Hepatitis B Vaccination: More Adverse Reactions

Hepatitis B Vaccination: More Adverse Reactions
Than Disease Numbers

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/DailyNews/June2001/
HepBVaxReactOutnumbCases.htm

January 27,1999

HEPATITIS B VACCINE REACTION REPORTS OUTNUMBER REPORTED

DISEASE CASES IN CHILDREN ACCORDING TO VACCINE SAFETY GROUP

National Poll Reveals Majority of Americans Want Informed Consent Rights

Washington, D.C. – The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) released figures this week which show that the number of hepatitis B vaccine-associated serious adverse event and death reports in American children under the age of 14 outnumber the reported cases of hepatitis B disease in that age group. NVIC is calling the government-mandated hepatitis B vaccination of all children a "dangerous and scientifically unsubstantiated policy." At the same time, a national poll reveals that two thirds of all Americans want the right to make informed, voluntary decisions about vaccination.

Independent analysis of raw computer data generated by the government-operated Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) confirms that in 1996, there were 872 serious adverse events reported to VAERS in children under 14 years of age who had been injected with hepatitis B vaccine. The children were either taken to a hospital emergency room, had life threatening health problems, were hospitalized or were left disabled following vaccination. 214 of the children had received hepatitis B vaccine alone and the rest had received hepatitis B vaccine in combination with other vaccines. 48 children were reported to have died after they were injected with hepatitis B vaccine in 1996 and 13 of them had received hepatitis B vaccine only before their deaths. By contrast, in 1996 only 279 cases of hepatitis B disease were reported in children under age 14. (Click here to see graph)

1997 hepatitis B disease statistics from eight states reinforce the lack of hepatitis B disease in young children, particularly in children under 5 years old. For children under 5 years old, New Hampshire reported 1 case of hepatitis B; Washington state reported 2 cases; Michigan reported 9 cases; and Texas reported 13 cases. Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Illinois reported no hepatitis B cases in children under 5 years old.(Click here to see graph) By contrast, in 1997 there were a total of 106 VAERS reports of hepatitis B vaccine-related serious adverse events and 10 deaths in children under age 5 living in the eight states with 13 of the reported serious adverse events and 2 deaths occurring in children receiving only hepatitis B vaccine. (Click here to see graph)

There were 24,775 hepatitis B vaccine-related adverse events reported to VAERS in all age groups, including 9,673 serious adverse events and 439 deaths between July 1, 1990 and October 31, 1998. Out of this total, 17,497 reports were in individuals who received only hepatitis B vaccine without any other vaccines. 5,983 of the reports were for serious events and there were 146 deaths, which means that 35 percent of reports in all age groups after receipt of hepatitis B vaccine only are for serious events. (Click here to see graph)

During the same time period, there was a total of 2,424 adverse event reports, with 1,209 serious events and 73 deaths in children under age 14 who got hepatitis B vaccine alone without any other vaccines. This means that 52 percent or 1 out of 2 reports for children under age 14, who only receive hepatitis B vaccine, are for serious events.

VAERS depends primarily upon physicians reporting and causation cannot be conclusively determined without in-depth follow-up of each serious event and death report. NVIC maintains that reports made by doctors to VAERS represent only a small fraction of the vaccine-related injuries and deaths which occur in the U.S. every year. A former FDA Commissioner wrote in JAMA in 1993 that one study showed "only about 1 percent of serious events" attributable to drug reactions are reported to the FDA.

A 1994 NVIC survey of 159 doctors’ offices in 7 states revealed that only 28 out of 159 doctors (18%) said they make a report to the government when a child suffers a serious health problem following vaccination. In New York, only one doctor out of 40 surveyed reported vaccine adverse events to the government.

In a related development, NVIC also released the results of a national poll of 1,000 registered voters, taken by The Polling Company on December 8-11, 1998, which showed that 2 out of 3 (68%) Americans support a parent’s right to be informed of the risks of diseases and risks of vaccines and be able to choose whether or not their children receive certain vaccines which could potentially hurt them. A plurality (45%) of

Americans oppose state laws requiring all five-year olds to get the hepatitis B vaccine before being allowed to attend kindergarten and, when given information about risks of hepatitis B vaccination, 59 percent of respondents were less likely to support such mandatory vaccination laws.

Only 25 percent of Americans believe that people, after getting information about risks and benefits of medical procedures such as the administration of prescription drugs and vaccines, should then be required to follow the orders of their doctors or public health officials. The poll’s margin of error is +/-3.1% at the 95% confidence level (i.e. the same survey could be administered to a similar population and yield comparable results in roughly 19 of 20 cases).

Hepatitis B is primarily an adult disease most often transmitted through infected blood. Highest risk populations are IV drug users and people with multiple sex partners. In 1991 the CDC recommended that all infants be injected with the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine at birth before being discharged from the hospital newborn nursery, even though the only newborns at risk for contracting hepatitis B are those born to hepatitis B infected mothers. By 1998, only 15 states required mandatory screening of pregnant women for hepatitis B infection so babies born to infected mothers could be effectively targeted for hepatitis B vaccination, and yet 35 states required all children to get 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine or be denied entry to daycare, kindergarten, high school or college.

The U.S. has historically had one of the lowest rates of hepatitis B disease in the world even before a hepatitis B vaccine was in use. In 1990, a year before the CDC issued the order for all children to get the vaccine, there were 21,102 cases of hepatitis B reported in the U.S. out of a total US population of 248 million. In 1996, there were 10,637 hepatitis B cases reported. According to the October 31, 1997 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the Centers for Disease Control, "Hepatitis B continues to decline in most states, primarily because of a decrease in the number of cases among injecting drug users and, to a lesser extent, among both homosexuals and heterosexuals of both sexes."

In October 1998, France became the first country to end hepatitis B vaccination requirements for schoolchildren after reports of chronic arthritis, symptoms resembling multiple sclerosis and other serious health problems following hepatitis B vaccination became so numerous that the Health Minister of France suspended the school requirement.

"As more states mandate hepatitis B vaccination, NVIC is getting more reports of children dying or suffering rashes, fevers, seizures, arthritis, diabetes, chronic fatigue and other autoimmune and brain dysfunction following their hepatitis B shots," said NVIC co-founder and president Barbara Loe Fisher. "Newborn babies are dying shortly after their shots and their deaths are being written off as sudden infant death syndrome. Parents should have the right to give their informed consent to vaccination and Congress should give emergency, priority funding to independent scientists, who can take an unbiased look at this vaccine, instead of leaving the search for the truth in the hands of government officials who have already decided to force every child to get the vaccine," she said.

Drug companies marketing the genetically engineered recombinant DNA hepatitis B vaccine in the U.S. used studies to demonstrate safety which only monitored children for 4 or 5 days after vaccination. Professor Bonnie Dunbar, Ph.D., a Texas cell biologist and pioneering vaccine researcher, said "It takes weeks and sometimes months for autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, to develop following vaccination. No basic science research or controlled, long term studies into the side effects of this vaccine have been conducted in American babies, children or adults." Dr. Dunbar has joined consumers in calling for informed consent to hepatitis B vaccination as well as NIH funding for independent research to determine the biological mechanism for hepatitis B vaccine reactions, to identify high risk factors and to develop therapies to repair vaccine damage.

