Simply not factual. That’s really all that needs to be said in response to Michael Edwards’ opinion piece entitled “Vaccine Side Effects and Why You Shouldn’t Vaccinate” published in Organic Lifestyle Magazine last week. This is clearly a non-peer reviewed, non-fact-checked online publication that Mr Edwards edits and owns. Fortunately, the magazine is reported to get about the same amount of traffic as my blog so it’s not exactly the Washington Post…
That being said, Edwards’ piece is so egregious I’m unable to hold my breath. Although I’m no watchdog, the dangerous writing demands physician attention partly because it’s been published amidst a noteworthy week in the world of vaccine misinformation:
- A segment aired last week by a local TV station in Las Vegas claimed doctors debating a need for vaccines. The TV station reported false information and misrepresented a chiropractor as a “holistic physician.” There was a noted uproar online, especially when original comments from physicians were, at first, taken down. Here’s more from news watchdog Gary Schwitzer, “Back To School Anti Vaccination Woo.”
- Mr. Edwards published false information claiming families shouldn’t vaccinate. More below.
- Jenny McCarthy’s credibility erodes further as it’s announced she is now advertising e-cigarettes. A pediatric colleague wrote a blog post entitled, “Jenny McCarthy continues tireless crusade to kill us all.”
Back to the piece in “Organic Lifestyle” though. What is so dangerous is not just Mr. Edwards’ misinformation but the way his article appears to the eye. Mr. Edwards published his vaccine opinion in a structure that misleads a reader to believe it’s based in fact. There are sections with headers, subtitles with supposed historical reference, and a list of resources at the end. All the while Mr Edwards warps truth and paints a picture of a fictitious world—one where those diseases now eradicated (small pox) or nearly so (polio) thanks to vaccines, aren’t.
Small pox has been eradicated by worldwide vaccination and thanks to vaccines married with a remarkable commitment from the Gates Foundation, polio is nearly gone too.
Unclear motivation and reckless writing merge in Edwards’ piece. He opens the article with undeniably the biggest falsehood, “We cannot prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that vaccines do more harm than good any more than anyone else can prove that they are beneficial.”
Simply not factual.
Rigorous scientific study proves vaccines have saved lives. The World Health Organization estimates that vaccines save the lives of 3 million people every year and reduce suffering of millions more. There are tomes of scientific studies to support vaccine benefit to human health and survival. Furthermore, the 2013 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on immunization safety reviewed over 1,000 studies on vaccine safety and came away stating,
This report is the most comprehensive examination of the immunization schedule to date. The IOM committee uncovered no evidence of major safety concerns associated with adherence to the childhood immunization schedule.
The science is clear that living a life with vaccines is a safer one. Great thing is you can have it best: eat organic, leave a near-zero carbon footprint, and avoid life-threatening infections for you and your children with safe vaccines as recommended by the Center for Disease Control and The American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr Edgar Marcuse a pediatrician and epidemiologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital and The University of Washington responded to Edwards’ article,
To argue that polio was not eradicated from the Western Hemisphere in the US by the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines would suggest the UNICEF, Rotary Club and Gates Foundation all got it wrong. Mr. Edward’s rant is utter foolishness – filled with errors, specious associations, misleading statements and nonsense.
I’m uninterested in nit-picking all of the sentences Mr Edwards presents that mislead and perpetuate myth. Studies show when you write about myth coupled with factual rebuttals, many people have a hard time remembering what point was myth and what was fact…
As a pediatrician and mom I’m bewildered by Edwards’ ill-attempt to frighten parents with falsehoods as the school year begins. Certainly makes us wonder if any other claim for a healthy, organic lifestyle as quoted in his magazine has any scientific merit.
Opting for an organic, healthy, natural, pesticide-free and thoughtful life in my opinion is an exciting and healthy choice. Living a long time thanks to minimized infectious disease risk thanks to remarkable vaccine development is a true luxury of our time.
Shana Merling says
With all due respect Dr. Swanson, the thing that scares me the most in regard to vaccines is not necessarily the vaccine itself, although many vaccines I do believe are merely a HUGE money maker and NOTHING else, but rather the list of highly toxic additives. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/additives.htm
I’m really sorry but I think anyone who uses “safe dose of a toxin” in the same sentence should have their head checked. We are BOMBARDED with heavy toxins on a daily basis from the food we eat, the air we breath, the water we drink, the products we put on our skin, the vaccines we allowed injected into our bodies etc. Who exactly is calculating the cumulative effects of all of these toxins????? Does any “scientist” or “doctor” wonder why cancer rates are through the roof? Why allergies are at an epidemic level? And, why should anyone who vaccinates be so concerned about those who choose not to? If you and your family are vaccinated, what are you so concerned about really?
