Anti-Vaccine Propaganda at The Sovereign Independent

Have you ever heard of an online paper called “The Sovereign Independent”? According to their about page, they strive to “provide critical news, information and education which the mainstream media often refuse to print regarding the direction Ireland, the UK and the wider world is heading and the increasing loss of sovereignty and independence spreading across the globe”. Right now, high-pitched sirens and alarms should be going off in your head and your baloney kit should be activated. A cursory sifting of their website shows that they focus mainly on spreading conspiracy theories about the New World Order, which includes falling deep into anti-vaccine advocacy.

A reader sent me a link to an article by S. Edmonson at The Sovereign Independent called ALL the Vaccines Are Contaminated – Every Last One of Them. It is a fairly standard piece, claiming that vaccines cause autism, that the government is using forced vaccinations to sterilize the population and so on, but it has been pasted around the internet a couple of thousands of times, so I decided it merited a detailed debunking. Not because there is any merit to their claims, but because pseudoscience and denialism must be steadfastly resisted. It is too much text for a point-by-point refutation, so I will concentrate on writing short and concise responses to the main points, but retaining a useful reference list.

Vaccines do not cause autism

—> Even if the rates of autism correlated with increase in number of vaccinations, this does not mean that vaccines cause autism as correlation does not imply causation.

—> About a dozen scientific studies show that the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella does not cause autism (Afzal et. al. 2006; Dales et. al. 2001; Davis et. al. 2001; DeStefano et. al. 2004; DeStefano et. al. 1999; D’Souza et. al. 2006; Farrington et. al. 2001 etc. see reference list for more).

—> About a half a dozen scientific studies show that the preservative thimerosal does not cause autism (Andrews et. al. 2004; Fombonne et. al. 2006; Heron et. al 2004; Hviid et. al. 2003; Madsen et. al. 2003 etc. see reference list for more).

—> Detailed reviews published by Institute of Medicine shows that neither the MMR vaccine nor thimerosal cause autism, that hepatitis B vaccine does not cause myelinating neurological disorders, that vaccines do not cause Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and they conclude that “few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines” (see reference list for all relevant publications).

Vaccines do not overwhelm the immune system.

—> The immune system of a child does not get overwhelmed by many vaccines. This is because the immunological challenges in all vaccines currently administrated are negligible (about 150) compared with the immunological challenges from a single bacteria (about 2000). A newborn baby is exposed to literally billions of bacteria at the moment of birth (Gerber and Offit, 2009; Offit et. al. 2002; Smith & Woods, 2010).

—> The number of immunological challenges has actually decreased over time. In 1980, the seven vaccines given contained about 3000 immunological challenges combined . Today, it is about 150 for 15 vaccines. So the immunological burden from vaccines is actually less now than in the past. This contradicts the claim of “too many vaccines too early” (Gerber and Offit, 2009).

—> The observed increase in rates of autism is mostly a statistical artifact due to widening of diagnostic criteria and greater attention given to the condition (Gerber and Offit, 2009).

The article gets the number of vaccines given wrong

—> The article claims that children get 55 different vaccines in the United States. This is wrong. The vaccines given are just 15: measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib, Hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, Pneumococcus, chickenpox, influenza and HPV (Offit & Moser, 2011). The article is confusing number of vaccines with the number of doses. Also, many vaccines are combined so it is not all separate shots.

—> The article gets the number of vaccines given before the age of 5 in Sweden wrong. It is not 11, but 13. The existence of additional errors cannot be excluded (Smittskyddsinstitutet, 2010).

Vaccines are not contaminated with polysorbate 80

—> Vaccines have not been contaminated with polysorbate 80. It is a legitimate vaccine ingredient that is used as an non-ionic surfactant and emulsifier. This product is often found in common food items, such as ice cream, in much higher concentrations than in vaccines, without any issues (Douglas, 1997).

There is no NWO conspiracy to make people sterile

—> The article claims that vaccines are designed to make people sterile. The author does not present any evidence for this, and the thesis is implausible because population has been growing exponentially since the start of the 1900s and if large pharmaceutical companies just want to make money, they should of course make people produce as much babies as possible. That way they can sell more vaccines. So the conspiracy theory is also self-contradictory.

