Welcome To Vaccine Awareness Network

Qui medice vivit misere vivit - Roman saying, 'He who Lives Medically Lives Miserably'.

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Andrew Wakefield Sues Brian Deer and BMJ!

Read full court document:

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/04/BritMedJ.pdf

Memorial Service for Victims of vCJD and Campaign for Safe Blood

The memorial.

Christine Lord, mother of Andrew, unlawfully killed by iatrogenic vCJD, and Frank Dobson, Former Health Secretary, by the memorial plaque

4 year old Yan handing out 'Justice for Andy' leaflets

Yan with Former Health Secretary, Frank Dobson

Joanna, Founder of VAN UK, discussing blood transfusions with Former Health Secretary, Frank Dobson

Releasing balloons in memory of the victims

Single red rose in memory of the victims

Autism is Encephalitis and is Reversible (1981 article)

n seeking the neurologic substrate of the autistic syndrome of childhood, previous studies have implicated the medial temporal lobe or the ring of mesolimbic cortex located in the mesial frontal and temporal lobes. During an acute encephalopathic illness, a clinical picture developed in three children that was consistent with infantile autism. This development was reversible. It was differentiated from acquired epileptic aphasia, and the language disorder was differentiated from aphasia. One child had rises in serum herpes simplex titers, and a computerized tomographic (CT) scan revealed an extensive lesion of the temporal lobes, predominantly on the left. The other two, with similar clinical syndromes, had normal CT scans, and no etiologic agent was defined. These cases are examples of ah acquired and reversible autistic syndrome in childhood, emphasizing the clinical similarities to bilateral medial temporal lobe disease as described in man, including the Klüver-Bucy syndrome seen in postencephalitic as well as postsurgical states.

Source: Arch Neurol. 1981;38(3):191-194

http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/38/3/191

Autism Could Be Caused By Genetic Susceptibility to Mercury (in Vaccines)

Pink disease (infantile acrodynia) was especially prevalent in the first half of the 20th century. Primarily attributed to exposure to mercury (Hg) commonly found in teething powders, the condition was developed by approximately 1 in 500 exposed children. The differential risk factor was identified as an idiosyncratic sensitivity to Hg. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have also been postulated to be produced by Hg. Analogous to the pink disease experience, Hg exposure is widespread yet only a fraction of exposed children develop an ASD, suggesting sensitivity to Hg may also be present in children with an ASD. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that individuals with a known hypersensitivity to Hg (pink disease survivors) may be more likely to have descendants with an ASD. Five hundred and twenty-two participants who had previously been diagnosed with pink disease completed a survey on the health outcomes of their descendants. The prevalence rates of ASD and a variety of other clinical conditions diagnosed in childhood (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy, Fragile X syndrome, and Down syndrome) were compared to well-established general population prevalence rates. The results showed the prevalence rate of ASD among the grandchildren of pink disease survivors (1 in 25) to be significantly higher than the comparable general population prevalence rate (1 in 160). The results support the hypothesis that Hg sensitivity may be a heritable/genetic risk factor for ASD.

Source: Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A
Volume 74, Issue 18, 2011

Used Vaccine Vials are Classed as Hazardous Waste

"In addition to the multidose vaccines containing thimerosal discussed above, some companies offer a 0.5 mg/L single dose, pre-filled syringe vaccine. Some of these products are labeled “preservative- or thimerosal-free”. Preservative-free products may contain trace amounts (less than or equal to 1 microgram/0.5 mL dose) because thimerosal was used during the manufacturing process. The term preservative- or thimerosal-free can be utilized if the manufacturer further purified the product, leaving only trace amounts (less than or equal to 1 microgram/0.5 mL) per dose. Even at this level, calculations indicate mercury would exceed the TCLP standard; therefore these vaccines, if deemed unusable, should be managed as hazardous waste as well."

Source: http://www.iaomt.org/news/files/files372/Thimerosal%20-%20South%20Dakota%20Waste%20Mgmt%20Guidelines.pdf

Going into Hospital Carries a 1 in 300 Chance of Death

Millions of people die each year from medical errors and infections linked to health care and going into hospital is far riskier than flying, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

"If you were admitted to hospital tomorrow in any country... your chances of being subjected to an error in your care would be something like 1 in 10. Your chances of dying due to an error in health care would be 1 in 300," Liam Donaldson, the WHO's newly appointed envoy for patient safety, told a news briefing.

