Hepatitis B Vaccine Linked to Sudden Infant Death

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

Three hepatitis B shots are part of the standard government-recommended childhood vaccination schedule ^[5], with the first dose given at 12 hours of age in the newborn nursery of most hospitals.

Despite what you may hear in the media, reactions can be serious. In fact, hepatitis B appears to be one of the most problematic vaccines on the current schedule.

As Dr. Jane Orient of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) ^[6] testified to Congress:

“For most children, the risk of a serious vaccine reaction may be 100 times greater than the risk of hepatitis B.”

Now the U.S. government has also conceded that the vaccine carries risks, specifically they have conceded that it may cause systemic lupus erythematosus.

Nearly Half a Million Dollars Awarded to Hepatitis B Vaccine Victim

On August 29, 2001, Tambra Harris filed a petition for compensation ^[7] alleging that she suffered certain injuries, including  lupus (SLE), as a result of receiving a hepatitis B vaccination. Harris sought an award under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, and on March 22, 2011 — nearly 10 years later! — counsel for both parties filed a stipulation stating that a decision should be entered awarding compensation.

A lump sum of $475,000 was awarded to the Estate of Tambra Harris as “compensation for all damages.” Unfortunately, Tambra died in November 2009, so she never got to see the result of her petition.

This is only one case of many reported serious reactions to the hepatitis B vaccine.

Routine use of the hepatitis B vaccine for all newborns began in 1992, and according to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), ^[8] operated jointly by the CDC and FDA, there were 36,788 officially reported adverse reactions to hepatitis B vaccines between 1992 and 2005. Of these, 14,800 were serious enough to cause hospitalization, life-threatening health events or permanent disabilities.

And 781 people were reported to have DIED following hepatitis B vaccination — and this is likely an underestimate because only a fraction of the serious health problems, including deaths, following vaccination are ever acknowledged due to a lack of public awareness about how to recognize signs and symptoms of vaccine reactions.

Vaccine adverse events are substantially underreported—some estimate by as much as 90 percent—even though the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 mandated that all doctors and other vaccine providers report serious health problems, including hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following vaccination.

The 1986 Act did not include sanctions for failing to report potential vaccine reactions to VAERS and so most vaccine providers do not file a report when the health of a person recently vaccinated begins to deteriorate.

Many vaccine reactions are not even recognized by medical personnel as vaccine-related.

For instance, when babies die after hep B vaccinations, most of the time their deaths are automatically attributed to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) without investigation into whether the vaccine caused the baby’s sudden death.

When a baby’s death is listed as “SIDS,” rarely does anyone ask about the deceased infant’s vaccination history to find out whether there were symptoms of vaccine reactions before death.

You Catch Hepatitis B the Same Way You Catch AIDS

The serious safety risks surrounding the hep B shot become even more unacceptable when you look into how the disease is actually transmitted. Hepatitis B is a viral infection that affects your liver, and spreads through direct contact with the body fluids (particularly blood and semen) of an infected person.

Hepatitis B is a primarily blood-transmitted disease associated with lifestyle choices such as unprotected sex with multiple partners and intravenous drug use involving sharing needles—it is NOT primarily a “children’s disease” or that of newborn babies!

As the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) ^[9] reported in the 1990’s, after the federal government licensed and began promoting universal use of hepatitis B vaccine for all newborn infants and children:

“In increasing numbers, parents across the country are contacting the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) to report opposition to regulations being enacted by state health department officials that legally require children to be injected with three doses of hepatitis B vaccine before being allowed to attend daycare, kindergarten, elementary school, high school or college.

Simultaneously, as more schools and employers bow to pressure from government health officials and require individuals to show proof they have been injected with hepatitis B vaccine before being allowed to get an education or a job, reports of serious health problems following hepatitis B vaccination among children and adults are multiplying.”

What Other Side Effects are Associated with Hep B Vaccine?

Common reactions include fatigue, muscle weakness, fever, headache, irritability, and joint pain. But there have been reports of disabling neurological and immunological disorders that have developed following hepatitis B vaccinations as well, including:

A study published September 2009 in Annals of Epidemiology ^[14] also found that giving hepatitis B vaccine to infant boys more than tripled their risk for an autism spectrum disorder ^[15]. This was doubly concerning because an earlier study by the same researcher group, using a different database, found the same results.

For all of these serious risks, what is your baby getting in return?

Consider that not only do infants and children rarely acquire hepatitis B, but vaccines only confer temporary, partial immunity and the length of time you are protected from hepatitis B ^[16] after receiving the vaccine series has gotten shorter and shorter as studies have revealed antibody levels decline much more rapidly than vaccine developers and policymakers expected.

