20 TIMES the Risk of Autism When You Vaccinate Your Children

By Dr. Mercola

U.S. children are expected to get 48 doses of 14 vaccines by the time they're just 6 years old (or 49 doses if you count the one that unborn babies are given in utero when their mothers are given a flu shot during pregnancy).

By age 18, federal public health officials say they should have gotten a total of 69 doses of 16 vaccines from day of birth to age 18.

This "prescription" is supposed to keep children healthy and free of disease, but, incredible as it may sound, no large, properly designed scientific study has ever proven the current childhood vaccine schedule to be safe and effective in keeping children healthy.

The cost to give your child every government recommended vaccine in 1985 when I started practice was about $80.

Today, largely because in the increase in the number of vaccines, plus general cost increases, that cost has risen to $2,200.

This is an ENORMOUS increase, and you can begin to imagine the amount of revenue that is being generated from mandating that every child receive dozens of doses of vaccines throughout childhood.  

It seems painfully obvious that in order to justify the expense and the risk of side effects inherent in the crowded U.S. vaccination schedule, it would have to be proven that all this vaccination is actually safe for every child and contributes to better individual and public health than receiving far fewer vaccines.

The only way to do this would be to compare the health of vaccinated children with that of unvaccinated children, and see which group fares better. But such a common-sense study comparing the health outcomes of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children has never been done in the United States to prove the safety and effectiveness of the childhood vaccine schedule!

Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated: Survey Reveals Who's Healthier

In December 2010, a survey was initiated by VaccineInjury.info to compare the health of vaccinated children with unvaccinated children. To date over 7,850 surveys have been submitted, and the study is ongoing, so if you have an unvaccinated child (or are unvaccinated yourself) and would like to submit his or her health data, you can do so here.

Though this is obviously not a double-blind controlled study, and depends on the individuals submitting the data to give accurate information, it is still incredibly revealing. So far, the results show:

In the chart below, from VaccineInjury.Info, you can see a direct comparison of health data from the KiGGs study (The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents) versus the data from unvaccinated children taking part in VaccineInjury.info's survey:

Vaccine Autism Connection

Although nearly every major vaccine "expert" will vehemently deny there is a connection between autism and vaccines, I believe there is enough evidence to suggest there IS an association between vaccination and the development of autism in some children. Doctors, who deny there is a link between autism and vaccines quote seriously flawed and biased research to support their position but, because many studies are funded by drug companies or published in scientific journals in large part funded by the drug companies, most health care professionals tend to believe there is no link between vaccines and autism.

However, objective analysis like in this study reveals that the incidence of autism has increased to 1 in 100 children, most of them vaccinated, and what is fascinating is that the incidence in the unvaccinated group was about one in 2,000, which is TWENTY  times lower than in the vaccinated group.

It is so important to minimize vaccine risks by identifying individuals, who are at higher risk for suffering vaccine reactions and injury. It is up to you as a parent to review the evidence and make the choice, but if you decide to vaccinate I recommend listening to the interview I did with Dr. McBride and carefully consider what she said about screening and treatment recommendations.

Make Sure You Believe in Artificial Immunity Before You Vaccinate

It is becoming more evident that vaccinated children are not healthier than their unvaccinated peers, despite what the public health agencies are telling everyone. What is not clear is all the reasons why vaccinated children appear to be sicker. Although this  survey does not establish cause and effect between vaccination and chronic illness, it does raise serious questions about the association.

There are many potential biological mechanisms that could be involved when a vaccine or combination of vaccines cause a reaction and permanently damage a person's health -  contamination, adjuvants, and preservatives like mercury, to name just a few. But an often-overlooked component is the very way in which vaccines are designed to induce vaccine-acquired immunity, which is atypical and temporary. The presumed intent of a vaccination is to help you build immunity to potentially harmful organisms that cause illness. However, your body's immune system is already designed to do this in response to natural exposure to microrganisms, which are always in our environment.

Most of the time your body's first line of defense in dealing with microorganisms like bacteria and viruses is the mucous membranes of your nose, mouth, pulmonary system or your digestive tract. Your body's immune system was not designed to handle lab altered viruses and bacteria injected into the body.

These mucous membranes have their own immune system, called the IgA immune system. It is a different system from the one activated when a vaccine is injected into your body. The job of your IgA immune system is to fight off invading organisms at their entry points, which often reduces or even eliminates the need for activation of your body's entire immune system.

However, when a lab altered virus or bacteria is directly injected into your body in a vaccine and, especially when that vaccine also contains an immune adjuvant to stimulate a hyper-immune response, your IgA immune system is bypassed and your body's immune system kicks into high gear in response to the vaccination. Adjuvants can trigger unwanted immune responses, as they can cause your immune system to overreact to the introduction of the organism you're being vaccinated against.

According to Barbara Loe Fisher, president and co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center:

"Vaccines are supposed to fool your body's immune system into producing antibodies to resist viral and bacterial infection in the same way that actually having the disease usually produces immunity to future infection.

But vaccines atypically introduce into the human body lab-altered live viruses and killed bacteria along with chemicals, metals, drugs and other additives such as formaldehyde, aluminum, mercury, monosodium glutamate, sodium phosphate, phenoxyethanol, gelatin, sulfites, yeast protein, antibiotics as well as unknown amounts of RNA and DNA from animal and human cell tissue cultures.

