In the News

The Politics and Commerce of Autism
http://tinyurl.com/b3mbd8

Pediatrics Warns Docs about Dr. Sears and the Alternative Vax Schedule
http://tinyurl.com/adfdqn

One More Link in the Mercury-High Fructose Corn Syrup Chain: Autism
http://tinyurl.com/atbkq4

Another Reason to Homeschool-Flu Shot Mandated in New Jersey
http://jessica-parnell.com/reason-homeschoolflu-shot-mandated-jersey/

Novartis Drops as Profit Disappoints, Vaccine Delayed
http://tinyurl.com/acj7um

New CDC Acting Director Named
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/8029/

Are your child's vaccines safe?
http://tinyurl.com/d6shoc

Vaccine Shortage Connected to HIB Illness Outbreaks
http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/4620

Continue the Protest of Federal Autism Committee's Deceitful Reversal on Vaccine-Autism Research
http://tinyurl.com/ccfxfe

Personal preference among reasons for vaccine refusal
http://tinyurl.com/dgm7mk

An Addendum to February's "First Read"
http://tinyurl.com/aojt2g

Witness a NY Religious "Sincerity Test" for Vaccine Exemption
http://tinyurl.com/dmsfrr

Il Mercurio and the AAP
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/il-mercurio-and-the-aap.html

New Jersey mandates flu shots for preschoolers
http://tinyurl.com/abc5ux

Chickenpox vaccine not tied to strokes in kids
http://tinyurl.com/d56t96

US Research Fraud, Tax Dollars And Italian Vaccine Mercury Study
http://tinyurl.com/d6hljo

Dr Andrew Moulden on Vaccines and Autism
http://www.vacinfo.org/Moulden.htm

Liability for Exercising Personal Belief Exemptions from Vaccination
http://www.tinyurl.com/bqtz3y

Parents Should Not be Legally Liable for Refusing to Vaccinate their Children
http://www.michiganlawreview.org/firstimpressions/vol107/gordon.htm

What Parents Need to Know About the Latest Vaccine News
http://tinyurl.com/ad4qjg

Autism, Vaccines and the CDC: The Wrong Side of History
http://tinyurl.com/d2zt4m

N.J. officials meet with vaccine choice group
http://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2009/0128/front_page/032.html

Mercury In Vaccines Was Replaced With Something Even MORE Toxic
http://tinyurl.com/dbcz8q

Offit's Lies: Paul Offit Reponds
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/offits-lies-paul-offit-reponds.html

Six months after the MMR jab, a bubbly little girl now struggles to speak, walk and feed herself
http://tinyurl.com/9whba9

Pfizer to Buy Wyeth for $68 Billion
http://tinyurl.com/dlx5b6

Vaccine Safety Study Released
http://tinyurl.com/arsysq

Study adds to evidence of vaccine safety
http://tinyurl.com/afxjdv

Intercell's Needle-Free Vaccines
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/130/intercell.html

Vaccine Choice for New Jersey
http://www.quakerranter.org/vaccine_choice_for_new_jersey.php

What They Don't Tell You About Vaccination Dangers Can Kill You or Ruin Your Life
http://www.whale.to/a/blaylock34.html

Death By "Unvaccination"
http://www.epmonthly.com/whitecoat/2009/01/death-by-unvaccination/

Protest Federal Autism Committee's Deceitful Reversal on Vaccine-Autism Research
http://tinyurl.com/bbcv4j

Vaccinations: Safe or Unsafe?
http://baltimorechronicle.com/2009/012609Lambert.shtml

NZ 'not too flash' in immunisation report
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4829150a20475.html

What is making American children sick? (videos)
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/chronicle/18566952/detail.html

Flu Shot "Totally Worthless" at Reducing Death Rate in Elderly
http://www.naturalnews.com/025432.html

Anti-Vaccination VS Pro-Poisoning…..Which Are You?
http://tinyurl.com/bn3b44

Feeding the Hungry Lie, Italian Style
http://tinyurl.com/bgu2vu

Hear doctors on vaccinations
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=285176&pub=1&div=News

Who Is at Risk When Parents Don't Vaccinate?
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/01/who-is-at-risk.html

Truth or consequences about mercury
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/janak/090126

HPV Vaccine Causes 500% Increase in Allergic Reactions Compared to Other Vaccines
http://www.naturalnews.com/025411.html

Study adds to evidence of safety of mercury and vaccines
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090125/NEWS02/701259836

Vaccinating teens during menstrual phase may increase adverse reactions
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/botha/090123

The Convention on Modern Liberty: Where Lies, Hypocrisy and State Bullying Remain Acceptable
http://tinyurl.com/b8ay5l

Autism Not Genetic - Says Expert Professor Simon Baron Cohen
http://tinyurl.com/aml66n

What vaccine makers aren't telling pet owners
http://tinyurl.com/bmgntj

Bill Gates next Big Thing
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/opinion/25kristof.html

UGH! Measles vaccine ~ New treatment for Prostate Cancer!
http://tinyurl.com/bo9e9l

