Childhood vaccinations suspended at Genesis pediatric clinics (Quad Cities)

WQAD ^ | 7/3/2008 | Kia Carter

[Uncledave]

QUAD CITIES -- Wednesday all Genesis Medical Center Pediatric Clinics suspended their use of childhood vaccines. The decision comes after a baby received routine vaccinations on Tuesday, then died several hours later at home. Genesis Health Group says its suspending pediatric vaccinations merely as a precaution until the cause of the baby's death can be determined.

Tuesday morning a 4-month-old baby boy came to the Genesis East Pediatrics Clinic in Silvis for a routine checkup that included several vaccinations. The seemingly healthy baby boy was brought in for a "well baby" visit, that's a check up that includes routine vaccinations like pneumonia, and DPT, which is for diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus. Then Tuesday night his parents found him dead with no obvious cause for his death. Now all childhood vaccinations at Genesis clinics in Silvis, Bettendorf and Davenport have been temporarily suspended. A Genesis spokesman says hospital administration have no reason to believe the vaccines caused the baby's death, but they want to be overly cautious.

"They'll be a coroner's examination of the baby and we'll get a report. At that time we'll most likely resume our vaccinations, because we don't think there was a link between them and the child passing," says Craig Cooper, Genesis Health Group spokesman.

Genesis has also sent the batch of vaccines the boy received off to the Food and Drug Administration and to the makers of the vaccines for testing. This is the first time Genesis has ever suspended pediatric vaccinations at it's clinics. We'll continue to bring you the latest as Genesis finds answers.

[Steamburg]

Way overblown story for a normal precaution. Sadly, some children do die, but thousands more are saved. Still, it is important to make sure there isn’t something wrong with any of the vaccines. This simply is not a news story.

[Sadie5]

A few are allergic I suspect to the vaccine yet so many more are helped. Those who refuse the shots will be the first to say they should have known better that to refuse the vaccine when their child gets whooping cough or steps on a rusty nail.However there could be a tainted lot of vaccine.

[Publius6961]

What’s a Quad City??

[basil]

Where did this happen?
“Quad Cities” doesn’t pin it down for me.

[null and void]

Davenport, Moline, Bettendorf and Rock Island.

DUH!

[TaMoDee]

Sheesh! and here I thought is was Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Polaris, Iowa. Oh well, live and learn.

[null and void]

LOL! I only know because my dad is from Davenport...

[montag813]

Davenport, Moline, Bettendorf and Rock Island.

They call those "cities"? Lol!

[wintertime]

There were no details about how the baby died.

It may have been a common crib death. (SIDS)

[BlessedBeGod]

Prayers for the baby’s family.

[don-o]

We held off on immunizations past the “recommended” time schedule. The boy was getting immunity from Mama’s milk.

Something about injecting one that young just did not seem right. So, we did the reading and made our own choice.

We have learned through hard experience, not to leave it to the experts. Check out everything they say.

[reformedliberal]

We are losing herd immunity, as it is. My little rural town/county has pertussis epidemics yearly. Last winter we had a measles outbreak and quarantine was instituted at the offending school. The main vector is an alternative school/community with regular trips to and from Holland/Germany/UK.

It has happened already in the UK

Date: Thu 3 Jul 2008 Source: Eurosurveillance, Volume 13, Issue 27, 2008, News [edited]

Measles once again endemic in the United Kingdom

------------------------------------------------

A total of 14 years after the local transmission of measles was halted in the United Kingdom (UK), the disease has once again become endemic, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), the public health body of England and Wales. In an update on measles cases in its weekly bulletin last week, the agency stated that, as a result of almost a decade of low mumps-measles-rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage across the UK, 'the number of children susceptible to measles is now sufficient to support the continuous spread of measles' [1].

In an earlier update, the HPA reported that all recent indigenously-acquired cases with a genotype in England and Wales had been found to have the same D4 sequence (MVs/Enfield.GBR/14.07), a genotype 1st identified in April 2007 and which is now endemic in the UK [2].

In May [2008], a 17-year-old with underlying congenital immunodeficiency died of acute measles infection, the first such fatality in the UK since 2006. The strain was also MVs/Enfield.GBR/14.07, genotype D4 [more accurately clade D4; see below].

