Kenneth Stoller made the claim as part of his factual background and under “penalties of perjury” when he was being investigated for writing fraudulent medical exemptions in California.
There were no vaccine strain measles cases in the Disneyland outbreak.
And it has been repeated over and over again.
There were no vaccine strain measles cases in the Disneyland outbreak.
And not just about California.
There were no vaccine strain measles cases in the Disneyland outbreak.
Larry Palevsky seems to think that the big outbreaks in New York could have just been folks with vaccine-strain measles…
“All measles cases this year have been caused by measles wild-type D8 or B3.”
CDC on Measles Cases in 2019
Of course, none of this is true.
There were no vaccine strain measles cases in the Disneyland outbreak.
There were no vaccine strain measles cases in the Disneyland outbreak!
What the California Department of Public Health reported were recently vaccinated persons who developed a febrile rash, which is a common side effect of the MMR vaccine. They were tested because they were in the middle of a measles outbreak and they wanted to make sure that these folks didn’t have measles. And they didn’t.
A few studies even describe the methods they used.
“Here, we describe a real-time
reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) method that detects the vaccine
genotype (MeVA RT-quantitative PCR [RT-qPCR]) and that can provide rapid
discrimination between wild-type-virus infections and vaccine
reactions.”
Roy et al on Rapid Identification of Measles Virus Vaccine Genotype by Real-Time PCR
So how do we know that most cases in other outbreaks aren’t recently vaccinated persons with a febrile rash illness?
“During outbreaks, measles vaccine
is administered to help control the outbreak, and in these situations,
vaccine reactions may be mistakenly classified as measles cases.”
CDC on Genetic Analysis of Measles Viruses
Well for one thing, most of the cases are in folks who aren’t vaccinated!
And measles symptoms are much more severe than the few days of fever and rash that you might get after being vaccinated.
But if necessary, testing can be done to see if it is a vaccine strain and to see if they don’t actually have measles.
And can everyone now stop saying that that 38% of the Disneyland measles cases were caused by a vaccine strain of measles?
There were no vaccine strain measles cases in the Disneyland outbreak.
The study they are citing, Rapid Identification of Measles Virus Vaccine Genotype by Real-Time PCR, simply talks about how to “distinguish between measles cases and vaccine reactions.”
“During measles outbreak investigations, rapid detection of measles vaccine reactions is necessary to avoid unnecessary public health interventions.”
Rapid Identification of Measles Virus Vaccine Genotype by Real-Time PCR
While many of these people do test positive for a vaccine strain, they do not actually have measles. They typically just have a rash and/or fever, with a concern that they might have measles because they are in the middle of a measles outbreak.
But if they have a rash and fever and test positive for measles, even if it is a vaccine strain, why shouldn’t we just say that they have measles?
Because measles isn’t just about having a rash and fever. It is having a specific pattern of a high fever for 3 or 4 days, then developing a rash, and continuing to have a fever. People with measles also typically have other symptoms, including irritability, cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis.
Confirmed Case Counts in Measles Outbreaks
Still, since these measles vaccine reactions can get confused with real measles cases, do they inflate the measles case counts in our outbreaks?
Testing helps to make sure that only real cases of measles are included in outbreak case counts.
They don’t.
While we occasionally do see a “confirmed” case later change as further testing is done, it is important to realize that most cases are thoroughly evaluated to see if they are in fact really measles.
Most case counts are made up of confirmed cases and don’t include suspected cases that might be someone who has a rash after their MMR vaccine or some other viral infection.
“Vaccine‐associated measles is a possible, but extremely rare event.”
Sood et al on Vaccine‐associated measles in an immunocompetent child
Anyway, vaccine induced or vaccine associated measles is extremely rare.
What about the fully vaccinated woman in New York who developed measles, getting four other people sick in 2011?
Didn’t she have vaccine induced measles?
Nope.
“This is the first report of measles transmission from a twice-vaccinated individual with documented secondary vaccine failure. The clinical presentation and laboratory data of the index patient were typical of measles in a naive individual. “
Rosen et al on Outbreak of Measles Among Persons With Prior Evidence of Immunity, New York City, 2011
She had the D4 strain of measles – not a vaccine strain.
