About Vaccines

Our message to the CDC and AAP: "Green our vaccines, and administer them with greater care."

Questioning the safety of vaccines is a taboo topic in the United States and many other countries. The pressure is on most pediatricians to always counsel that the "benefits outweigh the risks" when it comes to vaccinating children. Yet, most parents have heard about the legitimate concerns many parents have that vaccines may have triggered their children’s autism or other neurological disorders ("NDs").

The growth in the number of vaccines given to our children in the last 20 years is rarely discussed in the media, despite a stunning chart like this one that shows a 260% increase in vaccines administered (were millions of children dying from deadly diseases 25 years ago? No, they weren’t.) Parents should know that vaccines are never tested for their "combination risk", despite the fact that children may get as many as 6 vaccines in a single visit to the doctor. And, when it comes to vaccines, how can it be possible that one size fits all? What may present as no risks for one child may present enormous risks for another.

As a parent contemplating vaccinating their child, we would offer the following 3-point plan to try to minimize the potential risks from vaccines. (Please note that we are parents, not doctors. What follows is not medical advice, it is the opinion of parents. Anything written here should be reviewed with a qualified physician. We are not giving you medical advice nor are we qualified to do so.)

1.	Take Precaution

	•	Consider delaying vaccines until your child is 18-24 months old.
	•	Do not vaccinate if your child is taking antibiotics.
	•	Consider no more than one vaccine per doctor’s visit.
	•	If you plan to get the MMR vaccine, ask your doctor to give it in three separate vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella.
	•	Consider giving high doses of Vitamin C (3,000-5,000 mg per day) on the day before, of, and after vaccination.
	•	With the measles vaccine (MMR), consider high doses of Vitamin A (5,000 IU or more) on the day before, of, and after vaccination.
	•	If your child experiences any developmental delays, stop vaccinating until you learn more.
	•	If your child has an adverse reaction to a vaccine, stop vaccinating until you learn more.
	•	Always ask to see the vaccine insert, and never accept a vaccine that uses the preservative Thimerosal (mercury). For a complete list of vaccines with Thimerosal, see the FDA’s website here. Note: most flu shots today still contain Thimerosal.

2.	Consider delaying vaccines

	In our favorite article on vaccines, A User-Friendly Vaccine Schedule, written by University of Washington surgeon Donald Miller, M.D., Dr. Miller makes a number of interesting observations including:

	"Public health officials, however, have not proven that it is indeed safe to inject this many vaccines into infants. What's more, they cannot explain why, concurrent with an increasing number of vaccinations, there has been an explosion of neurologic and immune system disorders in our nation’s children."

	And:

	"New knowledge in neuroimmunology (the study of how the brain’s immune system works) raises serious questions about the wisdom of injecting vaccines in children less than two years of age."

	Dr. Miller’s recommendation: don’t start vaccinating your child until they turn two years old.

3.	Consider an alternative schedule to the CDC’s current schedule

	It really is shocking to look at the 1983 recommended vaccine schedule and compare it to 2008. Does a child really need so many more vaccines today? Quiz your doctor by asking them how many vaccines were on the schedule in the 1980s. We have found that most have no idea. Three potential alternative schedules to consider:

	I.	Listen to the Doctor (Our favorite) Comment: Donald Miller, M.D., is a surgeon at the University of Washington. His article, A User-Friendly Vaccine Schedule, is summarized into this schedule.
	II.	Turn back the clock Comment: This is the schedule from 1983. If it worked for kids then, why doesn't it work for kids now?
	III.	Go Danish Comment: Denmark is a first world country based in Western Europe. Their schedule appears far more reasonable than ours. They have also been reported to have a much lower rate of autism than the U.S. Do they know something we don't?

A second disclaimer: Please note that we are parents, not doctors. What precedes is not medical advice, it is the opinion of parents. Anything written here should be reviewed with a qualified physician. We are not giving you medical advice nor are we qualified to do so.

Final thoughts and resources

The parents of Generation Rescue were once just like you. We trusted our pediatricians. We vaccinated our children according to the latest schedule from the CDC. Then, often times immediately following a vaccine visit, we watched our children change and descend into autism. The reason this organization and website exists is because we don’t want the same thing to happen to you and your child. Some things that we have learned that we want you to know include:

1.	Vaccines are big business

	As this recent Wall Street Journal article reported, Merck stands to generate as much as $2 billion in revenues per year for their new Gardasil vaccine for girls targeting Cervical cancer. For a company beaten down by the Vioxx scandal, Gardasil’s success is a very important initiative, which according to the article has caused the company to push the vaccine out the door using questionable marketing techniques while legitimate concerns about safety and efficacy still exist. (A January 2008 story that made headlines across Europe reported on the deaths of two teenage girls immediately after getting the Gardasil vaccine -- we couldn’t find any U.S. media outlets that covered the story.)

