Pertussis Microbe Outsmarts the
Vaccines as Experts Argue About Why
April 12, 2016
Story at-a-glance
-
Vaccination proponents want to eliminate vaccine
exemptions, while parents discover acellular
pertussis vaccine in DTaP shots does not prevent
infection, and vaccine immunity lasts at best for
two to five years
-
In response to mass pertussis vaccination, the B.
pertussis microbe has evolved to evade the pertussis
vaccines, creating new strains producing more toxin
to suppress immune function and cause more serious
disease
-
Vaccinated people can still transmit infection, even
though they show no symptoms, and have received four
to six pertussis shots, proving pertussis vaccine
acquired “herd immunity” is an illusion and always
has been
By Barbara Loe Fisher
For the past decade, Americans have been subjected to dire
warnings that B. pertussis whooping cough cases are on the rise
and it is the fault of parents who don't vaccinate their
children.1,2,3
That myth actually goes back to the early 1980s,4
when parents of DPT vaccine injured children in the U.S. were
asking for a safer pertussis vaccine while, at the same time,
discovering that whole cell pertussis vaccine in DPT shots did
not prevent infection5
and vaccine immunity lasted for only two to five years.6,7
The same old excuse - "It's the parent's fault" - is being
invoked again in the 21st century by forced vaccination
proponents who want to eliminate vaccine exemptions,8,9,10,11
just as another generation of parents are discovering that
acellular pertussis vaccine in DTaP shots also does not
prevent infection12,13,14
and vaccine immunity is waning, lasting at best for two to five
years.15,16,17
Time to Dispel Myths and Lies About Pertussis and Pertussis
Vaccines
What's old is new again. And it is time to dispel the myths
and lies being told about pertussis and pertussis vaccines. In
brief:
- FACT: Both the reactive whole cell DPT
vaccine licensed in 1949 and the less toxic acellular DTaP
vaccine licensed in 1996 do not prevent infection or
transmission, and only provide two to five years of
temporary immunity at best;
- FACT : Millions of vaccinated children
and adults are silently infected with pertussis in the U.S.
every year and show few or no symptoms but spread whooping
cough to vaccinated and unvaccinated children - without
doctors identifying or reporting cases to the government;
- FACT : In response to mass pertussis
vaccination campaigns beginning in the 1950s, the B.
pertussis microbe evolved to evade both whole cell and
acellular pertussis vaccines, creating new strains producing
more toxin to suppress immune function and cause more
serious disease.
Now, here is the rest of the story in more detail:
High Child Pertussis Vaccination Rates in U.S. for 35 Years
Child pertussis vaccination rates in the U.S. have remained
very, very high for the past 35 years.18
Consistently, more than 94 percent of kindergarten children have
had four to five pertussis-containing shots either in whole cell
DPT or acellular DTaP vaccines.19
There is a 94 percent pertussis vaccination rate for children
under 35 months old20
and, today, 88 percent of teenagers attending high school have
gotten a sixth pertussis booster shot.21
That's a lot of pertussis vaccination going on in America for
a long time among children of all ages, many of whom are now
adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
So why are public health officials reporting that large
numbers of fully vaccinated pre-schoolers in Florida,22
and fully vaccinated teenagers in California,23
and fully vaccinated sisters and brothers of newborn infants are
spreading pertussis whooping cough -
24 even though most have gotten every
pertussis shot recommended by the CDC?
Before we examine why the experts are fighting with each
other about the answer to that question, let's do a quick review
of the history of pertussis and pertussis vaccine.
