To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? In this article I have attempted to remove the fog of emotive propaganda and view this issue objectively. I have interviewed movers and shakers on both sides of the battle lines, read all the material I could find and interviewed a selection of vaccine manufacturers ? all the time attempting to keep an open mind on the subject.
Many statements have been made and incidents cited, both favourable and unfavourable. Both parties, those supporting immunisation and those who are vehemently opposed, quote case histories. Claims have been made, statistics quoted the arguments go back and forth.
Many new parents are only a few steps along the road from their own childhood, when, after the birth of their baby, comes a multitude of decisions to be made. To breastfeed or bottle feed, for example. If the latter, they are faced with milk powders and milk substitute options ? which one is preferable for a colicky baby, unsettled baby etc? How to persuade baby to sleep through the night so parents wake with clear heads and are able to make rational decisions?
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For a young mother, the sudden responsibility of a baby when she has had only her own welfare to consider in the past creates a lot more stress and trauma than many realise. In the midst of this 'adjustment period' comes a barrage of information from two warring parties, information which is vital to the wellbeing, maybe the survival, of her new infant. If the parents are academic, given to researching facts on issues relevant to their daily lives, they will still find themselves in a quandary over this matter. So many of the 'facts' are arguable or merely theories.
Drug companies have been accused of overriding the safety of our children for the sake of monetary gain. Doctors have even been implicated in this 'conspiracy' and the minute an accusation involving money enters the equation a reaction is inevitable.
Many surveys, statistics, tests, and case histories have been quoted and then rebuffed by the opposing faction as null and void or outdated. There have been reported cases of illnesses and fatalities ? some or all may have been genuinely caused by vaccines or these conditions may have had other causes and have no bearing on the issue at all. None of these criteria are conclusive enough in my view to give parents any concrete immunisation guidelines.
Instead we have three groups evolving. Group A: Who are convinced immunisation is part of a plot to make someone wealthy and undermine the health of our children. Group B: Who are convinced immunisation awareness groups are new-age fanatics who see a conspiracy at every corner, and Group C: Who are totally confused about the whole issue and cannot make their minds up either way.
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We need to take a fresh look at the actual content of vaccines, and discover the truth about the alleged toxic or cumulative contents. Are they present in higher concentrations than those used in other medications, which are widely accepted and used frequently? What base materials are used in the production of vaccines?
When I began my research it was relatively easy to unveil the vaccine contents, but when I attempted to uncover the base products I hit a brick wall. I was curious to know why the companies seemed evasive in this regard and discovered they were reluctant to divulge trade secrets to competitors. I was unconvinced.
These companies are faced with escalating consumer resistance to their products. They must realise that the most effective 'yeast' in the development of such opposition is the cloak of mystery they are wrapping around their product.
It is human nature to fear the unknown. Who would be willing to inject their children with something secretive, and now under scrutiny?
If a child suffers ill effects following vaccination, the parent feels to blame for having the child vaccinated. If, on the other hand, a child contracts a disease, the parent can offload the blame onto the disease itself, nature, time and circumstance ? call it what you will. Food manufacturers are required by law to list the product ingredients on the label. I fail to understand why vaccine manufacturers are able to side-step this law. If we have the right to know exactly what we are consuming, it is surely even more important that we know exactly what we are injecting into our children's bloodstreams.
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Medications come in a bottle or packet with a label we can read; vaccinations come in a syringe grasped firmly in the doctor's hand and with no preliminary document which we can peruse in the waiting room beforehand.
According to anti-immunisation groups, the base material for certain vaccines is produced from cells taken from aborted foetuses. This is partly correct but not as bizarre and unpalatable as it may first appear, in that the cells were taken from the lung of one foetus several decades ago and are reproduced.
There are also traces of human blood products and animal enzymes used in these base products. I can understand the reservations of parents who are opposed to blood transfusions, or are vegetarians, having a problem with this, but for others it should not be disconcerting. Most people do, after all, consume foods such as eggs, lambs fry, and steak and kidney pie. These foods enter our bodies, are processed, and finish up in our bloodstreams ? the same bloodstreams the vaccines are injected into. Many people receive blood in the course of an operation or following an accident, and many donate blood. Let's remain open and analytical, keeping logic to the fore.
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research informed me that, "all these vaccines must meet strict manufacturing standards."
I pondered this statement trying to decide whether it alluded to the meticulous scrubbing of all workbenches and vials or strict monitoring of the vaccine contents. In fact it could mean anything. After all, these strict standards must first be drawn up by a person or body which sets the benchmark so, without more details, the term is fairly meaningless. The following is a list of the most controversial ingredients, either present in childhood disease vaccines, or used in their manufacture.
