[megansmomma]

anti-vaccination

Mercola is one of the leaders of the anti-vaccination movement (AVM). His website has links to many anti-vaccination articles and he has posted some articles himself that, in the words of one science-based physician, reveal "his exceptionally poor grasp of the immune system."* He also seems to have an exceptionally poor grasp of epidemiology and pharmacology. His errors are too many to list, but here are some of the false or misleading notions he promotes about vaccines.

Error 1. Too many vaccines are used too soon during infancy.

Error 2. Mercury and other "toxins" in vaccines are causing great harm.

Error 3. Since very few children die of the flu, they shouldn't be given the flu vaccine.

Here's his proposed schedule for vaccinations:

No vaccinations until a child is two years old.
No vaccines that contain thimerosal (mercury).
No live virus vaccines (except for smallpox, should it recur).
These vaccines should be given one at a time, every six months, beginning at age 2:
A) Pertussis (acellular, not whole cell)
B) Diphtheria
C) Tetanus
D) Polio (the Salk vaccine, cultured in human cells)
The experts at the Center for Disease Control disagree with Mercola about children receiving too many vaccines too soon. According to the CDC:

The available scientific data show that simultaneous vaccination with multiple vaccines has no adverse effect on the normal childhood immune system....

No evidence suggests that the recommended childhood vaccines can "overload" the immune system. In contrast, from the moment babies are born, they are exposed to numerous bacteria and viruses on a daily basis. Eating food introduces new bacteria into the body; numerous bacteria live in the mouth and nose; and an infant places his or her hands or other objects in his or her mouth hundreds of times every hour, exposing the immune system to still more antigens. An upper respiratory viral infection exposes a child to 4 to 10 antigens, and a case of "strep throat" to 25 to 50.

Quackwatch calls Mercola's view misconception #7.

In fact babies have an ability, right from birth, to cope with lots of different germs. The body is constantly surrounded by germs and has to react to them in different ways. The advantage of being immunized rather than catching the disease is that the vaccine uses only part of the germ, or, if the whole germ, it is either killed or toned down (“attenuated”). In this way, the challenge to the immune system is less than that from the disease, but it is enough to produce protection.

In 2002, the Immunization Safety Review Committee of the American Institute of Medicine made a detailed examination of all the evidence about the effects of multiple immunizations on a baby’s immune system. They concluded that there was no evidence to support the suggestion that multiple immunizations overwhelm the immune system. They strongly supported the continuing use of vaccines against multiple diseases....

If immunizations are delayed, a baby will remain unprotected for longer than necessary. This could be particularly dangerous for whooping cough and Hib. Very young babies, if they catch whooping cough, are likely to be much more seriously ill than older children and are more likely to need hospital care. Babies under a year old are more likely to catch Hib than older children Studies have shown that when the vaccines are given at the younger age, babies have fewer reactions such as fever, sore injection sites etc, while at the same time they are still protected.*