I’m just a little tired of the bashing against those who choose to live a less toxic lifestyle. In a day and age where just about every person takes a prescription medication for some reason or another, I cannot fully trust pharmaceutical companies who teach and brainwash doctors to not cure anything but rather mask symptoms. It’s such a disgusting world and even more so when some of our largest minds don’t even see what is right in front of them!
Elizabeth says
Define “toxin”.
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Hi Shana,
I’ll respond to a few of your questions. I’d love to see other physicians and parents reading this do the same.
Many scientists and doctors commit their entire lives to understanding rising (or falling) cancer rates. Many also study allergies and rising rates of food allergies, tirelessly. I know many of these people personally. The degree of time they sacrifice for education and to their careers is unspeakable in some cases.
The reason families who vaccinate are concerned about some children or community members not being vaccinated is that no vaccine is 100% effective—meaning not every vaccine provides protection for every person that gets it. Many children who are too young to get the shot (infants, for example) are also at risk if an unvaccinated person becomes infected/infectious. Many are close (MMR vaccine provides protection to over 99% of those who get 2 doses against ever getting measles) but some other vaccines (DTaP) provide less protection (around 80%). But even my entirely up-to-date children with their shots are at risk if a child with pertussis walks into school.
Also, to clarify: I’m not bashing those who choose to live a less toxic life. In fact, I’m saying quite the opposite! I am calling out false information advertised on a site designed for those of us who choose to live with more organic farming, locally grown food, low-impact carbon footprint, etc. We can do both: live thoughtfully and with organic products and foods and protect our families from life-threatening diseases with safe vaccines.
al capone junior says
Your using quotes around the terms “scientist” and “doctor” clearly indicates that you are anti-science, an extremely foolish position to hold, and don’t have any respect for the many thousands of hours of hard work that actual scientists and medical doctors put into their education. They spend all day, for years and years, studying their subject material.
You obviously got your information from some loon on the internet, and quite obviously don’t have any actual expertise in any of these subjects whatsoever.
Actual real scientists don’t take anyone’s word for anything. They require actual evidence before they accept something as fact. There is no faith in science, everything requires evidence, and those who makes claims are required to show evidence of those claims before anyone will take them seriously.
Likewise, anyone who makes an extraordinary claim must provide extraordinary evidence for their claims. It’s NOT up to everyone else to dis-prove their claims, it’s on the person making the claims to provide the evidence for their claims.
Really anyone can choose to exercise critical thinking skills if they so desire. It does not require a college degree to think critically. All it takes is a willingness to NOT accept every pile of malarkey you read on the internet as pure fact, just because some other idiot has repeated it ad nauseum.
There is a mountain of highly credible, peer-reviewed evidence refuting your post. These scientists and clinicians have spent many years studying their subjects, and had their work very critically reviewed by experts in the field before it is accepted as valid.
YOU have made some very extraordinary claims in your post. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. You must provide that evidence, it’s not up to anyone else to dis-prove what you say, it’s up to you to prove it. The only evidence I see so far is that you don’t even understand many of the terms you’re throwing around, let alone have any actual backing for your claims.
Evidence, please. We’re waiting. And a link to some lunatic’s blog or fox news doesn’t count.
David Hoffman, DO says
Shana,
You raise several questions that have been addressed multiple times in this “debate.” First of all, which vaccines do you think are only for profit and do not promote health? Every vaccine I recommend helps to prevent diseases which can lead to death or serious disability. Yes, vaccine manufacturers make profits on their products, but that doesn’t mean that there is any conspiracy to cause harm, does it?
Regarding the “toxins,” please realize that every ingredient in vaccines has a purpose in ensuring that they work and remain uncontaminated by mold or bacteria. Whether or not these ingredients are toxic is not just a yes/no question, it is very dependent on concentration as well as whether the human body can process them safely. Think about potassium chloride – a great source of dietary potassium, but it will stop your heart if too much is injected into the bloodstream. The key phrase here is “too much,” and despite what anti-vaccine websites tell you, the safety of the traces of additives in vaccines has been quite well-established.
Natasha Burgert, MD says
Shana,
You bring up excellent points. As a parent, I also worry about the effects of our environment on myself and my children. I have taken action to limit our exposure to the toxins we know are harmful. And I get frustrated when I can’t control the unknown hazards in the environment in which my children live.
What I think you are ultimately eluding to through your various examples is not really cause and effect, but a calculation of toxin exposure risk. In other words, what is the risk we are taking with our bodies by living in a toxin-laden environment? Thinking about all those theoretical possibilities can be so overwhelming, and sometimes paralyzing. But, focusing on the who-why-but often detracts from the reality of what can harm our children today.
