History of Anti-Vaccine Movement in America

Religion and politics are known to be taboo topics that you avoid in most company. Vaccinations are a topic that could be added to this age-old list of very polarizing issues.  There is such a fine line down the middle and parents and doctors on both sides agree on some things they aren’t even aware they agree on because emotions run so high when it comes to these types of issues. 

All parents want what is best for their child. It is normal for them to become passionate and very defensive of the side of the line they stand on.  It is a moral issue because [i] “Parents need to understand that when they choose not to vaccinate, they are making a decision for other people’s children as well,” Brendalee Flint.  On the other side it could be said: Why worry if your child is vaccinated aren’t they immune to any disease my un-vaccinated child may carry?

Herd immunity is the real issue.   It is also referred to as community immunity and defined by CDC as [ii]“immunity, herd the resistance to an infectious agent of an entire group or community (and, in particular, protection of susceptible persons) as a result of a substantial proportion of the population being immune to the agent. Herd immunity is based on having a substantial number of immune persons, thereby reducing the likelihood that an infected person will come in contact with a susceptible one among human populations, also called community immunity.”

The idea behind herd immunity is to keep the most vulnerable; children, pregnant women and the elderly, safe from illness by vaccinating the healthy and strong majority of people (not entire populations).  Modern vaccines target this age group aggressively and encourage pregnant women and elderly and even newborn babies, those most vulnerable, to get vaccinations.

Pro-vaccine argue that by immunizing a large population diseases won’t have such a significant populations affected by disease.  This is controversial, especially in America, where freedom to choose is the general rule of thumb.  This forced method is difficult for many to swallow. 

Vaccination is different than inoculation.  Inoculation is administering the organism in a controlled setting to control severity of the disease; while vaccination is administering a dead or weakened organism.  Inoculation dates back as the first century [iii]“The son of a Chinese statesman was said to have been inoculated against smallpox, probably by having powder from pulverized smallpox scabs blown into his nostril. Inoculation may also have been practiced by scratching matter from a smallpox sore into the skin.”

The media has played a vital role in both sides of the issue by capitalizing on the emotion and passion involved and sensualizing stories.  Pro-vaccine organizations  and government agencies air commercials with a child with whooping cough in their mother’s arms to promote the pertussis vaccine for both the woman and the infant. 

Drug companies also spend big bucks on sending their message out on TV.  [iv]“The first year Gardasil was on the market Merck spent $100 million on advertising. “We are the only country in the world, other than New Zealand, that allows for adverting on TV of pharmaceutical drugs,” Cliff Shoemaker, vaccine injury lawyer. 

[v]“The modern American anti-vaccine movement was born on April 19, 1982 when WRC-TV, a local NBC affiliate in Washington D.C., aired a one-hour documentary titled DPT: Vaccine Roulette.” That same year the National Vaccination Information Center was founded.[vi] “The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths through public education and to defending the informed consent ethic in medicine.” 

During this movement parents and doctors, alike, were so horrified that many stopped vaccinating.  So many injured families sued the vaccine manufactures that the prices of vaccines went up along with their liability insurance.  This pushed many manufacturers to stop producing vaccines all together.  This produced a shortage of vaccines, which led to a national backlash.

Vaccine injury caseloads were so heavy that a whole separate court system was born to manage the demand. [vii]“On October 1, 1988, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-660) created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). The VICP was established to ensure an adequate supply of vaccines, stabilize vaccine costs, and establish and maintain an accessible and efficient forum for individuals found to be injured by certain vaccines. The VICP is a no-fault alternative to the traditional tort system for resolving vaccine injury claims that provide compensation to people found to be injured by certain vaccines. The U. S. Court of Federal Claims decides who will be paid. Three Federal government offices have a role in the VICP:

•    the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS);

•    the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ); and

•    the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (the Court).

The VICP is located in the HHS, Health Resources and Services Administration, Healthcare Systems Bureau, Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation.”

All of these things really began to shape America’s perception of vaccines.  Watch dog organizations and parents of injured children began to join together and become organized.  Social media and the Internet equipped many with the confidence they needed to make the decisions THEY felt best about.  People no longer only relied on their Doctor’s opinion. 

