Tag: Brian Hooker

Fact Checking Brian Hooker’s Statement to WA Legislators

Anti-vaccine folks brought out a lot of their big guns to a Washington State House Health Committee meeting about personal belief exemptions.

Brian Hooker makes a lot of statements about measles that mirror anti-vaccine talking points.

What was the meeting about?

A bill was introduced in the Washington Legislature that would limit non-medical vaccine exemptions by removing a philosophical or personal objection for the MMR vaccine.

Fact Checking Brian Hooker’s Statement to WA Legislators

Showing up to oppose the bill were Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Toni Bark, and Brian Hooker, none of which helped their side.

Why not?

Let’s see what Hooker said?

“There is a problem with measles in Washington State, but it’s not low vaccination rates, it’s actually high vaccination rates with a vaccine product unable to provide lifetime immunity or vigorous passive maternal protection to infants during the first year of life.”

Brian Hooker

Of course!

Unvaccinated kids are getting measles because we are vaccinating too many people. Why haven’t we noticed this before?

“When the measles vaccine was first introduced, most people over the age of 15 who had wild measles had lifetime immunity. In developed nations, like other communicable infections, measles was no longer dangerous except in rare circumstances because of inadequate nutrition, poor sanitation, and / or lack of healthcare.”

Brian Hooker

It is scary that Hooker makes statements like this, considering that he is an Associate Professor of Biology at Simpson University in Redding, California, where he specializes in chemistry and biology coursework.

When measles was killing kids in the 1950s in the United States, we had good nutrition, sanitation, and access to healthcare.

What was missing?

A measles vaccine!

“Because having the measles was a routine part of childhood, teens, adults, parents, and grandparents were immune. And because of maternal passive immunity, infants were protected.”

Brian Hooker

Yes, measles was once considered a rite of passage, but only because it had to be endured, as there was no way to avoid it. And you had to get sick and survive having measles to earn your lifetime immunity.

Tragically, not everyone did.

“But in fact, if the mothers of the children had wild measles when they were children and they are nursing, the babies may be protected. If the mothers were vaccinated, even if they are nursing, they may not be. Additionally, maternal antibodies transported across the placenta can provide vital immunity against measles for infants.”

Brian Hooker

While it is true that passive immunity from a mother who had a natural infection likely lasts longer than one who had vaccine induced immunity, it isn’t that much longer. At 6 months, few infants still have antibodies against measles, whether their mothers were vaccinated or had naturally acquired immunity. And it has nothing to do with nursing.

“As the editor of the journal Vaccine Dr. Gregory Poland of The Mayo Clinic stated in 1994, “…as measles immunization rates rise to high levels in a population, measles becomes a disease of immunized persons.”

Brian Hooker

Quoting Gregory Poland didn’t go so well for Toni Bark when she tried it at a Minnesota Senate hearing.

“But he also said that sometimes people who oppose the vaccines will pick out one sentence in the scientific study and extrapolate it to mean things that it does not mean… He said that measles is the most contagious disease that we know, and yet we found that fear and ignorance is more so.”

Senator Carla Nelson on The Anti-vaxxers Might Wish that What was Lost had not been Found

It makes you wonder why these folks are still quoting Poland.

“It was reported in the news and provided to legislators that in Clark County, WA there is a 22% exemption rate, but this is based on the voluntary Immunization Information Survey (IIS) which does not accurately reflect the vaccination status of all children enrolled in Washington schools. When compared to the more accurate CDC statistics for the state of Washington for MMR coverage among 19 to 35 month olds, it is 95.3% +/- 2.6%. The IIS erroneously reports this number at 81.8% and cannot be relied upon.”

Brian Hooker

These folks realize that the outbreaks aren’t occurring in the entire state of Washington, right? They are in very specific schools and communities where we do find very high levels of non-medical vaccine exemptions. These are the clusters of intentionally unvaccinated children experts have been warning about, the pockets of susceptibles.

“As I have already remarked, vaccination does not guarantee immunization and infectious diseases routinely break out in highly vaccinated communities. An example of this is pertussis outbreaks, which occur due to problems with the acellular pertussis portion of the DTaP and Tdap vaccine, creating asymptomatic carriers.”

