Let’s first talk just about the small
pox vaccine. As I said in the last post, small pox has been
completely eliminated in the United States due to a herd immunity and
we no longer have to vaccinate people against the disease. However,
in 2009 President George W. Bush made the claim that small pox maybe
used against the United States as a biological weapon. The question of whether to resume vaccinations against the disease was raised. Those in the
military and some health care workers are those who were recommended to receive the
vaccine first (and it maybe made mandatory for some). The vaccine was
made available to the public however was not mandated or even
recommended for everyone. Many scientists and doctors would say that
we shouldn’t vaccinate until we start to see an outbreak. We are able
to recognize the disease and contain it without having the massive
outbreaks we saw many years ago. So for now, there is no action that
needs to be taken.
The disease killed half a billion
people between 1880 and 1980. It was a horrible disease and many
claim that it was more deadly and tragic than the bubonic plague in
the middle ages. There is no cure for the disease; you either recover
or die. Unfortunately, the vaccine itself was not exactly safe. From
a variety of studies conducted about the small pox vaccine, an
estimated 15 to 75 people will have serious complications for every
million people vaccinated. One to 15 will die. Those who are
vaccinated can potentially spread the disease if someone who is not
vaccinated touches the injection site. This provides one argument
against vaccination.
Argument number two came about in 1998.
A gastroenterologist named Andrew Wakefield from Britain published a
paper on the connection of autism and the MMR vaccine. One month
after eight of the twelve children in his study received the vaccine,
they developed autism. For those who do not know, autism is a
neurological disease that effects social and communication skills. It
can range from a mild version known as Asperger
syndrome to more severe forms that leave the child with no
social skills or communication at all. The study was found to be
flawed and was retracted leading to Wakefield being stripped of his
license. Another interesting overlooked fact was that he was working
with parents who were trying to sue vaccine companies and had just
patented an alternative measles vaccine. Both are huge motivators for
him to rush into publishing such a study.
Studies have been conducted after that
which have found no link of vaccines and autism. The rate of autism
may be growing but the rate of vaccination has been constant. There
is no significant difference in the rate of autism of those who have
been vaccinated and those have been not. One study even showed that
when vaccination was decreased, the increase of autism was still
occurring. So what is the cause of the increase? We are unsure but it
is likely due to awareness and a broader definition of autism. Why do
people still believe it? Well it may be due to the fact that around
the same time, people started to become concerned with the amount of
mercury in foods and drugs. Thimerosal is an antibacterial agent
which contains mercury and was used in vaccines. We no longer use
Thimerosal in vaccines and discontinuing the use of the agent did not
change the rate of autism. Further, it was found that there is no
evidence of mercury poisoning in those who received a Thimerosal
containing vaccine. Another reason might believe it is celebrities,
most notably Jenny McCarthy, started to speak out against vaccines.
It makes me kinda sad that people are getting medical advise from
celebrities… Anyway. In the end twenty some independent studies
showed no connection between the MMR vaccine and autism versus one
which was discredited and retracted. I think it’s obvious this
argument is unfounded and a case of hysteria being confused with
fact.
Another claim is that it effects your
DNA. Some vaccines are made from the DNA of the organisms. When
injected into the body, some cells in your body will produce new
cells using the injected DNA. The immune system then produces
antibodies to fight off the cells and you develop an immunity (much
like a regular vaccine). Some people are concerned that the DNA will
advance further than just one generation which would alter a person’s
DNA in an unintended way. There are no DNA vaccines in use today in
humans but there is a DNA vaccine for West Nile virus that is used in
horses. So there’s no need to worry about this too much yet. However,
there have been studies that while two toxins injected into the body
separately may be safe, the combination or injection of them without
enough time passing in between can have an adverse effect on an
animals DNA. This has been used as an argument against vaccines;
assuming a vaccine in a toxin. The jury is still out on this.
In 1991, soldiers who were sent to Iraq
and many of these soldiers developed a condition known as Gulf War
Syndrome. It included a variety of symptoms from things like fatigue
and headache to repository, digestive and neurological problems.
Possible causes are depleted uranium munitions, toxins in the air
from burning oil wells, pyridostigmine bromide pills (to protect
against nerve agents) and the vaccine “cocktail” soldiers
received. Whether or not the vaccines were the cause is unknown to
this day. It is important to note however that even if vaccines were
the cause, it was the combination of vaccines given in a short amount
of time that was the problem not the vaccines themselves. The FDA has
a defined schedule for vaccines that should be followed under normal
circumstances.
Another argument is that they simply
don’t work especially in the long term. Our immune systems “forget”
the disease and when one is exposed to the actual disease the immune
last longer. Some vaccines are given more than once so there is some
truth to this but your chances of surviving the vaccine are MUCH
greater than your chances of surviving many of the actual diseases
that we vaccinate against.
Some people have religious objections
claiming that disease is part of God’s plan and it would be a sin to
go against that plan and vaccinate people. The official position of
the Vatican is that vaccines are acceptable until some alternative
becomes available. Christian Scientists are simple against all
medical care believing that disease happens to sinners and praying is
the only acceptable treatment. Religious objection is a legal way to
avoid vaccinating your children.
There are some that make the simple
argument that there aren’t enough long term studies. Usually,
conducted studies follow the child for a few weeks after the vaccine
is given and the studies look for immediate effects and miss subtle
effects that later causes problems. There are further claims that
those declaring vaccines are safe have ulterior motives such as
financial gain.
I talked last week about the proven
risks so I won’t go over them again. But I will say that they are
acknowledged and those that are severe are extremely rare.
Sorry but I think I have failed at not
voicing my opinion. My journey to discover why some people have
objections to vaccines left me with unfounded beliefs, unreproducible
studies and propaganda like web sites. Which is part of the reason it took me so long to write this. I read dozens of studies and web pages but few were accredited in anyway.
The fact is, vaccines are the
best science was have right now. There is no solid evidence of the
many common claims against them and vaccines have irrefutably saved
billions of lives over the years. If we were to go back in time and ask
the parents of the children who died from small pox if they would
accept the risks I’m sure they would have. If you asked the parent
of a child who has HIV or had an organ transplant, I’m sure they
would beg others to vaccinate their children to protect theirs who
can’t. I am a firm believer in being informed about the dangers of
all medical care but I couldn’t find anything that convinced me that
vaccination programs should be stopped. But I welcome more studies to be conducted and would encourage scientists to continue to develop safer vaccines and alternatives.