One of the first formal assessments of longer-term health outcomes associated with the routine childhood vaccination program in the U.S. concludes that vaccinated children are more likely to be diagnosed with a chronic illness compared to unvaccinated children.

The carefully designed cross-sectional survey used responses from 415 mothers of 666 homeschooled children between ages six and twelve who were fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated or not vaccinated. Participants were asked about forty acute and chronic illnesses. Children in the vaccinated group were less likely to have had chickenpox or pertussis, and vaccinated children were more likely to have been diagnosed with middle ear infections and pneumonia. There were no other meaningful differences between the groups for other diseases targeted by vaccines.

The study reveals that vaccination and preterm birth were associated with a 6.6-fold increase in odds of a neurodevelopmental disorder. Another published paper revealed similar findings but with a 14.5-fold increase in vaccinated preterm infants. These results suggest that the accepted practice of giving preterm infants the same schedule of vaccines as term infants should be reconsidered.

The government recommended pediatric vaccine schedule has dramatically increased the numbers of vaccines and total doses of vaccines given to infants and children over the past few decades. The schedule now includes vaccines targeting not only life threatening diseases, but non-deadly diseases as well, as public health officials attempt to minimize prolonged absences from school or work. The increase in childhood vaccinations coincides with a rise in debilitating chronic illness and neurodevelopmental disorders in children, which often last a lifetime. While the results of the study cannot be used to prove that increased vaccination is causing an increase in chronic disease and disability, the strength and consistency of the findings support the conclusion that “some aspect of the current vaccination program may be contributing to risks of childhood morbidity.”

The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 was established after years of negotiations as a non-adversarial alternative to lawsuits against drug companies and physicians for vaccine injury and death. The law set up a compensation program funded by surcharges on each vaccine given. Within the first seven years, more than 500 million dollars were awarded to victims of vaccines, most of whom were injured or killed by the whole cell pertussis vaccine in the DPT shot. 

Unhappy that so many awards were being given for DPT injuries and deaths, and because each award was an acknowledgement that the vaccine can kill and injure, Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and officials at the CDC and attorneys in the U.S. Department of Justice actively worked to defy the law and will of Congress by taking actions to substantially weaken the compensation and safety provisions.

In February 1995, Shalala published final rules in the Federal Register that made it impossible for most children injured or killed by DPT vaccine to receive compensation under the no-fault federal vaccine injury compensation program. Beginning in March 1995, only anaphylaxis occurring within four hours and encephalopathy/encephalitis occurring within 72 hours of a DPT vaccination (or resulting in hospitalization) would be presumed to be associated with DPT vaccination. As one lawyer who represented vaccine injured children in the US Court of Claims commented, “Nobody will ever quality.” 

After March 1995, a child who suffered classic pertussis vaccine reaction symptom such as high pitched screaming, collapse/shock, bulging fontanelle, or seizures within 72 hours of a DPT vaccination, and who sustained permanent neurological damage (including residual seizure disorder), would no longer be presumed to have suffered a vaccine injury in order to be eligible for “no fault” compensation in the federal program. This meant that attorneys representing children suffering those DPT vaccine reaction symptoms followed by permanent injury or death would have to prove causation in the U.S. Court of Claims whenever the Secretary of Health and the Justice Department refused to award compensation.

Commenting on Shalala’s move to make it nearly impossible for DPT vaccine injured children to receive federal compensation, NVIC Director Kathi Williams stated, “America no longer has a vaccine injury compensation program.”

The Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV) requested that Shalala indefinitely postpone the effective date of the new rule that removed seizure disorders from the vaccine injury table for DPT and changed the definition of encephalopathy, but the Secretary Shalala refused. In her zeal to cover up DPT vaccine injuries by denying federal compensation, Secretary Shalala took the case of Maggie Whitecotton, who had been left severely brain injured after a DPT vaccine reaction as an infant, all the way to the U.S. Supreme court in an effort to take away vaccine injury compensation Maggie had been awarded in the U.S. Court of Claims. 

Nancy Herndon Cale, a well-known and beloved member of the autism community for the past two decades, died Aug. 11, 2017 of cancer. She was 73. Nancy was the co-founder and vice-president of Unlocking Autism (UA), and a Hotline call center counselor and conference outreach coordinator for Autism Research Institute (ARI). She worked for NVIC as a counselor between 2009 and 2010.

