A Needling Menace?

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A Needling Menace?

 

South Jersey Magazine

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http://www.southjersey.com/articles/?articleid=19292

Having your child vaccinated should be a choice, say some area anti-inoculation

activists and parents. But if you expect to send your infant or preschool-age

child to a South Jersey daycare center next month, know this: New Jersey

Department of Health and Human Services says come September 1, no shots, no

school.

It's a sound no mother ever wants to hear-an inconsolable child screaming in

pain. For Walls of Cape May, that unforgettable cry went on for more

than seven hours the day she took her two-month-old son to a pediatrician for

his first round of vaccines.

For a number of reasons, including the toxin levels in vaccines, Walls had been

wary of the physician's recommendation to immunize her child. But, she felt

pressured to make a decision on the spot, she says, and was told side effects to

such vaccines are extremely rare in healthy infants like her son.

The new mother began to anxiously question her decision to inoculate her son as

she drove to her grandmother's house for lunch following the appointment, while

the infant lay deep asleep in the car seat behind her. Her period of quiet

reflection, however, was short-lived. As soon as she began taking him out of the

car, the infant's quiet sleep exploded into high-pitched sobs.

" The way he was screaming was definitely unnatural, " Walls says, her voice still

cracking at the memory more than a year after the incident. " Hours later, he was

still screaming. He was utterly inconsolable, and I was terrified. "

According to Walls, the cries were so loud that she had to walk into her

grandmother's backyard, away from the house, to call her physician's office. The

medical professional on the other end of the line asked if her baby was fed, in

need of changing, or just tired. But Walls, a physical therapist, was adamant

that something outside the norm was wrong with her son-she'd done her research

and knew the warning signs of a bad reaction to vaccination. " I want this

documented, " she said shakily, praying her child would calm down.

Eventually, he did, though his traumatized mother was still crying over the

experience days later. And the trouble did not end there. Walls said her son no

longer slept through the night and soon developed chronic ear aches. But, she

contends, despite months of poor health following the vaccine, her son was " one

of the lucky ones. "

She believes the vaccine itself triggered her son's troubles, and has spent the

last year researching the world's current immunization process. " What I learned

horrified me, " she says, referring to the disease-preventative injections that

many consider to be among the most important health advances in history.

Walls is not alone. She is part of a groundswell of parents and legislators who

believe vaccinating a child should be a choice, not a mandate. Grassroots

groups, such as the New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice (NJCVC), espouse

opposition to government-imposed immunizations and believe parents have the

right to informed consent regarding vaccinations for their children just as they

do with other medical procedures. Many believe that childhood vaccines-some of

which include the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal and other

toxins-can trigger autism or other neurological disorders in certain infants

(though medical and scientific communities have not found a definitive link

between routine childhood vaccines and autism). They also say the list of

medical risks in typical vaccine inserts underscores the need for parents to

make their own decision.

Members of parent networks around the state, like the NJCVC, have been rallying

since the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior

Services signed an order last December that mandates annual flu and pneumonia

vaccines for children under 5 years old attending licensed day care or

preschool, beginning Sept. 1. New Jersey is the first state to mandate flu shots

for preschoolers. Sixth graders are targeted by two other vaccines this school

year-one against a fast-killing strain of meningitis and the other a booster of

the immunization against tetanus, pertussis and diphtheria.

As New Jersey now mandates 34 vaccinations-more than anywhere else in the

world-it has become a key battleground state in the vaccination choice movement.

While doctors are prepping needles and telling school-bound kids, " It'll only

pinch for a second, " this fall, two bills-A260 and S1071-are pending before the

Assembly and Senate. They would provide parents a way to opt out of mandatory

vaccinations by creating a conscientious belief exemption, which exists in other

states but not in New Jersey. The identical bills are sponsored by Assemblywoman

Charlotte Vandervaulk (R-Bergen), who says mandating dozens of vaccines for

young children is " mind-boggling when you look at the risks. "

When explaining her position, she cites the nearly 5,000 cases currently sitting

before the nation's Vaccine Court.. This jury-free division of the U.S. Court of

Federal Claims administers a no-fault system for litigating vaccine-injury

claims against the manufacturers, which cannot normally be filed in state or

federal courts. The program was established-in addition to the VAERS reporting

system (see sidebar)-by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, passed

in response to a threat to the immunization supply in the '80s due to a scare

over the DPT vaccine. Despite the belief of most public health officials that

claims of side effects were unfounded, large jury rewards were given to some

plaintiffs, most DPT vaccine makers subsequently ceased production, and

officials feared the loss of " herd immunity " -a type of immunity that occurs when

the vaccination of a vast portion of the population provides protection for

unvaccinated individuals.