National Vaccine Advisory Committee Seeking Comment on CDC's Vaccine Safety Agenda
http://tinyurl.com/bcu48n

Flu strain's resistance to drug baffles researchers
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/186/story/383872.html

Pharma + Professional Persecution = Profits!
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/88868

In the News

In the News

Governor Corzine on Flu Vaccine Mandate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OVofO2Es_Y

Senator Gillibrand: Supporter of Vaccine-Autism Research
http://tinyurl.com/dhhfm4

If at First You Don't Succeed, Vax and Vax Again.
http://tinyurl.com/cxc4l7

Whose American Life?
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/whos-american-life.html

Drugmaker wants law to require STD shot - Cancer
http://www.btfreed.com/?p=121

Bill Gates Spends $630 Million to Vaccinate Children Against Polio
http://tinyurl.com/cntlzh

Shots in the Dark
http://www3.nfb.ca/webextension/shots-in-the-dark/

Pfizer in talks to buy N.J. drugmaker (Wyeth)http://www.app.com/article/20090123/NEWS03/90123021/1007

Wyeth Targets Crucell Vaccines With $1.35 Billion Bid
http://tinyurl.com/co84rd

Vaccines-Controversy and Cover Up
http://blogs.timesunion.com/holistichealth/?p=624

Rare sickness kills child; officials urge vaccination
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/23/hib.vaccine.cdc/?iref=mpstoryview

Minnesota reports rise in children's infectious disease
http://tinyurl.com/becx5e

The Alleged Autism Epidemic
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=340

Vaccine-Autism War: Albert Einstein's Reply To Paul Offit
http://tinyurl.com/ajo6l8

Parents calling the shots
http://tinyurl.com/ak9dw4

How to avoid "Mandated" Vaccination
http://tinyurl.com/cy4sjo

Medicine's Miracle Man
http://tinyurl.com/c6eusu

Let's talk mercury with the experts: In S.F.
http://tinyurl.com/czcror

A Nurse is Mercury Poisoned from Hepatitis B Vaccines and Amalgams
http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/susan_kreider.html

The Vaccine Hard Sell at Pediatrics
http://tinyurl.com/dzspco

Expansion of Govt cervical cancer vaccine programme (New Zealand)
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0901/S00050.htm

If at First You Don't Succeed, Vax and Vax Again.
http://tinyurl.com/cxc4l7

Whose American Life?
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/whos-american-life.html

U.S. To Fund HPV Vaccination Campaign In Micronesia Region
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134875.php

Don't Risk Going Unvaccinated
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-a-offit-md/dont-risk-going-unvaccina_b_160018.html

Protect our children from flu shot mandate
http://mycentraljersey.com/article/20081112/OPINION02/811120301/1061

Drugs regulator issues warning letters to Wyeth pharma, GVK
http://tinyurl.com/b3whur

ABC's of Shots (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRO6RTsbcjo

Vaccines and Autism (audio-skip forward to at least 10 minute point)
http://tinyurl.com/buvfp8

It's time to renew values of science and reason
http://tinyurl.com/d3lxor

Whooping cough shot urged for new moms
http://tinyurl.com/98um7c

Costs May Cause Some Docs to Quit Offering Vaccines
http://tinyurl.com/8xefjx

The Great Denial of Vaccine Risks & Freedom
http://tinyurl.com/936xgm

US Department Of Health And Human Services Awards Novartis USD 486million Contract
http://tinyurl.com/8nml68

HIB Vaccine Shortage Continues – Pentacel Combo Vaccine is anAcceptable Alternative for Now
http://tinyurl.com/96yrsh

Big news for nanotechnology at the University of Michigan
http://www.voyle.net/Nano%20Funding%202005/Funding2005%200031.htm

Dangerous staph increases in kids (MRSA)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/396701_staphkids20.html

Hilary Butler documenting HIB, then Prevnar, now MRSA
http://www.whale.to/vaccine/hin34.html

Vaccine-Autism War: Media Offensive Marginalizes Parents and IgnoresDr. Bernadine Healy
http://tinyurl.com/9n2jhz

Early Immune System Exposures Linked To Chronic Disease
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/135313.php

Turkish Government Adds Wyeth's 7-valent Pneumococcal ConjugateVaccine To Their National Immunisation Schedule
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/135230.php

HPV Vaccine Victims Pile Up: $1.5B for Merck
http://www.hot001.com/index.php/htm/stock/2009-01-21/53012.html

The Debate Over Vaccines (2 Letters)
http://tinyurl.com/79rprp

Mandatory Flu Vaccine for Children
http://hawaiipoliticalinfo.org/?q=node/754

The Value of Flu Shots
http://www.planetc1.com/cgi-bin/n/v.cgi?c=1&id=1231872666

Measles and Vaccination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJlY2rj8Z8A&feature=channel_page

Did your child suffer a severe side effect from a vaccine?http://www.kspr.com/news/local/30808289.html

In the News

In the News

Secret British MMR Vaccine Files Forced Open By Legal Action
http://tinyurl.com/727ady