This compared with a risk of dying in an air crash of about 1 in 10 million passengers, according to Donaldson, formerly England's chief medical officer.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-safety-idUSTRE76K45R20110721?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&WT.tsrc=Social+Media&WT.z_smid=twtr-reuters_health&WT.z_smid_dest=Twitter

131 Children Vaccinated at Gunpoint

131 children who fled during a measles vaccine campaign have been vaccinated by force and at gunpoint when they and their parents returned to the country:

http://www.malawivoice.com/latest-news/131-children-vaccinated-at-gunpoint-in-nsanje/

Infant mortality rates regressed against number of vaccine doses routinely given: Is there a biochemical or synergistic toxicity?

The infant mortality rate (IMR) is one of the most important indicators of the socio-economic well-being and public health conditions of a country. The US childhood immunization schedule specifies 26 vaccine doses for infants aged less than 1 year—the most in the world—yet 33 nations have lower IMRs. Using linear regression, the immunization schedules of these 34 nations were examined and a correlation coefficient of r = 0.70 (p < 0.0001) was found between IMRs and the number of vaccine doses routinely given to infants. Nations were also grouped into five different vaccine dose ranges: 12–14, 15–17, 18–20, 21–23, and 24–26. The mean IMRs of all nations within each group were then calculated. Linear regression analysis of unweighted mean IMRs showed a high statistically significant correlation between increasing number of vaccine doses and increasing infant mortality rates, with r = 0.992 (p = 0.0009). Using the Tukey-Kramer test, statistically significant differences in mean IMRs were found between nations giving 12–14 vaccine doses and those giving 21–23, and 24–26 doses. A closer inspection of correlations between vaccine doses, biochemical or synergistic toxicity, and IMRs is essential.

Source: Hum Exp Toxicol May 4, 2011.
http://het.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/05/04/0960327111407644

Kids Need to Be Tested for HIV After Flu Vaccine Blunder

Parents whose children got flu shots at a clinic in Fort Collins are being told their children should be tested for blood borne illnesses after an employee at the clinic mistakenly re-used syringes of medicine.

It’s serious enough that a physician at Med Peds Clinic says the medical assistant who was giving the flu vaccines was immediately fired after someone else in the office noticed that vaccine from the same plastic syringes was being given to two different children.

A letter to parents says the risk of a disease like hepatitis or HIV being transmitted is very low.

Elena Gjini is 11 months old and looks healthy as can be. But now her father, Orges Gjini, is worried sick after receiving the letter and a phone call from the Med Peds Clinic recommending that some of their youngest patients, including Elena, be tested.

“At 11 months, being put at risk for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, that’s something no parent should have to hear,” Orges said.

In the letter Med Peds says a medical assistant using prefilled syringes mistakenly gave children half a dose.

“She then removed the needle (using sterile procedure), replaced it with a new, unused, sterile needle and placed the syringes into a box labeled ‘second doses,’” the letter states.

The half-filled syringes were then used on some patients returning for their second flu vaccine. The clinic consulted state health officials and told parents “we have been assured that the risk of your child acquiring any infectious disease is very low.”

“It says it’s a very low risk, but any risk is too much,” Orges said.

“We are extremely dismayed by these events and are very sorry for any trouble or distress this may cause you,” the letter states.

“There is no way of calming down a parent by just saying that the risk is really low,” Orges said. “They’ve placed a child at a grave risk to where she may have contracted HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C, but the risk is very low so don’t worry too much about it. It just doesn’t work that way.”

Now after getting her blood tested, Elena’s father is waiting for the results.

Source: CBS Denver, 13th April 2011.

Autism and Vaccines Researcher for CDC, Indicted for Fraud and Money-Laundering

SafeMinds demands long-overdue independent review of vaccine/autism research for data manipulation and conflicts of interest. Vaccine safety remains questionable.

Poul Thorsen, the principal coordinator of multiple studies funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) used to deny a vaccine/autism link was indicted on April 13th on 13 counts of fraud and 9 counts of money-laundering. The charges relate to funding for work he conducted for the CDC, which claimed to disprove associations between the mercury-based vaccine preservative, thimerosal, and increased rates of autism.

SafeMinds first voiced concerns in 2003 regarding a series of epidemiology studies out of Denmark and under the jurisdiction of Thorsen that provided the basis for the Institute of Medicine's claim that there was no association between thimerosal and autism. That claim has been responsible for the continued unsafe use of mercury in influenza vaccines in the United States and infant vaccines around the world.

For the full statement please see: www.safeminds.org

Source: CNBC, 14th April 2011.

BMJ Admits Conflict of Interest

The BMJ should have declared competing interests in relation to this editorial by Fiona Godlee and colleagues (BMJ 2011;342:c7452, doi:10.1136/bmj.c7452). The BMJ Group receives advertising and sponsorship revenue from vaccine manufacturers, and specifically from Merck and GSK, which both manufacture MMR vaccines. For further information see the rapid response from Godlee (www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.d1335.full/reply#bmj_el_251470). The same omission also affected two related Editor’s Choice articles (BMJ 2011;342:d22 and BMJ 2011;342:d378).