If passed in the upcoming legislative session, a conscientious belief exemption

would join the state's long-standing medical and religious exemptions to

vaccines. And more exemptions mean more people are apt to opt out of certain

vaccines or immunization as a whole. According to Dr. Sharrar, Chief of

Pediatrics at University Hospital, that could present a significant risk

to public health in the region, with viruses more likely to spread through

communities.

" The major reason immunizations are successful is because of the large number of

people who get them, " he says. " And the vast amount of people who get immunized

protect the few people who do not. The world is very small. A person could be in

India one day and 24 hours later they could be in South Jersey. There always

exists a potential for exposure (to a contagious virus), " he adds. " It's risky

for a child not to be immunized these days. "

Like Sharrar, the DHSS believes the vaccines licensed and tested in the U.S. are

safe and necessary. " It's highly preferable to vaccinate against diseases than

to treat them, " notes spokeswoman Donna Leusner. " Broad exemptions to mandatory

vaccinations weaken the entire enforcement structure. Immunization not only

protects the children who get vaccinated, but the community in

general-especially its most vulnerable populations, which are the very young and

the elderly. "

Leusner says New Jersey is particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases

because of its high population density, large numbers of recently arrived

immigrants, and its position as a well-traveled corridor state. " These factors

help a disease to spread faster and they're why we believe it's important for

the highest number of children possible to be vaccinated. "

She adds that despite the fact that 19 other states allow conscientious

exemptions to mandatory immunizations, New Jersey's government has long been

opposed to broader exemption options.

Balancing parental rights and public safety makes this issue a difficult one for

lawmakers. Assemblywoman Pam Lampitt (D-Cherry Hill) signed on as a co-sponsor

to bill A-260 earlier this year, but now finds herself wavering and may soon

pull her support for the legislation. As a mother, Lampitt says, she was drawn

to the issue because she believes parents should have the right to manage the

health and well-being of their children.

" I should have done a little more reading before I jumped on this bill, " she

admits, noting that since signing on she has discussed the issue in-depth with

family and friends. Her sister, a developmental pediatrician, also directed

Lampitt to dozens of safety studies on U.S.-licensed vaccinations.

" I don't believe right now that quality assurance is an issue with most

vaccines, and I think the oversight is, for the most part, good, " she says. " I'm

worried about the impact this bill may have on society. If we allow wide swaths

of the population to opt out of vaccinations, we may devolve the medical

structure back to a day we don't want to be in. "

Lampitt is shifting her focus toward legislation that would help the so-called

" greening " of immunizations, i.e., eliminating mercury from vaccines and

reducing manufacturers' use of other potentially hazardous ingredients;

enhancing the monitoring of vaccine reactions in order to improve identification

of contaminated batches; and establishing an injection schedule based on patient

age, weight and health, and family history.

No legislation aimed at greening vaccines has been introduced in the State House

as of yet, but many groups and individuals in support of a conscientious belief

exemption marched on Washington June 4 in support of actress Jennie McCarthy's

" Green our Vaccines " movement. Amy Galarowicz, of the New Jersey Coalition for

Vaccination Choice, says if a conscientious belief exemption is not established

this fall, there will be a lot more pressure on legislators to enact a " green

vaccine " law.

In the meantime, a petition is circulating through the state that opposes the

latest round of vaccine mandates from the DHHS and supports the passage of

Vandervaulk's bill. It's garnered nearly 8,000 signatures so far, and " as more

people express their interest in establishing a conscientious belief exemption

to vaccine mandates, the more (lawmakers) will become interested in passing it, "

the assemblywoman says.

Here in South Jersey, Walls says she's busy hosting informational meetings in

her home and working to make other parents aware of some of the risks vaccines

present. Her son is healthy again, but Walls worries about the tough decisions

she'll have to make as he grows closer to school-age.

" I just don't believe that the science is in on vaccine safety at this point, "

she says, citing a dearth in double-blind studies comparing children who have

never been vaccinated with those who have been. " There also needs to be better

dialogue between parents and physicians, with risks and (post-vaccination)

red-flags clearly outlined. But, above all, there needs to be an informed choice

for parents to make themselves regarding their families-it's not the Public

Health Council or the DHHS that has to go home with vaccine-injured children. "

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