The total number of confirmed measles cases in England and Wales so far this year [2008] is 461. In Scotland, there have been 68 cases of measles reported in 2008, of which 51 have been laboratory-confirmed [3]. All of the cases in Scotland were either not immunised or of unknown immunisation status. Only 2 of the cases were imported from abroad, both from Pakistan.

The HPA has recommended that health services exploit 'all possible opportunities' to offer MMR vaccine to children who have not received 2 doses. The agency also stressed the necessity for all healthcare workers in contact with vulnerable patients to have documented immunity to measles.

Europe is facing a measles epidemic, with large ongoing outbreaks for instance in Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

[Byline: Eurosurveillance Editorial Team, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden]

References

--------------

(1) Health Protection Agency. Confirmed measles cases in England and Wales ­ an update to end of May 2008. Health Protection Report (serial online). 20 June 2008. 2;25. Available from:

(2) Health Protection Agency. Confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales ­ an update. Health Protection Report (serial online). 23 May 2008. 2;(21). Available from:

(3) Vaccine uptake, measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough. HPS Weekly Report. Health Protection Scotland. 25 June 2008. 42;2008/26. Available from: .

-- Communicated by: ProMED-mail

[This report records the unwelcome outcome of the recent progressive decline in uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) triple vaccine.

The following information on interpretation of the genotyping of measles virus is taken from "The genotypes of measles virus from 1951-2004. A Review of the temporal and geographical distribution of measles virus genotypes 1951 - 2004:" .

Although measles virus is serologically monotypic, the genetic characterization of wild-type viruses has identified 8 clades (A ­ H), which have been divided into 22 genotypes and one proposed genotype. Clades B, C, D, G and H each contain multiple genotypes (B1 - 3, C1 - 2, D1 - 10, G1 - 3, H1 - 2) while clades A, E and F each contain a single genotype (A, E, F). The sequences of the vaccine strains indicate that the wild type viruses from which they were derived were all members of genotype A.

There are no known biological differences between viruses of different genotypes. Specific measles genotypes are not associated with differences in severity of disease, likelihood of developing severe sequela such as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis or inclusion body encephalitis, or variability in sensitivity of laboratory diagnosis.

Analysis of the variability in the nucleotide sequences of wild-type measles viruses has enabled the use of molecular epidemiologic techniques for measles surveillance. Genetic characterization of viral isolates or RT-PCR products is the only laboratory test that can differentiate between vaccine-associated cases and wild-type infection. - Mod.CP]

[see also: Measles - UK: (England) 20080429.1476 Measles - Switzerland 20080222.0724 Measles - Europe: Austria, Germany, Norway 20080417.1383 2007

----

Measles, cluster - Italy: (Piedmonte) ex UK 20071202.3880 Measles - Italy (Apulia) (02): background 20070405.1150 Measles - Italy (Apulia) 20070404.1146 Measles - Belgium (ex UK) 20071117.3723 Measles - Israel (ex UK) 20070922.3148 Measles - UK (02): alert 20070901.2878 Measles - UK: South Yorkshire 20070803.2521 Measles - Norway ex UK (England)(02) 20070622.2020 Measles - UK: Irish Traveller community 20070622.2019 Measles - Norway ex UK (England) 20070525.1673 Measles - UK (Scotland) (02) 20070116.0207 Measles - UK (Scotland) 20070111.0131 2006

----

Measles - UK (02) 20060616.1676 Measles - UK 20060614.1651 Measles - Australia (VIC) ex UK: correction 20060526.1482 Measles - Australia (VIC) ex UK: correction 20060526.1481 Measles - UK (Scotland) 20060425.1209 Measles - UK (England and Wales) 20060329.0952 Measles - UK (England) 20060329.0950]

.........................cp/ejp/jw

[CindyDawg]

Yes..prayers for the family and the staff at this clinic.

[null and void]

*snrk* Yes they do.

OTOH I picked up a hitchhiker in LA way back when, come to find out he was from NYC.

I told him I could understand leaving NYC, but why come to LA?

He said he liked the country atmosphere!...

[SamuraiScot]

We are losing herd immunity, as it is. My little rural town/county has pertussis epidemics yearly. Last winter we had a measles outbreak and quarantine was instituted at the offending school. The main vector is an alternative school/community with regular trips to and from Holland/Germany/UK.

I would rather stop sick people at the border, as immigration is supposed to, than jab our modest number of native-born kids with the results of new drug patents at ever-younger ages.

