US/CDC recommendations for the prevention and control of Influenza 2012/13

the new CDC recommendations are out - have a read. The CDC also provides detailed considerations on vaccine doses for children under 8 and adverse effects.

Note: due to the recent amount of waffling trolls on this board, only genuine questions regarding flu vaccine, schedule etc. will be tolerated in this thread.

Australian Anti-Vaccination Network AVN pwned by stopAVN statistician at their own seminar

Since we didn't post anything yesterday, here's a quick post to celebrate Stop the AVN's Scotty Harrison's beautiful talk at the Australian Anti-Vaccination Network's seminar "Vaccination and health - your right to choose" held in Armidale NSW a couple of days ago. I think the audience and organisers were expecting a slightly different take on the issue than they got - have a look and hear the guffaws about 3 minutes in as the penny drops:



Rather small-mindedly, the organisers turned down Scotty's generous offer of coming back for the next seminar the next day to provide some balance. Pwned - just beautiful - cheers mate!

Christmas is nigh - donate vaccines to UNICEF and get the t-shirt

I cannot believe that the first Christmas chocolate selection boxes have already made it into some stores. That means Christmas must be imminent, right? I guess any month is a good month to think of gifts, so let me advertise this fabulous idea (for which I am not getting any commission or anything, I just want to share the thrill of saving lives - feel free to donate any other way you see fit).

Measles kill more than 600 children every day (for example 100 in Pakistan since May), and those who survive may be left with disabilities such as blindness and brain damage. $24.30 can pay for vaccination of 81 children against measles. 100% of your donation will go to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to support life-saving relief efforts for children. I have the shirt from last Christmas:

There are other fabulous ways to save lives - consider donating mosquito nets ($18.57 will get you the shirt and three people in malaria stricken areas an insecticide treated net):

$36.10 will buy 1000 deworming tablets and one dead worm will feature on your shirt:

You are anti-vaccine and you think that really all is needed to prevent disease is food and water? Put your money where your mouth is and provide a water pump ($500):

or 1200 vitamin enriched high energy biscuits ($59.96):

and if you want to give that very special present and money doesn't matter - consider getting your loved one a UNICEF Cargo Flight from Denmark to Kenia - at $300'000 it is a steal and the t-shirt you'll get will be a beautiful understatement of your generosity:

Check out all donation options and beautiful t-shirts illustrated by Christine and Justin Gignac on Threadless and tell us which choice you have made for your present :)

UK Measles Cases Continue to Rise

Sussex county, United Kingdom now has 314 confirmed measles cases second to Merseyside's 414 confirmed cases.

Sussex has more cases of measles than any county in the nation other than Merseyside. Brighton and Hove experienced 186 reported cases this year while East Sussex has 88 cases and West Sussex has 40 cases. Through all of 2011, the county reported 173 cases, the Argus reports.

The increase in cases is due to still insufficient measles vaccine rates.  This brings the total number of UK cases to over 1279 for 2012.  The EU has reported over 18,000 cases of measles for 2012.

Thank you, parent A - David Geier fined for practicing Medicine without a license

The world is full of people willing to take advantage of the desperation of parents of "sick" children. One prime example of this are the team of father (Dr. Mark) and son (David) Geier, who are peddling their own "autism treatment". In short, their hypothesis is that testosterone in the body interacts with mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines, retaining this in the body, which somehow causes autism. Sounds crazy? Not crazy enough apparently to discourage parents from choosing to visit Dr Geier's clinic and getting their children treated with a strong drug, Lupron (also used for chemical castration) to "get rid" of the testosterone and subsequently making the mercury accessible to "chelation". You can read Kathleen Seidel's excellent summaries of the Geiers' undertakings, their misrepresentation of the science, and their financial interests here. Essentially, the weird testosterone-mercury hypothesis became a money printing machine. Children would come to the clinic, scores of blood tests would be ordered from "special labs" that would come back with the "right" diagnosis for billing purposes. "Precocious puberty" would be diagnosed and Lupron prescribed (which would then be billed to insurance companies). Apparently, David Geier, who holds a BA in Biology, was seeing patients and advising parents in his father's clinic.

Many people have been thinking for years that father and son Geier should be in prison for their abuse of autistic children, their exploitation of the parents seeking their help and their health insurance companies. Complaints were made to the various State Medical Boards where Mark Geier held licenses and, one after the other, very slowly, those were removed - Todd W is keeping tab.