Vaccines do not cause cancer

—> The article claims that polio vaccines contaminated with the simian virus SV40 caused cancer in humans. Yet multiple studies showed that there was no increased in incidence of cancer because of this. (e. g. Carroll-Pankhurst et. al. 2001; Engels et al. 2003a, 2003b, 2004; Ferber, 2002; Olin & Giesecke, 1998; Rollison et. al. 2004; Strickler et. al. 1998, 1999; Vilchez et. al. 2003 etc. see reference list for more)

—> A large review by the Institute of Medicine concluded that “although SV40 has biological properties consistent with a cancer-causing virus, it has not been conclusively established whether it might have caused cancer in humans. Studies of groups of people who received polio vaccine during 1955-1963 provide evidence of no increased cancer risk” (see reference list).

Vaccines are not contaminated with viruses

—> The article claims that all vaccines are “contaminated with viruses”. This fails to understand the nature of vaccines against viral diseases. They contain viral proteins that makes the body build up a defense against them, thereby protecting the person against the viral disease. Parts of viruses that are the active ingredients in vaccines are not contaminants.

Vaccines are not contaminated with recombinant DNA

—> Newer vaccines are made using recombinant DNA technology. This allows scientists to produce vaccines that are more effective and safer because you do not need, for instance, to use that much of the inactivated or attenuated virus or bacteria. So instead of using whole viruses or whole bacteria, recombinant DNA technology allows scientists to just use a few proteins or in the case of DNA vaccines, recombinant DNA that produce an immune response. Again, these are not contaminants, but active ingredients.

There are scientific reasons why boys should be vaccinated against HPV

—> HPV can cause genital and anal warts. Vaccinating boys against those HPV strains reduces the risk for men to get these painful, costly and emotionally distressing warts (Hall, 2011; Harris, 2011; Offit and Moser, 2011).

—> HPV can cause other forms of cancer, such as neck and head cancer. Vaccinating boys against those strains reduces the risk of getting these forms of cancer (Hall, 2011; Harris, 2011; Offit and Moser, 2011).

—> Men can sexually transmit HPV to women, so vaccinating boys proteins women from cervical cancer (Hall, 2011; Harris, 2011; Offit and Moser, 2011).

Mandatory vaccination is not coercion

—> There is a difference between mandatory and compulsory vaccination. Compulsory vaccination means that you will be forced to be vaccinated. Mandatory vaccination just means that you pay a societal cost for not vaccinated, like not being able to attend certain schools.

Vaccine-preventable diseases are not of “insignificant threat”

—> Before vaccination, 4 million children was infected with measles (3000 died), 15000 died from diphtheria (most where teenagers), rubella caused 20000 children to be born blind, deaf or with mental retardation, pertussis killed 8000 children, polio paralyzed 15000 children (killed 1000). These figures are per year in the United States (Offit, 2005).

The Cutter incident was not kept from the public

—> The article claim that the Cutter incident was not kept from the public for years. The media was all over it just a few days and it only took 48 hours from licensing to recall. Almost all involved parties where fired within a year (Offit, 2005).

—> The Cutter incident was an isolated event and cannot be compared with modern production of vaccines. It was caused by many different human errors that easily could have been prevented. The licensing processes at the time required a 2.5 hour discussion and 2000 pages of documentation. Today, licensing takes about 1 year and require 60000 pages of documentation (Offit, 2005).

Conclusion

The article by S. Edmonson in The Sovereign Independent contains many common anti-vaccine claims that is easily debunked by a brief review of the scientific literature. The article is simply peddling the same old conspiratorial canards that we have seen so many times before.

References and Further Reading

General

Gerber, J. S., & Offit, P. A. (2009). Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 48(4), 456-461.

MMR and Autism

Afzal, M. A., Ozoemena, L. C., O’Hare, A., Kidger, K. A., Bentley, M. L., & Minor, P. D. (2006). Absence of detectable measles virus genome sequence in blood of autistic children who have had their MMR vaccination during the routine childhood immunization schedule of UK. Journal of Medical Virology, 78(5), 623-630.

