Acute Flaccid Myelitis and Routine Childhood Vaccinations: This is Nothing New
In the last several weeks there has been a growing concern about the number of children who have developed Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), which the media has reported is a “mysterious polio-like illness.” Daniel Ramirez died on Sunday, Oct. 30, after being hospitalized for two weeks with paralysis. The doctors at Seattle Children’s Hospital…
Allergens in Vaccines Are Causing Life-Threatening Food Allergies
It would probably surprise few people to hear that food allergies are increasingly common in U.S. children and around the world. According to one public health website, food allergies in children aged 0-17 in the U.S. increased by 50 percent from 1997 to 2011. Although food allergies are now so widespread as to have become almost normalized, it is…
CDC Admits Flu Shots Fail Half the Time
Americans have never been big fans of flu shots. During the 2009 “swine flu” influenza A pandemic, only about 40 percent of adults bothered to roll up their sleeves. In the 2014-2015 flu season, flu vaccine rates were still just 47 percent for adults but pediatricians had vaccinated 75 percent of children under two years old. Perhaps it is because parents are being thrown…
Oral Polio Vaccine Was Contaminated with Monkey Viruses
Public health officials in the United States today recommend that infants in the U.S. receive four doses of an inactivated, injectable polio vaccine (IAV) using chicken egg embryos, dog kidney cells or insect cells for production. However, between 1961 and 1999, most American children swallowed five doses of live oral polio vaccine (OPV) using monkey kidney cells for production. In 1961, the live attenuated oral polio…
Childhood Vaccine Schedule: Where is the Science?
Americans have been carefully taught to fully trust the recommendations made by medical doctors and public health officials, and many do trust without questioning. After all, we expect and want to believe that the recommendations being made by the “medical experts” are evidence-based and thoroughly tested for safety. In the case of the childhood vaccine schedule recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease…
Meningococcal Vaccine May Be Ineffective on College Campuses
Invasive meningococcal disease is a rare but serious infection caused by Neisseria meningitides, or meningococcus, bacteria. These bacteria can infect the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord (the meninges), leading to symptoms like fever, headache and a stiff neck. Other symptoms include nausea and vomiting, sensitivity to light and mental confusion. This condition, known as…