the parent informed...the parent issue three 2010 a newsletter on vaccination issues and health...

THE PARENTA NEWSLETTER ON VACCINATION ISSUES AND HEALTHISSUE THREE 2010

ISSUE THREE 2010

informed

1w w w. i n f o r m e d p a r e n t . c o . u k

HE MOTHER of a Cheshireteenager who was left severely

brain damaged by the MMR vaccine haswon a compensation award from thegovernment.

Robert Fletcher, 18, fromWarrington, suffered a fit 10 days afterhe had the vaccination when he was 13months old.

His mother Jackie received the£90,000 payout from a medicalassessment panel last week.

The family successfully appealed aftertheir application for compensation wasoriginally turned down in 1997.

They had originally applied throughthe Government's Vaccine DamagePayment Scheme.

Robert has frequent epileptic fits, isunable to talk, stand unaided or feedhimself, but is not autistic.

'OUTSTANDING SAFETY RECORD' Mrs Fletcher always believed that herson's epilepsy was triggered by thecombined measles, mumps and rubellavaccine.

The ruling and compensation awardwas made by a jury made up of a judgeand two doctors.

It said the ruling had no relevance to

the question of a link between thevaccine and autism.

Dr Andrew Wakefield was the leadauthor of the controversial study,published in The Lancet in 1998, whichsuggested there may be a link betweenMMR and autism and bowel disease.

His comments and the subsequentmedia furore led to a sharp drop in thenumber of children vaccinated againstthese diseases.

ROBERT FLETCHER RECEIVED THE VACCINE WHEN HE WAS 13 MONTHS OLD The study has since been discreditedand The Lancet has said it should nothave run it.

Mrs Fletcher has campaigned forjustice for her son for the past 16 years.

She said: "I feel vindicated by itbecause over the years I've been labelledanti-vaccine and a scaremonger and all

sorts of things, when all I've beentrying to do is highlight what'shappened to my son, to help safeguardother parents' children.

"What I'm hoping now is that otherparents whose children have suffered asimilar reaction to Robert can maybe godown the same route that we've gonedown to achieve justice for theirchildren."

A Department of Healthspokesperson said: "This decisionreflects the opinion of a tribunal on thespecific facts of the case and they wereclear that it should not be seen as aprecedent for any other case.

"The safety of MMR has beenendorsed through numerous studies inmany countries. Thankfully, moreparents are having their childrenvaccinated with MMR and consider itas safe as other childhood vaccines."

He added: "MMR vaccine has beenused extensively and safely around theworld for over 30 years. Over 500million doses have been given in over100 countries.

"The World Health Organisationrecognises MMR as being a 'highlyeffective vaccine which has (such) anoutstanding safety record'. "Parents and carers should continue to get theirchildren immunised when called to do so."

HE POLICE are yet to arrest thedoctor who had gone absconding

following the deaths of nine-month-oldtwin sisters in Ghaziabad. The twin sisters,Avika and Anika, died on September 15

night, allegedly after the doctor at a privatenursing home gave them a measles vaccine.

The samples of vials of vaccines havebeen handed over to the health departmentofficials for further testing.

According to Sharad Kumar Tyagi, thenewly appointed chief medical officer, thesamples were provided to the state and

Centre’s health department. “Officialshave visited the chemist shop from whichthe vaccines were purchased. Samples fromthe shop have been taken for testing,”Tyagi added.

Investigating officer Ajab Singh said,“We have not been able to record thestatement of the chemist who had giventhe vaccine vials to the hospital staff. Wehave not received any information on thepurchase of vaccines yet.”

MMR campaigner from Warrington wins £90,000 payout

T

BBC NEWS

www.bbc.co.uk

29 August 2010

GHAZIABAD

indianexpress.com Sep 19, 2010

“What I'm hoping now is that

other parents whose children

have suffered a similar reaction

to Robert can maybe go down

the same route that we've gone

down to achieve justice for

their children.“

Twin sisters deaths: Doctor still missing

T

*T.I.P.Newsletter_03_AMEND_2010:Informed Parent 14/12/10 12:40

2 w w w. i n f o r m e d p a r e n t . c o . u k ISSUE THREE 2010

WELCOME TO THE LAST ISSUE OF THENEWSLETTER FOR 2010, anda big thank you for your supportin keeping The Informed Parentup and running! However due tothe economic climate and withmore and more people just surfingthe net for information ratherthan subscribing to newsletters, I really do need your help in

promoting The Informed Parent tomake it possible to continue with the newsletter. I would like topreserve the paper edition of the newsletter and avoid the e-newsletter route that other publications have moved over to.

In mid November the Chief Health Minister, Prof. DameSally C Davies, announced a change in the immunisationschedule. In order 'to simplify the schedule and reduce thenumber of visits parents had to make, the schedule should bechanged to ensure all practices offered the three vaccines in onevisit. Hib/Men C, MMR and PCV should now be offeredtogether at one appointment when a child is between 12 and13 months of age.'

Prof. Davies’s letter to doctors, dated 17 Nov, statesregarding the change: ‘Whilst there was no direct evidence, thesimplification might be expected to increase uptake as parents

would not need to return for a further visit.’ Well, it will be interesting to see how accepting parents are

over this. Since the Dr Wakefield GMC verdict the coverage onMMR has become very quiet and presumably the Dept ofHealth view this as a good time to try and boost the uptake.Naturally parents will prefer fewer visits to the surgery but Ido hope they will question the number of vaccines their childwill be expected to receive all at the same time!

Changing the subject entirely I would like to give amention to a book I have been reading by Wayne W Dyerentitled ‘Stop The Excuses – How To Change LifelongThoughts’. I have read a few of Wayne Dyer’s writings andfound them to be very useful reminders of how our mind,hence our outlook, has such an impact on our everyday life andthe way we deal with things. In this particular book heexamines how our thoughts, feelings and behaviours cause usto act as we do and how they can be changed to provideinspiration, encouragement and a vital support system for ourself-esteem. This in turn will, hopefully, have a knock on effecton our close family and friends, and as it has been said manya time the mind plays an enormous role on our health andwell-being!

WISHING YOU ALL HEALTH AND HAPPINESS!

Magda Taylor, December 2010.

ELAYS IN OFFICIAL responsesto an outbreak of convulsions

among recently vaccinated infants haveexposed differences between federaland state health authorities andprompted experts to call for a nationalsurveillance scheme.

In the face of criticism over thethree months it took to clearly identifyCSL's Fluvax vaccine as the likelyculprit, the federal health departmentyesterday sought to put some blame on

the West Australian healthdepartment.

A spokeswoman for the federaldepartment said WA health officialswere aware of the side effects with theflu vaccine three weeks before theyprovided data to the TherapeuticGoods Administration about thereported febrile convulsions. ''This isthe responsibility of the WA healthdepartment and is of great concern,''the spokeswoman said.

Ultimately, 100 cases of febrileconvulsions were reported nationallyearlier this year, with 53 occurring inWestern Australia which has a policyof influenza vaccinations for all infants.

The federal department suspendedflu vaccinations for children under fivein April and recommended on July 30not to use CSL vaccines for those underfive.

A report commissioned by the WestAustralian government found therewas a ''slow response by this state andthe Commonwealth to apparentemerging adverse events''. It also saidit was ''disturbing'' that neitherWestern Australia nor theCommonwealth had implementedsurveillance measures recommended bythe World Health Organisation.

Vaccination specialists saidyesterday the Fluvax experiencehighlighted the need for a unified,active surveillance scheme.

Magda Taylor

Editor’s note

Calls for vaccine surveillance schemeTHE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD,

MARK METHERELL

www.smh.com.au

September 22, 2010

D

“THREE THINGS CANNOT BE LONG HIDDEN:

THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE TRUTH.” - Buddha


ISSUE THREE 2010 3w w w. i n f o r m e d p a r e n t . c o . u k

EIJING — China's plans to vaccinate100 million children and come a step

closer to eradicating measles has set off apopular outcry that highlights wideningpublic distrust of the authoritariangovernment after repeated health scandals.

Since the Health Ministry announced theWorld Health Organization-backed measlesvaccination plan last week, authorities havebeen flooded with queries and Internetbulletin boards have been plastered withworried messages. Conspiracy theories sayingthe vaccines are dangerous have spread bycell phone text messages.

The public skepticism has even beencovered by state-run media, which noted thelack of trust was about more than vaccines.

"Behind the public's panic over therumors is an expression of the citizens'demands for security and a crisis inconfidence," a columnist wrote in theChongqing Daily newspaper.

"The lack of trust toward our food andhealth products was not formed in one day,"said the Global Times newspaper. "Repairingthe damage and building credibility willtake a very long time. The public healthdepartments need to take immediate actionon all fronts."

In recent years, government agencies havedragged their feet or withheld informationabout the spread of SARS, bird flu and, lastmonth, an outbreak of cholera. China's slowresponse to SARS, or severe acute respiratorysyndrome, was widely blamed for causingthe outbreak that swept the globe in 2003,and led to deep mistrust both internally andinternationally. Milk products contaminatedwith industrial chemicals are still founddespite mass recalls and several criminalconvictions, including executions, aftertainted infant formula sickened 300,000babies and killed at least six two years ago.

Feeding into worries about the measlesvaccine were media reports in March thatvaccines for encephalitis, hepatitis B andother diseases possibly killed four childrenand seriously sickened dozens in oneprovince. The health ministry said aninvestigation showed those vaccines wereimproperly stored but subsequent illnesses

were unrelated. Many remain unconvinced.Meanwhile, two Chinese vaccine makers

recently said they shut operations after rabiesvaccines they produced were found to besubstandard. The ministry has tried to calmthe public's anxieties about the 10-daymeasles immunization drive, which startedSaturday. It has busily issued statements,refuted rumors and held briefings toemphasize the need for the vaccine as well asits safety. The campaign, likely the world'slargest, targets all children ages 8 months to4 or 14 years, depending on locality, and isintended to include remote areas, migrantcommunities and other places whereprevious vaccination coverage has beenspotty. Yet the publicity is not likely toeasily reassure a public increasingly skepticalof reassurances from a government often seenas opaque and unaccountable, especiallywhere public health is involved.

"This time how could the public have nodoubts? They are asking: 'Is there anoutbreak of the disease? Are previousvaccinations not working? Are the people inthe government trying to make money fromthis?'" newspaper commentator Wei Yingjiesaid in an interview. The public push-backmarks a turnaround from the masscampaigns in the communist heyday underMao Zedong and shows how prosperity andgreater access to information are creating amore assertive populace.

"This campaign would have been noproblem in the Mao era, but today we knowwith globalization, the Internet, theinformation explosion, this increasinglyassertive civil society, they want toparticipate in the public policy process," saidYanzhong Huang, senior fellow for globalhealth at the Council on Foreign Relations inNew York.

Measles is a highly contagious viraldisease that can develop into blindness,pneumonia and encephalitis and lead todeath, and health experts say China needs aneffective vaccination program.

Despite previous vaccination drives,China recorded 52,000 measles cases lastyear, including 39 deaths. The infection ratesmean China is far from meeting its nationalpledge from 2005 to eradicate measles by2012.

Mass drives in other parts of the worldhave either virtually eliminated measles or

significantly reduced the number ofinfections. The disease has been nearlynonexistent in the Americas since 2002 andcases in seven countries in southern Africafell from 60,000 in 1996 to 117 by 2000,according to the WHO.

Dr. Lisa Cairns, head of immunization atWHO China, said many of those infectedwith measles in China are young childrenwho were likely never vaccinated.

"Because the disease is not as common asit used to be, it is easy to forget how seriousit is," she noted.

China's Health Ministry has repeatedlysaid that the measles vaccine is safe, withrandom samples tested from stores aroundthe country, and has tried to assure thepublic that medical personnel are preparedfor emergencies, including any adversereactions. On Friday, a senior ministryofficial promised that no one would be forcedto take the vaccination.

"Vaccination will only proceed afterparents sign an agreement," the ministry'sdeputy director for disease control Hao Yangsaid. "We heard that some places werelinking vaccination with admission tokindergartens and schools. So yesterday weissued a notice that admission to schoolshould never be used to force children tovaccination."

Health care professionals, however, havequestioned the immunization drive's broadscope, given that many children havepreviously been inoculated and thus wouldbe vaccinated again.

A blog posting by a prominentimmunization expert, Wang Yuedan ofPeking University, urged the government tofocus on formerly undeserved groups like thechildren of rural migrants now living inurban areas, instead of vaccinating somechildren again. By Friday, Wang withdrewhis reservations and backed the campaign,saying he was convinced by the HealthMinistry's explanations. Still, Wang said inan interview that he winced at the thoughtof his 4-year-old daughter suffering apossible fever from the vaccine.

"I'm a man and a father first, who hasemotions and who can't watch his childsuffer pain blindly," he said.

Associated Press researcher Xi Yuecontributed to this report.

CHINA MASS MEASLES VACCINATION PLAN SPARKS OUTCRYBY GILLIAN WONG

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

12 September 2010

B



r. Andrew Wakefield has beenpersecuted and vilified ever since he

published an article in Lancet in February1998 and answered questions aboutMMR vaccination at a press conference inLondon.

Of all the insults and accusationslevelled against Dr. Wakefield, the mostpainful must have been that because ofhis research, children in the UnitedKingdom and elsewhere were more likelyto come down with measles and die.

Dr Wakefield’s recommendation forsingle measles vaccine in preference toMMR was made after his extensivereview of the quality of safety data inrelation to measles-containing vaccinesand the revelation, by a senior member ofthe UK Department of Health, about thelicensing of knowingly unsafe MMRvaccines by the UK authorities. [1] Hisposition on the relative paucity of goodsafety data for MMR compared with thesingle measles vaccine has since beenendorsed by the Cochrane Collaboration.[2] It is important to note that at the timeof The Lancet publication and beyond,Dr Wakefield strongly endorsed the useof single measles vaccine. Despite falseallegations to the contrary by The Lanceteditor, Dr Richard Horton [3], singlevaccines were available in the UK whenDr Wakefield made thisrecommendation.

In order to protect the MMR vaccineprograms the option of single vaccineswas later removed from parents wishingto vaccinate their children, butconcerned, quite reasonably, over thesafety of MMR.

In the UK, the government withdrewthe importation license for single vaccines

a few months after Dr Wakefield’s 1998press conference. Well worth noting isthe fact that Merck ceased supplying thesingle measles, mumps and rubellavaccines in the United States over tenyears later, in October 2009 [4].

Because of inconsistent testing resultsand non-availability of pre-1998 data, itis near impossible to define a trend or todraw conclusions regarding confirmedmeasles cases; yet the relatively fewconfirmed cases of measles in the UKreceived an inordinate amount ofpublicity that always included extensiveblame of Dr. Wakefield, particularly ashis GMC hearing approached.

While this was happening in England,multiple measles outbreaks were beingreported worldwide, sometimes in highlyvaccinated populations.

Official statistics from the UnitedKingdom Health Protection Agencyshow that:• The number of reported measles caseskept dropping after1998 and onlyexceeded the 1998 figures ten years later,when there were outbreaks worldwide• There were strikingly far fewerreported measles cases in the UK in the10 years that followed Wakefield’s paperthan in the 10 years that preceded itspublication

The reporting of measles cases in the

United Kingdom was not affected by Dr.Andrew Wakefield’s research.

