Hyping vaccines

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The following is excerpted from an essay by Dr. F. Edward Yazback E-mail: [email protected]

Years ago, medical doctors did not talk much about the rotavirus. Most people did not even know the name and some thought that it was �RotoVirus�, because it kept spreading �around and around� nursery schools. Doctors were happy to tell the parents the baby had �some kind of a virus�, that penicillin was not going to help, that many children were seen with the same symptoms, and that they improved after a few days. The medico's then suggested liquids and a limited diet and the reassured parents left with their infants, to stop at the drugstore for Pampers and Pedialyte. Md's obviously were immensely more alarmed when a child had salmonella, shigella, cholera, pathogenic E. Coli and staphylococcus gastro-enteritis.

Rarely, the babies with rotavirus infections became dehydrated. They were then brought to a holding unit at the hospital, given intravenous fluids and discharged before 23 hours. Officially, they had not been actually �admitted� to the hospital.

Suddenly, in 1998, every newspaper and every TV news program started continuous reporting on the rotavirus. Overnight, the rotavirus became a household name and the most common cause of diarrhea. It also killed thousands of babies. The fact that the deaths occurred in Third World countries was rarely, if ever, mentioned (emphasis mine - CW). In addition, the news programs warned that the economy of the United States was once more in dire danger, that HMOs were almost bankrupt trying to keep up with the rising costs of hospitalizations and that millions of hours were lost in the workplace during the rotavirus season; after all, mothers of affected children had to stay out of work to care for them and could not drop them off, as usual, at schools and day-care centers. In the midst of that intense �information� campaign, the rotavirus vaccine �Rotashield� was released to the joy and relief of The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pediatricians and parents. Because three doses were needed, the delight of the manufacturer and stockholders was tripled. One could almost imagine them visualizing a set of gorgeous blond triplets singing �Triple the Doses, Triple the Dough� using the old and proven tune of �Double the Mint, Double the Fun�.

And then, something went wrong, very wrong. It became quickly evident that some infants who received the vaccine developed intussusception, a form of intestinal obstruction and that a few died. The CDC, to its credit, acted promptly and suspended the administration of the Rotashield in July 1999, just a few months after it was released. In October 1999, it issued a detailed statement that started with the following two paragraphs: �The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) decided that Rotashield, the only U.S.-licensed rotavirus vaccine, should no longer be recommended for infants in the United States. This action was based on the results of an expedited review of scientific data presented to the ACIP by CDC in cooperation with the FDA, NIH, and Public Health Service officials, along with Wyeth-Lederle. Data from the review indicated a strong association between Rotashield and intussusception (bowel obstruction) among some infants during the first 1-2 weeks following vaccination. Use of the vaccine was suspended in July pending the data review by the ACIP. Parents should be reassured that their children who received rotavirus vaccine before July and remain well are not at increased risk for intussusception now.

Rotavirus is a severe diarrheal illness in childhood that accounts for more than 500,000 physician visits and approximately 50,000 hospitalizations each year among children less than 5 years of age. Symptoms include fever, an upset stomach and vomiting followed by diarrhea, which may lead to dehydration. This results in $264 million in direct medical costs and $1 billion in total costs to society.

The rotavirus media blitz came to a screeching halt and for four years, interest in the �designer diarrhea� has ranged between nil and minimal. Children with the disease had once again �some kind of a virus.�

However, this is due to change AGAIN. Yes indeed, very soon, we will be undoubtedly bombarded once more with a barrage of relentless rotavirus propaganda, diarrhea will become extremely serious in the United States and the cost to the National economy will become even more staggering as the launching of the �new, safe, effective and improved� rotavirus vaccine is carefully orchestrated. This second vaccine has been developed for years and has been ready to go. If rotavirus disease is so serious, the new formulation should have been released already �to save lives�. But it was probably felt that releasing it too soon after the first fiasco would not have been a good business move and as it happens sometimes, when it comes to the care of children, MBAs may overrule MDs. So everyone involved had to wait patiently for the opportune time. Indications are that 2004 will be the year.

TL Autism Research
Falmouth, Massachusetts
E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Yazbak, a board-certified pediatrician with special training in infectious diseases, has been a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics since 1963. He was formerly the Assistant Clinical Director of the Charles V. Chapin Hospital (Infectious Diseases), the Pediatric Director of Child Development Study at Brown University and the Director of Pediatrics at the Woonsocket Hospital in Rhode Island.

He has practiced pediatrics and was a school physician in Northern Rhode Island for 34 years. Since 1998, he has devoted his time to the research of regressive autism, its epidemic increase and its auto-immune causes. He has conducted a large study of mothers who received repeated live virus vaccines as adults and has proposed the hypothesis that live virus vaccination of mothers just before, during and immediately after pregnancy, predisposes their children to autism. He presented his findings at a special session of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2001 and has published 3 peer-reviewed papers on the subject. He has also published extensively on the Internet.

His interest in vaccines has been long-standing and he has been certified as an expert witness in vaccine injury cases.

Dr. Yazbak describes himself as being pro-reasonable vaccination.

He and his wife Maureen, a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, now live on Cape Cod. They have 4 children and twelve grandchildren.

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