounding alarms onpotential side effects from vaccines:

One of the most intriguing studies from older medical literaturedealing with the pertussis vaccine was that of A.L. Low (Chicago,l955) who performed electroencephalograms (EEGs) on 83 children beforeand after pertussis immunization. In two of these children he foundthat the EEGs turned abnormal following the immunizations withoutother signs or symptoms of abnormal reactions. In his report hecommented: "This study shows that mild but possibly significant(emphasis ours) cerebral reactions may occur in addition to thereported very severe neurological changes."(2)Another intriguing study, this one from Germany, was reported in alittle-noted letter-to-the editor in the New England Journal ofMedicine, in l984.(3) In the study, a significant though temporarydrop of T-helper lymphocytes was found in ll healthy adults followingroutine tetanus booster vaccinations. Special concern rests in thefact that, in four of the subjects, the T-helper lymphocytes fell tolevels seen in active AIDS patients.

The implications of these two studies are enormous. In regards to thelatter (German) study, if this was the result of a single vaccine inhealthy adults, it is sobering to think of the possible consequencesof multiple vaccines (18 vaccines within the first six months of lifeat latest count) given to infants with their immature and vulnerableimmune systems. Unfortunately, other than clinical observations, wecan only speculate as to these consequences, as this test has neverbeen repeated.

As for the Low study with EEGs before-and-after pertussisimmunization, at a time when myriads of our children are sufferingfrom various degrees and phases of brain dysfunction, it is possiblethat vaccine reactions may be occurring on a large scale, unrecognizedas to their true nature, and contributing to this pool of unfortunatechildren.

It is both sad and shameful that neither of these studies have hadfollow-ups in American laboratories and medical centers, as shouldhave been the case. Had follow-ups been done, they would perhaps haveled to safer forms and combinations of childhood vaccines thanavailable at present.

From a careful gleaning of medical literature over many years, we havebeen able to find only three other reports in the literature ofstudies done before-and-after immunizations, all from foreign medicalcenters:

In a study from Japan, immunizations (DPT, DT, or BCG) were given to61 children with a history of febrile seizures or epilepsy, who hadnot had a seizure for one year. Following immunizations there was asignificant increase in "epileptic spikes" in post-vaccineelectroencephalograms as compared with those done precedingvaccines.(4)
In January, l993, a Czechoslovakian medical journal published theresults of a study of 89 children with adverse clinical reactionsfollowing administrations of various combinations of vaccines.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 noclinical reactions.(5)
In l997 a study from the University of Alberta, Canada, reported onfindings from before-and-after MMR vaccine in which the effects onboth the measles specific antibodies and cell mediated immunity, asindicated by cytokine generation, were tested.(6) The significance ofthis report may not rest so much on the specific findings, as on thefact that it opens up an entirely new avenue of research, designed toreveal the specific mechanisms of actions of the vaccines, and alsopossibly revealing their side effects.

With these three reports from reputable medical centers, published inpeer-review journals, the flood-gates of medical research have beenopened. The truth about vaccine mechanisms, effects, as well asadverse reactions cannot be long in following. Although late, we wouldhope that our own medical and research centers would join in thissearch.

CITATIONS

(1) Stratton KR, CJ Howe, and RB Johnston, Jr., Editors, AdverseEvents Associated with Childhood Vaccines; Evidence Bearing onCausality, Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press, WashingtonD.C., l994 pp. 211-236.

(2) Low AL, Electroencephalographic studies following Pertussisimmunization, J Pediatrics, 1955;47:35-39.

(3) Eibl M et al, Abnormal T-lymphocyte subpopulations in healthysubjects after tetanus booster immunization, (letter),NEJM,1984;310(3):198-199.

(4) Nouno S et al, Adverse effects on EEG and clinical condition afterimmunizing children with convulsive disorders, Acta Paediatr Japan,Aug., 1990; 32(4):357-360.

(5) Immunologic findings in children with abnormal reactions aftervaccination, Czechoslovakia Pediatrics, January, l993; 48(1): pp.9-12.

(6) Pabst HF et al, Kinetics of immunologic responses after primaryMMR vaccination, Vaccine, 1997; 15(1):10-14.

The Washington Free Press
PMB #178, 1463 E Republican ST, Seattle WA 98112 WAfreepress@gmail.com