Kenyan Church calls for boycott of tetanus vaccines after sterility scare

[beam me up scottie]

Kenyan Church calls for boycott of tetanus vaccines after sterility scare
Posted by Claire Bennett on Saturday, 18 October 2014



Tetanus vaccines being administered in Kenya should be tested to ensure they do not cause sterility, a spokesman for the Catholic Medical Association has advised.

Catholic priests have been telling their congregations to boycott the vaccine, which has been prescribed to all women of child-bearing age, as they believe it may be being administered as a covert form of birth control.

Tests on tetanus vaccines earlier in the year revealed the presence of an antigen – a substance that triggers an immune response in the body – which could potentially cause women to become sterile.

*

Tetanus is regarded as a major threat to new-borns in Kenya, with 550 dying of the disease last year alone.

But last week, a meeting of Catholic bishops in western Kenya called on the Government to stop the roll-out of the vaccination campaign until more tests had been carried out.

Dr Stephen Karanja, the chair of the Catholic Doctors Association in Kenya, agreed that testing is a logical way to resolve the matter.

“The ministry must stop making noise and allow the Church to sample the vaccines before they are given,” he told the BBC.

http://www.thecatholicuniverse.com/kenyan-church-calls-boycott-tetanus-vaccines-sterility-scare/

[bvf]

1. OFFS.

Last edited Sun Oct 19, 2014, 08:50 AM - Edit history (1)

"Catholic priests have been telling their congregations to boycott the vaccine, which has been prescribed to all women of child-bearing age, as they believe it may be being administered as a covert form of birth control.

Tests on tetanus vaccines earlier in the year revealed the presence of an antigen – a substance that triggers an immune response in the body – which could potentially cause women to become sterile."

And to support his argument, the best Dr. Kearney can do is, "About ten years ago in the Philippines the suggestion was made. . ."

Again, all I can say (except thanks to BMUS for the post) is in the reply title.

Oh, and where's Frank in all this? Isn't he the boss?

[skepticscott]

2. Hey, it can't hurt

If this provides them some comfort, who are we to say it's wrong? The placebo effect can take care of the tetanus just fine, right??

[longship]

3. And the healing waters can take care of the Ebola, and the Gay, apparently.

Woooooo!

And of course, there's always the placebo effect. Try that when you are bleeding out through your bowels.

Magic healing? Right!

The extent people believe this shit is the extent that this is not going to end well.

Then there's their burial practices...

[skepticscott]

10. There are many posters here

who think that it's just fine to promote and encourage the use of religio-mystical woo-woo to cure sick people, and to let the placebo effect take care of any problems. They think that as long as praying and chanting and laying on of hands makes people feel comforted that it can't possible do any harm.

Including some posters we both know and love.

[edhopper]

4. Why is this posted here

it obviously has nothing to do with religion.

[bvf]

5. Nothing bad ever does. You should know that by now. n/t.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. ed I am ashamed to see you joining in with the mocking krew of bad atheists

we had such hopes for you, but now, sadly, you are definitely off the boat.

[edhopper]

7. It's okay

I get a little sea sick anyway.

[Igel]

8. It doesn't.

It's posted here because people want it to do with religion.

In the media this has primarily been a Muslim problem. Before the "CIA" scare in Pakistan, anti-polio workers were being killed because they were making Muslim women sterile. It was an anti-Muslim plot to reduce the numbers of Muslims and weaken Islam. Same for vaccination campaigns in Somalia, in (northern) Nigeria, in parts of Egypt, etc., etc.

No social trust. The belief that the West is always evil. A predilection to believe in CT and hearsay. (See--beliefs everywhere! Just because it's not a formalized religion doesn't mean it's not a kind of belief system.)

And a tradition in which family size matters and can be used as a cudgel to drive home how important one group marker is in a world that lacks social trust, believes the West and western-supported governments are always evil, and a desire to believe in gossip and hearsay.

[edhopper]

9. So the Catholic Medical Association

and the Catholic priests preaching about it is unimportant.

Sorry, religion has everything to do with it when religious institutions are at the heart of the story.
Or do you think the Catholic Church's hatred and paranoia for birth control has nothing to do with religion as well?

[Warren Stupidity]

11. no you are wrong because "this has primarily been a Muslim problem".

therefore when it is also a Christian problem how could it possibly be about religion?

I mean seriously, what on earth do Islam and Christianity have in common? So obviously there has to be some other factor. It must be there. Perhaps it is yams. Lots of people in lots of different cultures eat yams. Has anyone ruled out the Yam Factor? No?

[edhopper]

12. I guess because some other cause can be pointed to that

Might also be a contributing factor, then we must excuse religion from any culpability.

So yeah, yams will do.

