Tag: adjuvants

Who Is Romain Gherardi?

Have you noticed that anti-vaccine folks like to elevate the status of anyone who says things that they agree with?

So a scientist or researcher who suggests that vaccines are dangerous is all of a sudden a leader in their field or the very best in the world.

In the real world, it doesn’t work like that…

You have to earn your reputation.

Who Is Romain Gherardi?

Well, I guess that works both ways.

Most of the researchers that anti-vaccine folks praise have indeed earned a reputation, just not the kind they would like.

So who is Romain Gherardi?

Gherardi thinks that aluminum adjuvants in vaccines may be associated with autism.

He is basically a French researcher who thinks that the aluminum in vaccines is bad and scares folks with his poorly done studies and his book, Toxic story: Two or three embarrassing truths about the vaccine adjuvants.

“Gherardi is a fierce advocate for the existence of a causal relationship between containing aluminum adjuvants and a clinical condition which he first called ‘Macrophagic Myofasciitis (MMF)'”

Gherardi : a media story (2 or 3 embarrassing truths about his research)

But what about Macrophagic Myofasciitis (MMF), isn’t that a real disease?

“There is no evidence to suggest that MMF is a specific illness.”

WHO on Questions and Answers about macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF)

Nope.

That’s not to say that some people do not get some inflammatory changes at vaccine injection sites that could be caused by the aluminum in a vaccine.

But these are local reactions. They are not part of a disease.

As far as his research, consider the critique of one of his recent papers that he co-authored with Christopher Shaw, Non-linear dose-response of aluminium hydroxide adjuvant particles: selective low dose neurotoxicity.

“The article states that it was supported by grants from CMSRI. What is not stated is that CMSRI (Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute) is funded by the vaccine-critical Dwoskin Family Foundation. It is also worth noting that three of the authors of this manuscript, Exley, Shaw and Gherardi, sit on the Scientific Advisory Board for CMSRI, with Shaw as the Chair and Gherardi as the Vice-Chair. Whilst it is unknown if any of these authors receive financial compensation for their role at CMSRI it is clear that these competing interests should have been disclosed.”

David Hawkes et al on Questions about methodological and ethical quality of a vaccine adjuvant critical paper

In addition to the funding issue, they found problems with the methods of the study and ethical problems.

Gherardi's letter was retracted.

Amazingly, the response to Hawkes’ letter had to be retracted by the journal!

At least one of Gherardi's papers was peer reviewed and edited by the same person.

It is not hard to find other criticism and complaints about his research either.

More on Romain Gherardi

Making a Better Pertussis Vaccine

So we know that we need a better pertussis vaccine.

DTaP and Tdap just aren’t doing the job that they should be doing.

Whooping Cough is back, again.
Whooping Cough is back, again.

So when will we get one?

Making a Better Pertussis Vaccine

Since anti-vaccine folks are always talking about the 300 new vaccines in the pipeline, you would think that we would have had several new pertussis vaccines by now…

Unfortunately, we don’t.

What we do have is some good candidates, including:

  • new acellular pertussis vaccines, either with more antigens or an adjuvant
  • a new live attenuated nasal vaccine, BPZE1
  • new whole-cell vaccines with reduced endotoxin contents (so should have fewer side effects that then original whole-cell pertussis vaccine – DTP)

Before you get too excited, keep in mind that none of these vaccines will be available in your pediatrician’s office any time soon. Developing a new vaccine takes a lot of time.

BPZE1 has started phase 2a trials though.

What do we do until we get new pertussis vaccines?

“We should be more vigilant than we have been in the past to recognize and treat pertussis in all age groups so that transmission to young infants is reduced. Most important (although not discussed in this review) is to ensure that all pregnant women receive the Tdap vaccine between 27 and 36 weeks’ gestation with each pregnancy. Also, we should consider routinely administering Tdap vaccine every 3 years to all adolescents and adults who were primed with a DTaP vaccine.”

James D. Cherry on The 112-Year Odyssey of Pertussis and Pertussis Vaccines—Mistakes Made and Implications for the Future

We should keep using the pertussis vaccines we have!

Vaccines work, even when they aren’t as effective as we would like.

More on Making a Better Pertussis Vaccine

What Do Anti-Vaccine Folks Actually Know About Vaccines?

Anti-vaccine folks are spreading another quiz around…

It’s not the questions that automatically makes you think the quiz is anti-vaccine though. It’s how you just know anti-vaccine answers will be very different from someone who actually does know something about vaccines.

