Knowledge Is the Antidote for
Vaccine Orthodoxy
February 02, 2016
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Story at-a-glance
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Vaccine orthodoxy dictates that everyone must
believe vaccines are safe and effective, and that
government-recommended vaccines must be used by
everyone
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Vaccine risks are increased for some people because
of biological and environmental differences and
one-size-fits-all vaccination policies lacking
flexible medical and personal belief exemptions are
dangerous and oppressive
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There needs to be an open, rational discussion about
vaccination, infectious diseases and health
By Dr. Mercola
Last year, a measles outbreak at Disneyland brought the
vaccine safety and choice debate front and center in the media.
What should have been an intelligent discussion that weighed
the potential risks versus the potential benefits of
vaccination — and highlighted the very real need for more
research into their safety — turned into an over-heated, often
irrational argument.
Parents who dared to speak out in favor of vaccine choice
were oftentimes attacked for their position, with some mandatory
vaccination supporters going so far as to call for parents of
unvaccinated children to be fined and imprisoned.
What we're seeing is the result of heightened emotions based
on fear. Fear of children getting sick and dying from either the
complications of infectious disease or the complications of
vaccination.
None of these fears are unfounded; each deserves due
attention, including the attention of public health officials,
who should be conducting the kind of scientific research that
will yield answers to questions about vaccination that most
doctors giving federally recommended vaccines to children and
adults cannot answer.
In the vaccination debate, what happens all too often is
not an open, rational discussion but rather a free-for-all
marked by inappropriate name-calling and threats. It has been
suggested that experienced physicians who criticize
vaccine safety or support vaccine choice be stripped of
their medical licenses.
Promoters of vaccination laws that do not allow any
non-medical exemptions have gone so far as to call for
imprisonment of parents who refuse to give their children every
federally recommended vaccine, and they even have called for
censorship of online public discussions about vaccine risks and
failures.
In a statement in the video above, Barbara Loe Fisher,
president and co-founder of the National Vaccine Information
Center (NVIC) explains why forced adherence to vaccine orthodoxy
is a danger to freedom of speech, press and exercise of
conscience in America:1
"Those embracing vaccine orthodoxy have a right to
their beliefs, but they should not be given the legal right
to persecute and punish fellow citizens refusing to convert.
Tyranny by any other name is still tyranny."
Two Centuries of 'Vaccine Orthodoxy'
Vaccine orthodoxy dictates that everyone must believe
vaccination is safe and effective, and that
government-recommended vaccines should be mandated for use by
everyone — no exceptions.
In the beginning, it was just one vaccination for smallpox,
but now the federally recommended childhood vaccine schedule
calls for 69 doses of 16 vaccines for every child starting on
the day of birth through age 18.
But the fact is, vaccine risks are increased for some people
because of biological and environmental differences.
As Fisher states, for some people the risks of vaccination
are 100 percent, and when a vaccine reaction happens to you or
someone you love, the logical response is to seek out why it
happened so that it doesn't happen again.
There needs to be an open, rational discussion about
vaccination, infectious diseases and health. After all, don't
all of us want our children to be healthy and safe from harm?
If we want to protect the health of ALL children, we cannot
continue to ignore the signs that we've gone too far
with public health policies making mandatory use of multiple
vaccines in early childhood as our nation's No. 1 disease
prevention strategy.
We may well be sacrificing too many children's lives in the
name of "the
greater good."
'One-Size-Fits-All' Vaccine Policies Deserve to Be Challenged
No matter where you stand in the vaccination debate, most
would agree that in the case of medical care, one size does not
fit all. What works for your child (or yourself) may not work
for your neighbor's but, when it comes to vaccines, they're
prescribed exactly the same for every child.
Today we know, however, that some children, like those with
mitochondrial disorders, are at increased risk from
vaccinations. Why, then, aren't efforts being made to identify
these children to prevent any unnecessary harm? An individual's
response to a vaccine is actually influenced by many
factors.
For instance, an individual's gut microbes may help determine
their immune response to vaccines.
