The Immune System is the Real Hero in Vaccination

Yesterday I made a mistake in posting a link to an article about vaccines that was extremely poorly written. I am guilty of falling prey to one of the things I dislike, which is seeing a "headline" that makes a point I like but failing to look more carefully at the actual content of the material. I've been very interested in the fact that information is finally coming to light about how data about potential dangers of vaccines has been suppressed. That's what I thought the article was about, but upon more careful reading, it wasn't. 

So, today, I decided to write something about my own views on vaccination. I have always stood for freedom of choice. I think people should have the right to choose what medical treatments they want to use for themselves and for their children.

I think people are intelligent enough to adopt what is useful and beneficial in the free marketplace. I've seen lots of well documented data showing that most of the decline in contagious diseases was due to improved sanitation as the decline in contagious diseases predated the use of vaccines. Also many contagious diseases for which there were no vaccines declined at the same time. The advancement of technology had a lot to do with this.

We no longer have streets covered in horse manure thanks to the automobile. We have less problems with eating spoiled food thanks to refrigeration. Of course, cars have contributed to air pollution, but we've also found ways to reduce that pollution and can probably develop methods of transportation that produce even less pollution.

What concerns about the vaccine argument is the government involvement, which is justified in the name of "science." Science becomes the new "God" and gets used to justify the application of force to compel people to do things like get vaccinated. I think this is wrong, especially when much of what we call "science" is funded by companies whose goal is to make profits. Thus, evidence that the things being pushed in the name of science may have problems often gets suppressed, which is what happens with the vaccination discussion.

Government isn't the same as voluntary co-operation. Government is the power to compel people to do certain things by threatening them with police force or violence if they do not comply. I don't have any problem with people choosing to vaccinate or not vaccinate themselves or their children. If vaccines do what people claim they do, which is to create immunity to contagious diseases, then those people who have chosen to vaccinate themselves and their children should have nothing to fear from people who do not chose to vaccinate themselves or their children. I'm not smart enough to decide what's in the best interests of you and your loved ones, and I resist people who think that they're smart enough to know what's in the best interests of me and my loved ones and think that gives them the right to try to force me to comply with their ideas or buy their products.

The Herd Immunity Argument

The current argument is that mass vaccination is necessary for "herd immunity." To me, this is an outright admission that vaccines do not create immunity to disease. It's saying that an unvaccinated person poses a risk to a vaccinated person because the unvaccinated person can make the vaccinated person sick. This makes no sense to me at all. This argument is using fear to make people who have been vaccinated afraid of people who haven't so they will support forcing them to be vaccinated. I believe this is immoral. Plus, I think it is an incorrect understanding of the concept of "herd immunity."

As I understand it there are three basic parts to the immune system. The first is the protective barriers of the body, which include the skin and mucus membranes and the biofilm of the GI tract (gut flora). The second is the innate immune system which is like the border guard that patrols these protective barriers, with most of that border patrol being centered in the GI tract. The last aspect of immunity is the adaptive immune system, which goes after things which make it past the innate immune system and into the blood, lymph and tissues.

When one has a disease that enters the body through the mucus membranes via the innate immune system, the body produces antibodies to tag that foreign structure and the immune system kicks the microbial endotoxins and microbial debris from the body using a variety of symptoms, such as mucus discharge, diarrhea and skin eruptions. The antibodies created in the process not only confer life-long immunity to the person, they are also passed to the infant during breastfeeding, providing the infant with immune protection from diseases the mother is immune to. This is what creates herd immunity as eventually a whole population has the ability to fight a particular disease organism naturally and efficiently.

Vaccines bypass the innate immune system and directly enter the blood. This means that the last line of immune defense is triggered directly without the supporting influence of the innate immune system. This creates a different kind of antibody that confers a temporary immunity (which is why booster shots are needed). This type of immunity is not passed onto children through breastfeeding either. So, I do not see how vaccines contribute to herd immunity.

What is not commonly understood is that vaccines, in and of themselves, cannot make anyone immune to any disease.  I want to state that again. Vaccines do not make you immune. What a vaccine does do is present a challenge to the immune system. It introduces a dead or weakened strain of the infective organism directly into the bloodstream (along with the toxic substances used to kill or mobilize the infectious organism). The immune system must then do two things. First, it must successfully mount a response to the infective organism by producing antibodies to tag it for destruction. Second, it must detoxify the other chemicals in the vaccine and eliminate them from the body.

The Immune System is the Hero

What this means is that the real hero is the immune system. It is the immune system that creates immunity. The vaccine only challenges the immune system to mount a response, just like being exposed to the actual infective organism challenges the immune system to mount a response.

What concerns me is that people are neglecting the care of their actual immune system, trusting in vaccines, antibiotics and so forth to protect them from disease. In order for the immune system and detoxification mechanisms of the body to function properly, they must have nutrients. Nutrients required for immune function include zinc, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin D3 and vitamin C. Many people are deficient in these critical nutrients for immunity. Detoxification requires many nutrients, which are not being found in adequate amounts in diets composed primarily of processed foods.

A healthy gut flora is also a critical part of natural immunity and many people have become so “germ phobic” that they have severely disrupted their natural gut flora with the overuse of antibiotics, disinfectants and a lack of raw and naturally cultured foods.

I personally seek to create immunity by avoiding chemicals and toxins of all kinds, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs, commercial household cleaning products, toxic pest controls and foods with chemical additives. My personal avoidance of vaccines is part of that commitment to avoid as many toxins as I can (and vaccines do contain toxic substances).

I have never tried to talk someone out of getting vaccinations if they wanted them. I have recommended that people support their immune and detoxification systems when getting vaccines, because I believe that this makes it more likely the body will successfully meet the challenge of the vaccine and build immunity. As I said, it is the immune system that is the real hero of this story, whether you chose to vaccinate or not.

There’s a lot more I have to say about the subject, but I’m saving it for a webinar I’m teaching in July. You can sign up for this free class using the following link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5140077595963960835