Ninety-three Children Dead of Flu - Majority were vaccinated!
60 VACCINATED CHILDREN DIE OF FLU ANYWAY
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Out of 93 recent deaths of children from the flu in the U.S., 60 had been vaccinated. What kind of a protection factor does that indicate? Bad? You're right. Here is a comment from Jon Rappoport, investigative reporter, on the announcement by Lawrence Altman who comments the Centers for Disease Control's statistics in the New York Times. Read those figures closely, and you will scratch your head. One thing is turned into the exact opposite - it's called spin doctoring.
WELL, LOOKIE HERE --- FLU
JANUARY 10, 2004. Lawrence Altman, the dean of American medical writers, reports on flu stats for the NY Times. After indicating that 93 children have died from the flu this season in the US, Altman states:
"Thirty-three of the victims had not been vaccinated. The disease control agency [CDC] recommends vaccination for all healthy children 6 months and older."
Okay Altman...therefore?
Are we supposed to imagine that he doesn't see the corollary of what he just wrote?
He's brain addled?
He can't take the next logical step?
He can't push the ball with his nose one last inch?
He refuses to mention THAT, THEREFORE, 60 OF THE CHILDREN WHO DID DIE FROM THE FLU WERE VACCINATED AGAINST IT.
Hello?
Gosh o gee, if I were an editor at the NY Times, I would have blasted the headline: 60 VACCINATED CHILDREN DIE OF FLU ANYWAY.
And then I might insert a sub-head: WHOLE VACCINE CAMPAIGN CALLED INTO DOUBT.
But no.
And how many readers of the Times do you imagine caught the omission?
How many will write a letter to the paper?
Oh well, just another day in journalism hell.
How about a little interview with a mother of a child who died, who says, "WE THOUGHT OUR GIRL WAS PROTECTED AFTER SHE GOT THE SHOT, BUT THEN SHE DIED. WHAT'S GOING ON?"
How about asking the head of the CDC to comment on the fact that two-thirds of the kids who have died so far received the vaccine?
This is fake news at its best. Reverse the whole meaning of the facts.
Spin it to the wrong side.
"All those kids who got the shot died, but the CDC says vaccinate your kid."
And you thought the Jayson Blair scandal at the Times was bad? It was just a tempest in a teacup. THIS is bad. This is the kind of reporting that wouldn't even get by a bored-to-death teacher at a college journalism class. THIS is about health and illness and death.
This is madness.
Who would be the federal official to take action, to march into the CDC and start screaming? Tommy Thompson, head of Health and Human Services. Of course, Tommy was the guy back there who said there was a vial of smallpox vaccine with every American's name on it, waiting to be shot into his/her body---and a year later asserted that he was not about to get the vaccine personally because the risk was too high---and he was telling all the cabinet members to avoid taking the shot as well.
I suppose if a few thousand subscribers to the Times wrote in cancelling their subscriptions and saying why, that might jostle a few brains at the paper.
But I doubt it.
They're too busy spinning.
Way too busy.
And of course it would be entirely too much to ask how many of those kids who died were adversely affected by the vaccine. An investigation of THAT would be beyond the pale for these people.
There are cocktail parties to attend, meetings with realtors about a summer house in the Hamptons. You have to start early to line up a good place in the Hamptons.
What are the chances that a front-line medical journal will pick up on this story in an upcoming editorial? About zero.
"What are we to think when a group of children die, and two-thirds of them got the vaccine against the diseease..."
So, dear Times editor, this is my open letter to you. I suggest it is time to put Altman out to pasture. Give him a patch of grass and let him ruminate. Even if he's one of your best spinners.
JON RAPPOPORT www.nomorefakenews.com
See also:
Government and the Flu: A Short History
The Fujian virus - promoting flu vaccines
Flu shots - how useful are they?
Here we are on 21 January with some more insightful news and comment
from Jon Rappoport
BEST HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD
JANUARY 21, 2004. I could only stand watching Bush in little spurts last night. State of the Onion address. He propped up the US healthcare system as the best in the world---whereas last I heard, the US ranked 12 out of 13 industrial nations. Also one of his biggest applause lines was about the need to knock off extravagant lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies. You knew he was going to please his handlers with that one.
The pundits who reviewed the speech afterwards on TV actually thought his address was good work. Well, they would.
In most beginning acting classes, teachers tell students that THE one thing an actor does not do is INDICATE. In other words, an actor is supposed to REVEAL emotion. He is not supposed to REFER TO emotion in a generalized way. Well, Bush is the great indicator. He indicates all over the place.
