I Speak of Dreams

What passes for robust argument in anti-vaccine circles

Two common claims by the anti-vaccine, pro-disease (AVPD) crowd are (1) that AVPD folk are better-educated than those of us who support public health; and (2) all, or nearly-all, ill health stems from prior vaccination. Here's a sample conversation (link goes to Facebook) showing just those points.

(click on all images to see full-size)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transcript

I guess it's just better diagnosis. We've always had such problems among our youth. They just died before anyone noticed.

"The rate of chronic disease among children has doubled in the past two decades: More than half of children ages 8 to 14 have had a long-term health problem at some point, such as obesity, asthma, a learning disability or other ailment, a study shows. Researchers studied 5,001 children from 1988 to 2006 and followed each child for six years, according to a paper in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Though the percentage of children with a current chronic disease rose to 25% in 2000-2006, the percentage of kids who had ever had a chronic illness grew to 52% in the same time.

Much of the increase in chronic diseases was a result of obesity, says author Jeanne Van Cleave of the MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston."

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-02-17-chronic17_st_N.htm

Here are a selection of comments, including my own:

 

 

Transcript

It's so obvious what's driving this epidemic of sick kids we have in our society. It's frustrating that way too many people are so inclined to just completely reject the idea that vaccines are hurting our kids. WAKE UP, PEOPLE!

Transcript

Commenter #1: I was remembering my grade school and high school years back in the 60s and 70s. No allergies, autism or chronic, life-altering ailments. No one died or injured except in auto accidents. No one had cancer either. And we didnt have childhood cancer centers like we do now. WE DID NOT NEED THEM. This is how dangerous the conventional medical society is to us. That this can change where so many children are sick or die, and they turn a completely blind eye to it all, accept it and try to convince us to accept it boggles my mind.

Commenter #2 I am about your age, (Commenter #1), and have this thought almost every time that I come into contact with children born after about 1987 -- all have something wrong medically with them (or so it seems). From the history of medicine, on learns that the pediatric population always has been, and always will be, preyed upon by practitioners of medicine and targeted by drug companies. These practices survive because both count on the parents of young children to be dumber than dog dirt and/or gullible enough to believe anything they are told by "scientists." The extremely ill effects on the health of kids today spring primarily from the degree of damage for which increased knowledge of the human organism has allowed.

I live near to St. Jude's, and every time I hear of some major "advance" toward treating ALL, I wonder why no one really had to worry about ALL prior to the founding of St. Jude's in 1962. So, I checked some of the earliest published articles from St. Jude's research scientists. Many find the rise in childhood cancer in the U.S. as beginning around 1939 or so. Many attribute it to the licensing of the diphtheria vaccination c. 1929 or 1930. Who knew, right?

Oh, my, articles from circa 1962 on childhood cancer are reliable sources compared to current accounts? Who knew?

Transcript

Commenter #3 The early polio vaccine, which was contaminated with the SV40 virus, is responsible for most of the cancers today. Check out this lecture. It's 2 hours long, but well worth your time. Tons of great info, and lots of proof to back it up. (The title says Autoimmune, but he covers vaccines in detaill too) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FCJ_VPyns

(Yes, Some of the polio vaccine administered from 1955-1963 was unknowingly contaminated with a virus, called simian virus 40 (SV40). No vaccines licensed for use in the US currently are contaminated with SV 40. It isn't clear if SV40 has actually caused any cancer. I am wondering how a possible exposure 50 years ago "is responsible for most of the cancers today" -- especially pediatric cancers. Second, the YouTube video referenced is a talk by a chiropractor and naturopath, R. E. Trent, whose PhD is in "clinical nutrition", and his website is devoted to selling an array of supplements. In other words, someone with exactly zero training in immunology or oncology. Not a reliable source.)

Some commenters, including myself, tried to refute Commenters #1 and #2

Commenter #4 You didn't get about much in your childhood, did you, Commenter #1? In those days autistic children were put away in institutions. Children frequently died from complications of asthma, diabetes and cancer, because we had limited ways of treating those diseases. We have cancer centres because we now have ways of treating children, and we have cancer specialists, and we recognise that children with cancer need and deserve a specialist facility. Deaths from car accidents are lower because of research into road safety.

Transcript

Liz Ditz: Commenter #1, can you tell me why Robin Bush, George and Barbara Bush's daughter, never started kindergarten?

http://chatteringmind.com/articles/barbarabush.html

Amy Cunningham: Good-Bye to Robin: Interview with Barbara Bush chatteringmind.com Amy Cunningham is a freelance writer and editor specializing in work that endorses healthy living and happiness.

Liz Ditz:  Can anybody tell me what changed in 1974 for children with disabilities, especially cognitive disabilities? I'll give you a hint

http://www.scn.org/~bk269/94-142.html

Public Law 94-142 (Education of All Handicapped Children Act) also known as, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Commenter #1: Commenter #4, if all these children were sent away, why did we not hear of even one? There were about 200 children in each grade in my school so in high school, there was interaction with about 800 other kids. We were a fairly closeknit society in a big city. Some of us knew each other from 1st grade. And, yes, there may have been some that I did not know about or that I dont remember, but to not know of any of these things (cancer, autism, allergies, etc) and to have NO unexplained deaths during our growing years says a lot. And Liz Ditz, one celebrity example really doesnt say much. I am not saying none of these things happened, but on a percentage basis between now and then, it was very low then.

Transcript

Commenter #1: Also, looking back at my yearbooks, there was also only one or two overweight children. We thought they were real fat. Looking at them now, one would only consider them chubby. We were less vaccinated and healthier.

To summarize Commenter #1's argument: I don't remember anyone being seriously impaired by vaccine-preventable illnesses, so it didn't happen. I don't remember any of my classmates having severe allergies, or autism, or so on, therefore those conditions were much rarer then. Also, childhood obesity is all about vaccines, not about changes such as the 22% increase in consumption of sugar and other sweeteners in the American diet since 1979, or this change in relative prices:

Another Facebook group discussed the weaknesses in commenter #1's argument, and here are a few key points. (I have not included some comments, and have edited some comments for language I don't use on this blog)

Commenter A: I have a friend who is so allergic to peanuts that she had to 'hold my breath and work fast' to make peanut butter sandwiches for her children for their school lunches. She's a bit older than I am. My older brother had to get regular allergy shots in his early teens, and still has some trouble with both allergies and asthma, although not enough to slow him down much. Our neighbor's daughter died of cancer at about 19. She was several years older than I am.

On the other hand, I have nieces and nephews, and great-niece and -nephews and they're all healthy, active, and smart, with no real health issues. I think this person is just completely blinded by her ideology.

Commenter B: I'm 45. I remember, very well, a young girl at my primary school (elementary) having Leukemia. She died, unfortunately, but it says that childhood cancer was there. It was certainly around. Just because it wasn't bleated about publicly, doesn't mean it didn't happen. Allergies were everywhere, too. My older sister is allergic to the sun, to egg, and to too much chicken.

Commenter C: Well, there used to be a stigma on talking about illness publicly, and especially cancer. It wasn't unheard of in earlier decades to pretend someone with cancer had something else. Regardless, this person has a bad case of "If it didn't happen to anyone I knew, it didn't happen to anyone!"

