Tag: eradicated diseases

What Happens if We Stop Using Oral Polio Vaccines?

As we occasionally hear reports of vaccine derived polio, it shouldn’t be surprising that anti-vaccine folks are calling for the end of all use of the oral polio vaccines that can trigger these cases.

Do you recognize the NVIC and ICAN? Think Barbara Loe Fisher and Del Bigtree... and ask them why they want to bring back polio. — Do you recognize the NVIC and ICAN? Think Barbara Loe Fisher and Del Bigtree… and ask them why they want to bring back polio.

Got any idea of what would happen if anyone listened to them?

What Happens if We Stop Using Oral Polio Vaccines?

Believe it or not, a plan is already in place to stop using oral polio vaccines.

So why haven’t we done it yet?

“In April 2016 a switch was implemented from trivalent OPV to bivalent OPV in routine immunization programmes. Following WPV1 and WPV3 eradication, use of all OPV in routine immunizations will be stopped.”
OPV Cessation

It is obviously because we haven’t yet eradicated wild polio!

“The GPEI’s achievements are evident not just in the retreat of WPV to geographic corners of the world, but also in the successive elimination of WPV types. In 2015, WPV type 2 was declared eradicated; WPV type 3 has not been seen since 2012; and while WPV1 has yet to be interrupted, its incidence has been reduced by over 90% since 2014.”
Polio Endgame Strategy 2019–2023

We are very close though.

“In impoverished communities with substandard sanitation and living conditions, vaccine strain poliovirus can contaminate water sources used for bathing and drinking, which can lead to more cases of vaccine strain polio paralysis,” said Barbara Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center. “Until polio eradication campaigns stop using live oral polio vaccine, the vaccine strain polio virus will continue to cripple children and adults.”
Vaccination-wary groups call for halt of oral polio vaccine

But if we stopped using oral polio virus vaccines before polio was eradicated, we would simply start seeing more cases of wild polio. And they would be at much higher levels than the vaccine derived cases we are seeing now.

“While over 18 million people who would have been paralysed by polio are walking today as a result of the eradication programme, we have not yet reached zero – and our mission to reach every last child remains as urgent as ever. If we stop our efforts now, within ten years we could see as many as 200,000 new cases each year, all over the world. Simply put, children everywhere remain at risk until polio is eradicated.”
Polio Endgame Strategy 2019–2023

Is that what Barbara Loe Fisher is proposing?

The Endgame Plan 2013-2018 succeeded in certifying South-East Asia (SEARO) as polio-free, brought the African Region closer than ever to eradication of wild poliovirus, possibly eradicated two out of three wild poliovirus strains, set the world on the path of phased Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) removal, stopped outbreaks in Syria and Horn of Africa, and cornered wild poliovirus circulation to a joint cross-border reservoir between Afghanistan and Pakistan. — The Endgame Plan 2013-2018 “succeeded in certifying South-East Asia (SEARO) as polio-free, brought the African Region closer than ever to eradication of wild poliovirus, possibly eradicated two out of three wild poliovirus strains, set the world on the path of phased Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) removal, stopped outbreaks in Syria and Horn of Africa, and cornered wild poliovirus circulation to a joint cross-border reservoir between Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

What if instead of just stopping oral polio vaccinations, we went ahead and switched to IPV now, before wild virus interruption?

Would that be so bad?

Well yeah, it would, since IPV doesn’t stop the transmission of the polio virus.

IPV does prevent you from actually getting paralytic polio, but not from getting a polio infection and spreading it to others. So if we switched to IPV now, we would never actually eradicate polio.

OPV, on the other hand, prevents both paralytic polio and the spread of infection. Unfortunately, it can also rarely mutate and cause paralytic polio. And when vaccination rates are low, these mutant strains can even cause outbreaks.

Why do the outbreaks of mutant strains of polio only happen when vaccination rates are low? Because in addition to preventing infection from wild strains, the polio vaccines can prevent paralytic polio that is caused by the mutant strains!

But why use a vaccine that can mutate like that? It’s simple. The risk of wild polio is so much greater before OPV gets wild polio virus strains under control.

Don’t Spoil the Polio Endgame

There have been some hiccups, but we are very close to eradicating polio.

“In 1988, when the World Health Assembly declared its commitment to eradication and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was formed in pursuit of this goal, there were 350 000 annual cases of WPV in 125 countries. By the end 2018, only 33 cases were identified – all from two neighbouring countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan).”
Polio Endgame Strategy 2019–2023

And while there are plenty of challenges ahead, including:

Ongoing conflicts in the last remaining polio-affected regions.
Weak or fragile health systems and extreme poverty in both endemic and non-endemic countries.

Let’s not add to those challenges and let anti-vaccine folks bring back polio.

“The medical establishment repeatedly claims that the science regarding vaccines is settled,” said Del Bigtree, CEO and founder of Informed Consent Action Network, adding that the outbreak of vaccine-derived cases “highlights the danger of eliminating the human and civil right of informed consent with regard to vaccines — a right available for all other medical products and procedures.”
Vaccination-wary groups call for halt of oral polio vaccine

Let’s not let them scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids, which would lead to even more cases of both wild polio and vaccine derived polio.

The Myth That Measles Never Left

Measles cases are on the rise. Where? Pretty much everywhere. But some folks are still pushing the myth that measles never left.

The highest number of measles cases in over 25 years? Don't call it a comeback? — Don’t call it a comeback? Cases in the US average 283 cases per year over the past 12 years (if you don’t skip 2019…)

It is easy to see that measles myth, like most AV myths, isn’t true.

