Page 36 - Special Issue: Healthy Baby

Thirty years early 1960s. This vaccine was later found to be to the adverse event reporting system, a system

ago‚ children contaminated with a monkey virus, SV40, which rife with problems. When a vaccine is released
had tainted the vaccine during production. And onto the market, post-marketing surveillance is
received a even though the virus was discovered in 1960, supposed to track any negative reactions from the
total of four the contaminated vaccine continued to be given to millions of people taking the newly released vac-
vaccines‚ but American children for three more years with the cine. However, not only is the adverse reporting
full knowledge of government health authorities, system entirely voluntary, 90 to 99 percent of all
today a fully until it was withdrawn in 1963. Thirty years later, adverse reactions are never reported, according
vaccinated SV40 was found to be isolated in bone, brain and to David Kessler, head of the FDA for most of
4
child receives lung cancers of disabled and deceased adults. The the 1990s. And no oversight of any kind ensures
SV40 vaccine debacle proves a direct connection that reports made directly to the pharmaceutical
a whopping between a vaccine and a slow-growing cancer companies are then forwarded to the FDA—the
37-50 which developed decades after the vaccine. process is run entirely by the “honor system.”
3
vaccines Unfortunately, authorities made no effort to find A very clear example of poor adverse event
and track adult recipients of the vaccine, study documentation occurred during President Bush’s
during the and catalog their health status, or note their rate Smallpox Vaccination Program of 2003. Before
early‚ of cancer, even though a clear opportunity exists the program, the public was repeatedly told to

formative to study long-term effects of a vaccine in a very expect death rates from the vaccine of one to two
per million. In fact, there were three deaths (that
direct and concise way.
years of life‚ Delayed negative reactions have also been we know of) among the approximately 36,000
when his confirmed by the work of Dr. Viera Scheibner, civilians and few hundred embedded reporters
5
developing who developed a baby monitor in an effort to who were vaccinated. This makes the actual
prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). death rate 80 times higher than what the CDC
immune Her monitor sounded an alarm if the baby stops told the public to expect. Serious adverse reac-
system breathing or shows patterns of stress breathing tions such as brain swelling, heart inflammation,
is most during sleep. In designing the monitor, she had heart attacks, uncontrolled ulceration of the skin,
no preconceived intention of specifically tracking among others, were one in 583, seven times high-
vulnerable. vaccination reactions, as it had never occurred to er than the CDC’s original guesstimate of one in

her that vaccinations were in any way problem- four thousand. And yet medical authorities and
atic or harmful. mainstream news outlets continue to use the old,
In the course of tracking infant breathing inaccurate numbers rather than update the risk
at night, she recorded the breathing patterns of estimate as they should.
babies following the DPT injection. She found However, it is certain that even these
that the vaccine caused babies much stress and numbers were vastly underreported since, just
that this stress showed a remarkable uniformity, like childhood vaccination reactions, reporting
with stress flare-ups immediately following the adverse reactions during the smallpox vaccine
vaccine on day 2 or 5, or delayed reactions on the was not mandatory and was also limited to an
15-16th or 20-25th day in babies who recovered arbitrary and ill-defined time frame of 2-4 weeks.
and those who subsequently died from SIDS. What was the rate of death and injury from the
Scheibner’s monitor proved that death from vaccine over the next few months and years? All
the vaccine sometimes occurs weeks after the of these important risks should have been studied
injection, in correlation with the stress patterns it and tracked for an honest assessment of the true
identified. However, the longer time frame gives risk of this vaccine, but researchers missed this
doctors and health authorities every excuse not valuable opportunity due to the usual shoddy and
to attribute it to the DPT shot. incomplete tracking system that reflects the poor
science behind vaccine development.
ADVERSE EVENTS
NOT REPORTED OR TRACKED HEPATITIS B VACCINE AT BIRTH
One of the great dangers is the fact that neg- Let’s look at the hepatitis B vaccine as a way
ative vaccine reactions are very rarely reported to examine problems with the development and

34 Wise Traditions