Tag: MMR rash

Were 38% of the Disneyland Measles Cases a Vaccine Strain?

Why do some people think 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.
There were no vaccine strain measles cases in the Disneyland outbreak.

Maybe because anti-vaccine folks have been pushing this propaganda for years now…

Were 38% of the Disneyland Measles Cases a Vaccine Strain?

Jim Meehan wasn’t the first to make the claim.

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

Again, the “vaccine reaction” is not that they developed measles! They developed a rash and/or fever, a common side effect of the MMR vaccine.

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.

More on Measles Strains in Outbreaks

Jim Meehan Supporting a Farmer Helps Explain the Deaths in Samoa

In case you need to be caught up, there is a measles epidemic in Samoa and over 50 kids have already died.

While that easily dwarfs the number of deaths in many other countries, where there have been thousands of deaths, Samoa has been getting some extra attention because some of the blame rests with anti-vax influence on the island nation.

Taylor Winterstein compared the plan to vaccinate everyone against measles to stop the outbreak to Nazi Germany!

Samoa even got a visit from Bobby Kennedy last June!

Jim Meehan Supporting a Farmer Helps Explain the Deaths in Samoa

It is even more amazing that many of these folks have been doubling down on their anti-vax activism even as measles deaths have continued to climb.

Edwin Tamasese is an holistic healer in Samoa.
I wonder what Jim Meehan thinks caused those birth defects in Brazil…

It seems that Edwin Tamasese, a farmer in Samoa who is also described as a holistic healer, is being advised on how to treat kids with measles by James Meehan, an ophthalmologist in Oklahoma who now practices integrative and functional medicine.

How do either have the training or background to help sick kids in a measles epidemic?

That they don’t is easy to see from Meehan’s letter of support…

The last thing folks in Samoa need is advice from Jim Meehan!
The last thing folks in Samoa need is advice from Jim Meehan!

Wait, why would anyone vaccinate a child who was already infected with measles?

Probably because it is a part of routine measles postexposure prophylaxis guidelines. In fact, giving a dose of MMR within a few days of exposure to someone with measles can reduce their risk of getting sick with measles or of developing complications of measles.

Of course, you wouldn’t actually give the MMR vaccine to someone who was already sick with measles though. Instead of simply being infected with measles, that would be someone with measles disease.

Big difference!

Antibiotics don't treat viral infections, but they do treat secondary bacterial diseases and superinfections that often complicate measles infections.

There are no indications for antibiotics to treat uncomplicated viral diseases, unfortunately, secondary bacterial diseases can occur and do need to be treated.

“These results document that MV infection can suppress both innate and adaptive immune responses and lead to increased susceptibility to bacterial infection.”

Slifka et al on Measles virus infection results in suppression of both innate and adaptive immune responses to secondary bacterial infection

In fact, it is these secondary bacterial super-infections, including pneumonia and mastoiditis, that can make measles so deadly.

“Mortality from measles is predominantly caused by complicating bacterial infections.”

Factsheet about measles

It is a big reason that kids with measles, a viral infection, likely need to be treated with antibiotics.

It is typically only recommended that parents treat fever if their child is very uncomfortable.
It is typically only recommended that parents treat fever if their child is very uncomfortable.

Kids with measles typically have a high fever and are very irritable.

While we have been moving towards an approach of letting fevers run their course these days, in case fever does have some beneficial effects, there are also studies that have shown that in critically ill patients, fever is associated with increased mortality.

Measles is not mutating.
Mutating measles? Where have we heard that before?

Why do we genotype measles strains?

So that we know where outbreaks originated from.

Unlike some other infections, the genotype doesn’t help you figure out whether or not the vaccine will work against it. Measles is a monotypic virus. The MMR vaccine protects against all measles strains.

“The outbreaks in Samoa and Tonga are caused by the D8 strain (genotype) of measles virus.”

Measles Outbreak in the Pacific – Situation Report No 2, 26 November 2019

An no, for the millionth time, 38% of the measles cases in the Disneyland outbreak were not caused by the vaccine strain!

Those folks with the vaccine strain were the ones who were recently vaccinated and had a “febrile rash illness,” a common side effect of the vaccine.

They did not have measles!

While vaccinating someone who is truly immunosuppressed with a live vaccine is contraindicated, it seems like Meehan thinks that most of the folks on Samoa are immunosuppressed and shouldn’t be vaccinated!

The kids are dying because they aren't vaccinated and protected!
Not the measles virus??? The kids are dying because they aren’t vaccinated and protected!

There is a state of emergency in Samoa that has closed schools, banned public gatherings, and mandated vaccines, as they attempt to get their measles epidemic under control. They are also getting help from UNICEF, the New Zealand Red Cross, UK’s Emergency Medical Team (UK EMT), the Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT), and the New Zealand Medical Assistance Team (NZMAT).

More help is coming from the CDC and the EUCPM.

How much vitamin C are the kids on Tamasese's protocol getting?
How much vitamin C are these kids getting? 3000mg? 5000mg? Since too much vitamin C causes diarrhea and nausea, how much will they take “until stomach runs?” Diarrhea and dehydration are already complications of measles…

They do not need folks like Tamasese and Meehan interfering with these efforts because they think they can do it better, even as they scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids – the one thing that will end the epidemic.

It should be noted that as much as anti-vax folks are crowing about Tamasese and Meehan’s efforts to get kids vitamin A, their protocol severely under doses kids!

The WHO has a protocol for giving kids high doses of vitamin A when they have measles.
The WHO has a protocol for giving kids high doses of vitamin A when they have measles.