DPT Licensed in 1949 and DTaP in 1996 for U.S. Babies
B. pertussis whooping cough has been around since at least
the 16th century, and it can be especially serious for babies
who cannot breathe when the sticky mucous produced by the gram
negative bacteria clogs their tiny airways.25,26
The first crude whole cell pertussis vaccine was licensed in
1914,27
but was not given widely to children until after 1949, when it
was combined with diphtheria and tetanus vaccines into the DPT
shot28
and used until 1996, when a less reactive DTaP vaccine was
licensed in the U.S.29
By 2014, public health officials reported that 86 percent of
the world's children had gotten at least three pertussis shots,30
but estimate there are still about 16 million pertussis cases
and 195,000 pertussis-related deaths every year globally.31
75 Percent Drop in Pertussis Deaths Before DPT Licensed in 1949
But what about deaths in the U.S. from pertussis whooping
cough? In the U.S., deaths from pertussis infections dropped by
more than 75 percent between 1922 and 1948, the year before
the DPT vaccine was licensed.
In 1948, the mortality rate was less than 1 pertussis death
per 100,000 persons and would never be higher than that again.32,33
In 2013, there were about 29,000 reported pertussis cases and 13
pertussis-related deaths in America, with nine of those deaths
in infants under age 1.34
However, reported numbers of pertussis cases do not
match the total number of actual cases of pertussis
that are happening in America. Most pertussis cases, like most
vaccine reactions, are not being diagnosed or reported
by doctors to the government.35
Public health officials admit they still don't have reliable
lab tests to measure pertussis immunity and can't agree about
how to diagnose pertussis when infected people, especially
vaccinated people, show up in doctor's offices with mild
symptoms.36,37,38
Millions of U.S. Pertussis Cases in Vaccinated Persons Not
Identified or Reported
But what public health officials have known for a
long time - and do not publicly talk about – is that
millions of vaccinated children and adults living in the
U.S. get pertussis whooping cough and are never identified.39,40,41,42
That's right: there are millions of pertussis infections
going on in America among vaccinated people but doctors are not
diagnosing or reporting them. In fact, whether you or your child
have been vaccinated or not, you can get a silent asymptomatic
pertussis infection and transmit it to someone else without even
knowing it.43,44,45
That child or adult sitting next to you in the bus,
classroom, movie theater or doctor's office, who has a little
cough or no cough at all, could be infected with B. pertussis
whooping cough, even though he or she has gotten every
federally recommended dose of pertussis vaccine.
No Herd Immunity: Vaccines Do Not Block Infection, Carriage or
Transmission
When there are a lot of people with silent asymptomatic
pertussis infections, it is impossible to know who is a carrier
and who is not, which means that reported cases of pertussis are
just the tip of a very big iceberg. It also means that articles
blaming whooping cough cases on unvaccinated or partially
vaccinated children are nothing more than wishful thinking and
scapegoating.46
Bottom Line: Both natural
and vaccine acquired immunity is temporary
47 and while vaccination may prevent
clinical symptoms, it does not block infection, carriage or
transmission.
If vaccinated people can get silently
infected and transmit infection without showing any symptoms
– even after getting four to six pertussis shots - then
pertussis vaccine acquired "herd immunity" is an illusion
and always has been.
So the big question is: Why has more than a half-century of
pertussis vaccination failed to produce true herd immunity like
public health officials insist it theoretically can if only more
and more pertussis shots are given to more people more of the
time?48,49
Extremely Reactive DPT and Less Reactive DTaP Both Have Low
Efficacy
The answer is simple and the emerging scientific evidence is
compelling: the B. pertussis microbe has evolved over the past
65 years to evade whole cell and acellular pertussis vaccines,
which drug companies have marketed and medical doctors have
aggressively promoted in a crusade to kill a species of bacteria
they still know very little about.50,51
A review of the medical literature reveals that the experts
are unhappy with how much they still don't know about the B.
