Vaccine Dangers - Part 2

Vaccines contain elements considered by many to be dangerous, and one of them is mercury. According to Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D., Assistant Director PG Research Foundation, Darien, Illinois: “Mercury is a cumulative poison. Repeated exposure is very dangerous.” Yikes! A popular preservative used in many vaccines is a substance called Thimerosal, which is made up of about 50 percent ethyl mercury. Thimerosal is used to prevent bacteria from growing in multi-use containers of vaccines, including flu shots. Ironically, mercury isn’t necessary to prevent bacteria from growing. This potential problem could be eliminated by mass-producing only single ampoule vaccine containers; however, that would be more expensive to make, which would cut into profits or raise costs. Again, mercury is a cumulative poison, which means rather than being expelled, it slowly builds up in the body with serious consequences such as destroying brain cells and nerve cells. Even “trace” amounts of this toxic metal can be damaging to your health.

Unfortunately, we are repeatedly exposed to trace amounts of mercury from many different avenues and this continuous exposure is a problem. Therefore we must take every precaution to eliminate and reduce all exposure if we want to remain healthy. As a result of mounting pressure from many sources, the pharmaceutical companies are currently making a big effort to remove thimerosal from many vaccines. I wonder, however, why they are spending so much time and energy to remove a chemical that they claim is safe?

Aluminum is another ingredient found in many flu shots and vaccines. Aluminum is more easily expelled from your body than mercury, and theoretically should pose less of a health risk. Regardless, I don’t want to inject a toxic metal like aluminum into my bloodstream. Do you? A buildup of aluminum has been linked to many health problems including Alzheimer’s disease, seizures, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. The following list is a sample of ingredients found in various vaccines on the market. I called the numbers listed below and asked if formaldehyde, thimerosal, and or aluminum salts were still used in the processing, or in the ingredients. I was told yes, but I was assured that the levels were so low that they were considered “safe” for humans.

Acel-Immune DTP • diphtheria - tetanus - pertussis

Wyeth-Ayerst 800.934.5556

diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis adsorbed formaldehyde, aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, thimerosal, and polysorbate 80 (Tween-80) gelatin

FluShield (flu shot) • Wyeth-Ayerst 800.934.5556

trivalent influenza virus, types A&B

gentamicin sulphate formadehyde, thimerosal, and polysorbate 80 (Tween-80) chick embryonic fluid

Havrix • Hepatitis A

GlaxoSmithKline 800.366.8900

X 5231 hepatitis A virus formalin, aluminum hydroxide, 2-phenoxyethanol, and polysorbate 20 residual MRC5 proteins - human diploid cells from aborted fetal tissue

HiB Titer

Recombivax • recombinant hepatitis B

Merck & Co., Inc. 800.672.6372

genetic sequence of the hepatitis B virus that codes for the surface antigen (HbSAg), cloned into GMO, yeast aluminum hydroxide, and thimerosal

Orimune • oral polio

Wyeth-Ayerst 800.934.5556

Three types of polio viruses, attenuated

neomycin, streptomycin sorbitol monkey kidney cells and calf serum

DPT • Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Pertussis Vaccine Adsorbed

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals

800.366.8900

Produced using aluminum phosphate, formaldehyde, ammonium sulfate, washed sheep red blood cells, glycerol, sodium chloride, thimerosal medium: porcine (pig) pancreatic hydrolysate of casein (Source: http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html)

This is what the Environmental Defense Fund, as well as Mosby’s Medical

Encyclopedia has to say about some of these ingredients:

• Formaldehyde: EDF recognized carcinogen. Suspected gastrointestinal or liver toxicant, immunotoxicant, neurotoxicant, reproductive toxicant, respiratory toxicant, skin or sense organ toxicant. More hazardous than most chemicals in five out of twelve ranking systems. On at least eight federal regulatory lists. Ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds (worst 10 percent) to ecosystems and human health.

• Beta-Propiolactone: EDF recognized carcinogen. EDF suspected gastrointestinal or liver toxicant, respiratory toxicant, skin or sense organ toxicant. More hazardous than most chemicals in three out of three ranking systems. On at least five federal regulatory lists. Ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds (worst 10 percent) to humans.

• Aluminum: EDF suspected cardiovascular or blood toxicant, neurotoxicant, respiratory toxicant. More hazardous than most chemicals in two out of six ranking systems. On at least two federal regulatory lists. (A buildup of aluminum in your body may cause Alzheimer’s disease, seizures, and cancer).

• Ammonium Sulfate: EDF suspected gastrointestinal or liver toxicant, neurotoxicant, respiratory toxicant.

• Thimerosal: EDF recognized development toxicant. Suspected skin or sense organ toxicant. (Thimerosal contains mercury, which is a toxic heavy metal that kills brain cells, nerve cells, and immune cells).

• Sorbitol: EDF suspected gastrointestinal or liver toxicant. Less hazardous than most chemicals in one ranking system.

• Phenoxyethanol: EDF suspected developmental toxicant (a.k.a. antifreeze), reproductive toxicant. Less hazardous than most chemicals in three ranking systems.

