Vaccine Shedding

THE DILEMMA OF VACCINE-INDUCED DISEASE AND UNVACCINATED CHILDREN

It has long been known that vaccines can cause the diseases they were meant to immunise against.
For instance, the live oral polio vaccination can cause polio – a disease named vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP), which is mentioned on the UK dept of health website, immunisation.org.uk
‘If a baby has had the oral polio vaccine, the live virus can be found in the baby's poo for up to six weeks afterwards.’
It was actually for this reason that the OPV was voted out and injectable polio vaccine re-introduced. The oral vaccine was responsible for the ONLY cases of polio in the developing world. (Committee on Immunization Practices meeting, held 20th June 1996).

According to DRAFT ACIP meeting minutes, February 2001, page 28:

‘OPV not only causes vaccine-associated paralytic polio, but if it’s use is stopped, the OPV strain can still re-emerge….to date, no developing country has used IPV only, so there is little information on it’s immunogenicity (i.e. there’s no evidence the injectable version prevents polio either)…Dr. Halsey asked if viral mutations from vaccination occur over a long period in the excretions of an immunosuppressed individual…Dr. Abramson recalled data showing that the virus can be found in people 10 years after vaccination…the fact that children are being paralysed by vaccine derived viruses, proves their virulence. Dr. Kew’s 1997 report said that vaccine derived viruses could be replicating in immunosuppressed individuals…however, vaccination cessation is not expected anytime soon.’

The MMR vaccine also contains live viruses and according to an MMR 2 manufacturer’s data sheet from Merck, Sharpe and Dohme, ‘It is not known whether measles or mumps vaccine virus is secreted in human milk. Recent studies have shown that lactating postpartum women immunised with live attenuated rubella vaccine may secrete the virus in breast milk and transmit it to breast-fed infants. In the infants with serological evidence of rubella infection, none exhibited severe disease; however, one exhibited mild clinical illness typical of acquired rubella. Caution should be exercised when M-M-R II is administered to a nursing woman.’

Pregnancy was listed as a contraindication to the vaccine and they advised not getting pregnant for 3 months after an MMR vaccine has been given. Since it has been proven that the viruses are secreted in body fluid, it is reasonable to assume that close contact with a vaccinated infant would also confer risk.

Indeed, my eldest daughter contracted measles at 15 months, after sitting next to a baby who’d just had his MMR jab that morning. She came out with the measles rash exactly 14 days after eating her lunch with him, and the incubation period for measles is a fortnight.

BCG vaccine is also live (and given to minority babies at birth) and can mutate. According to the Medical Monitor, June 1992, ‘BCG vaccine can cause disseminated TB in immunosuppressed individuals and children…local ulceration appears to be more common in babies.’

But it isn’t only live vaccines that can cause a problem. ‘Killed’ vaccines have been known to mutate and cause disease, even amongst close contacts of the recipient.
Meningitis vaccines such as HIB and Meningitis C can also spread. The medical profession are currently studying 15,000 teenagers to discover whether immunisation helps trigger the most deadly strain of meningococcus bacteria. Throat swaps are being taken from 7 centres around the country. A spokesman said
‘The study being conducted will address whether or not vaccine escape variants ..will begin to spread among the population..as a result of the immunisation programme.’ Escape variants can switch was B to C or C to B etc. (John Von Radowitz, Medical Correspondent, PA News).

How Can Parents Protect Their Unvaccinated Children?

Firstly, breast feed! Breast milk kills polio virus and meningitis and a whole host of other diseases. Carry on breast feeding your child for as long as possible (the World Health Organisation recommend a MINIMUM of 2 years).

Do not change the nappy/diaper of a friend’s vaccinated baby.

Do not allow your baby to put another baby’s soother in his mouth, or to bottle share.

Regularly give your baby vitamin C supplementation. Drops are available for very small babies, or chewable ones for toddlers. I gave my children 3,000mgs of vitamin C a day and they never had any serious illnesses or complications. Remember, you cannot overdose on vitamin C and any that the body does not need, is simply re-absorbed.