Source: http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.d1678.long

Statement from Andrew Wakefield

Dr. Andrew Wakefield issued the following statement today on the recent British Medical Journal articles:

"The British Medical Journal and reporter Brian Deer recently alleged that my 1998 research paper was 'a hoax' and 'an elaborate fraud' and that my motivation was profit.

"I want to make one thing crystal clear for the record – my research and the serious medical problems found in those children were not a hoax and there was no fraud whatsoever. Nor did I seek to profit from our findings.

"I stand by the Lancet paper's methodology and the results which call for more research into whether environmental triggers cause gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in children. In fact, despite media reports to the contrary, the results of my research have been duplicated in five other countries (to see citations to studies, visit http://tinyurl.com/4hrdt5y.)

"It is not unexpected to see poor reporting and misinformation coming from Brian Deer, the lead reporter of the recent BMJ coverage. But to see coverage in other media that cites Deer's shoddy journalism in the BMJ as a final justification to claim there is no link between vaccines and autism is ludicrous. The MMR is only one vaccine of the eleven vaccinations on the pediatric schedule that has been studied for causing developmental problems such as autism. That is fact, not opinion. Any medical professional, government official or journalist who states that the case is closed on whether vaccines cause autism is jumping to conclusions without the research to back it up.

"I continue to fully support more independent research to determine if environmental triggers, including vaccines, are causing autism and other developmental problems. The current rate of autism is 1 in 110 children in the United States and 1 in 64 children in the U.K. My goal has always been and will remain the health and safety of children. Since the Lancet paper, I have lost my job, my career and my country. To claim that my motivation was profit is patently untrue. I will not be deterred - this issue is far too important."

Source: PR Newswire, January 13th 2011.

BMJ Letters Regarding the Witch Hunt of Andrew Wakefield

It is most unfortunate to read the Andrew Wakefield episode, the physician being demonised for linking MMR vaccines with autism. In my opinion, he has erred on the side of caution, despite lack of appropriate scientific rigor, or accusations of fraud. A quick PubMed search shows that at least 500 articles relate vaccines with autism, with some suggesting that "U.S. male neonates vaccinated with the hepatitis B vaccine prior to 1999 (from vaccination record) had a threefold higher risk for parental report of autism diagnosis compared to boys not vaccinated as neonates during that same time period (Gallagher CM, Goodman MS.J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2010 Jan;73(24):1665-77). Other hypotheses suggest that the "combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism by damaging the intestinal lining, which allows the entrance of encephalopathic proteins; (2) thimerosal, an ethylmercury-containing preservative in some vaccines, is toxic to the central nervous system; and (3) the simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines overwhelms or weakens the immune system" (Gerber JS, Offit PA..Clin Infect Dis. 2009 Feb 15;48(4):456-61.Vaccines and autism: a tale of shifting hypotheses)In Canada, researchers estimated the prevalence of pervasive developmental disorder with respect to MMR vaccination in 27,749 children from 55 schools in Quebec (Fombonne E, Zakarian R, Bennett A, Meng L, McLean- Heywood D. Pervasive developmental disorders in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: prevalence and links with immunizations. Pediatrics. 2006;118:e139-50).

Although 20 epidemiologic studies have shown that neither thimerosal nor MMR vaccine causes autism, it is not clear if the vaccine is entirely safe if used in the wrong way (any controlled studies?). And Dr.Wakefield's publications might have only highlighted the pitfalls associated with abuse of MMR vaccines in particular and vaccines in general. He has erred but only on the side of caution given the myriad biotech and pharmaceutical products out there, not one of which is entirely safe and efficacious. After all, it is a question of risk-benefit analysis, and if in some cases the risk is overhyped or exaggerated, it should not be a cause for concern. It is something to be appreciated, instead, despite all the missed childhood vaccinations!

Competing interests: None declared

Source: BMJ Rapid Response, Medical Journalist Sridhar Nadamuni.

Misdirection with vaccine investigations

I have documented the epidemic of autism from 1992/1993 using the US Department of Education figures. Also I have found through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the Social Security Administration that nationwide in the US, the numbers of adults/children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) collecting Social Security (SSI) benefits has skyrocketed from around 42,000+ in 2002 to 111,000+ in 2008.

In New Jersey, the state Division of Developmental Disabilities estimates nearly a quarter of 40,000 people it serves have autism as at least one of their diagnoses. Nationally, more than 250,000 students with autism were in schools in 2006-07, more than a 600 percent increase over a decade, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. And a 2007 National Survey of Child Health estimated that more than 680,000 children aged 2 to 17 have some form of autism -- a rate of 1 out of every 91 children.