Trying to get you to think that many people in an outbreak have a vaccine strain is just another propaganda technique to scare you away from vaccinating and protecting your kids.
It is well known that there are doctors in California writing fake medical exemptions for kids so that they can avoid getting vaccinated and protected.
Tara Zandvliet isn’t the only one writing a lot of medical exemptions for vaccines.
Just who these doctors are is probabaly a bit of a mystery to a lot of people.
Who Is Kenneth Stoller?
In addition to Tara Zandvliet in San Diego, Kenneth Stoller has been writing a lot of medical exemptions for kids in California.
Did Kenneth Stoller get referrals for medical exemptions through anti-vaccine groups on Facebook?
In fact, he has been writing so many that he got the attention of the City Attorney in San Francisco, who is investigating “whether the San Francisco doctor has been unlawfully providing medical exemptions that allowed parents to avoid vaccinating their children, which would put those children, their playmates, their schoolmates, and the general public at greater risk of contracting a communicable disease.”
In a response to this investigation, which includes a subpoena for his medical records, Ken Stoller admits that he “issues exemptions based on considerations not listed as CDC contraindications and precaution.”
“In conclusion, the invalid interpretation that the determination of the MTFHR variant is an acceptable reason for vaccine exemptionsis not based on the precepts of replication and rigorous clinical testing. It is unfortunate that the loose application of our exploratory report has been misinterpreted and used to inappropriately justify exemption of children from medically indicated vaccines.”
David M Reif, Ph.D. on the Inappropriate Citation of Vaccine Article
Since the CDC list of contraindications and precautions is what most people consider the standard of care for a medical exemption, it is a little hard to understand what his defense will be? It isn’t the continued use of MTHFR testing, is it?
“There is no published information as of yet as to how many of the 10 measles cases in children were the wild measles strain, (i.e., unvaccinated children, versus children who contracted symptoms from the vaccine, like the 38% in the Disneyland outbreak), or how many were vaccinated and contracted wild measles due to primary vaccine failure, which may be 10% or more.”
Complaint/verified Petition to Quash an Administrative Subpoena,for Declaratory and Injunctive relief against the Subpoena and in Support of an Alternative Standard of Vaccine Exemptions Recognized Under California Law
This is not vaccine strain measles, an idea that anti-vaccine folks continue to push to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.
Although some vaccine strains were detected in 2015, they were not in people who actually had measles.
“During measles outbreaks, it is important to be able to rapidly distinguish between measles cases and vaccine reactions to avoid unnecessary outbreak response measures such as case isolation and contact investigations.”
Roy et al on Rapid Identification of Measles Virus Vaccine Genotype by Real-Time PCR
They are people with a febrile rash illness. The rash and fever is a vaccine side effect. It is not vaccine-associated measles.
And primary vaccine failure is not very common at all, which is why most cases are in those who are unvaccinated.
Kenneth Stoller on Vaccines and Autism
What else does Dr. Stoller believe?
“For many children, the enviornmental illness that we have incorrectly been calling autism, is actually an illness that has been exacerbated by too many toxic vaccines. Contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of people in governmental circles who know that certain vaccine ingredients, such as ethyl mercury, found in the perservative thimerosal, will cause neurobehavioral problems and negatively impact the health of vaccinated children.”
But doesn’t the measles rash typically show up after three to five days of fever?
Wait, that couldn’t really happen, could it? Seven vaccinated kids with measles in one family?
How Could Seven of My Vaccinated Kids Have the Measles Right Now?
While anything is possible, this story is very improbable once you look at the details…
“When her 12-year-old son spiked a fever and started complaining of a sore throat right before Passover, Mrs. Pearl (not her real name) wasn’t worried. She confidently crossed off a host of possible infections that he was fully vaccinated for.
She thought he had strep throat, like two of his siblings.
They headed to urgent care for a rapid strep test, but the result was negative. Undeterred, she put her son on antibiotics at the nurse’s recommendation, and sent her son to bed.
He’d worsened by morning.
He woke feeling feverish and broken out in a rash.”
Jennifer Margulis
Could that be measles?
He ended up testing positive for measles, even though he was fully vaccinated. Only two days of fever before he developed his rash though, and no word that the fever continued, as you would expect with measles…
“Not long after, Mrs. Pearl’s 10-year-old broke out in a similar rash.
