Episode 59- Vaccine a Volatile topic

Things To Know Before Going For Your Next Vaccination

All the talk going around lately about the vaccine leads to a lot of confusion, raising a lot of questions. We are living in a world of information overload. Whether one should go for the vaccine or not? Do different people have different reactions to it? Should you trust your physician blindly when asked to get vaccinated? Keep reading to find the answers.

In this blog, Dr. Nisha Chellam, Founder and Internist at Holistic ICON in conversation with Dr. Cammy Benton, MD and Founder of Benton Integrative Primary Care, delves deeper into the volatile topic of Vaccinations in today’s day & age on topics like:

• Vaccine Reactions
• The Indoctrination of Physicians
• The Truth behind Vaccine Placebo
• Should we be mandated to take vaccines?
• Do vaccines prevent the transmission of the diseases? 
• Red Flags & what can be done about them?
• Informed Consent for Vaccine
• Understanding the reactions
• The Bottom Line

 Let’s get into it!

 

Vaccine Reactions

Different bodies have different reactions to vaccines. Some children go through a mitochondrial dysfunction when you immunize them; resulting in a reaction. 

The best way to examine their reaction to the vaccine would be to studying the kids: 

• Nourishment: Were they breastfed or formula-fed?
• Environment: Were they in daycare or home care? 
• Influence: The habits of the mom.

The immune response in every individual is very different. Some people get tenfold antibodies while others barely get any response.   

 

The Indoctrination of Physicians

Correlation does not mean causation, so why do we have such a visceral reaction when it comes to vaccines?

That's because a judgment comes before listening to the facts. People themselves are confused about whether or not the vaccine is the way to go; the reasons behind this can be religious or dogmatic.

We change our minds all the time based upon new data.

We are thankful for science, but if that’s the only source of truth, it becomes dogma. Dogma is something you can't question without retaliation against your character, without societal pressure. While in reality, science is the ever-debate of how much you can observe.  

The perspective isn't to dismiss the parents when they come inside reporting a vaccine reaction. Instead, physicians should look for patterns & study the risks that exist.

 

The Truth behind Vaccine Placebo

In medicine, a truly inert substance called placebo is used in the study. This substance has no physiological effect on you. 

On the other hand, vaccines are considered biologics. They have a different set of rules applied to them. Their placebos are either another vaccine, or they will have aluminum adjuvant solutions present in them to help them create a stronger immune response in people receiving the vaccine. 

These aluminum adjuvants have certain proteins that are used as placebos. People or kids can be allergic to them; so how does one know that it’s not going to cause an activation against those proteins giving the same vaccine to all? Unfortunately, no one’s questioning this combination of aluminum adjuvants with these food proteins. 

The idea that you are going to inject this aluminum adjuvant with this antigen and have a perfect immune-response isn’t always correct. In reality, some people under-respond, and some people over-respond, developing an autoimmune disease.

So how can pediatricians or other healthcare service providers ensure safety when there are all sorts of activation with these solutions?

While there have been studies for every vaccine, there need to be more studies about placebo. And how did that manage to have any scientific acceptance? 

 

Should we be mandated to take vaccines?

When we know that there’s going to cause issues, such as disability, skin infections or digestive problems, due to the vaccine reactions, the mandate should not exist. People should have a choice whether or not they want to get the vaccine, after getting well-educated about the specific vaccine — the risk, the reactions, the benefits, everything. 

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) should be taken seriously, because if you’re just going to give this vaccine to the people for the greater good while there’s a possibility of collateral damage; we just want to know how significant this collateral damage is going to be. 

For instance, if a disease is going to cause the death of 1% of the population but the vaccine causes mortal damage to just 0.25% of the population, is that a risk vs. benefit scenario?

However, if the mortality rate by the vaccine is 0.25% of the population while 10% succumb to disability as an anti-reaction to the vaccine, is it something that we all should be mandated to take? 

As for societal mandates, most people know nothing about vaccines. For instance, if you don’t get the vaccine for the coronavirus, even if the government doesn’t mandate it you might lose your job or access to social spaces. Even though we know that the vaccine might not certainly help in decreasing the disease transmission rates. 

