A Needling Menace?

[Guest guest]

A Needling Menace?

" ...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. "

South Jersey Magazine

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. "