Do Adult Vaccines Protect From Illness?

Sixteen Adult Vaccines Risk vs. Benefits

There is nothing on Earth more controversial than vaccines. Ever since that historic day in May 1796 when Edward Jenner gave a young girl the first vaccine, the cowpox virus that prevented her from getting smallpox, entire populations have been polarized over the use of vaccines. Few have not taken sides. Some say vaccines are the cause of illnesses of all types: autism, neuropathy, asthma, and so forth. While others say they do no harm at all and only help prevent disease. The debate is even more heated when the government forces people to get vaccines they don’t want.

The use of vaccines to prevent illness got a slow start. Louis Pasteur was born about the time Edward Jenner died. It wasn’t until 1885 that Pasteur vaccinated a 9 year old boy bitten by a rabid dog with the first rabies vaccination. Since that time, many new vaccines have been developed to protect people from multiple illnesses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends 49 doses of 14 different vaccines before the age of six. This does not include other vaccinations that are available for travel to other countries.

At this time, the medical evidence should tilt the balance of the debate towards the government allowing parents and individuals to make their own decisions and those for their children.

The fact is there are risks to vaccinations. It’s important to be informed of these in order to make a decision. The big question on everybody’s lips is: “Which vaccines should I get, and when?”

It’s hard to know whom to trust when manufacturers use government to force vaccines on the entire population. Today, it seems that the public health establishment is obsessed with developing vaccines against every conceivable microorganism, and these government programs are bent to include everyone, every child, and every infant in the immunization loop.

Herd Immunity

In California, and now all over the United States, representatives of those who sell vaccines are talking about a concept called “herd immunity.” This is the theory that if a certain percentage of the population has vaccinations, then they won’t spread the illness, and the whole society is protected.

Literature from those who market vaccines to the public often state that if most of a population are immune to a disease, then it protects those who aren’t vaccinated. This causes peer-pressure to get vaccinated. As a result, schools, friends, and neighbors may not allow unvaccinated children around, believing that they could pass diseases. This theory, however, has been disproved. Russell Blaylock, MD, a neurosurgeon, explains the situation.[1]

“When I was in medical school, we were taught that all of the childhood vaccines lasted a lifetime. This thinking existed for over 70 years. It was not until relatively recently that it was discovered that most of these vaccines lost their effectiveness 2 to 10 years after being given. What this means is that at least half the population, that is the baby boomers, have had no vaccine-induced immunity against any of these diseases for which they had been vaccinated very early in life. In essence, at least 50% or more of the population was unprotected for decades.

If we listen to present-day wisdom, we are all at risk of resurgent massive epidemics should the vaccination rate fall below 95%. Yet, we have all lived for at least 30 to 40 years with 50% or less of the population having vaccine protection. That is, herd immunity has not existed in this country for many decades and no resurgent epidemics have occurred. Vaccine-induced herd immunity is a lie used to frighten doctors, public-health officials, other medical personnel, and the public into accepting vaccinations.”

Herd immunity is a myth that won’t go away because it is the only way to justify forced vaccination for an entire population.

Natural Vaccination

The creation of a vaccine may also induce the need for it. The chickenpox vaccine nicely illustrates the difference between natural immunity and vaccine immunity.

When I was a child, my friend Tony down the street got the chickenpox and my mom brought us over to play with him. We didn’t usually play at Tony’s house. I thought it was funny that other children of the neighborhood came over as well. It was like a party! That was the only time I went inside his house. Within a few days, I also had red spots, and itching. I remember crying because my mom told me not to scratch. Obviously, I wasn’t very obedient because I still have a scar on my face.

Immunity wanes over time, whether you get the chickenpox or you get the vaccine. However, when children get chickenpox, the adults around them get “vaccinated” by exposure, giving them a natural booster. These periodic “re-vaccinations” throughout life from children and grandchildren keep up the immunity of most of the population. So, a single childhood illness provides “lifetime immunity.”

Now, however, children are vaccinated against chickenpox. Thus, the adults around them don’t have any natural booster for their own immunity. As a result, the rate of shingles, a secondary type of chickenpox, has skyrocketed in recent years.

The vaccine manufacturer has conveniently created the need for a shingles vaccine, which is the exact same thing as the chickenpox vaccine, only 100 times stronger.

Achieving Herd Immunity

The ability for a vaccine to provide protection against an illness depends on how it stimulates the immune system to react. We look at antibody levels, but now know that most viral illnesses are intracellular – they infect inside the cells. So, viruses are controlled through the innate, or cellular immune system, including macrophages and NK (natural killer) cells. This is why antibodies may not be protective. Thus, a vaccine that stimulates the body to produce antibodies against a virus may not actually be effective at preventing disease.

Besides this, there are really several reasons for outbreaks of diseases in populations that have been “fully vaccinated” against them.

• Many don’t respond to the vaccine
• Antibodies decline rapidly in some
• “Booster” vaccinations don’t always cause more antibodies

All these factors combined, approximately 50% of people are protected following a vaccine, depending on the illness. This explains why nobody has ever achieved the 95% threshold that is theoretically needed to achieve “herd immunity” that prevents outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Vaccine Effectiveness

There has always been a question of the effect vaccines have had on the rates of disease. We are told that vaccines have been the cause of a drop in rates of infections in the world population. Actually, there is probably a modest effect at best, as illustrated by the following graph, which gives us the big picture of multiple infectious diseases.

We can see that these common illnesses were declining throughout the early part of the 20th century, whether they had a vaccine or not. This is attributable to multiple factors including:

• Cleaner streets that were no longer filled with dung because people began driving cars.
• Cleaner water with good sewage treatment.
• Cleaner food due to refrigeration.

Thus, an effective vaccine in 1900 meant a lot more to a population than it does since 1950.

Adult Vaccine Risks vs. Benefits

Now, with all of this information, are you ready to make decisions on which vaccines to get, and when? Probably not. Does this mean that vaccines are not useful? Not at all!

In my office we have a travel clinic where we carry most vaccines, even ones that other doctors never see such as Japanese Encephalitis and Yellow Fever. Because of this, I need to know which vaccines are appropriate for each person and pass this information to inform my patients on which they desire.

Here I will provide you the significant risk of complications – and benefits if present – of each adult vaccine. You should have a choice in what substances are injected into your body – at any age. And, to be perfectly clear, it should be the government’s job to protect that choice – not take it away! Don’t let a physician push any immunization on you to comply with the CDC’s recommendation for adult vaccination before you know the risks! Here is what to expect.