The following article tries to shed light on the vast world of adverse reactions, with a specific look at the one against Pertussis, but we urge you to read all the focuses listed below to understand the other related issues, such as the problem of multiple vaccines, the hypersensitivity to one or more vaccine compounds, the SIDS problem and that of adjuvants. Most of the vaccines on the market are produced, for commercial purposes, in often multiple formulations and this makes the topic of vaccine damage much broader.

The B. pertussis bacteria, which cause the disease pertussis and which have been modified in the laboratory to produce the pertussis vaccine, contain several toxins that can cause inflammation in the body. Pertussis toxin (PT) is one of the deadliest toxins in nature and induces lymphocytosis, leukocytosis, stimulates insulin secretion and sensitizes histamine, involved in the inflammatory response of the immune system⁽¹⁾ and pertussis toxin is believed to be the major component responsible for brain inflammation during B. pertussis pertussis pertussis or after injection of pertussis-containing vaccines.^(2-3)
Another toxin produced by the B. pertussis bacterium during natural infection is endotoxin, which is also present in pertussis vaccines in varying amounts. When the immune system detects the presence of endotoxins, it mounts a defensive inflammatory immune response, including the release of large amounts of histamine which, under certain circumstances, can lead to high fever, bloating, diarrhea, collapse, shock and death.⁽⁴⁾

In 1991, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the US National Academy of Sciences released the first of four reports in which they reviewed the medical literature for evidence that vaccines could cause injury and death.⁽⁵⁾ The literature review was prompted by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, the US counterpart of our Act 210/92, and the 1991 IOM Report on Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines⁽⁶⁾ concluded that "the evidence is consistent with a causal relationship between the DPT vaccine and acute encephalopathy (inflammation of the brain) and 'unusual shock-like state'⁽⁷⁾ and that "evidence points to a causal relationship between the DPT vaccine and shock (anaphylaxis) and prolonged, inconsolable crying."⁽⁸⁾

In 1994, the IOM published the report called "DPT Vaccine and Chronic Dysfunctions of the Nervous System"⁽⁹⁾ after reviewing the 10-year follow-up of the UK NCES study and concluded that “NCES data are consistent with the possibility that some children with no underlying brain or metabolic abnormalities may experience severe acute neurological disease within 7 days of receiving DPT and that acute disease may have chronic nervous system sequelae…with the possibility that some children with underlying brain or metabolic abnormalities may develop chronic nervous system dysfunction due to acute illness triggered by DPT. The Committee concluded that the balance of evidence is consistent with a causal relationship between DPT and the forms of chronic nervous system dysfunction described in the NCES in children who experience acute severe neurological disease within 7 days of DPT vaccine administration. This severe neurological risk is a rare event and the estimated excess risk ranged from 0 to 10,5 per million vaccinations."⁽¹⁰⁾

Published research has also concluded that the whole-cell pertussis vaccine is capable of causing much more severe reactions, such as high-pitched screaming,⁽¹¹⁾ hypotonic/hyporesponsive episodes,⁽¹²⁾ febrile or afebrile convulsions,^(13-14) and brain inflammation.^(15-16-17) Between 25 and 60% of children who develop acute encephalitis or encephalopathy or who have seizures, including febrile seizures, for any reason, are left with personality changes, developmental delays, learning disabilities, ADHD, seizures, lower IQ, speech, motor and behavior disorders and other disabilities.^{(18-19-20-21-22)}

A 1981 US study funded by the FDA and conducted at the University of California at Los Angeles found that seizures or collapses/shock occurred at a rate of 1 in every 875 injections of DPT.⁽²³⁾ Also, some of the children who participated in this study reported neurological problems and low IQ. The 1981 British National Childhood Encephalopathy Study (NCES) estimated that the risk of a previously healthy child developing a serious neurological problem within seven days of DPT vaccination was 1 in 110.000 DPT vaccinations, and the risk of chronic brain dysfunction was 1 out of 310.000 DPT vaccinations.⁽²⁴⁾ Again, some of the children involved in the study reported brain damage that manifested as "neurological, motor, sensory, educational, behavioral, and self-care dysfunctions."⁽²⁵⁾

Current acellular pertussis vaccines (DTaP/Tdap) still contain chemically inactivated pertussis toxin (10-25 mcg per dose) that retains varying amounts of bioactivity, which can induce brain inflammation in some individuals. Chiron, a company that produced a genetically engineered DTaP vaccine in the early 90s, explained that one reason chemically inactivated pertussis toxin is a problem for some: "Genetic detoxification ensures that no active form of pertussis toxin is present, whereas chemically detoxified pertussis toxins can become toxic again".⁽²⁶⁾
In the comprehensive scientific evidence evaluation report, Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality, published in 2012 by the US Institute of Medicine, a panel of physicians evaluated 26 adverse events reported following the DTaP/Tdap vaccine.⁽²⁷⁾

Most pediatric neurologists recognize that vaccination, including the use of vaccines for smallpox, rabies, influenza, mumps, measles, tetanus, polio, and whooping cough, can and does occasionally cause neurological complications that can lead to permanent brain dysfunction.⁽²⁸⁾

The pertussis vaccine, death and SIDS

In 1933, Danish vaccine scientist Madsen described the death of two infants within hours of being vaccinated.⁽²⁹⁾ and it was the first reaction to be associated with the pertussis vaccine.
It is not possible to know the number of deaths related to the pertussis vaccine that occur every year in Italy, since almost all of the deaths of newborns, even after vaccination, are automatically related to a generic sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). . SIDS usually involves the sudden and unexplained death of a newborn, with no symptoms of medical problems before the baby is found lifeless. Babies who die after experiencing symptoms of a pertussis vaccine reaction (such as high-pitched screaming, collapse, extreme lethargy, seizures) do not meet the general criteria for SIDS, but are rarely reported as vaccine-related deaths.^(30-31-32)