My reality is that in our community, we have seen outbreaks of measles. We have children with chicken pox, and we have seen pneumococcal meningitis that could all have been prevented by vaccination. And, I am just as concerned as Dr. Swanson about my child’s classmate who may walk in the doors with a horribly contagious cough. These diseases are real threats to my children today, and are toxic to their health.
As much as I am worried about the potential harm from our modern food supply or city’s air quality, the control I have to protect my child from these theoretical risks are minimal. I am more terrified that my healthy child could contract a disease that I had the power to protect against.
I will continue to make choices to limit my children’s exposure to things I know will cause them harm. And, for me, this less toxic lifestyle includes limiting their risk of catching a deadly disease, by choosing to vaccinate.
Lori T says
Why should people who get vaccinated be worried about the… I’ll be nice -people- who don’t? Because vaccines aren’t always 100% effective. Some people get them and don’t get full immunity, so you, the non-vaccinated person, could be carrying a crippling, or lethal, disease and give it to someone who otherwise thought they were immune. Herd immunity only works if everyone gets vaccinated. People who don’t are getting other people sick. Look at the rise of whooping cough lately. People like you are doing that. It’s your fault. If a kid dies from it, you killed them. Take that in, digest it and own it. You ‘chose’ that for them.
I have very little patience with people who refuse to vaccinate. I have a child. Not only are you endangering yourself and everyone around you including me, you endanger my kid. If he ever gets sick because of some loon who feels they are purer, smarter and more wholesome for not getting vaccines that have been around for decades & proven safe… there will be no end to the legal damage I will do to them.
Honestly, you’re not seeing something the doctors are not, you are not smarter than the research, you are not in on some vast conspiracy. Go get a tinfoil hat and go live off the grid in Alaska, but don’t get near me or my kid and sneeze.
John Brownlee says
I’m really glad you wrote this, Dr. Swanson. I remember years ago seeing a video of a child who was dying from Pertussis. It haunts me to this day. I have two little boys, and I have personally read much of the vaccine research (both for/against). I’m not a scientist or physician, but I’m committed to never seeing my children, or the children around them, suffer from a disease like that that is largely preventable.
Claire says
I agree, Dr. Swanson! Of course so many of us are trying to reduce toxins in our lives as well as in our families’! But the protection afforded by vaccines far exceeds the impact of additives and “toxins” in the vaccines themselves. And allergies are certainly not linked to vaccinations. We can talk much more about hypotheses for increases in allergies and auto-immune responses in another discussion thread.
Shana – I do worry about people choosing not to vaccinate their families. This has huge consequences for individuals who are not able to vaccinate themselves – young babies, our elderly and those with significantly compromised immune systems. I have (or have recently had) all three of these in my family, and the choices those around us make have significant health consequences for us. So – yes, I am concerned.
I cannot imagine that your doctor is brainwashing you, but if so, please find another doctor. There are amazing doctors everywhere, and we are all so lucky to be in their care and to benefit from their expertise, years of training and thoughtful care.
Shana Merling says
How’s the New York Times for a source on just one of the claims I make? I especially enjoy paragraph 4…
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/05/reassessing-flu-shots-as-the-season-draws-near/?_r=0
I am just so thankful we still have some freedoms in this county.
Karen Moorshed says
Shana, with all due respect, you’re comparing a blog post on the internet versus literally 100 years of medical research.
You’re wrong, you’re thinking is wrong, and you’re putting anyone you make health decisions for at risk.
michelle says
It’s funny how anti vaccine individuals always pull up flu shot articles as their response to multiple people telling them they are wrong. And always asking “if you’re kids are vaccinated what’s the problem?” Those 2 points right there prove the problem. You don’t understand the science at all. And starting that doctors only want to mask symptoms not treat them but then bash them for promoting vaccines that PREVENT disease just makes you look stupid.
Richard Saint Cyr MD says
Good job, Doctor Swanson, for continuing to defend vaccines on your blog. I also must constantly defend vaccines on my health columns as well as with patients, and really there’s just not much more to add to this debate. It really isn’t a “debate”, as many have pointed out, because a debate would imply there are two valid sides to a story, when the evidence continues to overwhelm that vaccines have saved millions of lives over the decades, with few major side effects — as again the IOM has verified.
One small nit-pick, mentioning e-cigarretes: yes, it’s a new industry but please don’t automatically write them off as a valid method to stop smoking. Just last month we have the very first randomized control trial of e-cigs showing up to 13% quit rate after one year, a very impressive number, almost as good as Chantix with none of the side effects: https://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0066317
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Thanks, Dr Saint Cyr
See my comment below about e-cigs (a response to Lynette). Although harm reduction is something to believe in, I’m not sure there is certainty around e-cigs–especially when looking out for teens and young women who are definitely the target of Jenny’s alliance.
