A Needling Menace? !!! vaccinations

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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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