In deed, I would think it would be more important to find out how the medical community could stop this epidemic by prevention and treat the children and adults that have regressive autism like our son. If it isn't done, all the denials about vaccines and autism will not stop this epidemic and it will be costly not only in economic terms but human terms.

Competing interests: Son who was born normal but regressed into autism after receiving the MMR vaccine based on home videotapes; and blood tests indicating elevated measles titer antibodies ten times above normal and testing positive for myelin basic protein antibodies.

Source: BMJ Rapid Response, by Raymond Gallup, parent of autistic child.

Vaccine Damage

It can reasonably be assumed that some vaccines do cause damage to children or we would not have the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979. [1] The list of diseases to which this act applies includes measles and rubella as well as diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.

There does not appear to have been a consolidated paper that attempts to show how vaccines might cause brain damage by a review of the scientific literature except for the one that I have published on various web sites including scribd. [2] It has been published for open access. This paper looks at the causative factors mainly from the effects of the whooping cough vaccine (pertussis).

However, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Immunization Program, promulgates that the risks from MMR vaccine can be permanent brain damage. [3]

Epidemiologists will probably say, and quite rightly, that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the occasional damage that is caused by some of them. The number of payments for vaccine damage in the UK is in excess of 1,000 and compared with the number of children who have benefitted, that number is miniscule bit not unimportant.

Over a thousand children will be living diminished lives as a result and their parents will be anguished that they were, in part, responsible for their child's disability.

For this lifetime of inequality and the loss of; normal education, a job and a life that contains the expectancies that most of us have envisaged and possibly achieved, the maximum award is, If you are severely disabled as a result of a vaccination, a one-off, tax-free payment of GBP120,000.

It is this shameful situation that ought to cause concern rather than a continuing denouncement of Wakefield. He may have got his understanding of the relationship between MMR and Autism wrong but that does not prove that there isn't one.

Source: BMJ Rapid Response, Alan Challoner, Retired, parent of vaccine damaged child.

A Simple Study Could Settle This

I am a physician board-certified by American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology who has specialized in autism for the last 13 years. I have trained hundreds of other physicians in the biomedical treatment of autism, and regularly mentor actively practicing physicians. I and other physicians with whom I work have had many children in our practices with history of Hep B vaccine at birth followed by regression into autism after the live triple MMR vaccine. Almost every patient with autism has some degree of gut disorder, and those with high rubeola antibody titers often have had the most intractable gut inflammation conditions in my practice.

I have never questioned Dr. Wakefield's association between MMR, autism and what is aptly named autistic enterocolitis and personally do not believe he has acted fraudulently. Along with hundreds of other physicians with waiting lists trying to help these suffering children I believe this uproar could be easily settled by a good study comparing autistic children who received Hep B at birth and then MMR with neurotypical children who have never been vaccinated (who are plentiful). Maybe a physician who has made millions off of vaccines and is a highly vocal vaccine proponent would propose/conduct such a study; it is obvious why vaccine makers would not like to do so.

Jaquelyn McCandless MD (author, "Children With Starving Brains, A Medical Treatment Guide for Autism Spectrum Disorder."

Source: BMJ Rapid Response.

The Never-Vaccinated

Until and unless we compare the vaccinated to the never vaccinated, we will never know if vaccines, whether in general or specifically, result in better health outcomes for those who are administered them.

And forget the argument that people who don't vaccinate might be different and that might affect the results: If the never-vaccinated are healthier than the vaccinated, wouldn't we want to know it? We could then go about trying to understand why.

The failure to do such studies speaks volumes.

As far as using the excuse that there are limitations and difficulties with conducting such studies, fine. Don't do them. But stop pretending you know that the benefits of vaccines (far) outweigh the risks.

Finally, the hue and cry over the Wakefield paper is so out of proportion to the alleged wrongdoings, one has to wonder who's behind it and why it is happening.

If those who are claiming such egregious flaws really cared whether or not the Wakefield paper was fatally in err, they would do a properly designed and conducted retrospective study comparing those who have only gotten the MMR to those who have never been vaccinated at all. Only then might we get closer to the truth.

But that isn't going to happen, because there is no official interest in really knowing it.

So instead we get a smoke-screen designed to quell further debate and put the fear of God (or something) in anyone contemplating challenging the status quo.

Competing interests: I am President of the only website on the Internet that goes to great effort to publish all sides of the vaccination controversy.

