Though the rate of autism in our population is growing exponentially, to the point that almost one child in 150 may have an autistic spectrum disorder, most children who receive vaccines do not get autism. So if vaccines cause autism, it must be in combination with other risk factors.
But the question remains: Are we okay? What about the increases of other chronic diseases like asthma, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and diabetes? While we are the most extensively vaccinated culture in the world, we also have the highest levels of chronic disease.
What about the increase in allergies, attention deficit disorder, and learning disabilities? In the last 20 years, concurrent with the rise of these problems, the number of childhood vaccines has increased from eight to 25 or more. Not only are our children receiving many more vaccines in total than we did, they are receiving more vaccines per doctor visit. And as much as we might like to believe that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) carefully studies the effects of receiving all these vaccines at once, there is little evidence that any such research has been done. In reality, as soon as a new vaccine is approved, it is added to the vaccination schedule, with little regard to the other vaccines being given at that same visit. The flu vaccination, for example, has never been studied for safety when administered with other childhood vaccines.
Also, while we might like to believe that immunizations are designed and tailor-made for our children at different stages of development, they are not. A two-month-old child receives the same dosage of vaccine as a two-year-old child, despite their difference in size. Is this one-size-fits-all vaccination plan really safe and effective?
Natural immunity achieved after conquering a disease is different from vaccine immunity. Whereas natural immunity generally affords us lifetime protection against disease, vaccine immunity may require multiple booster shots. And whereas natural immunity allows the body to mount a full-fledged defense and remove all foreign pathogens, some weakened microorganisms from vaccines may remain in our body cells for months or years. These may remain dormant, waiting to cause problems later.
Many diseases on the rise in our society are autoimmune diseases. Though correlation of increased chronic disease and increased immunization does not necessarily imply causation, one compelling theory about their relationship deserves consideration. Some believe that after weakened foreign pathogens reach our body cells without meeting a normal immune response, they simply take up residence there, settling into our genetic material. Our immune systems detect that something is wrong with these cells and attack them (even though they are our own body cells)! When the immune system attacks the body’s own cells, this is called an “autoimmune” response. Examples of autoimmune diseases are asthma, lupus, type I diabetes, Crohn’s disease, and psoriasis. In protecting ourselves from childhood diseases, are we setting ourselves up for greater health problems later in life?