Vaccinations:
Myths vs. Facts
Cathy Harkins Logan
Tinsley Harrison Research Society
Discussant: Dr. Carolyn Ashworth
Then…
Years ago, thousands of children and
adults contracted infectious diseases,
including measles, poliomyelitis, and
diphtheria.
At that time, most were much more fearful
of the diseases than of the adverse effects
(AEs) of the vaccinations.
Now…
Today the situation is reversed.
In the era of effective vaccines, many
parents are becoming more concerned
about the possible AEs.
Many parents of today have never
experienced the consequences of these
diseases and do not fully understand the
dangers they impose.
The Problem…
Part of the shift in beliefs in vaccination is due to
the lack of experience and therefore the lack of
fear of these diseases.
Also, it is largely due to the vast amount of
misinformation available regarding vaccinations.
It is much easier to find the false information
than to locate information from reputable
sources, including the CDC, NIH, etc.
Belief # 1:
“Vaccines Are Unsafe”
“Vaccines Are Unsafe”
There is an emerging emphasis on the
morbidity and mortality, or the “serious”
AEs of vaccinations.
Often statistics and numbers are
manipulated to suggest that vaccinations
are the cause for disability and death, and
that they are more harmful than the actual
diseases they intend to prevent.
“Vaccines are unsafe”
“VAERS receives 11,000 reports of
serious AEs annually, 1% are deaths…”
“Studies have shown vaccination to be a
cause of SIDS.”
“Tip of the iceberg…deaths may be well
over 1,000.”
Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System
National AE reporting system operated by
the CDC and the FDA
Established in 1990 to record and track
adverse events that occur after a vaccine
is given
Passive: voluntary reports from anyone
Used to detect early warnings about
possible unrecognized AEs
VAERS
Strengths:
– National surveillance
– Has the ability to detect rare events
– Ex. Intussusception due to Rotashield
Weaknesses:
– It is not a complete database!
– Susceptible to misclassification
– Ex. Injection site=“serious” reaction and vice
versa
Vaccine Safety Datalink
Created in 1990 by CDC in conjunction with 8
large HMOs to continually monitor vaccine
safety
HMOs in Washington, California, Oregon,
Colorado, Minnesota
Includes information such as vaccine, date,
other vaccinations, manufacturer, lot number,
injection site, etc
Data used to study SIDS deaths and found risk
was the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated
children
VSD
Strengths:
– More complete: Almost all significant medical
encounters are documented
– Is not passive: It does not rely on a physician or
patient to report the encounter
– More accurate classification of the event
Weaknesses:
– Population not completely representative of the US
– Vaccine coverage rates high = few controls
– Not large enough to examine very rare events
Back to the myth…
No vaccine is 100% effective and 100%
safe! As with any drug, vaccines have
risks and side effects.
Adverse Event= something that occurred
close to the time a vaccine was given
All AEs that are reported are NOT caused
by the vaccines administered!
Cause or Coincidence?
Correlation does NOT equal causation!
Many vaccines are given during times
when other problems and developmental
concerns are being recognized.
Each year, > 10 million vaccinations given
to children less than 1 year of age. By
coincidence alone, some will experience
“events” shortly after a vaccine is given.
Cause or Coincidence?
VAERS reports include both coincidental
events as well as true reactions.
VAERS reports are NOT verified cases of
vaccine deaths
Events may be due to underlying
diseases, concomitant medications, or
simply by chance alone.
All reported AEs are NOT due to vaccines!
Target Audience
Many patients and families are unfamiliar
with controlled studies, good studies
versus bad, and even simple statistics.
Misinformation comes from friends and
family, church members, and co-workers.
Everyone knows someone who knows
someone who…
Beliefs can be deeply rooted in
misinformation and mistrust.
Belief # 2:
“Decline in disease is not
a result of immunizations”
Disease decline…
A major belief is that the diseases which
vaccines aim to prevent actually declined
prior to the introduction of vaccinations.
– “Not only did vaccines have no influence over
the decrease of the diseases, the contrary is
true, they slowed down the downward trend of
all diseases.” -
Anita Petek-Dimmer
Declined Prior to Vaccines?