Commenter D: My grandmother died from breast cancer in the 1950s. Her body was cremated immediately for fear the cancer would spread

Commenter A: "Peter De Vries met his future wife, poet and author Katinka Loeser, in 1943 when she won an award from Poetry magazine. The couple moved to Westport, Connecticut in 1948 They were the parents of four children: sons Derek and Jon, daughters Jan and Emily. Emily died in 1960 at age ten after a two year fight with leukemia."

Emily's death was a big part of the story behind his novel, The Blood of the Lamb. 1960 is before 1962, is it not?

Commenter E When my sister, brother and I were growing up in the 70s, there was always at least one "in memorium" page in the high school yearbook to remember someone who had died from their graduating class, and that included cancer deaths. As for no autism, it's simply that autistic kids went to "special" schools in the 1970s and 1980s. They weren't integrated into regular schools.

Commenter C: Cancer has been known about since ancient times, FFS. And um, if ALL wasn't a problem before St. Jude's, why was St. Jude's built?

Commenter F: A kid in my neighborhood came down with polio when I was a kid, just before the Salk vaccine. That kid survived. There was a little boy up the street who had leukemia. He did not survive. Polio scared me more, since it's communicable. It's amazing the inversion in survival rates for kids with most leukemias since 1953, and the present -- another triumph of evidence-based science that the alt-med wackos would like people not to know.

Commenter G: I have asthma, my sister has asthma, my mum has asthma, her mum DIED at 37 because of asthma. VACCINES DO NOT CAUSE ASTHMA. Accept that your genes aren't perfect and move on.

Commenter H: Oh this makes me want to rant. My high school senior class of around 750 students had three die of leukemia. Now my high school sat downwind of nuclear tests in Nevada in the 50's, so I always thought that it had something to do with it. Except, when I grew up, took real statistics courses, and learned real biology, it was clear that it was merely random, with a slightly above expected numbers of leukemia out of a group of 750, but by no means high.

But two points. First, cancer is just as common now as it was 20 years ago and 50 years ago. We do diagnose it better now than we did in the 70's, so we're catching some cancers earlier than we did. Second, we actually cure some of these cancers. Leukemia was a death sentence when I was in high school. It isn't now.

Most kids are completely healthy these days. We have more obese children but that's because of bad parenting, not vaccines. There seems to be more autoimmune diseases, and I would like to know why, especially since I'm afflicted with it, but there is no way that vaccines cause autoimmune diseases, since they are just so unrelated. If the vaccine deniers want to tell me that there is more disease now in kids, please provide peer reviewed data. I'd love to read it.

Commenter H: By the way, the facts are that the mortality rate for males 10-14 in 1980 was 38.3 per 10,000. In 2003, it was 23.1. In other words, in one generation, we nearly cut the mortality rate for children by 50%. Seems like modern medicine is fucking outstanding. The writers of that stercus taurinum above ought to kiss the nates of every biomedical researcher they know. You can start with my smelly nates.

Commenter H: One more small point. About 1% of teenage deaths today are the result of firearms.  Perfututum guns. I'll bet more kids die of guns in a day than in the whole history of vaccines. Why don't these beslubbering, boil-brained, harpy anti-vaxxers do something useful with their pathetic lives and get rid of guns. [redacted].

Commenter H: More data for the boil-brained vaccine-denying hedge-pigs. Life expectancy at birth by decade. If kids are actually unhealthier now, they're certainly living longer. Must be that modern miracle of medicines, including vaccines.
1900 47.3
1950 68.2
1960 69.7
1970 70.8
1980 73.7
2010 78.7

Commenter H: One more by the way. Those of us who have had the smallpox vaccine, I was right at the end of that vaccine, have 5X higher protection against HIV infections. In fact, one of the hypotheses of HIV/AIDS suddenly taking off in the 80's is that we stopped vaccinating against smallpox. It's amazing what vaccines do in making your immune system smarter in fighting pathogens.

Here's one of the primary research studies in vitro that show the potential physiological pathway for observations of 5X lower rates of HIV infection in those who have had smallpox vaccinations: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2881106/ Significantly reduced CCR5-tropic HIV-1 replication in vitro in cells from subjects previously...

Commentator I:Also, I don't think cancer screening was all that great in the 60s and 70s. Medical technology has come such a long way since then and we can detect things earlier and earlier.

Commenter J: I had a classmate in the 70s who died of bone cancer.

We also had a kid in my 4th grade class who was, in retrospect, clearly autistic -- he couldn't cope, we had no idea what was wrong with him, the teacher couldn't cope, and one day he had a major freakout and was removed from the school. This was when "mainstreaming" was first being floated as an idea in the school district, and it was being handled badly; for the most part, people just found it easier to put these kids in institutions and "special schools", as mentioned above.

As a side note, even wild animals get cancer. That's what's wiping out the Tasmanian devils, is cancer caused by a virus; and infrared cameras set up to monitor wildlife in parks often catch the characteristic signature of tumors in the skin.

Commenter K: This attitude futuō with my life. My youngest had a prenatal hypoxic brain injury resulting in multiple disabilities, including social/emotional/developmental issues. People constantly tell me how kids are sicker now and he probably has problems because of food, vaccines, toxins, blah blah blah. Ummm, no. Just this one kid, sick with his unique troubles. He's no one's canary. He's no symbol for you to beat your drum about. Just my kid.

Commenter L: Those of us who have academic training in History can get just as outraged as you Science folk! I have a book, on my desk right now, called "The Sunday School Reciter". Like a lot of 19th century books, it does not include a publication date, but I'd say its around 1890. There's a poem in it by Emma Alice Brown called "Measuring the Baby". In the first 3 verses, children are playing with their baby brother in the garden, and measuring his height against the flowers. In the last verses, they are measuring him for his coffin. IN the past, the death of babies was so utterly commonplace that it was regarded as a suitable subject to write verse about, and for children to recite aloud. Happy to scan the poem,if anyone is interested. I also have a small collection of 19th Century cabinet photographs of dead children. (I'm not morbidbly obessesed - my pet subject is late C19th Social History - and these were commonplace and, sadly, often the only picture a parent had of their child.)

Commenter H: I looked up the rate of leukemia, which is a typical adolescent early childhood cancer. The rate for boys, from 1975 to 2010, increased 0.0% in those 35 years. For girls, about 0.2% over 35 years. Both are insignificant changes. So more evidence that the author of that stercus taurinum is beyond stupid, beyond ignorant, but is plainly a delusional ninny who invents data to serve their evil purposes of denying children vaccines.

I am just obsessed with debunking the stupidity of this person. In the 1930's, cancer diagnoses were almost always made post mortem. In other words, the death certificate, without an autopsy, would state something, and frankly, they didn't know a lot about cancer in 1930. Yet, despite all of this the rate of cancer in men in 1930, adjusted for 1970's population demographics was 133.9 per 100,000 individuals in the USA. In 1998, it was 187.7. Almost all of that increase was from lung cancer being better diagnosed pre mortem, going from 5.3% of cancers found in 1930 to 33% of male cancers in 1999.