Now, finally, David Geier has been convicted of "Practicing medicine without a license" by the Maryland State Board of Physicians and ordered to pay US$ 10.000 (being let off very lightly IMHO). Read the whole ruling if you have the time. The audacity is amazing (the spelling mistakes in the "diagnosis" written up by David Geier are priceless, but he charged parent A "only" $150 for it). Thanks are due to "parent A", who remained vigilant and filed a complaint when she saw the inconsistencies in the treatment of her son and the billing documents.

Also covered by LBRB and Neurologica

To Hep B or Not to Hep B...

The Hepatitis B vaccine, particularly the infant birth dose has been somewhat controversial as of late.  The reasons for this are based upon fallacious claims by so-called experts and dodgy studies.  But parents need to base their decisions on facts, not junk science and not proclamations from self-proclaimed experts who have never even conducted research.  Let's examine the facts about hepatitis B disease and vaccine:

Mythical Claim: Hepatitis B is a sexually or IV drug transmitted disease.

Fact: Hepatitis B is not just a sexually or IV drug transmitted disease.  It is the primary mode of transmission in industrialised countries, like the U.S. but in others, vertical transmission i.e. from mother to newborn during birth is the most prevalent mode of transmission and worldwide, accounts for 40-50% of hepatitis b infections.  Hepatitis B virus is spread via infected blood or bodily fluids through breaks in the skin and mucosa.  Additionally, hepatitis b virus can remain infectious on inanimate objects such as razors and surfaces for a week.

Prior to 1991 in the U.S. it has been estimated that 16,000 children under the age of ten years old were infected each year through contact with HBsAg-positive family/household members and outside contacts.  Also during that time, 30-40% of adults infected had no risk factors which implies more casual contact with infected people and/or fomites with hepatitis b virus contamination.

Mythical Claim: Most people who get hepatitis B virus clear it.

Fact: Most adults who become infected with hepatitis b are able to clear the virus, however it is estimated that 17.5% of those who acquire hepatitis b remain infected and become lifelong carriers.  About 25% of carriers who experience acute clinical illness die of cirrhosis or primary liver cancer.  The younger the age at infection, the greater the risk of becoming a chronic, lifelong carrier is.  Seventy to ninety percent of infants born to HBeAg positive mothers and don't receive immunoprophlaxis (hepatitis b vaccination and immunoglobulin) will become chronically-infected by the age of six months old.

Mythical Claim: I don't need to get tested for hepatitis b when I'm pregnant.

Fact: The recommendation is for all pregnant woman to get tested for hepatitis b surface antigen (HbsAg). It is crucial that you know what your test results are and what they mean.  The tests used are not 100% accurate but do have excellent specificity and sensitivity.  Anyone in the household or other close contacts should also be tested.  If using a midwife, please be sure that hepatitis b testing is done.

Mythical Claim: Other countries don't give a birth dose of hepatitis b vaccine.  The U.S. shouldn't be giving newborns a vaccination.

Fact: Other countries do administer a birth dose of hepatitis b vaccine:  Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Germany and Latvia (if mother is HbsAg positive or unknown status), Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Turkey.  This is just the EU.  Some factors to consider when trying to compare the U.S. to other countries that don't vaccinate for hepatitis b is healthcare systems, epidemiology of the disease and immigration.  The U.S.doesn't have universal healthcare as do many EU countries which means that many hepatitis b infected pregnant women and their contacts fall through the cracks and don't know their hepatitis b status.  The U.S. has a high rate of immigration and visitors from countries with high endemicity of hepatitis b.  Although the UK is experiencing an increasing rate of hepatitis b-infected pregnant women who have emigrated from other countries.  During the period of 1990 to 2004, the incidence of hepatitis b infection declined in children 19 years and younger by 94% when the hepatitis b series starting from birth was implemented.  This didn't happen by magic.

Hepatitis b infection in newborns carries an extremely high risk of chronic infection and complications of fulminant liver disease.  There is no guarantee that teenagers who become sexually-active and become infected will clear the virus and not also become chronic carriers, not even your beliefs in a "superior" lifestyle.  Please base your decisions on facts and not fictitious claims meant to incite fear, uncertainty and doubt.

The Best Anti-Vaccine Comment Ever!

We recently got an anonymous commentor on the Sue Reid propagates MMR Manufactuversy in the Daily Mail post.  She, by far, represents everything that is so wrong  with anti-vaxx dogma and offers a chilling glimpse into the tortured, erratic, absurd and obtuse mind that latches onto vaccine disinformation.
Anonymous first stated:

my son survived because a life saving surgery to fix his colon has been introduced. 50 years ago, he would not have survived!

