#61 January/February 2003
Haphazard HealthFinding before-and-after studies on vaccine effects is like finding a hypodermic in a haystackby Harold Buttram, MD, & Woodlands Healing Research CenterA small but growing minority of physicians and scientists are becoming aware that safety testing for the various vaccines has been woefully inadequate. As one of many examples, a l994 special committee of the National Academy of Sciences (Institute of Medicine) published a comprehensive review of the safety of the hepatitis B vaccine. When the committee, which carries the responsibility for determining the safety of vaccines by Congressional mandate, investigated five possible and plausible adverse effects, they were unable to come to conclusion for four of them because they found that relevant safety research had not been done. (1) The clear implication of this report, which in our experience is fairly representative of a haphazard pattern towards issues of safety throughout the vaccine field, is that adverse reactions to the vaccines may be occurring on a large scale without being recognized as to their true nature. In support of this statement, two pioneering studies will be reviewed below, one from l955 and the other from l984, both sounding alarms on potential side effects from vaccines: One of the most intriguing studies from older medical literature dealing with the pertussis vaccine was that of A.L. Low (Chicago, l955) who performed electroencephalograms (EEGs) on 83 children before and after pertussis immunization. In two of these children he found that the EEGs turned abnormal following the immunizations without other signs or symptoms of abnormal reactions. In his report he commented: "This study shows that mild but possibly significant (emphasis ours) cerebral reactions may occur in addition to the reported very severe neurological changes."(2) Another intriguing study, this one from Germany, was reported in a little-noted letter-to-the editor in the New England Journal of Medicine, in l984.(3) In the study, a significant though temporary drop of T-helper lymphocytes was found in ll healthy adults following routine tetanus booster vaccinations. Special concern rests in the fact that, in four of the subjects, the T-helper lymphocytes fell to levels seen in active AIDS patients. The implications of these two studies are enormous. In regards to the latter (German) study, if this was the result of a single vaccine in healthy adults, it is sobering to think of the possible consequences of multiple vaccines (18 vaccines within the first six months of life at latest count) given to infants with their immature and vulnerable immune systems. Unfortunately, other than clinical observations, we can only speculate as to these consequences, as this test has never been repeated. As for the Low study with EEGs before-and-after pertussis immunization, at a time when myriads of our children are suffering from various degrees and phases of brain dysfunction, it is possible that vaccine reactions may be occurring on a large scale, unrecognized as to their true nature, and contributing to this pool of unfortunate children. It is both sad and shameful that neither of these studies have had follow-ups in American laboratories and medical centers, as should have been the case. Had follow-ups been done, they would perhaps have led to safer forms and combinations of childhood vaccines than available at present. From a careful gleaning of medical literature over many years, we have been able to find only three other reports in the literature of studies done before-and-after immunizations, all from foreign medical centers:
With these three reports from reputable medical centers, published in peer-review journals, the flood-gates of medical research have been opened. The truth about vaccine mechanisms, effects, as well as adverse reactions cannot be long in following. Although late, we would hope that our own medical and research centers would join in this search. CITATIONS (1) Stratton KR, CJ Howe, and RB Johnston, Jr., Editors, Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines; Evidence Bearing on Causality, Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press, Washington D.C., l994 pp. 211-236. (2) Low AL, Electroencephalographic studies following Pertussis immunization, J Pediatrics, 1955;47:35-39. (3) Eibl M et al, Abnormal T-lymphocyte subpopulations in healthy subjects after tetanus booster immunization, (letter), NEJM,1984;310(3):198-199. (4) Nouno S et al, Adverse effects on EEG and clinical condition after immunizing children with convulsive disorders, Acta Paediatr Japan, Aug., 1990; 32(4):357-360. (5) Immunologic findings in children with abnormal reactions after vaccination, Czechoslovakia Pediatrics, January, l993; 48(1): pp. 9-12. (6) Pabst HF et al, Kinetics of immunologic responses after primary MMR vaccination, Vaccine, 1997; 15(1):10-14. |
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