Brian Hooker

Vaccination does not guarantee immunization?

I guess that is a way to say that vaccines aren’t 100% effective, but that is hardly an effective argument against getting vaccinated. Being intentionally unvaccinated often guarantees that you will get sick in an outbreak. Remember, even in outbreaks of pertussis and mumps, when waning immunity can be a concern, that attack rate is much higher in those who are unvaccinated.

“Over the past ten years in the U.S., there has been one reported death from the measles, and it is unclear based on the medical history of the patient whether and how measles played a role in their death. During the same time period (based on Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports), there have been 105 reported deaths associated with the MMR or MMRV vaccinations.”

Brian Hooker

There have actually been seven measles deaths in the United States in the past 10 years, although only one was verified by the CDC.

Still, if Hooker is going to push unverified vaccine deaths in VAERS, why wouldn’t he also look at the reports of deaths from measles in the CDC Wonder database? And the 9 additional SSPE deaths?

And to doubt that measles actually killed a woman who got caught up in the 2015 measles outbreaks in Washington? What’s wrong with the modern anti-vaccine movement?!?

“You must not only protect those who are susceptible to poor infection outcome, but protect those who are susceptible to poor vaccination outcome, and to consider the unintended consequences of a fully vaccinated population that does not have lifetime immunity.”

Brian Hooker

It is becoming ever more clear that we must protect ourselves from these folks who push anti-vaccine propaganda and scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

What does Hooker intend to do to “protect those who are susceptible to poor infection outcome?” How does he propose that everyone get lifetime immunity if they don’t get vaccinated?

“I also warn them not to share their fears with their neighbors, because if too many people avoid the MMR, we’ll likely see the diseases increase significantly.”

Dr. Bob Sears in The Vaccine Book

Anti-vaccine folks have already done such a good job scaring parents that too many of them are abusing vaccine exemptions. That’s why we are having more outbreaks, especially with the global rise in measles, and why states are having to tighten their vaccine laws.

More on Fact Checking Brian Hooker’s Statement to WA Legislators

More About Measles Deaths in the United States

Anti-vaccine folks like to talk about death and measles, as long as they can talk about vaccine deaths, something they seem to think happens commonly.

“Over the past ten years in the U.S., there has been one reported death from the measles, and it is unclear based on the medical history of the patient whether and how measles played a role in their death. During the same time period (based on Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports), there have been 105 reported deaths associated with the MMR or MMRV vaccinations.”

Measles Madness: Dr. Brian Hooker’s Statement to WA Legislators

There are two big problems with this statement, that is so often repeated that it is clearly a PRATT – a point refuted a thousand times.

The reports in VAERS about deaths after MMR are not proof of a cause-and-effect relationship.

“Reports of all possible associations between vaccines and adverse events (possible side effects) are filed in VAERS. Therefore, VAERS collects data on any adverse event following vaccination, be it coincidental or truly caused by a vaccine. The report of an adverse event to VAERS is not documentation that a vaccine caused the event.”

Guide to Interpreting VAERS Data

In fact, studies have shown that most of the reports of deaths submitted to VAERS are coincidental and not causally associated with a vaccine.

But what about deaths following a natural measles infection?

There are plenty of those that anti-vaccine folks love to ignore.

Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research = WONDER
Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research = WONDER

Where are they?

There were actually 5 SSPE deaths and 2 measles deaths in 1999, but I started the list from 2000, as that was when the endemic spread of measles was eliminated in the United States.
There were actually 5 SSPE deaths and 2 measles deaths in 1999, but I started the list from 2000, as that was when the endemic spread of measles was eliminated in the United States.

These deaths are all in the CDC Wonder database.

Before the death of the woman in Washington in 2015, the CDC caused a lot of confusion by stating that “the last verifiable death in the United States from acute measles infection occurred in 2003 when there were 2 reported deaths.”

Does that mean that the measles deaths in 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2012 didn’t happen?

Of course not!

The information in the CDC Wonder database comes from death certificates that are sent in from all over the United States to the National Vital Statistics System. The system isn’t like VAERS though, where just anyone can send in a report. Still, they are unverified, which is why the CDC doesn’t mention them all.

