A Comprehensive Guide To Being A Vaccine Educated Advocate
In the frightening political climate of our country today, the largest looming threat to the health of ourselves, our children, and our families is mandatory vaccination. On both a state and federal level, governments are chipping away at medical freedom by eliminating religious and personal vaccine exemptions and restricting the ability to obtain medical exemptions. In some states in the union, this has already come to pass, including California, Mississippi, and West Virginia with Oregon (bill defeated) and Maine close behind (bill passed) (exemptions).
The big question is what can we do as individuals to fight against this injustice? There are many ways to get involved at the grass-roots level and there is a need for advocates, activists, speakers, and writers but above and beyond these vital roles, is the essential need for every single person supporting this cause and fighting for our freedoms to be educated on this topic. In order for us to speak with one powerful voice, we all have to spread the same message. The most important way to do that is to be able to address the top myths surrounding vaccination and express succinctly the talking points regarding why we have taken a stand against this tyranny in the fight of our lives.
The most worrisome facet of vaccines is, of course, the harm they have already caused millions and millions of people and the continual potential risk for harm they pose. Yet when facing a skeptic, sometimes a better approach is to start with the foundational flaw in “vaccine science”: Vaccines do not do what they have been promised to do.
Myth #1: Vaccines create immunity against disease
The hypothesis that vaccines create immunity against disease is a great one. However, our immune systems are far too complex to be fooled by this plan. To understand why that is, you need to have an overview of the basics of our immune system. There are two branches with different functions: The humoral and the cell-mediated immune response. Vaccines stimulate the humoral immune branch, which allows for the development of antibodies. However, unlike when you actually contract a virus, vaccines do not effectively stimulate the cell-mediated immune response, which works within the cell and helps create a powerful long term memory of the virus to capably and consistently create true immunity. Therefore, vaccines provide an antibody response but because it is not actually the same as contracting a virus, the body does not retain long term memory and within a short period of time, vaccine “immunity” has worn off. A titer may show an elevated antibody response to an antigen but that is NOT the same as having immunity to the virus (natural immunity).
Furthermore, in order to “trick” the body to create a more significant immune response, vaccines include “adjuvants” that are inflammatory – such as aluminum or other heavy metals. While this creates a LARGER response, it does not create a more EFFECTIVE response (vaccine function). And above and beyond that, it creates serious and potential harm especially in infants and small children, whose systems are intended by nature to be protected from such dangerous inflammation. It is this inflammation that creates most of the acute catastrophic damage in babies’ brains post-vaccination (seizures, encephalitis, and death). This leads to our second myth regarding vaccines: that they are safe.
Myth #2: Vaccines are safe
In 1986 the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act was passed into law and established: 1) The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to make settlements for the individuals or families of those injured or killed by vaccines, 2) That pharmaceutical companies could not be held liable for vaccine injury, 3) That “vaccines are unavoidably unsafe” and 4) That the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was required to study the safety of vaccines (NCVIA). However, after a recent lawsuit against HHS, it was discovered that no safety studies have been done in the last 32 years (vaccine safety). Additionally, no studies have EVER been done comparing HEALTH OUTCOMES of vaccinated children to unvaccinated children. Any study referring to “unvaccinated” children indicates that those subjects did not receive the vaccine being studied but were otherwise vaccinated.
Inherent in this idea of vaccines being safe is the assumption that the viruses that they are supposedly protecting us against are unsafe. Yet, despite the scare-mongering and fear tactics rampant in the media, the facts tell a different story. Take the latest hot topic, measles and the MMR vaccine, for example. In the last 20 years in the USA, there have been ten reported cases of measles deaths but over 93,000 injuries and more than 450 deaths from the MMR vaccine itself. It is further noted that less than 10% of vaccine injuries and deaths are actually reported and these numbers, therefore, are likely significantly higher (Measles).
The third facet of this argument regarding safety has to do with the actual ingredients contained within vaccines. I have discussed this topic in a previous article on the MMR vaccine but it is true of all vaccines. These injections are created with chemical preservatives and adjuvants, as well as heavy metals, animal and fetal tissue. The metals act as a stimulant to generate an inflammatory response while the human cells allow the virus to grow outside of the body. Yet despite reassurances from the scientific community that the amount of foreign DNA is negligible, there have been no actual studies investigating this concern nor addressing the potential cumulative effects over time.