Experts consider 4-strain flu vaccine to fight B viruses
http://tinyurl.com/9obbop

Decade's Worst Flu Marches on Europe After Virus Hits Ireland
http://tinyurl.com/75xlsb

Alternative Vaccine Schedule Worries Doctors
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_31117.aspx

New Jersey's new flu vaccination law irks some
http://tinyurl.com/7s5sgk

`This Question Has Been Asked And Answered'
http://www.newsweek.com/id/179998?from=rss

SafeMinds: Federal Members of Advisory Committee Block Vaccine-Autism Research
http://tinyurl.com/8d2ofa

TACA: IACC Rescinds Vaccine Research Initiatives
http://tinyurl.com/97us5p

Some parents oppose New Jersey's new flu vaccination law
http://tinyurl.com/7payq3

Vaccine-Autism War: The Empire Strikes Back
http://tinyurl.com/axdw89

Vaccine decreases risk of meningitis even in adults
http://tinyurl.com/6vx7ry

Chelation therapy good for some but not for all
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/janak/090115

Maryland Philosophical Exemption - petition
http://mdvaccinechoice.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/sign-the-petition/

Germs Flourish When Not on Target for Wyeth's Meningitis Shot
http://www.thevietnamnews.net/?p=185

US DHHS Awards Novartis 486 Million to Build Manufacturing Facility for Pandemic Flu Vaccine http://tinyurl.com/785put

Jeremy Piven Urges Americans to Check Their Mercury Levels
http://tinyurl.com/8sx5wv

Vaccines: Is The Boom Sustainable in the Obama Era? (Age of Autism)
http://tinyurl.com/7oa9g6

Combination vaccine safe and effective for infants, study says
http://tinyurl.com/7ctlap

Is the flu shot overrated?
http://tinyurl.com/7t4q7v

Morristown doc guarded about Gardasil
http://tinyurl.com/9rsq2c

NJ Flu Shot D-Day - Preschoolers kicked out of school by the state!
http://tinyurl.com/9r87xl

Avoiding Flu Vaccine Toxicity
http://www.mendosa.com/blog/?p=349

Clinton questioned about Merck, Barr funding
http://tinyurl.com/86w7h2

Doctors Continue At Odds Over Vaccine Dissent
http://www.greenparentchicago.com/2009/01/doctors-and-vaccines.html

Quick Study: Lobbying's Long Arm
http://tinyurl.com/aywh75

Hunterdon health department monitors continuing whooping cough outbreak
http://tinyurl.com/8rou69

Doctors, Vaccine Dissent and The God Complex
http://tinyurl.com/9vup9x

Decades-Old Vaccine Mystery Solved -- Why Did RSV Vaccine Make Kids Sick?
http://tinyurl.com/a8qj9w

Dr. Paul Offit: Fox in a Henhouse, the ACIP Years (1998-2003)
http://tinyurl.com/9pqjts

Vaccines: In Offit, We Do Not Trust
http://tinyurl.com/7purc3

Vaccinations are for adults as much as for kids
http://tinyurl.com/8uvg6d

CDC demands to know why parents are reluctant to get their children vaccinated
http://tinyurl.com/8yzael

A New Year's Resolution for the FDA: Kick the Drug (Company) Addiction
http://tinyurl.com/8kspal

Chiropractor forms American Chiropractic Autism Board
http://tinyurl.com/8ek7tq

Dozen cases of whooping cough confirmed in Hunterdon County
http://tinyurl.com/a2a8se

Chicken Pox Parties
http://www.parentdish.com/2009/01/13/chicken-pox-parties/

Do Vaccinations Cause Autism ?
http://tinyurl.com/74ck5o

NJ: Website focuses on influenza
http://tinyurl.com/7o93vu

Secret British MMR Vaccine Files Forced Open By Legal Action
http://tinyurl.com/727ady

Book Is Rallying Resistance to the Antivaccine Crusade
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/13auti.html

Flu shot mismatched on B virus
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/569149

Olmsted on Autism: Autism Explosion Followed Big Change in MMR Shot
http://tinyurl.com/6udwrs

CNN Covers NJ Flu Shot Mandate for Preschoolers
http://tinyurl.com/8pa6ad

Flu shot deadline approaches
http://tinyurl.com/7badr4

State warns of deadline for youths' flu vaccines
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/179/story/344886.html

Vaccinating older people against pneumonia is a 'waste of time'
http://tinyurl.com/7o4gj2

Sanofi spent more than $500,000 in third quarter on lobbying
http://tinyurl.com/9ku5y7

Mercury in vaccines
http://tinyurl.com/9zugzd

Vaccine resisters attract attention from medical authorities
http://tinyurl.com/8v4qt6

CDC director Gerberding resigns at Obama's request
http://tinyurl.com/7h9528

Merck gets 2nd FDA delay on Gardasil expansion
http://tinyurl.com/9yma6w

Tayloe, Offit, Minshew, Katz, Snyderman, et. al.: Feeding a Hungry Lie
http://tinyurl.com/9p3nwk

