10. Are there benefits to getting acute infectious childhood diseases?

 

There is increasing evidence that having an acute infectious disease of childhood strengthens and matures the child's immune system and that having acute diseases in childhood is protective against chronic disease including cancer, asthma, certain skin conditions and autoimmune disorders.

As Philip Incao, M.D. has written (personal correspondence 1999):

One of the best ways to ensure your children's health is to allow them to get sick. At first hearing, this concept may sound outrageous. Yet standard childhood illnesses, such as measles, mumps, and even whooping cough, may be of key benefit to a child's developing immune system and it may be inadvisable to suppress these illnesses with immunizations. Evidence is also accumulating that routine childhood vaccinations may directly contribute to the emergence of chronic problems such as eczema, ear infections, asthma, and bowel inflammations.

 

A recent MSNBC report (April 19, 2000) headlined: Measles may help to prevent asthma.

An early case of the measles may help some people avoid asthma, according to new research .... This is based on the research of Dr. David Gooden of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Gooden and his colleagues made a 30 year study of a variety of bacteria, antibodies and a range of infections in more than 300 people. Measles was the only one that came up with an association with asthma.

 

This information should not be interpreted as saying that an ill child should not be comforted, cared for and nursed. On the contrary, a child who is ill needs extra special attention and his/her needs must be met so that a usually benign disease stays benign. Most children who become seriously ill from childhood diseases usually have some other condition (malnourishment for example) that has damaged their immune system.

 

There are many healing systems parents may avail themselves of in order to keep their child's immune system functioning at its optimum so he or she may derive the most benefit from their illness. These include nutritional and vitamin therapy, homeopathy, naturopathy, herbal therapy, aromatherapy, chiropractic, CranioSacral therapy, acupuncture, acupressure and modern medicine (it does have a place) among others.

Viera Scheibner, Ph.D. author of Immunizations: The Medical Assault on the Immune System writes:

There is no need to protect children from contracting infectious diseases of childhood. These diseases are there to prime and mature their immune system.

 An unvaccinated child will have a couple of common colds within the first year of life while chronic ill-health, a constant stream of common colds, otitis media, and upper and lower respiratory tract diseases is well-documented in vaccinated children.

A well-nourished child will go through rubella, whooping cough, chicken pox and the rest with flying colors. Only the vaccinated develop atypical forms of the diseases (atypical measles, mumps and whooping cough) which are much more dangerous.

Having measles not only protects against measles later on, it has been demonstrated that suppressing measles fever and rash by vaccination leads to cancer and degenerative diseases of bone and cartilage as documented in Lancet 1985 September 5. According to the British Medical Journal suppression of skin eruptions like eczema leads to cancer.

In 1958 there were 800,000 cases of measles and from 1974-1976 there were only 30,000 cases. Today about 800,000 die of cancer each year. Is the upsurge of child leukemia and cancer coincidental with the mass use of vaccines (especially the polio vaccines)?

 

The Lancet study Dr. Scheibner mentions above is Measles Virus Infection Without Rash Leads To Disease In Adult Life. Lancet 5 January 1985 Renne, T (Department of Epidemiology State Serum Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark). The author of this study found that measles vaccination in childhood was related to the following diseases in adult life: "immunoreactive diseases, sebaceous skin diseases, degenerative diseases of bone and cartilage, and certain tumors."

 

Is having an acute disease in childhood protective against cancer? This was the finding in: Febrile Infectious Childhood Diseases In The History Of Cancer Patients And Matched Controls by Albonico HU, Braker HU, Husler J. Dept of Mathematical Statistics, University of Berne, Switzerland. Medical Hypotheses 1998 Oct; 51(4):315-20.

 

From the abstract:

This study was designed to investigate the hypothesis that febrile infectious childhood diseases (FICDs) are associated with a lower cancer risk in adulthood... We collected 424 cases; of these we could analyze 379 matched pairs. The study consistently revealed a lower cancer risk for patients with a history of FICD.

 

Another study showing a decreased cancer risk in persons with a history of acute disease (in this case common colds or gastroenteric influenza) is: Common Infections In The History Of Cancer Patients And Controls by Abel U, Becker N, Angerer R, FrentzelBeyme R, Kaufmann M, Schlag P, Wysocki S, Wahrendorf J, Schulz G. Tumorzentrum Heidelberg/Mannheim, FRG. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 1991; 117(4): 339-44.

From the abstract:

The association between the frequency of manifest infectious diseases and cancer risk was investigated. A total of 255 cases with carcinomas of the stomach, colon, rectum, breast, and ovary, as well as 255 population controls and 230 hospital controls were interviewed using a standard questionnaire. Controls were matched to the cases for age, sex, and region of residence at the time of the interview. A history of common colds or gastroenteric influenza prior to the interview was found to be associated with a decreased cancer risk.

 

While the above studies are not conclusive, they appear to support the hygienic theory of disease that considers acute disease to be a process which cleanses and purifies the body and promotes health and healing. Vaccine mechanism appears to interfere with the acute expression of disease.

 

 

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