Founded in 1982, the National Vaccine Information Center is the oldest and largest vaccine safety and informed consent rights advocacy organization representing health care consumers and the vaccine injured. NVIC was instrumental in the creation of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which has paid out nearly $1 billion dollars for vaccine injuries and deaths. For more information or to report a vaccine reaction, call 1-800-909-SHOT or access http://www.909shot.com.

SBS - The vaccination Link
Vera Schreibner, 1998

Recently there has been quite an "epidemic" of the so-called "shaken baby syndrome". Parents, usually the fathers, or other care-givers such as nannies have increasingly been accused of shaking a baby to the point of causing permanent brain damage and death. Why? Is there an unprecedented increase in the number of people who commit infanticide or have an ambition to seriously hurt babies? Or is there something more sinister at play?

Some time ago I started getting requests from lawyers or the accused parents themselves for expert reports. A close study of the history of these cases revealed something distinctly sinister: in every single case, the symptoms appeared shortly after the baby's vaccinations.

While investigating the personal medical history of these babies based on the caregivers' diaries and medical records, I quickly established that these babies were given one or more of the series of so-called routine shots - hepatitis B, DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus), polio and HiB (Haemophilus influenzae type B) - shortly before they developed symptoms of illness resulting in serious brain damage or death.

The usual scenario is that a baby is born and does well initially. At the usual age of about two months it is administered the first series of vaccines as above. (Sometimes a hepatitis B injection is given shortly after birth while the mother and child are still in hospital. However, a great number of babies now die within days or within two to four weeks of birth after hepatitis B vaccination, as documented by the records of the VAERS [Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System] in the USA.) So, the baby stops progressing, starts deteriorating, and usually develops signs of respiratory tract infection. Then comes the second and third injections, and tragedy strikes: the child may cry intensely and inconsolably, may stop feeding properly, vomit, have difficulty swallowing, become irritable, stop sleeping, and may develop convulsions with accelerating progressive deterioration of its condition and mainly its brain function.

This deterioration may be fast, or may slowly inch in until the parents notice that something is very wrong with their child and then rush it to the doctor or hospital. Interestingly, they are invariably asked when the baby was immunised. On learning that the baby was indeed "immunised". the parents may be reassured that its symptoms will all clear up. They are sent home with the advice. "Give your baby Panadol". If they persist in considering the baby's reaction serious. they may be labeled as anxious parents or trouble-makers. So the parents go home, and the child remains in a serious condition or dies.

Until recently, the vaccine death would have just been labeled "sudden infant death", particularly if the symptoms and pathological findings were minimal. However, nowadays. with an alarmingly increasing frequency. the parents (or at least one of them, usually the father) may be accused of shaking the baby to death. The accused may even "confess" to shaking the baby, giving the reason, for example, that having found the baby lying still and not breathing and/or with a glazed look in its eyes. They shook it gently - as is only natural in their attempt to revive it. Sometimes, ironically, they save the baby's life. only to be accused of causing the internal injuries that made the baby stop breathing in the first place, and which in fact were already present when they shook the baby to revive it.

No matter what the parents say or do, everything is construed against them. If they are crying and emotional, they will be accused of showing signs of guilt. If they manage to remain composed and unemotional, they will be called calculating and controlling - and guilty because of that.

In another scenario the distraught parents try to describe the symptoms to an attending doctor in hospital or a surgery but are totally at a loss to understand what has happened to their baby. To their shock and dismay, they later discover that while they were describing the observed symptoms, the doctor or another staff member was writing three ominous words in the medical record: shaken baby syndrome.

Many of these parents end up indicted and even sentenced to prison for a crime that somebody else committed. Some of these cases have been resolved by acquittal on appeal or have been won based on expert reports demonstrating vaccines as the cause of the observed injuries or death. However, only God and a good lawyer can help those parents or care-givers who happen to be uneducated, or have a criminal record, particularly for violence, or have a previous history of a similar "unexplained" death of a baby in their care, or, worse still, a vaccine-injured baby with a broken arm or fractured skull. More and more often, the unfortunate parents are given the option of a "deal": if they confess and/or plead guilty, they will get only a couple of years in prison: but if they don't, they may end up getting 20 years.

I was told by a social worker in the United States that many foster parents are rotting in US prisons. First, they are forced to vaccinate their charges, and then, when side effects or death occur, they are accused of causing them.

Inevitably the possibility exists that infanticide or child abuse is involved in some of the cases. However, there is no determinable reason why so many parents or other care-givers would suddenly begin to behave like this. It is incredibly insensitive and callous to immediately suspect and accuse the distraught, innocent parents of harming their own baby.

MEDICAL STUDIES

Let's now have a look at medical literature dealing with shaken baby syndrome and child abuse.

Caffey (1972, 1974)[1][2] described the "whiplash shaken infant syndrome" as a result of manual shaking by the extremities with whiplash-induced intracranial and intraocular bleedings, linked with permanent brain damage and mental retardation. He referred to his own paper, published almost 30 years prior to the above quoted papers, which described what he called "the original six battered babies in 1945". The essential elements in this description were subdural haematomas, intraocular bleedings and multiple traction changes in the long bones. These findings became a benchmark of the "evidence" that a child had been shaken before developing these signs.

Reece (1993)[3] analysed fatal child abuse and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and considered the critical diagnostic decisions. He emphasised that distinguishing between an unexpected infant death due to SIDS and one due to child abuse challenges paediatricians, family physicians, pathologists and child protection agencies. On the one hand, they must report instances of suspected child abuse and protect other children in the family; and on the other, all agree that the knowledge in this area is incomplete and ambiguity exists in many cases.

Dubaime et al. (1992)[4] wrote that "patients with intradural haemorrhage and no history of trauma must also have clinical and radiographic findings of blunt impact to the head, unexplained long-bone fractures or other soft tissue inflicted injury, in order to completely eliminate the possibility of spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage such as might rarely occur from a vascular malformation or a bleeding disorder".

While it is not disputed that some parents and care-givers may cause the above injuries by mistreating infants, one must take great care in interpreting similar pathological findings of injury caused by other insults which have nothing to do with mechanic injuries and mistreatments of infants.

I shall never forget the father of a 10-month-old infant, who after being acquitted on appeal of causing shaken baby syndrome said words to the effect, "We still don't know what killed our baby". It did not occur to them and nobody told them that it was the vaccine that killed their baby.

So what else can cause brain swelling, intracranial bleeding ocular retinal haemorrhages, and broken skull and other bones? Ever since the mass vaccination of infants began, reports of serious brain, cardiovascular, metabolic and other injuries started filling pages of medical journals.

Indeed, vaccines like the pertussi (whooping cough) vaccine are actually used to induce encephalomyelitis (experimental allergy encephalomyelitis) in laboratory animals (Levine and Sowinski, 1973[5]) This is characterised by brain swelling and haemorrhaging of a extent similar to that caused by mechanical injuries (Iwasa et al. 1985[6]).

Munoz et al. (1981)[7] studied biological logical activities of crystalline per tussigen - a toxin produced by Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent in pertussis and an active ingredient in all types of pertussis vaccines whether whole-cell or acellular - in a number of laboratory experiments with mice. They established that minute amounts of pertussigen induce hypersensitivity to bistamine (still detected 84 days after administration), leucocytosis, production of insulin, increased production of IgE and G1 antibodies to hen egg albumin, susceptibility to anaphylactic shock and vascular permeability of striated muscle. A dose of 546 nanograms per mouse killed 50 per cent of mice. Typically, the deaths were delayed. When a dose of five micrograms of pertussigen was administered, most mice did not gain weight and died by day five; the last mouse died on day eight. A one-microgram dose of one preparation killed four out of five mice. They first gained weight from days two to five, but then remained at nearly constant weight until they died. Even the one that survived for 16 days (it was then killed) experienced crises (stopped putting on weight) on the days when the others died. Had that one lived longer. it might have died on day 24. This is another of the critical days - identified by Cotwatch research into babies' breathing - on which babies have flare-ups of stress induced breathing, or die, after vaccination.