“With diseases other than smallpox we have
shown that 90% of the decline in mortality
occured before vaccines were introduced.”
www.vaclib.org
“If you view graphs of the mortality associated
with infectious diseases for the United States
and Western Europe for the period 1800 to
1950, it will become obvious that 90 to 95
percent of the mortality decrease occured
before the introduction of vaccines. So it is
non-controversial to state that during this period
that the number of lives saved by vaccine was
ZERO.” www.vaclib.org
Declined Prior to Vaccines?
“All diseases declined by as much as 95%
before the introduction of vaccines or antibiotics.
Improved personal and public hygiene can
account for a considerable drop in deaths from
disease. Diseases will decline without
intervention.”www.know-vaccines.org
“According to the British Association for the
Advancement of Science, childhood diseases
decreased 90% between 1850 and 1940,
paralleling improved sanitation and hygienic
practices, well before mandatory vaccination
programs.” www.mercola.com
Decline in Haemophilus Influenza
Decline in Polio
Decline in Measles
Decline in Mumps
Decline in Rubella
The truth…
Polio declined dramatically in the 1950’s.
Measles did not decline until 10 years
later.
If due to sanitation and nutrition, shouldn’t
they decrease at roughly the same time?
Both had slight decreases during the trial
phases of the vaccines and showed
dramatic decreases after licensing of the
vaccines.
Belief #3:
“Vaccines are not
effective.”
Vaccine Failure
“The medical literature has a surprising number
of studies documenting vaccine failure. Measles,
mumps, small pox, pertussis, polio and Hib
outbreaks have all occurred in vaccinated
populations…”
“A more recent study found that measles
vaccination "produces immune suppression
which contributes to an increased susceptibility
to other infections."
"Evidence suggests that vaccination is an
unreliable means of preventing disease.“
-www.mercola.com
Others Say…
“Six New England states reported increases in polio one
year after the Salk vaccine was introduced, ranging from
more than doubling in Vermont to Massachusetts'
astounding increase of 642%; other states reported
increases as well.”
“…Dr. Bernard Greenberg, head of the Dept. of
Biostatistics for the University of North Carolina School
of Public Health, testified that not only did the cases of
polio increase substantially after mandatory
vaccinations…but that the statistics were deliberately
manipulated by the Public Health Service to give the
opposite impression.
"The polio vaccine temporarily reversed disease declines
that were underway before the vaccine was introduced;
this fact was deliberately covered up by health
authorities. -www.mercola.com
Who is REALLY at risk?
Exemptors were 22.2 times (95% confidence interval
[CI], 15.9-31.1) more likely to acquire measles and 5.9
times (95% CI, 4.2-8.2) more likely to acquire pertussis
than vaccinated children. Feikin. JAMA. 2000. 284(24):3145-50.
Measles Outbreak 1989-1991- number of cases in
unvaccinated Hispanic and AA populations was 4-7
times higher than among non-hispanic whites.-www.cdc.gov
Since 1993, the largest outbreaks of measles have
occurred in populations that refuse vaccination, including
communities in Utah and Nevada, and in Christian
Scientist schools in Missouri and Illinois. –www.cdc.gov
Belief #4:
“Infectious diseases are
benign and self-limiting.”
Benign Childhood Diseases
“Most childhood infectious diseases have few
serious consequences in today's modern world.”
“The vast majority of the time, childhood
infectious diseases are benign and self-limiting.”
“Not only are most infectious diseases rarely
dangerous, they can actually play a vital role in
the developing a strong, healthy immune
system.”
"Dangers of childhood diseases are greatly
exaggerated in order to scare parents into
compliance with a questionable but highly
profitable procedure." -www.mercola.com
The Truth: Polio
Polio virus causes acute paralysis that can
lead to permanent physical disability and
death. Before a vaccine was available,
13,000 to 20,000 cases of paralytic polio
were reported each year in the United
States.
One in 200 infections leads to irreversible
paralysis (usually in the legs).
Polio
The Truth: Haemophilus Influenza
Before the Hib vaccine, H. flu was the most
common cause of bacterial meningitis in U.S.
infants and children.
