Artificial Immunity: Not Worth It
Challenging the theory of artificial immunity
November 9, 2014 by Keith Wassung
(Health
Secrets) The control and eradication of childhood disease has been
heralded as one of medicine’s finest accomplishments. Yet there is a
growing suspicion that intervening in infections may have an adverse
effect on children, exemplified by the fact that as childhood infections
have decreased, chronic afflictions have increased. This comes along
with a swell of complaints from groups and individuals about the side
effects of vaccines and the lack of long-term scientific studies and
safety data. At a time when there are more vaccines than ever in the
pipeline, concern is mounting that high-profile vaccine advocates and
the lobbies they represent are exerting
inordinate influence on the setting of vaccine policy by the
government.
It may seem
incredulous to challenge the practice of vaccination, since it has
claimed responsibility for the eradiation of many diseases in the past
100 years including polio, smallpox, whooping cough and diphtheria. But
these claims are largely based on epidemic studies rather than on
clinical evidence of effectiveness. Europe for example, experienced the
same rise and decline of polio cases as were seen in the U.S. yet never
had the polio vaccine. In addition, many diseases that were once thought
to be eradicated simply take on different forms and are given different
names. Spinal meningitis and polio have almost identical symptoms and
cases of spinal meningitis have increased since the decrease in polio
cases.
We have learned an incredible amount of information in
recent years about the complex workings of the immune system, mostly due
to
advances in cancer, genetics and AIDS research. This has shed new light
on the inner workings of the immune system. One thing we have learned
is that simply altering the natural physiology of the body may
temporarily give the appearance of resolution of disease, but may
actually create more problems in the end. Virtually all studies of
effectiveness of vaccines are based on statistical data and the presence
or absence of disease. There have never been any medical studies that
clearly demonstrated that vaccines increase the immune system competence
of the human body, nor has there been a single medical study on the
long-term effects of vaccines.
It
must be understood that studies on vaccines are economically influenced
by the pharmaceutical industry that has tremendous influence on the
outcome of these studies. Vaccine sales represent a huge profit for
these companies and a certain amount of bias will always be
involved.
Vaccines are about money
The
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a group of
individuals hand picked by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC),
recommends which vaccines are to be administered to American
children. Working mainly in secret, ACIP members frequently have
financial links to vaccine manufacturers. Dependent on CDC funding,
state vaccination programs follow CDC directives by influencing state
legislatures to mandate new vaccines. Federal vaccine funds can be
denied to states which do not vigorously enforce mandatory vaccination
laws. Conversely, the CDC offers financial bounties to state health
departments for each fully vaccinated child.
Fundamentals of the immune system
The
last several years have seen a number of books and articles written
which challenge the practice of vaccinations, mostly on the grounds of
the potential side effects and long term
latent effects of the vaccine. These topics are certainly a factor in
the vaccination debate, but the real question is whether or not vaccines
actually produce lasting immunity that is at least equal or superior to
immunity that is obtained via natural exposure. This article provides
scientific evidence to answer the question.
The
immune system is comprised of the lymphatic tissues and organs of the
body. Lymph tissues are widely distributed but are concentrated in the
bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, liver, thymus, and Peyer’s patch
scattered in the linings of the gastrointestinal tract. The lymph system
is encompassed by a system of mononuclear phagocytes. Lymphocytes are
the predominant cells in this system, but macrophages and plasma cells
are also present. Lymphocytes circulate, moving between the circulating
blood stream and the lymphatic channels of the body.
The immune system is divided into
two components, non-specific, referring to innate immunity, and specific, referring
to acquired immunity. The non-specific defense system responds
immediately to protect the body from all foreign substances, whatever
they might be. In the 1980’s, a team of scientists at the Pasteur
Institute in Paris showed that 98% of the immune response triggered at
the early stage of infection is non-specific.
Lines of Defense
One
of our first lines of defense is the body’s physical barriers which
include the skin, mucosal membrane, tears, mucociliary elevator, and
urine. The other is the chemical barriers which include sebum, sweat,
stomach acid and lysozymes.
Our second lines of defense are
the macrophage system, complement, fever, interferon and
inflammation. The macrophage system attacks and consumes pathogens by
engulfing them, a process known as
phagocytosis.
Complement cooperates with macrophages
by attaching to foreign cells and initiating the ingestion of the cells
by phagocytosis. Interferons are a class of proteins activated by fever
that prevent viral replication in surrounding cells and also inhibit
the growth of cancer cells.
Fever is a powerful part of the
immune system, as it interferes with pathogen growth, inactivates many
pathogen toxins, and facilitates a more intense immune system
response. Many physicians now recommend allowing fevers to run their
course.
When tissue injury occurs, whether caused by bacteria
or viruses, substances such as bradykinins, complement and histamines
are released. This is the process of inflammation, and it strongly
activates the macrophage system to remove damaged cell
tissue. Inflammation is a vital part of the healing and repair process
of the immune system, and when it is delayed or
inhibited, healing and repair is incomplete.
Our third line of defense is the specific system known as acquired or adaptive immunity. This
specific system consists of B cells and T cells. These cells have
mechanisms for selecting a precisely defined target and for developing
memory to an antigen, so that subsequent exposures will result in a more
efficient and effective response.