So, when there's a risk, how can you mandate something? It’s only reasonable to get vaccines depending on one’s environment. For instance, people can get vaccines depending on a change of environment (say, moving to another country). It just simply shouldn’t be mandatory. 

 

Do vaccines prevent the transmission of the diseases? 

Most vaccines tone down the severity of the disease, vaccines:

• Don't prevent the transmission of the disease. ( except in the case of heard immunity)
• Don’t decrease the hospitalization rates. 
• Don't decrease the complication rates.
• Only effect 20%-40% of the time. 

For instance, the IPV for polio does not prevent the transmission of polio. It just decreases the neurologic risk.  

 

Red Flags & what can be done about them?

We may find a lot of mothers who simply avoid taking their children for vaccination because of all the information that’s floating around. They don't know how to figure out whether their child is or isn’t going to react to vaccination. The reasons why mothers stop vaccinating their kids  could be:

• They’ve had kids with vaccine reactions, so they stop vaccinating.
• They’ve had family members with severe vaccine reactions.

So, what parents can do about this is:

• Educate themselves about the VAERS.
• Look out for patterns in your family before deciding whether or not you wish to vaccinate your child. 
• Trust your eyes, look for anecdotes & then ask questions. If you see or sense that your child is having a neurological reaction after a vaccination, don’t disregard it & go to the physician right away. 
• Discuss the patterns with your physicians. 

As for physicians:

• Do not dismiss a patient just because you've been taught differently. 
• Expose yourself to the possibilities; that’s how you learn new things. 
• Educate people about the VAERS.

 

Informed Consent for Vaccine

Informed Consent is the process in which healthcare providers educate a patient about the risks, benefits, etc of the procedure. Doctors are afraid to give out any informed consent because they know about the repercussions. That doesn't change the fact that the patients have the right to understand the risk of fatality or disability through the disease versus the risk of a vaccine reaction from the vaccine for the disease. The patient should be communicated about each & every detail. 

Considering the information that there is to expose, informed consent cannot be given in a matter of fifteen minutes. As a matter of fact, just to touch the tip of the iceberg a physician would need at least 60 minutes of discussion about the vaccine. 

Parents should study this by themselves before going to their physician. 

 

Understanding the reactions

It is essential to recognize the severity of the reactions considered as common reactions after vaccinations, and if they are causing neurologic issues. Since you can have a common reaction that is quite a pathological reaction.

For physicians, this is where you must start learning what are the real side effects. How do you recognize them? If you see a neurologic reaction in a child then you must warn her parents & go slower with her. 

Just wait for, say nine months of age, rather than rushing through it & going for vaccines upon vaccines. Waiting & going slower will surely help prevent even severe reactions.

Physicians must respect the opinions of the parent if they say that the child is reacting, as they know their child better than anyone. Instead of looking for scientific proof in documentation & giving the vaccine anyway. 

 

The Bottom Line

Understand that it’s not one size fits all. You have to choose for your child & yourself. Get educated & do whatever it takes to make the right choice because you know your child better.

 

Doctors should listen to what the parents have to say, instead of shunning them. This kind of response only increases distrust among people. Each parent understands their child in a way you don’t, so listen to them and you might learn even more. As doctors, we know the disease better. Keep yourself updated. There’s so much to learn. Listening should begin with the physician. 

 

This blog covered the highlights from our latest podcast by Dr. Nisha Chellam, Board Certified Internist and Founder of Holistic ICON, and Dr. Cammy Benton, MD ABIHM & IFMCP. If you wish to listen to a more detailed version, you can listen to the entire podcast on our YouTube channel by clicking this link:

In case you have any questions related to vaccinations, please drop us an email with your question and a brief about yourself at xxx or xxx, and we will get back to you shortly.

Hoping this blog was helpful!

Listen to our newest podcast episode on vaccinations hosted by Dr. Nisha Chellam, Board Certified Internist and Founder of Holistic ICON in conversation with Dr. Cammy Benton, MD ABIHM & IFMCP for the enlightening discussion on the topic.

Tune into the episode by clicking on the link in our bio!