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BY STACEY M. HOLLIS
To vaccinate or not?
Whooping cough can be prevented
“I
had a 2-year-old son, and I was
concerned. I became one of
those parents who worries about
these vaccinations.”
Catherine Clinton, a local naturopathic
doctor, is just one of countless parents
who’ve experienced misgivings related to
the risks associated with vaccinations —
and with forgoing those vaccinations —
particularly in regard to immunizing infants
and children against preventable diseases.
Clinton has created a supplement called
VacciShield to help with vaccinations.
“You want the vaccination to work
and you don’t want the bad side effects,”
Clinton says. Getting vaccinated as a
precautionary measure to avoid contracting
ailments such as whooping cough carries
the possibility of developing an adverse
reaction to the very same vaccination that
was meant to protect.
What puts this issue under a more
recent light is the recent outbreak in the
Pacifi c Northwast of the highly contagious
bacterial infection known as pertussis, or
whooping cough. Over the course of 2012,
the disease has reached near-epidemic
status in Washington state and has since
passed into Oregon.
According to Oregon Immunization
Program spokesperson Susan Wickstrom,
the state of Oregon reached a yearly total of
248 cases in May, compared to 102 cases
at the same time last year. As of May 21,
2012, Lane County has seen fi ve cases of
whooping cough.
Already this year in Oregon, Wickstrom
says, there have been 10 infants — three
months old or younger — hospitalized as
a result of whooping cough. Adults need
to make sure they’re up to date with their
pertussis booster shots, she says, especially
if they’re around infants that are too
powers that be to make sure the schedule
[of vaccinations] actually takes in the
consideration of the individual health of
our children.” She describes the two sides
of the vaccination debate as butting heads
— unnecessarily — all while sharing the
same ultimate motive: to keep our children
healthy. “We want to have the doctor tell
us that, for public health, this is the best we
can do,” Clinton says, “but still we are left
wondering, ‘What is best for my child?’”
So when is the best time to give this
vaccination to people at high risk of
contracting the infection, versus those at
’As parents, we all worry about our kids, and
we’re all trying to do the best thing.’
— Catherine Clinton, naturopathic doctor
young to be immunized and hence more
susceptible to infection.
Clinton, a naturopathic doctor and
founder of WellFuture LLC, a vitamin
supplement company, started investigating
the issue of whether to vaccinate a child
after facing the same diffi cult question
about vaccinating her own son.
“I want to protect my son from these
diseases,” says Clinton, and whether or not
to vaccinate is something she is continually
being asked by the worried parents of her
younger patients.
“As parents, we all worry about our
kids, and we’re all trying to do the best
thing,” says Clinton. “We don’t trust the
lower risk? “We’re giving the same advice
to everybody,” she says, “and that’s clearly
not working.”
To answer that question herself, Clinton
took action toward fi nding a solution, both
for her own child and for her patients.
She put together a supplemental blend
of vitamins, probiotics and minerals
specifi cally designed to accompany and
relieve adverse effects on the system. These
suppliments would be delivered across a
schedule, or series, of vaccinations. She
named the supplement VacciShield.
VacciShield was designed to act
both as an immune booster and an anti-
infl ammatory by bolstering the immune
system’s response, Clinton says. She adds,
“I made sure every ingredient was doing
double duty.” VacciShield is specifi cally
intended for infants and children.
The key is personalizing immune
response to the individual rather than
creating a blanket-solution for the whole
community, Clinton says, because each
individual with his or her own unique,
complex version of biology may require
that different measures be taken to
effectively vaccinate.
Having individualized plans where “you
decide what works best for you,” Clinton
says, is the surest way to combat biological
variability and cater to every individual
based on his or her own need.
Clinton says she believes there needs
to be research that addresses the best time
to vaccinate based on the diverse societal
makeup of multitudes of unique, individual
immune systems — this in addition to
governmental focus on a wider-based,
community immunity. “Both are really
important,” Clinton says, “and one is
totally ignored.”
Rather than just vaccinating or not
vaccinating, Clinton says she believes in
the notion of offering individualized plans
where patients can work with their doctor
and decide what works best for them.
Clinton sees it as not so black and white:
“You’re either vaccinated or not. We’re too
busy pitting ourselves against each other,”
she says. “There need to be more options.”
For more information on pertussis in Oregon, updated
weekly, visit http://wkly.ws/1aq
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