vaccine
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Washington is experiencing an epidemic of worry over vaccine safety. The state leads the nation in the percentage of parents opting out of vaccinations for their kindergarten-age children, but a new state law could be poised to change that distinction.


Comment: An "epidemic of worry" is quite justified given current and past claims of vaccine contamination such as this recent story below:

FDA Faults Merck Plant For Charred Shrink Wrap In Vaccine Vials


More than 6 percent of Washington kindergarteners were missing one or more immunizations in the 2009-2010 school year. The most commonly skipped vaccine was the chicken pox vaccine, The Daily Herald reported in Sunday's newspaper.

Since 1997, there's been a steady, statewide decline in the number of school children who are fully vaccinated.

A new state law that went into effect in July seeks to close a loophole that parents used to avoid providing proof of vaccinations to schools. Now, parents must meet with a medical provider, get a signed letter confirming that the consultation took place, and provide the note to child-care centers or schools.

"The world has changed," said Dr. Jack Stephens, a pediatrician at The Everett Clinic. "It used to be the unimmunized child was the child of an economically disadvantaged family with poor access to health care.

"Nowadays, it's usually well-educated parents of higher social status who do their own independent research and tell you what they're willing to do."

The reasons for skipping or delaying vaccinations vary from family to family. For 32-year-old Maria Rippo of Bothell, the issue is concern about what vaccinations could do to her children. She has chosen to have her four children receive only one vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.

"Some people feel we're the enemy because we're not vaccinating," she said.

Children who aren't fully immunized can be sent home during outbreaks of a disease for which they have not been vaccinated.

Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District, said vaccinations create a firewall against the spread of contagious diseases.

"This isn't about protecting one child; it's about protecting the entire community," he said.


Comment: If doctors are confident about the efficacy of vaccines, then why would a small 6% minority be any concern to them? The usual argument is to invoke the Herd Immunity hypothesis which is based on studies of natural immunity and misappropriately extrapolated to vaccine immunity. This hypothesis is often mistakenly taken as science fact by certain over-zealous medical professionals and policy makers.


But parents have questions and worries about vaccines.

Nationally, more than three-quarters of parents have at least one question or concern about their child's vaccines, said Glen Nowak, a senior adviser who specializes in immunization and respiratory disease issues for the CDC.

"Our point of view is immunizations are one of the top medical achievements of all time," he said. "They work really well at preventing illness and disease."


Comment: How about the fact that recent cases of Polio in Nigeria have all been vaccine induced? How does that fit with the slogan that vaccines "work really well at preventing illness and disease"?


Nationally, more than 10 million vaccines are given each year to children less than a year old. The number of recommended vaccinations for children -- now at 16 -- is the largest it's ever been, he said.

Health officials say vaccine-preventable diseases are on the rise. More than 600 cases of whooping cough were reported in Washington last year, double the previous year.


Comment: What about the fact that a team from the University of Oxford, and the University of Auckland in New Zealand found that in 89% of the whooping cough cases occurred in vaccinated children. Doctors now no longer consider a child's vaccination status when making a diagnosis of whooping cough. How can whooping cough even be considered "vaccine preventable" with numbers like this?


Questions over the safety of vaccines came into the mainstream in the late 1990s, triggered by international debate over a claimed association between the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella and autism.

But last year, the British Medical Journal, which originally published a study on the alleged autism-vaccine link in 1998, took the unusual step of retracting the paper, citing the falsification of data in the study and calling its conclusions "fraudulent."


Comment: Actually, this is entirely incorrect. The British Medical Journal were the ones being fraudulent. See:

Dr Wakefield demands retraction from BMJ after documents prove innocence from allegations of vaccine autism data fraud


Individuals and organizations concerned about vaccine safety point to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program as proof that vaccines sometimes have unwanted side effects.

Data from the federal website show that just over $2 billion has been paid out since 1989 in legal cases claiming problems associated with vaccines.

But scientists say it's hard to prove cause and effect when it comes to vaccines and side effects, in part because millions are vaccinated with no long-term health problems. But doubt remains.

"My half-sister's grandchild became autistic at 2 years old after a round of vaccines," Rippo said. "But the doctors say there is no way to know if it was caused by the vaccines."

Stephens said there is no link between vaccines and autism. "People still believe it. Once the belief is out there, it takes on a life of its own. It becomes immortal."


Comment: "Immortal" like the truth, perhaps?

New Study Shows Vaccines Cause Brain Changes Found in Autism

The Book is Hardly Closed on the Autism-Vaccine Issue

Scientists Fear MMR Vaccine Link to Autism