If you know a baby has just been vaccinated, or has a disease, consider giving a vitamin A supplement as children with adequate levels of this vitamin do not get serious side-effects from childhood disease. This is also good for the vaccinated child as good levels of vitamin A and C have been shown to reduce vaccine side-effects. If you choose this option, please discuss it with a health care provider to find the correct dose for your child, as too much vitamin A can be dangerous.

Alternatively, give your baby foods rich in vitamin A such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, spinach, butternut squash, turnip greens, mustard greens, and lettuce. Vitamin A is also present in free-range eggs, if you aren’t vegan. If your baby is too young for solids, eat these foods yourself and the nutrients will be passed to him via your breast milk.

Consider a homeopathic nosode (homeopathic version of vaccination). These can be given by a qualified homeopath to fill a child’s susceptibility to the disease (e.g. pertussin 30 if the child is exposed to whooping cough).

Help – My Child Has Measles!

If your child picks up measles, it helps to be informed so you know what to look for and how to treat it.

The Symptoms:

Measles begins like a cold with runny nose, sore throat and cough. Sometimes the child might get sticky eyes (conjunctivitis). There will be white spots on the inside of the mouth called Koplik’s spots.
3 to 5 days later, a rash will appear, starting behind the ears and on the face. Within a day it will spread to the body. There will be a fever and sometimes vomiting.
Within another 3 to 5 days, the rash disappears and the fever goes away. On very rare occasions, the child’s rash may bleed, they may suffer a febrile convulsion or measles encephalitis and death. This is unlikely, though, as according to Medicine Net, ‘measles has a low mortality rate in well nourished healthy children.’

Measles encephalitis can also occur in vaccinated children as Atypical Measles Syndrome (AMS), as Medicine Net describe: ‘AMS begins suddenly with high fever, headache, cough, and abdominal pain. The rash may appear 1 to 2 days later, often beginning on the limbs. Swelling (edema) of the hands and feet may occur. Pneumonia is common and may persist for 3 months or more.’

They blame incorrect vaccine storage on the fact that only vaccinated patients get AMS, or on the old single measles jab, ‘Immunization with inactivated measles virus does not prevent measles virus infection. It can, however, sensitize a person so that the expression of the disease is altered, resulting in AMS.’

When my mother got my measles shot in 1978, she was told that was effective. Now they say it isn’t. It does not inspire confidence in vaccination when they keep changing their story.

How Can My Child Become Immune To Measles?

Again, according to Medicine Net, ‘A child born to a mother who had measles receives immunity from its mother lasting most of the first year of life. One attack of measles provides lifelong immunity’ – there are other studies which show that immunity from mother’s milk lasts even longer than that. It is a strong argument against vaccination, as most mothers of this generation will have had the vaccine and therefore their ability to pass on immunity to their children is weakened. This shows that vaccination is actually destroying natural immunity rather than building it.

Treatments:

When my daughter had measles I withheld all food from her. Food feeds a virus as well as the person, and valuable energy is wasted on the digestive system when it should be going to the immune system. Fasting allows the body to rest. We usually don’t feel like eating when we are ill because it is our body’s way of telling us to fast.

I made sure she had regular fluids to avoid dehydration – starting with water and then progressing to fruit juice when she was a little better. Breast milk is also ideal. For her fever, I gave regular doses of Belladonna 6 homeopathy and tepid sponge bathing to prevent any febrile convulsion (which are caused by allowing the temperature to rise too quickly).

I didn’t give any paracetamol or another anti-pyretic because if you try to suppress symptoms you end up pushing them into the body and causing measles complications. According to Medicine Net, ‘Avoid aspirin and all aspirin products. (Aspirin today is not recommended for children or for patients with infectious diseases caused by viruses, because of the association with Reyes syndrome)’. Nearly all measles complications are either in malnourished children or healthy children whose measles was ‘medicated.’
I used calamine lotion on her spots to ease any discomfort. Her rash disappeared after 3 days and she was fully recovered in 8 days and did not get ill (even with a cold) for another year or more afterwards.

Baby Got Yellow Fever From Mother's Vaccine

A baby fell badly ill after his mother ignored advice to avoid the yellow fever vaccine while breastfeeding.