Source: BMJ Rapid Response, Sandy Gottstein

Most Medical Trials are Invalid Due to Not Using Harmless Placebo

In a genuine medical trial, the medicinal product is supposed to be tested against a completely harmless substance, such as water or a sugar pill, however, in most trials a harmful placebo is given so that both sides have side-effects and it looks as if the medicine is safe. For instance, the placebo in Gardasil trials was aluminium and this has many side-effects.

Now a review of medical studies has found that most of them are scientifically invalid:

No regulations govern placebo composition. The composition of placebos can influence trial outcomes and merits reporting.

Most studies did not disclose the composition of the study placebo. Disclosure was less common for pills than for injections and other treatments (8.2% vs. 26.7%; P = 0.002).

Limitation: Journals with high impact factors may not be representative.

Conclusion: Placebos were seldom described in randomized, controlled trials of pills or capsules. Because the nature of the placebo can influence trial outcomes, placebo formulation should be disclosed in reports of placebo-controlled trials.

Source: Annals of Internal Medicine -
http://www.annals.org/content/153/8/532.abstract

Government scraps swine flu vaccination campaign for under fives

The Department of Health has revealed it is to scrap plans for healthy children under five to continue to be vaccinated against swine flu, just three months after urging GPs to vaccinate more than three million youngsters against the outbreak.

In a major U-Turn, the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, revealed the programme of vaccinating healthy children would wrap up at the end of next month, although GPs have been told to continue to try to vaccinate children until then.

Extending the vaccination campaign to children has proved a disappointment, with just 17% of children in England having had the vaccine according to the latest uptake figures.

GP leaders blamed protracted negotiations with the Government, which refused to provide concessions on GP workload via a national deal, for the lack of uptake in a campaign which ended up being launched as a hugely patchwork and bitter set of local arrangements between PCTs and GPs.

The move to scrap child vaccination against swine flu will also be seen as vindication by many GPs, with the majority of respondents to a Pulse poll in December claiming that it was a waste of NHS resources.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: ‘The programme was extended to young healthy children because more people in this age group were hospitalised.

‘We want to ensure that the NHS has the opportunity to complete this programme of work so that all children in this age group can have the vaccine if their parents and carers wish.
Click here to find out more!

‘Following advice from JCVI, and given the low levels of swine flu virus circulating, the risk from the virus is lower for young children than the clinical risk groups so we will not be extending that part of the programme beyond the end of March.’

It means GPs have an impossible task of vaccinating more than 2.5 million children in just over a month, with only 518,000 doses having been given to healthy children to date.

Dr Dean Marshall, a GPC negotiator on swine flu, said: ‘I believe the take up of the vaccine among children would have been much greater had we not wasted several weeks in negotiations with the Government which meant the campaign did not get under way until after Christmas, by which time fears over the illness had lessened.'

The Government also revealed that just 32% of all target groups had been vaccinated in England, which confirms Pulse's predictions that the vast majority of GPs will fail to receive reduced thresholds in this year's patient survey, after the GPC's national deal based on vaccination of at risk groups aged between 5-65.

Sir Liam revealed overall figures for vaccination take up were far worse in England than other parts of the UK and elsewhere in Europe, adding: ‘We continue to receive anecdotal accounts of people not being aware of their need and entitlement for vaccination or believing that vaccination clinics are unavailable.

It would be really helpful if you [GPs] were able to check whether awareness and access to the vaccine is high in your practice. That way we can ensure that this important protection is widely in place.’

Source: Pulse GP's magazine, by Ian Quinn, 22 February 2010.

Some Interesting Comments From GP's!

* Mary - Dunstable | 19 Feb 10

It does make one wonder! Either the threat from swine flu to the under 5s is real - in which case the campaign to immunise them needs to be continued despite current low uptake **OR** the threat is not real, in which case it should stop now! Not in the surgery and not sure whether the LES (terms imposed by DH) was a target or IOS fee - but should a clinically necessary immunisation campaign depend on uptake? If so, why did we continue with MMR when the uptake was reduced by the autism scare?

* Stephen - Bury | 22 Feb 10

Why continue to vaccinate the under fives for another 5 weeks if it is no longer thought to be necessary based on risk vs benefit and how do we explain this to confused parents?

* chris | 22 Feb 10

So is there a risk or isn't there? If not, just stop now, if there is continue! The whole thing seems very wooly and lacking in evidence based arguments. The uptake in our area is low as letters from PCT have only gone out in the last month to invite children in. There does seem to be a lot of factors impeding the roll out of the vaccine when if we had had the go ahead we were all prepared to work hard and get it done for everyone before Xmas!

* anglea | 22 Feb 10

So why have some practices today recieved letters from DOH telling them to continue vaccinating all at risks and under 5's through spring and summer? Left hand/right hand or wrong information?

