Out of 93 recent deaths of children from the flu in the U.S., 60 had been vaccinated. What kind of a protection factor does that indicate? Bad? You're right. Here is a comment from Jon Rappoport, investigative reporter, on the announcement by Lawrence Altman who comments the Centers for Disease Control's statistics in the New York Times. Read those figures closely, and you will scratch your head. One thing is turned into the exact opposite - it's called spin doctoring.
WELL, LOOKIE HERE --- FLU
JANUARY 10, 2004. Lawrence Altman, the dean of American medical writers, reports on flu stats for the NY Times. After indicating that 93 children have died from the flu this season in the US, Altman states:
"Thirty-three of the victims had not been vaccinated. The disease control agency [CDC] recommends vaccination for all healthy children 6 months and older."
Okay Altman...therefore?
Are we supposed to imagine that he doesn't see the corollary of what he just wrote?
He's brain addled?
He can't take the next logical step?
He can't push the ball with his nose one last inch?
He refuses to mention THAT, THEREFORE, 60 OF THE CHILDREN WHO DID DIE FROM THE FLU WERE VACCINATED AGAINST IT.
Hello?
Gosh o gee, if I were an editor at the NY Times, I would have blasted the headline: 60 VACCINATED CHILDREN DIE OF FLU ANYWAY.
And then I might insert a sub-head: WHOLE VACCINE CAMPAIGN CALLED INTO DOUBT.
But no.
And how many readers of the Times do you imagine caught the omission?
How many will write a letter to the paper?
Oh well, just another day in journalism hell.
How about a little interview with a mother of a child who died, who says, "WE THOUGHT OUR GIRL WAS PROTECTED AFTER SHE GOT THE SHOT, BUT THEN SHE DIED. WHAT'S GOING ON?"
How about asking the head of the CDC to comment on the fact that two-thirds of the kids who have died so far received the vaccine?
This is fake news at its best. Reverse the whole meaning of the facts.
Spin it to the wrong side.
"All those kids who got the shot died, but the CDC says vaccinate your kid."
And you thought the Jayson Blair scandal at the Times was bad? It was just a tempest in a teacup. THIS is bad. This is the kind of reporting that wouldn't even get by a bored-to-death teacher at a college journalism class. THIS is about health and illness and death.
This is madness.
Who would be the federal official to take action, to march into the CDC and start screaming? Tommy Thompson, head of Health and Human Services. Of course, Tommy was the guy back there who said there was a vial of smallpox vaccine with every American's name on it, waiting to be shot into his/her body---and a year later asserted that he was not about to get the vaccine personally because the risk was too high---and he was telling all the cabinet members to avoid taking the shot as well.
I suppose if a few thousand subscribers to the Times wrote in cancelling their subscriptions and saying why, that might jostle a few brains at the paper.
But I doubt it.
They're too busy spinning.
Way too busy.
And of course it would be entirely too much to ask how many of those kids who died were adversely affected by the vaccine. An investigation of THAT would be beyond the pale for these people.
There are cocktail parties to attend, meetings with realtors about a summer house in the Hamptons. You have to start early to line up a good place in the Hamptons.
What are the chances that a front-line medical journal will pick up on this story in an upcoming editorial? About zero.
"What are we to think when a group of children die, and two-thirds of them got the vaccine against the diseease..."
So, dear Times editor, this is my open letter to you. I suggest it is time to put Altman out to pasture. Give him a patch of grass and let him ruminate. Even if he's one of your best spinners.
JON RAPPOPORT www.nomorefakenews.com
See also:
Government and the Flu: A Short History
The Fujian virus - promoting flu vaccines
Flu Mist Anyone?
Flu shots - how useful are they?
Flu vaccine a Misty promise
Here is an archived copy of that New York Times article:
93 Children Have Died From Influenza, C.D.C. Reports
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
Published: January 8, 2004
Influenza has killed 93 children under age 18 since last October, but there is no way to determine whether the current season is more severe for children than earlier years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.
The number of deaths in children has risen from the 42 that the federal agency reported in late December. But precise assessments of the severity of this season's epidemic on children is impossible because influenza is not a nationally reported condition, said Dr. Julie L. Gerberding who is director of the centers in Atlanta.
The children who died from influenza ranged in age from 4 weeks to 17 years, with a median of 4 years. Children under 5 years accounted for 55, or 59 percent, of the 93 deaths and infants 6 to 23 months accounted for 24 deaths, or 26 percent.
The vast majority, 33, or 73 percent, had not been vaccinated. The C.D.C. recommends that all healthy children 6 months and older be vaccinated.
The deaths occurred in a variety of settings. Of the 55 cases for which location of death was reported, 15, or 27 percent, died at home; 12, or 22 percent, died in emergency rooms; 3, or 5 percent, died during transport to hospitals. The remaining 25, or 45 percent, died in hospitals.
In the absence of specific case reports, C.D.C. monitors influenza activity for all ages in a number of ways. Using those yardsticks, Dr. Gerberding said her agency was "cautiously optimistic" that the peak of this season's epidemic had passed.
In a teleconference with reporters, Dr. Gerberding said that the number of states reporting widespread flu activity declined to 38 (including New York City and the District of Columbia, which are separate reporting areas in C.D.C.'s system) from 42 for the week ended Jan. 3.
The percentage of outpatient visits for influenza dropped in all monitoring areas, the centers said in its weekly report.
The percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza rose slightly to exceed the epidemic threshold, a key determinant of the severity of an influenza season. The threshold is based on a statistical calculation derived from the number of deaths from pneumonia and influenza in 122 cities. But information usually reflects deaths that occurred three to four weeks earlier.
Recent studies and widespread publicity about deaths of children in Colorado and other states this season have underscored the need to learn more about how the virus affects young people, Dr. Gerberding said.
C.D.C. has asked doctors to report all influenza-related deaths in children under 18 through local and state health departments. Doctors are also being asked to submit virus isolated from fatal cases and tissues obtained from autopsies. The aim is to help scientists determine if there are unusual characteristics killing children.
In an additional step, C.D.C. is asking state health officials to consider making influenza deaths in children a routine reportable disease.
The only estimate of influenza deaths in children comes from an academic study that indicates the number is 92 in an average year.
Dr. Gerberding said her agency is conducting a new information campaign to help parents and teachers educate children about ways to prevent transmission of colds, influenza and other respiratory illnesses. Information about steps like coughing into a tissue and discarding it are available on the agency's Web site (www.cdc.gov).
C.D.C. urged doctors to consider testing children for influenza if they had fever and other signs of possible complications like pneumonia and had chronic diseases like asthma, heart disease and immune disorders.
Posted at January 10, 2004 07:45 PM
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