After co-founding Unlocking Autism (UA) in 1998 with Shelley Hendrix Reynolds, Nancy fielded many thousands of calls and emails from families in need in the U.S. and around the world. A mother of three and grandmother of four, she dedicated her life to helping other families whose children are struggling with disabilities in honor of her grandson, Wynn, who has autism. 

Paying tribute on Facebook to her dear friend and colleague the day she died, Shelley Hendrix said, “Nancy lived an exemplary life of service in every possible way and did it right up until almost her last breath. She ran her race to win her crown and she crashed through that yellow ribbon and fell straight into Jesus’ arms this morning. I am sure she is already organizing things up in heaven, and making sure that every child that crosses over is hugged…and will be there to meet us when we come. She is more loved than she could ever imagine.”

The NVIC staff and volunteers remember and are grateful for Nancy’s strength and compassion during her many years of service helping others, including the years she worked at NVIC counseling families of children who were injured or died following vaccine reactions.

By Barbara Loe Fisher

Vaccines are pharmaceutical products that come with risks that can be greater for some people. ^{1 2} No vaccine is safe for everyone. ^{3 4}

If you choose to vaccinate, ask 8 questions before you do: ⁵

1. Number One: Am I sick right now? Getting vaccinated while sick could increase risks for a vaccine reaction or lower vaccine effectiveness. ⁶
2. Number Two: Have I had a bad reaction to a vaccination before? Getting re-vaccinated after a previous vaccine reaction could cause a more serious reaction, injury or death. ^{7 8}
3. Number Three: Do I have a personal or family history of vaccine reactions, neurological disorders, severe allergies or immune system problems? Always review your personal and family medical history when evaluating vaccine benefits and risks. ^{9 10 11 12}
4. Number Four: Do I know the disease and vaccine risks? Learn about disease and vaccine risks that could be greater for you or your child. ^{13 14 15 16 17 18 19}
5. Number Five: Do I have full information about the vaccine’s side effects? Before you take a risk, find out what it is for each vaccine you or your child will receive. ^{20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27}
6. Number Six: Do I know how to identify and report a vaccine reaction? Learn how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and where and how to report them. ^{28 29 30}
7. Number Seven: Do I know I need to keep a written record, including the vaccine manufacturer’s name and lot number, for vaccinations? The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 requires all vaccine providers to record information about vaccines given to you or your child. ³¹
8. Number Eight: Do I know I have the right to make an informed choice? Informed consent to medical risk taking, including vaccine risk taking, is a human right. ^{32 33  34  35}

Explore NVIC's Ask 8 Information Kiosk for referenced information and a variety of materials designed to educate you about vaccines, diseases and how to make educated vaccine decisions. You can download posters and brochures to share with others or send an ecard to family and friends. You can also post or read personal vaccination experiences on this website. Click here to learn more and start your journey!

It’s your family. Your health. Your choice.

The observation that “the more highly skilled and educated populations are clearly questioning vaccinations,” has been confirmed in a study published last year in EBioMedicine, and is also reflected in numerous media headlines. Curiously, the recognition by mandatory vaccination apologists of the high education level and earning power of vaccine dissenters is often delivered as an insult. 

Millions of smart, well-educated, and financially stable people, who are trained in critical thinking and who have done their own research, disagree with the majority view about vaccination. Those who assume that these “smart” people are “stupid” about vaccines assume that the science supporting the belief that vaccines are safe and effective is rock solid. They assume that vaccine science is “settled” and cannot be revisited or revised. 

Pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit and other advocates of mandatory vaccination refuse to have a debate with these educated dissenters because they believe that anyone who questions the safety or effectiveness of vaccines does not understand science. They acknowledge the education status of dissenters on the one hand, but dismiss them as incapable of understanding vaccine science on the other.

Over 90 percent of American parents are asking pediatricians questions about vaccine safety and want to make voluntary vaccine decisions for their children. The arrogance and closed mindedness that medical doctors and public health officials apply to educated parents dissenting from strict enforcement of vaccine policy leads to the kind of cruel bullying that many parents experience from pediatricians when it comes to vaccination of children. Inquiring parents should be seen as thoughtful, responsible and deserving of respect.