Are Vaccines Safe?
Doctors say the development of vaccines have helped to almost eliminate diseases such as small pox, polio, and measles. They promote vaccines as modern miracles of medicine and create vaccine schedules which are almost universally followed by parents and doctors. A few questions should be asked about vaccines. Are these vaccines safe? Do these vaccines actually make people healthier? Are these vaccines even necessary? The answer to these questions is no.
Vaccines are supposed to make us healthier, and are promoted as preventing the occurrence of diseases and reducing the number of deaths related to these diseases. The first problem with vaccines, however, is that they don’t actually make people healthier. In fact, research shows that people who receive vaccines have significantly higher rates of disease than do those who have not received any vaccines. “Vaccinated children have more than twice the diseases and disorders than unvaccinated children.” (Augie). Vaccinated children are more likely to experience ear infections and have allergies, and are even more likely to develop autism and ADHD than are unvaccinated children. “The numbers are even more divergent for asthma and chronic bronchitis, where vaccinated children are about eight times more likely than unvaccinated children to develop such respiratory problems.” (Huff). In an attempt to prevent diseases such as whooping cough and chicken pox, doctors provide vaccines that are actually making children sicker over their lifetime, and, in some instances, are causing children to contract severe developmental disorders such as autism.
Another problem with vaccines is that they are riddled with short term and long term side effects ranging from low grade fevers, paralysis, and even death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claim that vaccines are safe and that serious side effects from vaccines are rare. However, the Institute of Medicine reports that “only a tiny fraction of serious health problems that occur after vaccination are actually reported. Studies have estimated that less than 10 percent, to as little as one percent of vaccine side effects are ever reported.” (Mercola).
One example of a vaccine with dangerous side effects is the HPV vaccine, commonly known as Guardasil, which has been linked to many side effects such as narcolepsy, paralysis, and premature menopause. Multiple countries are now beginning to question the safety of this particular vaccine. While most governments worldwide still have an official government recommendation that the human papillomavius (HPV) vaccine be administered to girls, “The Japanese government withdrew its recommendation that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine can be used by girls, due to possible adverse effects such as long-term pain and numbness.” (Tokyo Times). It has also been recently published that the polio vaccine given during the late 1950s and into the early 1960s contained the cancer causing virus SV40. Researchers have now linked SV40 to some specific forms of cancer. “A number of studies have found SV40 in certain forms of cancer in humans, such as mesotheliomas – rare tumors located in the lungs – brain and bone tumors; the virus has also been found to be associated with some types of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.” (Horwin). Because of side effects related to vaccines the United States government actually developed the Office of Special Masters of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, commonly known as Vaccine Court, to provide compensation to families with children who have had severe side effects related to vaccines. “This Vaccine Court has paid out a total of $2,381,131,203.84 since 1989 through February 2, 2012” (Spencer)
In America most children receive on average 69 doses of vaccines by the age of 18, with many of these vaccines intended to prevent diseases which are manageable under modern health care and for which have very low death rates. In 2005 it was reported that “Approximately 3.9 million cases of chicken pox occur annually in the United States, killing an estimated 90 persons (0.0023% death rate).” (Severyn). Currently nearly every American infant receives the chicken pox vaccine between the age of 12 and 14 months. Why are we vaccinating our children against a disease with such a low mortality rate? The ability to prevent a disease is not equivalent to the necessity to prevent it.
Even the evidence for vaccine effectiveness is lacking. Studies of disease frequency done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) demonstrate that most diseases we vaccinate against had a sharp decrease in mortality rate prior to the introduction of the vaccine, creating doubt as to whether any further decline subsequent to mass vaccination is due to the vaccine or to natural decline. “There was a 98% decline in the death rate of people with measles prior to the vaccine being introduced.” (Vaccine Liberation Information).
While altruistic motivations certainly drive many doctors to recommend vaccines, the revenues streaming from vaccine sales must also be taken into consideration. One of the major reasons vaccines are pushed so adamantly is because pharmaceutical companies and doctors make tons of money to provide them. Doctors enjoy multiple visits from individual children each year in order to administer the scheduled doses of vaccines, each time getting to charge for an office visit while also being reimbursed by the insurance company for the vaccines given. If a child did not get vaccines they would not need to be seen as often, resulting in less income for the doctors. Pharmaceutical companies also make incredible profits from the sale of vaccines. Each child who receives vaccines results in a $961.25 per child profit just in the first year of life for pharmaceutical companies off vaccines alone. Another surprising fact is that the United States government actually profits off vaccines. Pharmaceutical companies are charged an excise tax ranging from 75 cents to as much as $3.75 on every vaccine given, which in the first year of life alone totals $18.75 per child. This tax is used to fund the previously mentioned Vaccine Court. This court pays out millions and millions of dollars less on an annual basis than they take in, so the government is actually making a profit from vaccines.
Personal responsibility must supersede government recommendations, and it is a concerned parent’s right to review the available data and make an informed decision regarding his or her child’s health. The data concerning vaccines show us that vaccines are more likely to damage a person’s health than to protect it, and that the decline in disease frequency normally attributed to the vaccine is likely to instead be a result of natural decline. Vaccines are not the answer to protecting a child’s health, although they are the answer to creating a healthy profit for the pharmaceutical companies and driving stock rates and dividends for the company’s shareholders. A responsible parent and a responsible government should not surrender a child’s health to the financial health of a pharmaceutical company.
Author Kelly Jaycox
Email: Kelly@neputewellness.test
Works Cited
Augie. “Notice on U.S Vaccination Survey / and a German Study: Vaccinated Children Have More Than Twice the Diseases and Disorders Than Unvaccinated Children.” Journal of Natural Food and Health. Oct. 2011. Web. 01 Aug. 2013.
Huff, Ethan A. “Survey: Vaccinated Children Five times More Prone to Disease than Unvaccinated Children.” NaturalNews. 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 01 Aug. 2013.
Mercola, “Vaccines Have Serious Side Effects- The Institute of Medicine as so!” Mercola.com. 27 September 2011. Web. 01 Aug 2013.
Tokyo Times. “HPV Vaccine Seen Differently by Japan and the U.S.” Tokyo Times. 25 June 2013. Web. 01 Aug. 2013.
Horwin, Michael E. “Simian Virus 40 (SV40): A Cancer Causing Monkey Virus
from FDA-Approved Vaccines” SV40 Cancer Foundation. 3 Nov. 2003. 01 Aug. 2013.
Spencer. “How Can It Be About the Money? Immunizations Are Free! Right?” VaxTruth.org. 14 Aug. 2011. Web. 01 Aug. 2013.
Severyn, Kristine M. “Chicken Pox Vaccine: Does Everyone Need It?” ALL.org American Life League, 13 Oct. 2005. Web. 01 Aug. 2013.
“Vaccination Liberation Information.” Vaccination Liberation Information. Vaccine Liberation- Idaho Chapter, 5 Dec. 2012. Web 01 Aug 2013.