Tests show the five-week old boy contracted a vaccine strain of the virus directly through receiving milk from his mother.

The case provides the first known proof that the jab should be avoided while mothers lactate, experts in Canada have said.

Dr Susan Kuhn, who co-authored the research for Alberta Health Services, said: "Until recently, avoidance of vaccination of breastfeeding women with yellow fever vaccine had been based on theoretical grounds only."

The mother, whose nationality was not revealed, received travel advice and a vaccination for yellow fever before visiting Venezuela when the baby was 10 days old.

The infant did not receive vaccinations for the trip and they travelled together with breastfeeding continuing.

"The previously healthy five-week-old infant male presented to the hospital with a two-day history of fever and irritability," the authors wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. "The day before his admission, he had been noted to have focal seizures on alternating sides."

Testing of the spinal fluid revealed evidence of recent infection with the yellow fever virus.

The travellers stayed in urban Venezuela where yellow fever is not known to be a risk, and the baby showed no sign of insect bites, had not been in contact with sick people and was not exposed to animals showing symptoms, which prompted the authors to conclude that the likely explanation was transmission through breastfeeding.

"This probable case of yellow fever virus further supports the current recommendations for avoidance of yellow fever vaccination in lactating mothers of infants under nine months of age," the authors added. "While there may be situations in which the mother will have unavoidable and significant risk of yellow fever exposure, the risk to the infant due to maternal vaccination must be weighed against the risk of wild-type virus infection."

Source: The Press Association, 7th February 2011.

Transmission of mumps virus from mumps-vaccinated individuals to close contacts

During a recent mumps epidemic in the Netherlands caused by a genotype D mumps virus strain, we investigated the potential of vaccinated people to spread mumps disease to close contacts. We compared mumps viral titers of oral fluid specimens obtained by quantitative PCR from vaccinated (n = 60) and unvaccinated (n = 111) mumps patients. We also investigated the occurrence of mumps infection among the household contacts of vaccinated mumps patients. We found that viral titers are higher for unvaccinated patients than for vaccinated patients during the 1st 3 days after onset of disease. While no symptomatic cases were reported among the household contacts (n = 164) of vaccinated mumps patients (n = 36), there were cases with serological evidence of asymptomatic infection among vaccinated household contacts (9 of 66 vaccinated siblings). For two of these siblings, the vaccinated index patient was the most probable source of infection. We conclude that, in this particular outbreak, the risk of a close contact becoming infected by vaccinated patients was small, but present.

Source: Vaccine
Volume 29, Issue 51, 28 November 2011, Pages 9551-9556.

Sibling Transmission of Vaccine-Derived Rotavirus (RotaTeq) Associated With Rotavirus Gastroenteritis

Although rotavirus vaccines are known to be shed in stools, transmission of vaccine-derived virus to unvaccinated contacts resulting in symptomatic rotavirus gastroenteritis has not been reported to our knowledge. We document here the occurrence of vaccine-derived rotavirus (RotaTeq [Merck and Co, Whitehouse Station, NJ]) transmission from a vaccinated infant to an older, unvaccinated sibling, resulting in symptomatic rotavirus gastroenteritis that required emergency department care. Results of our investigation suggest that reassortment between vaccine component strains of genotypes P7[5]G1 and P1A[8]G6 occurred during replication either in the vaccinated infant or in the older sibling, raising the possibility that this reassortment may have increased the virulence of the vaccine-derived virus. Both children remain healthy 11 months after this event and are without underlying medical conditions.

Source: Pediatrics Vol. 125 No. 2 February 1, 2010
pp. e438 -e441

Recently vaccinated children may serve as reservoirs and potential transmitters of infection.

The effects of whole-cell pertussis vaccine wane after 5 to 10 years, and infection in a vaccinated person causes nonspecific symptoms[3-7]. Vaccinated adolescents and adults may serve as reservoirs for silent infection and become potential transmitters to unprotected infants[3-11]. The whole-cell vaccine for pertussis is protective only against clinical disease, not against infection[15-17]. Therefore, even young, recently vaccinated children may serve as reservoirs and potential transmitters of infection.