In women, the results are more profound. In 1930, the 1970 adjusted rate of cancer in women was 156.1 per 100,000. In 1999, the adjusted rate was 135.3. Oh wait. You mean it dropped? This despite more women smoking. AND better diagnostic tools and screening for cancers such as the various types of breast cancer? Must be that diphtheria vaccine that reduced the cancer rate using the same flap-mouthed post hoc argument as the puttock who wrote those statements above. (Source here, sadly behind a paywall).

Commenter J: Oh, look, Neaderthals had cancer too!   A Neanderthal living 120,000 years ago had a cancer that is common today, according to a fossil study.

I decided to look up the pre-vaccine, pre-treatment statistics for diphtheria. From History of Vaccines

1735 The Plague Among Children A terrifying diphtheria epidemic swept through New England. In some cases, entire families died of the disease. In one New Hampshire town, 32% of children under 10 died of diphtheria. The case-fatality ratio was almost 40%. Noah Webster (1758-1843) later wrote: “It was literally the plague among children. Many families lost three of four children—many lost all.” Treatments were largely ineffective. One approach was described in a Boston newspaper:

But it doesn't take much to have a resurgence of disease

A clean environment, a healthy population, and vaccination are the surest means of preventing diphtheria, as can be seen in recent outbreaks. During the 1990's in the new independent republics of the former Soviet Union, there was a resurgence of diphtheria. Between 1990 and 1996, there were more than 110,000 cases and 2,900 fatalities. The resurgence was blamed on overcrowding, low hygiene levels, and falling vaccination rates created by the changing political climate.

Vaccinations against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, and rubella were not associated with the risk of leukaemia. The odds ratio for each dose of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine was 0.81 (95% CI 0.68–0.96). Compared with children who received two or fewer doses of Hib vaccine, those who received three or more doses had a significantly reduced risk of childhood leukaemia (odds ratio = 0.55, 95% confidence interval 0.32–0.94). The number of doses of hepatitis B vaccine received was not associated with leukaemia risk.

Conclusions Hib vaccination is associated with a reduced risk of childhood leukaemia. Future studies with detailed exposure assessment and large sample sizes are needed to further address the role of vaccinations in the etiology of childhood leukaemia

Observant Jews and vaccination

There have been outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases among ultra-orthodox Jewish communities in Israel, the UK, and the US (see Haaretz, Crown Heights Newsletter, Joshua Zelinksi and the Bensonhurst Bean)

This has lead some naive US anti-vaccination commentators to have the belief that it is against Jewish law or custom to recieve vaccines.   

Actually, the opposite is the case.  

Tools for argumentation: Hierarchies of argumentation; Logical Fallacies

Hierarchy of argumentation:

Image Source: Facebook page, "The Internet Offends Me" https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=609225245772600&set=a.609225239105934.1073741828.606775609350897&type=1&theater

The person who posted the image above wrote,

I suggest that if you find yourself participating in a posting match with someone who seems aggressive, intent on misconstruing an idea or goes off on a wild tangent that you direct them to this graphic and ask them which tier of the hierarchy does their present argument rest.

Logical Fallacies

Image Source: https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ Click to embiggen

Jesse created the logical fallacies page and poster in after trying to his/her two boys. The idea was to have a youngster-friendly, really simple ways of explaining the concepts behind some of the more common fallacies.

A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning. Logical fallacies are like tricks or illusions of thought, and they're often very sneakily used by politicians and the media to fool people. Don't be fooled! This website [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/] has been designed to help you identify and call out dodgy logic wherever it may raise its ugly, incoherent head.

At Your Logical Fallacy Is , you can download free, printable PDFs of each fallacy, or purchase a handsome poster for a mere $20.00.

Another Patsy of The Daily Mail's Sorry Continuing Contribution to Vaccine, Autism Fear

The UK's Daily Mail (or the Daily Fail) continues to be a primary contributor to the outbreak of vaccine-preventable disease in the UK, and the thoroughly discredited notion that autism is somehow connected to recept of the measles vaccine. 

An example of the Daily Mail's continuing malign influence popped up just today. There's a gullible, science-rejecting UK organization called Treating Autism, which has a Facebook page.  Here's what they posted on Facebook today:

Sadly, the article posted is over 10 years old. One would expect that an organization called "Treating Autism" would have recognized Melanie Phillips's old, debunked spew, but perhaps the Facebook page is in the hands of a parent new to this issue.

Here's a clue.  As I wrote two years ago, the Daily Mail does not accurately date-stamp articles online. It's the Daily Mail eternal present.
Here's an image of article that Treating Autism linked to. 

A few seconds' research shows that Melanie Phillips' article was published the week of March 11, 2003.

I really wonder why the folks at Treating Autism didn't bother to check if the Phillips article was new.  It only took me a few seconds to find Michael Fitzpatrick's article

Phillips' encouragement for the increasingly irrational and irresponsible anti-MMR campaign is likely to compound the unwarranted anxieties of parents whose infants are due to be immunised and result in a further decline in vaccine uptake. It will also intensify the distress of parents of autistic children, whose burden is now increased by feelings of guilt for having them immunised.

While ill-advised parents of autistic children pursue litigation against vaccine manufacturers - with negligible chances of success - doctors apprehensively await the return of serious infectious diseases that we only recently believed were on the verge of disappearance.

10 years on, and the measles epidemic in Wales shows that Dr. Fitzpatrick was right

Here are some questions for Melanie Phillips.

If Dr Wakefield has 'evidence that he thinks will prove that he was right all along', then why does he choose to disclose this in the Daily Mail rather than in a medical journal in which it can be properly evaluated by his peers?

Wakefield has repeatedly promoted claims in public - at congressional hearings in the USA, on a BBC Panorama programme in 2002 - which have not held up to subsequent scrutiny. It would appear that Wakefield, having consistently failed to convince his peers of his case, has decided to present it directly to the public, via compliant journalists who lack the scientific expertise to assess the validity of his claims. The result is that, while Wakefield is no longer taken seriously in the world of medical science, he is still effective in provoking public anxiety.

A New, Powerful Resource for Teachers: School of Doubt

Hello and welcome to School of Doubt, the newest sister site in the Skepchick network!

....School of Doubt is dedicated to the discussion of skepticism and critical thinking in education. We believe that the development of strong critical thinking skills should be central to an individual’s education and that all young (and older!) people should be given the tools to view the world around them rationally and skeptically. Our contributors bring with them experience from a wide range of educational systems and stages, from the early years of school to the world of postgraduate study.

As skeptics, many of us are familiar with reading about, discussing, and perhaps even confronting viewpoints that are wildly different to our own. So many of the topics that people in the skeptical community discuss, from religion to alternative medicine to conspiracy theories, share the same simple feature: they are easily countered by a healthy dose of rational thinking. At School of Doubt we passionately believe that one of our core roles as educators is to provide our students, no matter their ages, with the skills that will allow them to cut through the nonsense, pseudoscience and confusion that they’ll face as they move into adult life.