MEASLES IN THE UNITEDKINGDOMThe role of the Health Protection Agency(HPA) [5] is “to provide an integratedapproach to protecting UK public healththrough the provision of support andadvice to the NHS … The Centre forInfections at Colindale is the base forcommunicable disease surveillance andspecialist microbiology …”

According to the HPA, “After cleanwater, vaccination is the most effectivepublic health intervention in the worldfor saving lives and promoting goodhealth.” [6]

The HPA lists in a single master table[7], the annual totals from 1982 to 2009for England and Wales, of all “StatutoryNotifications of Infectious Diseases(NOIDs)”.

Selected measles information for theyears 1988-2007 from that particularHPA Master Table is listed in Table I -HPA: Measles Reported Cases – Englandand Wales.

The MMR vaccine was licensed andthe MMR vaccination program waslaunched in the United Kingdom in1988.

There were 188,483 reported measlescases in the ten years preceding theWakefield paper compared to 28,289cases in the following ten years, an 85%decrease.

Although increasing uptake of theMMR vaccine could account for much ofthe early decline, the fact that there were43,010 reported measles cases in the fiveyears preceding the publication comparedto 13,981 cases in the following 5 years, adecrease of 67%, suggests that there was

Measles in the United Kingdom - The “Wakefield Factor”

TABLE 1 - HPA: MEASLES REPORTED CASES – ENGLAND AND WALES: TOTALS

10 YEARS PRE-WAKEFIELD

10 YEARS POST-WAKEFIELD

1988

86,001

1989

26,222

1990

13,302

1991

9,680

1992

10,268

1993

9,612

1994

16,375

1995

7,447

1996

5,614

1997

3,962

LAST 5

43,010

ALL

188,483

1998

3,728

1999

2,438

2000

2,378

2001

2,250

2002

3,187

2003

2,488

2004

2,356

2005

2,089

2006

3,705

2007

3,670

FIRST 5

13,981

ALL

28,289

BY F. EDWARD YAZBAK MD, FAAP

DThere were 188,483 reported

measles cases in the ten years

preceding the Wakefield paper

compared to 28,289 cases in

the following ten years, an

85% decrease.



›

no “Wakefield Factor”, at least insofar asan impact on reported measles cases isconcerned.

If one postulated that the UK MMRvaccination rates near-reached targetedlevels 3 years after the launch of thevaccination program and compared the 7-year periods before and after theWakefield paper, the following wouldalso be obvious: There were only 18,825measles notifications in the 7 yearsfollowing the publication of the paper inearly 1998 compared to 62,950 measlesnotifications in the previous 7 years.

The fact that the number of notifiedmeasles cases decreased from 1998 to1999 to 2000 to 2001, the 4 yearsimmediately after the Wakefieldpublication and press conference, whenmaximal impact should have been notedclearly speaks for itself.

The same holds true when calculatedas cases per 100,000 of population.

Dr. Elizabeth Miller, Head of theImmunization Department at the HealthProtection Agency, Center for infections,and a member of the WHO GlobalAdvisory Committee on Vaccine Safety,was never a fan of Dr. Wakefield. Astaunch defender of the MMRvaccination program and the author / co-author of eight publications on MMRvaccination and autism between 2002and 2005, she never once revealed in hermany addresses that reported measlescases had decreased after The Lancetpaper.

Neither did Sir Liam Donaldson, theChief Medical Officer nor ProfessorDavid Salisbury, Director ofImmunization at the UK Department ofHealth.

The World Health Organization(WHO) lists infectious diseases reportedby all nations.

The following table lists that data [8]

for the ten years before and after theWakefield paper as reported by the UKHealth Authorities, possibly the HPA.

An attempt at explaining the abovesomewhat inconsistent numbers willfollow. The fact remains that the reportedcases of measles in the United Kingdomand Northern Ireland did not increaseand actually decreased in the yearsimmediately following the 1998publication by Wakefield et al in TheLancet.

This is further supported by Jick andHagberg of the Boston University Schoolof Medicine Collaborative DrugSurveillance Program [9] who identifiedall children in the UK General PracticeResearch Database diagnosed withmeasles from 1990 to 2008 and recentlyreported (June 2010) that “…Since 1996,the incidence of measles has fallen …”

Reported cases of measles [10] decreased15 to 44% in England and Walesbetween 1998 and 2007. They alsodecreased from year to year during 5 ofthe 6 years that followed the Wakefieldpaper in spite of the frenzied publicity.

Trying to make sense of the numberand percentage of confirmed measlescases in the UK since 1998 is a challenge.As evident in the following table, thenumber and percentage of confirmedcases spiked in 2002 and again in 2006-2007.

A comparison of the data for the 2002and 2007 spikes illustrates the difficultyto draw conclusions. While reported casesrose from 3,187 to 3,670, an increase of15%, confirmed cases jumpeddisproportionately from 319 to 990, anincrease of 210%.

Looking at the 2002 spike andcomparing 2001 with 2002, reportedcases increased by 42% from 2,250 to3,187 while confirmed cases increased by355% from 70 to 319.

Comparing the first quarters of bothyears was also helpful.

There were 741 notified measles casesand 569 (72%) tested. Only 3 had apositive saliva test, a yield of 0.5% fromweeks 1 to 13 of 2001. [11]

During the same weeks of 2002, [12]

there were 1,199 notified cases and 1,386(116%) tested cases. The followingexplanation was provided by the PublicHealth Laboratory Services (PHLS) forthis strange situation: “due to theincrease in confirmed measles in thisquarter many oral fluid tests weresubmitted early for detection of IgMantibody for suspected cases, some ofwhich were not subsequently notified,thus more samples were submitted thannotified in this period.”

[No lucid comment on the abovestatement is possible.]

In any case, of the 1,386 tested cases,91 or 6.6% were positive, a yield 13times greater than in the first quarter of2001. Because 9 cases had recently beenvaccinated, PHLS recorded the confirmedsaliva-tested cases as 82. Unlike in Q1 of2001, PHLS then added 44 “other labconfirmed cases” to push the number ofconfirmed cases to 126 for the quarter.

In spite of all the changes and lack inconformity, there were fewer confirmedcases of measles [13] in England and Walesin 2005 than in 1999. Also noteworthy isthe fact that the percentages of confirmedcases remained low during the four yearsthat immediately followed thepublication of the Wakefield study.

The fact that there were only 2,089notified cases and 78 confirmed measlescases in 2005, while the same diagnosticmodalities as in 2002-2004 were in use,strongly suggests that seven years afterthe Lancet publication, the so-calledWakefield Factor was still not much of afactor.

TABLE 2 - WHO: MEASLES REPORTED CASES – UK AND NORTHERN IRELAND: TOTALS

10 YEARS PRE-WAKEFIELD

10 YEARS POST-WAKEFIELD

1988

86,259

1989

30,160

1990

28,228

1991

11,727

1992

12,317

1993

12,018

1994

23,525

1995

9,017

1996

6,866

1997

4,844

LAST 5

56,270

ALL

226,961

1998

74

1999

-

2000

104

2001

73

2002

314

2003

460

2004

189

2005

79

2006

764

2007

1022

FIRST 5

565

ALL

3,079



A careful look at the first quarter of2005 [14] may help shed some light on theissue of case confirmation in the UnitedKingdom by saliva testing. In week 1 to13, 2005 there were 591 reported cases ofmeasles of which 575 (97.3%) weretested. In only 20 (3.5%) the saliva testwas positive.

The same was true for rubella: Of 299cases of clinical rubella reported byphysicians during the quarter, 220 had asaliva test performed and only 2 (0.9%)of the 220 tests were positive.

The results for mumps testing were notmuch different. During the same quarter,5,945 cases of mumps were reported,3,356 or 56.5% were tested and 1,381(41%) were positive by the saliva test.

Clearly, the validity of measles, rubellaand even mumps reporting is suspect.

A similar picture was also evident inthe second and third quarters of 2005. [15]

[16]

Oral fluid testing (saliva) for measles,mumps and rubella began in the UK in1995. [17] It is worth noting that until1998, the health authorities continued toprovide counts of reported and not ofconfirmed measles cases to the WorldHealth Organization. (See WHO tableabove).

It is important to point out that theincreases in reported and confirmed casesof measles during 2006 and 2007 werepart of the global increase in measlesactivity still going on and will bediscussed in the next section.

Considering measles-related deaths inthe UK and according to informationprovided by HPA [18] and updated April13, 2010: “In 2006 there was one measlesdeath in a 13 years old male who had anunderlying lung condition and wastaking immunosuppressive drugs.Another death in 2008 was also due toacute measles in unvaccinated child with

congenital immunodeficiency whosecondition did not require treatment withimmunoglobulin. Prior to 2006, the lastdeath from acute measles was in 1992.All other measles deaths, since1992, shown above are in olderindividuals and were caused by the lateeffects of measles. These infections wereacquired during the 1980s or earlier,when epidemics of measles occurred.”

MEASLES OUTBREAKSWORLDWIDEMeasles outbreaks have been occurringworldwide since 2006 even in highlyvaccinated countries.

In Saudi Arabia [19], where infantsroutinely receive a monovalent measlesvaccine at age 9 months and two MMRvaccines, at age 1 and again at age 4-6years and where vaccination rates withmeasles-containing vaccines haveconsistently been between 95 and 98%during the last 6 years, there were 4,648cases of measles in 2007 compared to 373cases in 2005, 807 in 2006, 157 in 2008and 82 in 2009.

So in 2007, in spite of the superior

vaccination rates in Saudi Arabia, therewere 4,648 reported cases of measles inan estimated population of 27.6 million.In the same year, there were 3,670reported cases of measles, of which 990were confirmed, in the United Kingdom,estimated population 61 million. [20]

In Switzerland, the MMR vaccine hasbeen licensed and used since 1985 when acatch-up vaccination was alsorecommended for teenagers aged 12 - 15years. A second dose of MMR wasrecommended in 1996. Vaccinationcoverage for at least one dose by age 2remained stable at around 82% duringthe decade of the nineties. It increased toaround 87% in 2005 - 2007. For eight-year olds, the MMR vaccination rate was90% while for adolescents, it was at94%. Full vaccination with two doses ofMMR reached 71 to 76% in Switzerland.

There were on average 50 notifiedcases of measles a year in Switzerland(population 7.5 million) from 1999 to2006 except for 2003, when there was anoutbreak of 612 cases.

From November 2006 to September2009, Switzerland experienced a full scaleepidemic with 4415 reported measlescases. The incidence rates of 15 per100,000 in 2007 and 29 per 100,000 in2008 were reportedly the highest inEurope. [21]

Switzerland and Saudi Arabia useserum and not saliva testing to confirmmeasles cases.

Measles outbreaks are still going onworldwide regardless of vaccination ratesas evidenced by a CDC Update toTravellers dated September 9, 2010 [22]

stating: “Measles remains a commondisease in many parts of the world. Anestimated 10 million cases and 164,000deaths from measles occur worldwide eachyear… Measles outbreaks are common inmany areas including Europe …”

TABLE 3 - HPA: MEASLES REPORTED AND CONFIRMED CASES – ENGLAND AND WALES

REPORTED

CONFIRMED

% CONFIRMED

1988

3,728

56

1.5

1989

2,438

92

3.8

1990

2,378

100

4.2

1991

2,250

70

3.1

1992

3,187

319

10.0

1993

2,488

437

17.6

1994

2,356

188

8.0

1995

2,089

78

3.7

1996

3,705

740

20.0

1997

3,670

990

27.0

TOTAL

28,289

3,070

10.9

Even a single confirmed case of

measles in an unvaccinated or

under-vaccinated English child

always signaled an avalanche

of blame by many who should

have remembered that it was

not Andrew Wakefield who

banned the importation of the

single vaccines in 1999.



In England, any report of a smallcluster of measles was an opportunity toblame Dr. Wakefield and his research,particularly as the much advertised GMChearings got underway. [23] [24] [25]

Even a single confirmed case ofmeasles in an unvaccinated or under-vaccinated English child always signalledan avalanche of blame by many whoshould have remembered that it was notAndrew Wakefield who banned theimportation of the single vaccines in1999.

Meanwhile, Autism SpectrumDisorders have increased in Great Britainat an alarming rate. As described in anarticle on March 2, 2006, there were3,484 schoolchildren with autism inScotland in 2005, compared to only 820in 1998, a four-fold increase.[26]

More recently, (June 2009), ProfessorBaron-Cohen et al [27] estimated theprevalence of autism-spectrum conditionsin the UK to be 157 per 10 000.

CONCLUSIONSFor the last 12 years, Andrew Wakefieldhas been abused and attacked for havingdared say that research was needed to ruleout an MMR vaccine-autism connectionin a small subset of geneticallypredisposed children. His suggestion tohave single vaccines available until suchresearch was done was also harshly andconsistently criticized.

Wakefield accusers have nevermentioned the fact that the UKDepartment of Health stopped theimportation of the monovalent measles,mumps and rubella vaccines in order toforce parents to accept the MMR, givingthose who were concerned about its safetyand unwilling to go the triple-vaccineroute, difficult choices: To buy the singlevaccines at private clinics in England, totake a train ride to France to get them alittle cheaper or … to do nothing.

The most painful insult hurled againstDr. Wakefield must have been theallegation that his research causedmeasles epidemics and killed children.

The unrelenting press coverage, theexplosion in the number of autism casesin the UK and the reports by someparents that their children regressed afterMMR vaccination were in all likelihoodmore responsible for the drop in MMRvaccination rates than an article in The

Lancet and a statement at a pressconference in 1998.

Another important but rarelymentioned factor, was that young parentswho saw how shabbily families who hadchildren with MMR-related regressionand GI disorders were treated by theauthorities, how their legal aid wascurtailed and how thousands wentuncompensated, decided to forgo thevaccination altogether rather than take achance.

However, whatever the reasons for thedrop in vaccination rates in England, itappears that when measles outbreaksoccurred in the United Kingdom in thelast twelve years they also occurred inEurope and elsewhere in the world, oftenin well vaccinated populations.

The evidence presented here is clear:According to official UK Governmentreports, the number of notified measlescases decreased from 1998 to 1999 to2000 to 2001 and there were fewer casesof the disease during the ten years thatfollowed the Wakefield paper than in theprevious ten years.

It is impossible to draw reasonableconclusions concerning the number ofconfirmed measles cases in the UnitedKingdom during the last twelve years.What seems clear is that increasescoincided with worldwide measlesactivities or sudden changes in diagnostictechniques and classification.

According to HPA statistics, there wasno “Wakefield Factor”.

It is time to stop blaming AndrewWakefield and start putting the blamewhere it belongs.