* david | 22 Feb 10

Does nothing at all for public confidence in GP advice we give to patients based on the official line(how many of us believed in it anyway?). Also now advised to give to travellers to Southern hemisphere - from a 10 dose vial- ??? Do we throw the rest away?Speechless!

* John | 22 Feb 10

I am shocked by the spin of Sir Liam. Not long ago he dissed the pulse survey as being 'non-scientific' and pointed to another survey as being more scientific that suggested over 70% of parents would go for the vaccine. Of course the Pulse survey was very accurate and the other survey favoured by Sir Liam turned out to be complete rubbish. How can such an obvious spin doctor who ignores the observation of reality in favour of propaganda that the Third Reich would be proud of hope to continue? No wonder he has resigned. He can't go soon enough for me. Tip for his replacement - more hard science to back up your claims regarding the safety and efficacy of said vaccine and far less political spin and propaganda.

* neil | 22 Feb 10

The biggest problem that we have had on the front line is that swine flu has only been a mild illness. It never lived upto the apocolyptic chaos originally portrayed - 65,000 deaths, food and infrastrucure shortages... Unfortunately the DoH had commited itself to 60 million doses of vaccine and a stockpile of Tamiflu due to expire in 2010. Lessons learnt:- 1.Pandemic doesn't = serious. Perhaps the old epidemiology definition needs to be restored. 2. If you can't convince and engage the healthcare teams of the value of vaccination then your stockpiles are going nowhere

* margaret | 26 Feb 10

The decision by the Department of Health to simply abandon the under fives swine flu vaccination programme begs more questions than it answers. For a start why are we supposed to continue to vaccinate children tikl the end of March - if the DH has carried out a careful cost-risk benefit analysis and decided it is no longer thought to be necessary. And how do we explain this to confused parents? I know the decision to stockpile the vaccine had to made quickly and at a time when it was far from clear how serious the pandemic was going to be. But what's changed since the decision was made to vaccinate children to now? Very little it seems. This decision seems to be based on financial expediencey rather than clinical judgment. Is 'well if noone wants it let's not bother anymore' a reasonable way to run a vaccination campaign? However - maybe it's a rather fitting way to end a rather ignominius chapter in the DH's history

Source: Pulse GP magazine website:

http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=4125143&cid=Latest_headlines_1_220210We

Andrew Wakefield and the GMC Hearing - VAN UK'S Comment:

The GMC recently announced that Dr. Andrew Wakefield was dishonest, his study was false and he had a callous disregard for children.

VAN UK would like to point out that the case paper involving 12 children was NOT a study but a case paper and Dr. Wakefield asked that a study be undertaken to establish if there was a link between MMR, autism and bowel disease. He also said that such a link at the time had not been 'proven', so the DOH's reaction has been a massive over-reaction and in our opinion, somewhat guilty. A guilty party always goes on the defensive.

If the DOH were truly concerned about children dying from measles (and incidently, 96% of deaths are in the third world), then they would have continued to allow parents access to the single measles vaccine on the NHS. The fact that they withdrew it, leaving a lot of pro-vaccine parents unwilling to vaccinate, would seem to us rather counter productive. If you believe in vaccines as they do then any vaccine is better than none.

Ever since the publication of the 1998 case paper, the DOH have presented studies supposedly to 'prove' that MMR doesn't cause autism, instead of doing what they were supposed to, determining what DOES cause it and investigating the bowel symptoms of the children, most of whom are in serious pain. One of the mother's of a child in the paper told me she cannot even take her child to the GP because they say to treat him would be 'too political' and when he has had serious medical events happen to him, the A+E staff have told her they will 'only treat the emergency, not the condition'.

These children have been dumped like hot potatoes and no one from the medical profession except Dr. Wakefield and his team have cared to help them. Since when did politics come before pain and suffering?

The children - some of them now young adults - were not allowed to state their views on their treatment at the GMC hearing and for those who were too disabled to do so, their parents were denied the opportunity to speak for them. Not one parent of the 12 children involved complained about Andrew Wakefield, in fact, some said he had been helping their children and relieving their pain.

It seems to us that it is the DOH who has a callous disregard for the wellbeing of children.

To retract a paper is not going to make the issue go away. There have now been studies done in the US and court hearings showing a link between autism and vaccines and there has been a very recent paper (listed on the autism, mercury and vaccines page of this site) that replicated Andrew Wakefield's findings of bowel disease in autistic children.

If a doctor cannot even question something because it is against popular theory, that is not science and we feel that the Lancet has lost some of its credibility as a result.