Interestingly, when laboratory animals develop symptoms of vaccine damage and then die, it is never considered coincidental; but when children develop the same symptoms and/or die after the administration of the same vaccines, it is considered coincidental or caused by their parents or other carers. When all this fails, then it is considered "mysterious".

Delayed reactions are the norm rather than the exception. This has been explained as a consequence of an immunological intravascular complexing of particulate antigen (whole-cell or acellular pertussis organisms) (Wilkins, 1988[8]). However, vaccinators have great difficulty with this, and as a rule draw largely irrelevant timelines for accepting the causal link between administration of vaccines and onset of reactions - usually 24 hours or up to seven days. However, most reactions to vaccines are delayed, and most cases are then considered unrelated to vaccination.

One only has to peruse a product insert of hepatitis B vaccine to see that besides local reactions, a number of neurological signs may occur, such as paraesthesia and paralysis (including Guillain-Barre syndrome, optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis).

Devin et al. (1996)[9] described retinal haemorrhages which are emphatically being considered the sure sign of child abuse, even though these can be and are caused by vaccines. Goetting and Sowa ( 1990)[10] described retinal haemorrhage which occurred after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in children.

Bulging fontanelle due to brain swelling was described by Jacob and Mannino (1979)[11] as a direct reaction to the DPT vaccine. They described a case of a seven month-old baby who, nine hours after the third DPT vaccination, developed a bulging anterior fontanelle and became febrile and irritable.

Bruising and easy bleeding is one of the characteristic signs of the blood clotting disorder, thrombocytopenia - a recognised side-effect of many vaccines. Its first signs are easy bruising and bleeding and petechial (spotlike) rash. Thrombocytopenia may result in brain and other haemorrhages (Woerner et al., 1981[12]).

The convulsions which follow one in 1,750 doses of the DPT vaccines (Cody et al., 1981[13]) can result in unexplained falls in bigger children who can sit up or stand, which may cause linear cracks of the skull and other fractures. When one considers that babies are supposed to get a minimum of three doses of DPT and OPV (oral polio vaccine), then the risk of developing a convulsion is one in 580, and with five doses the risk rises to one in 350. This means that a great number of babies develop convulsions after vaccination between the ages of two to six months, at about 18 months, and at five to six years. The convulsions often occur when the parent or another carer is not looking, and the child, while standing or sitting on the floor, simply falls backwards or onto its arm.

All these signs can be misdiagnosed as a result of mechanical injuries, particularly so because vaccinators simply refuse to admit that vaccines cause serious injuries, or they only pay lip service to the damage caused by the pernicious routine of up to 18 vaccines with which babies are supposed to be injected within six months of birth.

The court system should therefore be more open to the documented viable and alternative explanations of the observed injuries, and be more wary of the obviously biased statements of the provaccination "experts", that nothing else but vigorous shaking can cause retinal haemorrhages - even though such statements only reflect their ignorance. Such "experts" then go home and continue advising parents to vaccinate, and thus, with impunity, they cause more and more cases of vaccine-injured babies and children.

Endnotes

[1] Caffey, J. (1972), 'On the theory and practice of shaking infants', Am. J. Dis. Child 124, August, 1972.

[2] Caffey, J. (1974), 'The whiplash shaken infant syndrome: manual shaking by the extremities with whiplash-induced intracramal and intraocular bleeding, linked with residual permanent brain damage and mental retardation', Pediatrics 54(4):396-403.

[3] Reece, R. M. (1993), 'Fatal child abuse and sudden infant death syndrome', Pediatrics 91 :423-429.

[4] Duhaime, A. C., Alario, A.J., Lewander, W. J. et al. (1992), 'Head injury in very young children mechanisms, injury types and opthalmologic findings in 100 hospitalized patients younger than two years of age', Pediatrics 90(2):179-185.

[5] Levine, S. and Sowinski, R. (1973), 'Hyperacute allergic encephalomyelitis', Am. J. Pathol. 73:247-260.

[6] Iwasa, A., Ishida, S., Akama, K. (1985), 'Swelling of the brain caused by pertussis vaccine: its quantitative determination and the responsible factors in the vaccine', Japan J. Med. Sci. Biol. 38:53-65.

[7] Munoz, J.J., Aral, H., Bergman, R. K. and Sadowski, P. (1981), 'Biological activities of crystalline pertussigen from Bordetella pertussis', Infection and Immunity, September 1981 , pp. 820-826.

[8] Wilkins, J. (1988),'What is 'significant' and DTP readions' (letter), Pediatrics 81(6):912-913.

[9] Devin, F., Roques, G., Disdier, P., Rodor, F. and Weiller, P. J. (1996), 'Occlusion of central retinal vein after hepatitis B vaccination', Lancet 347:1626, 8 June 1996.

[10] Goetting, M. G. and Sowa, B. (1990), 'Retinal haemorrhage after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in children: an etiologic evaluation', Pediatrics 85(4):585-588.

[11] Jacob, J. and Mannino, F. (1979), 'Increased intracranial pressure after diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis immunization', Am. J. Dis. Child 133:217-218.

[12] Woerner, S. J., Abildgaard, C. F. and French, B. N (1981), 'Intracranial haemorrhage in children with ideopathic thombocytopenic purpura', Pediatrics 67(4):453-460.

[13] Cody, C. L., Baraff, L. J., Cherry, J. D., Marcy, S. C. and Manclark (1981 ), 'Nature and rates of adverse reactions associated with DTP and DT immunizations in infants and children', Pediatrics 68(5):650-660.

[14] Meadow, R. (1995), 'What is and what is not 'Munchausen syndrome per proxy'?', Arch. Dis. Child 72:534-538.

[15] Yawata, Makoto (1994), 'Japan's troubles with measles-mumps-rubella vaccine', Lancet 343:105-106, 8 January 1994.

[16] Higson, N. (1995),'Evaluating the measles immunisation campaign', British Medical Journal 311 :62.

[17] WakeField, A. J., Murch, S. H., Anthony, A., Linnell, J. et al. (1998), 'Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis and pervasive developmental disorder in children', Lancet 351:637-641, 28 February 1998.

[18]. Ronne, T. (1985),'Measles virus infection without rash in childhood is related to disease in adult Life', Lancet, 5 January 1985, pp. 1-5.

[19] West, R. O. (1966),'Epidemiologic studies of malignancies of the ovaries', Cancer, July 1966, pp. 1001-07.

[20] Craighead, J. E. (1975), 'Report of a workshop: disease accentuation after immunisation with inactivated microbial vaccines', J. Infect. Dis. 1312(6):749-754.

