|
|
Some medical websites that I have visited devote no more than one or two sentences about the side effects of pneumonia vaccines, saying they include soreness and / or redness at the site of the injection, fever, rash, and allergic reactions. That's it. The list seems harmless, unless you realise that "allergic reactions" can be very serious, sometimes resulting in death.
Some of the more responsbile medical websites might acknowledge that pneumonia vaccination can cause death but they will assure you that the risks are extremely low and that the benefits, in terms of protection against pneumonia, are far greater. But, as you will see in this article about the effectiveness of pneumonia vaccines, they actually offer little or no protection.
In fact, there are even anecdotal reports that pneumonia vaccine side effects include death from pneumonia. The popular health website, www.mercola.com has a section for "community comments". One of the reports, about pneunomia vaccines being ineffective, has three comments:
You can read these comments here. Of course, such anecdotal reports are "unscientific". It is not even possible to ascertain the authenticity of such comments. I leave it to you to decide what to make of them.
Pneumonia vaccine side effects in Argentina
The most worrisome reports of pssobile pneumonia vaccine side effects came from Argentina in 2008, where 12 babies died - along with another two babies in Panama - during a pneumonia vaccine trial by the drug company, GlaxoSmithKline.
The trial was suspended in June on the recommendation of an independent board monitoring participants' safety but was later given the okay to continue. However, GlaxoSmithKiline subsequently stopped enlisting new participants, saying it had collected enough data.
The pneunomia vaccine being tested in Argentina, and apparently 40 other countries, was Synflorix, a vaccine designed to fight pneumonia, ear infections and several other pneumococcal diseases.
Synflorix is similar to another vaccine called Prevnar, which is already being successfully marketed by rival company Wyeth. In just the Third Quarter of 2007, Prevnar raked in annual sales of more than US$1.1 billion! The difference is that while Prevnar was designed to work against seven types of bacteria, Synflorix works against 10 types of bacteria. Meanwhile, Wyeth is reported to be developing a new version of Prevnar that works against 13 types of bacteria.
Superbugs
Despite the success of Prevnar, however, it also comes with its set of pneumonia vaccine side effects, including the emergence of "superbugs" that are resistant to drug treatment.
Essentially, there are about 90 types of bacteria linked to pneumonia. Prevnar was designed to work against seven of those bacteria which are the most common causes of pneumonia and it seems to be effective at it.
Now, however, babies have become more prone to infections from the remaining 83 types of bacteria. One study found that the percentage of middle ear infections caused by strains of bacteria not coverd by the Prevnar vaccine doubled, from 16 percent to 37 percent, between 1999 and 2001. Prevnar also causes a slight increase in middle ear infections due to two other bacteria not linked to pneumonia.
That's not the end of the story. In September 2007, doctors reported Prevnar was promoting new "superbugs" that are resistant to drug treatment. Nine toddlers in Rochester, New York, were found with the first such bacteria that is resistant to ALL drugs approved to treat childhood ear infections.
The children had been unsuccessfully treated with two or more antibiotics. Many needed surgery to drain the infection, and some recovered only after treatment with a newer, more powerful antibiotic whose safety in children has not been established.
Meanwhile, a life-threatening form of pneumonia called serotype 1 has increased 10-fold in Britain over the last 10 years, and experts think the Prevnar vaccine is to blame.
Alternatives to pneumonia vaccine side effects
The constant message from medical authorities is that even though there are some serious pneumonia vaccine side effects, it is still better for children to be vaccinated than for them to succumb to pneumonia. But when these vaccines lead to newer forms of pneumonia, as well as ear infections, that are harder to treat, then this line of thinking needs to be re-evaluated.
Are there alternatives? Yes, definitely. According to UNICEF, th United Nations Children Education Fund, the best way to prevent pneumonia in children include:
Zinc supplementation is both cheaper and safer then the Prevnar vaccine, which requires four doses costing over US$230. Studies have found that zinc supplements effectively prevent pneumonia in children as well as seniors. In addition, those already suffering from pneumonia will recover faster if given zinc as a nutritional supplement.
Essential oils, too, can effectively keep pneumonia at bay. Simply spraying certain essential oils will cause the pneumonia bacteria cells to fall apart! Useful essential oils for this include - oregano, thyme and rosewood oils and, to a lesser extent, cinnamon oil and clove oil.