ATO press / Autismtodayonline.com

The American Academy of Pediatrics released their recommended 2009 vaccine schedule on December 29^th 2008 in Journal Pediatrics. Along with the existing schedule from last year, the AAP has placed a flu vaccine and a second Rotavirus vaccine on the schedule. The study was released in the AAP Journal Pediatrics along with an editorial by Dr. Paul Offit, and Charlotte Moser, entitled “The Problem with Dr. Bob’s Alternative Vaccine Schedule”. This editorial was written to ridicule Dr. Bob Sears’ newest book, “The Vaccine Book: Making the right decision for your child” and particularly the alternative shedule that Dr. Bob places in the back of his book.

What has me completely baffled is the arrogance of the AAP in general and Dr. Offit in particular. Dr. Sears’ writes in his book about listening to parents concerns regarding the seemingly ever increasing numbers of vaccines that we are subjecting our children to. Dr. Offit apparently seems to think that listening to parents and addressing their concerns is not good practice for a pediatrician. Even while Dr. Offit states in his editorial that “”some parents have become concerned that children receive too many vaccines too early. Given that young infants currently receive 14 different vaccines, requiring as many as five shots at a single visit and 26 inoculations by two years of age, the concern that children might be overwhelmed by too many vaccines is understandable”. This statement in and of itself is still rather disengenuous given that he doesn’t explain the double and triple doses of these vaccines that can add up to at least 64 vaccines by the time a child is of kindergarten age!

Dr. Sears writes in his book about “chicken pox parties” and that in some cases, the childhood disease that we are trying to avoid is sometimes..for some children, preferable to the vaccine. Sears states: “Having the disease in most cases provides lifelong immunity (better immunity than the shot provides), so there is practically no worry about catching the disease as an adult”. Offit clearly states his agenda regarding this matter by writng in his editorial; “although Sears is correct in stating that natural immunity is generally better than vaccine induced immunity, the high price of natural immunity, that is, occasionally severe and fatal disease, is a risk not worth taking”.

Doctor Offit speaks of the possible yet highly unlikely chance that a benign childhood disease could become severe or even fatal, while not acknowledging that the adverse events associated with vaccines can be just as severe or fatal, perhaps even more so! While Sears writes about his belief that vaccine testing is insufficient, Offit states that “vaccines are tested on larger numbers of children than drugs”. What he doesn’t explain is that the bulk of the testing is done after the vaccine is approved, using our children as the guinea pigs. He is also, as is every doctor, unable to present any study on the long term health effects of these vaccines, simply because this research has not been done.

Doctors that are members of the American Academy of Pediatrics should be very concerned with the content of this editorial in their journal. It is the epitomy of arrogance to even suggest that all children are the same. It is arrogance of the highest rank to believe that our children should be subjected to the very same vaccines with no regard to their individual needs, prediciments and certain special medical needs. This editorial leaves no room for considering family history, certain mytocondrial or glutathione deficiencies. Offit’s stance is that the protocol must be adhered to regardless of the situation,with no room for flexibility,for the good of the herd, Colateral damage be damned. Perhaps that’s well and good…until it’s your child that has been effected.

I can only sincerely hope that those pediatricians that are actually on the proverbial front lines, taking care of our children would take Dr. Offit’s editorial very seriously and rethink their decision to be a member of an organisation that cares nothing for the very patients that these educated men and women have taken an oath to protect. If they don’t, if they follow the direction of the AAP and this editorial, more children will be adversely affected, some will become chronically ill, some will die… and their blood will be on the hands of the pediatricians administering their poisons.