A while ago, over a year, actually, I promised myself to do research about one vaccine (or disease) a month. This went nowhere as I would always find some great articles about other vaccines/diseases and get sidetracked. But today I found a lot of great articles from US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health that are related to Measles and vaccines against it. Here is the list, not in any particular order:
1. Measles incidence, vaccine efficacy, and mortality in two urban African areas with high vaccination coverage. (“Even though 95% of the children had measles antibodies after vaccination, vaccine efficacy was not more than 68%.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2230232
2. Measles-specific neutralizing antibodies in rural Mozambique: seroprevalence and presence in breast milk. (“A notable proportion of the population in Manhiça, Mozambique apparently remains susceptible to clinical measles despite recent mass vaccination campaigns.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18981523
3. An evaluation of measles serodiagnosis during an outbreak in a vaccinated community. (“A history of prior vaccination is not always associated with immunity nor with the presence of specific antibodies.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3168353
4. Herd immunity. Measles outbreak in a fully immunized secondary-school population. (“We conclude that outbreaks of measles can occur in secondary schools, even when more than 99 percent of the students have been vaccinated and more than 95 percent are immune.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3821823
5. A persistent outbreak of measles despite appropriate prevention and control measures. (“This outbreak suggests that measles transmission may persist in some settings despite appropriate implementation of the current measles elimination strategy.”) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3618578
6. Major measles epidemic in the region of Quebec despite a 99% vaccine coverage. (“Vaccination coverage for the total population was 99.0%. Incomplete vaccination coverage is not a valid explanation for the Quebec City measles outbreak.”) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1884314
7. How threatening is measles in a civilized country. Clinical and epidemiological findings during a measles outbreak occurring in a population with a high vaccination coverage. (“One or more complications were reported for 68 cases and in 8.9% of the studied cases hospitalization was required.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8668833
8. The 1992 measles epidemic in Cape Town--a changing epidemiological pattern. (“The possible reasons for this [outbreak] include both primary and secondary vaccine failure.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7740350
and the last but not least:
9. Lack of correlation between the number of measles cases (goes up and down) vs. vaccination efforts (increased with time). However, there seems to be another trend: With more children being vaccinated over the years, more of the little ones become sick with Measles (median age fell from almost 7 years to 14 months and to 11 months. Note, first Measles vaccine is given in China at 9 months). Monitoring progress towards the elimination of measles in China: an analysis of measles surveillance data ("The number of provinces that reported an annual incidence of less than one case per million population increased from one in 2009 to 15 in 2012 but fell back to one in 2013. Median case age decreased from 83 months in 2005 to 14 months in 2012 and 11 months in January to October 2013. Between 2008 and 2012, the incidence of measles in all age groups, including those not targeted for vaccination, decreased by at least 93.6%.") - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4007128/
Enjoy.
Showing posts with label shots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shots. Show all posts
Friday, September 26, 2014
Friday, July 5, 2013
Vaccine of the day: Polio
Parker hasn't been vaccinated for the most part. He got the HEP B vaccine and vit K in his first 24 hours of life.
Parker also has dairy, sesame seed, and chick peas allergy (that we know of). I may be a coincidence or it may not.
We will be faced with the decision about vaccinating very shortly, as we have decided to postpone vaccinating (if we ever decide to) until P is at least 2. The first two years are crucial for the development of a child's immune system so we didn't want to interfere with it.
Since his 2ndbirthday is approaching, I decided to do research about each vaccine/disease separately in order to see whether we vaccinate against it or not. My research will concentrate on two fronts:
1. The benefits (severity of the disease, chances of getting it, etc.)
2. The risks (what's in the vaccine, how it's made, potential side effects and long term risks, etc.)
Also, I want to rely on sources that are not against vaccines by default. I.e. as a source I may use a study cited on an anti-vaccine website, but the articles on such website will not be used as primary evidence.
POLIO
The research about Polio disease has proved to be fairly straight forward.
WHO site (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/) as of July 3. 2013:
- 223 reported cases in 2012.
- In 2013, only three countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan) remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988.
- One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized."
CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm):
Polio is spread by person-to-person contact and only affects humans.
There are 7 billion people living on earth, the chance that it will be you or me is 223/7,000,000,000 (my calculator couldn't display this number as it is so small). That's assuming we all have the same chance of getting it. The fact that we don't live in any of the "hot zone" countries, diminishes the chances even further.
Polio symptoms from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm)
Approximately 95% of persons infected with polio will have no symptoms. About 4-8% of infected persons have minor symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, flu-like symptoms, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the limbs, which often resolve completely. Fewer than 1% of polio cases result in permanent paralysis of the limbs (usually the legs). Of those paralyzed, 5-10% die when the paralysis strikes the respiratory muscles. The death rate increases with increasing age.:
Polio vaccine
Ingredients from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm):
Polio (IPV – Ipol): 2-phenoxyethanol, formaldehyde, neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin B, monkey kidney cells, Eagle MEM modified medium, calf serum protein
2-phenoxyethanol - preservative. From http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9926486:
Potential Acute Health Effects:
Extremely hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant). Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. Inflammation of the eye is characterized by redness, watering, and itching. Skin inflammation is characterized by itching, scaling, reddening, or, occasionally, blistering.
Potential Chronic Health Effects:
Extremely hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant). Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. MUTAGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. TERATOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY: Not available. The substance is toxic to kidneys, the nervous system, liver. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage. Repeated or prolonged inhalation of vapors may lead to chronic respiratory irritation.
formaldehyde - preservative. In 2011, the US National Toxicology Program described formaldehyde as "known to be a human carcinogen".
