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Sweden and France quit vaccines with no regrets

by Doug Collins

A century ago, death from pertussis (whooping cough) occurred at a much higher rate, but now given better sanitation and treatment, it is very rare to die if one catches the disease in a developed country. Furthermore, the vaccination offers only incomplete and temporary immunity. In a 1984 outbreak of the disease in Washington State, 49 percent of the 162 cases were fully vaccinated, a rate which is typical of other outbreaks (see www.909shot.com/Diseases/whooping.htm and www.whale.to/w/donegan.html). Because of the large ineffectiveness of the vaccine, its sometimes serious side effects, and the fact that pertussis is just not the killer disease it once was, Sweden discontinued the pertussis vaccine in 1979. During the ban, the infant mortality in Sweden from pertussis has been similar to that of fully vaccinated populations. For example, three infant deaths from pertussis were recorded in Sweden from l987 to l99l, compared with a similar-size vaccinated population group in New South Wales, Australia, in which four infant deaths from pertussis occurred during a slightly longer time period. Complications due to pertussis in Sweden have remained uncommon and almost unchanged compared to the time before the ban (see ScheibnerÕs Vaccination: l00 Years of Orthodox Research Shows that Vaccines Represent a Medical Assault on the Immune System).

In the US, pressure by parents complaining of serious side effects and death from the vaccine led to the 1996 FDA licensing of a purified pertussis vaccine, which has been associated with fewer side effects. Despite the somewhat better safety of the revised vaccine, it is still comparatively ineffective in terms of protection.

In France, government officials halted hepatitis B vaccine school requirements in 1998. FranceÕs health minister acted after numerous reports of symptoms resembling arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Citizen lawsuits against the companies SmithKline Beecham and Pasteur-Merieux, which make and sell the hepatitis B vaccine, preceded the governmentÕs decision. Attorneys representing 15,000 French citizens have also sued government officials for understating the vaccineÕs risks and exaggerating its benefits. Unbeknownst to most recipients, the vaccine is the first genetically modified vaccine on the market.