Dales, L., Hammer, S. J., & Smith, N. J. (2001). Time Trends in Autism and in MMR Immunization Coverage in California. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285(9), 1183-1185.

Davis, R. L., Kramarz, P., Bohlke, K., Benson, P., Thompson, R. S., Mullooly, J., . . . for the Vaccine Safety Datalink Team. (2001). Measles-Mumps-Rubella and Other Measles-Containing Vaccines Do Not Increase the Risk for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Case-Control Study From the Vaccine Safety Datalink Project. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 155(3), 354-359.

DeStefano, F., Bhasin, T. K., Thompson, W. W., Yeargin-Allsopp, M., & Boyle, C. (2004). Age at First Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination in Children With Autism and School-Matched Control Subjects: A Population-Based Study in Metropolitan Atlanta. Pediatrics, 113(2), 259-266.

DeStefano, F., & Chen, R. T. (1999). Negative association between MMR and autism. The Lancet, 353(9169), 1987-1988.

D’Souza, Y., Fombonne, E., & Ward, B. J. (2006). No Evidence of Persisting Measles Virus in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells From Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Pediatrics, 118(4), 1664-1675.

Farrington, C. P., Miller, E., & Taylor, B. (2001). MMR and autism: further evidence against a causal association. Vaccine, 19(27), 3632-3635.

Hornig, M., Briese, T., Buie, T., Bauman, M. L., Lauwers, G., Siemetzki, U., . . . Lipkin, W. I. (2008). Lack of Association between Measles Virus Vaccine and Autism with Enteropathy: A Case-Control Study. PLoS ONE, 3(9), e3140.

Fombonne, E. (1999). Are Measles Infection or Measles Immunization Linked to Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29(4), 349-350.

Fombonne E, Chakrabarti S. (2001). No evidence for a new variant of measles-mumps-rubella-induced autism.
Pediatrics. 108(4) E58.

Fombonne, E., & Cook, E. H. (2003). MMR and autistic enterocolitis: consistent epidemiological failure to find an association. Mol Psychiatry, 8(2), 133-134.

Halsey N.A., Hyman S. L. (2001). Measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autistic spectrum disorder: report from the New Challenges in Childhood Immunizations Conference convened in Oak Brook, Illinois, June 12-13, 2000. Pediatrics. 107(5) E84.

Honda, H., Shimizu, Y., & Rutter, M. (2005). No effect of MMR withdrawal on the incidence of autism: a total population study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(6), 572-579.

Kaye, J. A., Melero-Montes, M. & Jick, H. (2001). Mumps, measles, and rubella vaccine and the incidence of autism recorded by general practitioners: a time trend analysis. BMJ, 322(7284), 460-463.

Madsen, K. M., Hviid, A., Vestergaard, M., Schendel, D., Wohlfahrt, J., Thorsen, P., . . . Melbye, M. (2002). A Population-Based Study of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccination and Autism. New England Journal of Medicine, 347(19), 1477-1482.

Mäkelä A., Nuorti J. P. , Peltola, H. (2002). Neurologic disorders after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. Pediatrics. 110(5), 957-63.

Peltola, H., Patja, A., Leinikki, P., Valle, M., Davidkin, I., & Paunio, M. (1998). No evidence for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine-associated inflammatory bowel disease or autism in a 14-year prospective study. The Lancet, 351(9112), 1327-1328.

Taylor, B., Miller, E., Farrington, C., Petropoulos, M.-C., Favot-Mayaud, I., Li, J., & Waight, P. A. (1999). Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no epidemiological evidence for a causal association. The Lancet, 353(9169), 2026-2029.

Taylor, B., Miller, E., Lingam, R., Andrews, N., Simmons, A., & Stowe, J. (2002). Measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination and bowel problems or developmental regression in children with autism: population study. BMJ, 324(7334), 393-396.

Wilson, K., Mills, E., Ross, C., McGowan, J., & Jadad, A. (2003). Association of Autistic Spectrum Disorder and the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccine: A Systematic Review of Current Epidemiological Evidence. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 157(7), 628-634.