	Vaccine manufacturers are no different from other corporations: they want to sell more of whatever it is they make. Unfortunately, there is a revolving door between the policy-makers who determine the vaccine schedule and the pharmaceutical companies who make vaccines, as our own Congressional Committee on Government Reform reported in this document titled Conflicts of Interest in Vaccine Policy Making.

2.	Vaccines have real documented risks and the U.S. Government knows this.

	Vaccines have risks and parents are rarely told about these risks. Any pediatrician who represents that vaccines are "completely safe" is not presenting the facts. Many vaccines contain other toxic substances including ethylene glycol (antifreeze), phenol (a disinfectant dye), benzethonium chloride (a disinfectant), formaldehyde (a preservative and disinfectant), and aluminum (another known neuro-toxin). Further, some viruses used in vaccines are cultured in animal tissue including chicken albumin and monkey liver. Click here for a complete list of the foreign substances found in vaccines, and here for a sample of a poster made and sold by Dr. Tedd Koren summarizing vaccine ingredients.

	The CDC maintains a database called the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System or VAERS. This database keeps track of publicly reported adverse reactions to vaccines. In a ten year period (1991-2001), VAERS received 128,717 reports of adverse events, of which 14% were described as "serious" which means "death, life-threatening illness, hospitalization or prolongation of hospitalization, or permanent disability."

	The Federal Government maintains a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Between 1990-2004, the VICP paid more than $900 million in restitution to persons injured by vaccines, and they provide a list of possible injuries by type of vaccine.

3.	There are legitimate concerns over the efficacy of some vaccines.

	Consider the flu vaccine as just one example of where there may be evidence that the vaccine does not work:

	A recent study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association touting the safety of flu vaccine. Nine of the studies authors had stated financial ties to vaccine manufacturers, and an additional four authors worked for the CDC. The study also stated: "It is also important to note that there is scant data on the efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccine in young children."

	On October 27, 2006, the British Medical Journal published an article also questioning the efficacy of the flu vaccine. The article noted: "Evidence from systematic reviews shows that inactivated vaccines [flu vaccines] have little or no effect on the effects measured. Little comparative evidence exists on the safety of these vaccines. Reasons for the current gap between policy and evidence are unclear, but given the huge resources involved, a re-evaluation should be urgently undertaken...The optimistic and confident tone of some predictions of viral circulation and of the impact of inactivated vaccines, which are at odds with the evidence, is striking."

4.	You can't be forced to vaccinate your child or follow the CDC's recommended immunization schedule.

	Parents are often told that vaccinating their child is "required by law". It is important for parents to understand what their rights are as all states offer either a philosophical or religious exemption from vaccinations. You have the right to design a vaccine program that is right for you and your child. Click here for more information.