REFERENCES:

1. Wakefield AJ in Callous Disregard: Autism andVaccines – the Truth Behind a Tragedy. 2010. NewYork. Skyhorse Publications. pp65-752. http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/ en/ab004407.htmlAccessed 11/29/103. Horton R. MMR Science and Fiction. 2004. London.Granta Books.4. https://www.merckvaccines.com/monovalentMessage_102109.pdf Accessed 12/1/105. http://www.hpa.org.uk/AboutThe HPA/WhoWeAre/Accessed 11/26/106. http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/VaccinationImmunisation/ Accessed 1/26/10 7. http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1251473364307 Accessed 11/26/108. http://apps.who.int/immunization_monitoring/en/globalsummary/timeseries/tsincidencebycountry.cfm?C=GBR Accessed 11/26/109. Jick H, Hagberg KW. Measles in the UnitedKingdom 1990-2008 and the effectiveness of measlesvaccines. Vaccine 2010 Jun 23;28(29):4588-9210. http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Measles/EpidemiologicalData/measNotsAndDeaths/ Accessed 11/28/201011. http://www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/archives/2001/cdr2501.pdf Accessed 12/6/1012. http://www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/archives/2002/cdr2602.pdf Accessed 12/6/1013. http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Measles/EpidemiologicalData/measDataMMRConfirmed/ Accessed 11/28/1014. http://www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/archives/2005/cdr2505.pdf Accessed 12/4/1015. http://www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/archives/2005/cdr3805.pdf Accessed 12/4/1016. http://www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/archives/2005/cdr4705.pdf Accessed 12/4/1017. http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/MMR/mmroralfluidtesting/ Accessed12/4/1018. http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733835814 Accessed12/6/1019. http://apps.who.int/immunization_monitoring/en/globalsummary/countryprofileresult.cfm?C='sau' Accessed 11/28/1020. http://www.prb.org/pdf07/07 WPDS_Eng.pdfAccessed 12/01/1021. http://www.eurosurveillance.org/VIEWARTICLE.ASPX?ARTICLEID=19443 Accessed 12/3/1022. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/in-the-news/measles.aspx Accessed 11/29/1023. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-468972/Measles-outbreak-follows-fears-MMR-vaccine.html Accessed 12/1/1024. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/aug/31/rightjabs Accessed 12/1/1025. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article2364350.ece Accessed 12/1/1026. http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/daily-mail-london-england-the/mi_8002/is_2006_March_1/fears-mmr-jab-massive-rise/ ai_n37750125/?tag=content;col1 Accessed 11/27/1027. Baron-Cohen S, Scott FJ, Allison C, Williams J,Bolton P, Matthews FE, Brayne C . Prevalence ofautism-spectrum conditions: UK school-basedpopulation study. Br J Psychiatry. 2009Jun;194(6):500-9.

Acknowledgement: The assistance of a distinguishedIsraeli vaccine researcher who prefers not to be namedis greatly appreciated.

Conflict of Interest: I am a proud and grateful supporter of Dr. AndrewWakefieldF. Edward Yazbak MD, FAAPFalmouth, Massachusetts

“The evidence presented here

is clear: According to official

UK Government reports, the

number of notified measles

cases decreased from 1998 to

1999 to 2000 to 2001 and

there were fewer cases of the

disease during the ten years

that followed the Wakefield

paper than in the previous

ten years.”



• Like all flu seasons, mortality in theelderly was highest from swine flu duringthe 2009-10 season • Preexisting antibodies were common inthe elderly: present in 88% of those aged90-99, present in 27% of those aged 79,and present in 4-5% in those youngerthan 60. • Six studies from Canada consistentlyfound that prior year vaccination in 2008/09for seasonal influenza was associated with a

1.4- to 2.5-fold increased risk forhospitalization for H1N1 infection, saidNaveed Z. Janjua, MD, also from theBritish Columbia Centre for DiseaseControl.

"As for the mechanism behind thosedifferences, studies in swine flu suggest thata vaccine that induces "nonneutralizing orsubneutralizing concentrations of antibodycan enhance the infection rather than protectfrom that infection," Dr. Janjua said.

Dr. Skowronski acknowledged thelimitations of case–controlled studies. Shesuggested that the Canadian findings might

be more rigorous than similar studies fromthe United States and Mexico that reacheddifferent conclusions on the effect ofvaccination for seasonal influenza on H1N1infection.

Good immunization records and the useof a single brand of vaccine within ageographic region also are factorscontributing to the rigor of the Canadiananalysis, she pointed out.

The studies were conducted withfunding from various Canadian governmentagencies. None of the presenters disclosedno relevant financial relationships."

September 21, 2010

www.medscape.com/viewarticle/721219

Canadian Surveillance of H1N1 swine flu cases/Medscape and PLOS

UCKNOW: The Health Ministry hasordered a probe after four infants, all

below nine months, died near Lucknow onSunday after they were vaccinated formeasles. But the inquiry team is yet toreach Uttar Pradesh. While the UttarPradesh government has announcedcompensation for the families of thevictims.

All of them showed symptoms of aserious allergic reaction which probablycaused their deaths.

Minutes after they were given themeasles vaccine, four infants - Kumari,Sanya, Rekha and Sahil fell acutely ill.They became breathless, began to sweatand their pulse fell rapidly - all symptomsof anaphylactic shock or a serious allergicreaction to the vaccine, and before theycould get medical help at the local

hospital, all four had died."These ANM's had injected them with

the measles vaccine, then some minuteslater they became unconscious," said Rani,parent of a victim.

Such measles vaccine related deaths arerare but have been reported in the past. In2008, four children died under similarcircumstances in Tamil Nadu. The measlesvaccination programme was suspended andthe entire batch of vaccines was recalled.

Clearly, innoculation drives involvinginjections need strict controls and bettersupervision. This case raises a host ofquestions:Why were the four children given thevaccine when they were all below ninemonths old? Measles vaccine is given atnine months.Was there proper supervision to monitorthe delivery of the vaccine? Four auxillarynurse midwives gave the shots but were

not trained to provide emergency supportto the infants

The crucial question is was the vialwhich contained the vaccinecontaminated?"We will take strict action if it is foundthat these were wrongly administered, wehave collected samples of these doses andhave sent them for testing to find out ifthey were genuine or spurious," said AnilSagar, District Magistrate, Lucknow.

Paediatricians say that an immediateinquiry should begin and the entire batchbe pulled out of the programme toestablish the cause of death or else thevaccination programme which is doingpoorly in states like Uttar Pradesh cansuffer a serious setback.The three auxillary nurse midwives, themedical officer and the person responsiblefor maintaining the vaccines have alsobeen suspended.

Measles deaths in Lucknow: Health Ministry orders an inquiry

Lwww.ndtv.com August 22, 2010



EVER, along with loss of appetiteand maybe diarrhoea, vomiting and

a rash, is one of the processes that is setin action when a child with a healthysystem initiates a 'clean out' so that theycan rid themselves of toxins. If thisprocess is allowed to continueunhindered, at the end of it your childwill do something new, depending ontheir age: a baby may produce a newtooth, a six year old who isn't readingmay suddenly start to read, a small childwill suddenly have a growth spurt ordevelop new vocabulary. In order to takea developmental step forward, the childneeds clean out their system first. Thistake the form of a crisis, rather likesnakes, which have to crack off their old,too small skins before they can slitherout with their shiny new ones. Thecommonest way of producing a fever iswith the help of a virus. Your child isnot ill because they have a virus, theyare 'ill' or have an overload of rubbish,that is why they 'get' the virus which isactually their helper, not their enemy.

Treating a child without giving themmedicines to suppress their symptomsdoes not mean doing nothing - it meanssupporting the body's processes ofelimination by making sure that there isplenty of fresh air and fluids. This willallow the liver, the major detoxifier, thekidneys and lungs to work efficiently. Achild's ability to regulate theirtemperature is immature. If the room ishot, the child cannot radiate their excessheat into their surroundings. So keepthe room temperature low enough toprovide a temperature gradient that willallow this to happen. While thiselimination is occurring, it makes sensenot to fill your child with food that theythen need to process.

Exposure to micro-organisms and atan appropriate age helps our immunesystems to properly mature and learnwhat it is, and is not, supposed toproduce antibodies against. Lack of or

inappropriate exposure to micro-organisms can lead to the body's neverlearning the vital lessons of 'self 'and'non-self,' and may lead to the body'sturning on itself in the form of allergicand autoimmune diseases, such asasthma, eczema, hay fever, diabetes,rheumatoid disease and cancer.

Exposure to a micro-organism is noguarantee of getting the disease. Onecan be exposed and have: no infection,subclinical (no symptoms) infection,mild disease, moderate disease, severedisease, disability or death. For example,exposure to poliovirus can causeundetectable infection, mild symptomsof gastric 'flu or summer diarrhoeathrough to temporary or permanentparalysis; exposure to themeningococcus can lead to no obvioussymptoms other than persistent carriageof the bacterium in the nose to severeillness causing disability or death.

WHAT DETERMINES WHICH ONEOF THESE OPTIONS IS LIKELY TOOCCUR IN YOUR CHILD?Firstly, the state of you child's immunesystem when they meet the organismand their developmental needs.

Secondly, how the disease is treated –suppressively or supportively.

Supporting the body through illness, asopposed to suppressing the body's ownself defence mechanisms (eg fever withparacetamol), is crucial so as to avoidcomplications and in order to come outof the illness stronger rather thanweaker.

Ear infections, urinary tractinfections, pneumonia and meningitisare just some of the many'complications' that occur when earlysymptoms of childhood illness aresuppressed, pushing the organismfurther into the body. Managementwhich supports the child's body in theprocess of elimination, whether byproduction of mucus, fever, diarrhoea,vomiting, or rash, helps to externalisethe disease process making suchinternalisation of symptoms unlikely.

This is all very well, but why doesevery NHS and Department of Healthpublication, as well as GP, practice nurseand health visitor tell us to giveparacetamol, or ibuprofen (antipyretic orfever-lowering treatment) or both tochildren with fevers?

IS THERE ANY SUPPORT IN THESCIENTIFIC LITERATURE ANDNATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR THEHOLISTIC PRACTITIONERS WHOTELL US NOT TO SUPPRESSFEVERS?Well let's have a look. A 1993 WorldHealth Organization (WHO) (1) paperlooking at the management of fever inyoung children with acute respiratoryinfection is a wealth of information andcan be accessed at the link referenced atthe end.

It states, “Harmful effects of feveralone are rare and are found mainly invery ill and compromised children (withvery severe pneumonia, for example) orin children with very high fever (above42 degrees C).

High fevers or rapid rise intemperature in young children areassociated with febrile convulsions butthese generally resolve spontaneouslyand are not associated with long-termneurological complications. In additionthere is no evidence that they can beprevented with antipyretic treatment.

High fevers may also be associatedwith listlessness and reduced appetite inchildren.”

“Treating a child without givingthem medicines to suppress theirsymptoms does not mean doingnothing - it means supporting

the body's processes of elimination by making sure that

there is plenty of fresh air and fluids.“

DR JAYNE LM DONEGAN MBBS

DRCOG DCH DFFP MRCGP MFHOM

GP & Homeopath

Dr Jayne L.M. Donegan

F

Fever – Friend or Foe?

›



They go on the say that the safest wayto lower the temperature is withparacetamol but add, “there is in mostcircumstances no indication to giveantipyretic treatment for fever below 39degrees C (rectal).”

IS FEVER ACTUALLY BENEFICIAL? “Considerable in vitro (testube) evidenceindicates that a variety of humanimmunological defences function betterat febrile temperatures than at normalones.” The release of lactoferrin by thewhite blood cells called neutrophils leadsto a decrease in serum iron, whichinhibits the growth of “many micro-organisms” . Fever makes Blymphocytes, the ones that makeantibodies, increase in number andactivates T lymphocytes. “Moreover, thegrowth of some organisms, including thepolio virus, pneumococcus, gonococcus,and syphilis treponeme, are inhibited atfebrile temperatures. In fact, induction offever by deliberate malarial infection wasused to treat tertiary syphilis in the pre-antibiotic era.”

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE HARMFULEFFECTS OF FEVER? Surely there must be some. The authorssay that there are three circumstances inwhich a fever can be problematic in achild with an acute respiratory infection: 1. Children who are extremelydebilitated or who have severepulmonary or cardiovascular disease canbe compromised by the increasedoxygen consumption and cardiac outputthat occur at febrile temperatures.2. Fever above 42ºC can lead toneurological damage, this is a very rareevent. There is no evidence the feversbelow 42ºC cause neurological damage,even in young infants.3. Children under the age of 5 years, andespecially those between 6 months and 3years, are at risk of febrile convulsions,particularly at rectal temperatures of40ºC or above. Many such convulsions,however, occur early in the course of thefebrile illness, while the temperature isrising and in many cases before theparents are even aware of the presence ofthe fever. These febrile convulsionsusually resolve spontaneously and arenot associated with long-termneurological complications.

“Medical opinion is divided as towhether antipyretic treatment canprevent febrile convulsions fromoccurring. One controlled trial hasshown that even aggressive antipyretictreatment of fevers was associated withvery high recurrence rates of febrileconvulsions and suggests thatantipyretic treatment is unlikely to be ofmajor preventive benefit.”

BUT DOES GIVING A BIT OFPARACETAMOL REALLY DO ANYHARM?“One study reported that adultvolunteers experimentally infectedwith rhinovirus(one (a common coldvirus) and treated with therapeuticdoses of aspirin were more likely toexhibit nasal viral shedding than thosereceiving placebo.” This means thatthe person produced more virusparticles for spreading around.

A study of 147 children who were inhospital with bacterial infectionsshowed that those who had one to twodoses of a temperature lowering agentleft hospital no sooner than those whohad none. Children with chicken poxtreated with antipyretics took a longertime for their vesicles to crust over –you are infectious until the crustsform.

Another study of children with viralinfections found that those treatedwith paracetamol were more active andalert during their viral illness. To methis is not an advantage as rest is oneof the cornerstones of managing acuteillnesses and the last thing I would

want is for a child to be more active. Itis hard enough getting them to rest asit is!

The authors recommend extra fluidsas, “fever is accompanied by anincreased metabolic rate and insensiblewater losses, increased fluid intakeshould be encouraged. Correcthydration is considered to act as anexpectorant (something that makes youcough up mucus) by looseningrespiratory secretions. “

They don't recommend removingclothes or tepid sponging (of whichmore later) and they say, “If a febrilechild remains alert, active and playfuldespite a high temperature, healthworkers should seek to relieve anyexcessive parental anxiety concerningthe child's fever and attempt to playdown the dangers of the fever itself. Ithas been demonstrated thatinterventions such as teaching parentsabout the definition of fever,measurement of a child's temperature,and appropriate antipyretic treatmentcan be effective in changing parents'knowledge and behaviour.”

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIMEYOUR DOCTOR, HEALTHVISITOR OR NHS, DEPARTMENTOF HEALTH PUBLICATIONATTEMPTED TO 'PLAY DOWN'THE DANGERS OF FEVER? And they conclude: Right up till acentury ago, society's attitude towardsfever was in complete contrast to the"modern" view: fever was considered ahealthy response to disease and was



deliberately encouraged. When onecontrasts our current practice ofaggressive treatment of even minorfevers with the available scientificevidence, one is left to conclude thatthe principal rationale for antipyretictherapy is to soothe worried parentsand health care workers and to givethem the sense that they arecontrolling the child's illness, ratherthan it controlling them.... Parents andhealth care workers should not, as isoften the case at present, automaticallygive antipyretic treatment to allchildren with fever. They should "treatthe child, not the thermometer"

I have been telling my patients thisfor years. In fact, I tell them not to usea thermometer at all as it is often moreworrying than useful. Of course youneed to know whether or not yourchild has a fever – so that you can keepthem at home, cancel the trip to theIsle of Wight, stop dairy products,open the window, give them lots offluids and only feed them if hungryand then only a light diet. You alsoneed to know whether or not theirtemperature is very high, as you willthen give them only fluids and makesure that they are in bed or tucked upon the sofa, even better, if the weatheris nice, nurse them outside. Irecommend that parents assess thetemperature with the back of theirhand on the back of their child's neck.

