Vaccines and Immune Suppression

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Vaccines and Immune Suppression

http://www.redflagsweekly.com/articles/2005_apr07.html

 

by Harold E Buttram, MD

 

Introduction

 

Very few today would question that we are dealing with increasing

patterns of sickness in today’s children as compared with earlier

generations. Neurobehavioral problems are epidemic including autism,

learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In

my experience, when elementary school teachers have been questioned

about this matter, answers have been unanimous and emphatic, that they

are now seeing a much greater incidence of these disorders with almost

visible increases by the year. The same can be said for allergies and

general patterns of sickness.

 

Until recently some have contended that the increase in these disorders

has been due to better diagnosis, but this is no longer the case as

reflected by current Center for Disease Control statistics showing

increases in each of these categories. What then are the causes of this

ominous health trend in our children? There are clues which relate in

part to vaccines. Epidemiologic studies from England, (1) Sweden, (2)

Africa, (3) and New Zealand (4) have consistently shown a much greater

incidence of atopic disorders and patterns of sickness in fully

vaccinated children as compared to those with limited or no vaccines.

For this reason it may be of interest to review some of the pertinent

medical literature on adverse vaccine effects in this area.

 

Vaccines and Immune Impairment; a Representative Review of the Literature

 

In a Letter-to-the Editor to the New England Journal of Medicine (1984),

Eibl et al reported on a study of routine tetanus booster immunizations

in 11 healthy adults in which T-lymphocyte subpopulations (white blood

cells which help govern the immune system) were tested before and after

immunizations. (5) Special concern rests in the fact that in 4 of the

subjects the T-helper lymphocytes temporarily dropped to levels found in

active AIDS patients. Comment: If this was the result of a single

vaccine in healthy adults, it is sobering to think of the immune

consequences of the multiple vaccines given repeatedly to infants with

their immature and vulnerable immune systems during their first 6 months

of life; and yet, as far as I am aware, this test has never been repeated.

 

In the Journal of Infectious Diseases (1992) there was a report of the

DPT vaccine (Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus) provoking a significantly

higher incidence of paralytic poliomyelitis in Oman during a polio

epidemic in that country. (6) Although the wild polio virus does not

exist in the U.S.A at this time, this report indicates that the DPT

vaccine can and often does lower the resistance of the vaccinated

person, opening the way for other diseases. Comment: The counterpart in

this country may be the increasing incidence of common respiratory/ear

infections, asthma and other allergies, and neurobehavioral problems.

 

In the text, The Hazards of Immunization, by Sir Graham Wilson, there is

a chapter entitled “Indirect Effects (of Vaccines): Provocation

Disease.” (7) Although Wilson was not in principle opposed to

immunizations, the book was directed at a review of known or suspected

adverse effects from vaccines. In this particular chapter, one of the

examples was that of the typhoid vaccine given to members of the German

Army during World War I; that is, if typhoid vaccine were given during

the incubation phase of this disease, the vaccine sometimes provoked a

sudden and severe attack of typhoid fever. The same applied for

poliomyelitis, about which Wilson quoted a variety of published reports

showing that children had many times greater incidence of poliomyelitis

who had received an injection of DTP vaccine in preceding 4 to 6 weeks

as compared with uninoculated groups, or those not recently immunized.

Comment: Viera Scheibner, PhD, retired research scientist of Australia,

described a plausible mechanism for immune impairment and dysfunction

following immunizations in the following words:

 

“The administration of multiple vaccines in a short space of time will

probably lead to a large, albeit transient, depletion of naïve

T-(lymphocyte) cells, as vaccine-antigen-specific cells are primed and

undergo activation-induced cell death or differentiation into memory T

cells. On the basis of current models of T-cell homeostasis, this lesion

in the naïve-T-cell pool will allow extended removal of naïve T cells

not specific for vaccine antigens, which will essentially include

auto-reactive naïve T cells. Thus, the future risk of autoimmune disease

could be increased (as well as an increased vulnerability to common

infections)…Before any immunization is declared safe, the potential

disruption in normal T cell homeostasis – and any resultant adverse

outcomes – must be fully assessed.” (8)