For Andrew Wakefield's own comments regarding his paper, see: http://www.autismone.org/content/paper-andrew-wakefield-mb-bs-frcs-frcpath

Motion For European Assembly to Investigate WHO and Drug Companies

In order to promote their patented drugs and vaccines against flu, pharmaceutical companies have influenced scientists and official agencies, responsible for public health standards, to alarm governments worldwide. They have made them squander tight health care resources for inefficient vaccine strategies and needlessly exposed millions of healthy people to the risk of unknown side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines.
The "birds-flu“-campaign (2005/06) combined with the "swine-flu“-campaign seem to have caused a great deal of damage not only to some vaccinated patients and to public health budgets, but also to the credibility and accountability of important international health agencies. The definition of an alarming pandemic must not be under the influence of drug-sellers.
The member states of the Council of Europe should ask for immediate investigations on the consequences at national as well as European level.

http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc09/EDOC12110.pdf

Direct Rebuttal To Health Protection Scotland and Scottish Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon re Their Comments on Our Protests

Dear Health Protection Scotland

I would like to directly challenge you after you asserted in a newspaper article in the Scotsman, by Richard Bath, that my organisation was 'persuing a reckless cause' that would lead to the deaths of babies and mothers from swine flu, due to my organisation heading protests against the untested vaccine.

There is NO PROOF for your assertion that my organisation would do any such thing and ample proof that you, Health Protection Scotland, are being reckless with the lives of thousands of unborn infants and their mothers.

According to this NHS training pack for immunisers, here:

http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:RbuvyWzwBe4J:www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/hai/pandemic_flu/documents/H1N1v1.003-08-09.pdf+Celvapan+data+sheet&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a

both vaccines, Pandemrix and Celvapan HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED for side-effects or contraindications so it is basically a big experiment and you have no idea if the patient you are injecting is contraindicated or what type of side-effects they might experience. It has also NOT been tested on pregnant women so to recommend it for pregnant women is irresponsible, particularly when the Pandemrix version contains mercury which has been detected in evalated levels in autistic children (Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 8 Number 3 Fall 2003) and Merck, a vaccine manufacturer, say thimerosal can cause 'considerable damage to health and may even be lethal' -
http://www.vce.org/mercury/thimerosal-usp.pdf

My question would be why you are injecting a potentially lethal substance into a pregnant woman?

Another study found that even tiny injections of thimerosal can cause autism - 'As a result of the present findings, in combination with the brain pathology observed in patients diagnosed with autism, the present study helps to support the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism' - (Induction of metallothionein in mouse cerebellum and cerebrum with low-dose thimerosal injection, Cell Biology and Toxicology, 0742-2091 (Print) 1573-6822 (Online), 9 April 2009).

The Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases also said that governments should bring in laws that prevent the use of thimerosal in vaccines - (Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Volume 4, Number 3 / 2009) and in many other countries in the world, H1N1 vaccine is NOT recommended for pregnant women. In fact, a data sheet for Afluria H1N1 vaccine shows that the vaccine SHOULD NOT BE USED IN PREGNANT OR NURSING MOTHERS and has not been tested in such groups:

Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA. It is also not known whether these vaccines can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.

Neither Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine nor AFLURIA has been evaluated in nursing mothers. It is not known whether Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine is administered to a nursing woman.'

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM182401.pdf

Although this brand is not being used in the UK, they are all very similar H1N1 vaccines.

According to a 10 November government document, plans are in place to mandate H1N1 vaccine and exclude unvaccinated children from school -
http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsc-05164.pdf

This is a violation of human rights and since the drug is clearly experimental, admitted in the NHS document, it is against the nuremburg code. The first directive of the nuremburg code states that:

'The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonable to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment.' - (http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/nuremberg.html).

So even suggesting that vaccines could be coerced is illegal.

The JCVI meeting minutes for 18 February 2009 said that they would only introduce influenza vaccines for pregnant women if it was cost effective and reduced respiratory disease in neonates:

'the vaccination of pregnant women was only likely to be cost-effective if there was evidence to suggest that vaccination in the late stages of pregnancy reduced influenza in neonates.' - http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@ab/documents/digitalasset/dh_097411.pdf

So in actual fact, they introduced a vaccine that had NO EVIDENCE of reducing disease in newborns and were only interested in introducing it if it made enough money. It seems money is more important to this government than the health and wellbeing of mothers and their babies.