You can learn about the experienced team of educators behind School of Doubt here

The Facebook Flounce, With Diagrams and Pictures

See updates, bottom of this post

The Facebook flounce is beloved of some Facebook pages and persons.  It works like this:

1. Publish something inflammatory or inaccurate, or better yet, both:
2. Experience correction






3. Respond





4. Flounce, step 1: ban the person who criticized you
5. Flounce, step 2: delete the comments where your errors were pointed out
6. Flounce, step 3: de-publish your entire page
7. Flounce, step 4: ban your criticizer from your personal page as well
8. Flounce, step 5: de-publish your personal page as well

Backstory: The person who runs the Facebook page, " Informed Parents of Vaccinated Children" (IPoVC) claims to be pro-vaccination.  

Personally, I hold pro-vaxxers to very high standards of accuracy.  It is an important point: pro-vaxxers have to provide reliable information. IPoVC has provided inaccurate information in the past, and has been chided for it.   She has reacted in a similar manner in the past, as well. 

Here's the point: effective science communication (and IPoVC claims to be engaged in science communication, specifically the safety and efficacy of vaccines) demands that errors be pointed out publicly, and acknowledged and corrected by the communicator. Read Retraction Watch's first post for a strong statement on this issue.

Not sure what "flounce" means, in the context of the internet?  Here's a great introduction.   Here's a post from a community manager on how best to deal with flouncers.

Edited to add

At the Facebook page Anti-Vaccination Hall of Shame, I added a clarification of my motives.

Here is the text of that statement:

Re the recent postings of screenshots of the Facebook page Informed Parents of Vaccinated Children (IPoVC), which I initiated:

IPoVC claims to be providing factual information for "parents and others interested in the benefits of immunization."

IPoVC made an error in fact, which I corrected. IPoVC reacted in a dramatically negative way, including blocking me from IPoVC and later taking down the IPoVC page.

My values as a lay communicator of science demand accuracy, and transparency in correcting errors. IPoVC violated those values, and I documented the violations.

I am indifferent to the personal values of IPoVC's administrator relative to alternative medicine or parenting. Those are none of my business.

 

It is a pity that the IPoVC administrator chose to interpret the documentation of discourse on the IPoVC page as a personal attack. I acknowledge that her hurt feelings are real.

I would also urge the IPoVC adminstrator to develop an understanding of the normal nature of discourse in scientific settings, if she plans to continue to discuss scientific topics.

At some time during the morning, the IPoVC administrator posted the following (click to embiggen)

I categorically deny the allegations that the IPoVC administrator made relative to me. I do not see her as "the enemy". I don't "make up multiple fake IDs". While I corrected IPoVC in public, I did not treat the IPoVC as a child. I treated her just as I would have any other peer who made a serious and careless mistake. I do not, and did not mock, the IPoVC administrator. I do not perceive the IPoVC page or its administrator as a threat. I do not despise the IPoVC administrator. How could I? In the words of my father, I don't know her from Adam's off ox. As far as the screenshot issue goes: First, if something is posted publicly, it is legal fair use to take a screenshot.  Second, As I am quite visual, this is the most efficient way for me to take notes. And finally, IPoVC's last comment is one of the reasons I take screenshots: to document that words were written and posted, in an environment where comments unpleasant to the page (or blog owner) will be deleted as if never posted.

3:47 pm: the discussion at Informed Parents of Vaccinated Children continues, with specific statements from the IPoVC administrator claiming knowledge of my opinions and emotions, which are false.  I acknowledge that her feelings were hurt, but I stand by what I have written above.  Her presumption of knowledge about my opinions and feelings are false.

And with that: I am done with this discussion.

Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonné (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 2 Works 2009

[2/12/2012: edited to add: One of my readers suggested that I add the following disclosure, with which I agree. Mr. Crosby and my daughter are four days apart in age.  My daughter identifies as neurodiverse, as a well-remdiated dyslexic.  Her life experiences deeply inform how I veiw Mr. Crosby's writings.]

In the 17 posts to Age of Autism in 2009, Jake Crosby broadens a number of themes and introduces a new element, the "6,000 degrees of separation" ploy to discredit those he disagrees with.

Themes:

• Autism is too caused by vaccines, specifically the ingredient thimerosal 
• Any "health authority" who does not condemn vaccines is corrupt 
• Autism is loathsome and should be prevented and/or cured
• The neurodiversity movement and the autistic-self-advocacy movement are despicable and should be condemned
• Any disagreement with the proceding statements must be caused by corruption or undue influence (usually wielded by the pharmaceutical / vaccine industry), which can be proven by association.