WHY WOULD YOU NOT WANTTO KNOW THE TEMPERATURE INFIGURES? Because you can have a child about whomyou are fairly happy, even though they areat times hot, screaming, crying, raging,loud, thrashing about or bad tempered,but at least they have enough energy toproduce a fever and be angry. They maybe drinking well, have lots of wet nappiesand sleep well. Then you take theirtemperature, it is 39.5ºC and suddenlyyou start to panic, to doubt your abilityto cope and to feel that what you aredoing is not enough. On the other hand,you may have a child about whom youare really worried. They may be floppy,silent, sunken-eyed with poor feedingand weak 'kitten-like' mewling in a baby.Your gut feeling is that something bad isgoing on, then you take their

temperature and it is normal, or even lowso you push down your fears and thinkthat everything is really alright, whenthis is the child who may very well havemeningitis, and is so weak that they can'teven produce a fever. This is the child youshould be taking to your GP or hospitalfor a professional assessment.

IS THERE ANY ADVICE MORERECENT THAN 1993?A paper by Heinz Eichenwald, (2) Professorof Paediatrics at the South WesternMedical School, University of Texas,published in the Bulletin of the WorldHealth Organization states, “Feverrepresents a universal, ancient, and usuallybeneficial response to infection, and itssuppression under most circumstances hasfew, if any demonstrable benefits. On theother hand, some harmful effects have

been shown to occur as a result ofsuppressing fever: in most individualsthese are slight, but when translated tomillions of people, they may result in anincrease in morbidity and perhaps theoccurrence of occasional mortality. It isclear, therefore, that the widespread use ofantipyretics should not be encouragedeither in developing countries of inindustrial society.” (Eichenwald, 2003)

The National Institute for Health andClinical Excellence (NICE) is anindependent organisation responsible forproviding national guidance onpromoting good health and preventingand treating ill health. The 2007Guidelines on the assessment and initialmanagement of feverish illness in childrenyounger than 5 years state: “Antipyreticagents do not prevent febrile convulsionsand should not be used specifically forthis purpose.“(page 8) (3)

• Tepid sponging is not recommendedfor the treatment of fever. • Children with fever should not beunder dressed or over wrapped. • The use of antipyretic agents shouldbe considered in children with fever whoappear distressed or unwell. Antipyretic

agents should not routinely be used withthe sole aim of reducing bodytemperature in children with fever whoare otherwise well. The views and wishesof parents and carers should be takeninto consideration. • Either paracetamol or ibuprofen can beused to reduce temperature in childrenwith fever. • Paracetamol and ibuprofen should notbe administered at the same time tochildren with fever. • Paracetamol and ibuprofen should notroutinely be given alternately tochildren with fever. However, use of thealternative drug may be considered ifthe child does not respond to the firstagent. (p27)

I was at a conference of over 2000 GPswhen these guidelines were discussed.Everyone just laughed. The speakerjoked that the NICE people didn'tunderstand what it was like at the 'coalface' and that he for one would be takingno notice of them. There was thunderousapplause. So even when holistic advice isbacked up by evidence based medicinedoctors still don't take any notice.

Regarding tepid sponging. If a childis highly distressed at being so hot and abit of sponging helps them to feel moreclean and comfortable, then I think itstill has a place. If it is used soley tolower a temperature when the child isotherwise OK, then it is not necessary.

Febrile convulsions: In my experienceit is not the height of the temperaturebut the speed with which it rises thatdetermines whether a child willconvulse or not. It is also my experiencethat it is the children whose fevers havebeen repeatedly suppressed that havethese spiking temperatures, as the bodymakes an effort to burst through theparacetamol barrier, so to speak.Therefore I think that the figure of 4%incidence applies to children treatedconventionally/suppressively.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IFYOUR CHILD HAS A FEBRILECONVULSION? Speak in a calm, slow, reassuring voice -Remove clothes to nappy - Reduce roomtemperature to 15ºC - Tepid sponge asnecessary - Consider calling doctor iffirst convulsion ever for assessment - Ifchild is unconscious or remains

“So even when holistic advice is backed up by evidence based

medicine doctors still don't take any notice.”

›



unconscious, put into recovery position -If convulsion lasts for more than 10minutes or any abnormality persists, calla doctor.

Of children who have a febrileconvulsion, two thirds never have anotherand one third do. Of those who have asecond febrile convulsion, only one thirdwill have a third convulsion. Those whohave a third convulsion or recurrentconvulsions are more likely to go on tohave epilepsy later in life. The consensusamong experts seems to be that this isnot due to brain damage caused by theconvulsion, but to the child's having atendency towards epilepsy, and that iswhy they convulse with a fever.

© Dr Jayne LM Donegan MBBSDRCOG DCH DFFP MRCGPMFHom 2010London NW4 1SH, UK, T/F 0044(0)20 8632 1634,[email protected]/15 November 2010

REFERENCES:

© World Health Organization 1993 Themanagement of fever in young childrenwith acute respiratory infections indeveloping countries https://apps.who.int/chd/publications/ari/fever.htm

2. Eichenwald HF Fever andantipyresis Bull World Health Organ[online]2003;81(5)2003:372-74

http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862003000500012&lng=en&nrm=iso

3. Feverish illness in childrenAssessment and initial managementin children younger than 5 years -NICE clinical guideline 2007 p 8 andp27

http://guidance.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/11010/30523/30523.pdf

HE CHANCELLOR of Justice hasreceived 14 complaints regarding

ties between GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), themanufacturer of the swine flu vaccine, andthe National Institute for Health andWelfare (THL).

The Chancellor has been asked to assessif the THL was biased when itrecommended that Finland purchase theH1N1 vaccine from GSK, according toYLE current affairs TV programmeAjankohtainen Kakkonen. The institute

had received significant research grantsfrom the pharma giant.

Complainants also requested theChancellor to look into whether a panelassigned by the THL to investigate apossible link between the H1N1 vaccineand narcolepsy is biased for the samereason. They want a clear answer onwhether Finland’s highest healthauthority, the THL, may work in closecooperation with pharmaceuticalcompanies.

CHILDREN DEVELOP NARCOLEPSY Thirty-seven children in Finland came

down with narcolepsy soon after beinginjected with the vaccine against swineflu.

Some of the children have sustainedserious brain damage that has made itimpossible for them to attend school.They suffer from symptoms includinghallucinations, personality changes andcataplexy, which is a severe muscleweakness that can lead to a completecollapse up to 20 -30 times a day.

The THL maintains that cooperationwith pharmaceutical companies isstandard practice for professionalorganisations.

FURTHER INFORMATION

To book a telephone or in person consultation to discusshealth or vaccination issues, or if you would beinterested in hosting a lecture or workshop in your area, please call: T/F 0044 (0)20 8632 1634 (and leave a clearmessage) or email: [email protected]

Dr Donegan is planning a series of lectures in NorthWest London from January or March 2011. Places willbe limited to 20 to allow time for discussion. Please email her if you would be interested in attendingand say whether you would prefer evenings or Sundayafternoon/ evening ideal start times and an indicationof topics: • ‘Vaccination – the Question’• ‘Vaccination – the Science’ (for practitioners and veryinterested parents)• ‘Vaccination and Travel Medicine’

• Physical methods versus drug placebo or no treatmentfor managing fever in childrenCochrane Review 2005, 2009http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004264/frame.html

• ‘Supportive treatment of Childhood Illnesses’ - Whatdo you do if you don’t Vaccinate (and even more so if youdo)?• Practical advice on supportive treatment of childhoodillnesses: Specific Conditions ‘Mumps, Measles, Rubella– Which is better: The Disease or the Vaccine?’• ‘Tetanus and Treatment of Cuts, Grazes and MinorInjuries’• Focus on Meningitis – How Can You Avoid It?• ‘How to Raise a Healthy Child (and Parent!)’• ‘Homeopathy for Children – An Introduction’• ‘Oh Happy Days! Food Refusal, Bed Times and other• ‘Parental Learning Opportunities’

Ties between big pharma and THL draw complaintswww.yle.fi/ (Finland)

17/11/2010

T



IKE THE REST of my generation, Idid not receive any vaccinations

when I was a baby in 1954. I developedmeasles at age 9, did not feel ill at all, andwas kept in bed in a darkened room for aweek or so to protect my eyesight and toisolate me in case I infected others.

As the vaccination cult has spreadconsiderably since those days, it’sunderstandable that modern parents whofeel instinctively that we should notinterfere with nature, are finding it hardto resist pressure from their GP. I wassaddened when I read Victoria Lambert’sstory in the Daily Telegraph about fouryears ago. Journalist Victoria was veryaware of the dangers of vaccination, andwrote extensively about them. But whenfaced with the dilemma of using theMMR vaccine on her new baby daughter,she decided to ignore the risk of potentialbrain damage. “When it came to thecrunch, she says I realised I wanted toincrease the protection of the herd. So,bearing in mind the words of ... eminentpaediatricians and feeling somewhatchastened, shall I tell you what I didwhen it was time to stand up and becounted? Reader, I vaccinated her.”http://how2.cc/mmrdilemma

I don’t know Victoria’s baby daughter,but, in the hope of saving other childrenwhose parents only pay lip service to thevaccine awareness movement, a little lateron in this article I’d like to describe whathappened in her body as a result of thisdecision. My information comes fromdoctors who are a little better informedabout the risks than the paediatricianswhom Victoria consulted.

AUTISM WAS VIRTUALLYUNHEARD OF BEFOREVACCINATIONSIn the words of eminent US medicalcampaigner Dr Joseph Mercola, “Braindamage, at any age, is by far the mostcommon adverse reaction associatedwith vaccinations. Autism was virtuallyunheard of before vaccinations; itsemergence precisely parallels massvaccination programs.”http://how2.cc/mercolavaccinations.

The big stumbling block whichprevents the authorities from banningvaccinations for causing brain damage isthat not all individuals are affected. Usingnormal research criteria, it is difficult toprove cause and effect. The otherstumbling block is the belief that vaccinesare quite natural and simply contain

harmless, mild strains of infectiousorganisms—a bit like the original idea ofcatching cowpox to prevent infection withthe much more dangerous smallpox.Neurologist (doctor specialising indiseases of the brain and nervous system)Dr Russell Blaylock can explain why weshould look beyond both these barriers.Here is a summary of what he says.

Stimulating your immune system witha vaccine is very different fromcontracting an infectious illness naturally.Vaccines are made of two components—the agent you wish to vaccinateagainst—(for example, the measles virus)and an immune system booster called animmune adjuvant. These adjuvants arecomposed of such things as aluminiumcompounds, MSG and even mercury—abrain-toxic heavy metal that is verydifficult to excrete. Their job is tostimulate the immune system to react asintensely as possible, for as long aspossible. Studies have shown that theseadjuvants, from a single vaccine, can causeimmune overstimulation for as long astwo years. Immune stimulation oractivation makes the body produce largeamounts of proteins such as cytokines,which are involved in inflammatoryprocesses.

When inflammatory cytokines areelevated in the brain, brain cells becomemuch more vulnerable to a number ofenvironmental toxins. Using a series of

sophisticated techniques, one studydemonstrated that healthy brain cellsexposed to low levels of pesticide sufferedlittle toxicity. Similarly, when these samebrain cells were exposed to immunestimulants alone, little damage occurred.But when the brain cells were firstexposed to the immune stimulants andthen the pesticide, the same low dose ofpesticide could destroy a great number ofbrain cells. Dr Blaylock believes thisresearch provides the explanation for whysome children develop brain damage suchas autism after vaccination, and others donot. Pesticide is widespread in our society.It forms clouds when crops, parks etc. aresprayed, and the clouds drift with thewind over the whole country.

OTHER DISEASESTo give you an idea of how harmfulelevated levels of cytokines can be, it isnow known that in older individuals,their levels of certain cytokines canprecisely predict their risk of heartdisease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’sdisease. In other words, the higher yourlevels of cytokines, the closer you are togetting symptoms of these diseases. Yet,as I recently read to my horror, in thedeveloped world young babies are gettingup to 25 vaccinations in the first 15months of their life. Do we have a right todo this to the next generation withouttheir informed consent? Since their brainsare undergoing the most rapiddevelopment at the very time they receivethe greatest number of vaccinations,babies and small children are at a higherrisk than anyone else of suffering vaccine-related brain and nerve damage.

The same research quoted by Blaylockshows that elderly people who receivevaccinations have a higher risk ofcontracting Parkinson’s disease. There isnow considerable research showing a linkbetween pesticide exposure andparkinsonism. Vaccinations considerablyincrease the risk of pesticide-related braindamage. You can read more about DrBlaylock’s discoveries atwww.vaccinetruth.org/dr_blaylock.htm

HOMEOPATHIC VACCINATIONSWe are told that pharmaceuticalvaccinations are ‘proved’ to preventdiseases and that homeopathicvaccinations are not. Homeopathic

READER, I VACCINATED HER...

“Yet, as I recently read to myhorror, in the developed worldyoung babies are getting up to25 vaccinations in the first 15

months of their life. Do we havea right to do this to the next

generation without their informed consent? ”

›

LBY LINDA LAZARIDES, NOV 2010.



vaccinations are little pills, drops orpowders taken by mouth. They do notcontain any bacteria, just water or sugarimprinted with the electromagnetic‘frequency’ of the bacteria they areintended to protect against. This imprintis obtained by shaking the bacterialmatter in water and then diluting thewater many times until no bacteriaremain. All matter vibrates at its ownspecial rate and the explanation for the useof homeopathic vaccines is that the bodywill recognise the vibration imprintedinto the remedy, and develop the sameprotection against the vibration as if ithad been exposed to the original bacteria.

If you have ever had a sore throat orheadache instantly melt away ondiscovering and taking the correcthomeopathic remedy, you will already bea fan of homeopathy. But the owner (let’scall her Sue) of a cattery near my homerecently told me an amazing story whichhas reinforced my faith in this mode oftreatment. As you may know, theinsurance for owners of catteries orkennels in the UK requires that all animalboarded there must have certificates ofvaccination and boosters from a veterinarysurgeon. But for the last 10 years, Sue hasalso surreptitiously accepted homeopathicvaccination certificates. She adopted thispolicy after an outbreak of cat flu occurredin her cattery. Every single cat succumbedto the flu, which is a life-threateningdisease for cats. Yet all the cats had beenconventionally vaccinated and had all the

required certificates. The only cat whonever caught the flu during the outbreakwas the owner’s own cat, Daisy, whoremained healthy despite wandering freelyaround the cattery. Daisy had neverreceived a single conventional vaccination,only homeopathic vaccination pills takenby mouth, obtained from a localhomeopathic vet. I will leave you to drawyour own conclusions.

