Research about the pneumococcal vaccine (Prevnar)

Moses’ doctors are strongly recommending that we get him vaccinated with the pneumococcal vaccine (Prevar) (once he’s recovered from pneumonia). Below is some of the research that I’ve compiled about this vaccine.

Note that immunocompromised children are the ones that are at the greatest risk for an adverse effect related to vaccines, and Moses has a history of adverse effects with vaccines. Also, it doesn’t appear that Prevnar is even effective at decreasing the incidence of pneumonia (there has not been a decrease in the rate of incidence of pneumonia in the US  since Prevnar was introduced), although it does increase the risk of developing severe lung infections and more difficult to treat cases of pneumonia. Note that the vaccine is for only 7 or 13 strains (depending on the vaccine) and there are 90 known strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The risk just doesn’t seem to be worth it.

As of today (Nov 17, 2011), data from Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) showed 55,122 adverse reactions to the three pneumoccocal vaccines (including Prevnar [Pneumococcal - 7 valent, Pneumococcal - 13 valent, and Pneumococcal - Polyvalent). These included:

• 1247 deaths;
• 10,489 serious cases;
• 1449 life threatening conditions;
• 973 permanent disabilities;
• 8,477 hospitalisations;
• 491 prolonged hospitalisations; and
• 21,067 emergency room cases.

Reactions of three individuals to the Prevnar vaccine (from the National Vaccine Information Centre website):

• Allyson (14 months) - hospitalization with bacterial sepsis; developed milk sensitivity that wasn't there before
• Mira (2 months) - developed persistent eczema.
• Vincent (12 months) - sick for a week with fever, loss of appetite, sleep disorder and serious weight loss. He also developed severe eczema.

Of the people that we know with Job's syndrome who received the Prevnar vaccination:

• one developed pneumonia two days later;
• one developed cellulitis (a bacterial skin infection); and
• 3 did not have a reaction to the vaccine.

What's in the Prevnar Vaccine? 

The following information is from the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network (VRAN) (a Canadian website)

Prevnar – 7-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine - each dose (0.5ml) contains:

• 2ug of each saccharide for serotypes 4, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F and 23F,
• 4 ug of serotype 6B (16 ug total saccharides); and
• 20ug of CRM197 carrier protein.

Nonmedicinal ingredients:

• aluminum phosphate adjuvant (this is the problem. aluminum increases IgE levels, and my son's IgE levels are already ridiculously high. Read Dr. Mercola's article about why aluminum is even more toxic than mercury).
  
• sodium chloride
• and water for injection

Product monograph is here.

How is vaccine safety determined?

The following information is from the Flu Preventions Naturally Website here.

Of course, there have been studies to determine the "safety" of the Prevnar vaccine. The main study was the Northern California Kaiser Permanente (NCKP) Prevnar Efficacy Trial conducted from October 1995 through August 20, 1998. The NCKP trial involved 37,816 infants who received either the Prevnar vaccine or a control vaccine at two, four, six and 12-15 months of age. Smaller scale follow-up studies were also conducted in Finland.

It is important to understand how these studies are conducted and how the "medical experts" decide whether a vaccine is safe. Without any background information, the average lay person would assume that if a vaccine has been declared to be "safe" it means that studies show it does not produce any serious side effects.

No so. In the case of the NCKP study, of the 17,066 subjects who received at least one dose of the Prevnar vaccine, the researchers recorded:

• 162 visits to the hospital emergency room within 3 days of vaccination, including 20 cases of seizure, 15 cases of otitis media (ear infection), six cases of pneumonia and 1 case of sepsis.
• 24 hospitalisations, including two cases of pneumonia, one case of otitis media and one case of congestive heart failure. In addition to this there were also 162 visits to the emergency room department including 20 cases of seizure, 15 cases of otitis media, 6 cases of pneumonia and 1 case of sepsis.
• 12 deaths, including five cases of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome, meaning sudden, unexplained deaths) and seven cases "with clear alternative cause" meaning there could have been another reason, apart from vaccination, to explain the death.

How can such serious side effects be considered acceptable?

The following information is from the Flu Preventions Naturally Website here.

Here's the interesting part. In normal drug trials, the experimental drug is compared to a placebo, a "dummy drug" that is usually made from sugar. In the case of a vaccine trial, however, the experimental vaccine is compared, not to a "dummy" but to another vaccine. As long as the experimental vaccine produces no worse side effects than the other vaccine, it is considered "safe".

There's more... The experimental vaccine does not even have to be compared to one that is already approved and known to be safe. In the NCKP study, the Prevnar vaccine was compared to another experimental vaccine, for meningitis. And it so happened that the other experimental vaccine produced even more deaths - although fewer of the other less serious side effects - than Prevnar. And so Prevnar was pronounced "safe".

More info about the risks of the Prevnar vaccine can be found at the following websites:

From the Vaccination Risk Awareness website:

• Prevnar results in "superbug" ear infections;
• Prevnar is causing pneumonia to mutate to different types;
• Prevnar increases severe lung infections by 70% (PEDIATRICS Vol. 125 No. 1 January 2010, pp. 26-33); and
• There has not been a decrease in the rate of incidence of pneumonia in the U.S. since the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine (Reuters Health).

From the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network (VRAN) website: here and here.

• The US FDA only approved Prevnar® for use against the invasive diseases, p. meningitis and p. bacteremia, not otitis media or pneumonia. The 2008 Prevnar® monograph tells us that, in the US clinical trials, pneumonia cases were reduced by only 10% and “The estimated reduction for all AOM [acute otitis media] episodes was 7%”.

Read what Vaccine Truth has to say about Prevnar’s risks here.

Read about other information that I’ve compiled about vaccinations in general here.

Update:

December 14, 2011 – DH also agrees that we will not be vaccinating Moses with Prevnar. I’m so thankful and relieved.