Vaccination Ballyhoo in South Wales

The Measles Vaccination Debate 

The ballyhoo surrounding the current measles epidemic in South Wales exemplifies the fear-mongering tactics of the medical profession and the media in English-speaking countries over the past 20 years.

According to a report in The Independent, public health authorities in South Wales are warning the population that one in every 1,000 people who get measles in developed countries will die from the infection. 

If that report is correct then it begs the question: Which developed country? Certainly not England and Wales.

I’ve examined the statistics on the incidence of, and deaths from, measles in England and Wales from 1940 until 2012, and they tell a very different story. Those statistics are readily available online from Public Health England, and I’ve included them in the table below. 1–6

Not since World War II and the immediate two post-war years have England and Wales experienced deaths from measles of one in 1,000 or worse.

In 1955, the death rate for measles was one in 4,000. By 1960 it was one in 5,000. And that was before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1966. Over the following 30 years, the death rate continued to decline. In 1990 it was one in 13,300.

Measles Incidence, Deaths and Death Rate in England and Wales, 1940–2012

 Year                           Events              Notifications                     Deaths                     Rate

1940                        WWII                 409,521                          857                    1 in 455

1941                        Blitz                   409,521                        1,145                    1 in 358

1942                        WWII                 286,341                          458                    1 in 625

1943                        WWII                 376,104                          773                    1 in 487

1944                        WWII                 158,479                          243                    1 in 652

1945                        WWII                 446,971                          729                    1 in 613

1946                        Peace                  160,402                          204                    1 in 786

1947                                                   393,787                          644                    1 in 611

1948                                                   399,606                          327                    1 in 1,222

1949                                                   385,935                          307                    1 in 1,257

1950                                                   367,725                          221                    1 in 1,664

1955                                                   693,803                          174                    1 in 3,987

1960                                                   159,364                            31                    1 in 5,141

1965                                                   502,209                          115                    1 in 4,367

1966            Introduction of measles vaccine. Only 33% uptake among eligible children

1970                                                   307,408                           42 (51%)          1 in 7,319

1975                                                   143,072                           16 (48%)          1 in 8,942

1980                                                   139,487                           42 (58%)          1 in 5,365

1985                                                     97,408                           11 (76%)          1 in 8,855

1988            MMR vaccine (3 brands) introduced…single shot

1990                                                     13,302                            1 (86%)          1 in 13,302

1992            Two  brands of MMR withdrawn because they caused encephalitis

1994            MMR revaccination campaign…booster shot added

1995                                                        7,447                            1 (95%)          1 in 7,447

2000                                                        2,378                            1 (94%)          1 in 2,378

2005                                                        2,089                            0 (93%)                  —

2008                                                        5,088                            2 (85%)          1 in 2,544

2009                                                        5,263 Lab confirmed 1144          0 (85%)                 —

2010                                                        2,228 Lab confirmed 380          0 (88%)                 —

2011                                                        2,328 Lab confirmed 1086             1 (89%)           1 in 2,329

2012                                                        5,145 Lab confirmed 2030             0 (91%)                 —

 The Subterfuge and the Propaganda

So the “one in 1,000”statement is a lie.

Admittedly, the website of Public Health Wales does acknowledge a figure closer to the truth. It states: "Death occurs in 1 in 2500 to 1 in 5000 cases of measles."   

But it’s not difficult to identify where the publicly proclaimed lie was hatched: the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. On their website is this statement: “For every 1,000 children who get measles, 1 or 2 will die.”

Since World War II, the CDC has orchestrated vaccination propaganda throughout the English-speaking nations. And what is the story the palace in Atlanta, and its courtiers around the world have been spinning?

That the Emperor (biomedicine) is resplendent in his clothes (drugs), that the Emperor saved us from all those deadly enemies, like smallpox and polio, and measles and mumps and chickenpox, and … and … and … that plagued past generations of people; that the world is still seething with deadly viral and bacterial enemies, and that the Emperor, and only the Emperor, can save the masses from misery and death. Ho hum. 

