Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Childrens Vaccinations by Cave

[Guest guest]

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations

by Cave, M.D., F. A.A.F.P. and Deborah

Chapter 1

The Story of Vaccines

Perhaps you've seen the bumper stickers that say " Question

Authority. " Well, that's what's happening today with the increasing

number of parents who are questioning the safety, effectiveness, and

even the necessity of the vaccines being given to their children and

required by state law. Parents—and perhaps you are one of them—are

questioning health-care providers, state health officials, and each

other about immunizations. They are forming and joining action groups

so they can learn more, and do more, about vaccine policies in the

United States.

Next to the Question Authority sticker should be another one that

says " Knowledge Is Power. " It's not a good idea to question authority

when you don't know what you're talking about, because it won't help

you accomplish your goals. And when the goals are safe health care

and a healthy life for your children, the stakes are too high for you

to miss the mark.

This chapter introduces you to the information you'll need to help

you understand the world of vaccines and how they can affect you and

your children. It explains what vaccines are, types of vaccines, how

they are developed, and how they affect the immune system. You will

also learn the answer to the question " Do I have to vaccinate my

child? " as well as how to use the rest of this book to answer this

question for each of the vaccines required by law and for those that

are not.

TEN VACCINES...AND COUNTING

Today's parents are primarily concerned about the ten vaccines now

recommended by the federal government and mandated by the states.

That is not to say there is no controversy surrounding other

vaccines, like those for influenza, Lyme disease, and hepatitis A.

And there are dozens of other vaccines on the horizon, a future you

may need to consider if you are a parent or grandparent. These other

vaccines are covered in chapters 12 and 13. For now, however, here

are the ten that are mandatory in most states:

Hepatitis B-the first vaccine children are typically given

DTaP-diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), which

is the newer form of the DPT (DTP) vaccine

Hib-Haemophilus influenzae type B

Polio-the inactivated polio vaccine, or IPV, is the injected

form of the polio vaccine, which as of January 1, 2000, was

recommended over the oral polio vaccine (OPV)

MMR-measles, mumps, and rubella combination vaccine

Varicella-chicken pox

WHAT IS A VACCINE?

A vaccine is a substance that attempts to protect people against

disease. To do that, vaccines are made from the virus or other

pathogen (germ) that causes the disease the vaccine is designed to

fight. You might say a vaccine uses fire to fight fire: A little bit

of the pathogen is specially prepared and usually injected into the

body so it can help fight off any " wild, " or naturally acquired,

versions of the disease. The purpose of that fight is to develop

immunity.

The body has a complex system, called the immune system, that has

procedures for producing and maintaining immunity. We can avoid long

explanations by saying that when you get, say, a cold or flu virus or

a bacterial infection, your body responds by producing substances

called antibodies, minute protein molecules that fight against (anti)

the foreign bodies (the viruses, bacteria). When you recover from the

illness, your body retains some of those antibodies so it is ready to

fight off the infection should it appear again. This is called

immunity.

The main purpose of a vaccine is to stimulate the formation of

antibodies at a concentration high enough to stop the pathogen in its

tracks, and thus prevent those who get the vaccine from getting the

disease. As long as you maintain a certain concentration for a

specific disease, you have immunity.

Immunization is no guarantee that your child or you will not get the

disease. A small amount of the infectious agent can get past the

antibodies and cause individuals to experience some mild symptoms, or

occasionally even worse effects of the disease. (More on this topic

in subsequent chapters.) However, in most cases, the vaccine prevents

more serious symptoms from occurring. An up-to-date list of the

vaccines recommended by the U.S. government and mandated by the

states can be seen at or downloaded from

www.aap.org/family/parents/immunize.htm. An in-depth explanation of

each of these vaccines can be found in chapters 6 through 11 in the

book. Included in these explanations is the Vaccine Information

Statement, or VIS. A VIS is an information sheet, produced by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which informs vaccine

recipients or their parents or legal guardians about the benefits and

risks of the vaccine. Doctors are required by law to distribute a VIS

for all mandated childhood vaccines.

AN INFANT'S IMMUNE SYSTEM

Infants come into the world with antibodies they have gotten from

their mother through the placenta. Infants who are breastfed continue

to receive many important antibodies in the colostrum (the thick,

yellowish premilk that is secreted during the first few days after a

woman gives birth) and breast milk. Commercial infant formulas,

although inferior to mother's milk, also provide essential nutrients

for infants' health.

During the first year of life, the immunity an infant gets from its

mother at birth wears off. To help boost the fading ability to fight

certain diseases, vaccines are given. The idea behind vaccines is to

provide just enough of the disease-causing substance to trick the

body into producing antibodies against it. Once the antibodies are

produced, they stay around, protecting the child against the disease

they were designed to fight. Some vaccines provide this protection

for life after just one or two shots; others require

additional " boosts " of immunity.

The problem many doctors and parents have with vaccines given during

the first few months of life is that an infant's immune system cannot

adequately respond to a vaccine until he or she is four to six months

old. That's not to say that vaccines should not be given to children.

