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Passed On by Karin Schumacher <via@ihot.com>
Cot Death Linked to Immunisation Rates
By Maree Curtis of the Sunday Age
BABIES who are not immunised run a higher risk of dying from cot
death, according to international research. In separate studies,
Dr Caroline Blackwell, a senior lecturer at Edinburgh University
Medical School, Scotland, and Dr Carl Lindgren, from the department
of paediatrics, Oslo University, Norway, found immunisation provided
increased protection against sudden infant death syndrome. Dr Blackwell
and Dr Lindgren are keynote speakers at the Australian SIDS conference
in Melbourne this weekend.
Dr Lindgren said immunisation against pertussis (whooping cough)
was halted in Sweden in 1979 because of concerns about side effects
while Norway continued to immunise against it. By studying babies
from both countries, where social conditions are almost identical,
Dr Lindgren found a statistically significant correlation between
the decreased incidence of immunisation and an increase in SIDS.
There have been a lot of studies because people have been afraid
that immunisation as such may be the cause of SIDS but an immunised
population seems to have less degree of SIDS, Dr Lindgren said.
Dr Blackwell said there was increasing evidence that many SIDS
infants had been exposed to bacterial toxins. She said that while
about 50 per cent of healthy babies will have Staphyloccoccus aureus
organisms in their nose and throat, up to 86 per cent of SIDS babies
in her study had the organisms. She said the organisms produced
toxins when they were heated to between 37 degrees and 40 degrees.
In healthy babies the nose and throat were usually cooler due to
airway circulation. The key thing, we think, is heat. It's the
heat that switches on the toxins, so keeping babies cool and sleeping
them on their backs (to aid circulation) is important, Dr Blackwell
said.
She said Britain had recently followed Australia's lead and decreased
the age of first immunisation to two months. While the overall
incidence of SIDS had decreased, the number of deaths in babies
under two months increased. Dr Blackwell said the value of early
immunisation could be that it encourages antibody production during
the vulnerable ``window period'' when the protection the baby recieves
from its mother's antibodies is decreasing.
The federal Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge, a strong supporter
of immunisation, said the research was very encouraging. He said
Australia's immunisation rate was one of the worst in the Western
world with only 53 per cent of children receiving complete immunisation
by school entry. I am hoping to get that well into the 70s at worst,
and into the 80s at best, within 18 months,'' Dr Wooldridge said.
He said the Government was planning a major launch in July to promote
immunisation and that as of 1 January next year, parents who did
not have their children immunised would not be eligible for child
care benefits unless they signed a conscientious objection. The
president of the Australian College of Paediatrics, Professor Peter
Phelan, said the latest research would be very reassuring for parents.
Note by Len Horowitz: This information appears to contradict the
findings of Harris Coulter and others whose research indicates
SIDS is very often linked to RECEIVING early vaccinations.
Meryl Dorey,
President
The Australian Vaccination Network, Inc.
PO Box 177 (066) 871-699 Phone
Bangalow NSW 2479 (066) 872-032 FAX
van@mypostbox.com
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~shotinfo
"
All truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is
violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."
(Schopenhauer)
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Karin Schumacher
Vaccine Information & Awareness (VIA)
792 Pineview Drive
San Jose, CA 95117
408-448-6658 (phone/fax)
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via@ihot.com (email)
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http://www.ihot.com/~via (VIA website)
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