Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 3:49 AM
Subject: [Mr_Tracys_Corner] Fwd: DR. COLETTE HARMAN ON HEPATITIS B VACCINE

Dear VRAN Members & Friends,

Here is a great letter from Naturopathic physician Dr. Colette Harman on the real risks of injecting children with hepatitis B vaccine. We hope her letter inspires you to action in your community. Use this letter as a template and get the word out in your local paper. The majority of Canadian parents have no idea the dangers their children are exposed to when they allow them to be injected with hepatitis B vaccine.

Edda West
VRAN - Vaccination Risk Awareness Network Inc.
info@vran.org

Editor,

Within the next few weeks, parents of children in grade 7 will receive permission forms, which, when signed by the parent or guardian, allows their children to receive the series of two Hepatitis B vaccines. I am concerned that the form gives very little information to the parent/guardian regarding the adverse effects of this vaccine, of which there are many, so that, in the end, the parent is unable to truly give informed consent.

The vaccine permission form erroneously states that the Hepatitis B vaccine is safe and that the risk from Hepatitis B is greater than the risk from the Hepatitis B vaccine. What you need to know is that there have been no long term safety studies done to determine the long term effects of the vaccine. Neither the necessity nor the safety of vaccinating children against Hep B has been established. Furthermore, in the spring of 2002, a class action law suit was filed against the manufacturers of Hep B vaccine for causing serious long-term disablity in Canadian children. In July 1999 the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) called for a moratorium on Hep B vaccine for school children in USA, stating that "children younger than 14 are 3 times more likely to die or suffer adverse reactions after receiving hepatitis B vaccine than to catch the disease." And since only about 10% of adverse vaccine reactions are reported it's likely the vaccine risk is much greater; AAPS estimates that "for most children, the risk of a serious vaccine reaction may be 100 times greater than the risk of hepatitis B." Furthermore, a case-controlled study published in the September 14, 2004 issue of 'Neurology' by lead author Miguel A. Hernán, MD, DrPH, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, said in a news release,"We estimated that immunization against hepatitis B was associated with a threefold increase in the incidence of MS within the three years following vaccination. Our analyses include 163 cases of MS and 1,604 controls".

Remember that the prevalence of Hepatitis B is extremely low in Canada, and not easily transmitted by casual contact. In 1999, there were only 38 reported cases of Hepatitis B in children under the age of 14 in Canada. It remains primarily a disease of sex trade workers and I.V. drug users.

So what are the adverse reactions to the vaccine that parents need to know about? Serious immune and neurological diseases including blood disorders and chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia have been associated with the Hep B vaccine but in particular it has been shown vaccines can cause insulin dependent diabetes in children, and Hep B vaccine is the worst offender, causing a 50% increased risk for this form of diabetes. Diabetes can take 3 to 10 years to develop following vaccination. The AAPS recently stated: Public policy regarding vaccines is fundamentally flawed. Indeed, evidence is accumulating that serious adverse reactions are being ignored. According to statistics from the vaccine manufacturer, 42.8% of recipients of Hep B vaccine showed mild to moderate reactions ranging from local reactions, to vomiting, rash, hypotension and disturbed sleep. More severe reactions included, seizure, febrile seizure, Guillian-Barre syndrome, Bell's Palsy, multiple sclerosis, optic neuritis, arthritis, alopecia, tinnitis, vasculitis, and dermatologic reactions. Hypersensitivity syndrome (serum-sickness-like) of delayed onset has been reported days to weeks after vaccination.

What are parents to do? Educate yourselves by checking the following web sites <www.vran.org>, <www.909shot.com/Default.htm> or by calling the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network at 250-355-2525 in Winlaw B.C.

Even if your child has already had his or her first Hep B shot you can still refuse the second shot if that is your choice. It is unfortunate that parents have to research this information for themselves instead of receiving it from the health care professionals who are obligated under law to give parents this information. It is all about making informed choices which is our legal right.

M. Colette Harman,
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine