Why should parents be concerned about vaccines?

What do we know?  What don’t we know?  This is something I never even thought about until it was my turn to vaccinate our children.  My gut feeling at first was to read and learn as much as possible before we decided what we thought was best.  Most parents today are probably unaware that there is really a controversial issue surrounding immunizations.  Presently, there is growing evidence that vaccinations may actually be causing chronic health problems and a growing number of parents are getting concerned and  demanding that questions about safety and aptness be addressed. Mercury (thimerosal used as a preservative) probably has gotten the worst rap in the news lately, however, most of it has been removed from the vaccines(except the flu) thanks to the American Academy of Pediatrics who urged government agencies to have it removed.    But some of the worrisome ingredients and production of vaccines still lurk.

Animal and Human Tissue

• Crazy to believe but they actually use animal and human tissues in the manufacturing process of vaccines.  Is this really a big deal?  There was a report published in the pediatric news, Infectious Diseases in Children, that stated from 1955-1963 some monkey kidney cells contaminated the polio vaccine with the SV-40 virus (which is linked to several types of cancer in animals).  The SV-40 virus has also been discovered in human cancers. This virus was discovered long after the fact those people who were inoculated with the polio vaccine during those years.  Manufacturers still use numerous animal tissues as well as human tissues today for vaccine production.  Monkey kidney cells are still used and are supposed to be screened carefully for all known infectious diseases.  My concern is what if they miss some extreme disease or some small, slow virus we have not yet discovered?  Below is a list of the various animal or human tissues used to make vaccines:
  • Human blood proteins (albumin)
  • Human lung cells
  • Human fetal lung cells
  • Human cell lines
  • Cow serum (the liquid part of blood)
  • Cow tissue extract
  • Monkey kidney cells
  • Guinea pig embryo cells
  • Chicken  embryos
  • Chicken kidney cells
  • Chicken eggs

Vaccines that use Animal or Human Tissues

• MMR
• Chickenpox
• Polio
• Rotavirus
• Flu
• Hepatitis A
• DtaP (Infanrix & Tropedia brands)
• Tetnus and diphtheria vaccines
• Tdap (boostrix Brand

Vaccines that DON’T use Animal or Human Tissues

• HIB
• Pc
• Hepatitis B
• Meningococcal
• HPV
• DtaP (Daptacel brand)
• Tdap (Adacel brand)

Aluminum

• Aluminum may be the next Mercury epidemic and problem associated with vaccines.  It is used in various vaccines to help them work better and boost effectiveness.  “Experimental evidence is summarized to support the hypothesis that chronic exposure to low levels of aluminum may lead to neurological disorders.” (Joshi JG. Department of Biochemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 37996-0840 Pubmed.gov)  However, other reports claim that aluminum has been used for decades and pose no short or long term risks.  Again, continue to read and learn so you can make an informed choice.  FDA regulates that all injectable solutions have a 25 microgram limit. The following vaccines contain aluminum in their final solutions.
• HIB (PedVax HIB brand only)
• Pc
• DTap
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis A
• HPV

In conclusion, evaluate all that you have read and even research more.  Continue to discuss this with your physician or health care provider.  In visiting with my teacher colleague/friend the other day, she was so stressed over taking her little 6 month old girl to get her HIB and Pc shot.  She said, “man I just wish I was ignorant about all this vaccine stuff.”  I looked at her and said, “no you don’t, we need more parents to question and demand nontoxic vaccines for our children.” Maybe if parents like you continued to employ a safer/alternative vaccine schedule and visit with doctors about this, things will change.”   I believe this is a pivotal issue and will continue to be one until there is paradigm shift and the rate of children being diagnosed later in life with chronic health problems declines.