List of Posts

1. January 14, 2009 Discovering I Was Toxic http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/discovering-i-was-toxic.html#more. I found this to be the most poignant of Crosby's writings. In this post, Crosby recounts his belief that he was made autistic by a preservative formerly used in vaccines, thimerosal, and the "treatments" his mother subjected him to. He also recounts his shame about being autistic, and expresses his anger at the "health authorities" who "completely betrayed the public trust" -- that is, Crosby's belief that vaccines are "toxic".
2. February 19, 2009 History Suggests HHS Candidate Not Unbiased on Thimerosal-Vaccine Issue http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/02/history-suggests-hhs-candidate-not-unbiased-on-thimerosal-vaccine-issue.html. This post makes an unsourced, negative assertion about Kathleen Sibelius's position on vaccine safety: "As early as 2003, her staff has ignored warnings of thimerosal dangers, relying on federal and corporate information".
3. March 3, 2009 The Age of Neurodiversity http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/03/the-age-of-neurodiversity.html. In this post, Crosby is responding to a presentation on the Best Resources for Attainment and Intervention re Neurodiversity in Higher Education (BRAIN-HE), Neurodiversity in higher education: Insights from qualitative research by the BRAINHE project.". I am afraid Crosby misread, or mis-represented, the contents of the presentation. Joseph (himself autistic) at Natural Variation goes into Crosby's errors in some detail at AoA's Token Aspie Reacts to BRAINHE Study With Error-Filled Article, and goes on with All Autistics Who Oppose Neurodiversity are High Functioning and Nevertheless, There Are Differences Between Autistics Who Approve of and Disapprove of Neurodiversity
4. March 18, 2009 A Glimpse Inside Asperger's Syndrome http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/03/a-glimpse-inside-aspergers-syndrome.html. Another poignant post, in which Crosby discusses how some of the executive functioning deficits intrinsic to autism hinder his academic success. But he robs the poignancy by setting up "neurodiversity" as a giant straw man in the closing paragraphs. Crosby seems to have isolated himself from autistic peers  -- he might have learned some tools and work-arounds for the problems he described. Here, some other autistic college students comment on Crosby's attitude, and discuss some of the ways they have learned to compensate.
5. May 8, 2009 An Open Letter to Newsweek Magazine on Possible Neurodiversity Coverage http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/05/an-open-letter-to-newsweek-magazine-on-possible-neurodiversity-coverage.html  Background: "Sullivan", writing at LeftBrain/RightBrain, responded with: "... prior to the publication of the Newsweek article, Stephen Shore leaked the information.... Jake Crosby at the Age of Autism decided to blog his own misconceptions about it.... Mr. Crosby’s blog piece had a fairly simple theme: “don’t publish the Ari Ne’eman article; interview me instead”. Or, failing that, “Give me equal time”. We all knew (and I assume Mr. Crosby is intelligent enough to know as well) that his was an empty commentary: the article was already in press."   (I highly recommend that you read the whole LeftBrainRightBrain piece.) While Crosbydefines neurodiversity in such a way that he can deplore it,  this is another of Crosby's essays that I find poignant, particularly the depth of Crosby's dislike for how his mind works. 
6. June 6, 2009 Newsweek’s Newspeak: Pharma’s Weapon Against Oprah http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/06/newsweeks-newspeak-pharmas-weapon-against-oprah.html. This is an attack on Newsweek, the magazine itself. The vehicle is the issue in which Newsweek takes issue with Oprah Winfrey's promotion of pseudoscience and outright quackery, which Crosby defends. I came away with the feeling that the real issue was Crosby was miffed that Newsweek didn't give Crosby equal billing with Ne'eman.
7. June 19, 2009 Autism, Cancer and AIDS http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/06/autism-cancer-and-aids.html. This was a particularly ill-researched, ill-sourced, innuendo-riddled post, in which Mr. Crosby accuses Maurice Hilleman of "importing AIDS" , via monkeys Hilleman had imported from Africa for vaccine research. The facts behind the video Crosby cited was debunked (and the video called "irresponsible") in 2007, by Brandon Keim at Wired. Why would Crosby repeat such a false and baseless accusation? Because it gives Crosby a hook with which to slur another of the scientists that Crosby reviles, Paul Offit MD. Turning from Offit, Crosby promotes the OPV-AIDS hypothesis as fact, even though that hypothesis had been soundly debunked and refuted five whole years before Crosby posted this article. The whole article is a smear attack on a deceased public health hero, Maurice Hilleman, and by extension, a living public health hero, Paul Offit. Mr. Crosby wrote this at (what I believe, based on his graduation date) the end of his sophomore year at Brandeis University. The word "sophomoric" may apply.
8. July 13, 2009 Autism, Asperger's: Who is Truly Disabled? http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/07/who-is-truly-disabled.html This post was prompted by Roger Kulp's letter to Age of Autism. Mr. Kulp is an autistic adult with a complex, and incompletely treated, medical history. In this post, Crosby elaborates one of his enduring themes: the argument against the neurodiversity straw man. In this post, it takes the form that neurodiversity advocates (NDs, in Crosby's usage) want to "prevent people on the spectrum from getting help." And yet -- this is another of Crosby's postings that I find poignant. Remember, my daughter is almost exactly the same age as Crosby. At the time he published the post, he wasn't yet 21, and didn't (at least in writing) appear to have folk --peers and adults--around him who were supportive.
9. July 23, 2009 Why Asperger Syndrome is a Legal Disability http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/07/why-asperger-syndrome-is-a-legal-disability.html In this essay, Mr. Crosby is wrestling with the meaning of "disability" as it pertains to an "invisible" disability such as autism, especially for folk like himself who can "pass" as neurotypical.For me, it is another poignant post, in that Mr. Crosby seems not to have any broader connection to the disability-rights movement as a whole,or had never even been introduced to the social model of disablity. Read, for example, another autistic adult's response to this essay, Cat in a Dog's World: Asperger's is a Disability .
10. August 8, 2009 Jake Crosby Reviews Fox Searchlight's "Adam" Movie with Asperger's http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/08/jake-crosby-reviews-fox-searchlights-adam-movie-with-aspergers.html Another, to me, poignant Crosby post, as he wrote: "The movie “Adam” was billed as a romantic comedy, but to a person with Asperger Syndrome, it might be more of a suspense drama.".
11. August 15, 2009 First Michael Savage, then Denis Leary, now Rex Reed http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/08/first-michael-savage-then-denis-leary-now-rex-reed.html. LeftBrain/RightBrain agreed, with links to other autistic bloggers' responses to Mr. Reed's hurtful, inaccurate words. http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/08/19/rex-reed-is-just-plain-ignorant/
12. September 22, 2009 “Science”Blogs: Seed Media’s Aggressive WeedPart I: Fertilizer From Pharma http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/09/scienceblogs-seed-medias-aggressive-weed.html. This, and the subsequent of Crosby's posts, takes some scene-setting. Seed Media's Science Blogs conglomerated a number of previously self-hosted science blogs. The benefit to the individual bloggers was larger audiences; the benefit to Seed was revenue from embedded advertisements (sometimes embarrassingly inapposite). Some of the bloggers wrote under their real names (cf PZ Myers); others used, for professional reasons, previously-established pseudonyms (cf Orac). Of those blogs that addressed immunization issues, all were deeply pro-vaccination, rejecting the failed theory that vaccines were somehow causal in autism. If my memory serves correctly, Orac's Respectful Insolence was (and is) the most vocal of the pro-vaccination blogs. On April 2009, Orac published The mindset of an antivaccinationist revealed, courtesy of Jake Crosby of The Age of Autism blog. This seems to have been what prompted Crosby to dig into Seed Media. In this essay, he attacks Adam Bly for being unqualified to run a science media empire and for monetizing science reporting; the Seed Media collective for rejecting the "vaccines cause autism" hypothesis, ("the site full of bloggers who relentlessly defend mercury in vaccines and the MMR - even if it means defending sham studies, defending the CDC when it broke the law at Simpsonwood, destroyed data, lied, and did not disclose conflicts of interest "), and Orac for...well, it's hard to say exactly, but mostly for having the temerity to reject Crosby's world view. Along the way, Crosby begins to develop his theme of tenuous relationships among entities "proving" that the pharma industry controls what is written at the Science Blogging collective.
13. September 23, 2009 Part II Seed Media's "Science"Blogs: A 180 Degree Shift in Reporting http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/09/part-ii-seed-medias-scienceblogs-a-180-degree-shift-in-reporting.html. In this essay, Crosby presumes his previous essay had established that Seed Media and its science blogging collective are in fact, "tied to the drug industry". He goes on to ask if Seed Media (the dead-tree magazine and the science blogging collective) had ever represented the "vaccines cause autism" issue in a way that Crosby would find acceptable. A short bit of clarification is needed for those new to the anti-vaccine, "autism is vaccine injury" ideology. The notion that vaccines cause autism had its origins in the late 1990s, and achieved national prominence in the early 2000s. The idea that thimerosal might have something to do with autism was a reasonable and testable hypothesis. One would expect a science magazine to report on this hypothesis in the early 2000s, and Seed Magazine did so, with an article So research was done. By 2001, or at, by the latest, 2005 the evidence was clear: there is no reason to think that thimerosal exposure via vaccines is in any way causal in autism. Mr. Crosby, in this essay, advances the view that as of September 2009, the entire collective of science bloggers should still have had entertained the idea that somehow, vaccines are dangerous, specifically referring to autism. Because Seed Media Science bloggers instead regarded the issue as closed is evidence of "censorship" and that, somehow, Big Pharma controls the opinions and blogging output of all the contributors. I will leave you to decide if Mr. Crosby's opinions are reasonable. You may wish to read Orac's response to Crosby's first article
14. November 1, 2009 Autism Awareness Week at Brandeis http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/11/autism-awareness-week-at-brandeis.html In this essay, Mr. Crosby reports on planning a multi-day conference at his university.
15. November 8, 2009 Brandeis U. Autism Awareness Week Update: Current Schedule http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/11/brandeis-u-autism-awareness-week-update-current-schedule.html The finalized schedule.
16. December 18, 2009 Keeping Autism Neurodiversity Out of the White House http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/keeping-autism-neurodiversity-out-of-the-white-house.html. This post starts out with a giant strawman, Crosby's distortion of neurodiversity (here and here for more accurate representations, and keeps going. What raised Mr. Crosby's ire? Ari Ne'eman's nomination to the National Council on Disability -- the first autistic so nominated. Crosby's article has a certain ring of sour grapes about it -- Ne'eman is a year younger than Crosby, but Ne'eman had by then achieved much more national prominence than Crosby, mostly for Ne'eman's achievements in founding and leading the Autism Self-Advocacy Network and for scholarly publications. Crosby stooped so low as to insinuate that Ne'eman's mother had political connections, which allowed her to engineer the nomination. In doing so, Crosby misrepresented Mrs. Ne'eman's employment. Crosby closes by claiming Ne'eman is not representative of the autism community or adult autistics. Crosby implied that the "real" autism community endorsed the "autism is vaccine injury" claim, and denied and abhored Ne'eman's claim that autistics are not inarticulate wretches crying out in hopes of a cure to return us to normalcy. We are human beings, individuals in our own right. We are who we are, not in spite of being autistic but in part because of it.". In other words, in Crosby's view, "real" autistics must be wretched sufferers, seeking a cure. An indication of how popular this view is among the autism community is that a mere 782 people signed the online petition to oppose Ne'eman's nomination.
17. December 22, 2009 Autism Awareness Week at Brandeis: A Great Success! http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/autism-awareness-week-at-brandeis-a-great-success.html The 2009 Autism Week committee did a remarkable job of putting together a multi-day, multi-speaker event. While I disagree with many of Mr. Crosby's views, I was then impressed and remain impressed by what the committee accomplished.