 

Black (9) and Daum (10) demonstrated a decrease in serum anticapsular

antibody to Hemophilus influenza, type b in the immediate

postimmunization period, which could transiently increase the risk of

invasive disease if the vaccine were administered during an asymptomatic

colonization of the H influenza bacteria, thus giving another example of

potential “provocation disease,” in addition to those cited by Graham

Wilson. As an example of “provocation disease” from the acellular

Pertussis vaccine, a report from Sweden provided details of deaths of 4

children from invasive bacterial disease post-DTaP vaccines. (11)

 

Jeffreys (2001) wrote: “Accumulating evidence suggests that the

mechanisms underlying the maintenance of T cell homeostasis are

intimately involved in preventing the increased expansion of

self-reactive T cells and resultant autoimmune diseases. (12) Most

importantly, the continuous export of naïve T cells into the thymus

seems to be the key in controlling the number of self-reactive

(auto-immune) peripheral T cells according to Tanchot and Rocha. (13)

 

As a commentary on the Tanchot & Rocha report, accumulations of high

number of apoptotic cells (cell deaths of the naïve T cells following

immunizations) is proposed to lead to immunogenic presentation of

intracellular self-antigens and thereby trigger autoimmune responses.

Although a subset of T-cells activated by vaccine antigens changes into

memory T cells, most will undergo expansion followed by apoptosis driven

by activation-induced cell death. Multiple vaccinations during a short

space of time could therefore also increase the risk of

(auto)immunogenic presentation of intracellular self-antigens by

increasing the number of T cells undergoing apoptosis (death). (8)

 

Parfentjev (1955) demonstrated that vaccination of mice with pertussis

vaccine increased their susceptibility to infection from several

unrelated species of Gram-negative bacteria; such mice succumbed from

smaller number of live bacteria than normal mice. The same vaccine also

increased the susceptibility of mice to viruses. (14)

 

The capability of the measles vaccine to suppress cell-mediated immunity

has been known for decades (15-17) (cell-mediated immunity is primarily

responsible for controlling viral and fungal infections, and its

suppression may be causally related with patterns of sickness commonly

seen following vaccines). More recently a study by Nicholson (1992)

documented the effects of the measles/rubella vaccine in lowering

lymphocyte counts in HIV-infected and healthy recipients. (18)

 

Craighead, (1975) in reporting on a workshop on disease accentuation

after immunization with inactivated microbial vaccines, first quoted

research on animals which clearly demonstrated that inactivated viral

and rickettsial vaccines caused an infection of increased severity after

inoculation. Several investigators documented a sporadic occurrence of

an atypical pattern of naturally acquired measles several years after

the administration of an inactivated virus vaccine to children. Others

demonstrated a febrile illness accompanied by pneumonia in

experimentally infected recipients of a killed Mycoplasma pneumonia

vaccine, which failed to produce detectable antibody. Still others

reported an unusually severe respiratory disease in infants and young

children developing natural infections with respiratory syncytial virus

after immunization with formaldehyde-treated vaccine. He concluded that

these observations, although limited in scope, suggested that

immunization with inactivated vaccines could “sensitize” the recipients

and result in an accentuated pattern of disease upon natural or

experimental exposure. (19)

 

As previously reviewed, epidemiologic studies in widely separated

geographic areas have consistently shown a greater incidence of

allergies and atopic disorders in fully vaccinated children as compared

with those of limited or no vaccines. (1-4) Among the basic science

studies giving insights into the involved mechanisms, that of Imani and

Kehoe, (2001) is of special interest. In a follow-up of a study showing

that the measles virus infections caused an IgE switching of nuclear

material in B-lymphcytes, the authors found that the same switching took

place from the MMR vaccine leading to an increase in the expression of

IgE (and by inference away from the protective IgG and IgM antibodies).

