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The Vaccination Controversy

By Louis R. Briegel, II, D.C.

To gain a better understanding of the complex, and controversial, vaccination issue, you must focus on two areas: how the immune system works and how the vaccines have or have not worked.

A properly functioning immune system has the ability to tell the difference between things that are normal parts of the body and things that are foreign.

When the body’s immune system encounters a foreign substance (antigen), it produces an antibody to fight, contain and destroy that enemy. There are two methods—natural or crises—by which the enemy can trigger this response in the body.

Natural exposure, the primary method, is when the enemy enters the body through normal channels, such as the mucus membranes, the upper respiratory tract or the gastrointestinal tract—the body’s protective barriers to infectious agents.

The second method is when the body’s immune system comes in contact with the enemy through a crisis situation, such as through an open wound, deep cut, puncture or injection (vaccination).

In either case, when the body’s immune system encounters a foreign substance for the first time, it produces antibodies, which become very “specific” to that particular antigen. This is the law of “specificity.”

When the immune system is allowed to develop its defense through natural exposure to its enemy, it builds a better defense, because it has more time to prepare for an attack. It starts to build an army against the enemy before that enemy ever enters the body. It’s like a fort on top of a hill that allows soldiers to see an approaching enemy and make preparations for the oncoming battle.

During a crisis encounter with an antigen (foreign agent), the body does not have the luxury of time, so it must respond immediately with the resources at hand. This would be akin to the “gift” of the Trojan horse to an unsuspecting army.

It is important to know that the body responds very well under both conditions. It is also very important to understand that the body responds with an unquestionably stronger immune response when it encounters the foreign body through natural exposure.

From this, it should be evident to any parent that in order for their child to gain immunity from chicken pox, the child should play with another child who has chicken pox.

However, the real kicker is this: Due to the specificity of the antigen-antibody response in the body, once the body’s immune system builds an antibody for a specific antigen, the body will always only be able to build the same antibody for that antigen from here on out. This means that if the first encounter with the chicken pox is through vaccination, an inferior immune response will be developed, and this inferior immune response is what will be used every time the body encounters the chicken pox virus!

It is not a medical secret that when an individual’s immune response is built upon natural exposure (without vaccination), the individual will acquire lifelong immunity. However, when the immune response is built upon vaccination, the response will be inferior and temporary, thereby allowing the individual to acquire the disease later in life when it is usually much more devastating.

Conventional wisdom leads us believe that vaccinations are totally safe and effective, but this “wisdom” is based on confusion and misinformation. It programs us to reject any information not in harmony with our preconditioning and experience. This is called “cognitive dissonance.”

If we are to break the chains that shackle us to our conventional wisdom, we must take responsibility for ourselves, our bodies and the lives of our children.

Most people assume that vaccines have been effective and have no side effects, and they would also assume that there is much scientific research to support the validity and efficacy of vaccines. In reviewing over 1,700 references and scientific papers, I have yet to come across just one that supports the validity of administering vaccines to people. In fact, just the opposite is true.

Consider these facts:

DPT VACCINE (WHOOPING COUGH)


RUBELLA VACCINE

MUMPS VACCINE


MEASLES VACCINE


POLIO VACCINE


Hib (MENINGITIS) VACCINE

HEPATITIS B VACCINE


Parents should reclaim the dignity of their children’s health and learn to refuse to accept the enforcement of professionals who offer a glass palace of scientific evidence built on quicksand.

My wife and I have refused. Our two children have not been vaccinated, and the level of health that they have exhibited is truly amazing. Our children are not accessible.

*Reference: Cournoyer, Cynthia, What About Immunization?: Exposing the Vaccine Philosophy: A Parent’s Guide to the Vaccination Decision, Nelson’s Books, 5th ed., 1991, pp. 33-133.

About the author: Louis R. Briegel, II, D.C., a 1980 Life College graduate, is a noted author and practitioner. He is co-author of the book For the Love of Children. For more information, write to him at Briegel Chiropractic Center, 7990 Knox Bridge Highway, Canton, GA 30114; fax (770) 479-6548 or call (770) 479-5592.

© Copyright 2002 Today's Chiropractic

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