Speaking of medical system---
Kelly O’ Meara has written a very good article in the current issue of Insight magazine. The subject? The flu vaccine. She covers the issue of MERCURY, a known neurotoxin, which is present in one type of the vaccine. Here is an excerpt:
But what about the growing number of people concerned about the amount of mercury (thimerosal) in the inactive influenza vaccine?
It turns out that, at the very time government health officials were warning of the influenza epidemic, they also were putting out unrelated warnings about the quantities of tuna and other fish that could be ingested safely in view of the high levels of mercury in their flesh.
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends ingesting no more than 0.1 micrograms of mercury, while the FDA recommends no more than 0.4 micrograms per kilogram per day. What this amounts to is a recommendation by the EPA and the FDA that women and small children eat no more than 12 ounces of tuna or other fish or shellfish per week. This is because, according to the EPA, "mercury consumed by a pregnant or nursing woman or by a young child can harm the developing brain and nervous system."
Yet the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices has issued a warning, passed along by the CDC, that "all children aged 6 [months] to 23 months and pregnant women in their second and third trimester" receive the inactive influenza vaccine – which contains a full 25 micrograms of mercury – 250 times the limit the EPA recommends for tuna-lovers.
Nevertheless, the CDC website says, "the benefits of influenza vaccine with reduced or standard thimerosal content outweighs the theoretical risk, if any, of thimerosal," which is of course the source of the mercury.
The CDC website also states: "Based on guidelines established by the FDA, the EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, no child will receive excessive mercury from childhood vaccines regardless of whether or not their flu shot contains thimerosal as a preservative."
Is there a disconnect in communications between federal agencies? Certainly the EPA and the FDA don't think the risk from exposure of children to high levels of mercury is "theoretical." Does mercury injected directly into the bloodstream of a small child stop at the neck, whereas mercury ingested from a tuna-fish sandwich does not? If EPA and FDA mercury limits are 0.1 and 0.4 micrograms, how can the CDC believe the 25 micrograms contained in the influenza vaccine is not "excessive mercury"?
According to Raymond Strikas, a spokesman for the CDC National Immunization Program, "At this point there is no confirmed proof that anyone has been harmed by mercury in vaccines. I'm not arguing that mercury isn't a neurotoxin – you're right. No one argues that point. It's got to do with the amount in vaccines – it's very small and has been eliminated in the vast majority of childhood vaccines. There is thimerosal-free or reduced-thimerosal influenza vaccine available."
Then the "commonsense" factor cited by CDC Director Gerberding about influenza being at epidemic levels kicks in to point out that if you ingest mercury and it causes neurological problems, then it's just common sense that when you inject it into the bloodstream it will do the same.
Thimerosal is a preservative that has been used in multi-dose vials of vaccines. It contains 49 percent ethylmercury.
The CDC says "there is no convincing evidence of harm caused by low doses of thimerosal." However, in July 1999, the Public Health Service and the American Academy of Pediatrics agreed thimerosal should be eliminated "as a precautionary measure." And Strikas is correct when he advises that there is a thimerosal-free influenza vaccine. The problem, critics say, is that of the 85 million doses produced for this flu season only 3.2 million were thimerosal-free. Which lucky kids, they ask, weren't exposed to potential mercury risks?
End of excerpt.
Yeah, LET THEM EAT MERCURY AND LET THEM GET IT SHOT INTO THEIR BODIES.
I mean, we have to allow mercury in the vaccine because mercury is an industry and there are jobs at stake. The electorate ranks jobs as one of the main issues of the prez campaign.
JON RAPPOPORT www.nomorefakenews.com
THE ALTMAN STORY ONE MORE TIME
JANUARY 21, 2004. Since I wrote a piece about Lawrence Altman’s NY Times article on 93 child flu deaths, there has been some feedback from people who doubt the story.
They apparently can’t believe Altman made such a blatant error, which was contained in his following statement PLUS his RESULTANT OMISSION OF THE OBVIOUS: “Thirty-three of the victims had not been vaccinated,” he wrote.
The omission was: 60 of the kids who died had therefore been vaccinated against the flu.
There have been attempts to contact Altman and get a reply from him. Nothing doing yet.
After all, the obvious story here is that the majority of child deaths occurred in those who had been vaccinated.
I don’t know how many times I have to repeat this before it sinks in.
He could have framed the story properly and stated that the majority of the kids who died from the flu HAD BEEN VACCINATED.
There, I’ve said it again.
But he did not lead with this.
He went the other way.
One person has claimed that Altman is wrong and the CDC figures do not show that 60 out of 93 kids who died were vaccinated.
In that case, Altman should respond to THAT.
