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Due to mass vaccination campaigns, natural maternal protection against measles is now systematically eliminated over the span of generations in many countries around the world. If naturally acquired immunity were preserved, we would not have to fear infant measles mortality, as we do now.

Between 1900 and 1963, before the introduction of a vaccine, the mortality rate of measles dropped by 98%, due to advancements in living conditions, nutrition, and health care.  Malnutrition, especially vitamin A deficiency, is a primary cause of about 90,000 measles deaths annually in underdeveloped nations. In the US and other developed countries, 75–92% of hospitalised measles cases are low in vitamin A.

Although 0.01% of measles cases are fatal and 0.00125% of cases result in permanent disability from measles encephalitis, the risk of permanent injury and death from the MMR vaccine has not been proven to be less than that of measles. 

A serious side effect is seizure, which occurs in about 1 in 640 children vaccinated with MMR – about five times more often than seizure from measles infection. Other severe side effects of vaccination include deafness, long-term seizures, coma, lowered consciousness, permanent brain damage, and death.

While the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention states that these side effects are rare, the precise numbers are unknown. Additionally, the manufacturer’s package insert states: “M-M-R II has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential, or potential to impair fertility.”

So, is the MMR vaccine safer than measles?  There is insufficient proof to say that it is.  A review of more than 60 MMR vaccine studies conducted for the Cochrane Library states: “The design and reporting of safety outcomes in MMR vaccine studies, both pre- and post-marketing, are largely inadequate.”

Because permanent aftereffects from measles, especially in people with normal levels of vitamin A, are so rare, the level of accuracy of the research studies available is insufficient to prove that the vaccine causes less death or permanent injury than measles.

Surprisingly, there could be benefits from getting measles.  Studies suggest a link between naturally acquired measles infection and a reduced risk of Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, as well as a reduced risk of hay fever, eczema and asthma. Measles infections are also associated with a lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

In addition, infants born to mothers who have had naturally acquired measles are protected from measles via maternal immunity longer than infants born to vaccinated mothers.

The above is taken from a Disease Information Statement and a Vaccine Risk Statement for measles published by Physicians for Informed Consent, a website that provides data on infectious diseases and vaccines for those who support voluntary vaccination.

Melanie’s Marvellous Measles

A review of a children’s book delves into the role of vitamin A in measles infections and the repercussions mass measles vaccination has on future generations.

Tetyana Obukhanych, PhD, reviewed ‘Melanie’s Marvelous Measles’ to ascertain whether it provides a “valid representation of vaccination reality.”  In doing so, she details some interesting facts that parents should be made aware of before deciding to vaccinate their children.

If the book alerts unsuspecting parents that “vaccination does not guarantee protection from disease and inspires them to pay more attention to the nutrition required for optimal function of the immune system, that would indeed be marvellous,” she wrote.

Below we have noted some points Dr. Obukhanych made in her review.  You can read her full article, with references, HERE.

Numerous outbreaks of infectious diseases have been documented in communities with high vaccination coverage, involving anywhere from 20% to 80% of fully vaccinated people.  “The reason for such a significant contribution of fully vaccinated individuals to outbreaks is not random vaccine failures, but a predicted limited duration of protection conferred by any vaccine against the corresponding disease,” Dr. Obukhanych wrote.

Most vaccines are made of attenuated or inactivated viruses.  Research in animals has demonstrated that injection of inactivated virus is capable of achieving only short duration of protection.

These findings suggest that a vaccinated person can, upon exposure, succumb to measles – or any other viral disease deemed to be vaccine-preventable – after the vaccine’s short-lasting protective effect wanes.  This is in contrast to permanent immunity developed after exposure to a natural virus.

The Role of Vitamin A

Vitamin A (retinoids) is a necessary partner of a crucial natural anti-viral messenger called interferon. Interferon is produced by cells of the innate immune system called macrophages within hours of them detecting a virus in the body.

One of the known interferon’s anti-viral functions is to provide a molecular signal to other cells that make them become resistant to viral entry.  However, the message of interferon gets through to those cells, including neurons, only in the presence of vitamin A.

Research done in mice infers that vitamin A deficiency at the time of exposure to the virus makes interferon action suboptimal allowing a viral infection to take hold. It also suggests that attempting to correct any pre-existing vitamin A deficiency only after the onset of disease symptoms is not likely to ensure mild disease, since the action of interferon is required within hours of viral exposure.

However, analysis of placebo-controlled clinical trials of vitamin A administration in severe measles revealed that a high dose of vitamin A taken on two consecutive days after the measles diagnosis was still beneficial by reducing croup, overall mortality, and pneumonia-specific mortality.

It should be noted, Dr. Obukhanych, that fruit and vegetables do not contain vitamin A per se, i.e., retinoids, but rather beta-carotene which can be converted to real vitamin A by the liver.

“The sources of real vitamin A, such as milk/butter from grass-fed cows (i.e., cows on pasture, not in feedlot) or high-quality cod liver oil, might be necessary in daily nutrition in addition to fruit and vegetables for the purposes of building up vitamin A reserves.”

The Long-Term Benefit of Having Measles in Childhood

Girls who have had measles in their own childhood and acquired permanent immunity from the disease themselves pass this immunity to their children.  This passive immunity transfer from mother to child occurs via the placenta and breastfeeding.

The ability of passive immunity transfer to their babies is absent in those mothers who have not had a chance to experience measles themselves.  And infants without maternal immuno-protection are vulnerable to measles because their immune system is not capable of producing high levels of interferon.

“Paradoxically, infants born decades after mass vaccination has been on the way in their country have much higher chances of contracting measles during sporadic (imported) outbreaks of a nearly eliminated disease, compared to infants born in the pre-vaccination era when the incidence of childhood measles was consistently high and affecting older age groups, ages one to fifteen,” Dr. Obukhanych said.

“This is because, despite early exposure to measles, those infants were under the shield of robust maternal immuno-protection for the first year of life even when not breastfed, and breastfeeding would prolong their protection.

“Natural maternal protection is now systematically eliminated over the span of generations in many countries around the world … If naturally acquired immunity were preserved, we would not have to fear infant measles mortality, as we do now.”

In addition to the mass vaccination of mothers making measles more prevalent in infants, Dr. Obukhanych noted two other factors that might increase the risk of disease complications from a measles infection in older children and adults:

• neglecting to screen for and promptly correct any sub-clinical vitamin A (retinoid) deficiencies in the population; and,
• using anti-fever medications to suppress disease symptoms, which are known to increase secondary complications from measles, in particular, as well as to exacerbate an existing bacterial infection.