What Do Anti-Vaccine Folks Actually Know About Vaccines?

If you are anti-vaccine, you likely believe that vaccines are dangerous, full of toxins, and that they don’t even work. That gives other folks a giant hint as to how you would answer these 32 questions…

1. Can you name 5 vaccine ingredients?
Yes. I can also name what’s not in vaccines, including heavy metals, hidden ingredients, toxins, antifreeze, lead, glyphosate, vaginal spermicides, etc.
AV answer – all vaccines contain toxic ingredients!
2/3. What is MRC-5/WI-38?
These are immortalized cell lines that are used to make some vaccines. These cell lines are derived (they can replicate infinitely) from fetal embryo fibroblast cells from two electively terminated pregnancies (abortions) in the 1960s. The cells used today are descendants of the original cells.
AV answer – there are aborted baby parts in our vaccines!
4. What is vaccine court?
The Vaccine Court is part of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) and decides if the claims should be compensated or dismissed, etc.
AV answer – vaccine court proves that vaccine injuries are real.
5. What is the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program?
The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) was created as “a no-fault alternative to the traditional legal system for resolving vaccine injury petitions.”
AV answer – the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) proves that vaccine injuries are real.
6. What is the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act?
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 established the VICP, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund, the National Vaccine Program Office, VAERS, and required that health care providers give a Vaccine Information Statement to anyone getting a vaccine.
AV answer – the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act should be repealed because it removed all liability from vaccine manufacturers.
7. How has the CDC schedule changed since 1986?
The immunization schedule has changed to include vaccines to protect kids against meningitis, pneumonia, blood infections, severe dehydration, epiglottitis, and cancer from Hib, pneumococcal disease, rotavirus, hepatitis B, hepatitis A, chicken pox, HPV, and meningococcal disease.
AV answer – it has ballooned and exploded with 300 more vaccines in the pipeline!
8. How much money has been paid out by vaccine injury court?
Since the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program began, in 1988, almost $3.5 billion dollars have been paid out for 4,899 compensated awards, the majority of which were settled, and during which time over 2.5 billion doses of vaccines were given.
AV answer – $3.5 billion dollars, which proves that vaccine injuries are real!
9. How many doses of vaccines are in the CDC schedule between birth and age 18?
By age 18 years, today’s kids get 54 doses of 13 vaccines that protect them against 16 vaccine-preventable diseases, with a third of those doses coming from yearly flu vaccines.
AV answer – 72 doses!
10. Do vaccines contain DNA from aborted fetal cell lines? If so, which vaccines?
Residual, highly fragmented DNA is sometimes found in vaccines that are made using the MRC-5/WI-38 cell lines.
AV answer – vaccines contain aborted fetal tissue.
11. Do any vaccines contain dog, monkey, pig, or human DNA?
Residual DNA, if found in vaccines, is not a cause for concern. It is typically a function of growing vaccine viruses in mammalian cell lines.
AV answer – dog, monkey, pig, and human DNA contaminate vaccines and will turn us all into mutant dog-monkey-pig-human hybrids.
12. What is an adjuvant?
An adjuvant in a vaccine can increase the body’s immune response to an antigen, allowing you to use a smaller amount of antigen, which is important, as it is the antigens that typically cause side effects.
AV answer – Adjuvants in vaccines have never been tested and they trigger vaccine injuries and disease.
13. What is an antigen?
An antigen is a substance, often part of a virus or bacteria, that can stimulate an immune response and the production of antibodies. Surprisingly, even though kids get more vaccines than they used to, those vaccines contain far fewer antigens than older vaccines.
AV answer – we don’t care about antigens anymore, because all of the other vaccine ingredients are toxic.
14. Which arms of the immune system do vaccines stimulate?
It actually depends on the vaccine, but this is about the differences between innate (nonspecific and without memory) and adaptive immunity, which typically interact with each other, whether it is to create natural or vaccine induced immunity.
AV answer – I don’t care which arm you try to give it to them, my kids aren’t getting vaccinated!
15. Which arms of the immune system do natural diseases stimulate?
As with vaccines, it depends on the disease.
AV answer – Even if you offer to give the shot in their legs, my kids aren’t getting vaccinated!
16. What is transverse myelitis?
Transverse myelitis is a type of inflammation of the spinal cord, causing weakness and paralysis, and typically triggered by infections, immune system, inflammatory, and vascular disorders.
AV answer – transverse myelitis is a vaccine injury.
17. What is encephalopathy?
Almost anything can cause encephalopathy, leading to diffuse brain disease and dysfunction.
AV answer – encephalopathy is a vaccine injury.
18. What is the rate of autism in 2018? What was it in 2000? What was it in 1980?
The reported rate of autism has increased since 1980 because of better recognition, diagnostic substitution, broadening of the diagnostic criteria, and social influences. Vaccines are not associated with autism.