I’m especially thinking of those who don’t smoke and are brought into the nicotine market thinking an e-cig is “safe” or “beautiful” or “alluruing.” As you and I both know, nicotine is asonishingly addictive.
Elizabeth Soliday says
The question comes up over and over- if vaccines are bad how come all children don’t react badly?
Even in controlled experiments, animals react differently when injected with the same amount of toxin:
Focal Experimental Epilepsy in Rabbits (1990)
“The present study aimed at producing a chronic model of focal epilepsy in rabbits. In group A (30 rabbits) 0.05 ml alumina gel was injected in the right sensorimotor cortex, while in group B (10 rabbits) normal saline was injected in the same region. The observation period lasted 70 days. All group A animals developed spontaneous focal or focal initiated seizures that continued throughout the study. THE RATE OF SEIZURES VARIED IN DIFFERENT ANIMALS. Both interictal and ictal epileptiform activities were recorded in the ECoGs. Histological examination showed a typical alumina granuloma with gliotic reaction adjacent to the granuloma.”
Experimental Epilepsy in Cats (Google books source)
“19 of 24 cats, 3-7 weeks after administration of alumina, had occurrence of spontaneous epileptic seizures. In the other 5 cats, seizures could be elicited by light flash stimulation and sudden auditory stimulation (claps)”
Epilepsy: A Comprehensive Textbook (Google books source)
“Spontaneous clinical seizures appear between 2 weeks and 6 to 8 months after intracerebral injection of alumina cream depending on the number of injections and the width of the involved area.”
“Gastaut and A. Roger (1955) explained the complexity of psychomotor seizures in man by the simultaneous or time-scattered onset of clinical discharges in different cortical and/or subcortical structures.”
The seizures they are producing here are not always what you think either. Many of the animals’ symptoms include having: a blank stare, anxiety, rapid breathing/panting, dilation of pupils, chewing/sniffing motions, aggression, fear and escape, excessive salivation, head turning.
In humans, the median onset of myalgia following vaccination was 11 months. Would anyone even relate it at that point?
“Over 1 year, 113 patients with various neuromuscular disorders and previous immunization with aluminium-containing vaccines underwent a deltoid muscle biopsy in Créteil and Bordeaux: 97 (87%) had no detectable MMF lesions, and 16 (13%) had.”
Maybe their lesion went somewhere else in their body?
Even the needle length and injection techniques are variables that must be accounted for according to the 1997 Pediatrics article (Vol 100, No. 3): Needle Length and Injection Technique for Efficient Intramuscular Vaccine Delivery in Infants and Children Evaluated Through an Ultrasonographic Determination of Subcutaneous and Muscle Layer Thickness
Dr. Christopher Exley says that there are way too many variables to be able to predict or gauge exactly what aluminum will do or where it will go in the body. Dr. Christopher Shaw and his fellow lab assistants saw aluminum cause neuron death and do not want vaccines for themselves anymore. Is this a chance you want to take with your little one or yourself?
https://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/124/9/1821.full
Linda Tock says
@Elizabeth
There’s a difference between a IM injection in the arm or thigh, and one injected directly into the brain. Surely you can see that.
Your Gastaut and Roger citation is (in this day and age) irrelevant – it’s nearly 60 years old.
“Maybe their lesion went somewhere else in their body?” Are you suggesting lesions migrate? Physically detach from tissue and move freely?
That’ll require quite a bit of evidence from you – that’s a rather extraordinary claim, which requires proof.
Dr. Christopher Exley also states that,
“Nevertheless, this data suggests that an Al-superoxide complex can be formed from Al(OH)^2+ species, and based on the reaction energies for the redox process, the resultant complex can also promote Fe(III) reduction.
For other hydrolytic species, Al(OH)3 and Al(OH)4 ^-1, the promotion cycle is not very likely for different reasons. The low solubility of Al(OH)3 prevents for having significant concentrations in solution, although we have characterized [39] an (sic) slightly exothermic reaction for Al-superoxide formation. On the other hand, in the case of Al(OH)4 ^-1, it is very unlikely that a superoxide can displace an (sic) hydroxide, and therefore no superoxide stabilization can be attained with this hydrolytic species”
Source: Ruipérez F, Mujika J I, Ugalde J M, Exley C and X Lopez. 2012. Pro-oxidant activity of aluminum: promoting the Fenton reaction by reducing Fe(III) to Fe(II). Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. 117:118-123.
Said superoxide formation is what causes ROS generation and tissue damage. Because Al(OH)3 is so sparingly soluble, it simply cannot cause a significant ROS generation.