DEALING WITH PEER PRESSUREReturning to Victoria Lambert’s dilemma,the most difficult peer pressure issue forparents to deal with does seem to be theworry that your unvaccinated child mayinfect others if he or she develops measlesor other infections. Apart from the obviousquestion of how can your child get measlesif everyone else has been vaccinated? afurther reassurance is that there is an awfullot you can do to minimise the chances ofyour child developing an infection. Apartfrom a healthy, balanced diet, the mostimportant health protection you can giveyour child is a daily capsule of cod liver oil.This is a rich source of vitamins A and D,both of which have been shown to helpprevent measles. In fact vitamin A is suchan important protector against infectionthat since 1987 the World HealthOrganization (WHO) has advocated theroutine administration of vitamin Atogether with measles vaccine in countrieswhere vitamin A deficiency is a problem.Nowadays mild vitamin A deficiency is aproblem for children and adults in most

western countries, due to junk food diets.Contrary to popular belief, there is novitamin A in carrots or other vegetables,only beta carotene, which may or may notbe converted to vitamin A, depending onwhether you have enough of the rightenzymes.

Adequate vitamin D and selenium arealso important to help fight and preventall kinds of virus infections, includingboth flu and measles. You can read moreon these two websites:http://how2.cc/mercolacolds, andhttp://how2.cc/seleniumfluvirus

Recent widely publicised researchreveals that 85 per cent of Americans aredeficient in vitamin D, so the figures forBritain must be similar or worse,considering that we are a more northernclimate and get comparatively littlesunshine—an important source of vitaminD. The risk of vitami D deficiency isincreased by covering our bodies withsunscreen and reducing our consumptionof butter and cream, which are some ofthe very few food sources of vitamin D.

Linda Lazarides is a naturopathicnutritionist and author of eight books,including the Waterfall Diet and TreatYourself with Nutritional Therapy. Herlatest book is A Textbook of ModernNaturopathy. Linda has recentlylaunched an internet based 1-yeartraining course to train naturopathicnutrition practitioners. Moreinformation at www.naturostudy.org.

ABSTRACTUniversal hepatitis B vaccination wasrecommended for U.S. newborns in1991; however, safety findings aremixed. The association betweenhepatitis B vaccination of maleneonates and parental report of autism

diagnosis was determined. This cross-sectional study used

weighted probability samplesobtained from National HealthInterview Survey 1997-2002 datasets. Vaccination status wasdetermined from the vaccinationrecord.

Logistic regression was used toestimate the odds for autism diagnosisassociated with neonatal hepatitis Bvaccination among boys age 3-17years, born before 1999, adjusted forrace, maternal education, and two-parent household.

Boys vaccinated as neonates had

threefold greater odds for autismdiagnosis compared to boys nevervaccinated or vaccinated after the firstmonth of life. Non-Hispanic whiteboys were 64% less likely to haveautism diagnosis relative to nonwhiteboys.

Findings suggest that U.S. maleneonates vaccinated with the hepatitisB vaccine prior to 1999 (fromvaccination record) had a threefoldhigher risk for parental report ofautism diagnosis compared to boysnot vaccinated as neonates during thatsame time period. Nonwhite boysbore a greater risk.

Hepatitis B vaccination of male neonates and autism diagnosisNHIS 1997-2002

GALLAGHER CM, GOODMAN MS.

J TOXICOL ENVIRON HEALTH A.

2010 JAN;73(24):1665-77

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21

058170



ABOUT THE BOOK A daily scan through the newspapersand TV news gives the impression thatthe entire world is constantly invadedby new and horrible virus epidemics.The latest headlines feature the humanpapillomavirus (HPV) alleged to causecervical cancer and the avian flu virus,H5N1.

The public is also continuallyterrorized by reports about SARS, BSE,Hepatitis C, AIDS, Ebola, and Polio.However, this virus mayhem ignoresvery basic scientific facts: the existence,the pathogenicity and the deadly effectsof these agents have never been proven.The medical establishment and its loyalmedia acolytes claim that this evidencehas been produced.

But these claims are highly suspectbecause modern medicine has pusheddirect virus proof methods aside anduses dubious indirect tools to “prove”the existence of viruses such as antibodytests and the polymerase chain reaction(PCR).

The authors of Virus Mania,journalist Torsten Engelbrecht anddoctor of internal medicine ClausKöhnlein, show that these allegedcontagious viruses are, in fact, particlesproduced by the cells themselves as aconsequence of certain stress factorssuch as drugs. These particles are thenidentified by antibody and PCR testsand interpreted as epidemic-causingviruses by doctors who have beeninoculated for over 100 years by thetheory that microbes are deadly andonly modern medications and vaccineswill protect us from virus pandemics.

The central aim of this book is tosteer the discussion back to a realscientific debate and put medicine backon the path of an impartial analysis ofthe facts. It will put medicalexperiments, clinical trials, statistics

and government policies under themicroscope, revealing that the peoplecharged with protecting our health andsafety have deviated from this path.Along the way, Engelbrecht andKöhnlein will analyze all possible causesof illness such as pharmaceuticals,lifestyle drugs, pesticides, heavy metals,pollution, stress and processed (andsometimes genetically modified) foods.

All of these can heavily damage thebody of humans and animals and evenkill them. And precisely these factorstypically prevail where the victims ofalleged viruses live and work. Tosubstantiate these claims, the authorscite dozens of highly renownedscientists, among them the Nobellaureates Kary Mullis, BarbaraMcClintock, Walter Gilbert, Sir FrankMacfarlane Burnet and microbiologistand Pulitzer Prize winner René Dubos.The book presents approximately 1,100pertinent scientific references, themajority of which have been publishedrecently.

The topic of this book is of pivotalsignificance. The pharmaceuticalcompanies and top scientists rake inenormous sums of money by attackinggerms and the media boosts its audienceratings and circulations withsensationalized reporting (the coverageof the New York Times and Der Spiegelare specifically analyzed).

Individuals pay the highest price ofall, without getting what they deserveand need most to maintain health:enlightenment about the real causes andtrue necessities for prevention and cureof their illnesses. “The first step is togive up the illusion that the primarypurpose of modern medical research isto improve people’s health mosteffectively and efficiently,” advises JohnAbramson of Harvard Medical School.“The primary purpose of commercially-funded clinical research is to maximizefinancial return on investment, nothealth.”

Virus Mania will inform you on howsuch an environment took root¬andhow to empower yourself for a healthylife.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Torsten Engelbrecht works as afreelance journalist in Hamburg. He haswritten articles for publications such asMedical Hypotheses, British MedicalJournal (online), Süddeutsche Zeitung,Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and TheEcologist. From 2000 to 2004, heworked as business editor of theFinancial Times Deutschland.

Claus Köhnlein is a medicalspecialist of internal diseases. Hecompleted his residency in theOncology Department at the Universityof Kiel. Since 1993, he has worked inhis own medical practice, treatingHepatitis C and AIDS patients who areskeptical of antiviral medications.

BOOK NEWS: Virus Mania - How the medical industry continually invents epidemics, making billion-dollar profits at our expenseAVIAN FLU (H5N1), CERVICAL CANCER (HPV), SARS, BSE, HEPATITIS C, AIDS, POLIO. WITH ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. ON THE

VACCINE SCANDAL LINKING MERCURY & AUTISM. FOREWORDS BY ETIENNE DE HARVEN, MD, JOACHIM MUTTER, MD

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1425114679/wellwithinA/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Virus-Mania-Continually-Epidemics-Billion-dollar/sim/1425114679/2

“The central aim of this book is

to steer the discussion back to

a real scientific debate and put

medicine back on the path of an

impartial analysis of the facts.

It will put medical experiments,

clinical trials, statistics and

government policies under the

microscope, revealing that the

people charged with protecting

our health and safety have

deviated from this path.”



RECENT WHOOPING coughepidemic in California has affected

4,223 people and sadly resulted in thedeaths of nine young babies. But whilesome pediatricians are keen to blameparents who don’t vaccinate, the issue isfar more complicated than that.

The California epidemic is not thefirst time a whooping cough epidemichas occurred in recent years and theproblem of vaccine waning has beendiscussed in medical journals fordecades.

VACCINE WANINGVaccinations don’t last for a lifetime. Infact, the duration of the whoopingcough vaccine is thought to be onlyabout five years. A Polish study foundthat only 45 percent of vaccinated eightyear olds still had any detectableantibodies to pertussis: "Protectiveantibody levels were detected in 70%,58%, and 45% children aged 6, 7, and8, respectively. It shows that decrease ofimmunity may cause increasing numberof pertussis in children above 5."

This study and others like it led tothe introduction of a pre-school boosterdose of the vaccine. Given its limitedtime span, even the booster will haveworn off by the time the child is 10 or12. This is why large numbers of casesare now occurring in previouslyvaccinated teenagers and parents. Theycan then spread the infection tonewborn babies. Babies aren’tconsidered immune to whooping coughuntil they have had three or four dosesof vaccine (depending on what countryyou’re from and what schedule you’reworking to). The third dose is given atsix months old. The higher dangerperiod is in the first six months of lifewith the majority of deaths occurringbefore then, so in fact even if a parenthas chosen to vaccinate, which most do,their baby isn’t considered immunizedin that riskier period.

VACCINATING OLDER PEOPLETo counter this problem, medical policymakers have begun to advise that newparents be vaccinated with DtaP toprotect their babies, in addition tointroducing more boosters for teenagers.This is a new policy with the theory ofminimizing an infant's exposure topertussis by vaccinating those aroundhim.

However, the makers of one suchvaccine, Adacel, say they don’t know ifthis approach will work: "It is unknownwhether immunizing adolescents andadults against pertussis will reduce therisk of transmission to infants."

VACCINE FAILUREAnother issue is those people who havehad all the recommended boosters ofvaccine and still get whooping cough.Many people affected in epidemics arealready fully vaccinated. For instance,the Star Ledger Newspaper reported onFebruary 11, 2009 that in an epidemicof 21 cases of whooping cough, all hadbeen vaccinated. Another cluster ofcases at an Elementary school in which18 young people got whooping cough,

17 of them had had the fiverecommended doses of vaccine. In asimilar outbreak in England, reportedin the British Medical Journal, 85.9percent of the sufferers had been fullyvaccinated with all the recommendedinjections: "64 children had serologicalevidence of a recent Bordetella pertussisinfection; 55 of these children had beenfully immunised. At presentation,children with whooping cough weremore likely than others to havewhooping, vomiting, and sputumproduction. Children with whoopingcough were also more likely to still becoughing two months after the start oftheir illness continue to have more thanfive coughing episodes a day and causesleep disturbance for their parents.

"Conclusions: For school age childrenpresenting to primary care with a coughlasting two weeks or more, a diagnosisof whooping cough should beconsidered even if the child has beenimmunized. Making a secure diagnosisof whooping cough may preventinappropriate investigations andtreatment."

Dr. Kari Simonsen, a pediatricianfrom University of Nebraska MedicalCenter, said that the vaccine doesn’twork for one in five people vaccinatedand that one in five people who havehad the shot still go on to developwhooping cough.

“The efficacy of the vaccine iscomparatively low”, she said, “but it’sthe best vaccine we can build to date.”

SUB-CLINICAL INFECTION In addition to not working, or waning,the vaccination has changed the clinicalpresentation of the illness, adding to therisk of transmission.

In full whooping cough with itsrange of symptoms, parents wouldknow to keep their children away fromother children and to seek prompttreatment, but vaccinated children canhave whooping cough without thesymptoms and be capable of spreadingit to newborn babies without evenknowing it.

A study in Israel, mentioned in aCDC document, found that vaccinatedpeople were "silent reservoirs forinfection":

"Vaccinated adolescents and adults

“Another issue is those peoplewho have had all the recom-

mended boosters of vaccine andstill get whooping cough. Manypeople affected in epidemics arealready fully vaccinated. For in-stance, the Star Ledger Newspa-

per reported on February 11,2009 that in an epidemic of 21cases of whooping cough, all

had been vaccinated..“

WHOOPING COUGHEPIDEMICS AND THEROLE OF VACCINESBY JOANNA KARPESEA JONES

Joanna Karpasea-Jones

A



may serve as reservoirs for silentinfection and become potentialtransmitters to unprotected infants. Thewhole-cell vaccine for pertussis isprotective only against clinical disease,not against infection. Therefore, evenyoung, recently vaccinated childrenmay serve as reservoirs and potentialtransmitters of infection."

Although they referred to the wholecell vaccine, the new acellular version isknown to be less effective.

A NEW TYPE OF WHOOPING COUGHAnother reason for epidemics is the factthat pertussis has mutated into anotherform of the illness, just like bacteriaevolve to combat antibiotics and licebecome resistant to insecticide headlotions. The Journal of Microbiologyreported that a new, stronger, resistanttype of pertussis was developing in ahighly vaccinated population.

The Journal Vaccine also reported anew form of pertussis:

"Bordetella pertussis isolates notexpressing Pertussis Toxin (PT) orPertactin (PRN) have been collected,for the first time in 2007, in France, ahighly vaccinated country with acellularvaccines."

So the problem of pertussis in veryyoung infants is clearly much morecomplex than whether or not we haveall had our boosters.

SOURCES: 1. Slusarczyk J, Dulny G, Nowak K,Krszyna J, Wysokinska T, FordymackaA, Gzyl A, Janaszek W, Gniadek G:Immunity of children aged 6–8against pertussis, tetanus anddiphtheria. Przegl Epidemiol 2002 ,56:39-482. VaccinePlace.com -http://www.adacel-locator.com/index.cfm?FA=protect/adacel/content&S

=HOME...3. The Star Ledger, 11th February2009.4. The Atlanta Journal Constitution,22nd March 2009.5. http://www.bmj.com/content/333/7560/174.abstract6. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol6no5/pdf/srugo.pdf7. Journal of Clinical Microbiology,March 2009, p. 680-688, Vol. 47, No. 38. Vaccine, Volume 27, Issue 43, 9October 2009, Pages 6034-6041.

This article was originally published onwww.empowher.com , a women's healthwebsite.

Editor: Of course some researchers on thissubject would challenge the idea that thewhooping cough ever offers any kind ofprotection against whooping cough afterany number of doses!

HILDHOOD VACCINATIONSare suspected to have left two

children with brain injuries and caused1,500 other neurological reactions

Forty children are suspected to havedied as a result of receiving routinevaccines in the past seven years.

Childhood vaccinations are alsosuspected of having left two youngchildren with brain injuries and causedmore than 1,500 other neurologicalreactions, including 11 cases ofinflammation of the brain, 13 cases ofepilepsy and a coma.

The data, disclosed by theMedicines and Healthcare productsRegulatory Authority (MHRA)following a request by The SundayTimes under the Freedom ofInformation Act, shows that, since2003, there have been more than2,100 serious adverse reactions tochildhood vaccines, some of whichwere life-threatening.

Fifteen injections are givenroutinely to young children as part of

the government’s vaccinationprogramme. They offer protectionagainst diseases such as polio,diphtheria, mumps and measles.

The MHRA says the deaths andneurological reactions should be seenin the context of the 90m doses ofchildhood vaccines which have beengiven since 2003.

Details of the suspected deaths andneurological problems have beenreleased just two months after a legalruling forced the government to acceptthat its vaccination programme hadleft a baby severely brain damaged.

Thirteen years after first refusing toacknowledge that Robert Fletcher, now18, had been left severely braindamaged by the MMR vaccine formeasles, mumps and rubella, thegovernment was forced to pay himcompensation.

