A vaccination is the administration of antibody-generating material to produce immunity to a disease. Vaccines—in some cultures, at least, are ubiquitous. Most children in the USA, you may already know, are injected with 23 different vaccinations before reaching the age of two.

Vaccines generally need preservatives to prevent bacterial contamination. Common preservatives include thimerosal (or thiomersal) and formaldehyde. The first, thimerosal, contains mercury, a metal which (depending on exposure level) can cause severe brain damage and harms the heart, kidneys, lungs and immune system. Mercury in thimerosal, it was discovered, may be causing autism and other brain defects in children. In 1999, government regulations removed thimerosal from most childhood vaccines in the U.S. and Europe, though it is still used in some flu and tetanus vaccines. Lawsuits abound, filed by parents of children who began showing symptoms of autism when inoculated with vaccines containing thimerosal. In some cases, damages have been paid. But in most cases it has been too difficult to prove that thimerosal directly caused the autism. The medical community, of course, claims that the body can eliminate this mercury with no trouble. Margaret Rennels, MD, chair of the AAP committee on infectious diseases, points out that children are exposed to mercury from many environmental sources, such as certain fish and mercury-contaminated water. Her argument appears to be: Because children will probably be poisoned by mercury from other sources, we shouldn’t worry about injecting them with more poison. Formaldehyde is another preservative frequently used in vaccines. This chemical’s most common use is for embalming dead bodies and seems the best agent for this purpose. But is that what you want to put in your body or your child’s? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies formaldehyde as a probable human carcinogen. The European Union is considering a complete ban on using formaldehyde for any purpose. Yet we still inject our children with this substance. Consider, finally, some other ingredients commonly found in vaccines: human diploid cells from aborted fetal tissue, hydrolized gelatin, chick embryo, monkey kidney cells. Adjuvants are agents which stimulate the immune system and increases vaccine effectiveness. Adjuvants have been called the “dirty little secret” of immunology. Why? Because scientists know little about how they work. Common adjuvants include aluminum salts such as aluminum hydroxide and aluminum phosphate. Also used are benzethonium chloride and ammonium phosphate. The most common adverse effects of these aluminum salts include local inflammation at the injection site as well as the general all-over malaise one feels as a result of the stressful whole-body immune response. One aluminum adjuvant has been linked to gulf-war illness. A 2007 study conducted on mice, using comparable levels of the same kind of aluminum adjuvant, demonstrated that this adjuvant can cause motor neuron death. Are vaccines worth the risk? Horror stories, ranging from seizures to death, have spawned campaigns against vaccinations all over the nation. Exemptions, usually on the basis of religious beliefs, are given to some parents who do not want their children vaccinated. Despite attempts to protect populations against viruses, human life would not be possible without viruses, microbes and bacteria. They are nature’s sanitizers. Without this cleaning crew, we’d be choking in our own filth. A virus is a parasite with a non-cellular structure, built mainly of nucleic acid within a protein coat. A virus is neither alive nor dead. Not being able to reproduce on their own, viruses depend entirely on the cells of their host’s body. Viruses must enter the cells of a sick living plant, animal or human in order to replicate themselves. Pathogenic life forms begin to develop within the diseased cells of the organism itself. Microbes do not trouble absolutely healthy living things. They proliferate and become pathogenic only on sick and dead matter. It is mostly people with suppressed immune systems who are at risk. Look at history: Even the greatest epidemics spared most people. The probability of developing the disease was directly related to the individual’s health. Not everyone gets measles, mumps, or smallpox. Not everyone catches a cold or whatever is “going around.” Do we really need a vaccine for every virus? Fighting viruses only make them stronger. A better approach—build a stronger immune system and let the body fight its own battle with microbes. The body is a mechanism of bewildering complexity. It can produce a vast variety of antibodies to fight any invader. A sound raw foods diet will do the same—it will boost your immune system. People report that, since embarking on raw plant diets, they have even stopped having colds. I can attest to this also. A clean colon and a strong immune system are the best armor against germs and epidemics. This renders vaccinations not only unnatural and unsafe, but unnecessary, too. Dr. Herbert Shelton, famous natural hygiene doctor, says: The germ alone could no more cause disease than a match alone can produce a fire. Just as the fire, so the microbe, if it is to have any part in causing disease, must find an organism that produces a suitable soil for its activities. We cannot avoid germs. We must be proofed against them. We can avoid disease only by keeping ourselves in such a high state of health that they are powerless against us. I cannot advise you one way or the other, but it is up to you to make an informed decision. There are many websites such as this one to help you find out more.

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