Lynnette says
Jenny McCarthy is inarguably a menace. But what’s your concern about e-cigarettes? They can have nicotine (or not) and they help people quit inhaling smoke and carcinogens into their lungs.
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Lynette,
You bring up a great point. E-cigs may be a way around additction to harmful tobacco cigarettes, although the jury is out on true benefit to individuals.
My concern? It’s that Jenny is designed to advertise/entice women to use e-cigs. And I would hedge a bet this is designed to get teens and young women (who potentially don’t smoke but like the stimulant effect of nicotine and the diet suppresant) to start using them. Jenny is an icon, unfortunately, and I believe she advertises them and potentially brings new users in.
Imagine a teen using an e-cig and becoming addicted to nicotine (very easy to do!!)– then out at a party and someone offers her a tobacco cigarette.
See my concern?
Further, I don’t think Jenny is thinking about harm reduction principles taking the gig and I don’t think she is thinking about improving public health. Here’s a nice summary of the data on e-cigs from Dr Aaron Carroll
https://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/what-do-studies-say-about-electronic-cigarettes/
shana Merling says
Again, thank the powers that allow me to make my own decisions! I am especially grateful that the only thing any of you here can do about my decision is call me names.
I believe the reports that state vaccinated children are 500% more likely to get ill than non-vaccinated children. I see it. The majority of my friends who vaccinate have children who are often sick with an array of illnesses. I have a 9 and a 6 year old and neither one of them have ever needed antibiotics, hospitalization, or sick with anything more than a common cold for more than 2-3 days. The same goes for other children I know who were never vaccinated. In fact, my daughter was at preschool when there was a whooping cough outbreak. I was pulled aside by a teacher who informed me that my daughter was sharing lunch and hugging the child with the coughing child! Was I worried? Sure! But a call into my holistic thinking pediatrician said he was okay with my decision to just closely monitor my daughter. What ever came of it? Nothing! My children have natural immunity, I am witness to it.
Jim Woodgett says
It is clear that you have a very set view about vaccines but there is no need to make up data (such as vaccinated kids are 500% more likely to get sick). If you think about it, this makes absolutely no sense and is farcical. It is not as though vaccines are magic. We understand the molecular processes that provide the protective effect of vaccination. We have deep understanding of how to measure protection and transmission. CLinical trials are designed upon anecdotes, but control populations that remove bias. There is real, proven science behind vaccines. To deny their protective effects (in some cases incomplete) is your right but you should realise the very real and present risk. You have been very lucky that your children have avoided serious illness. You can certainly thank the other kids they play with that have very likely had vaccines which keep the level of circulating measles, mumps, rubella, diptheria, TB, and a multitude of other viruses at low levels due to host deprivation. You are correct in recognizing natural immunity. Our immune systems evolved to repel the multitude of infectious agents in our world but there is a constant battle between infection and response. Vaccines give our immune systems a head start so that the immune reaction if an infection does occur is far faster and more effective. This is the problem with preventative medicine. We don’t see what we may have stopped. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work. Unfortunately, our memories of the many debilitating diseases of only 60-80 years ago have been forgotten by many, to be replaced by a false sense of security and ignorance.
Natalie's advocate says
Shana, I see the same exact thing you see, not just in other children I know, but within my own family. My olders who were fully vaxed before I knew better and my youngers are not and the difference in their health and cognitive function/milestones is very noticeable (and yes, others who spend a significant amount of time with them have brought it up also). I feel the same way; thank God we are still allowed to make these decisions ourselves. I only wish I had known what I do now before I had my olders vaccinated; my second child is pretty much disabled for life and will always need to live with us or someone else no matter how much she improves.
Charlie G says
Shana, can I help clarify the question about what are “toxins”?
HERE IS THE CDC LIST which starts fairly innocently but read on.
