Strong and Vital No 2

The «Leicester model» caught on, compulsory small pox vaccinations soon became a practice of the past and smallpox disappeared. Until 1950, however, small pox was still routinely vaccinated against in many countries, as I can prove with my two vaccination scars on my upper arm. The smallpox vaccination did not add one bit to our longer life expectancy.

Vaccination has not saved us from either of these two diseases, neither extends our healthy life expectancy. There is no clean, randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial for any other vaccine, so I won’t even start listing them. The vaccination that could theoretically prolong life is the HPV vaccination, i.e. against the human papillo mavirus, which can cause cervical cancer. Again, it is a vaccination against a rare disease and its benefits have been proven by dubious studies. It is a disease for which there is effective prevention. Why the vacci nation? Vaccination has not contributed to a longer and healthier life. One exception must be admitted: the measles vaccination , although strictly speaking it causes a «desirable undesirable» side effect, it is safe and effective. This is possible because there is only one measles virus strain. Small outbreaks of measles occur from time to time, occasionally among strict opponents of the vaccination, mostly letting panic arise instead of communicating how many of those infected were actually unvaccinated. Probably for good reason. The Danish researcher Peter Aaby came up with the desirable side effect of the measles vaccination. Children vaccinated against measles also had a sur vival advantage in other infectious diseases, even in the absence of measles. The measles vaccination appears to train the immune system . Peter Aaby made this discovery in a developing coun try, but the phenomenon has now also been proven for industrialised countries. Do vaccinations extend our healthy lifespan? Not a trace. The measles vaccination seems to train our immune system, the rubella vaccination protects against deformed babies, but our healthy lifespan? We do not extend it with medical inter ventions, but with regular training of our cardiovascular system, our brain and above all our muscles, which carry us healthily through life.

And polio?

Polio viruses are so-called enteroviruses, they thrive and multiply in the intestines and are transmitted through poor hygiene, especially via contamina ted water. Polio occurs in localised outbreaks, most children in epidemic areas experience a polio infec tion without symptoms, which can be easily detected by an antibody test. One per cent of those infected are usually permanently paralysed. President Roose velt, who himself contracted polio at the age of 39, became the patron saint of immunisation in the USA. After preliminary studies, the largest medical experi ment in the history of medicine began in the USA: 1.8 million children took part in the study with the Salk polio vaccine. During the trial, the press reported con tinuously on the results, and at the end the press con ference announced: «The vaccine is effective, safe and potent». Cheers erupted throughout the coun try, church bells rang, Jonas Salk, the developer of the vaccine, became a public hero and the study was celebrated as a great success. However, it was not a success, vaccine protection was in the per mille range, and serious side effects, mostly paralysis, occurred in the course of the immediate mass vaccination pro gramme in the USA. The vaccination did not contribute to a longer and healthier life. In a second mass immunisation campaign, this time with the new Sabin oral vaccine, millions of children in India were vaccinated. The WHO and sponsors cele brated the campaign as a historic event. It was not a success either: although cases of polio decreased, cases of «acute flaccid paralysis» increased at the same time. «A change of label», said an investigative Indian journalist.

STRONG and VITAL No. 2 - 2024

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