AV answer – vaccines cause autism. If it isn’t the MMR vaccine, then it is thimerosal, or maybe aluminum. Or it could be glyphosate. It is definitely vaccines though.
19. What is glyphosate? Is it in vaccines?
Glyphosate, a weed killer (Roundup) made by Monsanto is not in any vaccines.
AV answer – because glyphosate is everywhere, including in vaccines, half of all children will be autistic by 2025.
20. If your child is injured who will take physical, emotional and financial responsibility?
If a child has a true vaccine injury, compensation from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) will hopefully help with your financial responsibilities.
AV answer – you can not sue vaccine manufacturers, so they have no liability if your child is injured by a vaccine.
21. What was the Supreme Courts statement on vaccines in 2011?
In 2011, the Supreme Court decided Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, in which they used the infamous unavoidably unsafe terminology, which has been misunderstood by anti-vaccine folks ever since.
AV answer – the Supreme Court said that vaccines can never be safe.
22. Can you find a study showing vaccinated vs unvaccinated health outcomes?
Yes, yes I can. A large study, “Vaccination Status and Health in Children and Adolescents Findings of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS),” found that unvaccinated kids weren’t healthier, they just had more measles, mumps, rubella, and pertussis.
AV answer – the Mawson study (published in a pay-to-publish journal after being retracted two other times) proves that unvaccinated (homeschooled) kids are healthier than vaccinated (homeschooled) kids.
23. Can you find a safety study proving it is safe to inject multiple vaccines?
Yes, yes I can. There are many studies that prove that it is safe to give multiple vaccines at the same time.
AV answer – vaccines have never been tested together.
24. Do vaccines shed?
A few vaccines do shed, including the rotavirus vaccines (in stool, so wash your hands when changing diapers) and oral polio vaccines, which haven’t been used in the United States since 2000. Although FluMist can shed, since the vaccine contains attenuated viral strains of the flu that are temperature-sensitive, it isn’t a problem, except maybe for someone who is severely immunocompromised.
AV answer – our unvaccinated kids are at risk during shedding season!
25. Which vaccines can shed for up to 6 weeks?
The oral polio vaccine, which hasn’t been used in the United States since 2000, can likely shed for up to 6 weeks. This type of shedding is one of the reasons this weakened live virus vaccine is preferred over the inactivated polio vaccine when polio is still common in an area. In areas with poor hygiene and sanitation, the shedding (in stool) can lead to a type of passive immunization and improved herd immunity!
AV answer – shedding season is coming!
26. Which vaccines are live virus vaccines?
Attenuated, live virus vaccines which contain a weakened version of a virus include MMR, Varivax (chicken pox), the rotavirus vaccines, FluMist, the yellow fever vaccines, the oral polio vaccine, and vaccines against typhoid, cholera, adenovirus, and smallpox.
AV answer – unvaccinated children are at risk from shedding if they are around kids who have gotten a live virus vaccine, especially during shedding season.
27. What is the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)?
This is the same thing as the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) in question 5…
AV answer – we need to repeal both the NVICP and the VICP!
28. What is SV40?
Simian virus 40 was found to contaminate polio vaccines from 1955 through 1963. Fortunately, it has not been found to cause any disease in the folks who got those vaccines.
AV answer – vaccines are contaminated with monkey viruses and cause cancer.
29. What is MTHFR and how does it affect the body’s response to vaccines?
True MTHFR gene mutations rarely cause homocystinuria. Folks are more likely to hear about MTHFR polymorphisms, which are typically normal and have no affect on vaccines or anything else.
AV answer – no one should not get vaccinated if they have MTHFR mutations or signs of MTHFR.
30. What is an acceptable amount of aluminum to be ingested per day versus the aluminum content in the Hep B shot given at birth, 2 months, and then again at 4 months?
Although there are limits on aluminum that premature neonates and infants getting daily intravenous fluids and IV feeding solutions over prolonged periods of time, that doesn’t mean that aluminum in vaccines that infants get every few months isn’t safe. It is. And they are.
AV answer – infants are getting toxic amounts of aluminum in their vaccines!
31. Can someone who was vaccinated for pertussis still spread pertussis after being exposed to it? If so, for how long?
Maybe. A study in baboons said it is possible. More importantly though, you are much more likely to get pertussis if you are unvaccinated, will have more severe symptoms, and will likely get more people sick.
AV answer – vaccinated people are the ones starting pertussis outbreaks.
32. What is the death rate from measles in the past 10 years in the U.S. compared to the death rate from the MMR vaccine in the past 10 years?
Deaths from measles are now rare in the United States because most people are vaccinated and protected. And unless you are looking at VAERS reports, the deaths from the MMR vaccine are also very rare. We will have more and more measles outbreaks if folks don’t get vaccinated though, increasing the risk of another measles death.
AV answer – measles is a mild disease that was on the Brady Bunch, and MMR is an unnecessary vaccine kills tons of people.

