The Allergic Reaction & Post Vaccine Syndromes

This article was previously published in the Journal of the Florida State Oriental Medical Association (FSOMA). It is reprinted here with the kind permission of FSOMA.

Post vaccine syndromes present unique challenges for our healthcare system because they are often misdiagnosed and always difficult-to-treat due to the nature of internal disease processes. Traditional Chinese Medicine embodies a conceptual framework and treatment protocols for correcting immune regulation problems consistent with post vaccine syndromes. 

In Chinese Medicine, the health is obtained by a correct Yin-Yang balance where the integrity of the yin is sustained by the yang energy (metabolism). This balance enables the Wei Qi to fight against exogenous aggression and the Zheng Qi to prevent internal disease. This condition of being able to resist infection and disease pathogenesis is the state of being immune. The dual-natured surveillance and purification system operates on the basis of self/non-self-determination, and its purpose is the purging of pathogenic influences from the body.  

With natural infection, the pathogen is exogenous/exterior/yang and the battle is fought at the border with Wei Qi defense force (ala conventional warfare). With infection by injection, exogenous pathogens (foreign proteins and allergic-reaction causing adjuvants) are introduced directly into the interior/yin, thus becoming endogenous pathogenic factors with influence on the zang and fu organs. Having bypassed the Wei Qi system, the infection at a deeper interior level presents a different immune-crisis scenario with a wide range of individual-specific manifestations.  

The allergic reaction is standard operating procedure for all infections. Whether infection is via the natural environment or by injection, all infections trigger the allergic reaction process. For the sake of efficacy (antibody production), all vaccinations must trigger an allergic reaction and are thus purposefully designed to do so. The presumption that vaccination does nothing more than safely stimulate antibody production ignores the reality of both the allergic reaction process and the stage or level at which the infection resides.  

Infection “on the inside” always causes internal patterns of disease plus morbidity to varying degrees. Both the infection-fighting mechanisms and the allergic reaction recovery process are more complex due to the location of infection. The successful return to health in this case is an evolvement process dependent on numerous individual-specific factors (qi/blood/yin, constitution, genetics).  

The initial immune response in the allergic reaction process includes such mechanisms as lock-down, sympathetic dominance, the vasovagal response, cardiac and respiratory distress, and the histamine reaction. Each of these actions has its own consequences or side effects that can be devastating and damaging to the body. For example, cardiac and respiratory distress are known to cause hypoxia (low oxygen), anoxia (no oxygen), ischemia (low oxygen from low blood flow) and stroke (oxygen demand exceeding oxygen supply). 

Histamine produces various effects within the body including smooth muscle contraction, accelerated heart rate, vascular permeability, fluid secretion and increased mucus production. Its impact on the small blood vessels of the circulatory system, however, is particularly noteworthy for its hidden blood stasis and vascular-damaging effects. Impaired blood flow to the small blood vessels of viscera and connective tissue can manifest in blood deficiency and various bi syndromes. Insufficient blood supply can happen anywhere in the body where there are capillaries (heart, intestinal/mesenteric, kidneys, liver, skin, endometrium, etc.). Additionally, impaired blood flow prevents the immune system from reaching the pathogens to neutralize or destroy them. This leaves the body in a state of perpetual infection – thus chronic immune disorders worsen over time. Thus, the adverse effects of histamine release during the allergic response process are systemic and far-reaching both immediately and after the allergic reaction.  

The allergic reaction caused by infection by injection can be massive and deadly (purportedly rare) or mild. With this type of infection, however, there is always morbidity to varying degrees. Regardless where on the spectrum the intensity of the allergic reaction, the pathogen is interior, and the pathogenesis is always the same. When the disease is interior, the Zheng Qi is taxed, thus leading to deficiency. Repeated invasion of pathogens into the interior is excessively taxing. The pattern is mixed excess (exuberance of pathogen on interior) and deficiency (empty complicated by fullness). The pathogen is present in the body causing the body’s qi and blood to weaken. This state of health (common today) is often referred to as “immune-incompetence” or “immune deficiency”.   

The pathogenesis of post vaccine syndromes begins with the allergic reaction. Sequela is a medical term for a pathological condition resulting from an acute infection or injury. “That which follows” is a chronic condition of complications that begins during the acute stage of infection with the allergic reaction, the manifestation of which is dependent on individual-specific factors. Many of the side effects and syndromes associated with the aftermath of infection by injection and the allergic reaction are often missed or ignored (except in extreme cases) in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions. 

This article is an excerpt from the author’s continuing education course Post Vaccine Syndromes: The Biomechanics of Immune Function as it relates to Vaccination within the Context of Chinese Medicine.