Prior to the vaccine: 20,000 invasive Hib cases
annually—2/3 meningitis, 1/3 other invasive Hib
diseases (bacteremia, pneumonia, or epiglottitis)
Hib meningitis once killed 600 children each
year and left many survivors with deafness,
seizures, or mental retardation. -www.cdc.gov
The Truth: Measles
Before the vaccine was available, nearly
everyone in the U.S. acquired measles.
Approximately 450 deaths associated with
measles were reported each year between 1953
and 1963.
Complications:
– ear infections
– Pneumonia-approx 6% of deaths
– encephalitis-while rare, can result in brain damage
– diarrhea
Measles
The Truth: Pertussis
Pertussis can be a severe illness, resulting in
prolonged coughing spells, and the illness can
last for many weeks.
These spells can make it difficult for a child to
eat, drink, and breathe.
Because vomiting often occurs after a coughing
spell, infants may lose weight and become
dehydrated.
In infants, it can also cause pneumonia and lead
to brain damage, seizures, and mental
retardation.
Pertussis
The Truth: Rubella
Usually mild in children and adults
Up to 90 percent of infants born to mothers infected with
rubella during the first trimester of pregnancy will
develop congenital rubella syndrome (CRS)
– heart defects, cataracts, mental retardation, and deafness.
In 1964-1965, before rubella immunization was used
routinely in the U.S., there was an epidemic of rubella
that resulted in an estimated 20,000 infants born with
CRS
– 2,100 neonatal deaths and 11,250 miscarriages.
– Of the 20,000 infants born with CRS, 11,600 were deaf, 3,580
were blind, and 1,800 were mentally retarded.
Rubella
The Truth: Tetanus
Tetanus is a severe, often fatal disease. Bacteria
that cause tetanus are distributed in soil and
street dust, are found in animal waste, and are
very resistant to heat and germ-killing cleaners.
People who get tetanus suffer from stiffness and
spasms of the muscles.
The larynx can close causing respiratory distress
and eating difficulties, and muscles spasms can
cause spine and long bone fractures.
Approximately 20 percent of reported cases end
in death.
Tetanus
The Truth: Hepatitis B
More than 2 billion persons worldwide have
been infected with the hepatitis B virus, 350
million are life-long carriers of the disease and
can transmit the virus, and one million of these
people die each year from liver disease and liver
cancer.
Approximately 25 percent of children who
become infected with life-long hepatitis B virus
would be expected to die of related liver disease
as adults.
Belief # 5:
“MMR vaccine causes
Autism.”
Increase in Autism?
“Today, one out of every 150 children are
affected by autism, according to the National
Vaccine Information Center. In the early 1940's,
prior to the introduction of most vaccines in
current use, it was considered a rare
condition that few doctors would ever
encounter in their practice.”
“California's autism rate has mushroomed
1000% over the past 20 years, with dramatic
increases following the introduction of the MMR
vaccine in the early 1980's.” -www.mercola.com
Increase in Autism?
Data from California (Department. of
Developmental Services, 1999)-used to illustrate
an increase in cases of autism since the
introduction of the vaccine.
Do not account for population growth and
changes in the composition of the population
Do not account for changes in diagnostic
definitions-PDD in ‘80, Rett, Asperger, CDD in
‘94
Children are diagnosed earlier, causing an
increase in reported cases. –Fombonne. Pediatrics. 2001; Vol. 107
Autism Theory
The MMR-autism theory came to the forefront when, in
1998, Wakefield and colleagues reviewed reports of
children with bowel disease and regressive
developmental disorders.
The researchers suggested that MMR vaccination led to
intestinal abnormalities, resulting in impaired intestinal
function and developmental regression within 24 hours
to a few weeks of vaccination.
This hypothesis was based on 12 children. In 9 of the
cases, the child's parents or pediatrician speculated that
the MMR vaccine had contributed to the behavioral
problems of the children in the study. -www.cdc.gov
Autism Theory
Only 12 children were included in the study.
No healthy control children for comparison
The study did not identify the time period during
which the cases were identified.
In at least 4 of the 12 cases, behavioral
problems appeared before the onset of
symptoms of bowel disease; that is, the effect
preceded the proposed cause.