pertussis microbe52
and are arguing with each other about if, when, how and why
pertussis vaccines have consistently failed to do the job of
achieving herd immunity to prevent B. pertussis whooping cough
from circulating in highly vaccinated populations around the
world.53,54,55
The inconvenient set of scientific facts they have to work
with are these:
- FACT: The efficacy of whole cell
pertussis vaccine in the DPT shot was measured to be between
30 and 85 percent, depending upon the type of DPT and
vaccine manufacturer,56,57,58,59,60
and protection lasted two to five years.61
- FACT: After a low of about 1,000 cases
of pertussis were reported in the U.S in 1976,62
it was obvious all through the1980s and 90s that whole cell
pertussis vaccine in DPT shots was not preventing
infection or transmission.63,64,65,66,67
Pertussis cases increased in highly vaccinated populations
in cycles of three to five years - just like before DPT
vaccine was widely used in the 1950s.68,69,70,71,72
- FACT: The whole cell DPT vaccine used
until the late 1990s in the U.S. was an extremely reactive
vaccine. DPT vaccine reactions like fever, pain, and
irritability were experienced by between 50 and 85 percent
of children and seizures and collapse/shock reactions
followed 1 in 875 DPT shots.73,74
Brain inflammation was reported following 1 in 110,000
DPT shots with permanent brain damage after 1 in 310,000 DPT
shots.75,76
Finally, in 1996, the marginally effective and extremely
reactive whole cell DPT vaccine was replaced with a far less
reactive but marginally effective acellular DTaP vaccine.77
Similar to whole cell pertussis vaccines, acellular
pertussis vaccine efficacy in clinical trials was measured
to be between 40 and 89 percent, depending upon the DTaP
vaccine manufacturer.78,79,80
- FACT: Acellular pertussis vaccines do
not prevent infection,81,82
just like whole cell pertussis vaccines do not prevent
infection. In the 21st century, pertussis outbreaks and
cyclical increases have continued,83,84,85
– even after a pertussis booster shot was added to the
schedule for all adolescents and adults in 2006.86,87
By 2010, the Tdap pertussis booster shot was found to be
only about 66 percent effective in providing temporary
immunity for teenagers and adults.88
Pertussis Microbe Evolved to Evade Both DPT and DTaP Vaccines
Eighteen years ago, in 1998, molecular biologists and other
basic science researchers began warning that the B. pertussis
microbe started to evolve to evade whole cell pertussis vaccine
after DPT shots were given on a mass basis to children in the
1950's.89,90,91,92
For the past two decades, these bench scientists have been
publishing hard evidence that over the past 65 years, B.
pertussis bacteria have efficiently adapted to both whole cell
and acellular pertussis vaccines.93,94,95
New Pertussis Strains with More Toxin Causing More Serious
Disease
In a fight to survive, the B. pertussis microbe has created
new strains that produce more pertussis toxin to suppress the
human immune system and cause more serious disease. Today, the
pertussis strains included in the vaccine no longer match the
pertussis strains causing whooping cough disease.96,97,98,99,100
Bottom line: There is
compelling scientific evidence that B. pertussis bacteria
have evolved to survive vaccine pressure. Now, there are
more virulent pertussis strains that are more efficiently
transmitted by vaccinated children and adults with waning
immunity.
As one research scientist commented in 2009, "An important
question is whether other childhood vaccines also select for
pathogens that are more efficiently transmitted by primed hosts,
resulting in increased virulence."101
War on B. Pertussis Bacteria & Vaccine Policies Not Driven By
Hard Science
The crusade by public health officials to kill the B.
pertussis microbe by adding more and more doses of ineffective
vaccines to the child and adult schedule – now even invading the
once sacred place of the womb and insisting all pregnant women
be vaccinated102,103
- is a cautionary tale.
As we witness a bacterial species efficiently adapting in an
effort to survive a war that has been declared on it, what has
become painfully clear is that the history of mass vaccination
has not been driven by hard science transparently shared with
the people.104,105
It has been driven by the politics of a public health
profession working a lucrative government-industry public
private partnership to protect failed vaccine policies, while
ignoring the hard science.106,107
We, the people, are not going to pretend the science doesn't
exist. It is up to each one of us to inform public health
officials and legislators that it is their responsibility to
show us the science and give us a choice when it comes to
vaccines, especially when no vaccine manufacturer, no public
health official and no doctor is liable in a civil court of law
when vaccine reactions and failures lead to injury and death.108
Learn more on NVIC.org. Sign up for the free
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© Copyright 1997-2016 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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