D-mannose, D-fructose, dextrose, potassium phosphate,
plasdone C, anhydrous lactose, micro crystalline cellulose, polacrilin , magnesium stearate, cellulose acetate phthalate, alcohol, acetone, castor oil, FD&C Yellow #6 aluminum lake dye, human serum albumin, fetal bovine serum, sodium bicarbonate, human-diploid fibroblast cell cultures (WI-38), Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium, monosodium glutamate
March, 2011
Anthrax (Biothrax) aluminum hydroxide, benzethonium chloride, formaldehyde, amino acids, vitamins, inorganic salts and sugars May, 2012 BCG (Tice) glycerin, asparagine, citric acid, potassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, Iron ammonium citrate, lactose February, 2009
DT (Sanofi)
aluminum potassium sulfate, peptone, bovine extract, formaldehyde, thimerosal (trace), modified Mueller and Miller medium, ammonium sulfate
December, 2005
DTaP (Daptacel)
aluminum phosphate, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, 2-Phenoxyethanol, Stainer-Scholte medium, modified Mueller’s growth medium, modified Mueller-Miller casamino acid medium (without beef heart infusion), dimethyl 1-beta-cyclodextrin, ammonium sulfate
July, 2012
DTaP (Infanrix)
formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, aluminum hydroxide, polysorbate 80, Fenton medium (containing bovine extract), modified Latham medium (derived from bovine casein), modified Stainer-Scholte liquid medium formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, aluminum hydroxide, Vero (monkey
kidney) cells, calf serum, lactalbumin hydrolysate, polysorbate 80, neomycin sulfate, polymyxin B, Fenton medium (containing bovine extract), modified Latham medium (derived from bovine casein), modified Stainer-Scholte liquid medium
July, 2012
DTaP-HepB-IPV (Pediarix)
formaldehyde, gluteraldehyde, aluminum hydroxide, aluminum
phosphate, lactalbumin hydrolysate, polysorbate 80, neomycin sulfate, polymyxin B, yeast protein, calf serum, Fenton medium (containing bovine extract), modified Latham medium (derived from bovine casein), modified Stainer-Scholte liquid medium, Vero (monkey kidney) cells
August, 2012
DTaP-IPV/Hib (Pentacel)
aluminum phosphate, polysorbate 80, formaldehyde, gutaraldehyde, bovine serum albumin, 2-phenoxethanol, neomycin, polymyxin B sulfate,
Mueller’s Growth Medium, Mueller-Miller casamino acid medium (without beef heart infusion), Stainer-Scholte medium (modified by the addition of casamino acids and dimethyl-beta-cyclodextrin), MRC-5 (human diploid) cells, CMRL 1969 medium (supplemented with calf serum), ammonium sulfate, and medium 199
July, 2012
Hib (ActHIB) ammonium sulfate, formalin, sucrose, Modified Mueller and Miller medium November, 2012
Hib (Hiberix) formaldehyde, lactose, semi-synthetic medium March, 2012 Hib (PedvaxHIB) aluminum hydroxphosphate sulfate, ethanol, enzymes, phenol, detergent, complex fermentation medium.
Stephanie says
I don’t have children of my own yet but I follow this blog closely and have always been interested in the vaccine debate. The thing I know for sure is that I trust my physician 100%. If she thinks I should get a flu shot every year, even when I’m pregnant, etc. I’m going to do. Of course I will ask question too. She has a medical degree and protecting me is her job. If you think your provider is brain washed or uneducated than I would suggest finding someone else. I know that I will make the best decisions I can for my children with the help of their pediatrician and until I go to medical school I will defer to them when deciding what will keep my child from getting measles or pertussis. I know people like you Shana who choose not to vaccinate and I’m very glad that your children haven’t suffered any ill effects from your choices and I hope they never will. Unfortunately, you run a risk every day because of that and everyone else’s children are forced to because of your choice. Watch a video of what some of these diseases look like and don’t be so naive as to think it could never happen to your “naturally immune children.”
Ellen Mary says
We *could* have safer vaccines. We don’t because putting Pharma on the honor system with Eli Lilly Protection Act & the VICP does NOT work.
Aluminum is not proven safe, Thimerosal is still lingering in Prenatal & Flu Vaxes. We can have Organic food & cleaning products only because of Consumer demand. But our demands for safer vaccines get us no where: because doctors would rather fight parents than Pharmaceutical Corporations. Most parents don’t even know what diseases they are giving shots for, let alone ingredients or brand.
My Ped now is the FIRST doctor I have ever had that knows what Brand of Vaccines he is administering. Ignorance will never, ever be bliss.
And it is a medical fact that OPV gives someone’s child Paralytic Polio every single year, reliably.
Ellen Mary says
And just a note, very few Vax formulations on the current schedule have been in use for ‘decades’. Not DTaP, not Gardasil, not Rota, not Prevnar, not Hib. My husband & I *only* got DTP & MMR & OPV. 2 out of 3 of these have been replaced because of issues with adverse events & we are not that old.
This is a complex issue, but the same folks that tell us that GMO food grown with Pesticides & Herbicides is totally safe (that IS the position of the FDA) won’t hear or address our legitimate concerns about vaccines. Mothers of the Vaccine Injured have always spoken out (for over 100 years, since the inception of the practice) & will never stop speaking out because every child matters. No child’s reaction is ‘too rare’ to matter & be understood.
Vax’ed children DO contract & spread Pertussis, the epidimeology shows that over 90% of cases are in the fully up to date . . .
Viki says
Since we are trading anecdotes, I’ll share mine.