Symptoms

http://www.rxlist.com/recombivax-drug.htm
Symptoms: Studies involved observation for 5 days only

Pain, tenderness, pruritus, erythema, ecchymosis, swelling, warmth, nodule formation, irritability, fever ( = 101°F oral equivalent), diarrhea, fatigue/weakness, diminished appetite, rhinitis, nausea; pharyngitis, upper respiratory infection, sweating; achiness, sensation of warmth, lightheadedness; chills, flushing, vomiting; abdominal pains/cramps; dyspepsia; influenza, cough, vertigo/dizziness, paresthesia, pruritus, rash (non-specified); angioedema; urticaria, arthralgia including monoarticular, myalgia; back pain; neck pain, shoulder pain, neck stiffness, lymphadenopathy, insomnia/disturbed sleep, earache, dysuria, hypotension, elevation of liver enzymes, constipation, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, multiple sclerosis; exacerbation of multiple sclerosis; myelitis including transverse myelitis, seizure; febrile seizure; peripheral neuropathy including Bell's Palsy; radiculopathy; herpes zoster; migraine; muscle weakness; hypesthesia; encephalitis, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome; alopecia; petechiae, eczema, arthritis, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate; thrombocytopenia, pain in extremity, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); lupus-like syndrome; vasculitis, polyarteritis nodosa, irritability; agitation; somnolence, optic neuritis, tinnitus, conjunctivitis, visual disturbances, syncope and tachycardia.

Hypersensitivity

Anaphylaxis and symptoms of immediate hypersensitivity reactions including rash, pruritus, urticaria, edema, angioedema, dyspnea, chest discomfort, bronchial spasm, palpitation, or symptoms consistent with a hypotensive episode have been reported within the first few hours after vaccination. An apparent hypersensitivity syndrome (serum-sickness-like) of delayed onset has been reported days to weeks after vaccination, including: arthralgia/arthritis (usually transient), fever, and dermatologic reactions such as urticaria, erythema multiforme, ecchymoses and erythema nodosum

Patients, parents and guardians should be instructed to report any serious adverse reactions to their healthcare provider, who in turn should report such events to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), 1-800-822-7967.31

The government admits that only 1-10% of reactions are ever reported by doctors to VAERS. One symptom left out of this list, among others, is...death.

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/DailyNews/July2001/HepBDis&VaxFacts.htm

http://www.909shot.com/hepBfacts.htm

HEPATITIS B DISEASE AND VACCINE FACTS

* People at high risk for getting hepatitis B disease (which is transmitted by coming into direct contact with an infected person's body fluids) are IV drug users, prostitutes, prisoners, sexually promiscuous persons and babies born to infected mothers. (1)

* 90-95% of all hepatitis B cases recover completely after 3 to 4 weeks of nausea, fatigue, headache, arthritis, jaundice and tender liver. (2)

* Up to 17 percent of all hepatitis B vaccinations are followed by reports of fatigue and weakness, headache, arthritis and fever of more than 100 F.. (3) The vaccine can cause death, according to a 1994 Institute of Medicine report. (4)

* According to Merck and Company: "The duration of the protective effect of [the vaccine] in healthy vacinees is unknown at present and the need for booster doses is not yet defined."

* In 1996, there were 10,637 cases of hepatitis B reported in the U.S. and the CDC stated that "Hepatitis B continues to decline in most states, primarily because of a decrease in the number of cases among injecting drug users and, to a lesser extent, among both homosexual and heterosexuals of both sexes." (5)

* In 1996, 279 cases of hepatitis B disease were reported to have occurred in the U.S. in children under 14 years old. (5)

* An historic report in 1994 published by the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, reviewed the medical literature for evidence that vaccines, including hepatitis B vaccine, can cause a variety of immune and neurological health problems. An independent committee of physician experts concluded that there were no case controlled observational studies or controlled clinical trials conducted on hepatitis B vaccine either before or after licensure to scientifically evaluate persistent reports that hepatitis B vaccine can cause sudden infant death syndrome; Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and other central demyelinating diseases including transverse myelitis, optic neuritis, and multiple sclerosis; and immune system dysfunction including chronic arthritis.

The IOM report concluded: "The lack of adequate data regarding many of the adverse events under study was of major concern to the committee...the committee encountered many gaps and limitations in knowledge bearing directly or indirectly on the safety of vaccines. These include inadequate understanding of the biologic mechanisms underlying adverse events following natural infection or immunization, insufficient or inconsistent information from case reports and case series, inadequate size or length of follow-up of many population-based epidemiologic studies...." (5)

* There are more than 200 vaccines being created by federal health agencies and drug companies, including Hepatitis C, D and E; Herpes simplex types 1 and 2; gonorrhea; rotavirus (diarrhea); Group A and B streptococcus; meningitis A, B and C; and HIV for AIDS. (6)

(1) CDC Prevention Guidelines: A Guide to Action (1997); (2) Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (1994); (3) Merck & Co. Hepatitis B Vaccine product insert (1993); (4) Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines (1994; (5) Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines (1994); (6) The Jordan Report (DHHS-1995).

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/DailyNews/August2001/
HepBVaxForNewborns.htm

http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/current/ffull/jlt0801-3.html

Remember that with only 1-10% of serious adverse vaccine reactions thought to be reported, the number 53 represents, in all likelihood, between 530 and 5300 Hepatitis B vaccine associated deaths, and that the number 828 represents between 8280 and 82,800 serious injuries. - SM

Hepatitis B Vaccination for Newborns

To the Editor: In their article on the impact of recommendations regarding the birth dose of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine, Dr Daum and colleagues1 concluded that "special efforts may be required to make at-birth administration of HBV vaccination universal." However, since HBV vaccination of newborns has never been shown to be better than vaccination after the maturation of the immune system, this worry about missing the birth dose seems misplaced.

There is no scientific evidence to justify HBV vaccination before the age when those risk factors associated with the HBV transmission (sex, needles, etc) become relevant. Recent risk-benefit analyses show HBV vaccination among children carries one of the largest unjustified risks and substantial financial costs, second only to the new controversial conjugate pneumococcal vaccine.2, 3 Specifically, HBV immunization has been associated with 53 deaths and 828 serious injuries, but for 38 million children younger than age 10 years, the total yearly incidence of HBV infection is 191. For children younger than age 14 years, the estimated total mortality secondary to HBV disease is only 11.2 With such statistics, it is difficult to rationalize HBV vaccination for newborns.

Erdem I. Cantekin, PhD
Department of Otolaryngology
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pa

Michael Belkin
Bainbridge Island, Wash

1. Oram RJ, Daum RS, Seal JB, Lauderdale DS. Impact of recommendations to suspend the birth dose of hepatitis B virus vaccine. JAMA. 2001;285:1874-1879. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT | PDF | MEDLINE

2. Horwin M. Ensuring safe, effective and necessary vaccines for children. Calif West Law Rev. 2001;37:101-148.

3. Orient J. Statement by the AAPS in "Vaccines: Public Safety and Personal Choices" before the Government Reform Committee of the House of Representatives." Presented to: 106th Cong, August 3, 1999; Washington, DC.

