Herd Immunity – Measles
Dr Suzanne Humphries (2017)
In the following video, board certified nephrologist and vaccine expert Dr Suzanne Humphries presents a detailed history of measles vaccine. While she acknowledges that measles vaccine offers is temporarily effective in preventing the spread of measles, it only offers temporary (6-7 years) immunity. For this reason, it actually reduces herd immunity rather than increasing it.
According to Humphries, with improved diet and living conditions and more enlightened medical treatment,* measles ceased to be a fatal illness in the western world about 10 years prior to the introduction of measles vaccine.** According to the CDC, the vast majority of pre-vaccine cases presented as mild self-limiting respiratory illness that wasn’t reported to public health authorities.***
Prior to the introduction of measles vaccine in the 1960s, (which was combined with rubella and mumps vaccine as the MMR in 1971), 95% of the general US population had lifelong immunity against measles after experiencing it as children. Mothers with a history of wild measles infection transferred this immunity to their infants via breast-feeding.
The reason wild measles infection confers lifelong immunity relates to its ability to activate cell mediated immunity. Vaccines only increase blood antibodies, a far weaker form of immunity that deteriorates over time.
Vaccine acquired immunity only lasts 6-7 years.**** Thus if a child is vaccinated at age 1 and age 4-6 (as per the current vaccine schedule), 70% have virtually no immunity against measles after age 20. This is why pregnant women are routinely re-vaccinated against measles with every pregnancy.
At present, the percent of the population immune against measles is probably around 50%, with infants under age 1 and adults over age 20 at highest risk from measles infection.
This is born out by the populations most impacted by the 2014 Disneyland measles outbreak:
- 56% were over 20 years old.
- 18% were age 1-4.
- 11% were under age 1.
Humphries is also concerned about unprotected infants under age 1 – who are routinely exposed to vaccinated children shedding measles virus in day care settings.
*Humphries cites an interesting controlled study in which treatment with anti-fever and anti-cough medication and antibiotics increased death rates from measles. She also talks about high death rates from injecting measles patients with their parents’ blood, a common practice in the 1930s. Numerous peer reviewed studies suggest megadose Vitamin A and Vitamin C are currently the most effective treatment for measles.
**According to CDC records, there were no deaths related to wild measles infection between 2004 and 2015. This contrasts with 108 measles deaths due to the MMR vaccine. See Zero US measles deaths in 10 years vs 108 vaccine deaths reported
***Based on serum antibody screening, the CDC estimates that only 1/8 of roughly 4 million pre-vaccine measles cases were ever reported.
****Positive anti-measles antibodies are no guarantee of immunity. See Vaccine Illusion downloadable at How Vaccination Compromises Our Natural Immunity and What We Can Do About It
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