Every standard definition
of immunity involves the overall competence of both the non-specific and
specific components of the immune system to recognize, isolate and
eliminate foreign pathogens. This competence also involves the ability
of the immune system to be able to distinguish between self and
non-self. Immunity is the body’s ability to establish and maintain
molecular identity. There is a huge difference between true immunity and
the absence of symptoms of disease.
Theory and Practice of
Vaccines
Vaccines are suspensions of infectious agents
used to artificially induce immunity against specific diseases. The aim
of vaccination is to mimic the process of naturally occurring infections
through artificial means. Theoretically, vaccines produce a mild to
moderate episode of infection in the body with only minor side
effects. They are said to work by causing the formation of antibodies,
which are proteins that defend the body from an invasion by harmful
germs. Vaccines are grouped into three different types:
- Attenuated microbes – In these the antigen is diluted or weakened. Attenuated include those to prevent measles, mumps, rubella, polio and chicken pox.
- Killed organisms, fragmented organisms, or antigens produced by recombinant DNA technology – Examples of these include pertussis, Hib, Hepatitis-B, and many of the experimental HIV vaccines.
- Toxoids – These are comprised of the toxins of particular infections such as tetanus or diphtheria and have been partially detoxified by heat or chemical treatments.
Vaccines
contain chemical preservatives such as mercury, formaldehyde, and
aluminum for the purpose of preventing contamination. Mercury has been
linked to numerous central nervous system and developmental
disorders. The CDC recognizes a small but statistically significant
association between cumulative mercury from vaccines and neurological
disorders, such as autism, tics, attention deficit hyperactive disorder
(ADHD), speech and language disorders, and other neurological
developmental delays.
The
human body is designed to be able to defend itself against foreign
invaders, much like a castle or a fortress defends itself with outer and
inner walls, and interior barriers. The majority of pathogens that
enter the body do
so via the mouth and nose. The upper respiratory area is packed with
powerful defense mechanisms designed to combat and filter these foreign
invaders. Every possible portal of entry in the human body is lined with
mucous membrane, a defense mechanism loaded with the powerful
immunoglobulin IgA.
Natural immunity happens only
after the body has experienced the pathogen. When naturally exposed to
pathogens, the organism has to pass through the body’s natural defense
systems before it ever reaches the blood stream. A tremendous amount of
biological events are triggered in this process which are essential in
developing true immunity, long before the pathogen ever comes into
contact with the bloodstream.
Vaccination
by direct injection into the bloodstream bypasses much of the normal
defenses of the immune system, producing only partial immunity.
There
is a greater quantity of biological
communication in the human body than in all of the man made
communication systems in the world combined. This signaling is essential
to the development of immunity.
Cytokines
are low-molecular weight proteins that control, coordinate and regulate
various immune or inflammatory responses. The importance of cytokines
in the host response to infection cannot be overstated. Full protection
against disease requires the involvement of many different systems of
the body and it is the cytokines that coordinate them. Vaccines inhibit
the normal function of cytokines, and in fact new vaccines specifically
target cytokine activity. To that end, gene therapy and DNA vaccination
have been used to produce memory against a number of cytokines that
promote inflammation. Antibodies to the product of each inserted gene
were produced. These antibodies were found to prevent the effects of the
cytokines.
The clinical
evidence for vaccines is their ability to stimulate antibody production
in the recipient, a fact that is not disputed. What is not clear,
however, is whether such antibody production produces immunity.
The
most predominant forms of life are viruses, bacteria and fungi, each
with countless numbers of varieties and strains. When the weight and
number of these organisms are multiplied together, they are the greatest
biomass in existence on earth.
Infection
with viruses does not always result in disease. In fact, a greater
majority of virus infections remain asymptomatic. Even before the
introduction of polio virus vaccination, about 89% of infected humans
developed only minor flu-like illness or no illness at all. Of 45,000
U.S. military personnel inoculated in 1942 with a yellow fever vaccine
inadvertently contaminated with Hep-B virus, only about 900 developed
clinical hepatitis and only 22 had severe
disease.
Scientific
evidence questioning the role of antibodies in disease protection can be
found in research performed by Dr. Alec Burton, and published in a
study by the British Medical Council. The study investigated the
relationship between the incidence of diphtheria and the presence of
antibodies. The purpose of the research was to determine the existence
or nonexistence of antibodies in people who developed diphtheria and in
those who did not. The conclusion was that there is no relation
whatsoever between antibody count and incidence of disease. The
researchers found people who were highly resistant with extremely low
antibody counts, and people who developed the disease who had high
antibody counts.
Dr.
Burton also discovered that children born with a-gamma globulinemia
(inability to produce antibodies) develop and recover from measles and
other infectious or contagious disease almost as quickly as
other children. Clearly natural immunity is a complex phenomenon
involving many organs and systems. It cannot be duplicated by the
artificial stimulation of antibody production.
There
exists a finite number of immune system cells that are able to respond
to foreign antigens. Once a specific immune cell responds to a
particular antigen, it becomes committed to that specific antigen and is
unable to respond to any other pathogen. Vaccination results in a
greater commitment of specific immune cells that would be utilized in
natural immune building, which may actually weaken the repertoire of
immune cells.
Post a Comment