JOC80004

In Reply: Dr Cantekin and Mr Belkin question the importance of initiating routine HBV vaccination at birth, a practice whose benefits we described recently.1 They are correct that some behaviors rendering people at high risk for HBV do not begin until adolescence or adulthood. However, a lower but nevertheless substantial incidence of HBV infection affects individuals, including adults and children, who do not engage in these high-risk behaviors.2 Furthermore, there are at least 4 benefits to newborns of HBV-infected mothers. First, it eliminates confusion in birthing units regarding the need for immediate immunization of newborns of mothers whose hepatitis surface antigen status is positive or unknown, thereby avoiding irretrievable missed opportunities to interrupt vertical transmission, which can have tragic consequences.3, 4 Second, rendering children immune to HBV in early infancy provides protection against the small but measurable incidence of HBV infection that is acquired horizontally during childhood. Third, initiation of the 3-dose series at birth has been associated with a higher likelihood of on-time receipt of the entire series of HBV vaccinations,5, 6 and of unrelated immunizations, such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis vaccine; inactivated poliovirus vaccine; and measles, mumps, rubella vaccine.5 Fourth, immunization during infancy with integration into a schedule with other vaccinations has the best chance for high coverage and protection for most US children when the burden of disease increases sharply beginning in adolescence. Such a strategy has paid great dividend in the case of rubella immunization.

Risks of this simple neonatal intervention are few. Cantekin and Belkin cite data abstracted from the US Food and Drug Administration/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) reports,7 which passively report data regarding putative adverse events temporally associated with vaccine administration, to indicate that the HBV vaccine has been temporally associated with 53 deaths/y. However, analysis of VAERS data obtained only from newborns immunized with HBV vaccine tells a different story. From 1991 to 1998, 18 reports were submitted to VAERS regarding death in infants who recently had received the HBV vaccine.7 Seventeen of these infants had another plausible diagnosis and had no recognizable syndrome that might have resulted from the HBV vaccine.

We do share the implied view of Cantekin and Belkin that vaccine safety is a great concern and must be an area of constant vigilance. However, we also believe that protection against HBV infection is of great benefit to all members of our society. Initiating the vaccination series with an initial dose of HBV vaccine during the newborn period is the best strategy to ensure the highest level of protection.

Ronda J. Oram, MD
Diane S. Lauderdale, PhD
John B. Seal, MA
Robert S. Daum, MD
Departments of Pediatrics and Health Studies
Pediatric Immunization Program
University of Chicago
Chicago, Ill

1. Oram RJ, Daum RS, Seal JB, Lauderdale DS. Impact of recommendations to suspend the birth dose of hepatitis B virus vaccine. JAMA. 2001;285:1874-1879. ABSTRACT

2. Alter MJ, Hadler SC, Margolis HS, et al. The changing epidemiology of hepatitis B in the United States. JAMA. 1990;263:1218-1222. MEDLINE

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Impact of the 1999 AAP/PHS joint statement on thimerosal in vaccines on infant hepatitis B vaccination practices. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2001;50:94-97. MEDLINE

4. Watson B. Comment. In: Transcript of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee Workshop on Thimerosal in Vaccines. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office; August 12, 1999.

5. Lauderdale DS, Oram RJ, Goldstein KP, Daum RS. Hepatitis B vaccination among children in inner-city housing, 1991-1997. JAMA. 1999;282:1725-1730. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT | PDF | MEDLINE

6. Yusef HR, Daniels D, Smith P, Coronado V, Rodewald L. Association between administration of the hepatitis B vaccine at birth and completion of the hepatitis B and 4:3:1:3 vaccine series. JAMA. 2000;284:978-983. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT | PDF | MEDLINE

7. Niu MT, Salive ME, Ellenberg SS. Neonatal deaths after hepatitis B vaccine. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1999;153:1279-1282. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT | PDF | MEDLINE

JOC80004

Letters Section Editors: Stephen J. Lurie, MD, PhD, Senior Editor; Jody W. Zylke, MD, Contributing Editor.

http://www.vaclib.org/email/hepbdang.htm

March 12, 1999
Mr. Robert D. Crider, M.S., M.P.A.
Director
Immunization Division,
Texas Department of Health
1100 West 49th St.
Austin, Texas 78756

Dear Mr. Crider,
Good morning and thank you for this opportunity to discuss some critical health issues. My name is Bonnie Dunbar and I am a research scientist and medical graduate student professor who has worked in the areas of autoimmunity and vaccine development for over twenty five years (the past 17 years at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston).

I am not here today as an official representative of Baylor College of Medicine but as a concerned citizen of Texas and the United States. In fact, I am sure that some of my colleagues would not approve of my appearance. Especially those that are benefiting handsomely from pharmaceutical company income as consultants and expert witnesses while carrying out vaccine clinical trials.

I was honored a few years ago by the National Institutes of Health in Washington D.C. as the "First Margaret Pittman" lecturer for my pioneering work in vaccine development. This was a most special event for me because of Dr. Pittman's contributions to early vaccines and because I understand the impact that some vaccines have had (and will continue to have) on our society. My ongoing research in the area of vaccine development continues to be a major commitment. I have worked extensively with the US Agency for International Development and the World Health Organization programs and have a life long commitment to carrying our research to understand, and hopefully, help to solve world population as well as disease problems.

I am speaking to you today, however, in reference to my experience with the severe adverse effects of the Hepatitis B vaccine. About five years ago, I had two individuals working in my laboratory who were required to take the Hepatitis B vaccine. Both of these individuals developed severe and apparently permanent adverse reactions as a result of this vaccine. Both of these individuals were completely healthy and very athletic before this vaccine and have now suffered severe, debilitating autoimmune side effects from this vaccine. I know the complete medical history of one, Dr. Bohn Dunbar, who is my brother who developed serious rashes, joint pain, chronic fatigue, multiple sclerosis-like symptoms, and now, has been affirmatively diagnosed with POTS (an autoimmune cardiovascular neurological problem) and finally with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. His problems have been attributed to the Hepatitis B vaccine by over a dozen different specialists around the United States of unquestionable medical expertise. He has now been rated permanently and totally impaired at greater than 90%. His health care has already cost the state of Texas around a half million dollars in the Worker's Compensation Program to date, a figure that will continue to rise given the severity of his health condition.

My other student went partially blind following her first booster injection, a medical condition that was markedly exacerbated by her second booster which resulted in long term hospitalization. Personal communications are that her eye-sight is continuing to deteriorate. Because she is in medical school she has been (understandably so) afraid to pursue investigation into her medical problems in the event that they might effect her medical career.

As I have worked extensively in vaccine development I am extremely sensitive to the need to evaluate the risk vs. benefits of any vaccine. Because of my established expertise in this area, it became immediately apparent to me that these two active, healthy individuals working in my laboratory developed "autoimmune" syndromes at a predictable immunological time frame following their booster injections to the Hepatitis B vaccine. After carrying out extensive literature research on this vaccine, it became immediately apparent that the serious adverse side effects of this vaccine (which appear to be related to the nature of the viral protein itself), may be more significant than generally known (or admitted).

I have now been in contact with numerous physicians from several countries, who have independently described the identical severe reactions in thousands of Caucasians. It is obvious that their observations have been, for the most part denied or ignored by the public health systems, as is evidenced by the serious charges against healthcare officials and pharmaceutical companies brought recently in France. I can assure you that the reversal of the vaccine mandate for children in France was not based on lack of documentation. I have now been contacted personally by hundreds or more individuals (including children) with severe health problems and life long disabilities resulting in major medical costs following the administration of this vaccine. In my experience, as with my colleagues, virtually all of these individuals are Caucasians (clearly indicating a genetic linkage).

In my detailed investigation over the past four years it is apparent to me, (as well as others who have been investigating this) that adequate long term follow up information was not collected in clinical trials for this vaccine. This is especially true with respect to the Caucasian populations in which many of these adverse effects would have predictably been observed. In any event, the vaccine inserts which give long lists of serious potential side effects, which I have been told that physicians do not show or discuss with their patients, are ominous!

