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