(20) Comment: It appears that Imani has uncovered an important clue as

to one of the important mechanisms whereby current vaccine programs may

be causally related with today’s growing incidence of allergies. Other

vaccines also contain allergenic properties including tetanus toxoid

(21) and Bacillus pertussis. (22) Pertussis toxin injected into mice in

combination with an antigen has been shown to induce synthesis of IgE

antibodies to this antigen. (22) In a similar vein, pertussis toxin has

been shown to prolong intestinal hypersensitivity to antigens present in

the digestive system at time of pertussis administration. (23)

 

 

 

Acknowledgment: Some of the reference material quoted here was obtained

from the writings of Dr Viera Scheibner

References

 

1. Odent MR, Pertussis vaccine and asthma; is there a link? JAMA, 1994;

271:229-231.

2. Alm JS et al, Atopy in children of families with anthroposophic

lifestyle, Lancet, May 1, 1999; 353:1485-1488.

3. Shaneen SO et al, Measles and atopy in Guinea-Bissau, Lancet, June

19, 1996; 347:1792-1796.

4. Kemp T et al, Is infant immunization a risk factor for childhood

asthma or allergy? Epidemiology, November, 1997; 8(6):678-680.

5. Eibl M et al, Abnormal T-lymphocyte subpopulations in healthy

subjects after tetanus booster immunization, (letter), NEJM, 1984;

310(3):198-199.

6. Sutter RW et al, Attributable risk of DTP

(Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis) injection in provoking paralytic

poliomyelitis during a large outbreak in Oman, Journal of Infectious

Diseases, 1992; 165:444-449.

7. The Hazards of Immunization, Sir Graham Wilson, Athlone Press,

University of London, 1967, Pages 265-280.

8. Personal Communication, Dr. Viera Scheibner, 2002.

9. Black S et al, b-CAPSA 1 Haemophilus influenza type b capsular

polysaccharide vaccine safety, Pediatrics, 1987; 79:321-325.

10. Daum RS, Sood SK, Osterholm, MT et al, Decline in serum antibody to

the capsule of the Haemophilus influenzae type b in the immediate

post-immunization period, J Pediatr, 1989; 114:742-7.

11. Storsaeter et al, Mortality and morbidity from invasive bacterial

infections during a clinical trial of acellular pertussis vaccines in

Sweden, Pediatric Infect Dis J, 1988; 7:637-645.

12. Jeffreys R, T-cells and vaccination, Lancet, 2001; 357: 1451.

13. Tanchot C, Rocha B, Peripheral selection of T cell repertoires: the

role of continuous thymus output, J Exp Med, 1997; 186:1099-1105.

14. Parfentjev IA, Bacterial allergy increases susceptibility to

influenza virus in mice, Proc Soc Exp Biol Med, Nov., 1955; 90:373-375.

15. Brody JA, Overfield T, Hammes IM, Depression of tuberculin

sensitivity by live viral vaccines, NEJM,1964; 711:1294-1296.

16. Brody JA, McAlister R, Depression of tuberculin sensitivity

following measles vaccination, Am Rev Resp Dis; 1964; 90:607-611.

17. McChesney MB, Altman A, Oldstone MBA, Suppression of lymphocyte

function by measles virus is due to cell cycle arrest in G1, J Immunol,

1988; 140:1269-1273.

18. Nicholson JKA et al, The effect of Measles-Rubella vaccination on

lymphocyte populations and subpopulations in HIV-infected and healthy

individuals, J Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes,1992; 5:528-537.

19. Craighead JE, Report of a workshop: Disease accentuation after

immunization with inactivated microbial vaccines, J Infect Dis, 1975;

1312(6):749-754.

20. Imani F, Kehoe KE, Infection of human B lymphocytes with MMR vaccine

induces IgE class switching, Clinical Immunology, Sept., 2001;

100(3):355-361.

21. Akosa AB, Ali MH, Khoo CT et al, Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with

eosinophilia associated with tetanus toxoid vaccination. Histopathol,

1990, 16:589-593.

22. Suko M, Ogita I, Okudaira H, Preferential enhancement of IgE

antibody formation by Bordetella pertussis, Int Arch Allergy Appl

Immunol, 1977; 54:329-337.

23. Kosecka U et al, Pertussis adjuvant prolongs intestinal

hypersensitivity, Int Arch Allergy Immunol, July, 1999; 119(3):205-211.