The MMR Vaccine: What the Manufacturer's Insert Tells Us

With all the controversy surrounding vaccines, it can be difficult to make a decision. The idea of one of our tiny children developing a disease that could have been prevented by a vaccine is frightening.

However, are vaccines really the Holy grail they've been promised to be? There are many educated, experienced medical professionals disagreeing on the subject. One place for parent to start might be the makers of the vaccines themselves.

Vaccine Package Inserts
Every vaccine includes a package insert that tells the doctor (and the parent lucky enough to see one) all about the vaccine, including its description, ingredients, purpose, contraindications (under what circumstances one should NOT have the vaccine), and side effects.

Merck is the manufacturer of the commonly used MMR vaccine. MMR stands for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. They provide a copy of the MMR package insert on their website in PDF format, which one can view by clicking here.

MMR Vaccine Ingredients
Under the description we learn that the MMR is made in a medium using chick embryo cell culture. That means the disease is cultivated in eggs. Another potentially allergenic ingredient is gelatin. Anyone with an egg or gelatin allergy will want to avoid having this injected into their blood stream.

We also learn that the Rubella part of the vaccine is grown in human diploid lung fibroblasts. Translation: aborted human embryo tissue.

MMR Vaccine Indications and Uses
Generally, the MMR vaccine is recommended for children starting at 12 months. It is also frequently recommended for women of child-bearing age, since Rubella can cause birth defects. Many women have had the MMR vaccine recommended to them during pregnancy itself as well as immediately after.
However, the package insert clearly states that women should only receive the MMR vaccine 3 month prior to actually becoming pregnant.

It also states "Postpubertal females should b informed of the frequent occurrence of generally self-limited arthralgia and/or arthritis beginning 2 to 4 weeks after vaccination."

MMR Vaccine Contraindications
A contraindication is a condition under which receiving the MMR vaccine would be a bad idea, possibly even life threatening. Here, individuals are warned if they are allergic or sensitive to any of the vaccine ingredients, if they are pregnant, if they have any immunosuppressive diseases or a family history of such conditions, or any condition effecting the lymph or bone marrow.

Under the Warnings section, we are told that anyone currently with or who has a family history of convulsions, cerebral injury, or "any other condition in which stress due to fever should be avoided." (Author's note: that's their sentence fragment, not mine).

The Precautions section has an interesting section that nursing mothers who are told to get the Rubella vaccine after giving birth should note. Live Rubella virus has been known to come from some individuals who receive the vaccine 7 to 28 days later. They note that while this means they could theoretically spread Rubella, they don't regard it as a significant risk. However, in the next sentence they state that "transmission of the Rubella vaccine virus to infants via breast milk has been documented."

MMR Vaccine Effectiveness
The last important bit of information under this section of the MMR vaccine package insert is this sentence: "As for any vaccine, vaccination with M-M-R-II may not result in protection in 100% of vaccines."

There is ample documentation of MMR vaccine failure, specifically major outbreaks among highly-vaccinated populations. Blame for the outbreaks is usually placed on the unvaccinated portion of the population, however, the largest percentages of those who become ill are usually the ones who are current on their vaccines. Click here to read a long list of peer-reviewed studies and their summaries concerning this issue.

Some experts are concerned that the Measles, Mumps and Rubella viruses are mutating, but more studies need to be done in order to confirm this.

MMR Vaccine Adverse Reactions
Merck lists the following side effects on their package insert.

Panniculitis
atypical measles
fever
syncope
headache
dizziness
malaise
irritability
vasculitis
pancreatitis
diarrhea
vomiting
parotitis
nausea
diabetes mellitus
thrombocytopenia
purpura
regional lymphadenopathy
leukocytosis
Anaphylaxis and anaphylactoid reactions
angioneurotic edema
bronchial spasms
arthritis
anthragia
myalgia
encephalitis
encephalopathy
subacute sclerosing panencephalitis
Guillian Barre Syndrome
febrile convulsions
seizures
ataxia
polyneuritis
polyneuropathy
ocular palsies
paresthesia
aseptic meningitis
Pneumonitis
sore throat
cough
rhinitis
Stevens-Johnson syndrome
erythema multiforme
urticaria
rash
pruritis
nerve deafness
otitis media
retinitis
optic neuritis
papillitis
retrobulbar neuritis
conjunctivitis
Orchitis
DEATH

* Bolded text is bolded by the author

The actual package insert tells a little more about each of these "adverse reactions."

In addition, they make the following statement:"M-M-R II has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential, or potential to impair fertility."

For information on adverse reactions reported to the government (warning - the government itself estimates that only 10% of all reactions are actually reported), visit the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

The Autism Controversy

I am no longer "trying to dig up evidence to prove" vaccines cause autism. There is already abundant evidence,--- [July 9, 2006 Blog/letter] Discovering the causes, treatment of autism ----David Ayoub, MD...... This debate is not scientific but is political.

This merits an article unto itself, but an introduction is important here, since the Autism/Vaccine connection is most frequently associated with the MMR.

In June 2005, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote an article published in the Rolling Stone about the connection between rising rates in Autism and the ingredient thimerosal (mercury) in vaccines. He joins a long line of scientists, medical experts, and concerned parents who see a connection, even if the government does not.

"In 1982, the FDA proposed a ban on over-the-counter products that contained thimerosal, and in 1991 the agency considered banning it from animal vaccines. But tragically, that same year, the CDC recommended that infants be injected with a series of mercury-laced vaccines. Newborns would be vaccinated for hepatitis B within twenty-four hours of birth, and two-month-old infants would be immunized for haemophilus influenzae B and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis," he wrote.

He continues, "The drug industry knew the additional vaccines posed a danger. The same year that the CDC approved the new vaccines, Dr. Maurice Hilleman, one of the fathers of Merck's vaccine programs, warned the company that six-month-olds who were administered the shots would suffer dangerous exposure to mercury. He recommended that thimerosal be discontinued, "especially when used on infants and children," noting that the industry knew of nontoxic alternatives. "The best way to go," he added, "is to switch to dispensing the actual vaccines without adding preservatives."

For Merck and other drug companies, however, the obstacle was money."

Currently, most vaccine companies are "voluntarily" removing thimerosal as a vaccine preservative, however, it continues to be used in flu vaccines and vaccines sent out of the country.

Conclusion
Most of this information has come directly from the manufacturer's own package insert for the MMR vaccine. It behooves each parent to consider this information very carefully, since much of it is excluded from the documentation provided by the Center or Disease Control that is given to parents at the time the vaccine is given to their children.