I then asked:

Now let me ask you this about your child's medical procedure. Did you demand studies from the surgeons that the procedure had been submitted to controlled trials for several years before being performed on your child? Why not?

And then came this from Anonymous (in its glorious, grammar-addled entirety):

Your stupid question Science mom...
Did you demand studies from the surgeons that the procedure had been submitted to controlled trials for several years before being performed on your child? Why not?

Where have I ever led you to believe that I rely on scientific research to make my decisions. My son needed a life saving surgery, and because of advancements in science, he is here today, taking a direct hand in decreasing infant mortality. stop giving credit to your vaccines!
For you gals WHO need so called research to think for yourselves...Where is the solid evidence that babies, who get more than two-dozen doses of vaccines by age six months, are healthier as they grow up than those, who get fewer vaccines or no vaccines? No large, prospective studies have been done comparing the long-term health outcomes of children, who are vaccinated according to the CDC schedule, with those, who are not. I will again take my awesome intuition leading me to think for myself over your "research" conducted by the giant pharmaceuticals, coupled with law makers that are recipients of the deep pockets of these companies. they are the ones who use fear mongering tactics to sell more and more vaccines. Stop accusing Sue Reid and let her write about our debated topic here.. don't you see the conflict of interest with all your "research"?

well here in America, we are progressively challenging the bloated and expensive vaccine schedule and are telling doctors and legislators: "Show Us the Science, and Give Us the Choice." yes i took this from an anti vaccine website -- so what, get over it.
Your children may be healthy now, but you will never know how healthy they could be without all the toxins you are giving them. you Gals, have yet to answer my looming question - what is your explanation (don't care if it is scientific or not) of the growing number of neurological and other disorders? please..I would really love to know?? If your child or (someone you know), suddenly develops lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or any other auto immune disorders later in life.. you may consider you lended a hand by inundating them with toxins.

so we are clear about the toxins: (to name a few) There is aluminum in Hep B... There are also trace or residual amounts of 2-phenoxyethanol, phenol, albumin, sucrose, lactose, MSG, glycine, formaldehyde, and antibiotics (neomycin) in vaccines. These are very small amounts, but do we want to continually inject even small amounts of these toxins directly into our tiny babies’ developing bodies, given their inability to detoxify and how vulnerable they are to low levels of toxins? If trace amounts of formaldehyde, MSG, or antibiotics were in foods that were to be given to our babies, most of us wouldn’t allow it. Yet, these toxins go directly into the baby’s bloodstream. Vaccines also can contain egg and yeast proteins. We delay giving our babies solid foods, mostly to avoid the proteins that can cause allergies. Why would we inject isolated proteins into their bodies at 2 months old?
Please understand, I am not in favor of any shots... so please stop criticizing my debate, saying i am not posting to the right blog or what does this have to do with MMR or whatever. I am speaking out against them all.

The Italian family received justice. the vaccine was the tipping point, full stop! and Italian court agrees.....THEY WON! :o)

These bear repeating more than I can say:

"Where have I ever led you to believe that I rely on scientific research to make my decisions."

"For you gals WHO need so called research to think for yourselves..."

"I will again take my awesome intuition leading me to think for myself over your "research" conducted by the giant pharmaceuticals, coupled with law makers that are recipients of the deep pockets of these companies."

She don't need no steenkin science, she's got her awesome...

INTUITION

But but but then goes on to say:

well here in America, we are progressively challenging the bloated and expensive vaccine schedule and are telling doctors and legislators: "Show Us the Science, and Give Us the Choice." yes i took this from an anti vaccine website -- so what, get over it.

And this is it, my sublime epiphany.  Oh sure many others have identified and analysed the incongruity, hypocrisy and flat-out deception that embody anti-vaxx diatribes.  But for me, this comment is an unmitigated exposition of what we are dealing with and why we will never, ever be able to proffer any study, any explanation or any debate good enough for them to accept what is so antithetical to their awesome...

I N T U I T I O N

I have no good answers to combat this and I am left to continue to speculate on the state of education in the United States that people such as Anonymous can find their way onto the internets and make comments like this in earnest.  Regardless, it is cathartic to achieve this realisation and I will continue to pillory and counter anti-vaccine disinformation as long as I care to.