The Series

• Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonné (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 1 Introduction and Early Life
• Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonné (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 2 Works 2009
• Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonne (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 3 Works 2010
• Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonne (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 4 Works 2011
• Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonne (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 5 Works 2012
• Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonne (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 6 Works 2013
• Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonne (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 7 Appendices

Autism and anti-vaccination events of note in 2008 and 2009

1. June 2008 "Green our vaccines" march lead by Jenny McCarthy and her then-boyfriend, Jim Carrey. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/jenny-mccarthy-jim-carrey-and-green-our-vaccines-anti-vaccine-not-pro-safe-vaccine/
2. May 26 2008, Ken Reibel is expelled from the AutismOne conference for being "negative". http://autism-news-beat.com/archives/62
3. September 18, 2008: Paul Offit publishes Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure 
4. February 8, 2009 Brian Deer published "MMR doctor fixed data on autism" http://briandeer.com/solved/st-fixed-data.htm
5. Stanford Medicine Magazine publishes a special issue on immunization http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2009spring/index.html
6. May 22, 2009 Chicago Tribune publishes Trine Tsouderos and Patricia Callahan's multi-part story on quackery in autism treatment http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-autism-doctor-eisenstein-may22,0,3826791.story
7. July 6, 2009: Andrew Wakefield gets crosswise with The Times of London http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/07/07/brian-deer-talks-back-to-andrew-wakefield/
8. July 7, 2009: Eric  London resigns from Autism Speaks http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/07/07/eric-london-resigns-from-autism-speaks/
9. July 15, 2009: FBI, IRS shuts down an autism clinic http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/07/16/fbi-and-irs-shut-quack-clinics/
10. July 29, 2009: Hazelhurst petition to the Autism Omnibus Proceedings denied http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/07/29/autism-omnibus-hazelhurst-appeal-denied/
11. August 11, 2009: Cedillo appeal to the Autism Omnibus Proceedings denied http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/08/11/autism-omnibus-cedillo-appeal-denied/
12. August 12, 2009: Snyder appeal to the Autism Omnibus Proceedings denied http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/08/12/autism-omnibus-snyder-appeal-denied/
13. August 30, 2009: Matt Lauer produces an hour-long show, "A Dose of Controversy" http://insidedateline.nbcnews.com/_news/2009/08/25/4374204-sunday-aug-30-a-dose-of-controversy
14. September 22, 2009: The National Health Services releases a report that indicate about 1 in 100 adults in the UK have autism. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6219201/One-in-100-adults-have-autism-research.html
15. September 22, 2009: Autism Speaks Debuts the "I Am Autism" fundraising video. A firestorm of controversy ensues. http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2009/09/i-am-autism-awareness-video-by-alfonso-cuar%C3%B3n-ransom-reprise.html.
16. October 19, 2009: Wired Magazine publishes Amy Wallace's An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_waronscience/all/1
17. November 1, Release of 2009 Prevalence of Parent-Reported Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children in the US, 2007 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/5/1395.full, which estimates US autism prevalence as 1.1%
18. November 2009: Age of Autism publishes the vile "Thanksgiving Nightmare" post http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/12/04/age-of-autism-pull-offensive-blog-post/
19. November 23, 2009: the Chicago Tribune publishes Trine Tsouderos and Patricia Callahan's and multi-part series on quackery in autism treatments, http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-autism-science-nov23,0,240420.story
.
20. December 16, 2009: ASAN founder Ari Ne'eman nominated to the Council on Disability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ari_Ne'eman

Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonné (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 1 Introduction and Early Life

[2/12/2012: edited to add: One of my readers suggested that I add the following disclosure, with which I agree. Mr. Crosby and my daughter are four days apart in age.  My daughter identifies as neurodiverse, as a well-remdiated dyslexic.  Her life experiences deeply inform how I veiw Mr. Crosby's writings.]

e Jacob Lawrence Crosby, hereafter Jake Crosby, is a 2007 high school graduate and a 2011 graduate of Brandeis University with a bachelor of arts degree with two major subjects: History and Health: Science Society and Policy. Crosby matriculated in the epidemiology track for Master's Degree in Public Health (MPH) at The George Washington University in the fall of 2011.

Crosby is best known for his writings at the blog, Age of Autism. His published works there began with personal accounts of his experiences with autism, specifically Asperger's Syndrome, and developed into accounts of his confrontations with vaccine advocates and criticisms of reporting on autism causation.

Family, Early Life, and Education
Mr. Crosby was born December 2, 1988 (source) to Frederic G."Giff" Crosby and Nicole Cranberg Crosby.

Mrs. Crosby's father was the highly respected research physicist, inventor, and entrepreneur, Lawrence Cranberg, PhD.

Among Dr.Cranberg's many accomplishments was the invention of the Texas FireFrame, which he built into a thriving business from its invention until his death in late 2012.   The company is located in Austin, Texas.  His daughter Nicole Cranberg Crosby today runs the company.

Nicole Cranberg Crosby was brought up in Texas, and earned a BS in Advertising from the University of Texas.  She then relocated to New York, where worked in advertising from 1978 to 1995. She was named a senior vice president of Doyle Dane Bernback in 1986. In 2010, Mrs. Crosby took over her father's fire grate business.