The Myth That Measles Never Left

In the pre-vaccine era, everyone would get measles.

That translates into about 500,000 reported cases each year. Technically, it was likely closer to about 4 million cases in the United States each year, but either way, we know that lots of people got measles.

Then we got a measles vaccine and not surprisingly, cases of measles dropped. Except for a small uptick from 1989 to 1991, we were on our way to eliminating measles.

And we did, in 2000, when the endemic spread of measles was eliminated in the United States. From then on, all measles cases were imported.

In 2004, we had an historic low of just 37 measles cases in the United States!

Will we ever have fewer than 37 cases in a year?

And from 2000 to 2012, we averaged just 87 measles cases each year, which is far below the US average of 283 cases we are now seeing.

No, measles never completely left. It was not eradicated.

But it is certainly making a comeback and soaring to levels that we haven’t seen since 1992!

Just think about it… We had 37 cases of measles in 2004 and this year, we often had 37 cases in a single week!

Get vaccinated and protected so that you don’t get caught up in the next outbreak.

Did Pediatricians Ever Encourage Parents to Have Measles Parties?

While the idea of chickenpox and measles parties now seems ridiculous to most people, in the pre-vaccine era, it might not have been so strange. Since getting these diseases was inevitable, it might make some sense to try and control when your kids got sick. Did did pediatricians actually encourage parents to have measles parties?

Did Pediatricians Ever Encourage Parents to Have Measles Parties?

Some folks think they have evidence that they did!

This is not evidence for measles parties... — This is not evidence for measles parties…

Wait, did they really have measles?

As most folks know, German measles is another name for rubella or 3-day measles.

Not exactly…

These kids had German measles – better known as rubella. Of course, that is not the same thing as measles or rubeola.

Measles vs Rubella

Why do we worry about rubella? Unlike measles, it’s not because it can make kids very sick, but rather because if a pregnant woman gets rubella, then it can be devastating for their baby.

The idea for rubella parties started in the UK in the 1950s.

That’s why some folks tried to get rubella when they were kids, well before they reached the age when they could become pregnant.

How did that strategy work out?

Many articles advocating for rubella parties (German measles) appeared in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Of course, those rubella parties didn’t prevent the rubella epidemics that came in 1964-65 and caused 12.5 million rubella virus infections and “resulted in 11,250 therapeutic or spontaneous abortions, 2,100 neonatal deaths, and 20,000 infants born with congenital rubella syndrome.”

In addition to spreading rubella to pregnant women, at these parties, younger children could get exposed to other diseases that are more serious, like measles.

It was the rubella vaccine that was developed in 1969 that helped control and eventually eliminate rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in the United States. And eliminated all of the risks of the measles parties that some folks used to have.

Are Mutant Strains of Polio Vaccine Now Causing More Paralysis Than Wild Polio?

Believe it or not, it’s true.

Mutant strains of polio vaccine have been causing more paralysis than wild polio.

Are Mutant Strains of Polio Vaccine Now Causing More Paralysis Than Wild Polio?

Although anti-vaccine folks seem to be having a field day over the news, it doesn’t really mean what they think it means.

It isn’t even true anymore…

Not getting polio is a good thing. A pediatrician, especially one who wrote a vaccine book should understand the benefits of the polio vaccine.

The article Bob Sears shared isn’t even current…

“So far in 2017, there have been only six cases of “wild” polio reported anywhere in the world. By “wild,” public health officials mean the disease caused by polio virus found naturally in the environment.
By contrast, there have been 21 cases of vaccine-derived polio this year.”
Mutant Strains Of Polio Vaccine Now Cause More Paralysis Than Wild Polio

It was from two years ago.

There were only 22 cases of wild polio in the world in 2017. We are on track for many more cases this year.

He doesn’t even mention the main reason that mutant strains of polio vaccine are now causing more paralysis than wild polio.

“Global efforts to immunise children with the oral polio vaccine (OPV) have reduced wild poliovirus cases by 99.9% since 1988.”
Fact Sheet: Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus

And that is simply because most people are vaccinated and protected and we are very close to eradicating polio!

“As recently as 30 years ago, wild poliovirus paralysed more than 350,000 children in more than 125 countries every year. In 2018 there were fewer than 30 reported cases in just two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
“Zero polio transmission and health for all”, WHO Director-General gives new year’s wish to the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan

Nor does he mention that vaccine derived polio virus strains mutate when too many people are unvaccinated.

What else does Bob Sears leave out of his post?

Polio this week as of 24 July 2019, with more paralysis from wild polio viruses than mutant strains of the polio vaccine.

So far, this year, we are tragically seeing more paralysis from wild polio than mutant strains of the polio vaccine!

What’s the last thing Bob Sears left out of his post?

Most of the “mutant strains” of polio vaccine are from the type 2 vaccine virus, which isn’t being used anymore. In 2016, all countries switched to bivalent OPV, which doesn’t include the type 2 polio virus strain.

And since most cases of wild polio are in just a few countries, namely Pakistan and Afghanistan, we will hopefully get back on track to eradication and also see a drop in paralysis from the mutant vaccine strains. That’s when we can stop using the oral polio vaccine all together.

At least we will if folks stop listening to anti-vaccine misinformation and propaganda that scares them away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

VAXOPEDIA

What Happens if We Stop Using Oral Polio Vaccines?