Studies have also identified that nearly all vaccines are contaminated with other metals that are not listed on their inserts including aluminum, tungsten, steel, chromium, lead, zinc, and copper (vaccine contamination). These metals cause inflammation throughout the body and are toxic to the brain. An acute reaction to inflammation and neurotoxicity could range from lethargy to a seizure or brain swelling and permanent disability or death. Another major preservative routinely used in vaccines is formaldehyde (vaccine ingredients). Formaldehyde is an industrial by-product and known carcinogen that can cause organ damage, central nervous system inflammation and potential death above certain levels (formaldehyde). It is a naturally occurring substance in decomposing organisms and the human body has enzymes to break the toxin down when inhaled or ingested in small amounts. However, when injected directly into the body via vaccination, all the body’s filters and mechanisms for protection are bypassed. According to the FDA, the small amount of formaldehyde in a single vaccination is felt to be minimal enough to not cause harm in even an infant (formaldehyde).
However, vaccines are not administered in individual injections but rather in multiple, combined doses. In 1983, children received 10 vaccines over the course of their childhood but by 2013 children were being given up to 36 vaccines per the CDC mandated schedule (vaccine schedule). Similar to the lack of evidence regarding the other safety concerns addressed here, the cumulative effect of multiple doses of vaccines given simultaneously such as the current vaccine schedule routinely administered to children all over the United States has once again, never been studied in humans.
Myth #3: Vaccines create herd immunity
A major arguing point for vaccine supporters attempting to convince others to receive an injection is the idea of herd immunity: the prevention of the spread of a contagious disease through a sufficient enough proportion of the population being “immune.” There is truth to the theory of herd immunity except it does not apply to vaccine-induced “immunity,” only natural immunity, that which occurs after contracting a virus. As previously discussed, vaccines create a temporary state of immunity due to the stimulation of the humoral immune system with development of antibodies. This constructs an illusion of prevention but only true, life-time, natural immunity in which a large percentage of the population has actually contracted a disease can generate a protective environment of herd immunity (herd immunity).
A related argument to this myth of herd immunity is that we need to protect immunocompromised people as they may not be able to receive vaccines. This argument is not only inaccurate from a health standpoint but also attempts to become an ethical conundrum: As a parent and an individual, should our responsibility for protecting the welfare of our children trump that of the greater good? Fortunately, you can avoid responding with justifiable outrage over anyone even imagining that parents would sacrifice their children’s lives and health for any reason by pointing out the following factors: 1) The CDC and most physician groups recommend that the immunocompromised should actually avoid recently vaccinated individuals that may be shedding the virus (and NOT unvaccinated individuals) 2) Most immunocompromised people are recommended to receive the same vaccines anyway, thus making this argument moot and 3) The true danger to immunocompromised people are not the viruses for which we have vaccines for but rather viruses such as the common cold and gastrointestinal illnesses that are prevalent in all public places. As we know, the best defense for that is hand washing and sensibly remaining home when sick (immunocompromised).
Myth #4: Vaccines eradicated contagious diseases throughout history
Learning the true story behind vaccine history allows us to fully understand the big picture of how the vaccine narrative has been purposely distorted and manipulated over time by those in power to not only turn an incredible profit but also to protect the reputation and trust the public has in our government. (There are several books on this topic, most notably, “Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History” by Dr. Suzanne Humphries). But the reality is that NO vaccine has ever eradicated any disease. Every virus for which there is now an “immunization” had significant declines in morbidity and mortality prior to the existence of the vaccine. The reason for this decline was directly related to improvements in hygiene, sanitation, electricity, refrigeration, pasteurization and most importantly, improvement in diet with increased vitamin A and C consumption (Lifestyle). The other reason for the statistics and graphs showing significant declines in certain diseases, specifically measles and polio, shortly after these vaccines were introduced is the backstory regarding how the government created an illusion that they will now do anything to protect regarding the effectiveness and safety of vaccines.
Measles
Measles is a virus that most often occurs in childhood and is transmitted through respiratory droplets causing a cough, runny nose, fever and rash. The CDC has stated that despite massive underreporting of the virus throughout history, nearly every child in the United States contracted measles (more than 3.5 million or entire birth cohorts) prior to development of the measles vaccine in 1968 (CDC report). From 1920 to 1960 measles mortality fell from about 6,000 annual deaths to 380 annual deaths (Measles History). But even at the higher estimated number of cases, the crude death rate for measles was still only at 0.002% in the early part of the twentieth century and by 1960 it had fallen to 0.0001%. And yet, this relatively low death rate occurred prior to the widespread use of the measles vaccine starting in 1968. Measles was never actually eradicated (even though the CDC stated this was the case in 2000) and it turns out, the more we vaccinate for it, the more outbreaks we will have. How can that be??