This child didn’t spike a fever but his breathing was labored and he complained that his eyes hurt.
He also tested positive for the measles.”
Jennifer Margulis
Although they all could have been exposed to someone else, it is important to note that the incubation period for measles is 7 to 14 days. The “not long after” scenario sounds like too short a time to get “measles” from his brother. Also, no fever, which would be very strange for measles…
But the other five kids had more classic symptoms of measles, right?
Nope.
“Of the seven other children that Mrs. Pearl had tested—all of whom had been fully vaccinated—five more showed no immunity to measles.”
That’s actually not unusual after measles vaccination. It’s not proof or any kind of indication that the vaccine didn’t work. It has been long known that most vaccinated people who have negative measles titers will show an anamnestic immune response if they get another dose of MMR.
What does that mean? It means that they were likely immune, even with the negative titer.
“In the event that a HCP who has 2 documented doses of MMR vaccine is tested serologically and determined to have negative or equivocal measles titer results, it is not recommended that the person receive an additional dose of MMR vaccine. Such persons should be considered to have presumptive evidence of measles immunity. Documented age-appropriate vaccination supersedes the results of subsequent serologic testing.”
Immunization of Health-Care Personnel: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
In fact, we don’t routinely check titers after MMR, at least not for measles.
And their symptoms?
“Two hours after getting the MMR booster, Mrs. Pearl’s 16-year-old spiked a 102-degree fever and broke out in a measles rash.
Four days later her three other children, all of whom had received the MMR booster, all had measles rashes, canker sores in their mouths, gastrointestinal problems, and lethargy.”
Jennifer Margulis
Canker sores with measles? Kids with measles get Koplik spots, but no one describes them as canker sores.
Fever and a rash developing at the same time?
Yeah, none of that sounds like measles. At all.
Remember, the classic symptoms of measles include 3 to 5 days of a high fever with cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis, followed by a rash, with continued fever.
“According to Mrs. Pearl, the health department official also told her that measles vaccine failure is common and that about half the people getting measles in the current measles clusters in Brooklyn are fully vaccinated.”
Jennifer Margulis
Actually, only 27 of the 566 people in Brooklyn with measles have been known to be fully vaccinated, with two doses of MMR. How much less than half is that? It is less than 5% of cases.
Why Did They Say That Seven of My Vaccinated Kids Have Measles?
So how do you explain what happened to this family?
Besides the likelihood that they had another, more common virus causing their symptoms? With mouth ulcers and diarrhea, like maybe Coxsackie virus?
Do you really need another explanation?
How do you explain the positive measles tests?
They were almost certainly a false positive.
“The test kits in use have been shown to have high sensitivity and specificity. However, cross-reactions with other viral diseases, e.g. rubella and Parvovirus, may occur.”
Dietz et al on The laboratory confirmation of suspected measles cases in settings of low measles transmission: conclusions from the experience in the Americas.
They didn’t state which test was done, but it is important to note that several are available. This includes an immunoglobulin test, PCR from a throat swab, and PCR from a urine specimen. The most accurate testing is done by the CDC.
“Detection of specific IgM antibodies in a serum sample collected within the first few days of rash onset can provide presumptive evidence of a current or recent measles virus infection. However, because no assay is 100% specific, serologic testing of non-measles cases using any assay will occasionally produce false positive IgM results.”
Serologic Testing for Measles in Low Prevalence Setting
Did they have confirmatory tests, after their initial positive test? Were they done at a state lab? Did all of her other kids test positive for measles?
“She’s angry at the measles vaccine failure and worried about her family members, especially her pregnant daughter.”
Jennifer Margulis
She should be angry at folks pushing misininformation in her community.
“I used to think people who don’t vaccinate were crazy,” Mrs. Pearl says. “Now I’m not so sure. Maybe they’re right. Maybe my body doesn’t want to take garbage. Something is a red flag. After my story, I’m not so sure where the measles started. I’m legit. I did vaccinate. All my kids are up to date. Children ages 22 to 7 all getting the measles?”
Jennifer Margulis
Something is indeed a red flag. To get to the bottom of it, Mrs. Pearl should revisit the idea that her kids really had measles.