Still, if anti-vaccine folks are going to push VAERS reports that we know are likely coincidental, then they shouldn’t ignore these measles deaths.

More About Measles Deaths in the United States

Has the CDC Been Hiding and Destroying Evidence About Vaccine Safety?

Has the CDC ever been caught destroying and hiding evidence about vaccine safety?

Have you seen the movie Vaxxed? They talk about a big coverup over a study about vaccines and autism, don’t they? And how the CDC whistleblower’s coauthors destroyed a bunch of evidence…

Except that they didn’t.

And no, the CDC never hid data about mercury, vaccines, and autism either.

Has the CDC Been Hiding and Destroying Evidence About Vaccine Safety?

Why do some folks continue to bring up these anti-vaccine talking points that have been refuted a thousand times already?

Does anyone else think of the word irony when Kelly Brogan accuses other folks of fraud?
Does anyone else think of the word irony when Kelly Brogan accuses other folks of fraud?

There are a few reasons, none of which are true.

The Verstraeten Study

First is a presentation of two abstracts about thimerosal containing vaccines (TCVs) by Thomas Verstraeten in 1999 at a Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) conference, which were discussed at the Simpsonwood Conference, and were later published, finding “no consistent significant associations were found between TCVs and neurodevelopmental outcomes.”

The Verstraeten abstracts.

So what’s the problem?

Anti-vaccine folks think that Phase I of the trial found statistically significant evidence of adverse events after getting thimerosal containing vaccines and that they manipulated the data to make it go away in Phase II.

“Although the analysis says the increased autism risk is not significant, testimony by Dr. Mark Geier before Congress in December 2002 said that the slope of the curve was in fact statistically significant.”

VSD Subgroup Analysis of Spring 2000 Obtained by SafeMinds from The Center for Disease Control – Summer, 2001

Many folks will find it ironic that Dr. Geier is considered an expert on manipulating data about vaccines and thimerosal, but that’s not what happened in the Verstraeten study.

The CDC Whistleblower

Of course, the other big conspiracy about the CDC destroying and hiding evidence comes from the CDC Whistleblower story.

A story in which the “whistleblower” has stated that:

“I want to be absolutely clear that I believe vaccines have saved and continue to save countless lives. I would never suggest that any parent avoid vaccinating children of any race. Vaccines prevent serious diseases, and the risks associated with their administration are vastly outweighed by their individual and societal benefits.

My concern has been the decision to omit relevant findings in a particular study for a particular sub ​ group for a particular vaccine. There have always been recognized risks for vaccination and I believe it is the responsibility of the CDC to properly convey the risks associated with receipt of those vaccines.

I have had many discussions with Dr. Brian Hooker over the last 10 months regarding studies the CDC has carried out regarding vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes including autism spectrum disorders. I share his belief that CDC decision-making and analyses should be transparent. I was not, however, aware that he was recording any of our conversations, nor was I given any choice regarding whether my name would be made public or my voice would be put on the Internet.”

William W. Thompson, Ph.D.

Remember, Dr. Thompson disagreed with his coauthors about how they handled some of the data, and he wanted folks to know about it.

The data wasn’t thrown out in a trash can, as some have suggested.

And unlike Brian Hooker’s study, which has been retracted, the original DeStafano study, which Thompson was talking about, has been reanalyzed and found to be sound.

Myths of Fraud at the CDC

Of course, there’s more.

At least more accusations, most of which come from the same person – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the guy who’s Deadly Immunity article was retracted because it contained so many errors (some described them as lies).

Enzi's investigation made it clearn that there was no conspiracy at Simpsonwood and it cleared Verstraeten too.
Enzi’s investigation made it clear that there was no conspiracy at Simpsonwood and it cleared Verstraeten too.

What Kennedy never mentions though, is that in 2005, Senator Mike Enzi and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee conducted an 18-month investigation into allegations of misconduct by the CDC, especially in connection with the CDC’s study of vaccine safety and thimerosal.

“Our investigation shows that public health officials conducted thorough, science based studies on autism and vaccines.”

Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY)

But why continue to attack the CDC?

Because that’s how propaganda works.

More on Myths of Fraud at the CDC