I was born in a developing country. My older siblings weren’t vaccinated. And since the conditions were different than the United States, my older siblings and cousins has measles, mumps, whooping cough. (Not to mention the TB exposure that reared its head after 35 years and landed my sister’s household in quarantine.) So we have: a handful of infant deaths from whooping cough, deafness (from typhoid we believe), loss of fertility from mumps…and I’m sure I’m forgetting some. I was the first child to receive vaccinations. I still have my smallpox vaccine scar, showed positive titters from that TB vaccine for decades. Add the entire CDC schedule, plus extras for traveling to Asia. I am enjoy far better health than my siblings. Do I have vaccinates to thank? Hard to say! I do know that I was spared deafness, loss of fertility, severe respiratory infection, mandatory treatment for TB (let’s google the effects of 9 months of broad spectrum antibiotics, shall we?), and death. That’s enough.
I did have concerns about how my children in particular reacted to vaccines. I am an annoying schedule tweaker. But it was difficult to not afford my children the same privilege of being spared suffering from preventable disease since it’s quantifiable and tangible for my family.
What I find interesting is that vitamin manufactures are the ones supposedly doing battle with big pharma. My friend who skips the flu shot gives his kid mind boggling quantities of vitamins. I think we need to address the vaccines-supplanted-by-vitamins angle. 10g of vitamin C won’t secure your child’s victory over pertussis. In terms of toxin exposure, vitamin happy parents could be harming their children in the long term.
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Hi Viki,
You need to read Dr Paul Offit’s new book where he tackles the issues you mention:
Do You Believe in Magic–The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine
https://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0062222961
Ellen Mary says
I *can* agree though that the article that this blog post is about is definitely full of inaccuracies & those are always unhelpful. It has some seeds of truth, but is pretty sloppy & hysterical. It even gets the Autism rate wrong (it is 1 in 31 boys now, 1 in 150 hasn’t been the rate for @ least a year, maybe more). So I wouldn’t worry too much about this particular article. Just like Jenny, it won’t convince anyone with a taste for science or an eye for hard facts.
Mommy Call says
Yes! Great post!
Alice Ackerman, MD says
I have spent nearly three decades as a pediatric intensivist. I have seen many children die or become permanently disabled by vaccine preventable diseases. I am a mother of three and a grandmother of two. They are all fully immunized. I am a physician AND a scientist. I can read. I can think for myself. I have read hundreds of scientific publications related to vaccines, and was fortunate to have participated in studying the original Hib vaccine, which has nearly completely wiped out what was once the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in infants and children less than the age of 5 years. I knew personally the “inventor” of the Hib vaccine, Dr. David H. Smith, who had a really hard time convincing any company to pick up the production of this vaccine. Why? Because the amount of money recoverable by the pharmaceutical company was not likely to be enough to overcome the investments that had to be made to meet FDA standards, and to PROVE efficacy and effectiveness.
I am so happy that Dr. Swanson has posted this piece. We must all make our own decisions about the way we treat our children. It is just incomprehensible to me that the weight put on the fallacious evidence presented by the antivaccine movement and its leaders is given more credibility among otherwise intelligent people than the sometimes life-long work of physicians and PhD’s who are committed to finding cures and preventive means against communicable diseases.
I have stood at the bedsides of many dozens of children made critically ill or killed by many of these bacteria and viruses, especially Hib, pertussis, meningococcus, varicella and influenza (or their complications). NONE of these children had been adequately vaccinated. All had contracted the disease from an unsuspecting individual. ALL of the parents who experienced these losses in the post-vaccine era felt horribly guilty that they had not had their child immunized, or that they had not insisted that the adults surrounding a susceptible infant (in the case of pertussis (whooping cough) be immunized to prevent the infant from contracting the disease.
To all the Shana’s out there: Please think about this. When was the last time you saw a prime-time TV ad for a vaccine? It doesn’t happen, because there is NOT the same kind of profit motive for the pharmaceuticals as for drugs like Viagra, BoTox, antidepressants, and others. There is NO financial gain for the FDA, the CDC, or your local primary care doctor to recommend vaccination.
Michael Milobsky MD says
This is my first time reading Dr Swansons blog and I have enjoyed reading the response to Shana’s post. I am a pediatrician in Castle Rock,CO (near Denver) and have lived here for 13 years. As my practice has grown I have been steadily exposed to the worldview held by Shana. Easily 10-20% of my primary care practice shares the same strong opinions expressed by Shana and the antivaccine movement.
I have struggled for years on how to respond to these ideas since (as seen in Shana’s post) the language thrown around is often vague and filled the terms and positions that cant really be proven or disproven. I find that it is like arguing with someone about religion or God. Many pediatricians in my community have started to exclude these families from their practice altogether. Others make the parents sign a legal waiver absolving the doctor and the practice of amy responsibility if something happens to their kid. I have stopped trying to change opinions and simply have been acknowledging their views, expressing my disagreement and offering to be available if they want to ask questions or talk about it. In a few cases, my ongoing relationship with the family and building trust has been successful in changing a parents mind and position about vaccinating.