Texas Senator pushing bill for flu vaccines in schools
http://tinyurl.com/7yl2gy

2009: The Vaccine Freedom Tipping Point
http://tinyurl.com/7nfd7f

Child's Death Is First of Flu Season
http://tinyurl.com/8od3o8

Digitizing Medical Records Could Be Daunting Task
http://www.wlwt.com/money/18441436/detail.html

US doctors pay to hear Ore. town's vaccine views
http://tinyurl.com/9ed9r8

Forced Flu Vaccination for Kids
http://tinyurl.com/9gjmqk

LETTER TO EDITOR: Vaccine horror
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/04/vaccine-horror/

Chickenpox: Christmas is Over, So Time for a New Vaccine
http://tinyurl.com/9n8rhs

EDITORIAL:Autism action
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=284372&pub=1&div=Opinion

Why is HPV Vaccine Gardasil Sweeping the Nation, and Should You be Worried?
http://tinyurl.com/73lev4

NVIC Stand Up YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/NVICstandup

Vaccines: One of the Greatest Medical Advances God has Allowed us to Discover
http://www.highschoolscience.com/vaccines.htm

Offit To Sears: The Current Vaccine Schedule Is Still The Best Vaccine Schedule
http://tinyurl.com/7deqkx

In the News

Are Flu Vaccines Beneficial?

Original Post from http://Spotlight.org

There has been a lot of hype as to whether influenza vaccines really ward off bouts of the flu. According to this expert, the vaccines aren't worth risking the side effects.

By Kristine Severyn, R.Ph., Ph.D.

Every autumn the elderly and other high risk groups are encouraged to receive influenza vaccine (flu shots). Congress authorized Medicare funding for flu shots in 1993, believing that vaccination costs are less than hospitalization costs related to influenza complications. Was Congress misled when it authorized this $80 million per year Medicare flu shot entitlement? Have vaccine recipients been misled?

Although influenza is associated with more disease, hospitalization, and death in "at risk" populations, no adequate controlled studies exist which prove that influenza vaccine reduces the incidence of influenza in these groups.

CDC CRYSTAL BALL

Influenza virus strains mutate, necessitating a new vaccine each year. Technicians affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collect influenza viruses from pigs and people in foreign lands, e.g., China.

CDC personnel then attempt to predict which viruses will infect people in the United States the following year-the CDC crystal ball. These CDC-selected viruses are distributed to vaccine manufacturers early in the year for influenza vaccine production for administration that autumn.

Predicting which influenza viruses from China, for instance, will infect people in Dayton, Ohio, a year later involves a fair amount of guesswork. Flu shot history is replete with examples of poor matches between influenza viruses in the vaccine and those actually infecting people.

For example in the 1994-1995 flu season, the CDC reported that 43 percent of isolated influenza samples for the predominant virus type A(H3N2) were not similar to that in the vaccine. Likewise, for another type A virus (H1NI), 87 percent of samples were not similar to that in the vaccine. According to a worldwide influenza activity update in the Aug. 8, 1995, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 76 percent of isolated samples of influenza type B were not similar to the influenza in the vaccine.

The CDC crystal ball also erred during the 1992-1993 influenza season when, as reported in the Sep. 1, 1993, edition of MMWR, 84 percent of the isolated influenza samples for the predominant virus (A(H3N2)) were not similar to the virus in the vaccine.

WISHFUL THINKING

Despite its poor track record in predicting which influenza viruses will infect communities, the CDC admitted Feb. 26, 1999, in its nationally broadcast program, "Preparing for the Next Influenza Pandemic," that influenza vaccine is "approximately 70 percent" effective in preventing influenza in "healthy persons less than 65 years of age" if "there is a good match between vaccine and circulating viruses."

Depending on the study cited vaccine efficacy actually ranges from a low of 0 percent to a high of 96 percent. And, as illustrated above, the CDC often finds it difficult to match vaccines with circulating viruses.

According to the CDC, influenza vaccine efficacy drops to 30 percent to 40 percent among the elderly-this group being the main "target" for flu shots. CDC attributes lack of influenza vaccine efficacy in the elderly to their "decreased immunologic response."

Past studies by NH Arden, et al, of type A(H3N2) influenza vaccine in nursing home patients yielded an average of only 27 percent efficacy with four studies demonstrating vaccine efficacy at 0, 2, 8 and 9 percent. Poor vaccine efficacy can even occur when the vaccine virus is "essentially identical" to that virus which is causing the outbreak. For influenza B vaccine, studies conducted by Arden range from 0 percent to 36 percent effective, averaging 21 percent.

DAMAGE CONTROL

To justify its recommendation that all elderly persons receive flu shots, the CDC asserts in an April 21, 1995, MMWR article that, even though the vaccine does not prevent influenza very well, "the vaccine can be 50 percent to 60 percent effective in preventing hospitalization and pneumonia and 80 percent effective in preventing death."