Infants that responded to the rotavirus vaccine had a higher
diversity of microbes in their gut, as well as more microbes
from the Proteobacteria group, than infants who did not mount
the expected immune response.2
Epigenetic science, which now tells us that our genes are NOT
our destiny, is another variable in vaccine safety, because no
one knows how vaccines affect your genes (and it's likely
different in every person).
Part of the problem is that once you start to epigenetically
tinker with the infant immune system, you are basically
depositing what Dr. Suzanne Humphries, author of "Dissolving
Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History," refers
to as "little cluster bombs" that will eventually "explode into
a big problem."
As an example, she cites a study by Nikolaj Ørntoft, in which
African girls were injected with a tetanus vaccine to see which
genes might be upregulated or downregulated (basically "turned
on" or "turned off"). What they found is that there's really no
way to predict which genes will be affected.
So not only will each individual have a unique response to
any given vaccine based on their age, current health status, and
microbial makeup, but we're also epigenetically predisposed to
respond differently in terms of the side effects we might
develop.
You can see, then, how vaccine mandates that do not respect
biodiversity may turn out to be health disasters for some
people.
Educated Parents Are Increasingly Rejecting Vaccine Orthodoxy
Trying to get unbiased, truthful information about vaccines
is not easy, and the cards are very much stacked against you
receiving the truth. As noted by Humphries:
"We have a highly profitable, lucrative religion that
involves the government, industry, and academia. That
religion is vaccination. People believe in vaccines. They'll
tell you, they believe in vaccines. But you ask them what
they know about vaccines and it will be almost nothing.
In fact the people who argue the loudest usually know
the least when it comes to trying to convince you to take
the vaccine. That's been my experience.
In the U.S., there is a growing number of people who are
rejecting vaccine orthodoxy, especially college-educated,
financially stable, middle-class parents who have become
knowledgeable about vaccine risks and failures and want the
right to make informed, voluntary choices about which vaccines
they and their children get.
This is called informed consent to medical risk-taking, and
this basic human right is increasingly being threatened by
public health officials and medical trade groups working with
pharmaceutical company lobbyists who want to eliminate vaccine
exemptions and force vaccine use.
Fisher explains how mandatory vaccination proponents are
using threats and intimidation to achieve their goals, including
even employing racial profiling and shaming in an effort to
demonize those criticizing vaccine safety and advocating for
vaccine choice. As Fisher explained:3
" … [T]oday in America, when we take the initiative
to become educated about vaccination and infectious
diseases, we are publicly labeled as 'ignorant' and
'selfish' if our newfound knowledge leads us to disagree
with vaccine orthodoxy.
… This year, public humiliation of anyone who rejects
vaccine orthodoxy has already begun.
A New Year's Eve editorial in a Colorado newspaper
branded parents, who will not "listen and comply" with
government 'vaccination rules,' as 'odd,' 'foolish,'
'irresponsible' and 'reckless,' and said a law should be
passed to force them to comply.
… Another disturbing type of propaganda to re-emerge
as we head into 2016 is what I described in 2012 as 'turning
vaccine exemptions into class warfare.' This involves highly
educated, well-paid physician politicians and professors in
academia, who are engaging in racial profiling and the
shaming of educated, middle class Caucasian parents
challenging vaccine orthodoxy."
Knowledge Is the 'Antidote' to Vaccine Orthodoxy
Fisher maintains that, as more Americans graduate from
college in increasing numbers, those seeking knowledge about
vaccination will only grow. "It is one reason why we are
witnessing an accelerated push by government and industry to
eliminate the legal right to informed consent to vaccine risk
taking in America," she said.4
Indeed, the 2015 Disneyland measles "outbreak" drummed up
enough public hysteria that it was used to justify elimination
of personal belief vaccine exemptions from California daycare
and school attendance and child care employment laws.5
Increased public knowledge about the risks and failures of
the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine may have led to a
different outcome. For instance, did you know it's possible to
have vaccine-strain measles infection after receiving the live
attenuated MMR vaccine? It happened in 2013, when a 2-year-old
fell ill with
vaccine-related measles 37 days after receiving the MMR
vaccine.