In many ways it sounds like American foreign policy, doesn't it?

The problem such attempts at historical revisionism encounter is our memories and our historical records. Many of us are old enough, have memories, and can recall a very, very different story. Alas, one in eight Americans over the age of 65 have memory problems because of Alzheimer’s disease (which may coincidentally be caused by one of the ingredients in all vaccines, the adjuvant, aluminium). 7

Our story is that the Emperor is naked; that not so long ago, in the 1960s and earlier, almost all of us got the so-called “deadly diseases”, like measles and mumps and whooping cough, and chickenpox, and German measles (rubella), perhaps even scarlet fever, middle ear infections and tonsillitis, and certainly influenza, and coughs and colds. These diseases were part of growing up. And no one panicked. We acquired life-long immunity to these diseases. And the girls, when they grew up, passed their immunity on to their unborn and then newborn children, the latter via breast feeding.

The historical records of the day tell the same story. For example, in 1964, Dr David Miller, Deputy Director of the Epidemiological Research Laboratory in Colindale, Middlesex, stated: “In this country at least, measles is now usually regarded as a minor childhood illness through which we all must pass rather than as a public health problem.” 8

Yes, a few children died, but not as many as died from cancer. Each year in Britain, between 1953 and 1980 (during which time 22,458 children in Britain died from cancer) an average of 832 children died of leukaemia or other cancer. 9 During the same period of years, in England and Wales (the statistics for Britain as a whole are not easy to find, so the deaths in Scotland are not in this figure) 1,801 children died from measles, which averages 66 children each year. 2  

Compare 832 for childhood cancer deaths and 66 for measles deaths.  Cancer killed 12 times as many children as did measles. You would be inclined to ask the questions: Why the panic over measles? Why the fearmongering? Why don’t health authorities try to prevent the greater killer, cancer? Prevent, that is, not treat.

And each year between 1995 and 2004, in Britain, an average of 356 children (0–14-years-olds) died of cancer. 10 During the same period of years, 13 children died from measles. That averages 1.3 children per year.

Again, compare 356 deaths (almost one a day) caused by cancer, and 1.3 caused by measles. Thus cancer now kills 274 times more children than does measles.

Once again, the bleeding obvious questions are: Why the panic to vaccinate everyone? Why the fearmongering? Why the lies? And why don’t health authorities try to prevent today’s greatest killer, cancer?

In fact, let’s consider the cases of children who develop autism in Britain each year. According to the National Autistic Society in Britain, there are estimated to be 133,500 children under 18 with autism. Their figure is based on the estimate that 1 in every 100 children under the age of 18 has autism—today, the figure is undoubtedly closer to 1 in 50—so, given that the UK's under-18 population in 2001 was 13,354,297, a 100th of that is 133,500.

Which means that each of the 18 yearly cohorts comprising the under-18-year-olds, has 7,416 autistic individuals. And that means that every year, 7,416 children in Britain are being harmed by something that causes autism. Many of us believe the major culprit to be vaccines. 

For instance, the only Amish people who have been reported by Dan Olmstead, of United Press International, to have autism had received vaccines; 11 and the US public advocacy organisation, Rescue Generation, had found through a commissioned telephone survey in 2006, that vaccinated boys 4–17-years-of-age were two-and-a-half times more likely to have neurological disorders compared with unvaccinated boys the same age. 11 

Yet again, the question arises: Why don’t health authorities thoroughly investigate possible causes of autism? If we know the problem, then we can fix it. But in the current fog, we can only suspect the likely causes. High on the list of suspects would be neurotoxins in our drugs, foods, drinks and environment. 

For a start health authorities could commission a study to compare the incidence of autism among vaccinated children and non-vaccinated (and that means never have been vaccinated) children. Oh yes, there's plenty of them. Possibly 10 per cent of any population. And if current Australian surveys are indicative of where unvaccinated children will be found, then they're living in houses of well educated parents in the more wealthy suburbs of towns and cities.