This optimistic scenario is clouded by results of the congressionally mandated $69 million 1988-1992 Medicare Influenza Vaccine Demon stration Project. This study, intended to promote Medicare-funded flu shots, yielded, according to a 1993 MMWR report, a disappointing 31 percent to 45 percent effectiveness "in preventing hospitalization for any pneumonia" during three influenza seasons.

Results for the 1989-1990 season were described as "mixed at best," with "Medicare payments . . . significantly higher for those who had been vaccinated," noted Kidder and Schmitz in the 1993 report Options for the Control of Influenza II.

Government agencies "calculated" an economic benefit of flu shots to Medicare by manipulating numbers in a computerized simulation until desirable results were obtained. The CDC reported in 1993 that its theoretical assumptions did not include all vaccine-related costs. In 1994 and 1995, The New England Journal of Medicine published medical studies with similar economic claims for flu shots that had been funded by a vaccine manufacturer.

Several studies and government projections from the Department of Human and Health Services confirm that, with or without a flu shot, pneumonia and influenza hospitalization rates for the elderly are less than 1 percent during the influenza season. This means that, regardless of vaccination status, more than 99 percent of people weather a bout of flu without requiring hospitalization. Even the past director of CDC's National Immunization Program, Dr. Walter Orenstein, reported at a 1981 influenza conference that the "at risk" population for influenza complications is small."

Considering that more than 90 percent of pneumonia and influenza deaths occur in persons 65 years of age or older, but that about 65 percent of all deaths (from any cause) occur in this age group anyway, it is nearly impossible to prove if flu shots significantly increase life expectancy in the elderly. Indeed one study of elderly Medicare patients in Ohio and Pennsylvania, published in Options for the Control of Influenza II, showed "no demonstrated effect of influenza vaccine in preventing death or limiting the length of hospital stay."

Health authorities in other countries do not share the U.S. public health community's enthusiasm for influenza vaccine. At one CDC-sponsored influenza symposium a British researcher stated: "The [influenza vaccine] recommendations are strong in certain countries, but weak in others, since not all authorities are convinced of the benefit of immunization."

He deplored the "unsatisfactory situation" of poor influenza vaccine efficacy which "compares unfavorably with other influenza vaccines." Even CDC officials confessed that "influenza vaccines are still among the least effective immunizing agents available, and this seems to be particularly true for elderly recipients."

Congress and the American taxpayer have been defrauded about the alleged advantages of flu shots.

Instead of being an effective prevention, evidence indicates that flu shots may be useless. Although endorsed and funded by federal and state governments the shots seem only to benefit the companies that make them, public health bureaucrats who promote them, and medical personnel who administer them.

Are Flu Vaccines Beneficial?

The Flu and the Flu Vaccine

Original Post from http://nvic.org

What is the flu? Influenza is a respiratory infection that produces fever, chills, sore throat, muscle aches, and cough that lasts a week or more. The flu can be deadly for the elderly and those with compromised immune systems or who are suffering from diabetes, kidney dysfunction and heart disease. Each year about 20,000 Americans, mostly in these high risk groups, reportedly die from flu complications such as pneumonia.

What is the flu vaccine? The flu vaccine is prepared from the fluids of chick embryos inoculated with a specific type(s) of influenza virus. The strains of flu virus in the vaccine are inactivated with formaldehyde and preserved with thimerosal, which is a mercury derivative.

Every year, federal health agency officials try to guess which three flu strains are most likely to be prevalent in the U.S. the following year to determine which strains will be included in next year's flu vaccine. If they guess right, the vaccine is thought to be 70 to 80 percent effective in temporarily preventing the flu of the season in healthy persons less than 65 years old (the efficacy rate drops to 30 to 40% in those over 65 years old but the vaccine is thought to be 50 to 60% effective in preventing hospitalization and pneumonia and 80% effective in preventing death from the flu in the over 65 age group). However, sometimes health officials do not correctly predict which flu strains will be most prevalent and the vaccine's effectiveness is much lower for that year.

Does the flu vaccine protect against all throat, respiratory, gastrointestinal and ear infections? The flu vaccine only protects against the three specific viral strains which are included in any given year's flu vaccine. Throat, respiratory, gastrointestinal and ear infections caused by bacteria or other kinds of viruses are not prevented by getting an annual flu shot.

Why do doctors say I have to get a flu vaccine every year? Like all vaccines, the flu vaccine only gives a temporary immunity to the virus strains or closely related virus strains contained in the vaccine. The only way to get natural and permanent immunity to a strain of flu is to recover naturally from the flu. Natural immunity to a particular strain of flu can be protective if that strain or closely related strains come around again in the future. However, because the vaccine only provides a 70 to 80 percent chance of temporary immunity to selected strains and those strains may or may not be prevalent each year, doctors say you have to get a flu shot every year.

Are there reactions to the flu vaccine? The most common reactions, which begin with 12 hours of vaccination and can last several days are: fever, fatigue, painful joints and headache. The most serious reaction that has been associated with flu vaccine is Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) which occurs most often within two to four weeks of vaccination. GBS is an immune mediated nerve disorder characterized by muscle weakness, unsteady gait, numbness, tingling, pain and sometimes paralysis of one or more limbs or the face. Recovery lasts several months and can include residual disability. Less than 5 percent of GBS cases end in death.