Thimerosal and Autism

Andrews, N., Miller, E., Grant, A., Stowe, J., Osborne, V., & Taylor, B. (2004). Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Retrospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a Causal Association. Pediatrics, 114(3), 584-591.

Fombonne, E., Zakarian, R., Bennett, A., Meng, L., & McLean-Heywood, D. (2006). Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Prevalence and Links With Immunizations. Pediatrics, 118(1), e139-e150.

Heron, J., Golding, J., & Team, a. t. A. S. (2004). Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Prospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a Causal Association. Pediatrics, 114(3), 577-583. doi: 10.1542/peds.2003-1176-L

Hviid, A., Stellfeld, M., Wohlfahrt, J., & Melbye, M. (2003). Association Between Thimerosal-Containing Vaccine and Autism. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 290(13), 1763-1766.

Madsen, K. M., Lauritsen, M. B., Pedersen, C. B., Thorsen, P., Plesner, A.-M., Andersen, P. H., & Mortensen, P. B. (2003). Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence From Danish Population-Based Data. Pediatrics, 112(3), 604-606.

Schechter, R., & Grether, J. K. (2008). Continuing Increases in Autism Reported to California’s Developmental Services System: Mercury in Retrograde. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 65(1), 19-24.

Stehr-Green, P., Tull, P., Stellfeld, M., Mortenson, P.-B., & Simpson, D. (2003). Autism and thimerosal-containing vaccines: Lack of consistent evidence for an association. American journal of preventive medicine, 25(2), 101-106.

Thompson, W. W., Price, C., Goodson, B., Shay, D. K., Benson, P., Hinrichsen, V. L., . . . DeStefano, F. (2007). Early Thimerosal Exposure and Neuropsychological Outcomes at 7 to 10 Years. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(13), 1281-1292.

Institute of Medicine Reports

Stratton, K., Alamario, D. A., Wizemann, T., & McCormick, M. C. (Eds.). (2004). Immunization Safety Review: Influenza Vaccines and Neurological Complications: National Academies Press.

Stratton, K., Almario, D. A., & McCormick, M. C. (Eds.). (2002). Immunization Safety Review: Hepatitis B Vaccine and Demyelinating Neurological Disorders: National Academies Press.

Stratton, K., Gable, A., & McCormick, M. (Eds.). (2001). Immunization Safety Review: Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and Neurodevelopmental Disorders: National Academies Press.

Stratton, K., Gable, A., Shetty, P., & McCormick, M. (Eds.). (2001). Immunization Safety Review: Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autism: National Academies Press.

Stratton, K., Wilson, C. B., & McCormick, M. C. (Eds.). (2002). Immunization Safety Review: Multiple Immunizations and Immune Dysfunction: National Academies Press.

Stratton, K., Ford, A., Rusch, E. Wright Clayton, E. (Eds.). (2011). Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality: The National Academies Press.

Stratton, K., Almario, D. A., & McCormick, M. C. (Eds.). (2002). Immunization Safety Review: SV40 Contamination of Polio Vaccine and Cancer: The National Academies Press.

Vaccines do Not Overwhelm the immune system

Gerber, J. S., & Offit, P. A. (2009). Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 48(4), 456-461.

Offit, P. A., Quarles, J., Gerber, M. A., Hackett, C. J., Marcuse, E. K., Kollman, T. R., . . . Landry, S. (2002). Addressing Parents’ Concerns: Do Multiple Vaccines Overwhelm or Weaken the Infant’s Immune System? Pediatrics, 109(1), 124-129.

Smith, M. J., & Woods, C. R. (2010). On-time Vaccine Receipt in the First Year Does Not Adversely Affect Neuropsychological Outcomes. Pediatrics, 125(6), 1134-1141.

Offit, P. A. & Moser, C. A., (2011). Vaccines and Your Child: Separating Fact from Fiction. New York. Colombia University Press.

Smittskyddsinstitutet. (2010). The Swedish Vaccination Program. Smittskyddsinstitutet. Accessed: 2012-01-05.