What this means is that by the time your child may be exposed to hepatitis B, the vaccine they received at birth will likely no longer offer them protection.

So why vaccinate them at birth, especially considering that babies have been found to respond to the vaccine by having an intense, persistent and completely abnormal immune response ^[17], which could ultimately result in your child developing permanent brain and immune system dysfunction?

It is not logical. Makes no sense, none, nada, zip.

This is a seriously flawed public health policy recommendation that is not backed up by good science.

Doctors Actually Encouraged to Spend LESS Time Warning of Vaccine Dangers!

The knowledge that vaccines carry risks is becoming more widespread in the United States and other developed countries as more children and adults are getting vaccinated with multiple vaccines and suffering serious health problems that become permanent.

At the same time, parents are asking doctors more questions about why vaccines are not making their children healthier but are making them sicker and doctors and public health officials have no answers.

The bottom line is that, as more people become educated about vaccine side effects, they are demanding to take control of their health. It is a GREAT sign, as it means the more people are educating themselves, the more they are taking responsibility for making their own health care decisions.

In fact, according to a new report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine ^[3] nearly 80 percent of pediatricians and family care physicians have at least one vaccine refusal a month, and 89 percent have at least one request a month to spread out the administration of vaccines over multiple visits.

The conclusion of the report, though, was that as parents become more aware of vaccine safety concerns, physicians are having to take more time discussing this at appointments.

And this, the report found, was making their jobs “less satisfying,” especially for pediatricians.

That’s right, the study found that 46 percent of pediatricians reported their job was less satisfying because of parental vaccine concerns. After all, the study shows that about one in two doctors may spend up to 19 minutes on the topic with parents who have substantial immunization concerns.

The researchers actually concluded:

“The burden of communicating with parents about vaccines is high, especially among pediatricians. Physicians report the greatest success convincing skeptical parents using messages that rely on their personal choices and experiences.”

In other words, since it’s apparently simply too much trouble for pediatricians to address the valid concerns of parents AND because pediatricians do not have good answers for why so many highly vaccinated children are so sick, perhaps they shouldn’t bother answering questions, or perhaps they should instill their own personal beliefs and vaccine risk denial onto patients in an effort to shut them up quickly.

I guess when it comes to the safety of a child, 19 minutes is too much to ask of many pediatricians. If yours is one of them, I suggest you find a new pediatrician, pronto.  Remember you can always FIRE your doctor.  It is YOUR right and YOUR choice to take control of your health and your family’s health and you should NEVER allow any doctor to interfere with that right.

What Every Parent Should Know About Vaccinations

I want to remind you that you have every right to not only ask questions about vaccine safety, but also to decide which vaccinations you would like to receive or decline for yourself and your children. I highly recommend all parents consider the following steps before consenting to vaccinations, including hepatitis B:

• Educate yourself about vaccination, including reading the vaccine manufacturer product inserts for vaccines that your doctor is recommending and reviewing vaccine information on this website and websites like NVIC.org.
• Help educate your family, and your community by circulating this newsletter among your friends, neighbors, doctors, lawyers, teachers, school principles, nurses, local newspaper, TV and radio stations. Send a copy of this newsletter with a personal note to your elected representatives.
• The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) ^[18] provides information for consumers about vaccines and diseases and works to protect vaccine choices. Register today for the NVIC Advocacy Portal ^[19], an online interactive database and communication system that will help YOU protect vaccine exemptions in YOUR state.
• Report vaccine reactions to the federal government (VAERS) and to the NVIC Vaccine Reaction Registry by visiting the NVIC website ^[18]. This reporting is EXTREMELY important and necessary if we are to accelerate change.
• If you are pregnant, get tested for hepatitis B disease. If you are infected, your baby may be at higher risk for becoming infected with hepatitis B and is a candidate for vaccination, so you should explore all sides of the issue with your physician.
• Stand up for your informed consent rights. If you are opposed to the hepatitis B vaccine for your baby at birth, you can amend the “consent for medical treatment” forms you sign upon entering the hospital before giving birth by writing on the form that you do not give consent for your baby’s hepatitis B vaccination in the newborn nursery.However, there are reports that some newborns are being vaccinated in the newborn nursery against the parent’s wishes. So it is a good idea to keep your newborn with you at all times or have a family member stay with the baby while in the hospital.
• Vaccine exemptions: Although hepatitis B vaccines may be “mandated” for your child to attend school, each state offers different legal exemptions (medical, religious, and philosophical). Research your state’s specific vaccine requirements ^[20] and find out what kind of exemption to vaccination you are allowed to exercise in your state.

Copyright Dr. Joseph Mercola, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Read the full article here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/05/19/us-government-concedes-hep-b-vaccine-causes-systemic-lupus-erythematosus.aspx ^[1]