What are contraindications to the flu vaccine? Among high risk factors listed by the CDC and the vaccine manufacturers are anyone who: (1) is sick with a fever; (2) has an impaired immune system; (2) has an egg allergy; (3) has a mercury allergy; (4) has a history of Guillain-Barre syndrome. In years past, pregnancy was also a contraindication to flu vaccine but, today, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends flu vaccine for women more than 14 weeks pregnant.

The package inserts published by the flu vaccine manufacturers state that "Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with influenza virus vaccine. It is also not known whether influenza virus vaccine can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman... Although animal reproductive studies have not been conducted, the prescribing health care provider should be aware of the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices .The ACIP states that if used during pregnancy, administration of influenza virus vaccine after 14 weeks of gestation may be preferable to avoid coincidental association of the vaccine with early pregnancy loss."

Is Flu Vaccine Recommended for Children? The flu vaccine has never been recommended for healthy children. However, in the past few years there have been indications that health officials are soon going to recommend flu vaccine for all children. A nasal flu vaccine is scheduled to be on the market in late 2000 and publicity promoting this vaccine has centered on its potential use in children.

The current injectable flu vaccine contains mercury as a preservative. In the summer of 1999, the FDA, CDC and EPA directed the vaccine manufacturers to remove mercury as a preservative in childhood vaccines. Mercury is a known neuro-toxin and American babies under six months of age are currently exposed to mercury in childhood vaccines that exceed EPA safety standards.

One consideration with the mass use of flu vaccine in healthy children is the removal of natural antibodies to flu which are obtained from natural infection. The question of whether it is better for healthy children, who rarely suffer complications from flu, to get the flu and develop permanent immunity to that flu strain or it is better for children to get vaccinated every year to try to suppress all flu infection in early childhood is a question that has yet to be adequately answered by medical science.

What should I do? Become educated about the flu and its benefits and risks and the vaccine and its benefits and risks and make an informed decision after consulting multiple sources of information and discussing your questions with one or more health professionals.

The Flu and the Flu Vaccine

Police with Dogs: Vaccinating Kids in Maryland

by Barbara Loe Fisher
BLF's Original Blog Post

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." - Martin Niemueller

I watched them bundled up against the cold winter air on Saturday, November 17, 2007, with their children and the letter from the State of Maryland threatening them with imprisonment or fines of $50 a day for failing to show proof their children had gotten a chickenpox or hepatitis B shot. Confused, angry or scared but mostly resigned, they were working mothers and fathers trudging toward the courthouse to face the Judge ordering them to get vaccinated or go to jail. Patrolling the scene was a SWAT team of policemen with dogs.

There were a few vaccine safety and informed consent advocates who showed up to witness what happened at the Prince George's County Courthouse, among them Washington D.C. Attorney Jim Moody and autism activist Kelli Ann Davis, of SAFEMINDS and Charles Frohman, representing the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) as well as several Moms with children who developed autism after vaccination.

The U.S. media turned out but they were kept behind barricades and denied access into the building, as were the advocates and other members of the general public. There was no public oversight on what was happening to the parents and children inside.

I listened to or spoke with several mothers leaving the building with their children and learned the sad truth about what was happening behind the closely guarded, closed doors of the Courthouse. The parents were not being asked questions about their child’s medical history or whether the children had experienced health problems after previous vaccinations. The parents were not being given information about vaccine side effects or how to monitor their children for signs of vaccine reactions. They were not given forms for religious and medical exemptions to vaccination allowed in Maryland (see the video of my debate on CNN the day before with Vanderbilt’s Bill Schaffner, M.D. plus a video of a Saturday CNN interview with Jim Moody

Apparently, the children were being re-vaccinated with not just hepatitis B and chicken pox vaccines, the two new vaccines added to the Maryland school requirement list, but also with other required vaccines for which the public school system could find no record. One mother told me her children were up-to-date on their shots but the school system lost the records and she had to give her children all the required vaccines on the spot or face jail or fines.

My son, Chris, who became learning disabled after suffering a serious reaction to a fourth DPT shot in 1980, traveled with me to Maryland carrying a camera. After growing up watching his Mom work to change one-size-fits-all vaccine policies that were responsible for his vaccine reaction, Chris recently decided he wants to help NVIC put a face on what it means to be vaccine injured in America and what it means when Americans do not have the right to freely exercise informed consent to vaccination.

Chris set up his camera as I talked with a mother hundreds of yards from the front of the Courthouse door. I was about 12 inches inside a row of large cement balls that apparently were erected as a barrier to prevent terrorist attacks. I did not know I wasn’t supposed to be talking with this Mom inside the barrier. She was telling me about how she wasn’t given any information about vaccines before her children were injected with three vaccines.

