Hesitant to believe Hunter could have chicken pox after he'd received the vaccinations
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BL Fisher Note:
Vaccines provide temporary, qualitatively inferior immunity compared to
immunity achieved after natural recovery from disease. And just as mass
antibiotic use has put pressure on organisms to evolve into antibiotic
resistant forms, mass vaccine use can put pressure on organisms to mutate
into vaccine resistant forms.
The live varicella zoster vaccine for chicken pox had difficulty getting FDA
approval for many years because of its high failure rate (often 20 percent).
NVIC opposed mandatory use of chicken pox vaccine when it was licensed in
1995 because 99.99 percent of all healthy children recovered from chicken
pox without permanent effects and obtained a qualitatively superior immunity
that was boosted throughout life by contact with young children with chicken
pox.
Because chicken pox has been removed from the childhood population through
mass vaccination and no boosting is taking place to reinforce naturally
acquired immunity, older children and adults are now vulnerable to shingles.
There is an epidemic of shingles in America today. Drug companies are now
developing a shingles vaccine to deal with the effects of mass use of
chicken pox vaccine.
Gary Goldman, Ph.D., an expert on chicken pox vaccine and shingles
increases, has published several excellent articles on this topic in the
medical journal, Vaccine, as well as in the medical journal he edits,
Medical Veritas.
www.troymessenger.com/articles/2006/02/26/news/newsssss01.txt
Troy Messenger, AL
February 27, 2006
Chicken pox outbreak
By Matt Clower, The Messenger
Troy Elementary School nurse Sarah Black should probably go ahead and get a
revolving door for her office. It would help with all the traffic coming in
and out these days.
TES is the midsts of the worst outbreak of chicken pox the school has faced
in eight years - an outbreak made more surprising because most all the
affected students have previously received chicken pox vaccinations.
Black said she could hardly believe it when the first students started
showing up in her office with the characteristic red, itchy spots.
"I was in denial at first, I said this can't possibly be chicken pox," Black
said.
Oh, but was it ever chicken pox, and it has spread like wildfire. Since the
first student was diagnosed in late January, over 40 students in every grade
have come down with it.
In recent years, the numbers of chicken pox cases at TES had been
dramatically reduced by the chicken pox vaccination which is now required
for all incoming students. In eight years, Black said she had seen only one
student with a case.
This recent outbreak appears to be a new mutation of the virus, Black said,
and the Alabama Department of Public Health is calling it a second
generation breakthrough.
ADPH official Peggy Searcy said the department is not officially committing
on the situation at this time, but she did confirm that the ADPH is aware of
the situation at TES and is monitoring it. She also said the ADPH was not
making any recommendations regarding a booster shot for the vaccination at
this time. Searcy said TES was the only school in the eight counties of the
area ten region to report cases of chicken pox.
TES teacher Gloria Blackmon's son Hunter is thought to be the first case in
the outbreak. She said even the doctors office was hesitant at first to
believe Hunter could have chicken pox after he'd received the vaccination.
"I called and the nurse said 'Oh, he doesn't have chicken pox'," Blackmon
said. "But as soon as I brought him in, they said to take him out of
school."
Chicken pox is highly contagious, and actually starts becoming contagious
two weeks before the first pox appear, Black said. Infected children remain
contagious until all of the pox have dried up and scabbed over.
Until then, Black said it is imperative for parents to keep those children
out of school to avoid spreading the virus.
Black said most of the infected students are experiencing only a mild case
of chicken pox, with just a few visible spots and few students reporting a
fever.
Although one more student was diagnose with chicken pox on Friday, Black
said the disease does appear to be tapering off and she hopes the impending
Spring Break holiday will give the outbreak a chance to run its course
without spreading to more students.
Other local school systems confirmed they have not yet experienced an
outbreak of chicken pox.
Dwight Ward, Pike Liberal Arts headmaster, said he was not aware of any
cases of chicken pox and reported the school was experiencing normal levels
of fu and other seasonal sickness.
Ward said because of the school's smaller size, in the past outbreaks of
sickness have spread quickly and resulted in large numbers of absences. But
he said that has not happened so far this year.
Pike County Elementary School has also been free of chicken pox so far, but
is battling traditional seasonal outbreaks of flu and stomach virus, said
nurse Betty Vance.
Vance said stomach viruses are unpredictable and difficult to prevent, but
she said flu, and even chicken pox to an extent, can be avoided by good hand
washing.
"Good hand washing is the most important thing as far as preventing
sickness. Kids come to school and pick things up off of door handles or from
each other. A lot of that ca be prevented by regular hand washing," Vance
said. "And not just at school but at home too, A lot of people think that
germs wont be as bad at home but they are."
Black encouraged adults to be cautious when around a child affected with
chicken pox. The same virus that causes chicken pox in a child can cause
shingles in an adult.
Black also reminded parents not to use aspirin to treat children infected
with chicken pox, as it can lead to a potently fatal complication.
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