Many physicians have told me, that if this vaccine is recommended and mandated by government officials, "why should they look at it or discuss it with their patients?" Others have said that their colleagues do not report these incidences because they "don't want to get involved." They also tell me that they have been informed that this vaccine is the safest ever developed because it is a recombinant DNA vaccine and therefore you can't get the disease. Unfortunately, they have clearly missed a major point of basic immunology. Any peptide or protein (regardless of the source of that protein,native or from genetic engineering) when introduced into the body will be "processed by the immune system" and depending on the nature of that protein, could result in long term immune reactions. Sadly, in basic science curriculums of medical schools, many of these details of immunology (a medical research field that has exploded over the last decade) are not taught. In fact, I recently was invited to speak at the Institute of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health on this subject. I was quite shocked when a senior member of a national health committee (involved in recommending mandates for childhood vaccines) came up to me and said: "Very interesting talk. I know you teach beginning medical students. Could you recommend me a basic immunology textbook, I think I need to catch up on some of this immunology stuff."

As the result of extensive literature research as well as our advanced knowledge in the mechanisms of autoimmune disease and Hepatitis B infection, I have discussed these issues with international teams of experts. We have submitted proposals to investigate the scientific basis for these adverse reactions, many which are similar to those reactions from individuals having the virus itself. It is apparent that there are major histocompatability genetic linkages among patients who are having the severe reactions. As many as 10 to 30% are not developing antibodies since they do not respond to this vaccine and are likely not to be protected from the disease anyway.

In our studies, we wish to carry out research to determine the long-term prognosis for patients having such adverse reactions with the hope of developing more specific therapies. Because I have an immunology and biochemistry laboratory we have already collected blood samples throughout the period of these adverse reactions therefore we have a unique pool of serum to begin to scientifically pinpoint the reasons for the adverse reactions. We have significant preliminary evidence which may explain these responses and we will continue to seek funding from private as well as federal sources to continue these studies.

It is apparent that the hepatitis B virus (and vaccine developed from hepatitis B surface antigen) is very unique from many other viruses and vaccines. New theories and experiments (i.e. molecular mimicry and anti-idiotypic antibodies) have been developed which could explain the reasons for autoimmune reactions caused by this virus or the viral protein used in the vaccine. (The December 26 1996, New York Time's article which summarizes studies on "molecular mimicry" theories for viruses causing autoimmune diseases may be right on point). The fact that there are dozens of publications on the correlation of this virus as well as the vaccine with autoimmune and other connective disease disorders provides strong evidence for the correlation of this viral antigen causing autoimmune diseases.

The FDA adverse reaction list now reports over 24,000 individuals with reported adverse reactions. If one dismisses the duplications and antibody non-responder reports, the vast majority of adults who have similar autoimmune associated symptoms including rash, joint pain, chronic fatigue, neurological disorders, neuritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus like syndrome and multiple sclerosis like syndrome. There are reports by the head of the FDA that these reports indicate only about one percent of the total numbers of adverse reactions.

These reactions clearly appear to be genetic, an observation which may provide us with the basis to evaluate which individuals might have adverse reactions to this vaccine. They may also provide us with information on those that are non-responders and may therefore not be protected by this vaccine even if they receive it. I have no doubt that the pharmaceutical companies are silently working on this because it is obvious from the published literature that these are major issues. In the meantime, how many individuals might be adversely effected before this research has been completed?

I have now been in direct contact with hundreds of severely ill patients (as well as with physicians who have hundreds more patients) clearly having adverse reactions to the hepatitis B vaccine. I feel that it is critical to investigate the early onset effects as well as subsequent development of autoimmune adverse reactions in the hope that we might find more directed treatments to avert the long term effects of those already afflicted with these problems. I believe this is possible in view of new technologies for treatment of autoimmune diseases that are targeted to the identification of specific auto-antibodies to defined epitopes.

No one, especially myself, would ever assert that the hepatitis B virus is not causing serious health problems in the world. However, there are serious questions that remain unanswered:

1. Is the Hepatitis B virus (in its elegance of evolution and survival) a master of molecular mimicry which has produced its surface protein (the one used in the vaccine) to weaken the immune system in some individuals (i.e. inducing autoimmune disease)?

2. Can this vaccine be modified to avoid these adverse reactions or is this a virus which needs to be controlled or eradicated by early treatment or other methods?

3. Can we truly justify giving this vaccine to newborn infants? I would defy any colleague, clinician or research scientist, to claim that we have a basic understanding of the human newborn immune system. It is well established in studies in our animal models that the newborn immune system is very distinct from the adolescent or adult. In fact, we can easily perturb the immune system of the newborn in animal models to ensure that it cannot respond properly later in life.

4. Can we justify mandating this vaccine for all 12 year old children without having clear scientific and medical documentation on:

(a) The duration of the vaccine in children of this age group.

(b) The number of individuals in our state population that will be non-responders to the vaccine. (This is a critical question since section 97.67 of immunization requirements in Texas Elementary and Secondary schools requires that serologic confirmation be given to prove immunity. It is established that a significant percentage of individuals will not have serological immunity against the Hepatitis B vaccine regardless of immunization schedules. Furthermore, large numbers of health care workers who have been subjected to repeated immunization despite lack of serologic immunity have reported serious adverse vaccine reactions.)

If this, or any other vaccine, by nature of the protein or parts of the protein (native or produced from a cDNA as a recombinant protein), has the ability to adversely effect the immune system of large numbers of individuals resulting in severe adverse reactions (even if restricted to some genetic populations) then the public reaction to all vaccines, including those that clearly DON'T have adverse reactions will be doomed in the public's eye. That includes the development of vaccines to evolving air born viruses which might become a legitimate threat to our society. Thanks to the success of the Human Genome Project and advances in computer programs it may be possible to evaluate potential molecular structure to predict these problems in advance. While pharmaceutical companies complain that extended clinical trials would cost too much, they brag to their shareholders about profits of mandated vaccines.

In conclusion, I would like to relate an observation. In my research on vaccines that have been used successfully for the humane control of animal populations, I have had the opportunity to observe first hand, African elephant family behavior. Whenever a baby cries, the entire herd of up to a hundred will immediately trumpet, and charge with great flurry to surround the infant elephant. When it is apparent that there is no danger, they will one by one touch trunks with that infant, ensuring that he is okay before going about their business. They would certainly never allow a single baby or family member to be exposed to unknown danger.

I would simply ask you in your serious charge of maintaining our public health system that you, as our friends the elephants, listen to the cry of every baby and family member that might be at risk and demand that you have adequate scientific and medical information to make responsible decisions.

I thank you for your attention and would be glad to answer any questions or provide you with additional information.

Sincerely,
Bonnie S. Dunbar, PhD, Professor
Department of Cell Biology
Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza
Houston, Texas 77030

http://www.curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=368588

HEPATITIS B VACCINE
Spastic quadriparetic cerebral palsy with microcephaly, cortical blindness, marked dysphasia

Jonathan's story
From: Tammy Carrington

My husband and I live in East Texas in a town called Diboll (about 125 miles NE of Houston). My husband works for the Texas Forest Service and has been there for 23-24 years. I owned my own medical transcription business until my son became sick and I had to shut it down in order to care for my child.