 Nicole Cranberg Crosby's brother, Jake's uncle, is Alex Cranberg, a highly successful energy industry entrepreneur.  He controls Aspect Energy LLC, and is a controversial recent addition to the board of trustees of the University of Texas (the alma mater for both himself and his sister Nicole).

Jake Crosby's father, Giff Crosby, appears to have spent his entire career in the advertising industry.  According to his LinkedIn profile, Giff Crosby today works for Dentsu America. Previously he was a copywriter for such products as Miracle-Gro (2008).

In 1999, Giff Crosby was employed by DDB (formerly Doyle Dane Bernbach), where he was an Executive Creative Director (ECD) slated to work on such firms as Compaq, Lockheed Martin, and The Bank of New York and new business. That same year, DDB picked up the vaccine maker Merck as a client.

The industry giant Monsanto brought RoundUP, a highly-toxic, carcinogenic weedkiller,to market. Doyle Dane Bernbach, which employed Mr. Crosby, provided advertising services to Monsanto.

 What is known about Jake Crosby's life prior to 2008 is drawn from several of his published posts at Age of Autism.

Crosby's first post for Age of Autism, Living with Asperger's in fact, may have been a sort of coming out, in which he proclaims to the world that he is an autistic student at Brandeis. 

In Discovering I Was Toxic, Crosby discusses how he learned the belief that thimerosal in vaccinations may have caused his autism, and how he hid his autism, in shame,  from his classmates throughout high school and the first year of  college.  

While it’s good to know the cause of my problems, as well as having the freedom to discuss them with others, what has been very disturbing was learning about the tremendous amount of suffering caused by the health authorities. They were given the huge responsibility of protecting people from defective drugs, but instead, completely betrayed the public trust. I am both overjoyed at the explanation I have for my condition and angered at the people who are responsible.

These first posts also establish themes Crosby continues to develop: a deep loathing of autism; contempt for the neurodiversity movement and the allied, but not identical, autistic self-advocacy movement, and rage against the "health authorities" over a non-existent issue (the alleged toxicity of vaccines).

Next: Jacob Lawrence Crosby: A Catalog Raisonne (of sorts), 2008 - 2013 Part 2 Works 2009

News Flash: Uteri Of Women Using Hormonal Birth Control Are Graveyards of Little Tiny Babies

This news flash was brought to my attention by David Pakman, on this episode of his show, via Addicting Info.

This is what the interior of a normal uterus looks like:

(original image at The Visual MD)

One Kevin Swanson, a pastor with Generations With Vision,  believes that it is a scientific fact that the interior view of the uterus of a woman who has used birth control looks actually looks like this:

(original image page)

What are all those tiny holes, you ask?  Why, tombs for little tiny babies! Lots of them! At least according to the great medical thinker Kevin Swanson:

I am beginning to get evidence from certain doctors and scientists who have done some research on women's wombs (after they have gone through the surgery) and they have compared the wombs of women who were on the birth control pill versus with those who were NOT been on the birth control pill, and what they have found with women who have been on the birth control pill is that there are these little tiny fetuses, these babies, who are embedded into the womb. They are ust like dead babies.

And the wombs of women who have been on the birth control pill effectively have become graveyards for lots and lots little tiny babies.

What Swanson is claiming is that there has been at least one study on uteri removed by hysterectomy, comparing the structures of said organs for women who previously used hormonal contraception and for women who had not. (More on this particular claim at Right Wing Watch)

So, is there research on uterine structural differences between women who have used hormonal contraception, and those who have not?  I searched PubMed and came up with no published research.  There's been some research on hormonal contraception and the risk for  leiomyomata (fibroids) but as far as I could see, no systematic comparison of uteri removed by hysterectomy.

In other words, Swanson made it up.  Surprise!

Who is this Swanson fabulist person?  According to his linked-in profile, Swanson earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cal Poly in 1987, and then an MDiv from a now-defunct place called "The Southern California Institute of Christian Studies", which evidently was closely allied with dominionist theology.

But he's full of ideas! Gays in the Boy Scouts = Serial Killers Teaching Preschool!  Homeschooled Children Will be Given to Pedophiles, Gays Will Burn Christians at the Stake

Wait, what?  What about those church-going homosexuals, like Gene Robinson?  Is he going to burn himself at the stake?

All your Swanson ravings right here.

 

Meningitis Vaccine in Chad: Not the cause of anything except immunity to Meningitis A

The short version:

In December 2012 in the African country of Chad, there was  a mass vaccination clinic against Meningitis A, using the widely-administered and life-saving vaccine, MenAfriVac®.  After the clinic, 36 children experienced symptoms unlike the known, rare adverse effects of MenAfriVac®.   A group of independent experts investigated, and reported that the children fell victim to a well-known syndrome, mass psychogenic illness. MenAfriVac® did not cause the symptoms.  

Ignore what anti-vaccination activists are claiming about MenAfriVac® and this event.

Mass psychogenic illness (MPI) is a "real thing".  It has occured after mass vaccination events. It's insulting to say, "it is all in your head".  MPI is not "an African thing."

Here is the English-language version of the second official government statement on the events following vaccination, from the Chad Ministry of Health, released on January 21 (Download 2nd statement MoH Chad_21Jan2013), or the French version ( Download NoteinfoMinisteredelaSante_21Janvier2013) 

2nd Statement Ministry of Public Health, Chad

21 January 2013
Republic of Chad
The independent international experts in charge of the in-depth investigation into the unusual reactions recorded during the vaccination campaign against meningitis between 11 and 15 December 2012 at Gouro (West-Ennedi), presented their preliminary findings on Friday 18 January 2013 at SEM. Their investigation was based on four (4) axes:

• Analysis of available documents; 
• Analysis of the organization of the vaccination campaign and vaccine quality; 
• Interviews of the different parties involved; 
• Medical examination of the 36 cases in the two hospitals in N’Djamena. 

As a result from the different analyses, discussions among the team, and after meetings or contacting those implicated (or not implicated), in the event, the experts have come to the preliminary conclusions below:

EXPERT FINDINGS

The vaccination campaign organized in Gouro was conducted under normal conditions by staffs who are experienced in implementing mass campaigns and routine vaccination programs.

The conditions of hospitalization, in particular the medical care at the psychological level, the dialogue between the community and the health staff, were insufficient.

The crises are triggered by noise, visits by foreigners, and the occurrence of crises among other patients. Apart from these agitated periods, the children lead normal lives.

The patients are aged between 8 and 25 years, and with 77% of them being girls, i.e. 27 out of a total of 35.

A child that had not been vaccinated complains of similar symptoms.

All the different medical examinations performed on the patients were normal. The neurological examination on patients at the request of the experts also concluded that all was normal.

The same MenAfriVac vaccine lot 127M1033, used in Gouro, was used in the entire Ennedi region.

The expert reports from WHO on the vaccine lot at the level of the manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII), showed no manufacturing defect.