I have read and heard of a great number of cases of pertussis and measles among children who had had the shot. The same is notoriously the case with polio. The vaccines don't necessarily work, or don't always work well enough, and I would not be surprised if this were exacerbated by extra exposure due to lax immigration.

At the same time, we tend to underrate the extreme effectiveness of washing in preventing disease. (Alternative-school folks are often not big on washing, in my experience.)

Since the 1950s, there has been a revolution in ordinary sanitation in this country. Frequent bacterial tests of water supplies, and daily bathing and frequent sheet- and clothes-washing are relatively recent customs here, and even more so in Europe; they go with greater wealth and education. Along with the incidence of major childhood diseases, the number of cases of water-borne disease, head-lice, fleas, and bed-bugs has plummeted. (My father told me stories of the aggressive bed-bugs he met in motels on a cross-country trip with his family in the '30s.)

Because the introduction of large-scale vaccination occurred at the same time as sanitation improvements, it's hard to know what the contribution of each different measure has been. It's even harder to measure, in a varied and mobile population, which of the shots work better than others.

Immunization is, unfortunately, a particularly government-infested area of the marketplace. The pharmaceutical companies are protected from liability, and the products are mandated at government schools and jobs. This is a recipe for lax testing of safety and effectiveness. And there is accordingly little incentive for drug companies (or outsiders) to re-think the entire process of managing childhood pathogens—a process that would occur periodically in any non-protected industry.

I personally am not satisfied that anyone has looked seriously into the problem of allergens, which can cause violent reactions when injected directly into the bloodstream. Doctors and nurses are often lax about inquiring about kids' possible allergies, let alone testing for them. They are in a hurry to get the shots over with.

Among my family and friends, I have known too many cases of serious, otherwise unexplained illness following a round of early vaccines, with effects ranging from hours of high-pitched screaming to brain damage to death, not to suspect that the disease-prevention business is overdue for reinvention.

[spotbust1]

We have held off on a few of the major ones ourselves. My son is 7 and has finally had all his shots. My daughter will get the MMR when she is older.

I felt the say way as you did about injecting the little bitty babies with huge injections that caused so many symptoms for them. My children were never in preschool or day care so I was more able to control the surroundings.

[aimhigh]

Vaccines can be spaced out. Infants don’t need all the vaccines at once. They are such a great money maker, they are now vaccinating for rare diseases. Follow the $$$$.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Young immune systems are being assaulted with way too many vaccines these days. That’s not just my opinion but that of a few pediatricians I’ve worked with in the past.

[redgolum]

Big story in Davenport.

We start vaccinations way to early. Heck, they even space them out more for pigs. I know why, the doctors are worried that they parents won’t bring the kinds in often enough, but still you over load the immune system and bad things happen.

It was probably an allergic reaction to the vaccine or the mix.

[steve86]

Way overblown story for a normal precaution. Sadly, some children do die, but thousands more are saved. Still, it is important to make sure there isn’t something wrong with any of the vaccines. This simply is not a news story.

How is it overblown and "not a news story" when a healthy child dies hours after receiving a vaccination with no other apparent cause (yet)? I suspect you do not have children and/or tend to minimize threats of all kinds.

[Publius6961]

Care to narrow that down to a State?

Tell me where Locust Avenue is located...

D'OH back!

[null and void]

Since redgolum says it’s a big story in Davenport, I’d guess Iowa...

[Steamburg]

It is a reasonable action to show caution and withhold further vaccination until it can be determined if the vaccines were defective. I do have a family. I recognize the death of a child is a profound loss for that family. But, we also know that there are a percentage of persons who react badly to vaccines and that there will be deaths. What is important is that it is very premature to scream threat before there are any clear answers. If it was a child who had a fatal reaction to a normal vaccination, then it is sad and statistically expected. If it is bad vaccine, then there is the news story.

[iowamark]

[word_warrior_bob]

This will send the anti-vaccination crowd into a tizzy. I agree that vaccinations should be spread out. The anti-vac crowd though, are often certifiable.

http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/vaxliars1.htm

Some very entertaining reading about the anti-vaccination crowd. It’s very disturbing how many people are refusing to vaccinate their children.

[basil]

Thanks for the map--that pins it down for all to see. My home is known as the "Golden Triangle". I certainly don't expect folks in "Quad Cities" to know where that is---LOL!

When we read a news story like this one, though, I think we are naturally curious about where it is happening.