Source: Medscape Today, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/414768_3

Antigenic Drift from Vaccines

A new study by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has revealed the mechanism behind the phenomenon known as antigenic drift.

Antigenic drift occurs when pressure from the body's immune system causes a virus used in a vaccine to mutate into a slightly different form that can potentially be more infectious.

The scientists, led by Ram Sasisekharan, a professor of health sciences and biological engineering at MIT, conducted the study by examining the chain of amino acids in the viral protein hemagglutinin. They identified which amino acids were most likely to mutate into forms that would improve the viruses' capability to infect new hosts.

The knowledge acquired by Sasisekharan and his team could help influenza vaccine designers develop vaccines that do not produce fitter viruses, as the evolved strains are known.

New strains of influenza emerge constantly, leaving researchers searching for which new strains should be included in the seasonal influenza vaccine, which must be reformulated every year.

The vaccines stimulate the production of antibodies that target a section of the hemagglutinin protein known as the antigenic site. When a virus encounters antibodies it can change slightly into a form that can spread more easily to those that have not been vaccinated and can bind more tightly to the surfaces of cells in the respiratory tract of flu victims, making it more infectious.

With funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Sasisekharan and his team sought to find out how this phenomenon occurs.

They examined the hemagglutinin protein using an approach called network analysis, which looks at the relationship between the individual amino acids that make up the protein. The resulting model showed that those amino acids located in the protein's antigenic region that were highly linked to those in the receptor-binding region were more likely to change affinity upon mutation. Selection pressure due to vaccination could contribute to the evolution of fitter viruses by producing better-binding hemagglutinin proteins.

“The idea that hemagglutinin can only accommodate certain mutations without losing fitness is not a new one, but what this paper gives us is a way to understand how changes in distant amino acids affect receptor binding,” David Topham, a professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, said.

Sasisekharan said that with knowledge of which amino acids are most likely to mutate into a more infectious form, vaccine producers could create vaccines that do not provoke mutations.

“This understanding of the relationship between the antigenic site and the receptor-binding site could be added to the current methods of vaccine selection and vaccine designs to limit drift,” Sasisekharan said.

Source: Vaccine News Daily, 28th December 2011.

How Bacteria Behind Serious Childhood Disease Evolve to Evade Vaccines

Genetics has provided surprising insights into why vaccines used in both the UK and US to combat serious childhood infections can eventually fail. The study, recently published in Nature Genetics, which investigates how bacteria change their disguise to evade the vaccines, has implications for how future vaccines can be made more effective.

In spite of the success of the vaccine programmes, some pneumococcal strains managed to continue to cause disease by camouflaging themselves from the vaccine. In research funded by the Wellcome Trust, scientists at the University of Oxford and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta studied what happened after the introduction of this vaccine in the US. They used the latest genomic techniques combined with epidemiology to understand how different serotypes of the pneumococcus bacteria evolve to replace those targeted by the initial vaccine.

Source: Wellcome Trust (2012, January 29). How bacteria behind serious childhood disease evolve to evade vaccines. ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120129151005.htm

Animal Vaccine Combines to Make New Deadly Virus - Has Implications for Human Vaccines.

Recombination between herpesviruses has been seen in vitro and in vivo under experimental conditions. This has raised safety concerns about using attenuated herpesvirus vaccines in human and veterinary medicine and adds to other known concerns associated with their use, including reversion to virulence and disease arising from recurrent reactivation of lifelong chronic infection. We used high-throughput sequencing to investigate relationships between emergent field strains and vaccine strains of infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV, gallid herpesvirus 1). We show that independent recombination events between distinct attenuated vaccine strains resulted in virulent recombinant viruses that became the dominant strains responsible for widespread disease in Australian commercial poultry flocks. These findings highlight the risks of using multiple different attenuated herpesvirus vaccines, or vectors, in the same populations.

Source: Science 13 July 2012:
Vol. 337 no. 6091 p. 188  http://www.sciencemag.org/content/337/6091/188