Tetanus Shots.

Many parents who are otherwise opposed to injecting vaccines into their children are still concerned about the prospect of their child getting a puncture wound and developing tetanus (lockjaw). The usual routine with any cut, burn, or open wound of the skin is a booster tetanus shot administered at the hospital emergency ward even if the person is completely vaccinated.

Robert S. Mendelsohn, MY, wrote in his 1984 book How to Raise a Healthy Child ... In Spite of Your Doctor about tetanus "booster" shots, "Today, I question whether booster shots are ever needed and even whether the administration of tetanus antitoxin makes any sense. There is no scientific evidence indicating how often tetanus boosters are required or whether they are required at all" (p. 176). In the book, he does not state whether or not he would recommend the initial tetanus vaccine.

In 1995, we had the honor of hosting Viera Scheibner, PHD (Paleontology), a research scientist from Australia, in Vancouver, BC. Although Dr. Scheibner had all her children vaccinated, she began researching the subject in peer reviewed medical journals and was appalled at the dangers and ineffectiveness of the inoculations she had so believed in for her own family. She has written a book documenting this research called Vaccination (1993).

Dr. Scheibner was asked by someone in the audience what she would do if someone in her family stepped on a rusty nail in a barnyard. Her reply was that she would strip off the socks and shoes and attempt to open the wound as much as possible while pouring hydrogen peroxide into it. After doing her research, she would never again allow a member of her family to be vaccinated with anything.

In an old issue of the newsletter from the Committee Against Compulsory Vaccination in Willowdale, Ontario (October, 1985). I found this interesting information that gives some perspective on the rarity of healthy people getting tetanus.

"Contrary to popular belief, tetanus bacilli or spores exist not just on farms, but all over our environment. C. Tetani is found in soil and the intestines of animals, including man (the apparent source in the surgical case below).

Health and Welfare Canada's Weekly Report describes three cases in Quebec in 1983 and one in BC in 1984. The Quebec cases included a 64-year-old farmer with a finger injury, a 58-year-old postoperative patient, and a five-year-old with a foreign object in her nose. The BC case was a 70-year-old farm woman with a leg injury (chicken coop). Similarities in all cases included never having had tetanus immunization, all wounds were severely infected, and all recovered fully with extensive treatment. Quebec has had 13 cases of tetanus since 1975 with no deaths. Prior to 1975 and since 1945 cases ranged from 8 to 26 per five year period and deaths from 37% to 87% per period.... As tetanus bacilli reproduce in the absence of oxygen, a condition which occurs when there is severe infection and a purulent wound, it would be important that all wounds be properly treated and infection avoided if one chooses not to vaccinate."

I found this information interesting. Could it be that we have mass vaccine programs because there are a few people who would ignore and put up with a puss-filled wound with obvious infection?

The use of antibiotics is a different issue, but physicians have told me that they have seen cases of gonorrheal infection in the eyes of newborns where there is a green puss that seals the eye shut and, when treated, the child recovers with full vision. Throughout North America, birth attendants treat every baby's eyes with antibiotic cream to prevent gonorrhea infections that can be picked up in the vagina of an infected mother. As a parent, I am insulted by this. I did not test positive for gonorrhea in early pregnancy, and I would seek medical help if my child had an eye infection. I do not want unnecessary antibiotics given to my child.

I believe that treating every citizen as unable to make informed decisions is rampant in allopathic medicine. The importance of questioning routine procedures and self-education about the pros and cons of all medical treatment cannot be emphasized enough. It seems that there is a huge profit for pharmaceutical companies to push for routine vaccines, antibiotics, and testing procedures and not a huge profit for anyone to push for natural health, and, therefore, the tendency of the medical practitioner will be to acquiesce to peer pressure.

My approach for my own family with regard to tetanus prevention or treatment would be to not give the vaccine; be alert to the dangers of puncture wounds; clean carefully and seek medical help if they show signs of infection; eat well and stay fit; and supplement mega doses of Vitamin C if exposed to infection.

--Gloria Lemay is a private birth attendant in Vancouver, BC. She can be reached at [e-mail]