My outrage has been worn down by countless hours of arguments and citing irrefutable science that is brushed off by a parents conviction that I have been brainwashed by the government/corporate overlords and that I am motivated only by profit and not any child’s well being.
Thank you Dr Swanson for helping me re-commit to truth and giving me more tools to fight this nonsense.
Finn's Mom says
Dr. Milobsky: When I went to for a prenatal visit to the pediatric group I went to as a child, I asked our beloved pediatrician about their position on non-vaccinated patients. Dr. “B’s” response (and this was 11 years ago now) was, “There are no non-vaccinated patients in our practice.” Plain and simple. I have friends who were afflicted by polio as children and their lives are full and joyful, but their bodies are reminders of the hideous disease. So, keep speaking the truth.
Kristin Hetrick says
I have two children, one with a chronic life-threatening lung condition. Getting a flu shot was a subject I discussed with a friend recently, she chose not to give one to her son this year. She was sure I wasn’t doing it either. I told her I would be devastated to know I chose to not vaccinate and do everything I could to protect my child. The flu is not just a little cold in our house, it can be a killer. If my child was in the hospital dying from the flu, and I knew I had not done everything I could to prevent it, I don’t think I could live with myself.
Not just the flu shot but any other illness. My daughter had five chicken pox as opposed to a body full of them, if she had full blown chicken pox I do not know what the outcome would have been. I do know this, I would rather have some defense than none, and there is no vitamin in the world that can give me that. I suppose someone with a child that is born typical and healthy can have such a blase’ opinion on whether or not to vaccinate, because they are not faced with life or death everyday. When your child’s health (especially with a genetic illness that has no cure) that you have no control over happens in your family, perhaps you will be a bit more concerned with what everyone else is doing to protect themselves. I suppose those people are also the ones that send their green-snot-driping-nose-obviously-coughing-with-a-fever kids to school and have no concern for others catching what their child has.
Grow up, be a great parent, give your kids their vitamins…I know I do, but vaccinate them and give them a chance to live their lives without having to deal with the horrifying side effect of infecting themselves and another child with your choice.
Andrew says
Hey Wendy,
I atteneded the Bioethics film on “Everybody’s Business” and really enjoyed it. My question is in someways and offshoot of this article and targets what I would believe to be the highest percentage of under vaccinated population, those that are mis/underinformed and not actively against vaccinations:
I recently started at Seattle Children’s and am lucky that my mom was diligent enough to have kept extreme discipline/organization with my vaccines because I was just astounded that in today’s day and age I had to revert to digging up that old “yellow card” to even have line of sight to if I got everything I needed to, was current and up to date. What is being done, or do you think needs to be done to improve the means of information flow regarding vaccinations and making it easy for people to vaccinate as well as be acurately informed on if they have? Would an ideal state be a universal database with mechanisms of those needing to retrieve vaccination information accessible with enhanced functionality to even potentially actively push reminders as well as data mine market trends?
thanks,
Andrew
Jesse Harper says
Dr Swanson- I am a new parent and am deeply conflicted about the vaccination debate. While I have every intention of having my child vaccinated. My hesitation is that I don’t want my him injected with aluminum adjuvants or other potentially harmful vaccine additives. While I would love to believe the md’s who have responded here, and indeed my own pediatrician, I’ve not yet seen an answer that adequately eliminates my concern… simply saying that they are safe doesn’t address the toxicity question. There are absolutely reasons we should vaccinate our children… there are also absolutely concerns of toxicity and adverse effects (long and short term) of adjuvants and other additives to vaccines. As a reference this NIH article about the adverse effects of aluminum adjuvants https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21568886/
I wish we could have an honest conversation about it. On the CDC website they document the number of patients who experience negative side effects- ranging from mild to severe (permanent brain damage, seizures, deafness etc) – they list them because they actually occur. Isn’t that something we should acknowledge? It doesn’t mean we give up on vaccinating but it does mean that there are some risks associated. When we have all of the information and don’t feel like facts are being withheld- it builds public trust of the medical profession. The “appeal to authority” argument is counterproductive for those of us who aren’t inclined to accept it without a thorough explanation of all available data.
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Thanks for your comment. I think we are having an honest conversation and I think your skepticism is important. I side on the research that vaccinations, on the recommended schedule, are in the best interest our of children and our population hence why I have gotten them for my own children. The IOM report is a comprehensive review of risk vs benefit. This isn’t about deference to authority rather my belief in science and the research that weighs risk and benefit and what I know at this time.