All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye I saw an armed guard with a dog emerge from the Courthouse and walk toward us. I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was the dread that any citizen of any country in any century has ever felt when an armed guard with a dog starts advancing. As if we were common criminals or terrorists, he yelled and gestured to us to move behind the stones.

We moved without a word. And the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach told me we were being shown the power of the State wielded by that armed guard with the dog, just as parents inside the Courthouse were being shown the power of the State wielded by doctors with syringes.

There has been talk this past week about whether or not U.S. vaccine laws are, indeed, laws or whether they are simply recommendations that do not have the force of law behind them. Because the enactment of public health laws was not defined in the U.S. Constitution as a federal activity, in 1905 the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the power of the states to pass public health laws requiring citizens to be vaccinated or re-vaccinated.

There is now more than 100 years of case law reinforcing the U.S. Supreme Court decision and the right of states to exercise police power to enforce vaccine laws. The post-911 enactment of the Homeland Security Law, the Model State Health Emergency Powers Act and Bioshield I and II makes it clear that the State will use police power to enforce quarantine or vaccination whenever the State chooses to wield that power.

The method of punishment for not obeying U.S. state vaccine laws is up to the state legislatures which make the laws. Today, many state legislatures have turned over vaccine law-making to unelected government health and education officials, who may enlist state attorneys and judges in the court system to enforce punishments. One of the punishments which many states have chosen when children have not received all state mandated vaccines is to bar children from attending school unless they file and the State approves exemptions to vaccination outlined by the State.

Those parents, who do not vaccinate their children and do not either make arrangements with the State to homeschool them or successfully file a state-approved exemption, are in violation of another state law: truancy laws. Failure to send your child to school in Maryland between the ages of 5 and 16 is a misdemeanor punishable by fines and jail time or both. This is the law which the Maryland government officials moved to enforce when they enlisted the help of State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey (D) and Judge C. Philip Nichols to turn parents of unvaccinated children into criminals.

In one news report, Judge Nichols was quoted as observing that the children looked unhappy waiting in line for their vaccinations. He is quoted as saying “It’s cute. It looks like their parents are dragging them to church.”

The big difference between being dragged into a Courthouse to get vaccinated and being dragged to church is that an hour of prayer rarely results in catastrophic brain injury or death. I still wonder how many of those children, who were injected with multiple vaccines in the Courthouse, are having vaccine reactions today. Their parents, many of whom are uninformed about how to recognize vaccine reactions, will never know what happened to their children if they regress into chronic poor health after the shots they were forced to get on Saturday.

We know that attacks on the religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccination in America are on the increase and are being led by vaccine patent holders like Paul Offit, M.D. and others who want to force vaccination.

In 1996, a sixteen year old Milwaukee boy was handcuffed, stripped and jailed overnight because he hadn't shown public school or county health authorities proof that he had gotten a second MMR shot. In 1997, I made a presentation to the National Vaccine Advisory Committee defending the moral right to exercise a conscientious belief exemption to vaccination and predicting what would happen if Americans did not win that freedom.

What happened in Maryland this weekend is a final wake-up call for America.

Dozens of new vaccines are being rushed to market in the next decade and most will target children and adults for mandated use. Limiting the power of the State to force vaccination is all that stands between the people and tyranny.

There is only one way we will be free in the future: the laws must be changed so that every state allows a conscientious belief exemption to vaccination. Parents in Texas, after working with Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education (PROVE) to educate the Texas legislature about the need for a conscientious belief exemption, got that exemption added in 2004 (vaccineinfo.net). NVIC provided information and strategic support for PROVE's seven year effort to secure strong informed consent and privacy protections in Texas vaccine laws but it was Dawn Richardson, Rebecca Rex and the people of Texas who got the job done.


If you want to work to educate your community and elected officials about vaccination and informed consent rights, contact the National Vaccine Information Center at NVICinfo@gmail.com. For more information about NVIC's 25 years of advocacy work and to learn more about preventing vaccine reactions go to www.nvic.org. Please donate generously to this non-profit educational public service organization working to protect your freedom to choose the kind of health care you want for yourself and your family, including the freedom to choose which vaccines to use.

CNN: Vaccines or else: Parents Blast Order for Schoolchildren

Associated Press: Maryland Schools Get Tough on Vaccinations


Labels: Maryland

posted by Barbara Loe Fisher

Police with Dogs: Vaccinating Kids in Maryland

In the News

Wyeth Targets Crucell Vaccines With $1.35 Billion Bid
http://tinyurl.com/75aeqz

MMR: Turning the Tables on the British Medical Establishment
http://tinyurl.com/8he4t8

Beyond Thimerosal (Aluminum in Vaccines)
http://tinyurl.com/9dkxu8

Internists Publish Updated CDC Adult Immunization Schedule
http://www.medpagetoday.com/ProductAlert/DevicesandVaccines/12337

Top Federal Autism Panel Votes For Millions in Vaccine Research
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/top-federal-autism-panel_b_155293.html

Merck Stops Producing Vaccines Without Cells From Babies Killed in Abortions
http://tinyurl.com/7flnjr

