Investigate Before You Vaccinate

The following information has been taken from pamphlets from The Australian Vaccination Network, and provides great things to consider around the topic of vaccination.

If you are considering vaccination, please be sure to take the following precautions:

1. Is my child perfectly healthy? If not, consider delaying vaccines.
2. Has my child had a course of antibiotics in the past 30 days? If so, consider delaying vaccines.
3. Do I or anyone else in my family have a history of seizure disorders, severe food or environmental allergies or other autoimmune issues? If so, please discuss this with your practitioner before vaccinating.
4. Has my child had a serious reaction to a previous dose of any vaccine? If so, please discuss this with your practitioner before continuing to vaccinate.
5. Have I seen the manufacturer's information on the vaccines I'm considering? Have I looked at the list of ingredients, side effects and contraindications before making my decision?
6. Do I know the symptoms of a vaccine reaction? Do I know how to report a reaction should it occur? (1800 007 468 in Australia only or www.avn.org.au - Reaction report)
7. Has my doctor or clinic assistant noted the vaccine lot and batch number in my child's record?
8. Do I know my rights? Am I aware that vaccination is not compulsory in Australia and that I can send my child to school, preschool, childcare or playgroup whether they are fully or partially vaccinated or completely unvaccinated.
9. Do I know that I will not lose any government entitlements should I choose not to vaccinate? I will still get childcare benefits and the maternity immunisation allowance once I've registered as a conscientious objector.
10. Do I know the actual risks of the diseases I am vaccinating against? What are the chances that my child will get these illnesses despite vaccination or, in the case of live-virus vaccines - because of vaccination?


A few facts on Childhood Influenza...

In general, children and infants who contract Influenza-Like-Illness, which is caused by hundreds of viruses and bacteria, generally find the illness to be mild and self-limiting with a risk of death considered to be less than 1 in a million.

The manufacturer's information states, "Neither Influenza A(H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine nor AFLURIA has been evaluated in children. Safety and effectiveness in the pediatric population have not been established."

In 2008, the Western Australian Government allowed the manufacturers of two of the brands of seasonal flu vaccine, CSL Pty Ldt and Sanofi-Pasteur, to fund a study of the effectiveness of flu vaccines in children as young as 6 months of age. The trial has been cut short due to a high incidence of seizure activity and other serious adverse events following administration of this vaccine which now includes the "swine H1N1 2009' virus.

A survey of paediatricians in the US showed 43% of doctors actively opposed the universal vaccination of children and 27% were unsure. 50% of doctors were concerned about the safety of the inactivated vaccine.

Today's children receive up to 12 vaccines before 12 months of age.

There are cumulative, synergistic and latent effects from the chemicals in vaccines. These chemicals include mercury and aluminium adjuvants (neurotoxins), antibiotics and preservatives - known to cause allergies and anaphylaxis.

Chronic illness in children has increased as the number of vaccines used in children has increased.

Efficacy in Children:

In a recent master study* that analyzed all relevant influenza vaccine studies during the past 40 years, researchers found that in healthy children older than 2 years of age, the live flu vaccine was just 33% effective; the inactivated vaccine was just 36% effective. (* Source: The Cochrane Collaboration, 2006)

In a recent master study** researchers found NO evidence that influenza vaccines prevent flu in children younger than 2 years old. (** The Lancet, February 2005)

A Fact Sheet on the Risk of Cervical Cancer and Use of Gardasil Vaccine...

Gardasil contains only 2 HPV strains - 16/18, of the 20 strains that have been associated with cervical cancer carcinomas

HPV 16/18 are stated to be associated with 70% of cervical cancer which means women are still vulnerable to the infection by other HPV strains associated with cancer (30%)

Trials of this drug did not observe that it would prevent any cervical cancer

Merck claimed this to be (100%) effective against preventing cervical cancer even though they were only comparing pre-cancerous lesions in an age group that rarely gets cervical cancer and where one-third of pre-cancerous lesions do not lead to cervical cancer

Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (pharmaceutical company) funded this research at the Cancer and Immunology Research Centre at the University of Queensland

Trials of the vaccine were funded by Merck (pharmaceutical company that manufactures the vaccine)

10 of the authors of the trials were employed by Merck and the company has financial arrangements with several of the other authors

The duration of protection from this vaccine is unknown as it has only been tested in adults for 3-4 years

It contains 225 micrograms of aluminium adjuvant. Many times more than most vaccines and known to cause allergies/anaphylaxis and autoimmune reactions in humans

In safety trials it was found that there was 3 times the number of serious medical problems in the vaccine group than the placebo group. Including juvenile arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and arthritis. These are autoimmune diseases all of which have significantly increased in the population since vaccination use increased.

