Meningococcal Vaccine Information

Dear PROVE Members,

Due to recent outbreaks of meningococcal infections in Texas and other parts of the country, we have been flooded with requests to provide some honest information about the vaccine that is now being given to thousands of people in mass settings.

We recognize the potentially serious complications of the disease and like always, support the right of the individual to make educated vaccination decisions.

While this vaccine has demonstrated some effectiveness at curbing outbreaks in some populations, it has not been without a cost. Based on the calls and letters we've gotten, it is our concern that people are not being given all the information that they should be provided with about the vaccine itself and its recent history of reactions and failures. There are also many legitimate outstanding questions about the safety and efficacy of this vaccine being raised in other countries that have not been publicized here at all. We've compiled some of this information and have it posted here at http://www.vaccineinfo.net/meningococcal.htm.  

People are concerned for their children and deserve some honest answers to the following questions: Why are these outbreaks of serious cases of the disease clustering and becoming more common? If most people develop natural immunity to the bacteria with no consequences and some even carry it, what do the people who have died or become very sick from it have in common? Could the bacteria have mutated into a more aggressive organism? And if so, why?  

I found one statement by a state health official quoted in the Houston paper particularly interesting. He said, ""We have found no personal connections among the cases that have been confirmed in these six counties...this is not an outbreak that started in one location and spread to other locations." This causes me to ask, have the children and adults who have had a serious outcome from the disease recently been on any medications, had any environmental exposures, or have they recently been vaccinated for anything else that could have depressed their immune systems? Please continue to push for answers to these types of questions. 

Antibiotics have been a lifesaving medical tool, but their overuse has led to some serious problems of putting enough pressure on organisms to mutate and become even more dangerous. The strains of bacteria included in the new pneumococcal vaccine were chosen specifically because they are the most antibiotic resistant strains.  In a larger context, children in Texas now already receive as many as 39 vaccines for 12 different viral and bacterial illnesses by the time they reach school, and if we ignore looking for these types of answers and just accept that the answer is throwing a vaccine at everyone just because it is available rather than selectively and discriminately doing honest risk/benefit analysis for individual children, it is the fear of many scientists that outbreaks like this are going to become even more common and with worse consequences. 

We are not saying that vaccination for some people in this outbreak is not appropriate, but we are saying it needs to be an individual decision based on ALL OF THE FACTS. We are also saying that we can't afford to stop asking these questions of "WHY" because our future health depends on the answers.  

If a person does choose to take the vaccination or have it given to their children, they are more likely able to recognize a reaction, report it to the FDA's VAERS database, and get the proper treatment and help they need if they can recognize a reaction early. It should be noted that this vaccine contains the mercury preservative thimerosal. Please see our news alert on our web site for more information on the concerns of this additive. This vaccine is also contraindicated for pregnant and nursing women. 

The information on our web site is not intended to be a complete collection, but it's purpose is rather to spur you on to think about some things and to help you start asking some serious questions of the people who claim the vaccine will solve the problem.  

This information is not medical advice. Please direct questions raised by this material to a health care professional that you trust.   

Please also forward this site to your friends and family members in the affected areas and ask them to do the same.  

• Meningococcal Vaccine Insert Information

• Children in Meningitis Jabs Alert

• Meningitis Vaccine Under Scrutiny in UK

• Meningitis Vaccine Failure in Canada

• Meningitis Advisers Funded by Drug Firms

• Reported U.S. Meningococcal Vaccine Adverse Events

October 19, 2009