Robert’s mother, Jackie, whofounded Jabs, a support group forfamilies with vaccine-damagedchildren, said: “It is generally acceptedwithin the medical profession that onlyabout 10% of suspected adversereactions get put forward in the correctway. It is accepted by the Department

of Health that the full scale of theproblem is far greater than thesestatistics show.”

Jake Dukes, 18, from Weymouth,Dorset, was left severely braindamaged by the whooping coughvaccine, which he received when hewas two months old. He has themental age of a toddler, is incontinentand uses a wheelchair. He was awarded£91,500 under the government’svaccine damage payment scheme.

The family of George Fisher areconvinced that the MMR vaccinecontributed to the death of their 18-month-old son. He died 10 days afterbeing inoculated in January 2006.

His mother, Sarah, a hotelreceptionist from Cheltenham,Gloucestershire, believes that anexisting illness made him susceptibleto an adverse reaction to the vaccine.Four months before receiving the jab,George had suffered a fit brought onby a high fever. Sarah said: “Georgehad had a bad virus. He had been veryill and had suffered a convulsion due tohis high temperature. I don’t think itwas just the MMR, but I think it was afactor in his death.”

THE SUNDAY TIMES, SARAH-KATE

TEMPLETON, HEALTH EDITOR

24 October 2010

40 deaths linked to child vaccines over seven years

C



ust one line in a children’s picturebook. But it shone out like a

beacon.“Always use pond water forgrowing frogs at home. Tap water haschemicals like fluoride in it which mightpoison them.” Growing Frogs by VivianFrench, Walker Books. I have emailed theauthor to congratulate her, of course…and to ask if she uses fluoride toothpaste!We need more informed people sharingthis information in their every day placesof work and in their every day language.

If we used phrases more often like“Over a million children in the UK areunvaccinated against measles but themortality rate is nearly zero,” will itcounter balance phrases like “The risksoutweigh the benefits” or “Non-vaccinators are putting others at risk”?These marketing phrases are so part ofour language that they are taken as thetruth and they need to be challengedwith the reality.

Children are the best when it comes tousing black and white ethics. Forexample, a friend’s young daughter gave achocolate back while trick or treating,explaining “sorry, I can’t have that – it’smade by Nestle.” An Arnica mum’s sonasked a banana company, when theyvisited the school, if the bananas weresprayed with chemicals. And I had themost amazing conversation with my 6year old recently. We were reading a non-fiction book about kittens that statedkittens had to get their vaccinations at 9weeks old. Well, he talked for an hourwith passion and insight like neverbefore. I didn’t realize how much he hadpicked up!

For example: “…That's wrong, people(and cats) don’t have to be vaccinated,they have a choice…. They should readthe label and the instructions, andshouldn’t just believe the doctors becausethe doctors only believe what thescientists tell them and scientists areoften wrong... I need to make sure my

wife doesn’t want to vaccinate ourchildren and if she did I would say,“Wait, let’s talk about it.” I would nevervaccinate my children because it maygive them other diseases that are verydifficult to get better from. I must be thebest scientist in the world. Perhaps wecould work together mum. We couldshare ideas”.

WOW. Then he said that he wasgoing to ask his friends at school if theywere vaccinated, and, if so, he must tellthem how bad it is for them. I started towarn him against doing this and thenstopped. My generation’s way wascertainly not the model. My culture hasnot got this right! Most parents choosingnatural immunity feel on such a backfoot, when it comes to justifying whatthey do and why they do it. We oftenhide or compromise our true beliefs andpassions to others.

This is understandable on one level.We are showing consideration towardsother parents, other mothers. Weunderstand the difficult choices and wedo not want to judge others or alienateourselves from our peers in our society.But we are hiding, and hiding will notbring about change. Perhaps we canafford to be a little child-like, a littlecheeky, a little passionate, a littleinnocent. Surely we will be forgiven ifwe get our language and attitude right.So how do we use our language to

discuss the issues of health with ourpeers?

I felt so pleased on an occasion when Isaid to a health visitor, with a smile,"Vaccines, oh no, our family doesn't usethose products." I felt so normal. It putme as the legitimate decision maker and,in my opinion, it put vaccines in theirproper place. There was no reply.Another Arnica mum told of how shewalked into a conversation that hernursery school parents were having.They were discussing how bad they feltwhen they bought medicines from thechemist for their children …and thenasked her what her feelings were. Shesaid, "I don’t know as I don’t usemedicines – I use Homeopathy instead."Again there was no reply.

Sometimes a ‘no’ reply is OK.Perhaps they are thinking? Caughtunawares certainly. Slightly embarrassed.Shocked. Angry. We may never know.But a statement is often followed by noreply and that means that discussion willbe stopped in its tracks. I wonder whatthose parents would have answered if shehad asked, “Would you like to use lessmedicines?” Or how the health visitorwould have responded if I had asked,“Does your family use vaccines?”

I have sometimes sent emails tofriends or family about vaccine choicesbut they have never replied and then it isdifficult to raise the subject again.However, when someone is going to havea baby, Joanna Karpasea-Jones gives avaccine book as a 'congratulations onyour new baby.' She says she has moresuccess this way. Perhaps the reasoncould be that published words have moreauthority compared to one’s ownopinion. Furthermore, the active processof reading and reaching one’s ownconclusions is very important. At least abook is a gift that needs someacknowledgement.

Joanna’s teenage daughter is doing apower point presentation on vaccines atschool and how bad they are for you.“I'm so proud. I'm hoping she'll be anactivist like me” says Joanna. And TheAutism Trusts Polly Tommey’s daughter,Bella, is running her own campaign forAutism on Channel 4.http://www.battlefront.co.uk/the-campaigns/give-autism-a-chance/

Our children are their future but we

JAnna Watson

ANNA WATSON

[email protected]

NAMING TRUTHS:THE FUTURE OFLANGUAGE

“Always use pond water for growing frogs at home. Tap

water has chemicals like fluoridein it which might poison them.”

Growing Frogs by Vivian French,Walker Books


ISSUE THREE 2010 19w w w. i n f o r m e d p a r e n t . c o . u k 19w w w. i n f o r m e d p a r e n t . c o . u k

need to give them the confidence and thelanguage to challenge health beliefs andbring about change. When they are readyand ask us about vaccine choices, ourresponse needs to be ready too. Childrenwill be able to say far more than adults soperhaps we shouldn’t pass down our habitsof avoidance techniques. Furthermore,children learn from example. Perhaps weshould ask ourselves what examples are weshowing to our children? Hopefully thenext generation will use their voices…and my son will be that great scientist hedreams of being.

This year one of our Arnica meetingswill focus on dealing with challengingconversations and developing theconfidence of our children. There are 50Arnica groups in the UK where parents

and health professionals support and learnfrom each other, face to face. I hope youmake use of this resource and join yourlocal group or start a new one!

Anna Watson, November 2010.

www.arnica.org.uk

Join our Yahoo group and sign up forthe free newsletter from the website. See the home page for the Yahoo andFacebook links.

“However, when someone isgoing to have a baby, Joanna

Karpasea-Jones gives a vaccinebook as a 'congratulations onyour new baby.' She says shehas more success this way.

Perhaps the reason could be thatpublished words have more authority compared to one’s

own opinion.”

FURTHER INFORMATION

Please join Arnica, the UK NaturalHealth Network for parents andpractitioners. Be supported in yourhealth choices and let your voice beheard. We are celebrating 50 groups– see if there is one near to you!

Anna Watsonwww.arnica.org.uk

T THE AGE OF ONE, JohannaJunttila was one of thousands of

children in Finland who were given adrop of juice in 1985. The liquid was anorally-administered vaccine against anoutbreak of polio that threatened Finlandat the time.

After the vaccine somethingunexpected happened. Junttila camedown with Guillain-Barré syndrome,causing paralysis in the lower part of herbody.

After a number of diagnoses andtreatments, parents Maritta and TerhoHalonen started looking for ways to becompensated.

A legal battle lasting several yearsensued, concluding with a decision in1995, in which the Supreme Courtordered the state to pay damages.

The polio case could prove useful ifcourt cases emerge from a recent rise incases of narcolepsy, which coincided withlast winter’s vaccination campaign againstthe H1N1, or swine flu virus.

“Undoubtedly the lawyers will dig thisone up”, says Kaarlo Tuori, Professor ofLaw at the University of Helsinki.

As many as 40 children in Finlandhave been diagnosed in Finland after the

vaccinations. Normally, about threechildren or young people a year arediagnosed with the disease.

The Chancellor of Justice has received atotal of 23 complaints linked with theswine flu virus. Most of the complaintsinvolve inadequate information. A fewfocus on the acquisitions process of theNational Institute for Health and Welfare(THL).

In the 1980s the number of Guillain-Barré cases increased. Nine children camedown with the syndrome a few days orweeks after the vaccines wereadministered.

Tuori says that no direct comparisonscan be made yet, even though there aremany similarities in the vaccinationcampaigns.

“It is not possible to draw legalconclusions about this case becausestudies are still going on, and evidence ofa causal relationship needs to be evaluatedseparately. It can never be one to one”, hesays.

The possible link between narcolepsyand the swine flu vaccine is beingexamined in extensive studies, butwhether or not there is a connection couldremain a mystery.

In the case of Guillain-Barré andthe polio vaccine, the Supreme Courtruled that no causal link was proven, but

it decided to award the familycompensation anyway.

The parents of the children who camedown with Narcolepsy this year wantcompensation because many of them havehad to quit their jobs to take care of theirchildren. Many have also applied fordisability compensation from the SocialInsurance Institution (KELA).

“Money would certainly notcompensate for making a child’s life moredifficult, but it makes it easier. The childwill live with the disease as an adult aswell”, one mother says.

She believes that there may be courtcases over the issue.

The children who came down withnarcolepsy have also been on the mind ofJuhanna Junttila, who is now 27 yearsold. The disease still limits her life. Shehas had to undergo a number of surgerieson her legs, and she is also affected byneurological pain.

“I am grateful to be able to stand onmy own legs, even though they are notmuch.

Junttila has little faith in vaccines.“We have only given our children the

mandatory vaccines.”, she says.

(Narcolepsy: A neurological disordermarked by a sudden recurrentuncontrollable compulsion to sleep.)

Polio vaccine side effects case could serve as a precedent for narcolepsy lawsuits linked with swine flu vaccinewww.hs.fi

23/11/2010

A



HERE IS A BIG differencebetween two identical chemical

structures when one is made in alaboratory and the other occursnaturally. That difference we call:"Being alive." But what exactly is that?First of all, we should try and show thatthere is a difference.

Water is a common media and veryflexible and accessible. This makes it arelatively easy subject to study. Also,man has had a long-standingrelationship with water and we are wellaware of the life-giving properties thatwater can hold, whilst on the otherhand we know that water can spreaddiseases. It seems that this is a perfectmedia to examine the relationshipbetween water and life, and water anddeath.

Mr Masaru Emoto, a creative andvisionary Japanese researcher, haspublished an important book, TheMessage from Water. He started fromthe very premise that water is the verysource of all life on this planet. Itsquality and integrity are vitallyimportant to all forms of life. The bodyis very much like a sponge and iscomposed of trillions of chambers calledcells that hold liquid. The quality ofour life is directly connected to thequality of the body water.

Water is a very malleable substance.Its physical shape easily adapts towhatever environment is present. Butits physical appearance is not the onlything that changes; its molecular shapealso changes. The energy or vibrationsof the environment will change themolecular shape of water. In this sensewater not only has the ability to visuallyreflect the environment but it alsomolecularly reflects the environment.

Mr. Emoto has been visuallydocumenting the molecular changes inwater, in response to environmentalchanges, by means of his photographictechniques. He freezes droplets of water

and then examines them under a darkfield microscope that has photographiccapabilities. His work clearlydemonstrates the diversity of themolecular structure of water and theeffect of the environment upon thestructure of the water.

Mr. Emoto has discovered manyfascinating differences in the crystallinestructures of water taken from manydifferent sources and differentconditions around the planet. Waterfrom pristine mountain streams andsprings show beautifully formedgeometric designs in their crystallinepatterns. Polluted and toxic water fromindustrial and populated areas andstagnated water from water pipes andstorage dams show definitivelydistorted and randomly formedcrystalline structures.

The way the water looks, reacts, andlives, is the way it is going to "feed" itssurroundings or pass on the informationto its environment. For example, if thewater is highly polluted then the"nourishment" it will give to itssurroundings will be toxic. Plants andanimals will become ill and may die.More broadly speaking, we can say thatno two water sources will be the same.No two springs will produce the samewater as the waters have been in contactwith, have "matured" and "lived" indifferent environment of rocks,minerals, light and plants.

Water is among the most mysteriousof substances, because it is a compoundformed from two gases, yet it is liquidat normal temperatures and pressures.In their studies, Del Giudice andPreparata have demonstratedmathematically that when closelypacked together, atoms and moleculesexhibit a collective behaviour, formingwhat they have termed "coherentdomains". They are particularlyinterested in this phenomenon as itoccurs in water. In a paper published in

Physical Review Letters, Preparata andDel Giudice demonstrated that watermolecules create coherent domains,much as a laser does. Light is normallycomposed of photons of manywavelengths, like colours in a rainbow,but photons in a laser have a highdegree of coherence, a highconcentration of almost identicalwavelengths. The single wavelengths ofwater molecules that create thesecoherent domains appear to become"informed" in the presence of othermolecules. They tend to polarise aroundany charged molecule, store and carryits frequency so that it may be read at adistance. This would mean that water islike a tape recorder, imprinting andcarrying information whether theoriginal molecule is still there or not.The shaking of the containers, as isdone in homoeopathy, appears to act asa method of speeding up this process.

So vital is water to the transmissionof energy and information that DrBeneviste's studies actuallydemonstrated that molecular signalscannot be transmitted in the bodyunless you do so in the medium ofwater. In Japan, a physicist calledKunio Yasue of the Research Institutefor Information and Science, NotreDame Seishin University in Okayama,also found that water molecules have

WHAT DOES “ALIVE” MEAN?by Patrick Quanten MDT

“Absorbing the juice of onepiece of fresh unadulterated fruit

or vegetable will refresh thebody's memory about the format

of living energy and keep youalive for a long time.”

Patrick Quanten MD

The Quanten Theory



some role to play in organisingdiscordant energy into coherentphotons.

Now then, back to where we startedfrom. What do we mean, when we talkabout "living food", "living water" and"natural vibration"?

We are and we live water! So, thequality of our own water, the water thatmakes up our body, will determine thequality of life the body is having. Andmore, it will also determine the qualityof "mind" the body is having, as shownby the experiments regarding thememory function of the water molecule.

As water has the great capability ofabsorbing the quality of its environmentand making that available to the body,we need to take a careful look at thequality of water that makes up ourenvironment. Water in the soil, in theair, in the plants and animals is of vitalimportance to our own life. It is not amatter of having "clean" water, as indisease-free; it is a matter of whether ornot the water carries "happy" memoriesor "destructive" ones. What destroys thenatural happy memories are all the non-natural influences, and these range fromour chemical pollution, to radiationpollution, to sound pollution, to our

negative feelings such as hatred, jealousyand envy. The water in our body is asmuch influenced by the quality of thephysical contact (food and drink) as it isby the quality of "air" that surrounds us.Love/hate, encouragement/criticism andconfidence/fear changes the water of ourbody, which is the physicalmanifestation of the way ourenvironment changes us. The two areinseparable: when you feel bad, thewater in your body does not showmagnificent crystals; when you arehappy, you are filled with the crownjewels.

