Vaccine Side Effects

As bad as many of the diseases we vaccinate for, the severe reactions to the vaccines themselves can be equally bad or even worse.

Standard Side Effects

According to page 15 of The Vaccine Book, the following side effects typically occur 5 to 10% of the time, but some vaccines it soars to up to 40% of the time. The STANDARD side effects are, but not limited to:

• Pain at the injection site
• Redness at the injection site
• Swelling at the injection site
• Fever
• Crying
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Poor appetite
• Sleepiness
• HeadacheS
• Body AcheS
• Pea-sized nodule at injection site lasting for several weeks
• Rash over the whole body or limited to one area.

Best remedies are said to be holding a cool washcloth or ice pack to the injection site or giving ibuprofen, but it doesn't always work well. You can try Arnica for swelling. Most important is some TLC.

Serious Side Effects

The Vaccine Book (pg 181) says, "All vaccines have some potentially serious side effects. Fortunately, they are extremely rare." Based on Dr. Sears estimations, the chances of having a SEVERE reaction are approximately 4 times LESS than getting a SEVERE case of the disease. The problem is that he also said there is no way of know how off this estimate is. It could be easily be a factor of 4x off which would put it at the same likelihood as getting a SEVERE case of the disease AND we don't fully understand the long term effects vaccines have on us. We do know that having a healthy immune system is critical in reducing the chance of reactions to vaccines and reducing the chances of getting a disease. Keep in mind, the human body is subjected to millions of germs a day and only a tiny faction of 1% are for the ones that have vaccines for.

My question is, should we injecting our babies on things we HOPE will help them, but could in fact HURT them. For example, the Tetanus vaccine product insert states that there is enough evidence to say the vaccines can cause the Guillain-Barre syndrome. In the 1990's the DTP was replaced with the DTaP vaccine it had such bad reactions and may have caused permanent brain injury. Amazingly, it was once thought to be a safe vaccine, but in fact was the most "reactive" vaccines ever. The point is we can't trust what the government or the product companies believe. I'm not saying they are evil or malicious, I am just saying they will be smarter tomorrow than they are today and new safety facts are bound to come to the surface.

If that doesn't make you think twice consider these SEVERE side effects with the disease you are trying to prevent given that the chances MAY be the same of getting them.

Guillain-Barre syndrome
Dr. Sears says, "The body's immune system attacks the nervous system, causing temporary weakness and some paralysis. The effects usually wears off after several weeks, but a person must receive intensive care in the meantime to support the body system that aren't working (including respiration), and this illness is potentially fatal." Tetanus vaccine may cause this reaction / disease. To be fair, this condition also strikes for no apparent reason when no vaccines were recently given.

Encephalitis and Encephalopathy
Encephalitis is where the brain experiences swelling and irritation of the brain tissue for a brief period and is considered to be harmless. It is a lesser case Encephalopathy.

Encephalopathy is the same as Encephalitis except it is for days and can lead to dysfunction and damage to the brain tissue.

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE)
It is a gradual and chronic swelling and irritation of the brain tissue and can cause permanent damage to brain tissue as it deteriorates over many years. The MMR and all tetanus containing vaccines (according to their product inserts) may also be linked to this reaction.. Also, certain viral infections may also cause this.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
It is hard to say if vaccines cause SIDS or not. Mostly because nearly all babies have had vaccines. Statistically there appears to be no link in either direction.

Autism
It appears that vaccines don't cause Autism per say. However, it doesn't mean that vaccines don't make children with autism or children that are thought to have autism, but do noticeably autistic. The reason according to Dr. Sears (The Vaccine Book, pg 183) is that, "many autistic kids have a variety of similar health problem, including intestinal disease, autoimmune disease, allergies, brain inflammation, and metabolic defects, as well as genetic inability to detoxify their bodies of the host of chemical in food, water, and pollution that are part of our modern society. Their brains and bodies may be affected by the buildup of these environmental chemicals." It is theoretically possible that chemicals in vaccines could contribute to this and maybe even bring autism in a child to such a level that it is first observable.

Chronic Arthritis
According to The Vaccine Book, "The product insert cites three research studies that have shown a 12 to 26 percent chance that teenage and adult woman who get the MMR or the plain rubella vaccine may experience significant arthritis for days, months, or rarely, years. Infants, children, and adult men don't seem to have this risk."

The best remedies for Severe reactions is about the same as for mild reactions with the addition of maybe vitamin A and vitamin C.

Rating the "Reactivity of Vaccines"

Dr. Sears has concluded through observation and his reading that we can probably rate the vaccines reactivity as follows where the first ones are least reactive (5%) up to the most reactive (40%).

5%

• HIB
• Polio
• DTaP
• Pc
• Chickenpox
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis A
• MMR
• Meningococcal
• Flu

40%

Minimize your risk

The goal whether you vaccinate or not is to keep the body as healthy as possible so that it can fight of disease and undesired reactions. Here is some advice Dr. Sears on pg 189 of The Vaccine Book suggests:

Breastfeed
One year, but two years is better.

Minimize sugar and junk food.
Sugar weakens the immune system. Just as a doctor if the week after Halloween is their busiest week. Be particularly careful several weeks before a vaccination.

Minimize other chemical exposures
Eat organic, non-gmo foods. This includes baby good and formula. Check the labels, most mainstream products are not organic and gmo free.

Use Omega-3 oil supplements
Most children a deficient in omega-3 fats mainly because they don't eat enough fish and eggs. Luckily breast milk does contain lots of omega-3s. Watch for mercury free supplements. Can supplement toddlers over age one.

Probiotics
They play a critical role in regulating both our intestinal immune system and our internal immune system. They are particularly important if antibiotics are used since they kill all bacteria including the good stuff such as acidophilus. Probiotics can be used after two months of age.

Vitamin A
Some researchers believe it can play a role in protecting the brain from vaccine side effects. Even infants can be given this supplement, but be careful of overdosing as it can be toxic. I suggest asking your pediatrician how much is ok. A baby multi-vitamin in the form of drops may be a good way to get the needed vitamins.

Vitamin C
This antioxidant vitamin can help boost the immune system and may decrease vaccine side effects. The amount in a multi-vitamin is usually not enough. Ask your pediatrician for suggests.

 Conclusion

There are many more side effects than I have listed here. It is hard to tell how much less risky a reaction is to a vaccine verses the disease itself. I don't have any easy answers. It would be nice if there were concrete stats on this stuff, but there just simply isn't. Our best bet is to stay health through good life choices. For me, I will have to evaluate each disease and vaccine combination separately because the risk do vary greatly from vaccine to vaccine and disease to disease. My heart and brain still find it difficult to purposely inject my baby with something that will not do her good, but has a likelihood of causing harm to her. The hope is that it will save her from a terrible disease someday and I will never be the wiser of it.