Parents should resist the rush to vaccinate children

Parents should resist the rush to vaccinate children
EDITOR:
Rotavirus is the number one cause of diarrhea in children. Last Tuesday, the FDA warned that 28 infants had suffered a life-threatening twisting of the intestines called intussusception. These babies had been vaccinated with the new rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq. Sixteen of the 28 babies required surgery to repair the damage caused by RotaTeq. Eight years ago we saw the same exact problem with the very first rotavirus vaccine, RotaShield. Thankfully, it was quickly pulled from the market.
Dr. Paul Offitt a vaccine "expert" said the following: "I am actually encouraged by those data: 28 cases, when you would have expected at least 500 cases, that is really reassuring, I don't see how those numbers suggest something's awry. If anything, they suggest nothing's awry."
Can't you just imagine the comfort Dr. Offitt's words must have brought to those 28 infants' parents? Adverse reactions notoriously go unreported or under-reported, so there very well could be 500 cases or more.
RotaTeq received unanimous approval by the Food and Drug Administration in February 2006. This approval was based on trials of the vaccine on 70,000 infants. Supposedly, zero cases of the potentially fatal intussusception occurred. Now after this week's problematic revelation, the Centers for Disease Control and RotaTeq's manufacturer, Merck, are conducting follow up studies, to hopefully determine any long-term effects. Shouldn't you know the long-term effects before you give it to thousands of babies?
Merck manufactures the vaccine Gardasil, which is supposed to protect against four strains of the Human Papillomavirus Virus (HPV). Gardasil is being recommended for use in girls, as young as age nine. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. Many states are currently proposing Gardasil be mandatory for all girls entering 6th grade. Why are legislators making medical decisions, especially if any of those legislators have taken money from the drug companies that would profit from mandatory vaccination laws?
A recent article in the American Journal of Public Health reported the results of an interesting study. Mothers with more education tend not to have their babies up to date on their immunizations. People are questioning the safety of all these mandatory vaccines.
In 1983 children received 10 vaccines before the age of 5. In 2007, it's over 36 doses of various vaccines and the list is growing. Multiple childhood illnesses and disorders are at an all time high. Is there a connection?
My children are just that, children -- not guinea pigs.
ANDREA KELLER
Canfield
We're under attack at home
EDITOR:
Arabs have been fighting each other since before 3500 BC. The "cradle of civilization" never got out of the crib. Why should we be interfering in these foreign countries when our own nation is under attack by the greatest illegal invasion in our history? Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are in our nation, sapping our resources.
An estimated 600,000 children of illegals have been born in this country, their medical expense paid for by you. Yet, money sent back to Mexico is the 4th largest income in Mexico.
Employers who hire these illegals must be charged with conspiracy. They pay no matching Social Security, no workers compensation, no health insurance, no retirement. If the above was done by American employers to American employees, they would be liable under state and federal laws.
GEORGE R. HOLKO Sr.
Warren