The recent measles outbreak has thrust the vaccine discussion front and center — and has turned otherwise civilized people into name-calling, hateful enemies.
But while all this mud-slinging is going on, we’re losing sight of two of the most important issues.
One, is that our personal right to refuse any vaccines may be slipping away.
The other is key to any debate on vaccination: That not all vaccines are created equal.
Way too many shots in the dark
It’s not just parent against parent anymore.
The issue has become so one-sided, so hostile, that now even doctors are spewing blanket condemnations about those who are questioning vaccines.
Dr. Russell C. Libby, a pediatrician, wrote a scathing editorial that appeared in a prestigious professional journal, calls for a “no exception” rule for vaccines to be put in place. He wants fines imposed and child protective services to intervene when families don’t vaccinate across the board.
And Dr. Libby goes so far as to say that doctors who allow their patients to go unvaccinated should be held liable for malpractice if an “outbreak or epidemic” should occur.
Whoa, Dr. Libby, let’s take a look at the facts here before we go off the deep end…
Because one of the biggest risks out there is the CDC’s “vaccine schedule.”
Currently, by age six, the CDC mandates 48 doses of 14 vaccines. By the time a child reaches 18, he’s received 70 doses of 16 vaccines.
And that list of required vaccinations has been getting longer all the time.
For example, immediately after birth, infants are jabbed with a hepatitis B shot.
Now, hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease — one you can also get if you’re a drug user. So how in the world did this become a mandatory shot for newborns?
And that’s just the first one. A month later, that little baby is given another. And at six to 12 months — another! And all those shots contain a dose of aluminum and formaldehyde.
Why that’s a cocktail of toxins that begins just hours after birth.
At two months of age it’s time for the rotavirus vaccine called RotaTeq. Rotavirus is the main cause of diarrhea in babies. And that’s true all over the world.
But in the United States, with proper fluid treatment the infection is rarely ever fatal. But oddly, since this vaccine was introduced, the number of babies who have died from the virus hasn’t dropped as you might have thought. No, it’s gone up.
RotaTeq contains the DNA from two pig viruses, one of which is lethal to baby pigs. The FDA even called for a temporary suspension of the shot when that was discovered.
But that ban was just that, temporary. The shot is still given to babies, and it still contains the pig virus. It also contains blood from a cow fetus.
But that’s nothing compared to what’s in the chicken pox, and MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and the shingles shot for adults.
Those vaccines contain cells and DNA derived from aborted fetuses.
And nothing your doctor or pharmacy gives you about these shots will tell you that. It’s not on any signs, information sheets, or even the release form you have to sign.
To complicate the vaccine issue even further, numerous combo vaccines have been approved. Ones like Pentacel, by Sanofi Pasteur, that combines diphtheria, tetanus, whopping cough, polio, and a type of influenza.
But what if a parent only wants to have their child vaccinated against some of these diseases? Or maybe all of them, but not in a big bundle because we know that can lead to greater and more serious risks?
In this current climate, I feel very sorry for parents who are trying to do what is right for their kids. Like those who want to skip some vaccines for their kids, including the totally unnecessary varicella one for chicken pox.
In fact, chicken pox is something you want your child to have. Even if the vaccine was 100 percent effective and safe (which it isn’t), it doesn’t last. That’s something even the CDC admits.
And chicken pox, while a “mild disease” in kids, can be devastating for adults. So all these varicella vaccinated kids will go through their adult life unprotected.
Having chicken pox, on the other hand, gives you lifelong immunity.
Recently, over 90 members of Congress introduced a resolution “affirming” that vaccines “save lives and are essential to maintain the public health, economic and national security of the people of the United States.”
And that sure sounds like the beginning of the end. The end of our right to personal freedom that goes way beyond requiring that a child take a measles shot.
As former Texas Congressman Ron Paul wrote in a recent commentary, “When, in history, has a ‘limited’ infringement on individual liberty stayed limited.”
Sources:
“Time for a crackdown on anti-vax enablers?” Russell C. Libby MD, February 12, 2015, Medpage Today, medpagetoday.com
“Immunization schedules” CDC, cdc.gov
