Chickenpox Vaccination and NY Legislators

Updates Regarding Chickenpox Vaccination

Trading chickenpox for shingles?
Research published recently in the International Journal of Toxicology, suggests that the US government has unwittingly traded a typically mild childhood disease for a far more serious illness that affects adults.

The research findings of Dr. Gary S. Goldman, published recently in the International Journal of Toxicology, support the theory that shingles, which is known to cause three times as many deaths and five times the number of hospitalizations as chickenpox, is naturally suppressed by occasional contact with chickenpox.
Mothering Magazine, Nov-Dec 2005 [read entire article here]

According to the study, the rate of shingles has increased dramatically since a 1995 governmental recommendation that all children receive the chickenpox vaccine. Both chickenpox and shingles are caused by the same varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Following a chickenpox infection, the virus becomes dormant, but can reactivate later, in adulthood, as shingles. It has long been known that adults receive natural immune boosting from contact with children infected with chickenpox. This continued contact helps prevent the reactivation of the virus in the form of shingles.

. . .

May 2002: Vaccinating children against chickenpox (varicella) could increase the risk that adults would develop shingles, a painful blistering rash that is potentially dangerous in the elderly.
[read article here]

Chickenpox Vaccination and NY Legislators
Note: The section that follows is presented "as is" for it's historical and educational value.

In 1999 NYVIC contacted 161 NY legislators about the pending chickenpox legislation, asking them to answer 3 simple questions. Four legislators responded.

Late in the year chickenpox vaccination was mandated by NY legislators - without having held public hearings on the issue.

March 26, 1999 - Assembly bill A04600 (Senate bill S00982) would amend Public Health Law § 2164 and require chicken pox vaccination be added to the growing list of "immunizations" New York children are mandated to receive by state law. The Natural Immunity Information Network invited New York legislators -- those who have an Email address -- to take a stand on the issue of Requiring the Vaccination of Children Against Chickenpox and offered to publish their statements in this section. Check back over the coming weeks to read what they have to say about whether this vaccination is necessary and why there should or should not be PUBLIC HEARINGS (none are scheduled) on this important issue.

Another possible "side effect" of chickenpox vaccination

(from July '98 National Institutes of Health document)

DESCRIPTION: Transverse myelitis is a demyelinating (loss of the fatty tissue around the nerves) disorder of the spinal cord. It may occur alone or in combination with demyelination in other parts of the nervous system. Onset of the disorder is sudden. Symptoms may include low back pain, spinal cord dysfunction, muscle spasms, a general feeling of discomfort, headache, loss of appetite, and numbness or tingling in the legs. Transverse myelitis may be caused by viral infections, spinal cord injuries, immune reactions, or insufficient blood flow through the blood vessels in the spinal cord. It may also occur as a complication of such disorders as optic neuromyelitis, multiple sclerosis, smallpox, and measles, or as a complication of chickenpox vaccinations.

TREATMENT: There is no specific treatment for transverse myelitis. Treatment for the disorder is symptomatic.

PROGNOSIS: Generally, prognosis for complete recovery from transverse myelitis is not good. Although recovery usually begins between 2 and 12 weeks after onset and may continue for up to 2 years, most individuals are left with considerable disability. Some individuals may have minor or no deficits, while others may have significant motor, sensory, and sphincter (bowel) deficits. Some individuals show no recovery at all.

Related article here

Concerned parents and citizens are encouraged to examine the list of legislators to see who has received our questionnaire -- and to contact their representatives and urge (dare we demand?) that they respond. Conveniently, you can Email them directly from our lists.

Want to know what your Assemblyperson and Senator think about the chickenpox bill and whether or not there should be public hearings? Why not send them a copy of the questionaire? Simply download and then Edit / Select All / Copy / Paste the appropriate text (.txt) version of the questionnaire into an Email message window from the selections below. Or print it out, sign and snail-mail to your state representatives. (The view of some activists is that letters get more attention than Email.)
   Dear Assemblyman
   Dear Assemblywoman
   Dear Senator

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