A report in Le Parisen newspaper in France told of a mother who lost her baby at term after being vaccinated and the baby had H1N1 in his tissues (Le Parisien, 14 December 2009) and another report in a Swedish paper told of a previously healthy mother who had a brain haemorrhage after vaccination and her baby had to be delivered two months early - http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article6283276.ab

There are dozens of women in the UK writing to the newspapers with similar stories, so you, Health Protection Scotland, are endangering the lives of many, and all for an illness that is as mild as normal flu. If you look at NHS choices flu and swine flu pages, you will see the symptoms are exactly the same:

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Flu/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pandemic-flu/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

Doctors are NOT taking swabs for this so they have no idea if the person actually has H1N1 or not and the person gets diagnosed over the phone without even being seen just to boost up swine flu notifications to encourage sales of your untested vaccine and misdiagnoses over the phone line have actually led to children dying of meningitis.

This for an illness that has killed far less than regular flu. One in three people get cancer, yet you don't scream from the roof tops about how everyone is going to die in the same way you have done with swine flu.

You are highly irresponsible and put money, profit and government agenda ahead of the health of mothers and their babies.

You should be ashamed of yourself,

Joanna Karpasea-Jones

Vaccine Awareness Network UK.




THIS LETTER HAS BEEN SENT TO HEALTH PROTECTION SCOTLAND, THE SCOTTISH HEALTH MINISTER AND THE SCOTSMAN NEWSPAPER. NEITHER THE MINISTER NOR HEALTH PROTECTION SCOTLAND HAVE REPLIED AND TO MY KNOWLEDGE THE NEWSPAPER HAS NOT PRINTED MY REBUTTAL - 23/12/09.

UK Parliment Document Saying That They May Mandate Swine Flu Vaccine

Powers to impose compulsory vaccination

Most legal powers needed to manage a pandemic are provided under the Public Health Acts covering England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which empower local authorities to require examination, hospitalisation, or isolation of infected persons, create a criminal offence relating to exposing others to risk of infection, and allow some controls over school attendance and playgrounds.

In other words, although local authorities cannot force people to be vaccinated under those powers, they can for example refuse to admit children to school unless they have been vaccinated.
However, the Government has extremely broad powers for tackling an emergency, in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. This includes a special procedure for making regulations in an emergency, if existing legislation could not relied upon without the risk of serious delay, and various other conditions are met.

In particular:
22 Scope of emergency regulations
(1) Emergency regulations may make any provision which the person making the regulations is satisfied is appropriate for the purpose of preventing, controlling or mitigating an aspect or effect of the emergency in respect of which the regulations are made.
(2) In particular, emergency regulations may make any provision which the person making the regulations is satisfied is appropriate for the purpose of—
(a) protecting human life, health or safety,
(b) treating human illness or injury,
Thus, if the situation became serious enough for compulsory vaccination to be considered necessary, regulations could be introduced under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and these could include penalties for non-compliance.

http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsc-05164.pdf

This is what we're up against! If you value your right to choose, if you want to retain your right to say what is put into your body, even if you are pro vaccinations but think people have a right to accept or reject medical intervention, please get involved with our protests and write lobbying letters to your government official!

Photos From The Edinburgh Protest

We Made The News!! We're Having An Impact, People. With Thanks To Claire Knox For Doing The Organising!

Demonstrators marched through Scotland's capital to protest against swine flu vaccination.

The group believe H1N1 is not as serious as it is claimed, and have concerns about the safety and usefulness of the vaccine.

Around 80 people took part in Saturday's march along Edinburgh's Royal Mile from St Giles' Cathedral to the Scottish Parliament.

Source: The Press Association, 13 December 2009

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ghkO8yBQtEIhskaPR080CqH_PVeg

PHOTOS FROM OUR LONDON PROTEST

The above picture is my 2 year old son dressed as a lab rat, with his sister Lucia

Swine Flu Vaccine Brings 7 Billion Windfall For Drug Companies

Swine flu may be sickening millions of people, but it's adding a healthy hue to the financial performance of the vaccine industry. The Boston Globe reports that the pandemic is delivering a $7 billion windfall to manufacturers.

They're using some of that avalanche of cash to invest in new technologies, while benefiting from what they've learned about fast-track vaccine development. That new knowledge and technology will be put to good use as the vaccine industry is projected to double in size in seven years. Scientia Advisors estimates that total vaccine revenue will jump from $16 billion in 2007 to $35 billion in 2014.

"With a pandemic like this, the upside for us is clearly significant,'' Andrin Oswald, chief executive of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, tells the Globe. "The quicker we can ramp up our volume, the better it will be for people in the United States and around the world.''

Source: Fierce Vaccines, 22 October 2009.

DISCLAIMER: We do not give medical advice as we are not GP's. We merely provide information and research studies surrounding vaccination to enable parents to make a fully informed decision.

VAN UK is not responsible for any vaccination, birthing or infant feeding decision you may make. That is your responsibility as the parent.