Anyway, mega doses of vitamin A are most helpful in reducing mortality in hospitalized kids with measles. It is also important to keep in mind that vitamin A only reduces mortality – it doesn’t eliminate it. Vitamin A is not a cure for measles.

And the mega doses of vitamin C they are giving aren’t going to help prevent complications. They are just giving the kids diarrhea, which is not a good thing if they might already be malnourished!

What’s the biggest takeaway from the Samoa epidemic?

As we see more measles, we will see more people die with measles.

Measles is deadly.

This type of anti-vax propaganda is the reason that parents might think that vaccines are toxic...
This type of anti-vax propaganda is the reason that parents might think that vaccines are toxic…

Get vaccinated and protected with two doses of MMR and prevent these outbreaks.

More on Jim Meehan and Samoa

Will SB276 Revoke Legitimate Medical Exemptions?

Bob Sears has already said that SB276 will eliminate medical exemptions and stop doctors from writing medical exemptions.

ITP after MMR is not a reason to get a medical exemption for all vaccines…

What is he saying now?

Will SB276 Revoke Legitimate Medical Exemptions?

Bob Sears is saying that SB276 will revoke legitimate medical exemptions from children who have had “seizures, nerve injuries, and severe allergic reactions after vaccines.”

He also says that they “will be forced to continue just to stay in school.”

To be clear, neither SB276 nor any other vaccine law in the United States forces anyone to get vaccinated.

Yes Bob Sears, what do you mean forced to stay in school?
Yes Bob Sears, what do you mean forced to stay in school?

Although implying forced vaccination is a common anti-vaccine tactic, even his own followers called him out on it…

What else can you see from reading the comments to Bob’s post?

Some medical exemptions might be revoked under SB276, but it isn’t because they are legitimate.

ITP would not be a reason to get a medical exemption to all vaccines.
ITP would not be a reason to get a medical exemption to ALL VACCINES.

A rash that turned in ‘purple blobs’ after the MMR vaccine sounds like it could be ITP, which is actually a table injury.

Since the ACIP lists that as a precaution to getting another dose of MMR, you would almost certainly get a medical exemption, but not to all vaccines!

While scary for parents, ITP typically goes away on its own without treatment in about two weeks to six months.

Anyway, SB276 doesn’t revoke legitimate medical exemptions.

If you actually read SB276, as amended, what it does do is trigger a review by medical professionals to “identify those medical exemption forms that do not meet applicable CDC, ACIP, or AAP criteria for appropriate medical exemptions” if:

  • a school’s immunization rate drops below 95%
  • a doctor writes five or more medical exemptions in a single year (although that doesn’t sound like a lot, keep in mind that true medical exemptions are not very common, so the average doctor who is only writing medical exemptions for their own patients likely won’t write that many each year)
  • a school doesn’t report it’s immunization rates

And once reviewed, inappropriate medical exemptions can be revoked, although that process can be appealed by a parent who thinks that their child does indeed have a legitimate medical exemption.

Keep in mind that just because a doctor writes more than 5 exemptions in a single year, that doesn’t mean that they will automatically be revoked. That simply triggers a review. Even if the doctor writes 10 or 20, if they are legitimate exemptions, then they will be allowed.

Again, SB276 doesn’t revoke legitimate medical exemptions.

Why does Bob Sears think that it does?

Maybe because many of things that Bob Sears considers to be legitimate medical exemptions actually aren’t, which is why he is already under investigation, even before SB276 is enacted…

More on Legitimate Medical Exemptions

How Long Do Side Effects of Immunizations Last?

Immunizations are safe, but they can have some risks and side effects.

Vaccine side effects can be reported to VAERS online or using a downloadable form.
Vaccine adverse events can be reported to VAERS online or using a downloadable form.

Fortunately, most are fairly mild, like pain and fever.

How Long Do Side Effects of Immunizations Last?

And most vaccine side effects go away quickly.

For example, fever and fussiness, two of the most common vaccine reactions, typically only lasts a day or two.

Others can last a little longer, but still usually go away on their own:

  • when kids get a rash after their MMR vaccine, it might last three or four days
  • even when kids get swelling of an entire arm or leg after the DTaP shot is given, it might last for 1–7 days
  • pain at the injection site typically only lasts a few days
  • shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) can last months and sometimes doesn’t go away
  • arthritis after a rubella containing vaccine, which mostly occurs in adults, typically only lasts a few days
  • febrile seizures are usually brief and rarely lead to non-febrile seizures
  • immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) after a measles containing vaccine resolves in two weeks to six months, typically without any treatment
  • intussusception after a rotavirus vaccine resolves with treatment, either an air contrast enema or surgery
  • Guillain-Barré Syndrome after a seasonal flu vaccine, which is very rare, resolves in the majority of people over a period of years

Do any have more long lasting effects?

VAPP or vaccine-associated paralytic polio after the oral polio vaccine might not resolve. Fortunately, it only occurs in about 1 in every 1.27 million children receiving their first dose of OPV. It is even less common after bOPV, which is oral polio vaccine that is now being used. And won’t happen at all once we stop using oral polio vaccines.

Encephalitis or encephalopathy after a pertussis or a measles, mumps, and rubella virus containing vaccine might also lead to long lasting effects.

And some, like anaphylaxis, are life-threatening.

Fortunately, most long-term vaccine studies have shown that immunizations are safe, rarely causing severe reactions, and don’t have many long term side effects.

What to Know About How Long Immunization Side Effects Last

Most vaccine side effects are mild and only last a few days.

More on Immunization Side Effects