Women vaccinated 30 days before becoming pregnant had more congenital birth defects than the placebo group.

An Analysis of Whooping Cough Incidence

It is interesting that the Health Department is claiming that whooping cough is now a problem in the 10-14 year age group. Prior to vaccination, whooping cough was mainly a problem for 0-2 year olds and most serious in infants under 6 months of age. It was not considered a serious disease in adolescents and adults because natural infection gives long-term immunity which reduces the severity of the disease if it re-occurs later in life.

The Australian College of Paediatrics states that the efficacy of the vaccine declines after 2-3 years and this is why regular booster shots are required throughout childhood and adolescence. Infants begin a schedule of 3 doses of whooping cough vaccine from 2 months of age. However, an infant is not protected from the disease until they have received all 3 doses of the vaccine at 6 months of age or later. 90% of mortality from whooping cough occurs in children less than 6 months of age yet they cannot be protected by the vaccine at this age because it requires 3 doses to be effective.

It is also known that many fully-vaccinated children are still getting whooping cough. In addition, there are three species of bacteria that cause whooping cough disease and the vaccine only protects against one species.

In Australia, the percentage of children fully vaccinated against pertussis rose from 71% in 1991 to over 95% in 2009.

Vitamin Deficiency - A Form of Chemical Stress

In our clinic we like to classify the three major categories of stress on the body as physical, chemical and mental/emotional. The body has shown that it will react similarly to different types of stresses and go through predictable hormonal and physical changes. There are often many reasons why a particular symptom occurs in the body and it has always been a priority of mine to figure out what the actual cause of the problem is. For example, something like a headache may be due to misalignment in the upper neck, tight muscles and trigger points in the neck, dehydration, exposure to a toxin or an overwhelming day at work. Due to the complexity of the body, it's often a case of the more you know the more you don't know. However, we have had a lot of success in our clinic looking for the reason of the symptom and finding the most appropriate way to deal with it.

In dealing with chemical stress we usually lump these into two categories: toxicity and deficiency. Simply put, you can put stress on the body by being deficient in something (like a vitamin or mineral) or by being exposed to some type of toxin (i.e. environmental).

One common deficiency that has received a fair amount of press recently is vitamin D. As Canadians, I believe it is very important that we pay attention to this as vitamin D is needed for proper bone health, protects us from diabetes, improves the function of the immune system, is anti-carcinogenic, can improve mood and well-being and can also offer protection from cardiovascular disease. According to the Canadian Vitamin D Society, vitamin D deficiency drains the Canadian Health Care System of 9 billion dollars per year.

The body has the ability to make vitamin D through exposure to the sun and UVB rays but this can become a challenge with our Canadian winters. In one study 41% of healthy subjects were found to be vitamin D deficient throughout the year. This also becomes more of an issue for people with darker skin as they will absorb less UVB rays through the skin. The minimum RDA for adults for vitamin D is 400 IU's that will help prevent things like rickets but it is not likely enough for the average Canadian to prevent the above mentioned diseases.

I have 3 different clinical interests in the application of vitamin D. The first of my interests is around the winter time when more and more people have lowered resistance to viruses like the cold and flu. Vitamin D has recently been shown to help the immune system defend against colds and flus and I think it is a cheap and easy way to help protect you through the winter. Another one of my interests is that I tend to see a fair amount of middle aged women in the clinic that are beginning to have some bone density issues and vitamin D has proven to help maintain bone density and prevent osteoporosis. Another interesting correlation for me is the effect of vitamin D on inflammation in the body which has an effect on some autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases.

Most experts are recommending at least 1000 IU's for adults with a healthy upper limit of 2000 IU's per day. It is safe to say that most Canadians are not getting adequate amounts of sunlight especially in the winter and therefore most are experiencing a deficiency of this essential vitamin. You can get vitamin D through foods like oily fish, cod liver oil, egg yolks and fortified foods like dairy products. There are two forms of vitamin D:D12 (ergocalciferol) from plant sources and D3 (cholecalciferol) from animal sources. Most of the research indicates that D3 is the superior form and in some cases D2 can interfere with the normal production of D3.

Ensuring you have adequate vitamin D intake is an "easy" step toward improving your health. Chemical stressors in the form of toxicity and deficiency are eating away BILLIONS of our health care dollars each year. We only get one shot to take good care of our bodies so let's start right now to take small steps towards better health. Good luck on your journey towards optimum health!!

Dr. Jason Plotsky