But health authorities, our taxpayer funded bureaucracy with its regulatory watchdogs and so-called "experts", don't investigate the causes of the diseases of modern civilisation. Their focus is on treatment, not prevention.

So, the 64 milllion dollar question is this: Why the obsession with vaccinations and not with preventing illnesses that harm us today?

And the answer? 

No one makes money from preventing illness. Disease prevention would nigh on cause the collapse of the following industries: industrial petro-chemicals, mining and metals, agriculture, food processing, telecommunications, electricity generation, water processing, pharmaceuticals, nuclear, military. Indeed, sickness is an essential part of our modern economies.

In our culture people make money, lots of money, from sickness.

So, if you want to be healthy in our modern societies don't rely on Big Business or Big Government. Both are at the hub of the problem. You'll have to help yourself.

So here's how people traditionally dealt with measles.

Traditional Treatment for a Child with Measles

Throughout much of the Old World, measles was an endemic virus. Hence most people were exposed to the virus and acquired immunity to it. In India measles was known as "a visitation of the goddess" because after having measles a child was able to cope with our world full of germs. In other words, measles kick-starts a child's immune system.

Today we know that measles prevents or reduces the tendency to develop skin allergies and sensitivity to house dust mites, hayfever and asthma, malaria in tropical climes, autoimmune diseases, various degenerative diseases of the bones, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (Still’s disease), various tumours, psoriasis, Parkinson’s disease, and even epilepsy. 12–28  

But we also know that squalor, poverty, poor nutrition, social upheavals and war engender disease. In World War II the second leading cause of death was diphtheria. And the incidence and deaths from measles during World War II, cited in this article, are further examples of what war does to human health. Gas gangrene and tetanus were major killers in World War I, and earlier wars. And during the American Civil War, two-thirds of the 600,000 people who died in that war did so from infectious diseases that swept through the Union and Confederate armies. The lesson is clear: to help prevent infections, stop war.

In essence, measles in a healthy child rarely caused problems. Furthermore, a full blown attack of measles was not necessary for immunity, for people could build immunity just by being exposed but without developing symptoms. And their immunity would be boosted every two or three years as they became exposed to the epidemics that circled through communities.

Communities that had no encounters with measles, sometimes called "virgin soil", like the Aboriginal people of Australia in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Fijian people and the people of the Faroe Islands during the mid-1800s, fared badly because they had no naturally acquired resistance.

Incidentally, the CDC now claims that measles is no longer endemic to the US. Which means that Americans are in the same situation as were the Aboriginal people in Australia, the Faroe Islanders and the Fijians before the arrival of Europeans. 

In the past, the wild virus spread through communities in two- to three-yearly cycles, in the northern hemisphere typically from December to February. In the pre-vaccine era, measles was very rare in children under 6 months-of-age on account of the antibodies they had acquired from their mothers before birth. Measles, along with mumps, rubella and chickenpox, was considered a normal childhood illness. It was recognised that once a person had had measles the chance of a second attack was very rare. However, in adults, measles, as with other childhood illnesses, was considered to be problematic with the likelihood of complications.

By vaccinating populations, biomedicine has now interrupted naturally acquired active immunity to wild measles viruses. It is debateable whether vaccinated girls pass on their so-called "immunity" to their unborn children. Hence the recent recommendation to have pregnant mothers vaccinated against various infections, particularly whooping cough.

Breast feeding for all under-2-year-olds, seems to reduce the likelihood of complications in measles. Researchers in Rwanda in the 1980s found that deaths from measles were reduced by one third in breast feeding children. 29  

Signs and Symptoms

Infection:

Transmission is by droplets from the nose and mouth through sneezing and coughing. Symptoms of a cold appear on day one, with a slight temperature, followed on day two by a seeming recovery as the temperature returns to normal.

 Incubation:

Typically, after day four, lassitude and a mild temperature return. This can range from 37.7 to 39 degrees Celsius (100 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit). Up until day 10, or sometimes up to day 14, the symptoms are mild. However during these 10 days to two weeks, the child should maintain physical and physiological rest as indicated below. Most parents, and even doctors today, ignore the mild symptoms and the child will continue with normal activities. Inspection of the tongue and mouth mucosa will reveal red spots with bluish-white centres, known as Koplik's spots, which confirms a diagnosis of measles.

