Bob Sears is telling folks that the American Academy of Pediatrics says severe brain injuries are caused by vaccines.
Bob Sears doesn’t mention that measles is much more likely to cause severe brain injury and death, or more recent studies that counter his post.
Did the AAP say that?
“A causal relationship they say.”
Bob Sears
No, they didn’t.
The researchers in Pediatrics didn’t even say that…
Did the AAP Say That Vaccines Cause Severe Brain Injury?
What did they say?
“This clustering suggests that a causal relationship between measles vaccine and encephalopathy may exist as a rare complication of measles immunization.”
Weibel et al on Acute Encephalopathy Followed by Permanent Brain Injury or Death Associated With Further Attenuated Measles Vaccines: A Review of Claims Submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
Over 23 years, the researchers (in 1998) found reports of 48 cases of acute encephalopathy among about 75,000,000 children who were vaccinated, some clustered in the second week after they received a measles containing vaccine.
Does that mean that those measles containing vaccines caused the encephalopathy?
“In the absence of a specific test to determine vaccine causation, these 48 cases may include some nonvaccine cases representing background rates.”
Weibel et al on Acute Encephalopathy Followed by Permanent Brain Injury or Death Associated With Further Attenuated Measles Vaccines: A Review of Claims Submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
No, it doesn’t.
It was a signal that got some attention though.
And as it has been further investigated, there has been no evidence that measles containing vaccines cause encephalitis, at least not above 1 in a million background rates.
What does cause encephalitis?
“About 1 child out of every 1,000 who get measles will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain) that can lead to convulsions and can leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability.”
Rita Palma is a parent in New York who had her request for a religious vaccine exemption turned down by Bayport-Bluepoint School District in New York in 2008.
“About two years ago I hit a wall with it,” she said. “I said I was going to listen to my inner voice. The whole vaccination process is based on fear of getting diseases but I would rather put my faith in God to heal diseases.”
Rita Palma on More Families Are Shunning Inoculations
Since then, she has been selling a step-by-step guide and instructions that teach parents how to “craft a unique and honest letter that is religiously based so it fits perfectly with the law.”
A unique and honest letter to do what?
Get a religious vaccine exemption because they “hold genuine and sincere religious beliefs which are contrary” to getting vaccinated and protected.
“After reading the book, if you need to retain my services for letter-writing purposes, please contact me for fees.”
She also has vaccine exemption workshops, in which she can apparently teach you what your genuine and sincere religious beliefs are and why you need an exemption based on those genuine and sincere religious beliefs, even though extremely few religions are actually against vaccines.
But didn’t they just pass a law in New York ending religious exemptions for vaccines?
We know that historically, the media has done a very good job of scaring parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.
From pushing vaccine misinformation and vaccine scare stories to providing false balance about vaccine stories, many in the media have promoted myths and fake controversies when reporting about vaccines.
Things have been getting better though.
Is the TODAY Show Stoking Vaccine Fears?
Or have they…
The TODAY Show later deleted this tweet about vaccines.
Do you see what’s wrong with the TODAY Show story about Jessica Biel?
Are they really asking whether or not vaccines are safe?!?
Even HuffPo called out the Today Show for posting an irresponsible message about vaccines.
Did they really get called out by HuffPo for irresponsibly covering vaccines?
You might realize how ironic that is if you remember just how bad HuffPo used to be, regularly posting some of the worst anti-vaccine stories. Have they gotten better?
Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time that the TODAY show has scared parents away from vaccines. After all, they are the ones who aired excerpts of Vaccine Roulette, the show which many people credit with starting the modern anti-vaccine movement.
Autism is not associated with vaccines. It isn’t a debate!
“Beginning in 1991, the military services implemented universal recruit immunization with a single dose of MMR vaccine, regardless of prior vaccination history. Shortly thereafter, and informed by the results of population serosurveys, the Air Force transitioned to a policy of targeted MMR vaccination, limiting the administration of MMR vaccine to recruits lacking serologic evidence of immunity to measles or rubella. With recent outbreaks of mumps, concerns have arisen that the practice of not specifically screening for mumps immunity in determining the need for MMR vaccine could lead to a relative increase in mumps risk among military recruits subject to screening. “
Eick et al on Incidence of mumps and immunity to measles, mumps and rubella among US military recruits, 2000–2004
Unlike measles, the MMR vaccine provides good, but not great protection against mumps.
And although military recruits are screened to see if they have low titers for measles and rubella, they still aren’t screened for mumps. The theory is that if their measles and rubella titers are low, then their mumps titer will be low too and they will get an MMR vaccine. Of course, this misses some who just have a low mumps titer, possibly an effect of waning immunity.
Mumps on the USS Fort McHenry
And that’s why we have been seeing mumps outbreaks on college campuses and most recently, on a Navy ship, although that isn’t a reason for everyone to go out and check their titers.
A tiny handful of measles outbreaks? There have been over 700 cases in the US during the past two years! There were only 37 cases in 2004.
The simple fact that you can find a ton of stories in the media about the mumps outbreaks (they are not epidemics) gives you a good clue that they aren’t.
What about the quarantined sailors on the USS Fort McHenry?
That is true, but consider that only 27 of 700 of them have gotten parotitis, presumed to have been caused by mumps.
While you would expect that no one would get mumps or any other vaccine-preventable disease these days, that is just under 4% of those on board the ship.
Although deaths were rare, mumps caused a lot of considerable loss of service and sick time in the military in the pre-vaccine era.
A whole lot more people would have gotten sick!
In the pre-vaccine era, although mumps was supposed to be a common childhood illness, about 1/3 to 1/2 of military recruits had never had mumps.
That meant big outbreaks of mumps that were hard to control, unlike what we see today.
“This article reports a recent public health response to 3 imported mumps cases occurring at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, that resulted in a contact investigation for 109 close contacts across varied settings. No secondary mumps cases were identified.”
Public Health Response to Imported Mumps Cases – Fort Campbell, Kentucky, 2018
Instead, not only do fewer people get sick during mumps outbreaks these days, but fortunately, they have fewer complications.
Mumps causes kids to have fever, puffy cheeks, and a painful, swollen jaw.
In addition to a swollen jaw, mumps is known to cause orchitis, aseptic meningitis, oophoritis, pancreatitis, and encephalitis.
“Risk was reduced for hospitalization, mumps orchitis and mumps meningitis when patient had received 1 dose of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. The protective effect of vaccination on disease severity is critical in assessing the total effects of current and future mumps control strategies.”
Young et al on Mumps Complications and Effects of Mumps Vaccination, England and Wales, 2002–2006
Fortunately, those complications are reduced when you get vaccinated. And so are your risks of actually getting mumps in the first place!
“This study demonstrates a significant preventive effect of two-dose vaccination against mumps complications (orchitis, meningitis, or encephalitis) and hospitalization for mumps.”
Orlíkováet al on Protective effect of vaccination against mumps complications, Czech Republic, 2007-2012.
Kennedy doesn’t mention a protective effect of the MMR vaccine, does he?
Remember, vaccines aren’t perfect, but even those that don’t work as well as the others still protect you from many of the worst complications and are much better than getting the disease naturally.
Mumps was often described as one of the top diseases that incapacitated soldiers in the prevaccine era.