How did you answer the questions?

What Do Anti-Vaccine Folks Actually Know About Vaccines?

Do Vaccines Cause Bell’s Palsy?

We don’t usually know what causes Bell’s Palsy, so that makes it a perfect candidate for some people to think it’s a vaccine injury.

Mercola cites a study that looked at VAERS reports, so none of the cases were verified to see if they were actually caused by a vaccine. And he fails to mention all of the real studies that found no association between vaccines and Bell's Palsy!
Mercola cites a study that looked at VAERS reports, so none of the cases were verified to see if they were actually caused by a vaccine. And he fails to mention all of the real studies that found no association between vaccines and Bell’s Palsy!

And for anti-vaccine folks to use in their propaganda to scare you away from vaccinating and protecting your kids.

What Causes Bell’s Palsy?

Although we may not always know what causes it, Bell’s Palsy is fairly easy to diagnose.

“Bell’s palsy is a nerve problem that affects the muscles of your face. It causes weakness or partial paralysis of the muscles on one side of your face. With Bell’s palsy, your eyelid may not close properly and your smile may seem uneven.”

What Is Bell’s Palsy?

So what causes it?

“Bell’s palsy occurs when the nerve that controls the facial muscles is swollen, inflamed, or compressed, resulting in facial weakness or paralysis. Exactly what causes this damage, however, is unknown.”

Bell’s Palsy Fact Sheet

Most experts think that Bell’s Palsy is caused by a viral infection, which leads to swelling and inflammation of the facial nerve. That’s likely why steroids and antiviral medications, like acyclovir, are often helpful treatments.

“The prognosis for individuals with Bell’s palsy is generally very good. The extent of nerve damage determines the extent of recovery. Improvement is gradual and recovery times vary. With or without treatment, most individuals begin to get better within 2 weeks after the initial onset of symptoms and most recover completely, returning to normal function within 3 to 6 months.”

Bell’s Palsy Fact Sheet

Fortunately, most people with Bell’s Palsy, which mainly affects adults, get better.

Do Vaccines Cause Bell’s Palsy?

Bell’s Palsy was first described by Sir Charles Bell in 1821.

There are reported cases before that though, with the earliest by Cornelis Stalpart van der Wiel (1620-1702) from The Hague, The Netherlands in 1683.

And no, we didn’t have any vaccines in 1683.

That’s not to say that vaccines couldn’t cause Bell’s Palsy.

One vaccine, an inactivated intranasal influenza vaccine that was only used in Switzerland during the 2000-01 flu season, was associated with an increased risk of Bell’s Palsy.

Why? It was likely because of the enzymatically active Escherichia coli Heat Labile Toxin (LT) adjuvant that was used in the vaccine, which is not something you find in any of the vaccines we now use.

While you might find an occasional case report about a vaccine and Bell’s Palsy, remember that a case report published about one patient isn’t strong evidence that it wasn’t a coincidence.

It should be reassuring to everyone that plenty of studies have been done confirming that other vaccines we use do not cause Bell’s Palsy. And even in the case of that flu vaccine, the association was quickly discovered and the vaccine was discontinued.

In fact, since vaccines, especially the chicken pox vaccine and Tdap, can prevent infections that actually cause Bell’s Palsy, if you are worried about Bell’s Palsy, get vaccinated!

More on Bell’s Palsy?