Immunization Schedules for 2009 Released
http://tinyurl.com/99e376

N.J. drugmaker wants males to buy vaccine that fights sexually transmitted cancers
http://www.app.com/article/20090106/BUSINESS/90106065/1003

Company seeks approval for nasal spray flu vaccine
http://tinyurl.com/8t5exo

The Psychology of Vaccine Injury Awareness
http://tinyurl.com/8mot4p

Flu Vaccine Update for the 2008/2009 Season
http://tinyurl.com/8oh7tr

Bayer Knowingly Sold HIV-Contaminated Vaccines, Say Internal Documents
http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000647_Bayer_vaccines_HIV.html

Think Out Loud on Wednesday: Vaccines
http://tinyurl.com/93xzb7

What is Paul Offit's Problem?
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/what-is-paul-offits-problem.html

The Vaccine Hard Sell at Pediatrics
http://tinyurl.com/7lk4ws

MMR: It's ALL or NOTHING! Say goodbye to choice.
http://tinyurl.com/7fkmgw

Charges For Vaccines Vary Widely, Study Finds
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98743907

Why Paul Offit Isn't Flexible on Vaccines
http://tinyurl.com/9ve5un

Has Thimerosal Actually Been Removed From Vaccines? If Not, Of What
Value Are the Epidemiological Studies?
http://tinyurl.com/96fvns

UAMS to begin testing breast cancer vaccine
http://tinyurl.com/9xybn4

Parents furious over mandatory flu vaccine
http://tinyurl.com/76t66q

Should States Require Kids to Get Flu Shot?
http://tinyurl.com/7mqbsz

Missed shots spur kids' suspension (Canada)
http://www.thestar.com/article/560726

Medical Researchers Evaluating Investigational Flu Vaccine
http://tinyurl.com/9yx66q

Flu vaccination numbers exceed all of last year
http://tinyurl.com/82kbw7

State deadline for child flu vaccines extended to Jan. 14
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/114/story/361374.html

Glouco health officials extend flu shot cutoff
http://tinyurl.com/7bh8gl

A pediatrician's cautious plan for vaccinating kids
http://tinyurl.com/7mm4h8

Pediatricians Demand Annual Flu Shots for Infants
http://www.naturalnews.com/025203.html

Is A Flu Pandemic Imminent?
http://www.newswithviews.com/Ciola/greg109.htm

Vaccinations for children stir debate for parents, doctors
http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20081222/NEWS01/812220313/1001

The Vaccine Controversy - Should We Vaccinate Our Children?
http://tinyurl.com/9qeywu

DCGI checks clinical trial data on Wyeth's pneumonia vaccine
http://tinyurl.com/89brur

Alaska Employees Get Vaccine Ultimatum
http://tinyurl.com/9n4zl5

Age of Autism Awards 2008 Galileo Award: Dr. Andrew Wakefield
http://tinyurl.com/8xvljy

In the News

N.J. extends deadline for kids' flu shots

Original Story Here

By Rita Giordano
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

New Jersey parents are getting a holiday gift from the state Health Department: a little longer to get their preschoolers newly mandated flu shots.

Instead of the previous deadline of Dec. 31, parents now have until Jan. 14 to get their children who attend licensed child-care centers vaccinated, said Health Department spokeswoman Marilyn Riley. The regulation applies to children aged six months to 59 months.

If the child is not vaccinated by the deadline, the parent must provide a doctor's note to prove that the child has an appointment to get the shot.

No note or shot, and the child may not be allowed to attend school or day care. The state requires preschools and centers to get proof of immunization and not to allow unvaccinated children at their facilities.

If a school or center violates the regulations, it faces a fine ranging from $50 to $1,000.

State Health and Senior Services Commissioner Fred N. Jacobs approved the flu-shot requirement last December, effective this fall and winter. New Jersey was the first state to require early-childhood flu vaccinations.

Local health departments will be in charge of enforcing the regulations. Spokesmen for Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties said they routinely audit centers and preschools for compliance.

Scott Woodside, director of nursing for Gloucester County, said the compliance rate in his county is 99.8 percent.

But not all parents are pleased about getting their little ones flu shots. According to the Health Department, influenza is responsible for about 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the United States each year. While the elderly are most likely to die as a result of the flu, Riley said babies and young children are most likely to be hospitalized.

Some parents, however, have expressed concern about possible adverse effects of the flu shot, as well other vaccines.

"We have gotten phone calls," Woodside said. "We instruct them on the value of it and we point them to the new sanctions."

Gloucester County will offer free flu shots to county residents on Monday from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. at the health department, 204 E. Holly Ave., in Washington Township.

Robert Gogats, Burlington County's health officer, said his department has heard from parents that they have had trouble finding the vaccine. Others are reluctant to get it.

"I'm hoping they do, because immunization helps us conquer preventable disease," Gogats said.

He said he has never had to fine a center or preschool for vaccination noncompliance.

Contact staff writer Rita Giordano at 856-779-3841 or rgiordano@phillynews.com.

N.J. extends deadline for kids' flu shots