Whether or not to vaccinate should not be the question, but rather “how can we vaccinate safely?”.
What generally happens when someone questions our current vaccination protocols is they get shot down and branded “anti-vaccer” along with highly derogatory language. However, what is often overlooked is that most objections to the current methods of vaccination relate to the toxic substances in the serums. This toxicity is documented in FDA and CDC approved research. Here are a few examples:
Mercury (Thimerosal)
Thimerosal contains mercury. It is added to multi-dose vials of vaccines to prevent bacterial contamination when more than one needle is inserted from a vial. In the US (and Australia also), infants and children received high quantities of mercury from several CDC-recommended vaccines that contained thimerosal – DTaP, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) until about 2002 when thimerosal was removed from most vaccines (is still found in some ‘flu vaccines used in Australia).
Today, developed countries continue to inject significant quantities of mercury from thimerosal-containing influenza vaccines into pregnant women, infants and children. This dubious practice continues because the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that it saves about 15 cents per vaccine dose to manufacture 10-dose vials (with thimerosal) compared to single-dose vials without mercury [Bull World Health Organ 2003; 81(10): 726-31].
Infants who received vaccines containing mercury developed speech disorders, sleep disorders and autism.[i] This was the finding of a study conducted by the CDC using data on over 400,000 infants. The risk of developing a neurologic development disorder was nearly twice as high in infants who received the highest cumulative exposure to mercury at 1 month of age when compared to infants who were unexposed to mercury.
One-month old infants with the highest cumulative exposure to mercury had twice the risk of developing a speech disorder, 5 times the risk of developing a non-organic sleep disorder, and were 7.6 times more likely to develop autism when compared to infants who were unexposed to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines.
Interestingly this study was never published.
Just to put into context the quantities of mercury in a vaccine are best explained by guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which limits mercury in drinking water to 2 parts per billion (ppb). Liquids with 200 ppb are classified as hazardous waste. Vaccines with “trace” amounts of thimerosal contain 600 ppb. Vaccines with full amounts of thimerosal contain mercury at 25,000 to 50,000 ppb – and are injected directly into the body!
Mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines accumulates in the brain. In Australia (the U.S. and Canada) pregnant women and children receive influenza and Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccines which still contain full amounts of thimerosal. Not to mention the new-born injection of hepatitis B which also contains full amounts of thimerosal.
A 2012 study concluded that thimerosal-containing vaccines continue to be administered on a regular basis to potentially the most vulnerable populations: pregnant women and children.[ii]
Boys are more at risk than girls.
In 1991, the CDC recommended that all U.S. infants receive 3 doses of a new hepatitis B vaccine made with mercury, with the first dose beginning at birth. From 1991 to 1999, the number of children requiring special education services for autism increased by 500%.
Boys who received three doses of the mercury-containing hepatitis B vaccine during infancy were nearly nine times more likely than unvaccinated boys to need early intervention services, a proxy for developmental disability.[iii]
Premature puberty
Another interesting association related to mercury in childhood vaccines is premature puberty.[iv] Mercury is a known endocrine (hormone) disruptor that may interact with sex steroids to increase the risk of a child developing premature puberty. Many children with this condition, especially boys, are more aggressive than normal, which can cause behaviour problems.
This study used the CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink to evaluate the medical records of 278,624 children and found a statistically significant link between the amount of mercury infants received and premature puberty. The median age of children diagnosed with premature puberty was 4.5 years. The study found a 40-fold increase over previous estimates by the National Institute of Health. The study protocol was approved by the CDC.
Aluminium
While thimerosal may have been removed from many vaccines, aluminium is still used as an adjuvant. In Australia infants and children receive high quantities of aluminium from multiple injections of several vaccines. For example, vaccines for tetanus, pertussis (DTaP), Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and pneumococcus contain aluminium.
