Does this sound familiar? You’re scrambling to get all the back-to-school shopping finished, the kids have started fall sports, your job is demanding more of your time and suddenly, in the midst of all this, your school district sends you a letter saying Johnny’s vaccinations aren’t current and you must get them up-to-date before he can start school. Besides finding time to fit a trip to the doctor in your already overwhelmed schedule, you have some concerns about the number of vaccines he’s already had (not to mention some not so pleasant side-effects.) You’d really like to say “no thanks” to the shots, but the letter says – “No vaccines, No school!” Is this right? WRONG! As a parent you have rights you may not be aware of….there are exemptions. All 50 states in the U.S. have them and you can find out the laws in your state here.
Note what Dawn Richardson, Director of Advocacy, for the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) has to say about this, “….there is an epidemic of misinformation about school vaccine requirements.” Frankly, no matter what your opinion, the whole topic of vaccines can cause normally nice people to turn into fire breathing dragons! So, in the interest of full disclosure, and with no apologies,  I’m no lover of vaccinations. If you stay with me, you’ll understand why I’m so passionate about this subject and why knowing your family’s medical history and your child’s overall health is so critical before you make a decision to vaccinate. You need to know this because more and more vaccines are being developed that will be added to the vaccination requirements, and more and more “booster” shots will be necessary, all the way through college.
If you don’t educate yourself now, it is your child who may pay the ultimate price with chronic health issues, or worse, even death. This is true not only of the vaccines children receive through age six, but of the HPV vaccines like Gardisil® or Cervarix® (supposedly to help prevent cervical cancer) which has already caused the deaths of 89 adolescents. My only comment on the 395 vaccines in the pipeline now is “follow the money.” Remember, vaccines like any other pharmaceutical are publicly traded on the stock market!
In 2009, I spent four intense days at the 4th International Public Conference on Vaccination in Washington D.C. It was the most informative, eye-opening conference I’ve ever attended. I was motivated to attend not only because I had become suspect of the increasing rates of chronic childhood health issues like allergies, asthma, diabetes, and ADHD, but this was personal.
My bright, beautiful, 18 month old, grand daughter, Megan, had become a stranger to us. Her previously sweet disposition would transform into…..for lack of a better word, a little terror. When she was in noisy, crowded places – even places she wanted to go – she’d lose control and throw horrendous fits, screaming, kicking and causing a terrible scene. It wasn’t just out in crowded places either. It would happen at home too. There was no consoling or controlling her sometimes. I marvel at how extraordinarily patient her parents were with her during those difficult episodes. It would have been easy to say it was a discipline issue – that her parents just needed to let her know who was boss, or that the latest parenting tactics they were employing  just weren’t working. But that wasn’t the case. I shudder to think what might have happened if we’d taken that approach. When my daughter brought up Megan’s challenging behavior to the doctors, it was dismissed as the “terrible twos.”
In addition to this erratic behavior, she was also battling chronic constipation, had significant outbreaks of eczema all over her body and a strange rash on her bottom.  Megan would itch her skin until she bled and it was a constant battle to keep the oozing areas covered. When the skin issues first developed, my daughter was told by their family doctor that eczema is “normal and hereditary” (my daughter had it as a child, too). She was given the usual topical corticosteroid creams. As for the rash on her bottom, the docs seemed to have a more difficult time with that one, but determined she had infected hair follicles. Really? On a 2 year old? So, she was given none other than…. drum-roll please, an antibiotic, because we all know antibiotics fix everything!
Despite being tall for her age,  Megan was very slender but had this protruding abdomen that seemed odd. We thought it rather cute at the time, but it was a dead give-away to a more serious problem. Her behavior and skin problems were wearing on everyone, until finally we’d had enough. We knew we had to take her to someone who could get to the source of these problems. We all wanted our sweet little girl back.
We took her to a pediatric chiropractor who specialized in dealing with autistic children. The first thing he did was take an x-ray of her abdomen to determine why it was so distended. Then he ran tests to check for heavy metals. Her little abdomen was full of air and stool and, when the tests came back, she was off the charts in mercury and lead! (Mercury toxicity will impact your gut health.) She was clearly not tolerating the food she was eating and she had fallen on the autism spectrum.
Before we venture any further, let me be very clear, I believe there are MANY causes for autism. But I believe vaccines (and/or the number of them received) have a definite link, not only to the amount of autism we see today, but also the list of other childhood diseases and disorders that are taking their toll on our health-care system. Today, children receive 48 doses of 14 vaccines. Now, consider these statistics from NVIC:
In 1976, 796,000 children were learning disabled.  Today 1 child in 6 is learning disabled.
In 1979, there were 2 million asthmatic children. Today 1 child in 9 has asthma.
In 1970, 1 child in 2,500 developed autism. Today 1 child in 150 develops autism. (Many say it’s as low as 1 in 60 – 100)
In 1970, 1 child in 1,750 was diabetic. Today 1 child in 450 becomes diabetic.
As you can see, the increase in these childhood illnesses has become almost epidemic.
Why do I bring all this to your attention?  Because I believe our “one-size-fits-all” vaccination agenda (this includes flu shots) is wreaking havoc on the health of our children. Again, there are other contributing factors to these childhood health issues, not the least of which is poor gut health. We’re all so unique – our physical makeup, our DNA, our responses to medications (even to supplements!) – not one of us is exactly like the other, and herein lies the problem….
In part II we’ll look at how knowing your family history is important in protecting your child before you make the decision to vaccinate. We’ll also consider the consequences of ignoring the unique biomedical make-up of every child in this “one-size-fits-all” paradigm. If you vaccinate, we’ll have some tips on how to prepare yourself (and protect your child) before your trip to the doctor. And, if you decide not to vaccinate, there will be resources on how to work with your school.
We’re told to vaccinate our children for their protection and the health and welfare of our community, but who’s really benefiting from this mass vaccinating of the population, and who’s paying the price? Watch this trailer from the award winning documentary  The Greater Good to hear one young woman’s tragic consequences from an HPV vaccine.
In the meantime, we’d like you to weigh in on the subject. Have you or your child ever suffered a reaction to any vaccine? Do you believe vaccines really provide immunity?Â
No vaccines, no school….not so fast! Stay tuned.
Related articles
- Barbara Loe Fisher – Vaccine Education (wapfchicago.com)
- http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2011/06/10/basics-of-the-human-immune-system-prior-to-introduction-of-vaccines-are-vaccines-turning-our-children%E2%80%99s-immune-systems-inside-out/Â – From the International Medical Council on Vaccination
- http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2011/06/09/two-dangerous-experts-you-should-never-ever-believe/
- http://www.vaccinetruth.org/doctors_against_vaccines.htm