The website of the decidedly conventional Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health picks up on Altman’s thread thusly: “The median age of children who have died this season from the flu was four years, and roughly two-thirds of the victims had been vaccinated.”
So---Altman’s story was: WOW, 33 OUT OF 93 KIDS WHO DIED FROM THE FLU WERE NOT VACCINATED.
Whereas, his story should have been: WOW, 60 OUT OF 93 KIDS WHO DIED WERE VACCINATED.
JON RAPPOPORT www.nomorefakenews.com
FLU VACCINE AGAIN
JANUARY 22, 2004. Here is a piece on flu and flu vaccine from Midwest Nurse Week. It’s EXACTLY the kind of report that is discounted by health authorities when they make evaluations of the vaccine and how effective it is.
13.6.2002
Nursing Home Residents Get Flu Despite Getting Flu Shot
A late flu outbreak appears to be hitting Nebraska's urban areas, according to the state epidemiologist. One of the residents died when his respiratory infection led to pneumonia.
Nearly all of the residents received flu shots before the outbreak there. No visitors were being allowed at the nursing home, and all residents were taking anti-viral drugs and eating meals in their rooms in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus.
The quarantine comes two weeks after an outbreak of the flu led the Grand Island Veterans Home to take similar measures.
The Grand Island home was quarantined in February after seven cases were diagnosed at the home of 340 residents. The outbreak came even though 98% of residents were given flu shots.
Midwest Nurse Week, Vol.3, No. 2; March/April 2002, p27
JON RAPPOPORT www.nomorefakenews.com
MORE ON THE NY TIMES ARTICLE
JANUARY 22, 2004. This is a correction. A partial correction. And a further investigation.
I have been writing about an article (January 9) in the NY Times written by Larry Altman. His article was about 93 kids who have died of the flu so far this season. And about how many of those kids were vaccinated against the flu.
In his article, Altman states that 33 of the kids who died were not vaccinated. He uses this to bolster the CDC idea that all kids should be vaccinated. I stated that if 33 kids were not vaccinated, that meant that all the other kids who died, 60 of them, were vaccinated, and Altman should have mentioned that.
It has been pointed out to me that there is another possibility: the other 60 kids had AN UNKNOWN VACCINATION STATUS. I had wrongly assumed that if this were the case, Altman would have pointed it out. I had wrong assumed that Altman would have delved further into the actual CDC reports and ferreted out the relevant material.
I went to the CDC reports and indeed discovered that this agency states the majority of the kids who died had an UNKNOWN vaccination status. Were they vaccinated? Don’t know. Maybe yes, maybe no.
So my assumption about Altman’s lunatic omission in his Times piece was wrong. He was not omitting CDC data that said 60 kids were vaccinated and died. Of course, we DON’T KNOW the vaccine status for all those kids.
However, as I read the CDC data, I found a number of things that need comment. The CDC is not off the hook. Not by any means. And if Altman had looked deeply into what the CDC is reporting, he would have written a completely different article. But that’s too much to ask for.
Furthermore, as I wrote recently, the first prelim study on the efficacy of the flu vaccine this season showed that it is failing to protect against the flu and flu-like illnesses. I also pointed out that this study is so badly designed that it’s garble. Yet another unknown. But certainly there is nothing in the study to suggest that people should get the vaccine.
Okay. Here are excerpts from the CDC on child deaths from the flu this season. I have added my comments in CAPS between segments from the CDC, and I have assumed, of course, that the CDC is getting accurate information----often a large leap of faith. Here we go:
Since October 2003, a total of 93 influenza-associated deaths among children aged under 18 years have been reported to CDC.
All patients had evidence of influenza virus infection detected by rapid antigen testing or other laboratory tests.
COMMENT: DID THESE CHILDREN REALLY HAVE THE FLU? ARE THE TESTS ACCURATE? SO-CALLED ANTIBODY OR ANTIGEN TESTS NORMALLY LOOK FOR WHAT ARE PRESUMED TO BE ANTIBODIES AGAINST THE VIRUS. BUT THE PRESENCE OF ANTIBODIES MERELY SIGNALS THAT THE BODY HAS COME INTO CONTACT WITH THE VIRUS IN QUESTION----AND ANTIBODIES, IN MOST CASES, SIGNIFY THAT THE BODY HAS SUCCESSFULLY WARDED OFF THE VIRUS----NOT THAT THE BODY IS ILL BECAUSE OF THE VIRUS. ANOTHER TYPE OF TEST, THE PCR, IS USED TO AMPLIFY OR BLOW UP THE NUMBER OF VIRAL PARTICLES SO THAT THEY CAN BE DETECTED. THE USUAL MEANING OF THIS? THERE IS SO LITTLE OF THE NATURAL VIRUS THAT IT COULD NOT HARM THE BODY.
