helenlobato.com

The introduction of the infant hepatitis B vaccination program began in the state of Victoria on 1 May 2000.

The decision to vaccinate newborns was required as a condition of funding to public hospitals in the state of Victoria under the policy and funding guidelines, issued by the Acute Health Division of the Department of Human Services.

Unbelievable

I could not believe this could happen and note that this unethical practice has been in place for 18 years with no sign of it ending. The addition of the hepatitis B vaccine to the infant vaccination schedule meant infants were and still are given four doses of the vaccine: one shortly after birth, and subsequent doses at 2, 4, and 6 months.

Public Outcry?

When the news broke about this new vaccine for infants I expected some dissent but of course there was no mainstream media analysis and so who really knew of the latest development to over vaccinate our children. At the time I presented a women’s health program on community radio 3CR where I provided some analysis of the issue followed by writing an article that was published in Birth Matters: The Journal of the Maternity Coalition Inc where I expressed my displeasure providing additional information such as the clear directive issued that all health professionals have a legal duty to implement this National Health and Medical Research Councils (NHMRC) policy seen as a major step towards the reduction of acute hepatitis B infection.

Universal hepatitis B immunisation

The statement titled Universal hepatitis B immunisation appeared in NEXUS (Vol 6 Issue 2, November 2000), a publication of the Nurses Board of Victoria. It stated:

We believe that midwives play a special role in relaying to parents of newborns the importance of this program.

In a follow up edition of Birth Matters, the midwives had their say on the hepatitis B addition to the infant vaccination schedule. 

MIPP midwives (Midwives in Private Practice) are particularly concerned about the administration of the first dose, for babies who are not in contact with carriers of the disease. The concerns are around informed consent, possible side effects, and storage of the vaccine. MIPP members report that they have informed their clients about the availability of the vaccine, and recommend that those parents who wish their child to have the ‘birth’ dose arrange to have it given at a hospital or by a general practitioner. It is important to note that  babies who do not receive the ‘birth dose’ but receive the three subsequent doses will be fully immunised.

 

The birth dose?

That is a very interesting point: Why are children given four doses when three doses is what is needed for so-called ‘immunisation’. Why are babies given the vaccine at birth? Is this because there is a ‘captive audience’ so to speak. The mums and babies are hospitalised so let’s get them used to having their baby injected with vaccines on the schedule starting with hepatitis B.

Hepatitis B 

The virus infection is generally caused by either unprotected sexual contact or contact with infected blood.

It is apparent that the vast majority of infants born in Australia today would have absolutely no risky behaviours which would leave them susceptible to Hepatitis B infections.

Why was hepatitis B put on the vaccination schedule?

According to the National Vaccine Information Center

The primary reason that the CDC recommended hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns in the United States in 1991 is because public health officials and doctors could not persuade adults in high risk groups (primarily IV drug users and persons with multiple sexual partners) to get the vaccine.

Scandalous!

There is no need to give this vaccine to children except maybe if they are at risk due to an infected mother or other person so infected. Vaccines are not harmless as is evident by examining their contents.

ENGERIX-B

Hepatitis B surface antigen recombinant (yeast) vaccine.

The infant dose is (0.5 ml) containing:

Hepatitis B surface antigen. Adsorbed on 250 micrograms of aluminium hydroxide.

Produced in yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) by recombinant DNA technology

The final vaccines also contain sodium phosphate – dibasic dihydrate, sodium phosphate – monobasic dihydrate, sodium chloride, and water for injection and traces of polysorbate 20.

Not something you really want to have injected into your newborn child, is it?

Vaccine risks

An independent review of the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System – the national database maintained in the US to track and study vaccine reactions) data; publications by governmental, pro-vaccine, and anti-vaccine groups; and a sample of the medical literature leads to the following conclusions:

For most children, the risk of a serious vaccine reaction may be 100 times greater than the risk of hepatitis B.

 

Overall, the incidence of hepatitis B in the U.S. is currently about 4 per 100,000 and even less for a young child.

In Australia the risk is even lower where:

The overall notification rate of newly acquired hepatitis B  decreased from 1.2 per 100,000 in 2009 to 0.7 per 100,000 in 2013.

Adverse events from the vaccine

There are 25,000 reports related to hepatitis B vaccine according to Vaers about one-third of which were serious enough to lead to an emergency room visit, hospitalization, or death. It is often assumed that only 10% of reactions are reported. So the real damage is not known.

A paper published in Neurology 2009 by Mikaeloff Y, Caridade G, et al called Hepatitis B vaccine and the risk of CNS inflammatory demyelination in childhood stated:

The Engerix B (hepatitis B) vaccine appears to increase this risk particularly for confirmed multiple sclerosis in the longer term

They reported that children with a confirmed diagnosis of multiple sclerosis were significantly more likely to have received the Engerix brand of vaccine.

Time for action

Recently it was suggested to me by a fellow critic of this particular vaccine that surely the hepatitis B given at birth is the most unnecessary and unethical and if there was any vaccine that we could use as an example of the burdensome, ever increasing schedule and the damage such vaccines are doing to young lives then this is the one.

We must educate young parents that once their child is born he/she will be given a hepatitis B shot. We need to forewarn them that this vaccine comes with real risks.