Vaccine Ingredients

Douglas, G. (1997) Colloidal aspects of ice cream—A review. International Dairy Journal, 7(6-7), 363-373.

SV40 and Cancer risk

Carroll-Pankhurst, C., Engels, E. A., Strickler, H. D., Goedert, J. J., Wagner, J., & Mortimer, E. A. (2001). Thirty-five year mortality following receipt of SV40-contaminated polio vaccine during the neonatal period. Br J Cancer, 85(9), 1295-1297.

Engels, E. A., Chen, J., Viscidi, R. P., Shah, K. V., Daniel, R. W., Chatterjee, N., & Klebanoff, M. A. (2004). Poliovirus Vaccination during Pregnancy, Maternal Seroconversion to Simian Virus 40, and Risk of Childhood Cancer. American Journal of Epidemiology, 160(4), 306-316.

Engels, E. A., Katki, H. A., Nielsen, N. M., Winther, J. F., Hjalgrim, H., Gjerris, F., . . . Frisch, M. (2003a). Cancer Incidence in Denmark Following Exposure to Poliovirus Vaccine Contaminated With Simian Virus 40. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 95(7), 532-539.

Engels, E. A., Rodman, L. H., Frisch, M., Goedert, J. J., & Biggar, R. J. (2003b). Childhood exposure to simian virus 40-contaminated poliovirus vaccine and risk of AIDS-associated non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. International Journal of Cancer, 106(2), 283-287.

Ferber D. (2002). Creeping consensus on SV40 and polio vaccine. Science. 298(5594):725-7.

Fraumeni, J. F., Stark, C. R., Gold, E., & Lepow, M. L. (1970). Simian Virus 40 in Polio Vaccine: Follow-Up of Newborn Recipients. Science, 167(3914), 59-60.

Mortimer, E. A., Lepow, M. L., Gold, E., Robbins, F. C., Burton, G. J., & Fraumeni, J. F. (1981). Long-Term Follow-up of Persons Inadvertently Inoculated with SV40 as Neonates. New England Journal of Medicine, 305(25), 1517-1518.

Olin P, Giesecke J (1998). Potential exposure to SV40 in polio vaccines used in Sweden during 1957: no impact on cancer incidence rates 1960 to 1993. Dev Biol Stand 94: 227–33.

Rollison, D. E. M., Page, W. F., Crawford, H., Gridley, G., Wacholder, S., Martin, J., . . . Engels, E. A. (2004). Case-Control Study of Cancer among US Army Veterans Exposed to Simian Virus 40-contaminated Adenovirus Vaccine. American Journal of Epidemiology, 160(4), 317-324.

Stenton, S. C. (1998). Simian virus 40 and human malignancy. BMJ, 316(7135), 877.

Strickler, H. D., Rosenberg, P. S., Devesa, S. S., Hertel, J., Fraumeni, J. F., & Goedert, J. J. (1998). Contamination of Poliovirus Vaccines With Simian Virus 40 (1955-1963) and Subsequent Cancer Rates. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 279(4), 292-295.

Strickler, H. D., Rosenberg, P. S., Devesa, S. S., Fraumeni, J. F., & Goedert, J. J. (1999). Contamination of poliovirus vaccine with SV40 and the incidence of medulloblastoma. Medical and Pediatric Oncology, 32(1), 77-78.

Vilchez, R. A., Arrington, A. S., & Butel, J. S. (2003). Re: Cancer Incidence in Denmark Following Exposure to Poliovirus Vaccine Contaminated With Simian Virus 40. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 95(16), 1249.

HPV and boys

Hall, H. (2011). HPV Vaccine for Boys. Science-Based Medicine. Accessed: 2012-01-04.

Harris, G. (2011). Panel Endorses HPV Vaccine for Boys of 11. The New York Times. Accessed: 2012-01-04.

Offit, P. A. & Moser, C. A., (2011). Vaccines and Your Child: Separating Fact from Fiction. New York. Colombia University Press.

Incidence of currently vaccine-preventable diseases before Vaccines / The Cutter incidence

Offit, P. A. (2005). The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing Vaccine Crisis. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.