The Controversy with Vaccines

Roselle Leone

What are they?

• Religion • Individual liberty • Financial motive • Autism • Macrophagic myofasciitis• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) • Nut Allergies • Gillian Barre • Type 1 diabetes

The First Amendment

• “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Religion

• Christianity VS Small pox

• Religious opposition continues to this day

Individual Liberty

• Vaccine policies require you to get vaccinated

• Does the government have the right to tell you what medications to take?

• Where does it stop?

Financial Motive

Vaccine Industry• Misrepresentation of

safety and effectiveness for final gain

• Recent spike in vaccine market: Prevnar, Guardasil, Pediarix: Over $1 Billion EACH in 2008.

Lawyers• Manipulation of

information for financial gain (lawsuits)

The U.S. Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

• Federal no-fault system for vaccine-related injury or death.

• Established in 1980s after DTP vaccine scare

• Funded through $0.75 duty tax on vaccines• A total of $1.7 billion paid out in court by 2008

Autism

• Autism increased 1000% since 1990

• U.S. Study: children who received vaccines with thimerosol were 2x as likely to develop autism as those who didn’t– Thimerosol ~50%

mercury– Mercury is a known

neurotoxin.

Autism

• The immune system overload theory – Too many vaccines

at once can overwhelm or weaken immune system

– Evidence supporting and going against this theory

Macrophagic Myofasciitis

• Rare muscle disease identified in 1993

• Microscopic muscle lesions

• Most often associated with aluminum used in the adjuvant of vaccines – Aluminum is a neurotoxin

even in very small amounts

Peanut and Tree Nut Allergies

• Nut allergies affect ~1.1% Americans

• Nut allergies in children < 18 increased from 0.4% in 1997 to 0.8% in 2002

• 50% increase in the number of immunizations since 1996

Peanut and Tree Nut Allergies

• Comparing Amish population in Lancester, PA to general population of U.S.– 1 person out of 6,000 with peanut allergy

• Vashon-Ridgefield Case-Control Study – Vashon vaccination compliance rate of 80.2% and a peanut

allergy rate of only 0.3%.– Ridgefield vaccination compliance rate > 99.9%, and a

peanut allergy rate of 1.8% • 6x larger than that of Vashon.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

• Diptheria- tatanus- pertussis (DTP) vaccine has been linked to SIDS

• U.S. administers at 2 months of age

• Walker, A.M., et al (1987)– Focusing on narrow time

intervals following immunization

– SIDS mortality rate 0-3 days following DTP 7.3x greater

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

• Sweden banned the vaccine in 1979 due to a major study finding a strong correlation

• Japan waits until 2 years of age because of this correlation

• Japan and Sweden attributed with lowest percentage of SIDS

Guillain-Barré syndrome

• Immune system attacks the nervous system

• One possible cause = immunization

• Studies have been done linking correlation of the following vaccines to Guillain-Barré syndrome:– H1N1 – Flu– Guardasil – Oral polio – Meningitis

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes

• Physicians as early as 1949 have researched and provided evidence in the link between the DTP vaccine and type 1 diabetes

• “Pertussis toxin” over stimulates insulin production in islets of Langerhans

• Followed by exhaustion and destruction of islets

Keep in mind…

• This information is to inform you of some risks associated with vaccines

• Vaccines have eradicated diseases such as small pox which at one point killed 1 in 6 Europeans

• Vaccines can help prevent many acute and long term illnesses; however, it is important to understand the risks associated to make informed decisions