On top of that, when we destroy thenatural vibration of the water in ourfruits and vegetables in order to prolongtheir life span, we almost totally destroythe water's ability to absorb andtransmit the life-vibrational energy. Inother words, the water becomes dead. Iteven no longer is capable of absorbinglife-diminishing energies, let alonegiving out life-enhancing ones. Thismay initially appear as an improvement,and it certainly is when the onlyalternative water that is available isdisease riddled, but the fact that waterno longer is capable of bringing us newliving energy does mean that in the

long run we will be unable to replenishour own. The direct result of this is thatthe body will slowly become diseased,as it has no way of re-imprinting a freshcopy of living energy

Drinking massive amounts of deadwater (bottled and tap) will contributeto your demise.

Food that has lost its naturalness,through the killing of the naturalprocesses within (driven by profitmaking in the Food Industry), will drainyour body's life-energy. When food nolonger has the capacity to rot, it also nolonger has a living energy to distribute.

Absorbing the juice of one piece offresh unadulterated fruit or vegetablewill refresh the body's memory aboutthe format of living energy and keepyou alive for a long time. Eating goodfruits and vegetables that have beenstopped in their natural cycle willdisperse that “dead” information intoyour system; it will rapidly becomemalnourished and diseased.

The secret of "Living" is all in theenergy patterns and the only realguide we have to Life is Nature.

September 2009

WHAT HAPPENED?A new law is imminent in Israel bywhich monthly child-welfare paymentsto each family with children will bereduced while any child in the family isnot fully vaccinated in conformity withthe national recommended vaccinationschedule or is in non-recognizededucation facilities (e.g. homeschooling)

The cut in child allowances willrange between ~$30 to ~$90 permonth, depending on the number ofchildren in the family. A typicalmonthly allowance for a family withthree children, is ~$160, and will be~$100 with this new law in effect.

This new law is, for the first time inhistory, an attempt to use the child-allowance support, embedded in a widesocial philosophy very typical of Israel

in its first years, to discriminate specificgroups based on their choices.

It is even more dramatic consideringthat the immunization schedule inIsrael is in par with the U.S, Australiaand Germany - the leading programs interms of number of vaccines given - 30in a baby's first year. Israel will take thelead in 2012 when the HPV vaccine isalso pushed in. In Israel, HepB vaccinein ages 0 (at birth), 1 and 6 months toall babies is also part of the program

WHAT DO WE DO?Hasson - The Israeli National VaccineInformation Center, is preparing apetition to the Supreme Court ofJustice, to try and cancel this law.We've already sent, through our lawyer,a letter to the Minister of Health,Minister of Welfare, Minister of finance,

the Knesset and the Legal Advisor tothe Government, a letter demandingsome answers as to this new law and itslegislation process

WHAT CAN YOU DO?As a modest organization based ondonations only, Hasson has taken asignificant financial risk. A SupremeCourt action is costly, with unknowncosts until the final ruling.We call uponour friends and partners to support usthe best they can, so that we candemonstrate one victory in the fight forthe freedom of choice.

MOR SAGMONChair, Hasson - The Israeli NationalVaccine Information Center

For Support and Donations, pleasecontact us at: [email protected]

Protecting children's welfare support protecting freedom of choice: A landmark policy shift in Israel with regard to non-vaccinating parents



EXTRACT:The second lesson of the pandemic maybe less obvious, but it is just asimportant as the first. Acceleratingvaccine production is necessary butinsufficient to counter a futurepandemic. For no matter how quickly asafe and effective vaccine is produced, itwill do little good if large numbers ofpeople refuse to be vaccinated. In otherwords, any increase in supply must bematched by an equally substantialincrease in demand — and the earlierduring the course of an evolvingpandemic, the better.

Increasing the public's acceptance ofvaccination may be more difficult thanaddressing the technical and scientificchallenges involved in quicklyproducing large quantities of a safe andeffective vaccine. Consider that despitean unprecedented public educationcampaign and a worldwide pandemic,only about 20% of U.S. adults werevaccinated against pandemic influenza.Most striking of all, less than half ofhealth care workers were vaccinatedagainst it, despite the fact that theycould inadvertently pass the infectionon to medically vulnerable patients.

There is little doubt that uptake ofpandemic vaccine would have beengreater had shipments reached thepublic earlier. However, quickerdelivery might not have made as big adifference as some assume. Survey datacollected by RAND and others indicatethat even at the outset of the pandemic,when fear of H1N1 influenza waswidespread, less than half of all adultswere willing to get vaccinated againstit. It is also likely that vaccinationuptake would have been higher had thepandemic been more deadly than itturned out to be. Yet almost 20% ofadults said they would not consider

getting vaccinated, even if people intheir community were sick or dyingfrom pandemic influenza.

It is tempting to lay blame for thelack of public enthusiasm at the feet ofa small but highly vocal minority whoare convinced that vaccines cause avariety of global ills, including autism.Although their effect on publicconfidence must be taken seriously, itshould not distract attention from morecomprehensive efforts to understand thefull range of factors that motivatepeople to get vaccinated or discouragethem from doing so.

Data from RAND's influenza

vaccination tracking surveys suggestthat a person's willingness to acceptpandemic vaccination strongly dependson past experience with beingvaccinated against seasonal influenza.Data collected during the early stages ofthe pandemic showed that the intentionto be vaccinated against H1N1 wasstrongly associated with past uptake ofseasonal vaccine. At later stages of thepandemic, regular users of seasonalinfluenza vaccine were nearly four timesas likely as irregular users or nonusers ofseasonal vaccine to be vaccinated againstH1N1. Regular users of seasonalvaccine were significantly more likely toconsider H1N1 a serious disease andwere twice as likely as irregular users ornonusers to hold favorable attitudesabout the safety and value ofvaccination.

These data underscore the need to stepup efforts to convince skeptics thatinfluenza vaccination is a good idea - notonly as an annual exercise in diseasecontrol but also as a way of strengtheningpublic health preparedness. We hope thatthe new recommendations promulgatedby the Advisory Committee onImmunization Practices (ACIP) will help.

Rather than focus on “high-risk groups,”as has been done in the past, the ACIPnow recommends annual influenzavaccination for everyone 6 months of ageor older, except in cases of medicalcontraindications, such as a severe allergyto the vaccine. This change in positionwas inspired, in part, by two long-understood truths that were driven homeby the pandemic: novel strains ofinfluenza can cause severe illness inotherwise healthy, “low-risk” people, andvaccinating large numbers of healthypeople protects others who are highlyvulnerable to influenza and itscomplications.

Despite the importance of publicacceptance, the science that wouldclarify the best ways of informing andmotivating the public is severelyunderdeveloped. How can indifferent ornegative attitudes toward vaccinationbe changed? A quick look at publiclyfunded research on the topic ofinfluenza and influenza vaccination,made possible by the Research PortfolioOnline Reporting Tool from theNational Institutes of Health, indicatesthat over the past decade more than95% of funding has been devoted tobiomedical topics rather than to socialand behavioural science. Clearly,cutting-edge laboratory science toenhance the safety and effectiveness ofvaccines is vital to public health. But itis equally important to understand theforces that shape public views about therisks and benefits of vaccination.Without this knowledge, it will beimpossible to translate biomedicaladvances into effective action.

Investments that enhance publicacceptance of vaccination will yieldsubstantial returns, in the form ofreduced incidence and severity ofdisease as well as enhanced pandemicpreparedness. A more balancedresearch portfolio is likely to be moresuccessful than one that is heavilyweighted toward biomedical researchalone. We are fortunate that thepandemic that just passed was milderthan expected. Next time, we may notbe so lucky.

INFLUENZA VACCINE: SAFE, EFFECTIVE AND MISTRUSTEDTHE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF

MEDICINE. KATHERINE M. HARRIS,

PH.D., JÜRGEN MAURER, PH.D.,

AND ARTHUR L. KELLERMANN M.D.,

M.P.H.

www.nejm.org

November 24 2010

“Consider that despite an unprecedented public educationcampaign and a worldwide pan-demic, only about 20% of U.S.adults were vaccinated against

pandemic influenza..”



›

OR THOSE OF YOU whofollowed the swine flu vaccine hoax

of 2009 very carefully through to itsdemise this past year, there were someimportant lessons.

Inconsistency followed indiscretionin the media steamroller that tried toshove this imaginary threat through theskin of the American people in the past2 years. And will all that is said aboutthe dumbing down of Americans, etc.,we still resist being oversold onanything. We were simply oversold onthe threat of swine flu and the necessityfor the vaccine. And so Americansrejected the H1N1 vaccine, with theexception of a few thousand ignorantswho would probably inject Drano if theCDC told them they needed it.

A FEW OF THE THINGS THATDIDN’T ADD UP IN THE PUBLICMIND:• The threat of swine flu was neverproven real• No single causative virus was everidentified• There was no screening test to

identify cases; no lab tests, no culturing• Figures were irresponsibly conjuredup• The spokesmen for FDA, CDC,NIH, and WHO all made hystericalpredictions for over a year, none ofwhich ever came true• Clinical trials only lasted 5 weeksbefore the vaccine was approved andlicensed, when testing for any newvaccine takes at least a year• Unlimited amounts of mercury wereallowed in the new vaccine• Cases were diagnosed on thetelephone• Cases of regular flu were artificiallyre-categorized for the obvious purposeof marketing an untested vaccine• The last ditch effort in the summerof 2010 to sell the vaccine out of everydrugstore in the US was too shrill to becredible• The economic entanglementsbetween the regulators and the vaccinecompanies became public knowledge

All these facts are chronicled andreferenced in detail in the 4 chapters on

swine flu that appear atwww.thedoctorwithin.com And thoughmost people don’t have all these detailsat their fingertips, still the public gotthe general impression that the vaccinewas at least unnecessary, if not outrightdangerous, despite the unrelentingmedia hysteria that lasted the betterpart of 2 years. And so they declined.

Then on 2 July 2010 the New YorkDaily News reported an unprecedentedevent, on page A8. For the first time inmemory, stockpiles of unused H1N1vaccine were being returned andburned. Why this is notable is that eventhough batches of vaccine, known aslots, do have expiration dates, in actualpractice they are virtually never thrownout, but stored and stockpiledindefinitely. The marketplace claim isthat a similar microbial threat mayoccur in the future, for which thevaccine can be trotted back out,tweaked a little, and then given rubberstamp re-approval for use into thegeneral population, even though it hasbeen sitting on the shelf for decades.

There are many examples of this, themost famous one in recent yearscertainly being the post 9/11 smallpoxvaccine hoax. At that time 3 vaccinemanufacturers were given contracts toproduce millions of doses of smallpox

DR TIM O’SHEA - AUTHOR OF ‘VACCINATION IS NOT IMMUNIZATION’

TAKEN FROM DR O’SHEA’S DECEMBER 2010 NEWSLETTER

www.thedoctorwithin.com

F

NOT A GOOD YEAR TO GET THE FLU SHOT


24 w w w. i n f o r m e d p a r e n t . c o . u k

vaccine, you may remember, to protectthe American public from theimaginary bioterrorist threat. They wereunder the gun, since the threat was‘imminent.’ Serendipitously, one of thecompanies – Aventis – suddenlydiscovered 90 million ‘lost’ doses ofsmallpox vaccine which had beenstockpiled for 30 years, sitting there intheir freezers. “Testing” took place andit was soon asserted that the old vaccinewas ‘still good’ and the FDA approvedthe entire lot for use as smallpox vaccinefor the American population. This storyis told in detail in the chapter“Smallpox: Bringing a Dead DiseaseBack To Life” .

So back to July 2010 – why was thisparticular unused H1N1 vaccine beingburned instead of stored? Verysuspicious.

THERE ARE TWO LIKELYREASONS:In Sept 2009, which was only onemonth after clinical trials for the newH1N1 vaccine had begun, theannouncement went out that there wereto be no limits on the amount ofmercury that could be added to the newvaccine! [1] This was very suspicious,because if it were a brand new vaccinenow being formulated for the first time,why couldn’t they regulate the amountof thimerosal, or indeed leave it outentirely since it is the third most toxicsubstance known to man, not tomention the most likely cause of theautism epidemic.

This raised the spectre of the vaccinebeing not new at all but some otherunused experimental vaccine that hadbeen sitting around in storage nowbeing re-labeled as H1N1 vaccine andsent to market. This theory actually wasverified in a batch sent toCzechoslovakia when millions of H1N1doses made by the Baxter company werereturned after Czech scientistsdiscovered a toxic old Avian flucomponent present in the new H1N1stock, which vaccine killed every singleferret in animal experiments. [1]

So the second reason is just that: thelikelihood that some untested very toxicvaccine had been rushed onto themarket to take advantage of themomentum of media hysteria, they

found out how bad it really was in thereal world, and they wanted to destroyall evidence by burning. That is themost likely scenario. Not conspiracytheory by any stretch — this is the waythe world works. There are precedents,and evidence.

Although they burned the lastsummer’s H1N1 vaccine with itsundisclosed amounts of mercury, thenew current flu shot has a specifiedamount of mercury per shot: 25micrograms. [5] That is 30 times theEPA safe level for an adult, and we’regiving it to children of 6 months.

This past summer also brought a newprecedent: remember when you wentinto any Walgreen’s or Long’s anywherein the country and you’d see those pop-out signs every 10 feet down both sidesof every aisle in the store urging peopleto Get Your H1N1 Shots Here.”Remember that? Most of these stores

didn’t have resident nurses. For the firsttime now the pharmacists are allowedto give the shots! That’s how desperatethey were to push the vaccine. Wasn’tthat a little suspicious?

In August of 2010 Australia bannedthe flu shot for young children after 250hospitalizations for convulsion and onedeath. [6] Finland then outlawed thecurrent flu shot for all children for thesame reason: convulsions.

Here’s why. The seasonal flu vaccinethat is currently on the market now thatall these other countries are outlawingcontains the unproven, untested H1N1as one of the strains. [CDC.gov]

Amazingly, the makers of the vaccinethemselves don’t have much confidencein it: a quote from the insert of thecurrent 2010 flu vaccine Fluzone:

“There have been no clinical studiesdemonstrating a decrease in influenzaafter vaccination with Fluzone.” [5]

By June of 2010 the collusionbetween the vaccine industry and theWHO for creating the false H1N1epidemic was public knowledge,verified by a group of top Europeanscientists and doctors, quoted by everylegitimate EU medical journal,including the 3 Jun 10 British MedicalJournal:

“… dramatic: distortion of prioritiesof public health services all over Europe,waste of huge sums of public money,provocation of unjustified fear amongstEuropeans, creation of health risksthrough vaccines and medications

ISSUE THREE 2010

“This was very suspicious, because if it were a brand newvaccine now being formulatedfor the first time, why couldn’tthey regulate the amount of

thimerosal, or indeed leave it out entirely since it is the thirdmost toxic substance known toman, not to mention the most

likely cause of the autism epidemic.”



which .. have not been sufficientlytested…” – Parliamentary Assembly ofthe Council of Europe

This very conservative group ofscientists and lawyers – PACE – havenow corroborated virtually everyassertion we saw in the 4 chapters onswine flu {www.thedoctorwithin} duringthe past year regarding the conjuring upof a nonexistent epidemic. They haveproof of the very specific quid pro quoarrangements between the executives ofthe WHO who fueled the fire of hysteriaby constantly making inflammatorystatements about the virulence of adisease that was never proven to existand the vaccine companies who stood tomake the profits.