5.	AAP and Mercury The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has been perpetuating untruths about mercury for some time. They have in many cases told the public that mercury has been taken out of vaccines since 2001. This is not the case. Today, 8 years later, there are still mercury containing vaccines in the pediatric and prenatal schedule. In February, 2008 a great example of how the AAP attempted to manipulate the public into believing that vaccines did not have mercury in them was a letter to ABC trying to cancel the Eli Stone television show for wanting to tell a story about a family who won a vaccine-autism case in court. The letter, written by the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (you can view the letter here) ([ink to lettertoabc.pdf attached] calling for the cancellation of the show said: "If ABC persists in airing the show, the AAP urges the network to include a disclaimer emphasizing: No mercury is used as a preservaitve in routinely offered childhood vaccines." At the time there were 5 vaccines commonly being used in the pediatric schedule as well as mercury containing vaccines in the prenatal schedule. The AAP letter was false and even after direct communication from Generation Rescue the AAP would not retract or correct the information. These tactics are common in communication from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It appears they are more concerned about how to get the public to vaccinate than the actual truth. Our letter to the AAP can be viewed here and the part about the mercury in vaccines is also below: AAPs position about mercury in vaccines is not accurate. In the letter to ABC the AAP wrote: "No mercury is used as a preservative in routinely offered childhood vaccinations." Mercury is still in 16 vaccines including 5 pediatric vaccines such as 3 flu shots, the HEP-B and the DtaP. At best, this is similar to saying: "No caffeine is used in coffee as a preservative." It is in there, just not as a preservative. Parents are not concerned if mercury is in there as an adjuvant, or as manufacturing residue, or as an inexpensive antibacterial –they just want to know if it is in there. Not stating that mercury is in 5 vaccines used for pediatrics is considered, by many, as deceitful. What could have been written is something like “Mercury has been removed from many routinely offered childhood vaccines.” Or “Childhood mercury exposure from vaccines has been reduce by 65%” The Truth About Mercury In Vaccines According the FDA's website outlining vaccine administration for children (1) there is up to 300 picograms of mercury in the DtaP shot (Tripedia by Sanofi Pasteur, listed as the third item from the FDA website screen shot below) and 25,000 picograms of mercury in one of the pediatric flu shots (Fluzone by Sanofi Pasteur) and another pediatric flu shot has 12,500 picograms of mercury (Fluvirin by Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Ltd) and a third pediatric flu shot by the same company under the same name is said to be preservative free but has trace amounts of mercury. The exact amount does not have to be published if they are under 100 picograms but in this case but trace amounts of mercury are higher than trace amounts allowed in orally ingested items but in this case is being injected in a child. How toxic this is may be debatable, but what is not debatable is that there is still some mercury in the vaccine. Additionally the Hep-B vaccine has up to 500 picograms of mercury (Published in table 2 outside the pediatric section in of the FDA document but labeled for use for "pediatric/adolescent" use). This vaccine is used in pediatrics as well. If I was responsible for public relations and messaging for AAP I would be concerned that saying there is no mercury in vaccines would cause a liability to the AAP if the child gets hurt by the mercury in the vaccine. A family was recently awarded millions of dollars in one of the first cases in federal vaccine court related to vaccines and autism. That is just one case. (It is not publicly known but there are 12 other cases.) I do not believe the AAP wants this type of liability for inaccuracies or not telling the entire truth about vaccines. According to the FDA, other mercury containing vaccines (some of them used in children and pregnant or perspective mothers) include the DT vaccine (two of them by Sanofi Pasteur, Inc.), the DtaP vaccine (Tripedia2 Sanofi Pasteur, Inc), two TD vaccines (Mass Public Health and Sanofi Pasteur), the TT (Sanofi Pasteur), the Hep B (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals), the Hep A/Hep B, (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals), the Japanese Encephalitis (Research Foundation for Microbial Diseases of Osaka University), and the Meningococcal (Sanofi Pasteur) (1) In summary, there are 16 vaccines with mercury including 5 commonly used in pediatrics and all of them commonly used multiple times throughout the lifetime of the individual. Many of these vaccines are also injected into perspective mothers who, studies show, can pass mercury down to the child through both her umbilical cord and mother’s milk. Pregnant women and breast-feeding women are also marketed the flu shots and that mercury can be considered a pediatric exposure (at least prenatal) since it is passed to the gestating or breast fed child.

1.	Attempts At Eradicating Infectious Diseases Are Putting Our Children At Risk National Vaccine Information Center By Barbara Loe Fisher, President, National Vaccine Information Center

2.	MMR and the Simple Truth about Autism Age of Autism Blog By Dan Olmsted February 7, 2008

3.	What Did the CDC Know and When Did They Know It? Age of Autism Blog By Mark Blaxill December 13, 2007

4.	The Age of Autism: Pox -- Part 1 By Dan Olmsted, UPI April 19, 2006

5.	In the Wake of Vaccines Mothering By Barbara Loe Fisher September-October 2004

6.	Vaccines: The Overlooked Factors Autism Research Institute Bernard Rimland, Ph.D., President, Autism Research Institute

7.	DAN! Vaccine Guidelines Autism Research Institute

8.	Putting Toddlers At Risk With Mandated Vaccines American Association of Physicians and Surgeons Online By Jane Orient, M.D., Executive Director, American Association of Physicians and Surgeons
9.	Congressional Investigation of Mercury US Rep. Dan Burton is the Senior Member on the Government Oversight and Reform Committee. He has led a congressional hearing on the safety of vaccines with a focus on mercury in health care products including vaccines. The link below is to the report his committee published after a three year investigation about how vaccines and mercury in vaccines is likely to play a causal role in neurological disorders including autism. Mercury in Medicine: Taking unnecessary risks

1.	What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations By Stephanie Cave

2.	A Shot In The Dark By Harris Coulter

3.	The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults By Randall Neustaeder

1.	National Vaccine Information Center
2.	Vaccination News
3.	Vacinfo.org

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