When we married we decided that we would wait 2 years before starting our family. When I found out I was pregnant after 2 years of marriage we were so excited and began reading everything about pregnancy. I read everything I could lay my hands on regarding healthy eating, nutrition, and giving the baby the best start in life that I possibly could. I gave up all chemicals in foods, Aspartame and saccharin, caffeine, etc. so that the baby would be getting only the best source of nutrition. I read everything I could about each stage of pregnancy and I exercised each day. I felt great and my blood work was the best they had seen in a pregnancy in a long time. I then researched methods of delivery and after participating in several classes and reading a bunch of books, I decided that the best would be for me to go through labor and delivery naturally. My husband and I had a private tutor who instructed us on the Bradley Method of childbirth which taught you how to breathe and focus. I didn't want the epidural drugs in my son's bloodstream and thought it would probably be uncomfortable for me but it would be better for him. I had absolutely no complications during my pregnancy.

When the day finally arrived that my water spontaneously ruptured at 41 weeks my experience with labor began. I went through 19 hours of labor and the last couple of hours were the most intense since they had to initiate Pitocin. Finally at 8:19 PM on 07/31/97 my little son arrived into this world weighing 9 lbs and 7.6 oz. He was 21 inches long and let out a robust cry. There were no complications during labor or delivery. He started to breastfeed within 10 minutes of birth and was 9/9 on the APGAR scale.

I researched and read everything I could lay my hands on while I was pregnant so that I could make informed choices. The one thing that I was never told about was the hepatitis B vaccine that my son would be given in the hospital just before going home. If I had the opportunity to research this vaccine prior to him getting it, he would have never received it.

He was given the federally mandated hepatitis B vaccine when he was 3 days old just before we left the hospital. Within 4 hours he began screaming at the top of his lungs and we couldn't get him to stop. We called the hospital nursery and they told us that he was probably just scared not being in the environment that he had become accustomed to (with the sound of incubators humming etc.). My little boy never slept and screamed a high pitched blood curdling scream all his waking hours. He only slept for short periods (10-15 minutes) at a time and never slept for more than 4 hours in a 24 hour period. We took him to the pediatrician and we were told that it was colic and he would out grow this. Since this was our first child, we didn't know what was normal and what wasn't. We made many calls to the hospital staff during those early hours. The pediatrician told us that this was colic and that he would outgrow it by three months of age or so.

Jonathan continued screaming and we couldn't take him into public because we couldn't control his screaming and certainly couldn't stop it once it started. His screaming was so intense that his face would become blood red and he had a look of "panic" on his face that I could do nothing to help. He would wake up screaming even if he only slept for 10 minutes, in fact his screaming would start before his eyes opened. He lost most of his baby hair. He got his 2nd hep B shot when he was 2 months old and the screaming continued. He was horribly constipated too and we ended up in the pediatrician's office several times with this and they had to "stretch his sphincter".

We thought we were going to go nuts with the continual screaming because we spent all our days and nights trying to console him and make him feel better to no avail. We had to hire some help so that we could get some sleep, we were so exhausted.

When he was 4 months old he woke up after an unusually long sleep and I got him out of bed to breastfeed him at about 9 am. I could not get him to nurse. Every time I tried to nurse him, he started crying and rubbing his little eye with his fist. He had always been a very good nurser and I thought maybe he was teething and I gave him a little Orajel on his gums. This did not help his crying. I tried to give him a little taste of Tylenol, sometimes a taste would distract his crying for a moment. This did not do anything. I then called the pediatrician's office and requested that we come in. I called about 9:30 am and said that we needed to come in "this morning". I really thought it was an earache as I heard that most kids seem to get them but I wanted him to be looked at. They told me to be there at 10:40 and the doctor would see Jonathan before lunch. While I was getting Jonathan ready he threw up and was heaving. He had not eaten anything since the night before. He became very pale. Our pediatrician was out of town and we were seen by her partner (who had never laid eyes on my child). This doctor actually saw Jonathan by 11:00 and did not like the way he looked. He did some labs in his office which were all negative. He sent us to the local hospital for blood cultures and a chest x-ray which were both negative. He asked us to return at 2:00 and he had a gut instinct that he wanted to do a lumbar puncture. He explained to us that in med school they told him that if he ever thought LP for one second, then DO IT. He said that he wanted to do it. The LP revealed 3 vials of bloody fluid, just like a blood draw and he told us that this should look like water. He sent us immediately to the hospital for a CT scan of the head. The radiologist read the CT as a mass in the brain that had hemorrhaged. (Later determined to be a ruptured aneurysm within the next week). He was rushed off to ICU and air transportation was arranged while he was intubated. My baby was on death's door in a matter of moments.

He was life flighted by helicopter to Shreveport, Louisiana (Schumpert Medical Center) and he died in the helicopter and was resuscitated and began having seizures. Once he got to the PICU he died two more times and they resuscitated him. They worked on him for over an hour and his brain went without oxygen for a total of approximately 30 minutes. He was on total life support in a coma and was given no chance for survival through the night. They did a lot of testing to try and find the source of the bleed. He eventually had an arteriogram which showed the images of the aneurysm. He survived and 10 days later his aneurysm ruptured a 2nd time. They said that there was 3 times as much blood this time and they didn't know how he survived the first bleed. They gave him less than 24 hours to live this time and said that his brain was already herniating. We were praying all the time and believing for miracles.

He survived and we found that there was only 1 doctor in the country who could deal with our situation in a child so young. One doctor in Shreveport (pediatric neurosurgeon) told us to just let Jonathan die and that it would be wrong for us to do anything to save his life. He said, "He is damaged goods, nothing but damaged goods and to do anything about it is inappropriate". We were not going to sit back and let our child die once he had already survived what he had. We then went to California where he was going to have embolization of the aneurysm with interventional radiology. Nine doctors were in there with my son and it was going to take 8 hours (they had to do the procedure through an arteriogram in through a vein at the groin, weaving a catheter up into the brain), but after only 2 hours the main doctor doing the procedure came out and said, "well, we're done. We can't explain it but the aneurysm is gone". We said that we could explain it because we had been praying so hard. All the other doctors came out scratching their heads saying that they couldn't explain it either.

My son had to have a shunt placed the very next day because his intracranial pressure became too high. His shunt worked too good and caused a bleed on the opposite side of his brain (subdural hematoma/effusion) which had to be drained externally. He then had to have surgery to place his G-tube because his stomach was anatomically behind his rib cage and couldn't be placed endoscopically like most. He was diagnosed with cortical blindness, severe reflux and high risk for aspiration pneumonia. He has severe developmental delay, has a mixture of hypotonia and does have some spasticity. He is 24 hour care for 2 people.

Jonathan was recently diagnosed with the following as well: spastic quadriparetic cerebral palsy with microcephaly, cortical blindness, marked dysphasia. He had global developmental delay secondary to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy as a result of spontaneous rupture of a left MCA aneurysm. Intractable, symptomatic mixed seizure disorder secondary to rupture of left MCA aneurysm. He appears to have infantile spasms, partial seizures, myoclonic seizures, generalized tonic seizures. These are improved on the ketogenic diet.

We saw a physician in Houston who specialized in Hepatitis B adverse reactions and he did a battery of tests. His name is Andrew Campbell, MD. He told us that Jonathan definitely did have an adverse reaction to the hep B vaccine. We had a SPECT scan by Richard Neubauer, MD in Ft.
Lauderdale who also stated that Jonathan had toxic anoxic encephalopathy directly related to the hepatitis B vaccine and this was not the first time he had seen it and unfortunately would not be the last time he would see it. We were also told that Jonathan's intracranial pressure was so intense for such a long period of time from his prolonged horrific screaming that the vessel couldn't handle the pressure and ruptured. I was told that brain vessels are the thinnest vessels and are not built to withstand intense and prolonged pressure.

