Read A Mother's Guide to Raising Healthy Children--Naturally for Free Online Page A

Journal of Pediatric Child Health mentions pertussis as a side effect, as well as six serious illnesses in a series of 200,000 hepatitis vaccinationsincluding multiforme, aseptic meningitis, and grand mal seizure. The vaccine was also responsible for fifty-six minor illnesses, among them neurological tremors, Bell's palsy, hives, herpes zoster, joint inflammation, hepatitis-like illness, influenza-like

 

Page 28
syndrome, diarrhea, vomiting, and headache. The study's authors concluded that until further evidence could be gathered on possible side effects from the hepatitis B vaccine, it may be worth only "giving the vaccine to people at high risk, rather than to all the population."
Measles, Mumps, Rubella
The measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine is administered when the child is fifteen months old. Measles, mumps, and rubella are fairly innocuous childhood diseases. Good nutrition, clean sanitation, and proper medical care can prevent the side effects and complications such as hepatitis, convulsions, and meningitis that doctors always mention as a reason to choose the vaccine. Measles is indeed dangerous in Third World countries or in underprivileged communities with poor living conditions, sanitation, nutrition, and substandard health care. Vaccine-acquired immunity is questionable. In clinical studies, vaccinated children have been shown to contract these diseases when exposed to them.
In the past, some researchers believed that having measles as a child helped the human immune system to mature, priming it to be more effective when dealing with challenges from viruses and bacteria later in life. Recovery from natural measles infection confers lifelong immunity, while vaccine-induced antibodies provide temporary immunity. In fact, the majority of severe complications arise when contraction of the disease occurs in vaccinated individuals. In adults, these diseases pose an elevated risk of complications and debilitating side effects.
In addition, reactions that occurred immediately after the administration of a vaccine included encephalopathies (brain damage), aseptic meningitis, cranial nerve palsy, learning disabilities, and mental retardation.
Chickenpox (Varicella Zoster)
Reactions to the chickenpox vaccine, given at twelve months of age, include lesions on the body within four weeks of vaccination and fever of 102 degrees, upper respiratory infection, fatigue, disturbed sleep, diarrhea, vomiting, otitis media (ear infection), headache, hives, and febrile seizures. Because it contains live chickenpox virus, vaccine makers warn that vaccinated individuals potentially may be capable of transmitting the virus through close

 

Page 29
contact. Therefore, close contact with high-risk individuals such as newborns and pregnant women should be avoided after inoculation.
The death rate for chicken pox is 1.4 per 100,000 cases in healthy children but rises to nearly 31 per 100,000 cases in adults. There is some medical concern that mass vaccination with chickenpox vaccine will drive the disease out of the normal childhood population, where it is mild for most children, and into the infant and adult populations, where it can be more dangerous. Vaccine makers state that the duration of protection is unknown at present, and the need for booster doses is not defined. This questionable rate of efficacy may contribute to cases occurring in older age groups in the future.
There is also concern that injecting children with a live varicella zoster vaccine may cause the virus to lay dormant in the body and be reactivated later in life in the form of herpes zoster (shingles).
Your Right to Choose
"We need to get information to the public about the side effects of vaccines so people can make informed decisions," explains Fisher.
Williams concurs: "It's very important that parents cut through what they're being told to do by their physicians and do their own research. I see a real trend in parents selecting certain vaccinations based on