Dear Dr. Wakefield,

I am the mother of a 16 month old daughter who originally became interested in
the vaccine debate when my daughter was hospitalized after her first Hep B shot
at 2 months of age. When this shot was given to her I was told that it was
almost unheard of to have a reaction to Hep B and that it was one of the safer
shots available. After this incident I decided to learn more about vaccines and
whether the gov't was indeed supplying all the information necessary for parents
to make informed choices or if they were simply acting for the "good of the
whole at the sacrifice of a few". Your research was the first thing that I
stumbled upon in my quest and it made me realize that the government is
withholding some valid research and information from the general public and
doing it's best to discredit anything that may contradict their stand of vaccine
safety. However, it is through research like yours and the availability of that
research to the people, that people have started to ask
questions and change has already started to occur as thermiserol is being
removed from vaccines (without a government admission that it was dangerous, of
course).

Because of the studies that you and other researchers have done on adverse
events from vaccines, I have been able to make choices for my daughter that are
based on all information, and not the filtered gov't issued statements. I have
decided to get her the DTaP and Prevnar shots because I run a home daycare and
have older children in high school (both increasing her risks for these
diseases), but have decided to hold off or not give other vaccines. Ironically,
the one vaccine that I am most at odds over is the Measles vaccine. This disease
struck 55,000 Americans between 1989-1991 and 135 died, with another signicant
amount with serious complications. Also, 745,000 people died from Measles last
year throughout the world. However, with such a large increase in Autism since
the MMR was introduced I am hesitant to protect my daughter with this shot. I
have heard that this increase did not occur until the combination vaccine was
introduced and that by separating the components you could
reduce the risk of vaccine injury. I would be delighted to hear your opinion as
to whether your research or that of any of your collegues prove this to be true?

Sincerely,
Gayle Bennett



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