Infant vaccines

[Peregrine]

I had an argument with my brother the other night about whether vaccines were safe or not. I don't think they are, he thinks that if the doctors say it's ok, then they're safe.

He has a little guy who's going through rounds of vaccinations & his wife is not sure she wants to continue. I just had a baby in the fall & I've gone the naturopathic route & avoided the shots.

His little guy is constantly sick & I've tried to present some articles & websites to my brother but he thinks Naturopath is hokey & the anti-vaccine info is just a bloody conspiracy. I've even presented info from the Canadian Medical website on ingredients to him. In the end, I just told him, 'look, I can only give you this info, whether you read it or not is ultimately up to you'.

Any opinions or personal experiences with vaccinations? Do you think they are safe or not? I wanted to do a poll on this but I'm not sure if I've done it right.

Also, any info you can add, such as credible websites, would be great.

[Joe Hillshoist]

Could you add a don't know?

I was vaccinated in the late 60s early 70s, and have always been fairly healthy, I rarely get sick and usually when I do I recover quicker than most.

Not that that has anything to do with vaccines, but I guess they haven't had a negative effect on me. (Tho there is no "control me" to compare them to.)

[Peregrine]

I can't seem to edit the poll part of the post, but as for vaccines today as opposed to 60's & 70's, they're a lot different. They're in 'cocktail' forms now, & it seems there's a lot more of them? I'll give you an example:

I was given a Child Health Passport when my daughter was born. By the time she is 4, if I decided to go through with these shots, she would recieve 17 shots, most of them combination shots (For example, a Diptheria, Pertussis, Polio, Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) 'cocktail')

I gave my brother these links:

www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html

www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/cig-gci/p01-tab01-eng.php

The latter is from a Canadian Government website.

[monster]

I voted safe. Vaccines are cool.

Plantibody vaccines and recombinant vector vaccines are a little scary, though, because the technology is relatively new.

[Peregrine]

I voted safe. Vaccines are cool.

What about them makes you think they're safe? Not being confrontational, I'm just curious about your viewpoint.

[monster]

What about them makes you think they're safe? Not being confrontational, I'm just curious about your viewpoint.

I think it's the fact that I'm studying them right now, and understanding how they work makes them less scary.

There were probably some mistakes when they were first invented, but not now. For example, they used to put Thimerosal (mercury) in them, but they don't anymore. So I think the theory is very solid by now, I can't vouch for the practice (there could be quality control issues, for all I know) but that's true for anything.

Studies have been done to test the link between vaccines and all kinds of things like autism, but there has never been a link.

My microbiology prof did say that it's possible for Live, Attenuated vaccines to cause problems (you could get a mild form of the disease) and also a longshot chance of getting the same thing from an Inactivated vaccine. The toxoid vaccines are safe, though, because the bacteria are totally dead (placed in formaldehyde).

[Peregrine]

That link I posted to the Canadian website is from 2006, I'm assuming that these ingredients are still used. Some still have trace amounts of thimerosal & many contain aluminum & formaldehyde. I'm really not comfortable with pumping that into my daughter. These are put out by pharmaceutical companies that are interested in making a profit, not with my child's health. Seems to me their in the business of keeping people sick, therefore generating more profits.

[monster]

Here's a quick link I found about formaldehyde in vaccines.

I just think that the things vaccines protect against are much more important than the remote chance they could cause a problem themselves.

[John E. Nemo]

Vaccines kill.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kir ... 88323.html

Government Concedes Vaccine-Autism Case in Federal Court
- Now What?[/

After years of insisting there is no evidence to link vaccines with the onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the US government has quietly conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssHeal ... 7120080201

French Vaccine Companies Face Manslaughter Investigation

French authorities have opened a formal investigation into two managers from drugs groups GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur over a vaccination campaign in the 1990s, a judicial source said late on Thursday.

Judge Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy also opened an investigation for manslaughter against Sanofi Pasteur MSD, a joint venture between Sanofi Aventis and Merck, the same source said.

The investigations follow allegations that the companies failed to fully disclose side effects from an anti-hepatitis B drug used in a vaccination campaign between 1994 and 1998.

There was no immediate comment from the companies or the two managers involved.

From 1994 to 1998, almost two thirds of the French population and almost all newborn babies were vaccinated against hepatitis B, but the campaign was suspended after concerns arose about possible secondary effects from the treatments.

Some 30 plaintiffs have launched a civil action in the case, including the families of five people who died after vaccination.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1973070.stm

Gov’t suspends hepatitis-B vaccine after deaths

(01-02-2008)

HANOI — The Health Ministry decided yesterday to temporarily suspend batches of hepatitis-B vaccine following the recent deaths of two children in Ha Noi’s Long Bien District and central Thua Thien-Hue Province.

Health Deputy Minister Dr Cao Minh Quang said the ministry had asked the Viet Nam Drug Administration to test samples from the batches of hepatitis-B vaccine as well as the combined diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus (DPT) vaccine given to the two children.

The ministry also urged concerted efforts among the administration, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemic (NIHE) and the National Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI) to work out plans to ensure supplies of the hepatitis-B vaccine met demand.

The ministry also asked the Vaccine and Medical Bio-technology Product Verification Institute to complete the verification of Berna Biotech Company’s Hepatitis-B vaccine batches as soon as possible to bring the total of over 2.1 million doses into use, Quang said.

The Preventive Medicine and Environment Department would ask for help from the World Health Organisation office in Ha Noi and South Korea’s LG Company in investigating the deaths.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... jab125.xml

Two girls die after cervical cancer jab

By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor
Last Updated: 2:08am GMT 28/01/2008

Two girls have died suddenly after being given the vaccine against the virus which causes cervical cancer (Gardasil, a Human Papillomavirus vaccine) the European drugs watchdog has revealed.

The deaths, in Germany and Austria, came after the women were given the injections but it is not known how they died or where there was any connection with the vaccine. All such deaths are recorded by drugs regulators.

Three women have also died in America after having the vaccine but the cause of death has not been revealed.