It is unlikely, therefore, that bowel disease or the
MMR vaccine triggered the autism. -www.cdc.gov
Autism Theory
In 2004, 10 of the 13 authors of the study
retracted the paper's interpretation, stating
that the data were insufficient to establish
a causal link between MMR vaccine and
autism (Murch et al., 2004)
Autism Theory
A 2001 study (Dales et al.) used the autism case
numbers provided by the California Department of
Developmental Services and compared them with MMR
immunization level estimates for California children.
Born 1980 through 1987: there was no major change in
MMR immunization levels
Cases of autism increased markedly, from 44 cases per
100,000 live births in 1980 to 208 cases per 100,000 live
births in 1994.
Even if there were a true increase in autism despite
factors mentioned before, one would expect to see an
increase in the MMR levels to make the conclusion that
MMR causes autism. -www.cdc.gov
The Truth…
Epidemiologic studies have shown no
relationship between MMR vaccination in
children and development of autism.
Several studies listed on the CDC website
Thimerosal
Studies performed by the CDC do not support
that neurodevelopmental disabilities such as
autism are caused by vaccines containing
thimerosal.
Today, none of the vaccines used routinely in
the U.S. to protect preschool children against 12
infectious diseases actually contain thimerosal
as a preservative.
In addition, the MMR, polio, PCV, and varicella
vaccines never contained thimerosal. -www.cdc.gov
Conclusion
Vaccines, like all drugs and medical procedures,
have risks associated with them. By having a
relatively disease-free society in the U.S., it is
difficult for many to fairly assess the risk-benefit
ratio involved.
All reported adverse events are NOT caused by
vaccines.
Data is misrepresented and inaccurately
reported leading to false information that is
readily available on many websites and in many
other publications.
Conclusion
A sharp decline in infectious diseases correlates
with the licensing of an effective vaccine for
many diseases. Sanitation and nutrition cannot
account solely for these declines.
The infectious diseases that are targeted by
vaccines have significant morbidity and
mortality, that is largely forgotten and
underappreciated today.
The MMR has not been statistically proven to be
a cause of autism.
Other Beliefs…
Vaccination has been a disaster on the immune
system. It actually causes a lot of illness. We are
changing our genetic code through vaccination.
Guylaine Lanctot, M.D.
Mandatory vaccine programs are 'A violation of
the Nuremberg Code ... .' Jane Orient, M.D.
Provocation polio. That is the truth about those
outbreaks of polio. And I offer a well considered
personal opinion that polio is a man made
disease. -Viera Scheibner, Ph.D.
Other Beliefs…
“Some vaccine mediums used in the production
of vaccines contain human diploid cells
originating from human aborted fetal tissue.”
“Bart Classen, MD, PhD, founder of Classen
Immunotherapies and developer of vaccine
technologies, conducted epidemiological studies
around the world and found vaccines to be the
cause of 79% of insulin type I diabetes in
children under 10.” -www.mercola.com
Other Beliefs…
When vaccinating, there is the chance of getting
the disease PLUS the chance of vaccine
damage.
"through the introduction of junk food the body
and the mind's powerhas been dulled, made
docile and dependent. To this we can add the
vaccination, fluoridation, chlorification and
chemtrails programs, as well as subliminal
manipulations with the help of TV, Radio and
other mind control tools.“-Stepping stones towards the
acceptance of the implantable chip!
References
www.immunizationinfo.org – Immunization Issues & Common Questions
About
www.cdc.gov – National Immunization Program
www.who.int/vaccine_safety
www.immunize.org – Immunization Action Coalition
www.relfe.com/vaccine.html
www.mercola.com
www.vaclib.org
www.vaccinetruth.org
MMWR. 1994; Vol 42, #53
MMWR. 2003; Vol50, #53
Feikin. Individual and community risks of measles and pertussis associated
with personal exemptions to immunization. JAMA. 2000. 284(24):3145-50.
Hoffman, H.J. Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis immunization and sudden infant
death: results of the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development Cooperative Epidemiological Study of Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome risk factors.
Pediatrics. 1987 Apr;79(4):598-611.
Salmon. Health consequences of religious and philosophical exemptions
from immunization laws: individual and societal risk of measles.
JAMA. 1999 Jul 7;282(1):47-53.
Liam McFarlane