Massachusetts Citizens for Vaccination Choice

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Vaccination as it relates to international travel is admittedly something we know very little about. But because we’ve received queries on this subject, we offer these sites as a starting point for disease alerts in foreign countries and vaccine recommendations for international travelers.

Centers for Disease Control

The Travel Doctor

New 5-in-1 vaccine hailed as pain-saver.

Parents have been asking us how we feel about the new Pediarix vaccine, which combines diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and polio vaccines all in one shot.

As directors of an organization whose mission it is to support the right to choose surrounding issues of vaccination, we are bound to accept the existence of this vaccine as long as it is not universally mandated, which it is currently not.

As parents, however, we can’t help but feel that this is a triumph of marketing over healthcare. Not only would five antigens in one vaccine logically place additonal stress on a child’s developing immune system, but should the child actually experience an adverse reaction, it would make it virtually impossible to target any one antigen as responsible. We personally feel that, rather than progress, this is a major step backward in the effort to secure true health for our children, our communities and future generations.

MASSACHUSETTS ORGANIZATIONS

Massachusetts Citizens for Vaccination Choice
Provides encouragement, information and resources to help individuals make informed vaccination decisions.
P.O. Box 1033
East Arlington, MA 02474
781.646.4797

Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH)
617.983.6800

New England Patients’ Rights Group
Advocates for the rights of health care consumers.
PO Box 141
Norwood, MA 02062-0002
781.769.5720

VACCINE CHOICE ORGANIZATIONS IN OTHER STATES

Connecticut Vaccine Information Alliance

Illinois Vaccine Awareness Coalition

Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines

Missouri Citizens Coalition for Freedom in Health Care

New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice

New Yorkers for Vaccination Information and Choice

Texas: Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education

Vaccine Awareness of Florida

Virginia Families for Vaccine Information and Choice

West Virginia for Vaccine Exemption

Click here for information regarding other states and their contacts.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

Association of American Physicians & Surgeons
The only national doctors’ organization that publicly opposed universal hepatitis B vaccination mandates.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
800.232.SHOT

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)
A national non-profit educational organization established in 1982 to ensure access to information and the right to choose with respect to vaccination.
204 Mill Street, Suite B1
Vienna, VA 22180
703.938.DPT3

Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
To report a potential adverse vaccine reaction, visit the site or call:
800.822.7967

Vaccine Information and Awareness (VIA)
Compiles and distributes a comprehensive collection of press reports, articles and notices.

Pneumococcal disease is a bacterial infection that can cause serious illness, including inflammation of the brain, blood infections and pneumonia. Most children and adults harbor pneumoccocal organisms in their noses and throats. It is not clear why some individuals will go on to develop severe pneumococcal disease and others do not, although those with weakened immune systems are at risk.

There are currently two pneumococcal vaccines in use in Massachusetts. Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 7-Valent (PCV7) is being recommended (though not required) by the DPH for all children from 2-23 months of age and older children in certain high risk groups. Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine 23-Valent (PPV23) is being recommended for all people 65 and over and others in high risk groups.

For further information on the pneumococcal vaccine being recommended for children (PCV7), visit the National Vaccine Information Center’s pneumococcal webpage.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health site also has information on the two vaccines at:
Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 7-Valent (PCV7) and
Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine 23-Valent (PPV23).

The polio vaccine is credited with eradicating poliomyelitis from the Americas and much of the rest of the world. But since 1979, the great preponderance of positive cases of polio in the western hemisphere--approximately 121 of 125--were directly linked to the live (oral) virus vaccine being used. In 1996, this fact moved the Centers for Disease Control to recommend the use of a killed (injected) virus polio vaccine, which is currently in use.

Poliomyelitis is caused by several different types of polioviruses that live in the nose, throat and, especially, the intestinal tract of a person infected with it. The incubation period is usually between one and two weeks. The wild (naturally-occurring as opposed to vaccine-induced polio) poliovirus produces varying symptoms and degrees of neurological signs and complications, depending upon the type of polio virus involved. According to infectious disease experts, approximately one percent of wild polio infections result in paralytic disease.

Most wild virus infections are mild and the milder forms of polio usually begin abruptly and last, at most, a few days. When symptoms are present, they include fever, sore throat, nausea, headache and stomachache. Sometimes the individual will feel pain and stiffness in the neck, back and legs. Usually there is full recovery with no muscular or nerve damage. The vast majority of children and adults who got polio in the 1950s recovered from this milder type of polio.

Visit the Centers for Disease Control polio webpage.

View the vaccine package insert (IPOL from Sanofi Pasteur).

According to the American Medical Association?s Encyclopedia of Medicine (1989), chickenpox is a “common and mild infectious disease of childhood” and “all healthy children should be exposed to chickenpox...at an age at which it is no more than an inconvenience.” The American Academy of Pediatrics states in its brochure on chickenpox (1996) that “Most children who are otherwise healthy and get chickenpox won’t have any complications from the disease."`

Of the approximately 4 million cases of chickenpox in the United States each year, the death rate is only .0025%, with a hospitalization rate of .23%, making it one of the most benign diseases in existence.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “when an adult gets chickenpox, the disease usually lasts longer and is more severe, often developing into pneumonia. Adults are almost 10 times more likely than children under 14 to need hospitalization from chickenpox and more than 20 times more likely to die from the disease.”

Yet despite these facts, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health mandated universal vaccination for all children, not adults. This blanket policy can be expected to move the incidence of this mild childhood disease into the adult population where it generally poses a greater threat.

The natural disease typically offers lifetime immunity, while vaccine effectiveness wanes. No one knows exactly when or how a booster schedule can be successfully implemented.