In another study I found the following: Formaldehyde is weakly genotoxic and was able to induce gene mutations and chromosomal aberrations in mammalian cells. DNA-protein crosslinks are a sensitive measure of DNA modification by formaldehyde. However, the genotoxic effects were limited to those cells, which are in direct contact with formaldehyde, and no effects could be observed in distant-site tissues. In conclusion, formaldehyde is a direct acting locally effective mutagen.
neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin B - antibiotics
monkey kidney cells - well, monkey kidney cells
Eagle MEM modified medium - one of the most widely used of all synthetic cell culture media. I haven't found any signs of it being toxic.
calf serum protein - haven't found anything of toxicity but it is derived from unborn calf fetuses in a non humanitarian way.
Meanwhile in India (from PubMed.gov http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22591873):
It was hoped that following polio eradication, immunisation could be stopped. However the synthesis of polio virus in 2002, made eradication impossible. It is argued that getting poor countries to expend their scarce resources on an impossible dream over the last 10 years was unethical. Furthermore, while India has been polio-free for a year, there has been a huge increase in non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (NPAFP). In 2011, there were an extra 47,500 new cases of NPAFP. Clinically indistinguishable from polio paralysis but twice as deadly, the incidence of NPAFP was directly proportional to doses of oral polio received.
[ME] The oral polio vaccine contains a live polio virus and has been linked to polio-like paralysis. Polio vaccines used in the US and Western Europe do not include the live virus, but polio vaccines used in India, and Africa do.
Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/323371#ixzz2YCGqHuQ8
Decision: Not vaccinating.
Parker also has dairy, sesame seed, and chick peas allergy (that we know of). I may be a coincidence or it may not.
We will be faced with the decision about vaccinating very shortly, as we have decided to postpone vaccinating (if we ever decide to) until P is at least 2. The first two years are crucial for the development of a child's immune system so we didn't want to interfere with it.
Since his 2ndbirthday is approaching, I decided to do research about each vaccine/disease separately in order to see whether we vaccinate against it or not. My research will concentrate on two fronts:
1. The benefits (severity of the disease, chances of getting it, etc.)
2. The risks (what's in the vaccine, how it's made, potential side effects and long term risks, etc.)
Also, I want to rely on sources that are not against vaccines by default. I.e. as a source I may use a study cited on an anti-vaccine website, but the articles on such website will not be used as primary evidence.
POLIO
The research about Polio disease has proved to be fairly straight forward.
WHO site (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/) as of July 3. 2013:
- 223 reported cases in 2012.
- In 2013, only three countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan) remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988.
- One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized."
CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm):
Polio is spread by person-to-person contact and only affects humans.
Polio symptoms from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm)
Approximately 95% of persons infected with polio will have no symptoms. About 4-8% of infected persons have minor symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, flu-like symptoms, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the limbs, which often resolve completely. Fewer than 1% of polio cases result in permanent paralysis of the limbs (usually the legs). Of those paralyzed, 5-10% die when the paralysis strikes the respiratory muscles. The death rate increases with increasing age.:
Polio vaccine
Ingredients from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm):
Polio (IPV – Ipol): 2-phenoxyethanol, formaldehyde, neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin B, monkey kidney cells, Eagle MEM modified medium, calf serum protein
2-phenoxyethanol - preservative. From http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9926486:
Potential Acute Health Effects:
Extremely hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant). Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. Inflammation of the eye is characterized by redness, watering, and itching. Skin inflammation is characterized by itching, scaling, reddening, or, occasionally, blistering.
Potential Chronic Health Effects:
Extremely hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant). Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. MUTAGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. TERATOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY: Not available. The substance is toxic to kidneys, the nervous system, liver. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage. Repeated or prolonged inhalation of vapors may lead to chronic respiratory irritation.
formaldehyde - preservative. In 2011, the US National Toxicology Program described formaldehyde as "known to be a human carcinogen".
In another study I found the following: Formaldehyde is weakly genotoxic and was able to induce gene mutations and chromosomal aberrations in mammalian cells. DNA-protein crosslinks are a sensitive measure of DNA modification by formaldehyde. However, the genotoxic effects were limited to those cells, which are in direct contact with formaldehyde, and no effects could be observed in distant-site tissues. In conclusion, formaldehyde is a direct acting locally effective mutagen.
neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin B - antibiotics
monkey kidney cells - well, monkey kidney cells
Eagle MEM modified medium - one of the most widely used of all synthetic cell culture media. I haven't found any signs of it being toxic.
calf serum protein - haven't found anything of toxicity but it is derived from unborn calf fetuses in a non humanitarian way.
Meanwhile in India (from PubMed.gov http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22591873):
It was hoped that following polio eradication, immunisation could be stopped. However the synthesis of polio virus in 2002, made eradication impossible. It is argued that getting poor countries to expend their scarce resources on an impossible dream over the last 10 years was unethical. Furthermore, while India has been polio-free for a year, there has been a huge increase in non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (NPAFP). In 2011, there were an extra 47,500 new cases of NPAFP. Clinically indistinguishable from polio paralysis but twice as deadly, the incidence of NPAFP was directly proportional to doses of oral polio received.
[ME] The oral polio vaccine contains a live polio virus and has been linked to polio-like paralysis. Polio vaccines used in the US and Western Europe do not include the live virus, but polio vaccines used in India, and Africa do.
Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/323371#ixzz2YCGqHuQ8
Decision: Not vaccinating.
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