The MenAfriVac vaccine, prequalified by WHO in 2010, has been subjected to all the required tests before being used. To date, more than 100 million people have been vaccinated in 10 countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Sudan, Senegal, Chad, and Benin). The vaccine will be further introduced in 16 African countries. Since the introduction of the vaccine, no case of meningitis “A” has been recorded in vaccinated individuals.

EXPERT RECOMMENDATIONS 

• Ensure the progressive but rapid return of the children to their families and a medical follow-up; 
• Maintain a dialogue with the families, and vaccination stakeholders and partners. 
• Reinforce the medical structure at the local level through the addition of a doctor and a qualified nurse for a better health follow up in the populations and routine immunization activities. 
• Reinforce the ability of the health staff in crisis communication and the management of rumors. 

The experts wish to specifically state that analysis of the epidemiological, medical, clinical, and diagnostic tests data, has not been able to establish a causal link between the clinical manifestations observed in the patients and the MenAfriVac vaccine.

The symptoms observed in patients are similar to those described in the literature under several names:

• Collective hysteria 
• Collective obsessive behavior 
• Mass psychogenic phenomenon 

The independent experts thank the population and the authorities in Chad for their confidence. They request that the authorities be diligent in the implementation of the recommendations that will facilitate a return to a peaceful situation that will be to the benefit of the vaccination programs.

The full preliminary report has been submitted to the governmental authorities and will be finalized by the Health Service in Tunisia, where 7 of the 35 patients from N’Djamena were evacuated.

The Ministry of Public Health has worked in collaboration with the experts whilst guaranteeing the complete independence of the investigation. The Ministry welcomes the experts’ conclusions in reassuring the patients, their families, and the general public of the health status of the evacuated patients from Gouro, the quality of the MenAfriVac vaccine and the overall importance of vaccination.
N’Djamena, 21 January 2013
The Minister of Public Health
Dr Mamouth Nahor N’Gawara.

 Stephen Novella, MD, a neurologist wrote about another case of mass psychogenic illness in the US:

.... A conversion disorder occurs when psychological stress manifests as physical symptoms. We take this for granted to some degree – when people feel anxious they may get sweaty, nauseated, short of breath, and have palpitations. People with panic attacks can have these symptoms and also difficulty swallowing, and episodes that may resemble certain types of seizures with feelings of being separate from reality or from themselves. These are physical symptoms resulting from pure emotional stress. But in some cases psychological stress can also lead to neurological symptoms – pretty much any neurological symptoms, such as weakness, difficulty speaking, loss of vision, and involuntary movements.

It’s important to note that this is a known and well-established syndrome. Neurologists see patients with conversion disorder frequently, and it can be positively demonstrated in many cases that the neurological symptoms are not due to any damage or lesion in the nervous system but to psychological stress. For example, it can be demonstrated in someone with psychogenic blindness that their visual system actually works. Many patients with psychogenic seizures display features that are neuroanatomically impossible to be due to actual seizures.

He went on to write,

....In this case [the Leroy illness] we are probably dealing with not only a psychogenic illness but a case of mass psychogenic illness, which is also a known phenomenon. In these cases the stressful trigger is partly the appearance of symptoms in other people, which causes anxiety about there being a contagious illness or an environmental exposure. In susceptible individuals this can trigger a psychogenic illness mimicking the symptoms of those already affected. There may even be an original case that is due to physical illness that acts as the trigger. We do not know what makes individuals susceptible to this, but epidemiologically women are affected much more than men.

The LeRoy case has all the hallmarks of a mass psychogenic illness. Most of the symptomatic individuals are women, they are all part of the same small and close knit community, and have social contact with each other. The diagnosis, therefore, is not based entirely on the exclusion of other causes. The case also has a natural history and epidemiological features that fit a mass psychogenic illness.

Previously here:

• Is It True that a Meningitis Vaccine Paralyzed Many Children in Chad?
• Claim: "40 Children in Chad Paralyzed by Vaccines" Is Probably False

MenAfriVac Adverse event reporting in the medical literature:

• Chaibou MS, Bako H, Salisou L, Yaméogo TM, Sambo M, Kim SH, Djingarey MH, Zuber PL, Perea WA, Pezzoli L. Monitoring adverse events following immunization with a new conjugate vaccine against group A meningococcus in Niger, September 2010. Vaccine. 2012 Jul 27;30(35):5229-34. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.06.006. Epub 2012 Jun 16.
• Ouandaogo CR, Yaméogo TM, Diomandé FV, Sawadogo C, Ouédraogo B, Ouédraogo-Traoré R, Pezzoli L, Djingarey MH, Mbakuliyemo N, Zuber PL. Adverse events following immunization during mass vaccination campaigns at first introduction of a meningococcal A conjugate vaccine in Burkina Faso, 2010. Vaccine. 2012 May 30;30 Suppl 2:B46-51. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.12.112. Epub 2012 Jan 9.

Selected readings in mass psychogenic illness research:

• Broderick JE, Kaplan-Liss E, Bass E. Experimental induction of psychogenic illness in the context of a medical event and media exposure. Am J Disaster Med. 2011 May-Jun;6(3):163-72.
• Jones TF, Mass Psychogenic Illness: Role of the Individual Physician Am Fam Physician. 2000 Dec 15;62(12):2649-2653.
• Lorber W, Mazzoni G, Kirsch I. Illness by suggestion: expectancy, modeling, and gender in the production of psychosomatic symptoms.Ann Behav Med. 2007 Feb;33(1):112-6.
• Mazzoni G, Foan L, Hyland ME, Kirsch I. The effects of observation and gender on psychogenic symptoms.Health Psychol. 2010 Mar;29(2):181-5. doi: 10.1037/a0017860.

Selected readings in mass psychogenic illness following vaccination:

• Clements CJ. Mass psychogenic illness after vaccination. Drug Saf. 2003;26(9):599-604.
• Kharabsheh S, Al-Otoum H, Clements J, Abbas A, Khuri-Bulos N, Belbesi A, Gaafar T, Dellepiane N. Mass psychogenic illness following tetanus-diphtheria toxoid vaccination in Jordan.Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79(8):764-70. Epub 2001 Oct 24.
• Huang WT, Hsu CC, Lee PI, Chuang JH. Mass psychogenic illness in nationwide in-school vaccination for pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009, Taiwan, November 2009-January 2010. Euro Surveill. 2010 May 27;15(21):19575.
• Khiem HB, Huan le D, Phuong NT, Dang DH, Hoang DH, Phuong le T, Sac PK, Chien TM, Tai LA, Dan NT, Deen JL, Seidlein Lv, Clemens J, Trach DD Mass psychogenic illness following oral cholera immunization in Ca Mau City, Vietnam. Vaccine. 2003 Nov 7;21(31):4527-31.
• Peiró EF, Yáñez JL, Carramiñana I, Rullán JV, Castell J. Med Clin (Barc). 1996 Jun 1;107(1):1-3. [Study of an outbreak of hysteria after hepatitis B vaccination]. [Article in Spanish]
• Yasamy MT, Bahramnezhad A, Ziaaddini H. Postvaccination mass psychogenic illness in an Iranian rural school. East Mediterr Health J. 1999 Jul;5(4):710-6.