[NVIC] Vaccine Fears Increase

[Guest guest]

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER

Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN

#8122

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

" Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982. "

============================================================================

==============

BL Fisher Note:

Public health officials and doctors giving vaccines need to open their

eyes, their minds and their hearts and listen to what the people are telling

them. The reason the vaccine safety issue will not go away is because the

serious health deterioration that healthy children and adults are

experiencing in real life following vaccination is at direct odds with what

public health officials and doctors are telling them is " true " about

vaccination in " peer reviewed " medical journals. The rhetoric does not match

real life experience. And the seeds of distrust are so deep because doctors

inside and outside of government continue to deny the reality the people are

experiencing.

The people perceive and fear coverup. That perception is well founded

because of the hostile and defensive behavior of doctors who are asked

legitimate questions about vaccine risks and one-size-fits all vaccine

policies they cannot or refuse to answer. Where are the methodologically

sound epidemiological and basic science research studies that investigate

genetic and other biological high risk factors that place some individuals

at greater risk than others for suffering vaccine reactions leading to death

or permanent injury? Where are the biological markers that will identify and

help screen out vulnerable individuals so their lives can be spared? Until

that work is done everyone is being asked to play " Vaccine Roulette. " And

the people will continue to distrust a system which inhumanely treats them

like criminals whenever they or their child become a " casualty " of a

government policy that places no value on the life of an individual harmed

by that policy.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/story.html?id=e6c8fad0-036b-44c6-

b10c-d0a2f913440a & k=63889

StarPhoenix, Canada

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Vaccine fears pose risk, health conference hears

Janet French

The StarPhoenix

Fears and rumours of the adverse effects of vaccines could invite a

resurgence of some of the world's most dreaded infectious diseases, says

Canada's head of vaccine safety.

" None of us were ready for this . . . the whole issue of people not wanting

immunization, " Dr. Barbara Law told Saskatchewan's First Immunization

Conference on Tuesday.

Negative press about potential ill-effects of vaccinations is allowing some

to lose sight that the risk vaccinations pose is still much smaller than the

threat of disease, she said.

" Measles in the 1910s made SARS look like a walk in the park, " Law said in

an interview. " We had a few deaths with SARS. Measles, every year there were

hundreds of deaths. "

Some people have forgotten why they received their childhood vaccinations in

the first place, and health-care providers can't understand why anyone

wouldn't want immunizations, Law said.

Before the introduction of vaccines in Canada, 300,000 had measles every

year, 69,000 had rubella, 52,000 the mumps and 9,000 had diptheria. In 1999,

29 people had measles, 24 had rubella, 90 had the mumps and one had

diptheria, Law said.

Negative publicity about an adverse reaction to a vaccine can undermine

public confidence in its safety and stop some from getting immunized, she

said.

" There's an absolutely clear association between (when) you start

immunizing, the disease goes away, " Law said. " You stop, and it will come

back. "

Other countries have already lived through the repercussions of vaccination

lapses. In Japan in 1975, two infants died after receiving pertussis

immunizations. The public lost confidence in the vaccine and less than 40

per cent of children got vaccinated. In 1976, Japan experienced a pertussis

epidemic that lasted three years, killed more than 100 people and made

13,000 sick.

In Britain, a scare in the late 1990s linking measles, mumps and rubella

(MMR) shots to the incidence of autism led many to avoid the vaccinations.

Soon after, England and Ireland experienced measles outbreaks.

Dr. Ross Findlater, Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, said

there's been no link established between MMR and autism.

Many have blamed vaccinations for death or disability because people receive

most immunizations when young -- around the same time genetic and

neurological problems appear and damage and infections that occurred in the

womb or after birth show up. The timing doesn't mean vaccines are to blame,

Law said.

" If somebody charges a vaccine causes something . . . our studies cannot

prove that something doesn't happen, " she said. " It's the eternal

challenge. "

Canadian immunization rates vary by disease and location. In the Saskatoon

Health Region, about 70 per cent of two-year-olds in 2001 had been properly

immunized against diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, haemophilus influenza and

polio. About 85 per cent of two-year-olds had received an MMR shot.

But according to the region, more than 90 per cent of toddlers in some of

Saskatoon's well-to-do neighbourhoods were immunized compared to less than

70 per cent of toddlers in some of the poorest city neighourhoods.

Canada's Advisory Committee on Causality Assessment is responsible for

monitoring adverse reactions to vaccines. Although it receives between 2,500

to 4,000 reports each year, only about 50 to 60 of those reports are serious

enough to warrant review by the committee. Of those serious cases, the

committee has determined the vaccine caused the problem only 25 per cent of

the time.

Death or disability from a vaccine is " extremely rare, " Law said.

Law is also in the process of helping assemble a new national vaccine safety

expert working group, ideally by March. The doctors and communication

experts would investigate vaccine safety concerns and advise the Public

Health Agency of Canada on public warnings and decision-making.

Findlater said few Saskatchewan people are refusing to have their children

immunized.

" I'm not sure that there's been any real trend here, " Findlater said. " Some

places have movements of people that are against vaccination in general. We

have some individuals in Saskatchewan that are concerned about it. "

Although he admits the numbers are anecdotal, he is asking the province to

begin tracking how many people are opting out of immunization.

Health-care workers and the general public need " education, education and

education " to remind themselves of the vital role vaccines play in public

health, Law said.

" The challenge is never over, " she said. " It's just something where we were

caught sleeping. "

jfrench@...

=============================================

News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information

Center and is supported through membership donations. Learn more about

vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights

http://www.nvic.org

Become a member and support NVIC's work

https://www.nvic.org/making%20cash%20donations.htm

To sign up for a free e-mail subscription http://www.nvic.org/emaillist.htm