My son is now 29 months old. He was in the hospital for a total of just over 4 months before we were able to bring him home. Hospital dates were 12/11/97 through 04/08/98. We initially went to Shreveport then we were transferred to San Francisco and then back to Shreveport before coming home. We never returned home during that entire hospital course. We remained at Jonathan's side.

My son requires 24 hour nursing care which is provided by myself (as I had to quit my career), my husband (who has to work to support us), and a nurse who is paid by our insurance company. She is here 6 hours a day 5 days a week. We have no help on the weekends at all. We have no family close by and our church family has stood behind us.

Jonathan has a compromised immune system and cannot be around other kids or anyone that is sick. We are basically homebound. He was having 100-200 or more seizures a day, every day. We started the ketogenic diet for seizures and changed his medications and he now is having 30 or so a day now. He is g-tube fed every three hours and because of his reflux he must be held upright during feeding and for 1 hour afterward to prevent aspiration. With the ketogenic diet, because it is compromised of 90 percent fat, if it were to get into his lungs, he was be in great trouble. He has medications that must be given throughout the day and must be crushed and put into a syringe, then into his feeding tube. He cries a lot and requires full attention because of his gagging. He stays very constipated and the ketogenic diet makes this worse. He gets enough Milk of Magnesia every day to move an adult, and sometimes this doesn't help him. We end up having to use BabyLax and Baby Fleets enemas. We must monitor his ketones, seizures, urine output, and stool to ensure that everything is in balance. He still does not sleep just a whole lot.
He goes to bed around 3 am each "night" and sleeps until somewhere between 7 and 10 am. He will usually take a 1 hour nap during the day and a 30 minute nap in the evening. Someone must be with him, holding him, consoling him, feeding him, caring for him during all his waking hours. That would be myself and his father. He must also sleep in an incline position on a reflux wedge in his crib.

Recently he has been sick with the virus that has been going around. He needed breathing treatments every 3 hours around the clock. He literally did not shut his eyes for 4 days and 4 nights. He had fever that lasted for 7 days. We were bathing him with a cool cloth, he had no clothes on except his diaper and we were monitoring his temperature to make sure that it didn't continue to rise. My husband ended up sick and I had to be the nurse around the clock.

We have tried to receive some type of assistance to help us with nursing care. We have been denied everything except the Early Childhood Intervention which doesn't provide nursing care, it provides therapy at home. We applied for SSI, Medicaid (twice), MDCP (on a waiting list with a 3-5 year wait), CLASS (not in our area yet, but on the waiting list for when it does come here), CIDC, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, CCP, Burke Center (local agency), Medically Needy Program, United CP Foundation, all of our state and local legislators all to no avail. My husband makes about 75.00 a day and that seems to be too much for us to qualify for any program. My husband is supporting a family of 3 and trying to stretch the money to pay for all the extras that insurance doesn't pay for. We desperately need some help with nursing care. If my son were on Medicaid, he would be receiving 16 hours a day of care, 7 days a week. That would change our lives and help us to give Jonathan better care. We do all that we physically can, but when we get sick from getting no sleep, not eating right, and not taking care of ourselves...what will happen to Jonathan? We don't want to get to that point.

My son was injured by the hepatitis B vaccination and it was federally mandated. Where is the government now that we need help in dealing with the repercussions? We were told that if we would just get a divorce we would qualify in a second. We are Christian people and in this type of stressful situation, it is hard enough to keep your marriage and family together without the government encouraging you to divorce. We were also told that if Fred would just quit his job we would qualify. It is true that if he quit we would qualify but he is an honorable man and is working to pay our bills. He makes less in a day's work than our nurse is paid for working 6 hours here. We cannot afford to pay for what my son needs on my husband's salary and we make too much to qualify for any assistance. We are the working class that seem to slip through the cracks.

We are desperately looking for solutions and options. We are not hopeless. I believe that there is a difference. We have a case pending with the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and I understand that it will take years before that is finished. I am sure that I have left out many programs that I have called and others that we have applied for but we have not found our answer yet.

I tried to include everything that I could remember, but these days my memory isn't what it used to be. Please feel free to e-mail me at mailto:fred_tam@lcc.net

Sincerely, Tammy Carrington

http://www.newsmax.com/medicine_men/Hepatitis_B/2008/03/21/82098.htmlMedicine Men
Serious Concerns Over Hepatitis B Vaccine

Friday, March 21, 2008 7:05 AM

By: Michael Arnold Glueck and Robert J. Cihak, The Medicine Men

As some readers know, we have expressed our concerns about childhood vaccinations a number of times. (See Newsmax,com Medicine Men Archives.)

We are not saying that all vaccines are bad, but we ask that parents, physicians, and health authorities proceed with care and caution and sometimes resist some of the "automatic" childhood vaccinations.

Today the issue is that of the hepatitis B vaccine.

From 1994 to 1998, almost two-thirds of the French population and almost all newborn babies were vaccinated against hepatitis B, but the campaign was temporarily suspended because of concerns about side effects.

In what was called a "thunderclap in the vaccine industry," French authorities have opened a formal investigation regarding a hepatitis B vaccination campaign by GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur in the 1990s. It is alleged that the companies failed to fully disclose neurologic side effects.

Another investigation opened by Judge Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy concerns the death ("manslaughter") of a 28-year-old woman from multiple sclerosis, allegedly connected to the vaccine (Le Figaro 1/31/08).

Some 30 plaintiffs, including the families of five patients who died after the vaccination, have launched civil actions (Reuters 1/1/08).

A British case-controlled analysis showed an odds ratio of 3-to-1 (95 percent) for the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis in recipients of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine compared to controls. Two previous French studies had shown a ratio of about 1-to-5. Other studies showed a non-significant increase (or null findings) especially when date of diagnosis rather than date of first symptoms was used (Neurology 2004; 63: 838-842).

According to attorney Clifford Miller, "British doctors administering hepatitis B vaccine to infants could face criminal prosecution if fully informed consent is not obtained. Civil prosecution for damages is possible over 21 years later if the injured survive as adults" (UK Press Association Newswire/Romeike, September 2005).

The hepatitis B vaccine has been considered "one of the safest vaccines ever produced" (Neurology, 2004; 63: 838-842). On the other hand, French medical expert Marc Girard has said that "for a preventive measure, hepatitis B is remarkable for the frequency, variety and severity of complications from its use" (Romeike, September 2005).

In the past, individual concerns over vaccination have often been transgressed because of the platitude that the public good takes precedence over the individual.

We suggest that when it comes to the routine childhood hepatitis B vaccination those affected and involved should think a little harder before they shoot.

We think that the French authorities finally got something right.

* * *

Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., comments on medical-legal issues and is a visiting fellow in Economics and Citizenship at the International Trade Education Foundation of the Washington International Trade Council.

Robert J. Cihak, M.D., is a senior fellow and board member of the Discovery Institute and a past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Dianne Jacobs Thompson Est. 2007
Also http://truthquest2.com (alternative medicine featuring drugless cancer treatments)
Author publication: NEXUS MAGAZINE "Seawater--A Safe Blood Plasma Substitute?"