This was well beyond the typical incubation period for
measles transmission, and it occurred in the context of an
outbreak investigation of measles cluster. So at first it was
assumed to be a wild-type measles infection, when in fact it was
vaccine-strain measles infection. We have no statistics about
how often this assumption is made when it may actually be
inaccurate.
Also, were you aware the MMR vaccine provides no assurance of
long-lasting immunity and even two doses of MMR vaccine may fail
to provide long-term protection? Like B. pertussis whooping
cough and other infectious diseases, measles has natural
cyclical increases and decreases every few years in populations.
These may occur even in highly vaccinated populations.
Vaccines Don't Provide the Same Life-Long Immunity as Naturally
Acquired Infection
Many people believe that once you receive a vaccine, you're
protected from that disease for life. This is a misconception.
Vaccines do not confer the same kind of
long-lasting immunity that is obtained from experiencing and
recovering from the natural disease.
This is why booster shots are necessary, and why some are
recommending that a third
MMR vaccine be added to the U.S. vaccine schedule. The
vaccine simply cannot provide life-long immunity the way getting
a naturally acquired infection can.
Many people don't realize there is such a thing as
natural herd immunity. However, vaccines cannot provide
this. From my point of view, there can be little doubt that we
need to review the safety and effectiveness of the current
vaccination program in the U.S. This review needs to include
methodologically sound investigative studies that are not
compromised by conflicts of interest within industry and
government. Fisher stated:6
"Vaccine injury and death does not discriminate
between races or social classes, except when people are kept
ignorant, economically dependent and unable to make informed
choices.
… While we still have freedom of speech, press,
thought, conscience and religion in America, please exercise
and defend those civil and human rights at every
opportunity. If we all stand up for the freedom we have left
today, we will not lose more of it tomorrow. Knowledge is
the antidote to vaccine orthodoxy because knowledge is
power."
Your Right to Informed Consent Is Being Threatened
Multiple bills were introduced in 2015, many backed by
pharmaceutical and medical trade industries, that threatened
informed consent rights. More are expected in 2016. This
included bills that:7
Eliminated and restricted vaccine exemptions |
Expanded vaccine mandates for both adults in the
workplace and children |
Expanded police and emergency powers during declared
public health emergencies |
Expanded intrusive vaccine tracking and data sharing
to enforce compliance |
Mandated the public publishing of detailed vaccine
exemption and vaccination rates in much smaller
geographical boundaries like individual schools |
Expanded laws to allow pharmacists to administer
more vaccines |
At least 18 states already have vaccine bills filed for 2016
legislative sessions. Many state bills propose to add new
vaccine mandates and restrict or eliminate the religious and
personal belief exemption to vaccination so only a restrictive
medical exemption remains. A bill in Virginia was introduced
that would remove a doctor's ability to grant a medical vaccine
exemption if it does not conform to narrow federal
contraindication guidelines.
A bill in Hawaii proposes to mandate that every time the CDC
recommends a new vaccine for children AND adults, it is
automatically added to the state required list of vaccines for
all residents of the state.
If you'd like to stay informed about vaccine bills moving in
your state, as well as vaccine bills being proposed at the
federal level, and take action to protect your informed consent
rights when it comes to vaccination, the
NVIC Advocacy Portal is a free online communications network
that connects registered users with their legislators through
their smart phones, tablets and computers.
Through the Portal, NVIC's advocacy program staff will keep
you up to date with the status of vaccine bills impacting your
freedom to make vaccine choices and give you guidance about how
you can educate your legislators about why vaccine policies and
laws must include flexible medical, religious and conscientious
belief exemptions.8
Protect Your Right to Informed Consent and Defend Vaccine Exemptions
With all the uncertainty surrounding the safety and efficacy of
vaccines, it's critical to protect your right to make independent
health choices and exercise voluntary informed consent to
vaccination. It is urgent that everyone in America stand up and
fight to protect and expand vaccine informed consent protections in
state public health and employment laws. The best way to do this is
to get personally involved with your state legislators and educating
the leaders in your community.