As I mentioned previously, another alarming concern I have with vaccines is the fact that they are made with animal parts. Vaccines need to be grown in living cells in order to reproduce, and animal cells are usually used for this purpose. I find this particularly alarming because animal cells could contain viruses that would usually not be transmitted to humans. If you inject a vaccine into your body that contains infected monkey liver, chicken embryo, or calve serum, etc. you could unknowingly make yourself susceptible to a new strain of virus that could be devastating to humans. Some scientists believe the AIDS virus was transmitted to humans through vaccinations containing infected monkey parts. Investigative reporter Tom Curtis, former senior editor of Texas Monthly magazine and former news director of the Pacifica radio station in Houston, Texas, wrote an article for Rolling Stone exploring this hypothesis. The theory is that polio vaccines administered to people in equatorial Africa in the 1950s were created using monkey kidney cultures. The people who received these vaccines contracted a virus from monkeys infected with an autoimmune virus similar to the AIDS virus. This virus consequently developed into the human autoimmune virus we know as AIDS. Since AIDS is a blood disease it was primarily spread through sexual contact and the sharing of needles. Whether or not Curtis’s theory on AIDS is correct, his main concern was to question the use of animal parts in vaccinations. Curtis explains:

“The issue is whether we run this risk in any cases where we use animal tissues for vaccines where we suppress people’s immune systems, and then add a baboon liver or something like that. We may be planting viruses in the human species that the human species has no history of dealing with. When we take a virus from an animal that we have no ability to deal with, we run the risk of very grave consequences.”

Can you imagine getting a flu shot made from a chicken embryo that was infected with the Asian bird flu, or calf serum that was infected with mad-cow disease? Unfortunately, now you have to consider that genetically modified animal parts or cell bacteria may also become part of this unknown equation. Although I have never heard anyone discuss this concern, I know enough about the dangers of genetically modified foods to see huge red flags popping up with this scenario. What would happen? The truth is nobody knows, but it safe to assume it wouldn’t be good.

If you have an infant, you should consider these viewpoints carefully. In his book What Every Parent Should Know About Childhood Immunization, Jamie Murphy had this to say:

“What sane person would consider using a hazardous waste product, carcinogenic in rats, used in the manufacture of inks, dyes, explosives, wrinkle-proof fabrics, home insulation, and as a major constituent of embalming fluid, and inject it into the delicate body of an infant? What could formaldehyde, aluminum, phenol, mercury, or any number of other deadly chemical substances used in vaccines possibly have to do with preventing disease in children? The fact that they are needed at all in the vaccine formula argues that the product is toxic, unstable and unreliable with or without their presence.”

In the October 22, 1997 issue of Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice, Dr. Barthalow Classen showed epidemiological data of a 62 percent increase in the incidence of juvenile diabetes in Finland after the MMR vaccines were used in the 1980s. His studies also showed a 60-percent increase in juvenile diabetes in New Zealand after mass vaccination of hepatitis B vaccine was given to children. Classen also revealed his own lab studies in which the diphtheria vaccine created diabetes in mice. Classen explains:

“The biological mechanism at work here is that some babies already have a subclinical inflammation of insulin-secreting cells, and this is due to their exposure to diabetes-inducing viruses that are carried by the mother. When babies with this subclinical inflammation are injected with vaccines, the existing inflammation is made worse by the release of the interferon. This causes an autoimmune state, which, in turn, leads to immune-mediated, Type I diabetes later in childhood. So this is basically an immune-mediated condition in predisposed babies.”

In his book, How To Raise A Healthy Child In Spite Of Your Doctor, Dr

Robert Mendelsohn, M.D., writes:

“My suspicion, which is shared by others in my profession, is that the nearly 10,000 SIDS deaths that occur in the US each year are related to one or more of the vaccines that are routinely given to children. The pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine is the most likely villain, but it could also be one or more of the others.”

These are just a few of the countless claims many have made against the immunization of children. Keep in mind however, that there are many more supporters for vaccinations and they usually regard the doctors and scientists who are against vaccinations as quacks. In fact, most scientists and doctors accredit vaccinations with having a greater impact on human mortality reduction and population growth than any other public intervention besides clean water.

The Center for Disease Control recently released this statement about vaccines:

“One issue that continues to receive attention is whether vaccines somehow play a role in autism. When concerns emerged about the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and about thimerosal in vaccines, top scientists -- with the open-mindedness that characterizes good science -- planned and conducted the highest-quality, large-scale studies. No links to autism have been found.

Recently, many parents have raised questions about the timing and number of vaccines.

Most vaccines are given at an early age because that's simply when children are most vulnerable to infectious diseases and need the added protection.”

In her book, The Developing Person, Kathleen Berger claims that the accusation of childhood developmental disorders such as autism being caused by vaccines have been disproved by longitudinal studies of over a half million children in Denmark (Keep in mind she made these remarks when all of the “scientific” and anecdotal data was on her side, which was long before the latest incidents with Hana Poling and Jenny McCarthy’s son Evan). I suggest you read the information yourself and make your own decisions. To learn more about the dangers of vaccines simply punch in the words, vaccination alternatives or vaccination dangers into an Internet search engine and read as many articles as you can that discuss the pros and cons of vaccinating. When researching on the Internet, please keep in mind that some information, just as in some books, may not be reliable. This is why it is important to research many different sources for comparison, as well as search for alternative views in books.

To be continued...

Check back soon for the conclusion of Vaccine Dangers.