The Truth About the Mumps Outbreaks, Not the Hype (Part 2)

by Heidi Stevenson

10 November 2009

Part 1 focuses on how the hype about recent outbreaks of mumps have been ratcheted up to a degree that bears little connection with reality. Here, the information focuses primarily on vaccination risks and myths, and includes how to take care of yourself should you find that you do get the mumps.

Vaccination vs. Mumps

In point of fact, the real risks are associated with having mumps vaccinations. If the vaccine actually is preventive, the disease it's preventing is clearly not often serious. Yet, in exchange for this highly questionable protection, the risks from the vaccination are significant. Although the official line is still that there's no connection between vaccinations and autism, the facts say otherwise.

A 2000 Brazil study of a mass immunization program in the American Journal of Epidemiology reported that 1 in 14,000 children who received the MMR vaccination suffered from aseptic meningitis⁽⁴⁾.

According to BUPA, a major insurance company in the UK, the trivalent MMR vaccine used for mumps causes 1 in 1,000 children to suffer from convulsions. Fever and measles-like rashes are common, and mumps-like symptoms may follow⁽³⁾. Consider that these are admitted outcomes of the MMR vaccination, and they seem to be more serious than current outcomes of the mumps have been.

Herd Immunity?

The so-called "herd immunity" requirement for an effective vaccination campaign states that 95% of the population must be vaccinated to provide immunity.* This is often cited as a reason to encourage or force everyone to be vaccinated.

The claim references those who have not been vaccinated. It has nothing to do with people who've received vaccinations, though it's routinely used to blame the unvaccinated for disease in the vaccinated. The logic of this seems to have been developed in a universe that operates according to different laws.

Additional Risks from Early Childhood Mumps Vaccinations

As is becoming clear from the recent outbreaks, the mumps vaccinations, though they may provide some immunity for a few years, do not continue to provide it into the late teens. A large percentage of people coming down with mumps are young adults. Of course, the refrain is that they should be revaccinated—accepting all the risks associated with yet another vaccination.

As is clear at this point, the vaccine carries more risk than the disease itself. Worse, though, is the fact that adults are at significantly greater risk of harm, especially in the form of orchitis and oophoritis, than children. Thus, giving the vaccinations to children greatly increases the risk of harm from the disease itself as whatever protection it provides against the disease wears off, resulting in people coming down with it at an age that carries greater risks.

What If You Do Get the Mumps?

Be clear that it is possible to get the mumps, but if you do, there are simple common-sense things you can do that almost completely eliminate risk from the disease. In general, these are the things that most mothers seem to understand instinctively:

• Get plenty of rest.
• If the weather isn't too bad, leave a window open for fresh air.
• Drink plenty of water. Fruit juices are also good, though most cause throat pain during the early stages of mumps. If it's difficult to swallow, then try using a straw.
• The fever from mumps is rarely high. Unless it's dangerously so, do not try to reduce it. Fever is one of nature's most effective ways to fight illness. Reducing temperature is one of the worst things you can do in an illness.
• Avoid antibiotics and other medications, as these will do absolutely nothing to reduce the severity, and all drugs carry risks.
• Perhaps most important, refer to the first item: Get plenty of rest. This is the one that most adults tend to ignore—and it's probably why more adults suffer from complications. Take it easy. Stay in bed. Let someone pamper you a bit.

One Last Consideration

The medical literature often refers to the relative risk ratio of vaccinations to the diseases they're supposed to prevent. The recent mumps outbreaks must bring the validity of these claims into question. As we've seen here, the risks from the disease are proving to be only a tiny fraction of the medical world's claims. Even accepting their own numbers of harm caused by vaccines—figures that most parents of autistic children would reject as absurdly low—it's obvious that the risks of vaccines compared to disease are far higher than acknowledged.

The subversion of science to serve the desires of Big Pharma and Big Med must stop. Even in the face of proof that a vaccine isn't working, and proof that the disease itself is mild, the automatic reaction of the media and Big Med is to cry for more vaccinations and more kinds of vaccinations. It's impossible to believe that their goal is the health of people. Their actions condemn their motives.