Whereas natural recovery from many infectious diseases usually stimulates lifetime immunity, vaccines only provide temporary protection and most vaccines require "booster" doses to extend vaccine-induced artificial immunity.

The fact that manmade vaccines cannot replicate the body's natural experience with the disease is one of the key points of contention between those who insist that mankind cannot live without mass use of multiple vaccines and those who believe that mankind's biological integrity will be severely compromised by their continued use."

Why did Australia, Europe, and the U.S. Ban the Flu Vaccine for Children Under 5?

With flu season upon us in the United States, no discussion of vaccination would be complete without a review of one of the most heavily promoted and pushed vaccines, the flu shot. Last year, Australia temporarily suspended its seasonal flu program for children under the age of five after detecting an abnormal number of side effects within 12 hours of vaccination, compared to previous years. The vaccine in question there was Fluvax, manufactured by CSL Limited. Side effects included high fevers and seizures.

One infant also lapsed into a coma.

After a three-month investigation, the Australian Department of Health resumed seasonal flu vaccinations for young children, stating that "the higher than usual occurrence of fever and febrile convulsions appears to be confined to the vaccine Fluvax," and advised parents to continue vaccinating their children with another brand ...

Now, however, it's being reported that an 18-month investigation by CSL found the reactions appear to have occurred due to the combination of 2009 H1N1 pandemic "swine flu" strains and seasonal flu strains in the vaccine, a new flu strain formulation that had never been tried before. According to The Australian, CSL reported:

"Our scientific studies indicate that the interaction between the particular virus strains used in the 2010 ... vaccine contributed to the reactions, but we are still working to understand the how and why."

The Fluvax vaccine has now been banned for children under 5 in Australia, Europe and the United States due to the increased rate of convulsions in children, who received the vaccine. Meanwhile, the pandemic H1N1 "swine flu" vaccine even on its own has been linked to unusual side effects as well. In fact, new data from Sweden, released at the end of June, show the vaccine raises the risk of narcolepsy by nearly 660 percent!

It is very clear that vaccines do not cause problems for everyone, who receives them  but, when they do, it can be catastrophic.  The reaction may be acute, such as fever or swelling that resolves, or it can lead to chronic health problems that show up much later, such as narcolepsy or an increased propensity for allergies and autoimmune diseases. Long-term health outcomes post-vaccination are typically not studied, so surveys like the one mentioned above are now offering more evidence that vaccination can have long-term health risks for some individuals.

Remember that when you or your child is injured by a vaccine, the risks are 100 percent, and you will be left to deal with the consequences. So this fall, before you decide to get a flu shot, or any vaccination, for yourself or your child, remember that some vaccines can cause serious health problems and, when it comes to influenza vaccines that contain the pandemic H1N1 "swine flu" strain,these risks may be magnified due to the 2009 pandemic influenza vaccines being fast-tracked.

There are far safer ways to protect your children and yourself against influenza or flu-like illness, and you just might wind up being healtheir for it in the future.

How to Reduce Your Risk of Infectious Disease Without a Vaccine ...

Overall, your best defense against any disease is a robust immune system, which vaccines can sometimes compromise. Supporting your immune system should always be a top priority. Research has shown that vitamin D is one crucial component for maintaining optimal health, so I urge you to get your children's vitamin D levels tested, and, if found deficient, to follow my recommendations for optimizing their levels.

Again, ultimately it is the state of your immune system that determines whether or not you get sick from being exposed to viral or bacterial organisms associated with infectious diseases. The key to boosting your immune system and making it a "lean, mean, disease-fighting machine" lies in your lifestyle habits -- healthy food, stress relief, exercise, sleep, and exposure to sunlight, among other things. Artificially manipulating your immune system with a vaccine to try to stay healthy is not the same thing, nor does it produce the same kind of immunity and sought after  disease-fighting result. It may actually make you less healthy in the long run.

For more information, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is a good place to start to do research and obtain information that you  need to make intelligent, informed decisions about vaccination.

What You Can Do to Make a Difference

While it seems "old-fashioned," the only truly effective actions you can take to protect the right to informed consent to vaccination and expand vaccine exemptions, is to get personally involved with your state legislators and the leaders in your community.

THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY.

Mass vaccination policies are made at the federal level but vaccine laws are made at the state level, and it is at the state level where your action to protect your vaccine choice rights can have the greatest impact.

Signing up for NVIC's free Advocacy Portal at www.NVICAdvocacy.org not only gives you access to practical, useful information to help you become an effective vaccine choice advocate in your own community, but when national vaccine issues come up, you will have the up-to-date information and call to action items you need at your fingertips to make sure your voice is heard.

So please, as your first step, sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal.

Contact Your Elected Officials

Write or email your elected state representatives and share your concerns. Call them, or better yet, make an appointment to visit them in person in their office. Don't let them forget you!

It is so important for you to reach out and make sure your concerns get on the radar screen of the leaders and opinion makers in your community, especially the politicians you elect and are directly involved in making vaccine laws in your state. These are your elected representatives, so you have a right and a responsibility to let them know what's really happening in your life and the lives of people you know when it comes to vaccine mandates. Be sure to share the "real life" experiences that you or people you know have had with vaccination.

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 each other, 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 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 mass 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 following web pages on the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) website at www.NVIC.org:

• 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.
• If You Vaccinate, Ask 8 Questions: Learn how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and prevent vaccine injuries.
• Vaccine Freedom Wall: View or post descriptions of harassment by doctors or  government officials for making independent vaccine choices.

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.