Aluminium is neurotoxic, capable of destroying neurons necessary for proper cognitive and motor functions. After it is injected into the body it can travel to other organs and remain there for several years. The immune-stimulating effect of aluminium adjuvants can provoke autoimmune and inflammatory adverse reactions. Autoimmune disease and neurological damage can be induced in animals by injecting them with aluminium adjuvants.
There are many studies providing strong evidence that aluminium adjuvants in vaccines significantly increase the risk of autoimmune disease and neurological disorders, including macrophagic myofasciitis, chronic fatigue, muscle weakness, cognitive deficits such memory loss, sleep disturbances, and multiple sclerosis-like demyelinating central nervous system disorders. The immune-stimulating properties of aluminium adjuvants in vaccines also have similarities with several autoimmune/inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus and autism spectrum disorders.[v]
A 2011 study[vi] examined the link between aluminium’s neurotoxcity as a co-factor in several neurodegenerative disorders and diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Motor Neurone Disease (MND), multiple sclerosis (MS), autism and epilepsy.
The FDA never tested the safety of aluminium in childhood vaccines.
Primum non nocere is Latin for “First, do no harm,” one of the guiding principles of medical care. Yet there is a large body of scientific evidence confirming numerous vaccine safety deficits. Further studies to those referenced above show that childhood vaccines are associated with an increased risk of cancer, allergies, seizures, bleeding disorders and type 1 diabetes.
These and many more references that relate to the dangerous ingredients in vaccines – which include formaldehyde, yeast proteins, glutaraldehyde, MSG, phenol, 2-phenoxyethanol, methanol and borax – as well as the creation of more virulent strains of disease can be found in the book Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies,[vii] by Neil Z. Miller which summarises 400 scientific papers.
The peer-reviewed scientific studies in the book also show that:
- A history of measles and mumps is protective against fatal heart attacks and stroke.
- The pertussis vaccine caused virulent vaccine-resistant strains of whooping cough to emerge.
- Chickenpox vaccines reduced cases of chickenpox but increased cases of shingles.
- Children have an increased risk of requiring emergency care after receiving MMR.
- Vaccinated people can spread disease, making “herd immunity” an unrealistic goal.
- Many doctors and nurses are unvaccinated due to concerns about adverse reactions.
- Parents who reject vaccines for their children are highly educated.
Many people sincerely believe that all vaccines are safe, adverse reactions are rare, and no peer-reviewed scientific studies exist showing that vaccines can cause harm. The book Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies provides the other side of the story that is not commonly told. I urge you to get a copy and read it before making a decision about vaccination.
References:
[i] Verstraeten T, Davies R, et al. Increased risk of developmental neurologic impairment after high exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccine in first month of life. Proceedings of the Epidemic Intelligence Service Annual Conference, vol. 49 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta, GA, USA, April 2000).
[ii] Tomljenovic L, Dorea JG, et al. Commentary: a link between mercury exposure, autism spectrum disorder, and other neurodevelopmental disorders? Implications for thimerosal-containing vaccines. Journal on Developmental Disabilities 2012; 18(1): 34-42.
[iii] Gallagher C, Goodman M. Hepatitis B triple series vaccine and developmental disability in US children aged 109 years. Toxicol Environ Chem 2008 Sep-Oct; 90(5): 997-1008.
[iv] Geier DA, Young HA, et al. Thimerosal exposure and increasing trends of premature puberty in the vaccine safety datalink. Indian J Med Res 2010 Apr: 131) 500-507.
[v] Shaw CA, Tonljenovic L. Aluminum in the central nervous system (CNS): toxicity in humans and animals, vaccine adjuvants, and auto-immunity. Immunol Res 2013 Jul; 56(2-3): 304-16.
[vi] Tomljenovic L, Shaw CA. aluminium vaccine adjuvants: are they safe? Curr Med Chem 2011; 18(17): 2630-37
[vii] Miller, Neil Z. Miller’s review of critical vaccine studies 2016, New Atlantean Press, Santa Fe NM ISBN: 978-188121740-4