April 27, 2015
Press Release:
Simple, Effective Treatments for Common Childhood Illnesses: What Parents and Health Professionals Need to Know
The NZ government needs to do more to make sure that parents and health professionals “are better informed about treatment options for common childhood illnesses.”
That’s the advice from Katherine Smith, spokeswoman for No Forced Vaccines, a group that opposes coerced or forced vaccinations.
“The government has been very successful in promoting vaccination to parents,” Mrs Smith stated, “And the fact that most vaccines for childhood illnesses are free is also a factor in NZ’s record high vaccination rates.” Mrs Smith added.
“However, as no vaccine is 100% effective, parents still need information about treatments for the common childhood infections.” Mrs Smith said.
For example, chickenpox,measles, mumps and rubella and other acute viral infections have a long, successful history of being treated with supplementary vitamin C, Mrs Smith stated.
“Unfortunately, many parents and even some health professionals don’t realise this.” This simple treatment, she said, “Supports the immune system in fighting the virus and is safe for the vast majority of patients.”
Noting that some of the diseases for which there are vaccines, such as diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough) “are dangerous because of the toxins produced by bacteria”, Mrs Smith added, “and there is more than ample evidence that vitamin C could be a helpful treatment in these conditions, either as sole treatment or in combination with other treatments, depending on the individual situation.” [1][2][3]
It was important that parents who are considering using vitamin C to treat a child who is suffering from any type of infection “ensure that they get professional advice about a suitable dose for their child and make sure that there is no contraindication for using this treatment.”
It was also troubling, Mrs Smith continued, “that parents could be influenced by articles online or elsewhere that encourage the use of paracetamol to treat the fever associated with common viral infections.”
While there are some situations (such as in patients with serious heart or lung disorders) where paracetamol would be indicated, a blanket recommendation for using paracetamol to reduce an elevated temperature, Mrs Smith stated “has risks, because a fever plays a valuable role in improving the efficacy of the immune system. Unnecessarily suppressing a fever may prolong an infection, or even increase the risk of death for patients who have a severe infection,” Smith warned. [4]
“A public education programme about how to use vitamin C and other nutrients to treat infections could greatly reduce morbidity and even mortality from infections,” Mrs Smith concluded.
[1] http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/69/1/70.extract
[2] The book Curing the Incurable by Thomas Levy, MD, JD, presents the research and case histories indicating how vitamin C may be used to treat diphtheria.