Pertussis

What is pertussis? Pertussis - aka: whooping cough.The cough usually sounds high-pitched because the person is trying to catch their breath a lot.

There are 3 stages:
1) 1-2 weeks long; person has trouble breathing and may have a cough and fever.
2) 2 - 3 weeks long; severe coughing attacks occur at night and later during the day and night. This can lead to inadequate oxygen, which can lead to convulsions - death can occur.
3) coughing lessens and recovery begins. Full recovery can take months.

Today pertussis is rarely fatal - but babies under 6 months can have serious, life-threatening issues. There is no specific treatment - antibiotics and cough suppressants have been used, but aren't recommended.

Vaccinations available: 
DPT is the first "3 in 1" vaccination (diphtheria and tetanus included here). It contains .170mg of aluminum, "a trace amount of thimerosal" (mercury), gelatin, polysorbate 80, and "residual fermaldehyde."
There is a "5 in 1" vaccination that includes polio and hep B made by GlaxoSmithKline - it too contains aluminum, hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, 2-phenoxyethanol, neomycin sulfate, polymyxin B and yeast protein.

Side effects:
3 in 1: May cause fever as high as 106, pain, swelling, diarrhea, projectile vomiting, excessive sleepiness, high-pitched screaming (due to CNS damage), inconsolable crying, seizures, convulsions, collapse, shock, breathing issues, brain damage, and SIDS (I know that last one is going to cause controversy). Grand mal seizures have been shown to be as high as 1 in 600; 1 in 200 have severe reactions (that's a lot). The manufacturer lists several serious adverse reactions that have been reported which include (I'm only the messenger here): anaphylaxis, encephalopathy (this is a disease/disorder of the brain...essentially, brain damage), grand mal convulsion, thrombocytopenia (a blood issue), hypotonia (a disease that results in low muscle tone), neuropathy (nerve damage), autism, apnea, and SIDS.

5 in 1: Can cause swelling of the mouth, difficulty breathing, cranial mononeuropathy (nerve damage in the brain), brachial neuritis (another nerve damage issue), Guillain-Barres syndrome (a serious disorder that occurs when the body's defense system - aka: immunity - attacks part of the nervous system; it can lead to nerve damage and muscle weakness), demyelinating diseases of the CNS (another nerve issue), neuroblastoma (tumors on the nerve tissue) , gastroenteritis, bronchiolitis, asthma, diabetes, chronic neutropenia (a blood disorder), seizures, convulsions, bulging fontanelle, cyanosis, lymphadenopthay (disease of the lymph nodes), arthralgia (joint pain and stiffness), myalgia (muscle pain), angioedema (swelling), alopecia, apnea, and death.

Safety:
The US never had it's own studies to determine the safety, they just relied on the study of mice living or dying (by sticking them with this vaccine in the belly - if they died, obviously that was no good, but if they lived and gained weight, they considered that good) and how many children DIDN'T have convulsions (so they relied on the efficiency, not the safety).

Facts:
The incidence and severity of pertussis was declining long before the vaccine was introduced. From 1900 - 1935 the death rate in the US and England had decreased (on it's own!) by a large 79 and 82%!! Evidence shows that the whole-cell pertussis vaccine may only be 40 - 45% effective (not the 63 - 91% that has been claimed) and further evidence shows that immunity isn't even sustained. Susceptibility to pertussis just a few years after a full vaccination schedule is completed may be as high as 95%! A study published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases actually has shown that 5 years after children have received an acellular pertussis booster shot, pertussis toxin antibody levels were actually lower than they were before the vaccine and undetectable in 28%. A lot of children who are vaccinated (some reports are as high as approximately 80%) aren't even immune to it and have gotten pertussis!

What is the point of vaccinating for these diseases if 
a) you're putting your child at a large risk from the vaccination itself
b) your child is likely to catch pertussis anyways?!

Neurological disorder research: 
In 1933 the Journal of the American Medical Association acknowledged that children were suffering neurological damage after receiving the vaccine. One child had convulsions, cyanosis, and died within 30 minutes of his vaccination.

In 1948, Pediatrics published data on children who also had severe neurological damage (including comas, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation). 2 of the 15 children discussed, died. In 1981 the same group published data on a California study comparing DPT vaccinated children to DT vaccinated children; the DPT children had more inconsolable screaming episodes, excessive sleepiness, and 1 in 133 suffered seizures.

In 1950, Lancet talked about a child who had the vaccination and became mentally retarded and paralyzed.

In 1955, Journal of Pediatrics reported a young girl having the vaccination, had a severe reaction 12 hours later (this was her second vaccination for this), and died a few hours later. In 1957 they published another story on infantile myoclonic seizures after receiving the DPT vaccination.

In 1993, the British Meical Journal published a follow-up study (from their 1981 research) that concluded that pertussis vaccinated children "were significantly more likely than controls [the DT vaccinated] to have died or have some form of educational, behavioral, neurological, or physical dysfunction" 10 years after their initial adverse reaction.

Anaphylaxis and Asthma: 
The pertussis vaccine was used to induce anaphylatic shock in animals. Studies have shown children have suffered shock, loss of consciousness, throat swelling/closing, and collapse, following the vaccine.
Children diagnosed with asthma were 5 times as likely to have received the vaccination than those who had not (according to the Journal of the American Medical Association).

Autism: 
I know this one touchy, but the first cases of autism in the US happened shortly after the pertussis vaccine became available in the 1930's and 40's. Every organization that has come about concerning Autism has been established shortly thereafter the pertussis vaccination came to that country.

SIDS:
Again, another touchy one, so instead of listing everything I've found I will list a few things and then list a website.
- In the 1960's and 70's half of all Aborigine babies in Australia were dying. A doctor realized the deaths were occurring after the pertussis vaccination. He also noticed they lacked enough Vitamin C. When they were vaccinated, their underdeveloped immune systems couldn't handle it.
- In Japan from 1970-74 there were 37 documented infant deaths after the vaccination. A boycott broke out and the age limit was raised from 2 months to 2 years - babies stopped dying "unexpectedly."
- In 1979 a cluster of deaths happened in Tennessee within 24 hours - all of those babies had received the DPT vaccination.

The list goes on and on here, but I invite you to check out www.thinktwice.com to read stories from family members of infants who have passed. This book that I'm reading has at least 10 pages (front and back) of stories (too heartbreaking for me to read through right now).

My younger sister had a severe reaction to this vaccination as a small baby (in 2002). There is documentation in her medical charts about her reaction to this vaccination and orders to never let her receive it again - reason being? They were worried she would have an even more severe reaction or die.