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY.
National vaccine policy recommendations are made at the federal
level but vaccine laws are made at the state level. It is at the
state level where your action to protect your vaccine choice rights
can have the greatest impact.
It is critical for EVERYONE to get involved now in standing up
for the legal right to make voluntary vaccine choices in America
because those choices are being threatened by lobbyists representing
drug companies, medical trade associations, and public health
officials, who are trying to persuade legislators to strip all
vaccine exemptions from public health laws.
Signing up for NVIC's free Advocacy Portal at
www.NVICAdvocacy.org gives you immediate, easy access to your own
state legislators on your smart phone or computer so you can make
your voice heard. You will be kept up-to-date on the latest state
bills threatening your vaccine choice rights and get practical,
useful information to help you become an effective vaccine choice
advocate in your own community.
Also, when national vaccine issues come up, you will have the
up-to-date information and call to action items you need at your
fingertips.
So please, as your first step,
sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal.
Share Your Story With the Media and People You Know
If you or a family member has suffered a serious vaccine
reaction, injury, or death, please talk about it. If we don't share
information and experiences with one another, everybody feels alone
and afraid to speak up. Write a letter to the editor if you have a
different perspective on a vaccine story that appears in your local
newspaper. Make a call in to a radio talk show that is only
presenting one side of the vaccine story.
I must be frank with you; you have to be brave because you might
be strongly criticized for daring to talk about the "other side" of
the vaccine story. Be prepared for it and have the courage to not
back down. Only by sharing our perspective and what we know to be
true about vaccination, will the public conversation about
vaccination open up so people are not afraid to talk about it.
We cannot allow the drug companies and medical trade associations
funded by drug companies or public health officials promoting forced
use of a growing list of vaccines to dominate the conversation about
vaccination. The vaccine injured cannot be swept under the carpet
and treated like nothing more than "statistically acceptable
collateral damage" of national one-size-fits-all mandatory
vaccination policies that put way too many people at risk for injury
and death.
We shouldn't be treating people like guinea pigs instead of
human beings.
Internet Resources Where You Can Learn More
I encourage you to visit the website of the non-profit charity,
the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), at
www.NVIC.org:
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NVIC Memorial for Vaccine Victims: View
descriptions and photos of children and adults, who have
suffered vaccine reactions, injuries, and deaths. If you or your
child experiences an adverse vaccine event, please consider
posting and sharing your story here.
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If You Vaccinate, Ask 8 Questions: Learn
how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and prevent vaccine
injuries.
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Vaccine Freedom Wall: View or post
descriptions of harassment and sanctions by doctors, employers,
and school and health officials for making independent vaccine
choices.
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Vaccine Failure Wall: View
or post descriptions about vaccines that have failed to work and
protect the vaccinated from disease.
Connect with Your Doctor or Find a New One That Will Listen and Care
If your pediatrician or doctor refuses to provide medical care to
you or your child unless you agree to get vaccines you don't want, I
strongly encourage you to have the courage to find another
doctor. Harassment, intimidation, and refusal of medical care
is becoming the modus operandi of the medical establishment in an
effort to stop the change in attitude of many parents about
vaccinations after they become truly educated about health and
vaccination.
However, there is hope.
At least 15 percent of young doctors recently polled admit that
they're starting to adopt a more individualized approach to
vaccinations in direct response to the vaccine safety concerns of
parents.
It is good news that there is a growing number of smart young
doctors, who prefer to work as partners with parents in making
personalized vaccine decisions for children, including delaying
vaccinations or giving children fewer vaccines on the same day or
continuing to provide medical care for those families, who decline
use of one or more vaccines.
So take the time to locate a doctor, who treats you with
compassion and respect, and is willing to work with you to do what
is right for your child.
© Copyright 1997-2016 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/02/02/vaccine-orthodoxy.aspx
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