Fulmination: 

Approximately two weeks after infection the mild symptoms give way to a watery catarrhal discharge from the eyes, nose and throat. A dry cough and sneezing and perhaps diarrhoea are followed by the rash and a temperature. This may go as high as 40.5 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit). Diaphoretics and sponging the legs with vinegar are needed at this stage. See below. Typically the rash starts on the forehead, cheeks, chin, behind the ears, and on the neck. Then it moves down the body and limbs.

The skin rash must not be allowed to disappear or fade into a dark purple hue. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, such signs indicate cold stagnation. If these signs occur, the disease is likely to attack the brain, heart, lungs, ears or eyes. Traditional treatment at this stage involves the patient sipping hot infusions of dried and fresh ginger root together, and cinnamon. Echinacea must not be used at this stage. It is too cold.

The fulmination stage lasts about four days.

Resolution:

The rash fades from the face and disappears in the same direction that it entered. This stage usually lasts less than a week.

All told, a person with measles takes three to four weeks until he or she resumes normal activities. 

Traditional Treatment

Physical and physiological rest is essential:

• Remain in bed. No reading. No computer games. No television. No electric blanket. Just sleep and rest.
• Drink warm or room-temperature liquids according to thirst. Diluted lemon juice is ideal. In the early stages of the illness, dried ginger tea, and/or cinnamon tea are also ideal.
• During the fulminant stage (raised temperature and rash) adding a half to one teaspoon of unrefined sea salt to 500ml glass of water will help electrolyte levels. Most headaches will disappear by using unrefined sea salt.
• In the fulminant stage of the illness, such herbal teas as fresh ginger root, elder flower tea, or even a combination of equal parts of elder flowers, peppermint leaves, and yarrow herb are ideal. These are diaphoretic remedies (increase sweating). Echinacea root tea or tincture can be used at this stage when heat signs and symptoms are present.
• Minimal food intake. Vegetable broths if desired, but refrain from eating grains, meats, dairy.
• Keep warm. Do not expose the individual to draughts, wind, or cold outdoor air. 
•  If the patient's temperature rises above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), fill a bucket full of warm water and add a cup of vinegar (either malt vinegar or cider vinegar is fine), and then bathe legs with it using a sponge or flannel. This will bring the temperature down. Also, drink plenty of warm or room-temperature water.
• If the rash fades during the fulminant stage, then dunk a pyjama top in warm salty water (several tablespoonsful of salt to half a bucket of warm water), dress the patient with this, and then wrap a towel, and then blankets over the top. The patient must feel warm. Hot water bottles will help if necessary. Remove the wrapping after an hour at minimum, possibly two to three hours later. And then rug up to maintain skin warmth.
• Never drink or bathe with ice cold water. Ice cold drives the disease inwards.
• Regarding the use of antipyretic drugs like paracetamol, aspirin, and ibuprofen, see the section below. Traditionally no one pushed down a temperature.

The Importance of Fever 

Excerpt from Cry for Health, Vol 1, p. 165

"During a fever, for every 0.55 degrees Celsius (one degree Fahrenheit) that our temperature rises above normal—37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit)—our metabolic rate increases by about 7 per cent. Therefore, at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) our bodies are burning fuel and wastes nearly 40 per cent faster than normal.

"From biology’s perspective, the first phase of disease is characterised by catabolic processes. Sometimes called the destructive phase of metabolism, catabolic processes break down complex molecules into simpler ones. When we’re well, catabolic and anabolic (the constructive phase of metabolism) processes are equally balanced. In disease, however, in the organs and tissues affected, catabolic processes forge ahead of anabolic processes. Not only do catabolic processes break down micro-organisms and other foreign and harmful substances, they also consume our bodies’ ailing cells. Thus, at the end of the first phase of disease we can expect our weight to have reduced."