They do save lives. However, I believe we need to look not only at

the timing of these vaccinations-when they are given and how many are

given at one time-but also at the ingredients in them and the dangers

they may cause.

WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE?

Vaccines have traditionally come in two basic forms: dead

(inactivated or killed) or live. The vast majority of both forms are

delivered one of two ways: via injection under the skin

(subcutaneous) or into the muscle (intramuscular). (Polio and typhoid

vaccines are also available in oral form.) In some cases, both live

and killed vaccines are available to treat the same disease.

A third type of vaccine, the recombinant DNA vaccine, is the product

of genetic engineering. It is the newest form but there are remaining

questions about safety and efficacy.

Live Vaccines

Live vaccines are made in a laboratory from the living organism

(usually a virus) that causes the disease. Live vaccines are

attenuated, or weakened, so they will cause the body's immune system

to generate an immune response without (hopefully) causing the

disease. Some people, however, do respond to a vaccination by

developing symptoms of the disease, although in most cases they are

mild. Examples of live attenuated virus include polio (oral),

measles, mumps, chicken pox, rubella, and yellow fever. Live

bacterial vaccines include one for typhoid fever and Bacillus-

Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, which is used for tuberculosis.

Some experts claim that the immune system responds to live,

attenuated vaccines the same way it does to a natural infection;

others disagree. In fact, even proponents of live vaccines agree that

live vaccines can cause a mild version of the disease they are

designed to prevent. People who question the wisdom of giving live

vaccines, especially to infants and young children, say these

vaccines may have much more serious consequences, pointing to the

correlation with autism and autoimmune diseases.

Killed Vaccines

A killed, or inactivated, vaccine consists of all or part of the

disease-causing organism that has been killed or rendered inactive.

Unlike live vaccines, killed vaccines cannot reproduce, so they are

not able to cause the disease they are designed to prevent. They

trigger a weaker response by the immune system than do live vaccines.

They also tend to be safer than live vaccines for people who have a

weakened immune system, for pregnant women, and for children younger

than one year.

Most killed vaccines are protein-based, like the bacteria they mimic.

Some of these bacteria are coated with sugars called polysaccharides.

When scientists tried to develop vaccines for sugar-coated bacteria,

they found that pure polysaccharide vaccines didn't work well in

infants. But when they joined (conjugated) the polysaccharide to a

protein, the vaccines were much more effective for infants and young

children.

Inactivated vaccines are used for the following diseases: cholera,

hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, Lyme disease, plague, pertussis

(whooping cough), polio (injected), rabies, and typhoid.

Another type of inactivated vaccine are toxoids, which are made by

inactivating the toxins (poisons) produced by bacteria and viruses.

The vaccines against diphtheria and tetanus are toxoids.

Recombinant DNA Vaccines

Another type of vaccine is a recombinant DNA (genetically engineered)

vaccine. The hepatitis B vaccine is one example. Rather than using

the entire organism, recombinant DNA vaccines are made by taking

specific genes from the infectious agent (for example, virus,

bacteria) and adding them to the vaccine culture. For example,

hepatitis B vaccine is made by inserting a portion of the hepatitis B

virus gene into baker's yeast, the culture in which this vaccine is

produced.

Experts say recombinant DNA vaccines are more effective and safer

than other types of vaccines because they don't contain the entire

infectious agent and thus cannot cause an actual infection. However,

the greatest concern about recombinant DNA vaccines is that they may

cause the immune system to produce antibodies, which in turn attack

parts of the body and cause health problems. Much is still not known

about the effects of recombinant DNA vaccines.

ONE SHOT, TWO SHOTS,

THREE SHOTS, FOUR?

It would be nice if we could protect children against all threats of

childhood diseases, such as chicken pox, measles, diphtheria,

whooping cough, and polio, in one strategically administered-and

completely safe-shot or pill. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In

fact, children receive about thirty-three doses of ten vaccinations

by the age of five years. Not only do children need a separate

vaccine for most diseases (hepatitis B, polio, Hib, and chicken pox

are single vaccines; DTaP and MMR are multiple), they also need more

than one dose of each vaccine, except for chicken pox if given to a

baby (older children need two). The one or more additional doses of a

vaccine given to help ensure the protection provided by the original

dose(s) are called boosters. Booster doses are given a few months or

sometimes years after the original dose. For example, the first three

DTaP shots are the original doses given to establish immunity. The

next two shots at twelve to eighteen months and at four to six years

are boosters, as is the recommended Td (a DTaP shot without

pertussis) shot at eleven to twelve years and every ten years

thereafter.

Are Boosters Necessary?

To determine whether children need a booster, doctors can check their

titers-the measurement of the amount or concentration of a substance

in a solution. In the case of vaccines, it refers to the amount of

antibodies present in a patient's blood and serum. If a person's

antibody titer is high enough to make them immune to specific

diseases, they may not need a booster. Unfortunately, doctors don't

usually check a person's titers before giving a booster. If the

practice of checking titers were put into place, we would probably be

able to eliminate some of the boosters now being given to our

children, and thus reduce the risk of adverse effects. Parents can

consider asking that titers be checked before a booster is given.