…A total of 35 (38%) of the 93 children were reported to have had underlying chronic medical conditions (Table 2), and 41 (44%) were reported to have had no underlying conditions; the medical history was unknown for 17 (18%) children.
COMMENT: SINCE 35 OF THE CHILDREN WHO DIED ALREADY HAD CHRONIC MEDICAL CONDITIONS, THERE IS NO WAY TO SAY THAT THEY DIED FROM THE FLU. IN FACT, ASSUMING THESE CHILDREN HAD SUPPRESSED IMMUNE SYSTEMS AS A RESULT OF THEIR PRIOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DANGEROUS TO VACCINATE THEM. THE VACCINE CAN CRASH THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEMS. ALSO NOTE: THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF AVAILABLE FLU VACCINE CONTAINS THE POTENT NEUROTOXIN MERCURY.
SINCE 17 OF THE 93 CHILDREN WHO DIED HAD AN UNKNOWN STATUS IN REGARD TO PRIOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, AT BEST THE CDC CAN SAY THAT 41 CHILDREN HAVE DIED OF THE FLU THIS SEASON. IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT THE CDC USES A ROUGH ESTIMATE OF 92 CHILD DEATHS A YEAR FROM THE FLU AS A BASELINE. THEREFORE, TO SAY THAT THIS YEAR’S FLU SEASON IS, SO FAR, UNUSUALLY BAD, IN SO FAR AS CHILD DEATHS ARE CONCERNED, IS WRONG.
…Pneumonia was a reported complication in 25 of the 93 children. Invasive bacterial co-infections were reported in 15 children, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Enterococcus sp., Haemophilus influenzae (type b and non-typable), Neisseria meningitidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Serratia marcescens.
SIDE NOTE: THE LAST TYPE OF BACTERIAL PNEUMONIA LISTED, SERRATIA, WAS THE GERM THAT WAS SPRAYED ALL OVER SAN FRANCISCO IN 1950, AS PART OF A BIO-WARFARE TEST. AT THE TIME, THE MILITARY CLAIMED THE GERM WAS COMPLETELY HARMLESS AND THE TEST WAS DONE JUST TO SEE HOW FAR THE GERM WOULD TRAVEL. NOW THE CDC LISTS THAT GERM IS A CAUSE OF PNEUMONIA.
GIVEN THAT THE ACTUAL FLU STATUS OF SO MANY OF THE CHILDREN WHO DIED IS IN DOUBT, IT MAY WELL BE THAT MANY OF THESE KIDS ACTUALLY DIED OF COMPLICATIONS FROM PNEUMONIA, NOT FLU.
Of the 45 children whose influenza vaccination status was reported, one child had evidence of adequate vaccination, whereas 33 (73%) were not vaccinated, and six children were partially vaccinated (i.e., they had received 1 of 2 doses); five children were reported as vaccinated, but the interval between vaccination and onset of illness was not documented.
THE CDC HAS NO IDEA WHETHER 48 OUT OF THE 93 CHILDREN WHO DIED WERE VACCINATED. MAYBE THEY WERE. MAYBE THEY WEREN’T. SO IN THE NY TIMES PIECE I HAVE BEEN WRITING ABOUT, THE ONE BY LARRY ALTMAN, THE STATEMENT THAT 33 OF THE 93 CHILDREN WHO DIED WERE NOT VACCINATED IS MISLEADING. THE SITUATION IS FAR MORE COMPLEX. ALTMAN USES THE 33 FIGURE TO MAKE THE POINT THAT ALL KIDS SHOULD BE VACCINATED.
FUTHERMORE, EVEN IF, OUT OF THE 93 KIDS WHO DIED, ONE WAS DEFINITELY VACCINATED, THAT MIGHT MEAN THAT 1 OUT OF EVERY 93 KIDS WHO GETS THE FLU VACCINE IS UNPROTECTED OR HARMED BY THE VACCINE. REMEMBER THE MERCURY ISSUE CITED ABOVE.
Influenza A viruses were isolated from respiratory specimens collected from 28 patients. A total of 55 children had influenza virus infection confirmed by rapid antigen testing and direct fluorescent antibody staining of respiratory specimens. Four additional children had influenza virus infection confirmed solely by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of respiratory specimens.
