Do I have to vaccinate my child?

As a homeopath, specializing in children health , I am being asked this question many times. Parents are becoming more and more concerned about vaccines, because of the possibility of the adverse reactions and links between vaccines and various serious health problems. The vaccine decision is one of the most difficult choices we have to make for the benefit of our children. I think this is also the most puzzling and controversial theme to discuss.
Let's have a closer look at this problem.

What is a vaccine?

A vaccine is a substance from the virus or other pathogens (bacteria), which help to protect us against the disease. Vaccines usually come in two basic forms: inactivated (dead) and live.
Inactivated vaccines , for example for pertussis (whooping cough), consist of all or part of the disease-causing organisms that have been killed. They trigger a weaker response by the immune system than do live vaccines. Other examples of inactivated vaccine are toxoids, made by inactivating the toxins (poisons) produced by bacteria and viruses. For example, vaccines against diphtheria and tetanus are toxoids
Live vaccines are made in special laboratories from the living organisms. Although live vaccines are weakened, some children, however, do respond by developing symptoms of the disease. One of the examples of live vaccine is polio.
Vaccines also contain different chemicals which may be responsible for some vaccine reactions and adverse effects.

A Brief History of Vaccines

Vaccinations have a long history. I would like to mention briefly just some interesting facts.
One of the first recorded attempts to vaccinate occurred in the seventh century when a group of Buddhists found out they might become more immune to the snake's venom by drinking a foul substance. In the late eighteenth century an English physician Edward Jenner discovered that introducing a diseased substance of cowpox from a sick animal to a patient, make immune system strong enough to fight the deadly human disease smallpox. In 1885 French scientist Louis Pasteur developed the first rabies vaccine for humans. Many exciting events happened in the world of vaccines. One of the prominent discoveries was the development of 2 polio vaccines: by Jonas Salk and by Albert Sabin. People were so frightened by polio disease that mass immunization was welcomed with opened arms, first- in 1955 with Salk's injectable vaccine, then in 1961 - with Sabin's live oral vaccine.
History is still being made and we can continue to list all achievements and discoveries. New vaccines and new formulations of existing vaccines are being developed all the time.

What is the immune system and how strong are our babies?

The human immune system is a truly amazing constellation of responses to attacks from outside the body. It has many facets, a number of which can change to optimize the response to these unwanted intrusions. The system is remarkably effective, most of the time. This note will give you a brief outline of some of the processes involved.
When we get a cold or flu or bacterial infection, our body responds by producing antibodies, minute protein molecules that fight against the foreign bodies (the viruses or bacteria). When we recover from the disease, our body retains some of those antibodies so it is ready to fight off the infection should it appear again. This is called immunity.
New born babies have in general very strong immune system, because they are born with antibodies that they have gotten from their mother through the placenta. Breast-fed infants continue to receive antibodies in the colostrums ( “premilk”) and breast milk.
Do you know how many doses of vaccines our children get before the age of five? We introduce into the blood-stream 33 doses of 10 different vaccines. Imagine, how really strong the immune system of our children should be to tolerate such an intrusion!

Vaccine Reactions

Back in the middle of twentieth century, the idea of total immunization sounded good. We are fortunate that we have stopped the deadly epidemics like a small pox, for example; but beginning in the early 1980s, parents and health care professionals noticed some adverse reactions to vaccines. Medical experts consider that chronic diseases and disabilities in children have risen as vaccination rates for a growing number of vaccines climb higher than ever before. They say that dramatic rise in ear infections, and allergies in children can be attributed to the damaging effects of vaccines. The incidence of asthma, the most serious and life-threatening of these conditions, has steadily increased in the modern era since introduction of vaccines.
Between 12,000 and 14,000 adverse reactions (including hospitalizations, injuries and death) are reported annually to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Unfortunately, there are no tests yet to determine in advance if your child will react to vaccines.
There are two types of vaccine reactions: short-term and long-term. Short-term reactions occur soon after receiving a vaccine and can include fevers, allergic responses, deafness, high-pitched screaming, convulsions, brain inflammation and central nervous system damage. Working in a critical care I was dealing with children with severe allergic reactions, difficulties in breathing, or high feverish state. Long-term or delayed reactions to vaccines can be less obvious and are seldom studied, but a growing number of scientists, researchers, parents, and doctors agree that vaccines can cause autism, epilepsy, mental retardation, learning disabilities, and behaviour disorders such as ADD/ADHD, in addition to long-term immune system damage.

Some Facts about Vaccinations

In 1990, the Journal of the American Medical Association had an article on measles which stated “Although more than 95% of school-aged children in the US are vaccinated against measles, large measles outbreaks continue to occur in schools and most cases in this setting occur among previously vaccinated children." (JAMA, 21/11/90)

-In the New England Journal of Medicine July 1994 issue a study found that over 80% of children less than 5 years of age who had contracted whooping cough had received the pertussis vaccine.

“In Oman between 1988 and 1989, a polio outbreak occurred amongst thousands of fully vaccinated children. The region with the highest attack rate had the highest vaccine coverage. The region with the lowest attack rate had the lowest vaccine coverage.” (The Lancet, 21/9/91)
I've been seeing in my practice many vaccinated kids who've had chicken pox or measles several times, too. What does it mean? There is never any absolute guarantee that you will not get a disease, because there is always a possibility that you are exceptionally susceptible to a particular disease.

Serious vaccines for mild childhood diseases?

We have to consider the possibility of exposure to a disease, the severity of a disease if it occurs, and comparison of these risks to the possible risks of the specific vaccine. For example, chicken pox poses no health risks for a generally healthy child. The illness lasts longer and involves more complaints in adults who may be susceptible when the effectiveness of the childhood vaccine wanes. It confers lifelong immunity, however, after children acquire the illness naturally. And the vaccine has potentially adverse effects. Most parents will conclude that the risks from the chickenpox vaccine are greater than the risks from the disease.
Risking a serious vaccine reaction in order to prevent a mild childhood disease may not be the best choice for children. Another “normal” childhood disease is measles. Many of us remember when our mothers used to organise “measles parties” to ensure all the children of the family had it! In fact a mild dose of measles stimulates the immature immune system, in the correct sequence, to develop naturally, thereby strengthening the child generally.

Making your choice

Conventional vaccines are only one side of disease prevention. Here is the other side – homeopathic prophylaxis of specific diseases. The founder of homeopathy, a German physician Samuel Hahnemann, used homeopathic remedy Belladonna to prevent scarlet fever during a deadly epidemic. Homeopathic remedies can be taken before and during times of increased risk (outbreaks, traveling, etc.), and have proven highly effective in such instances. And since these remedies have no toxic components, they have virtually no side effects. In addition, homeopathy has been effective to correct complications and adverse reactions to vaccines.
I think in our stressful life it is important to remember to focus on strengthening children's immune system while dealing with the increasing number of different “super bugs”, created by an inappropriate use of antibiotics or by injecting numerous toxins into their delicate bodies.

Dear parents, I believe you have already taken the first step by reading books and learning more about vaccines. “Knowledge is power”. I hope this broad view will help you to make the right decision.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my son who has tirelessly proof-read all of my articles and draws great pictures.