The first issue is related to the fact that the vaccine’s “immunity” subsides over a period of time and thus, even in what would be considered a 100% immunized population, a recently vaccinated person shedding the virus can create an outbreak in those vaccinated but with waning immunity. This has created a new phenomenon of a more virulent strain of measles called atypical measles as a result of previous immunization having impaired the host’s immune system.
The second reason is that up to 10% of the population do not develop an immune response to the MMR, despite multiple doses, for a variety of health, genetic, and immunological reasons (vaccine failure). These individuals are more at risk for developing the more serious atypical measles infection.
And thirdly, regardless of vaccine compliance, the measles virus naturally cycles every 2-3 years creating an upsurge in incidence and then declining again (measles cycle). Even though this is a natural phenomenon that has been shown to occur regularly throughout history, the media and the government have most recently taken advantage of this situation to incite fear and push for more restrictive legislation to curtail medical freedoms.
Polio
The story of polio is perhaps the largest propaganda campaign ever perpetrated against the American public. This is a commonly used argument to “prove” the necessity and success of “protecting” the population from dangerous viruses through vaccination. Our understanding of the background of this disease is key to helping educate others and to refute this long held misbelief.
Polio is a gastrointestinal virus that can be transmitted through feces or oral secretions. But the majority of polio cases (72%) are actually asymptomatic and another quarter result in only a mild illness similar to the common cold. In addition, less than 5% of people will suffer any paralysis and if so, it is typically a brief and temporary effect (polio). However, everyone has seen pictures of children in braces and encased in “iron lung” and heard stories of heartbreaking paralysis. What is not widely known is that the horrific 1955 outbreak of more than 40,000 childhood cases of polio with 200 paralyzed and 10 dying happened within days to weeks after the first administration of Salk’s “inactivated” polio vaccine. Members of the scientific community had expressed serious concerns about the speed by which this vaccine was licensed and the safety of this vaccine, specifically that the formaldehyde used in the vaccine was inconsistently inactivating the live virus. Despite these concerns, the government pushed forward and this terrible episode in history known as the Cutter Incident occurred (polio).
The second little known element is that in the 1940s, fears that mosquitos were spreading polio led to nationwide spraying of the chemical DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), a potent neurotoxin that actually mimics infection by polio. Rates of diagnosed polio infection rose in direct correlation with the mass fumigation occurring. It is now believed that most cases of polio at the time were either caused by the vaccine itself or by DDT poisoning (DDT).
The last component to the sordid cover up of the polio epidemic in the 1950s came about within the public health community when polio was redefined to make it appear that the vaccine was actually effective. Prior to 1954, paralytic polio was diagnosed when two exams performed within 24 hours indicated paralysis of one or more muscle groups. There was no requirement for lab confirmation or examination to determine if paralysis remained after the fact. Part of the problem with this definition was that ANY paralysis was diagnosed as polio and there was no follow-up to ensure that this diagnosis was subsequently accurate. We now know that more than 10 different neurological conditions were likely grouped under polio including Guillan-Barre Syndrome (what President Franklin Roosevelt actually had and not polio), meningitis, ALS, radiculopathies, MS, etc. (polio diagnosis).
Not only did this make it appear that there were considerably more cases of polio than there actually were but then, the diagnostic criteria was adjusted shortly after the Salk vaccine debuted. The new definition of polio called for two exams to be performed within 60 days and not 24 hours of one another. As is the case with the majority of incidences of paralytic polio, however, the paralysis naturally resolves in a short period of time by itself. However, this redefinition made it appear that the thousands of cases of paralytic polio diagnosed in the years prior to the vaccine dropped off sharply in the years following the vaccine, in effect, because polio had been successfully eradicated by the vaccine (polio diagnosis). This was statistical manipulation at its finest.
Conclusion
Oftentimes, the largest challenges we face when asked about vaccines is where to start and what exactly to say. This topic is not only emotionally charged and controversial but rampant misinformation is the accepted status quo with the firmly entrenched belief that the efficacy and safety of vaccines has been proven scientifically and repeatedly. When the fight is against a long-standing, institutionally-supported and well-funded group that largely consists of the government, the pharmaceutical industry, and the scientific and medical communities, the only way to find success is to have a unified, passionate, and educated faction that has the most powerful weapon of all in its corner: the truth. In the words of Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Even though this war is long and the battles may be bloody, as a group of activists, we are passionate, committed, and determined to fight injustice, tyranny, and corruption to allow the truth to come to light. And it will as long as we continue to educate ourselves and others and continuously advocate for medical freedom for all.
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