References

1. Public Health England.“Confirmed cases of Measles, Mumps and Rubella1996-2012.”
2. Public Health England. "Measles notifications and deaths in England and Wales, 1940-2008." 
3. Public Health England. "Measles notifications (confirmed cases) England and Wales 1995 - 2012* by quarter."
4. Public Health England. Deaths by Age Group: 1980 - 2008 (ONS data). "Measles deaths - England and Wales, By Age Group, 1980 - 2008."
5. Public Health England. "Confirmed cases of Measles, Mumps and Rubella 1996-2012."
6. Health and Social Care Information Centre, UK. NHS Immunisation Statistics.
7. US Alzheimer's Association. "2009 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures." Alzheimer's and Dementia, 2009; 5 (3).
8. Miller DL “Frequency of complications of measles, 1963. Report on a national inquiry by the Public Health Laboratory Service in collaboration with the Society of Medical Officers of Health.” British Medical Journal, 1964; 2 (5401):75–78. 
9. Knox EG, and Gilman EA. “Hazard proximities of childhood cancers in Great Britain from 1953-80.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1997; 51 (2):151–159. 
10.  Cancer Research UK. Childhood Cancer —UK. November 2010. Appendix Two: "Average annual numbers of deaths by age group and age-specific and age-standardised mortality rates in children previously diagnosed with cancer, Great Britain, 1995-2004." 
11. Sleeman J. Cry For Health, Vol 1, Health: The Casualty of Modern Times. Dragon Lair Publishing, Mt Barker, SA, Australia, 2010; pp. 39–40.  
12. Ronne T. "Measles virus infection without rash in childhood is related to disease in later life." The Lancet, 1985; 1 (8419): 1–5.
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18. Rooth IB, and Bjorkman A. "Suppression of Plasmodium falciparum infections during concomitant measles or influenza but not during pertussis." American Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1992; 47 (5): 675–681.
19. Lepore L, Agosti E, Pennesi M, Barbi E, De Manzini A. "Long-term remission induced by measles infection and followed by immunosuppressive therapy in a case of refractory juvenile rheumatoid arthritis." La Pediatria e Medical Chirurgia, [In Italian] 1988; 10 (2): 191–193.
20. Simpanen E, van Essen R, and Isomaki H. "Remission of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (Still's disease) after measles." The Lancet, 1977; 2 (8045): 987–988.
21. Yoshioka K, Miyata H, and Maki S. "Transient remission of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis after measles." Acta Pediatrica Scandinavica, 1981; 70 (3): 419–420.
22. Urbach J, Schirr D, and Abramov A. "Prolonged remission of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (Still's disease) following measles." Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica, 1983; 72 (6): 917–918.
23. Bonjean M, and Prime A. "Suspensive effect of measles in psoriasic erythroderma of 12 years' duration." [In French], Lyon Medical, 1969; 222 (40): 839.
24. Fomkin KF. "Cure of psoriasis after co-existing measles." [In Russian],Vestnik Dermatologi i Venerologii, 1961; 35: 66-68.
25. Lintas N. "Case of psoriasis cured after recurrent measles." [In Italian], Minerva Dermatologica, 1959; 24 (4): 296–297.
26. Thiers H, Normand J, Fayolle J. "Suspensive effect of measles on chronic psoriasis in children: 2 cases." [In French], Lyon Medical, 1969; 222 (40): 839–840.
27. Sasco AJ, and Paffenbarger RS Jr. "Measles infection and Parkinson's disease." American Journal of Epidemiology, 1985; 122 (6): 1017–1031.
28. Yamamoto H, Yamano T, Niijima S, Kohyama J, and Yamanouchi H.n"Spontaneous improvement of intractable epileptic seizures following acute viral infections." Brain and Development, 2004; 26 (6): 377–379. 
29.  Lepage P, Munyakazi C, and Hennart P. "Breastfeeding and hospital mortality in Rwanda." The Lancet, 1981; 318 (8243): 409–411. 

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