With the intense controversy and near hysteria over vaccination, for the thoughtful, enquiring person or the concerned parent trying to make wise choices for their children, sorting out the data and finding research done without vested interests controlling the outcome, can be a daunting challenge.

The basic concept of vaccination is brilliant, somewhat reminiscent of homeopathy—like cures like. Without question, vaccines have made a difference in lowering the prevalence of certain diseases throughout the world. Yet, a small but significant percentage of people have had major, life-disrupting reactions to the vaccines that have left them permanently impaired. Some have even died after being vaccinated, as in the case of the HPV vaccine for girls. In fact the Japanese government no longer recommends Gardasil, one of the vaccines for HPV, after there was a series of MS cases and other auto-immune diseases in girls that occurred after being vaccinated.

The strident voices say “We cannot compromise public health for the sake of the few who have adverse reactions.” But, if you are a parent with a child who has been brain-damaged after being vaccinated, those words offer no comfort.

Unbiased research has been done to show how the vaccines and their adjuvants—the added preservatives and immune stimulants—can affect the brain, nervous and immune system in animal studies. But these studies are not being made readily available to the general public. Nor are the reports of the numbers and types of injuries sustained after vaccination.

What I would like to see researched and developed is a rapid and inexpensive test that could predict who would be at risk for having a serious adverse reaction—something like a mouth swab for DNA testing to check for genetic predisposition to having harmful effects from vaccine adjuvants, like the mercury (thimerosal), aluminum, and formaldehyde. The test would need to also assess risk of auto-immune disease caused by the proteins in the vaccine itself which can cause a cross reaction with proteins in the brain, resulting in dangerous brain inflammation.

And, of course I’d also like to see research being done on ways that the vaccines can have less potential for harm, while remaining effective.

Patients often ask me if they or their children should get vaccinated. I do not answer that question for them. But, I do recommend they search the unbiased data themselves and then make up their minds. I also recommend that the following two questions are considered when making decisions about vaccinating:

• Is there a family history of severe allergies, chemical sensitivities, neurological disorders, auto-immune disease, or any other evidence of immune dysfunction that would put the child at increase risk for having a serious reaction?

• Was there any kind of reaction—like high fever, prolonged irritability or changes in behavior after previous vaccines?

So, what can parents do if the answers to those questions are positive?

Some of my patients with young children who fit the at-risk criteria choose to space out the vaccine schedule, giving ample time for the immune system to “calm down” after each vaccine, in order to avoid over-stimulation. And they can also insist on thimerosal-free vaccines. Other parents choose to avoid vaccinating their children until they are older and their brains are more developed and less vulnerable to auto-immune reactions. And then a few parents try to navigate the system without vaccinating their children at all.

In these times of almost militaristic enforcement of vaccination, it’s important we make informed decisions.

For a link to the National Vaccine Information Center, click here.