The NVIC is a well-respected source of information on vaccine injury and education.  They ride the line and claim to be neither pro or anti vaccine but encourage education.  [viii]“We started out in the early eighties working with congress to pass the National Childhood Vaccine Act; which President Regan signed into law in 1986,” Barbra Fisher. Barbra Fisher was [ix]”in short, America’s premier vaccine safety activist.  The media believed her, politicians relied on her and parents turned to her.”  She co-founded NVIC.

Congress has heard many heated debates from those on both sides. Melenda Wharton, Acting deputy Directory of the National Immunization Program at the Denters for Disease Control and Prevention testified [x] “Immunizations are one of the great public health success stories of the 20^th century, having made once-common diseases, such as diphtheria, measles, mumps and pertussis diseases of the past.  Vaccines are now available to protect children and adults against 15 life-threatening or debilitating diseases. This has reduced cases of all vaccine-preventable diseases by more than 97 percent from peak levels before vaccines were available, saving lives and saving treatment and hospitalization costs.”

During this same hearing a statement from Dr. William Egan, the Acting Director for the Office of Vaccines Research and Review for of the Food and Drug Administration Centers for Biologics Research and Review, Department of Health and Human Services was also documented. [xi]“Based on a review of this full body of data, which included epidemiological studies from the United States, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the Committee concluded: “Thus, based on this body of evidence, the committee concludes that the evidence favors rejection of a casual relationship between thirmeosol- containing vaccines and autism”

[xii]“We’re not here to say that vaccinations aren’t important.  They’re very important.  They’ve given us the highest quality of life of any civilization in the history of mankind.  That isn’t what we’re talking about.  We’re talking about why they’re putting mercury in vaccinations and why it’s never been tested since 1929 when Lily developed it, “Gary Burton, Government Reform Committee Subcommittee on Human Rights & Wellness.

The pro-vaccine camp dominates when it comes to the amount of research on this vaccinations because, [xiii] “The people that are approving the vaccines are taking the word of the pharmaceutical companies. The majority of vaccine research is paid for by the vaccine manufactures.”  These types of studies are very expensive and the anti-vaccine movement is still in early stages of organization. 

[xiv]“In the 1980’s children were asked to get 23 doses of 8 vaccines.  In the last few decades that number has grown to 69 doses of 16 vaccines.” [xv]“All you have to do is ask guidance counselors, the teachers, the principals and all of them across the board will tell you that we are seeing a rise in the number of children with disability that is clear. The CDC states that one in 110 have autism but autism is just one piece of a bigger problem.  The bigger issue is that 1 in 6 has some form of a Neuro-developmental disability,” Lawrence Palevsky, Pediatrician.

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[i] Paul Offit, Deadly Choices, (New York: Basic Books 2011). 214

[ii] http://www.cdc.gov/excite/library/glossary.htm#communityimmunity accessed November 19, 2012

[iii] http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/timelines/all#.UKEKqRlyTP4.blogger accessed  November 19, 2012

[iv]‪alienevolvedpart3, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qlXY1hrBfU 8:49, accessed November 19, 2012

[v] Paul Offit, Deadly Choices, (New York: Basic Books 2011). 13

[vi]National Vaccine Information Center http://www.nvic.org/about.aspxCop

[vii] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/index.html. Accessed November 19, 2012.

[viii] ‪alienevolvedpart3, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qlXY1hrBfU 11:15, accessed November 19, 2012

[ix] Paul Offit, Deadly Choices, (New York: Basic Books 2011). 57

[x] U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Government Reform. Truth Revealed: New Scientific Discoveries Regarding Mercury in Medicine and Autism. 108th Cong., 2d sess., 2004. Serial Number 108-262. Pg 20

[xi] U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Government Reform. Truth Revealed: New Scientific Discoveries Regarding Mercury in Medicine and Autism. 108th Cong., 2d sess., 2004. Serial Number 108-262. Pg 29

[xii] U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Government Reform. Truth Revealed: New Scientific Discoveries Regarding Mercury in Medicine and Autism. 108th Cong., 2d sess., 2004. Serial Number 108-262.

[xiii]‪alienevolvedpart3, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qlXY1hrBfU 8:39, accessed November 19, 2012

[xiv] National Vaccine Information Center http://www.nvic.org/about.aspxCop

[xv] ‪alienevolvedpart3, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qlXY1hrBfU 15:19, accessed November 19, 2012