WHERE IT BEGAN:

A BRIEF HISTORY OF VACCINES

Vaccines are not a new idea, although the early forms would not be

popular in today's world. One of the first recorded attempts at

vaccinelike treatments occurred sometime during the seventh century

when a group of Buddhists decided they could become immune to the

effects of snake venom by drinking the foul substance. In sixteenth-

century China, writings describe how people were inoculated against

smallpox by placing the powdered scabs from infected children into

the noses of healthy children. These people had the right idea: They

realized they could help prevent a disease or condition by exposing

themselves to a form of the substance that caused it, but they didn't

fully understand what they were doing at the time.

A more scientific approach was used in the late eighteenth century by

Jenner, who discovered that inoculating people with the animal

disease cowpox made people immune to the deadly human disease

smallpox. This was an interesting concept, and fortunately for Jenner

it helped save lives, but the use of an animal disease to treat

humans also presented the possibility that other diseases could be

introduced along with the intended virus. Another approach was needed.

Between the time Jenner published his work in 1798 and Louis Pasteur

developed the first rabies vaccine for humans in 1885, several

scientists, including Pasteur, were investigating this problem.

During that time, Pasteur enhanced the concept of attenuation, which

is the use of a weakened form of a virus to provide immunity. Pasteur

found that a weakened form of chicken cholera (an attenuated form)

was highly effective in preventing the disease. Attenuated vaccines

are widely used today.

Protests against the use of vaccines are nothing new. When Pasteur

introduced his rabies vaccine for humans in 1885, both doctors and

the public rallied against its use. At the turn of the century,

British troops fighting in the Boer War in South Africa strongly

protested being inoculated against the serious disease typhoid.

Many exciting events and discoveries occurred in the world of

vaccines in the decades that followed. Perhaps the biggest boon to

the immunization movement was the development of a polio vaccine, one

by Jonas Salk and the other by Albert Sabin. The fear of polio by the

public was so great that mass immunization with Salk's injectable

vaccine beginning in 1955 was welcomed with open arms. Salk's vaccine

could not provide complete protection against all three polio

viruses, so the introduction of Sabin's live oral vaccine in 1961,

which offered broader immunity, quickly became the more commonly used

vaccine. The oral vaccine is no longer recommended because it's been

proven to cause polio in some recipients and in the close contacts of

those recently vaccinated.

History is still being made. New vaccines and new formulations of

existing vaccines are being developed all the time.

DO I HAVE TO VACCINATE MY CHILD?

This question is being asked more and more often by parents as they

hear and read about the association between vaccines and various

serious health conditions. Although there are no federal mandates

that force parents to have their children vaccinated, state laws

essentially act as such. Many parents are unaware that they can get

an exemption from vaccinating their child based on medical,

philosophical, or religious reasons, depending on the laws of their

particular state.

If a child does not meet state vaccination requirements, goes to

school, and the truth is discovered, the school can have the child

removed from the school. There have also been instances where state

officials have charged parents with neglect for failing to vaccinate

children with all mandated vaccines.

Before parents make decisions not to vaccinate a child and deal with

the consequences, they need to have full access to information that

allows them to weigh the risks and benefits of the growing number of

recommended vaccines. Parents need to know that there are legal

avenues they can take to exempt their children from receiving

vaccinations.

PROGRAMS THAT PROTECT CHILDREN

As parents and physicians have seen an increasing number of injuries

associated with immunizations, government and private sector

organizations have formed to ensure that children harmed by vaccines

will receive some compensation and that parents have access to all

available information about the pros and cons of immunization. There

are dozens of such groups and programs, but some of the main ones

designed to help protect our children include:

National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)

National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS)

Details about these organizations and others and the services they

provide are discussed throughout this book, and there is a list in

the Appendix.

BOTTOM LINE

We are fortunate that we have stopped the epidemics of smallpox,

polio, diphtheria, and measles. The introduction of vaccines has

accomplished more than we dreamed they would. Vaccines have become a

necessary part of our world—for the current health of our children

and for future generations. But because each act of administering

small bits of disease and foreign substances to children opens the

door to the possibility of debilitating consequences or even death,

every possible attempt must be made to ensure that today's vaccines

and those in the future are as safe as possible.

I am not suggesting that we return to the days without vaccines. But

we must seriously address what appears to be an obvious link between

the epidemic of developmental delays, autoimmune diseases, and the

increasing number of mandatory vaccines. Every parent should know the

advantages as well as the dangers associated with each and every

vaccine, each and every time it is given. They should know the

positive and negative consequences of refusing that their children be

vaccinated, and be made aware of how they can go about getting

exemptions. And the government, industry, health-care professionals,

and parents must band together to get the research needed to

determine the safety of these vaccines. The stakes are too high for

us to do otherwise.

Copyright © 2001 by Cave, M.D.

Excerpt posted with permission from http://www.twbookmark.com