“Many primary care physicians either do not recommend the vaccine or suggest that children be immunized only if they have not developed the chickenpox by 12 years of age” (Journal of the American Medical Association, Nov., 1997).

The varicella (chickenpox) vaccine is a live-virus vaccine. It is made from the Oka/Merck strain of live, attenuated (weakened) varicella virus. The virus was initially obtained from a child with natural varicella, then introduced into human embryonic lung cell cultures (aborted fetal tissue), adapted and propagated in embryonic guinea pig cell cultures and finally propagated in human diploid cell cultures. The vaccine contains sucrose, phosphate, glutamate, neomycin, fetal bovine serum and processed gelatin (Merck & Co., Inc., 1995; Fisher, 1997).

Scientists are concerned about the long-term effects of viral DNA, from live-virus vaccines, being incorporated into human genes.

The marketing of this vaccine by both the manufacturer, Merck & Co., and the American Academy of Pediatrics, is mainly focused on the economic consideration of parental work loss, or the inconvenience of a child missing a soccer game or birthday party (images used in corporate advertising), rather than on any pressing health issues facing the public. The chief of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Department of New England Medical Center, who also participated in the development of the chickenpox vaccine, has stated, “Studies suggest that widespread use of the varicella vaccine will be cost effective, primarily through a reduction in the number of work days missed by parents caring for sick children.”

For further information, visit the National Vaccine Information Center’s chickenpox webpage.

You can also visit the Center for Disease Control’s chickenpox webpage.

View the vaccine package insert (Merck’s Varivax).

Visit the state DPH site for information regarding the exclusion of unvaccinated children from schools where cases of chickenpox have been positively identified.

A Shot in the Dark. Harris Coulter & Barbara Loe Fisher: Avery Publishing, 1991.

Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines: Evidence Bearing on Causality. Institute of Medicine: National Academy Press, 1994.

The Consumer’s Guide to Childhood Vaccines. Barbara Loe Fisher: National Vaccine Information Center, revised & updated, 2005.

How to Raise a Healthy Child...In Spite of Your Doctor. Robert S. Mendelsohn, MD: Ballantine Books, 1987.

Immunization: The Reality Behind the Myth. Walene James: Bergin & Garvey, revised & updated, 1995.

The Immunization Resource Guide. Diane Rozario: Patter Publications, updated periodically.

Vaccination: The Issue of Our Times. Peggy O’Mara: Mothering Magagzine, 1997.

The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults. Randall Neustaedter, OMD: North Atlantic Books: revised 2002.

Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective? Neil Miller: New Atlantean Press, revised & updated, 2002.

What Every Parent Should Know About Childhood Immunization. Jamie Murphy: Earth Healing Products, 1993.

When Your Doctor is Wrong: Hepatitis B Vaccine and Autism. Judy Converse: Xlibris Corp., 2002. 

It is not the intention of Massachusetts Citizens for Vaccination Choice to argue the medical wisdom of the state Department of Public Health’s recommended vaccination schedule. What we question is the appropriateness of compelling everyone to conform to it, as we feel that such decisions should ultimately rest with individuals or their families.

That being said, here, as a point of departure for those interested, is the recommended vaccine schedule established by the state DPH.

Not surprisingly, “Are there any support groups in my area?” is one of the questions we are asked most frequently. Regrettably, the short answer is “no,” at least not to our knowledge.

The hopeful news, however, is that in significant ways, the people who have sought us out to ask questions and seek the camaraderie of those with a similar perspective on vaccination have become a community of sorts. We have therefore in the past sent out queries for parents looking to get together with other like-minded people in their immediate areas. We have asked members to recommend doctors for interested parents. And we’ve sent out requests on behalf of parents--content to communicate via email--simply looking to discuss the issue with other parents across the state who have traveled the same path. 

So, are there support groups up and running in Amherst or Provincetown or Springfield? Probably not. Are there folks in the state who might be able to help with your particular concern or question? Yes; let us know and we’ll do our best to help. Alternatively, are you interested in establishing a group in your town or region? If so, we might be able to help you network.

Questioning vaccine mandates is not a mainstream pastime. So we’re all in the position--enviable if arduous--of seeking out and building our own communities of support.

Make a contribution.
MCVC is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization supported entirely by the generosity of individuals. All MCVC officers are volunteers and all donations are tax-deductible. Checks should be made payable to “MCVC” and mailed to: MCVC, PO Box 1033, East Arlington, MA 02474-0020. Donors of $25 or more will receive a free “Vaccination? It’s Not All Black and White” bumpersticker, if requested.

Are you a physician, chiropractor, midwife or working in some other helping capacity with parents? We’d be happy to send you brochures or business cards if you’d like to pass them out.

Donate books from our reading list to your local library.

Tell others about us: parents-to-be, family members, neighbors, co-workers and, well, friends. Help expand the dialogue and let people know we’re here to be a resource for them.

. While emailings are infrequent, they are our main means of staying in touch with people interested in this issue. What’s in them? A recent email sought information on supportive doctors; a future mailing might seek people interested in setting up local support groups. Just let us know your name, email and town.

If your doctor supports your vaccination decisions, fill out our physician referral form; it may be of help to others in the future. (Note: This information will never be used on our website. Rather, we will dispense it appropriately on a location basis when we speak with interested parents seeking open-minded doctors.)

Write a letter to the editor of your local paper, particularly during National Vaccination Week (during April), National Immunization Awareness Month (August) and around the beginning of the school year each September. Highlight vaccination as a question mark, not an exclamation point.

Print out our downloadable poster and post it in heavily parent-traveled places.

Purchase our “Vaccination? It’s Not All Black and White” bumperstickers for friends and family.

anything require clarification? need more information? find a broken link? something you’re particularly glad to see?