Most startling of all is that localpediatricians and clinics are completelyignoring the recommendations of theFDA’s own advisory committee (ACIP)who on August 12, 2010 came out andsaid the current flu vaccine should notbe used in any child under 9 years old!

Read it: [4]

All things considered, there is nosupport for the sales mantras comingfrom the drugstores and clinics hawkingthis year’s flu shot, especially for kids.These are the same people who justtried to sell our kids the swine fluvaccine. Remember? Why on earthwould we trust them with the regularflu shot after what they just did thispast year? At the very least learnenough to protect our kids. Perhaps wemight not base our decision on thepeople selling the vaccine with theirinsipid line about “it’s really importantthis year.” That cover’s blown, but wewon’t be reading about it on Fox newsor CNN.

It may be prudent to keep ourchildren’s bloodstream out of thepolitical arena. If you’re going to takeyour child in for any vaccination, makesure the vaccine has been provenabsolutely safe – no possibility of sideeffects – and also that it is really

effective for a disease that actuallyexists. This season’s flu shot meets noneof these criteria.

REFERENCES1. Goodbye swine fluwww.thedoctorwithin.com2. Cohen and Carter Conflicts ofInterest: WHO and the pandemic fluBritish Medical Journal 3 Jun10BMJ 340:doi:10.1136/bmj.c2912(Published 3 June 2010)3. Smallpox: Bringing a dead diseaseback to life www.thedoctorwithin.com4. ACIP Recommends Against Use ofAfluria in Children 8/12/2010 http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/clinical-care-research/20100812afluria.html5. Fluzone package insert pdfFDA.gov also Sanofi-Pasteur’s owninsert6. APEC websitehttp://depts.washington.edu/einet/newsbrief415.html

HE GOVERNMENT'Sannouncement that toddlers are to

be given six vaccines in three injectionsall at once between 12 and 13 months ofage confirms my fear that expediency ismore important to policymakers thansafety. The MMR vaccine will now begiven to young children in the UK

alongside the pneumococcal and Hib-Men C boosters. This 6-in-1 combinationis approaching the 9-in-1 combination,which also included an MMR, thatcaused 19 month old Hannah Poling todescend into an autistic regression.1 Iwould be reluctant to recommend theMMR vaccine, with its high incidence ofside-effects, to anyone, but if it is goingto be given, it should not be inconjunction with any other vaccines. Thetendency to give more and more vaccinesat one go may increase uptake, though it

may equally well put parents off. Itundoubtedly saves time and resources andis therefore cheaper. The trouble is that,in susceptible children, it may be moredangerous. The problem, as is too oftenthe case, is that there is no long-termresearch on giving all the vaccinestogether – so we just don't know. Yetagain, convenience wins over safety.

1 Poling JS, Frye RE, Shoffner J,Zimmerman AW. Developmentalregression and mitochondrialdysfunction in a child with autism.Journal of Child Neurology 2006;21(2): 170-172.

T

DR RICHARD HALVORSENhttp://web.me.com/richardhalvorsen1/in

dex.html

23/11/10

Convenience ahead of safety

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ARTIN WALKER one Britain'sfew independent investigative

writers and author of Dirty Medicine,and books about ME and HRT, has beendeeply committed to the campaignagainst vaccine damage denial, beingwaged by thousands of parents inBritain and the US. He attended,almost every single day of the GeneralMedical Council (GMC) fitness topractice hearing, against Dr Wakefield,Professor Murch and Professor Walker-Smith keeping the public up to datewith the case on almost a daily basis.

Martin Walker recently emailed outto various contacts to circulate thefollowing message. If you can help thenI am sure Martin would be pleased tohear from you.

Following the result of the GMChearing the 'campaign' specificallyaround vaccine damage lost some of itsenergy. Dr Wakefield went on thecampaign trail for his book CallousDisregard (http://www.callous-disregard.com/) with considerablegusto. Although initially he consideredappealing the GMC verdict Iunderstand that he is now not doingthis. After having been abused andattacked by the government, thepharmaceutical companies and much ofthe world's press and having beendragged through one of the longesttrials in history, one can't really blamehim.

In November, he spoke to theEuropean Parliament in an attempt togarner support(http://www.autismfile.com/.../andrew-wakefield-speaks-to-parliament-on-autism/). While some oganisations like theAutism File have continued with theirredoubtable and very public work andeven developed it the AF has a newexpansive web-site, Autism File Global(http://autismfile.com/), and althoughDr Wakefield is still talking vaccinedamage, the campaigning around thisspecific subject is now much quieterthan during the GMC hearing.

I personally am convinced that theonly campaign that could now besuccessful is a radical one organised bythe parents of vaccine damaged children

themselves. Similar to that organised byRosemary Fox with the help of themagnificent Jack Ashley MP - My!hasn't the quality of members ofparliament, now termed 'law makers'suggesting wise men with white beardschanged in the last 30 years?Rosemary's campaign with others led tothe setting up of the Vaccine DamagePayment Unit, a victory of sorts, at thetime.

However, what I am really writing toeveryone about today, is the problemsthat I, as the publisher still have withthe two volumes of Silenced Witnesses.As most of you will know these bookswere organised, edited, and theirintroductions written by me and thenpublished by my imprint. The total billfrom the printers and the DVDmanufacturers ( a DVD by AlanGolding, Selective Hearing)accompanies the book) came to £5,500pounds, all this money has now beenpaid, but unfortunately I am still leftwith a debt of £1,500 owing to CryShame the parents group who covered afirst payment to the printers and thecost of the DVD.

Of course the book cost far more thanis apparent, myself and others workedfor nothing over the two years, editing,producing and distributing the twobooks, and there were many incidentalexpenses that had to be paid and this is

where the £1,500 overspend comesfrom. These two books are the onlydetailed public evidence of the parentsdifficult struggle to get diagnosis, help,support and mount a campaign onbehalf of their vaccine damagedchildren,16 exceptionally well writtenaccounts of having to live with theresults of vaccine damage are set againsta background to the GMC case againstDr Wakefield.

In time of course, our debt toCryShame would be paid back througheveryday sales of the remaining booksbut this could take a while and CryShame will be without funds duringthis time. 200 copies of the first volumeand 700 copies of the second volumestill remain unsold. It would be aconsiderable relief to me and CryShameif we could find some way ofdistributing these last copies andearning the £1,500 to fully settle theaccount with CryShame. If we were tosell the last 700 copies of volume II for£5 each, for people buying more than 5copies and £9 plus postage and packingfor single copies, this would raise, intheory, quite enough to cover our debt.Ideally it would be great if groups ororganisations could buy copies in bulkto sell or send to their members cheaply,this way our debt could be coveredquickly. Anyone interested in buyingsingle copies, should order from theSlingshot website,http://slingshotpublications.com whileanyone wanting to discuss bulk ordersshould write to me at [email protected]

I have one very important project abook plus coming to fruition, perhapsthe high point of my campaigning andwriting life. I am going to need a lot ofhelp to distribute this work and I amlooking forward to working with thosewho want to take part in it. So pleaseget in touch with me if you would liketo know more.

In the meantime, I hope that everyonewill do their best to clear the stocks ofSilenced Witnesses. If you could passthis message on to any contacts youhave, I would be most grateful.Best Wishes, Martin

Message from Martin Walker

“These two books are the only

detailed public evidence of the

parents difficult struggle to get

diagnosis, help, support and

mount a campaign on behalf of

their vaccine damaged

children,16 exceptionally well

written accounts of having to

live with the results of vaccine

damage are set against a

background to the GMC case

against Dr Wakefield. ”

M



ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Different types ofinfluenza vaccines are currently producedworldwide. Healthy adults are presentlytargeted mainly in North America.

OBJECTIVES: Identify, retrieve andassess all studies evaluating the effects ofvaccines against influenza in healthyadults.

SEARCH STRATEGY: We searchedthe Cochrane Central Register ofControlled Trials (CENTRAL) (TheCochrane Library, 2010, issue 2),MEDLINE (January 1966 to June 2010)and EMBASE (1990 to June 2010).

MAIN RESULTS: We included 50reports. Forty (59 sub-studies) wereclinical trials of over 70,000 people.Eight were comparative non-RCTs and

assessed serious harms. Two were reportsof harms which could not be introducedin the data analysis. In the relativelyuncommon circumstance of vaccinematching the viral circulating strain andhigh circulation, 4% of unvaccinatedpeople versus 1% of vaccinated peopledeveloped influenza symptoms (riskdifference (RD) 3%, 95% confidenceinterval (CI) 2% to 5%). Thecorresponding figures for poor vaccinematching were 2% and 1% (RD 1, 95%CI 0% to 3%). These differences werenot likely to be due to chance.Vaccination had a modest effect on timeoff work and had no effect on hospitaladmissions or complication rates.Inactivated vaccines caused local harmsand an estimated 1.6 additional cases ofGuillain-Barré Syndrome per millionvaccinations. The harms evidence base islimited.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:Influenza vaccines have a modest effectin reducing influenza symptoms andworking days lost. There is no evidencethat they affect complications, such aspneumonia, or transmission.

WARNING: This review includes 15out of 36 trials funded by industry (fourhad no funding declaration). An earliersystematic review of 274 influenzavaccine studies published up to 2007found industry funded studies werepublished in more prestigious journalsand cited more than other studiesindependently from methodologicalquality and size. Studies funded frompublic sources were significantly lesslikely to report conclusions favorable tothe vaccines. The review showed thatreliable evidence on influenza vaccines isthin but there is evidence of widespreadmanipulation of conclusions andspurious notoriety of the studies. Thecontent and conclusions of this reviewshould be interpreted in light of thisfinding.

COCHRANE DATABASE SYST REV. 2010 JUL 7;(7):CD001269.

JEFFERSON T, DI PIETRANTONJ C, RIVETTI A, BAWAZEER GA, AL-ANSARY LA,

FERRONI E. VACCINES FIELD, THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION, VIA

ADIGE 28A, ANGUILLARA SABAZIA, ROMA, ITALY, 00061.

Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults

VISION STATEMENT: MEDICAL VOICES VACCINEINFORMATION CENTER will become the mostcomprehensive educational center on the internetfor physicians seeking the truth about vaccines.This will change healthcare as we know it.

MISSION STATEMENT: MEDICAL VOICES VACCINEINFORMATION CENTER will provide educationaltools through media including articles, videos,podcasts and webinars to everyone seeking thetruth about vaccines. Are you aware that an organization called Medical Voices Vaccine Information Center has been recently formed?Please consider helping spread the word aboutan absolutely historic set of webinars hosted bymedical doctors. Most of the presenters are med-ical doctors as well! The link to provide people is:

www.medicalvoices.org/en/events.html

A MULTI-LANGUAGE WEBSITE: If you're able toassist us with providing a multi-language website, to make the information accessible fora wider spectrum of interested parties, wewould like to hear from you!

www.medicalvoices.org

NETWORKING WITH DOCTORSINTERNATIONALLY: Regardlessof the location, if you are amedical professional or youknow of any who may wish toparticipate with information orpresentations, please contactus here at Medical Voices.

Also, we would hugely appreciate any media;video, articles, books done by medical doctors(whether in the original language or translated)that speak on the real issues regarding vaccines.

SPREAD THE WORD: We welcome any help,however small, to spread the word on thishighly contentious issue! We thank you in advance.

MEDICAL VOICES VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER brings awareness ofvaccine issues to the forefront via medical doctors. Newly under development as of July 2009, the site will quickly become a massive library of articles, videos and presentations by doctors speaking out on thedangers of vaccines. The aim is to be an educational site for doctors whoare beginning to question and become aware of the problems caused byvaccines and, additionally, a go-to resource for the public at large.

MEDICAL VOICES VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER

WEBSITE LAUNCH: Due to all the coverage onSwine Flu in recent months we have launchedthis new website immediately. The MEDICALVOICES VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER is stillin its infancy, but we aim to bring to you a vastamount of information and webinars veryshortly!

Please contact Nick Haas at:

[email protected]



1. To promote awareness & understanding about vaccinationin order to preserve the freedom of an informed choice

2. To offer support to parents regardless of their decisions

3. To inform parents of the alternatives to vaccinations.

4. To accumulate historical & current information aboutvaccination & to make it available to members &interested parties.

5. To arrange & facilitate local talks, discussions andseminars on vaccination, childhood illnesses & thepromotion of health.

6. To establish a nationwide support network and register(subject to members permission).

7. To publish a newsletter for members.

8. To obtain, collect and receive money and funds by way ofcontributions, donations, subscriptions, legacies, grantsor any other lawful methods; to accept and receive any giftof property and to devote the income, assets or property ofthe group in or towards fulfilment of the objectives of thegroup.

THE INFORMED PARENT COMPANY LIMITED. REG.NO. 3845731 (ENGLAND)

The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of The Informed Parent Co. Ltd. We are simply bringing these various viewpoints to your attention. We neither recommend nor advise

against vaccination. This organisation is non-profit making.

THE INFORMED PARENT, PO BOX 4481, WORTHING, WEST SUSSEX, BN11 2WH.

Tel/Fax: 01903 212969 web: www.informedparent.co.uk

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AIMS & OBJECTIVES OF GROUPTHE PARENTinformed

Comparing Natural Immunity with vaccines

with Trevor Gunn, BSc. LCH RSHom, Graduate in Biochemistry

TOPICS COVERED INCLUDE:

• SHORT & LONG TERM EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD & TRAVEL VACCINES

• EVIDENCE FROM ORTHODOX & COMPLEMENTARY SOURCES

• INFORMATION THAT THE AUTHORITIES DON’T TELL YOU

• MAKING SENSE OF STATISTICS • CHILDHOOD ILLNESSES

• DEALING WITH FEAR • AVOIDING FUTURE PROBLEMS

• INCREASING HEALTH NOW

BRIGHTON, EAST SUSSEX

(Talks start 7.30pm):

WED 02 MAR 2011 - PART ONE

WED 16 MAR 2011 - PART TWO

For those who have previously attended Trevor’s presentation and would like to hear more there is now a Part 2.

Please contact Karel on: 01273 277309for further details / bookings

CHANGE CAREER.Diploma courses in:

nutrition, naturopathy acupuncture, homeopathy

herbal medicine

Available at CNM colleges across the UK and Ireland.

Short courses in other therapies available

at some locations. 01342 410505

www.naturopathy-uk.com

Wishing you all good health, happinessand strength for the forthcoming year!A very big thank you to all the subscribers and allthe contributors of The Informed Parent –your support has enabled TIP to continue tryingto create and spread awareness in an area that isof prime importance to each and every one of us –our health! I look forward to your continued support. Many thanks, Magda Taylor


the parent informed...the parent issue three 2010 a newsletter on vaccination issues and health...

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