NONE OF THE TYPES OF TESTS NAMED ABOVE IS RELIABLE, EXCEPT FOR DIRECT ISOLATION OF THE VIRUS DONE FOR 28 CHILDREN. THEREFORE, THE CDC ONLY KNOWS, AT BEST, BY TEST, THAT 28 OUT OF THE 93 KIDS WHO DIED HAD THE FLU. AND NOTICE THAT THE NUMBER OF FLU VIRUSES FOUND IN THOSE 28 KIDS (CALLED TITER----NUMBER OF VIRUSES PER VOLUME OF BODY FLUID TESTED) IS NOT MENTIONED AT ALL. THIS OMISSION IS VITAL. IF ONLY A FEW VIRUSES ARE PRESENT IN THE BODY, THERE IS NO REASON TO SUPPOSE THAT THE VIRUS PLAYS ANY ROLE IN ILLNESS OF ANY KIND.
Because laboratory-confirmed influenza illnesses and deaths among children are not nationally reportable conditions, the numbers of deaths reported this season cannot be compared directly with previous influenza seasons, and the proportion of illnesses associated with death cannot be estimated.
IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS NO WAY TO DECIDE WHETHER, AMONG CHILDREN, THIS IS A BAD FLU SEASON.
SO THE PR PUSH TO GET EVERYBODY VACCINATED WITH A SUBSTANCE WHICH OFTEN CONTAINS MERCURY AT HIGH LEVELS IS COUNTER TO HEALTH, IS A MAJOR OFFENSE.
THE CDC KNOWS VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE VACCINE STATUS OF THE KIDS WHO DIED. THE CDC KNOWS VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE ACTUAL FLU STATUS OF THE KIDS WHO DIED. THE CDC IS PUSHING A DANGEROUS VACCINE.
OTHERWISE, THEY’RE PERFECT.
JON RAPPOPORT www.nomorefakenews.com
And here is an archived copy of that New York Times article:
93 Children Have Died From Influenza, C.D.C. Reports
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
Published: January 8, 2004
Influenza has killed 93 children under age 18 since last October, but there is no way to determine whether the current season is more severe for children than earlier years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.
The number of deaths in children has risen from the 42 that the federal agency reported in late December. But precise assessments of the severity of this season's epidemic on children is impossible because influenza is not a nationally reported condition, said Dr. Julie L. Gerberding who is director of the centers in Atlanta.
The children who died from influenza ranged in age from 4 weeks to 17 years, with a median of 4 years. Children under 5 years accounted for 55, or 59 percent, of the 93 deaths and infants 6 to 23 months accounted for 24 deaths, or 26 percent.
The vast majority, 33, or 73 percent, had not been vaccinated. The C.D.C. recommends that all healthy children 6 months and older be vaccinated.
The deaths occurred in a variety of settings. Of the 55 cases for which location of death was reported, 15, or 27 percent, died at home; 12, or 22 percent, died in emergency rooms; 3, or 5 percent, died during transport to hospitals. The remaining 25, or 45 percent, died in hospitals.
In the absence of specific case reports, C.D.C. monitors influenza activity for all ages in a number of ways. Using those yardsticks, Dr. Gerberding said her agency was "cautiously optimistic" that the peak of this season's epidemic had passed.
In a teleconference with reporters, Dr. Gerberding said that the number of states reporting widespread flu activity declined to 38 (including New York City and the District of Columbia, which are separate reporting areas in C.D.C.'s system) from 42 for the week ended Jan. 3.
The percentage of outpatient visits for influenza dropped in all monitoring areas, the centers said in its weekly report.
The percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza rose slightly to exceed the epidemic threshold, a key determinant of the severity of an influenza season. The threshold is based on a statistical calculation derived from the number of deaths from pneumonia and influenza in 122 cities. But information usually reflects deaths that occurred three to four weeks earlier.
Recent studies and widespread publicity about deaths of children in Colorado and other states this season have underscored the need to learn more about how the virus affects young people, Dr. Gerberding said.
C.D.C. has asked doctors to report all influenza-related deaths in children under 18 through local and state health departments. Doctors are also being asked to submit virus isolated from fatal cases and tissues obtained from autopsies. The aim is to help scientists determine if there are unusual characteristics killing children.
In an additional step, C.D.C. is asking state health officials to consider making influenza deaths in children a routine reportable disease.
The only estimate of influenza deaths in children comes from an academic study that indicates the number is 92 in an average year.
Dr. Gerberding said her agency is conducting a new information campaign to help parents and teachers educate children about ways to prevent transmission of colds, influenza and other respiratory illnesses. Information about steps like coughing into a tissue and discarding it are available on the agency's Web site (www.cdc.gov).
C.D.C. urged doctors to consider testing children for influenza if they had fever and other signs of possible complications like pneumonia and had chronic diseases like asthma, heart disease and immune disorders.
Posted at January 10, 2004 07:45 PM | TrackBack