Marshall Dudley wrote: "A link I posted earlier had contended that the polio epidemic was caused by the small pox vaccine either weakening the immune system, or being contaminated with polio. I am not sure which, but there was a very strong statistical corrolation between the areas that got the vaccine and those that had high rates of polio. Also when they stopped the vaccine, polio seems to have gone away."
Maybe so, but my 1968 edfition of Encyclopaedia Brittanica says that Poliomyelitis outbreaks were sporadic and world-wide affairs long before small pox vaccination injections, and that susceptibility appears to be significantly higher following any kind of immunization injection (apart from polio vaccine!). As far as I am aware, mass vaccinations, at least here in Australia, have always been compulsory. Hence the rich kid/poor kid difference still needs explaining. Thanks to Nina for the interesting piece on Echinacea - cleared up some misinformation for me, too. Not sure what "a rose by any other name" was trying to say. PATHOGENS suggests, more worms in the compost? Please clarify your message! Jason/AVRA wrote: "Children in particular, who are developing immune systems, need to actually experience pathogen-derived illness in order to build their immune systems to begin with. When people relocate, their immune systems need to adjust to the new climate and local pathogens as well." Agreed. And if they fail to catch, say, chicken pox as a child, chances are a far more severe form - shingles - may be contracted in adult life. So the potential problem of overextended dosing on CS would concern children more than adults, right? Later, Jason adds: "I don't buy that silver has immune system supressing tendencies - not only does this go against common sense ( CS is not REALLY a drug ) but it goes against my personal experience as well. I believe that it truly SUPPORTS the immune system, just like drinking water supports the immune system.......If you think in percentages of pathogens eliminated, and what it takes to actually experience symptoms of an illness, then it is pretty clear that small maintenance doses would only augment the function of the immune system and not replace it, unlike many antibiotics. Of course, no real research, to my knowledge, has been done on the subject." Rather than being Immune-suppressing like say chemotherapy drugs, I was thinking in terms of CS denying the need for the individual to develop antibodies and therefore natural resistance. But the above suggests that even a slight infection (CS taking care of the rest), with no clinical symptoms, is all thats needed to confer immunity. But is that right? Isn't there a minimum dose for an effective immunization shot? If there is as you say no real research, then we are largely hypothesizing. I appreciate your considered comments, but remain unconvinced that there are no significant potential drawbacks, particularly in respect of children being dosed as a matter of course. Maybe it comes down to a personal choice between relying on CS lifelong as a preventitive, or on a use-as-needed basis. Any long term users tried giving it up with bad results? Ayone know of studies that would help settle this? regards, Kevin Nolan [email protected]