[pinto]

13. Ah geez. At least the Health Minister's response was clear - "very safe".

But the Kenyan government moved to dismiss allegations that the vaccinations were tainted. Health Minister James Macharia said the vaccine, which has been approved by the World Health Organisation and Unicef, is “very safe”.

“The science behind vaccination should be the basis of making decisions, and I believe going with history we shall have big numbers – women and girls – coming forward whether or not they are Catholics. But we would also like to advice our brothers and sisters in the Catholic faith to please listen to us as we outline the science behind this vaccination, it is very safe,” he said.

[rug]

14. That report leaves more questions than answers.

I've never heard about a tetanus vaccination causing sterility.

If it doesn't, why call it birth control?

If it does, accidental sterility is a pretty shitty form of birth control.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the ebola scare which was aggravated by unsterile needles.

[beam me up scottie]

15. I thought the BBC would have more information, I first picked up on it there.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29594091

Kenya Catholic Church tetanus vaccine fears 'unfounded'

Some 40% of Kenyans are Catholics and the Church warning could deter many women from getting vaccinated, says the BBC's Frenny Jowi in the capital, Nairobi.

Last week, a meeting of Catholic bishops in western Kenya called on the government to stop the rollout of the vaccination campaign, saying it was a plot to target women of child-bearing age.

There was more info from the source in the op so I went with that. I'm really surprised this wasn't more widely reported and discussed.


It just seems ridiculous to care more about possible future children than the ones who will be saved by this vaccine.

[rug]

16. That's true but I wish it was clearer.

Sterile medical conditions have been a big problem in poorer countries.

[beam me up scottie]

17. Let me see what else I can find.

My laptop is 8 yrs old and I'm on dial up so this could take a little while.

[rug]

18. No hurry. I'll do the same.

[beam me up scottie]

20. ugh

Beware the anti-vaccination websites fanning the flames.

I'll post new sources as replies to the op.

[beam me up scottie]

19. Claims about Beta hCG

Last edited Sun Oct 19, 2014, 09:05 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/lifestyle/Church-State-TETANUS-JAB-WOMEN/-/1214/2491434/-/519dv8/-/index.html

The concerns of the Catholic Church in Kenya appear similar to those in Nicaragua, Mexico and the Philippines in the early 1990s.

Human Life International, an American-based Roman Catholic activist pro-life organisation, claimed to have analysed the vaccines in those countries and established that they contained hCG, which they said could cause infertility.

The Kenyan Catholic leaders say a similar vaccine had been administered in Philippines, Nicaragua and Mexico, which vaccinated women against future pregnancies.

*

Bishop Paul Kariuki Njiru, the Catholic Health Commission chairman, alongside his colleagues Bishop Joseph Mbatia and Dr Stephen Karanja of the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association, have been at pains to explain details of the research.

Bishop Kariuki said: “We have irrefutable proof that the tetanus vaccines administered on girls and women in March 2014 contained Beta hCG group.

When this, together with the tetanus antigen, is injected to a non-pregnant woman, she develops antibodies against both tetanus and hCG.

Therefore, when she gets pregnant her body will produce anti-hCG antibodies, which makes her incapable of sustaining a pregnancy.

This then becomes a permanent population control tool.”

[beam me up scottie]

21. Tetanus jabs are safe, says health ministry

Tetanus jabs are safe, says health ministry

A war of words between the government and the Catholic Church over the tetanus vaccine continued Thursday, with the former insisting that it is safe.

But the church’s Health Commission urged Kenyans to shun the vaccination campaign that started on October 13, saying it would cause infertility.

“We have irrefutable proof that the tetanus vaccines contain Beta hCG. When injected into a non-pregnant woman combined with the tetanus antigen, she develops antibodies against both tetanus and hCG and is thus unable to sustain a pregnancy,” the Health Commission chairman, Bishop Paul Kariuki Njiru, told a press conference at Waumini House in Westlands, Nairobi.

However, he and his Kenya Catholic Doctors Association colleagues, Bishop Joseph Mbatia and Dr Stephen Karanja, did not share the details of their research.

But Immunisation Technical Group head, Collins Tabu, dismissed the claims.

“There is no other additive in the vaccine other than the tetanus antigen, which helps a person produce antibodies against tetanus. It does not have hCG. We have used it for 30 years,” he said.

“Some women who were vaccinated in October 2013 and March this year are now expectant. Therefore, we strongly refute the claim that the vaccines are laced with contraceptives. We have vaccinated about a million people against our target of 2.3 million,” Dr Tabu said.

He challenged the church to publish its research findings and show the samples used and the labs where their research was done.

http://mobile.nation.co.ke/news/Tetanus-jabs-are-safe--says-health-ministry/-/1950946/2489092/-/format/xhtml/-/jh4cguz/-/index.html
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[rug]

22. So far all I've found is Adacel causes diarrhea.

http://www.rxlist.com/adacel-side-effects-drug-center.htm