Mothering: Vaccine Roulette: Weighing the Odds

The last eight months have witnessed a flurry of activity regarding the safety, ethics, and politics of vaccines. Here are some of events of note.

* On May 19, 1999 a House subcommittee met on the then mandatory hepatitis B vaccine. Following the hearing, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suspended the hepatitis B vaccine for low-risk newborns.

* On June 17, 1999 the CDC recommended that the injected polio vaccine replace the oral polio vaccine effective January 2000.

* On July 7, 1999 the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) requested that vaccine manufacturers phase in a replacement for the mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, commonly used in vaccines and biologics.

* On July 16, 1999 the CDC withdrew its recommendation of the rotavirus vaccine due to 15 cases of bowel obstruction reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) between September 1, 1998 and July 7, 1999.

* And, on July 28, 1999 the rotavirus vaccine was added to the Vaccine Injury Table of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP).

That's not all. Lawsuits of vaccine manufacturers have been virtually nonexistent since the protections provided by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which created the NVICP. However, a recent case in New York state seeks over $500 million in punitive and compensatory damages from Wyeth- Ayerst Pharmaceuticals, a division of American Home Products, for injuries sustained by an 18 month old. The child was allegedly brain damaged from a 1993 DTP vaccination.

Other cases of vaccine-related injuries have raised the possibility of a link between vaccines and autism and the Hib vaccine and diabetes. They also have brought up questions about the association between the hepatitis B vaccine and multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, as well as other autoimmune diseases.

Many of these possible causal relationships were the subject of testimonies at Congressman Dan Burton's (R-IN) House Government Reform Committee on vaccines held this past summer. One of the most compelling was that of Rick Rollens, a parent advocate and former California state senator.

At seven months, Rollens' son, Russell, now eight had a serious reaction within 72 hours after receiving his third DPT and first Hib vaccinations. Within days after the vaccinations, Russell began to deteriorate and at two and a half years old he was officially diagnosed with autism. Rollens believes that Russell's autism was vaccine induced.

During his testimony, Rollens revealed California data that actually compelled the Los Angeles Times to report an autism epidemic in the state. Conservative estimates indicate a 273 percent increase during the last year in the number of new reported cases of children with autism. In Rollens' California public school district, the incidence of autism is one in 132 children.

At the national level, the US Department of Education reports a 173 percent increase in autistic children served under the Individuals with Disabilities Act between 1993 (15,580) and 1998 (42,500).

Given these statistics, Rollens concluded his address with the call for additional research into the causes of autism.

Rollens isn't the only one sounding the alarm. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has asked for a moratorium on mandatory vaccines and a congressional investigation into the process by which vaccines are tested, approved, and recommended as mandatory by the CDC.

This action was prompted in part by the revelation that the number of cases of serious bowel obstruction associated with the rotavirus vaccine was far higher during prelicensure than it was after licensure of the vaccine.

As Jane Orient, MD, Executive Director of the AAPS, says in her letter to Representative Dan Burton, "The situation with the rotavirus vaccine may be a clue to a far more serious problem with the vaccine approval process.... AAPS has been studying the reports and has concluded that the FDA and the CDC may have ignored or concealed data that showed problems [with the rotavirus vaccine] from the outset."

Orient's letter calls for public disclosure of the approval process and independent review of data. It also supports a provision introduced by Senator Shelby (R-AL) that would require public access to all federally funded research.

For new information about vaccines, see the AAPS Web site: aapson line.org