Vaccine deaths

The health ministry has decided to suspend the use of two types of publicly subsidized vaccines following the deaths of four children.

Municipal governments were notified of the decision.

The two types are the Hib vaccine, which prevents bacterial meningitis, and a vaccine against streptococcus pneumonia.

There have been no reports so far from the doctors who treated the children that there is a causal relationship between the vaccines and the deaths, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

The ministry is planning to assemble a panel of experts this week after consulting with other doctors to examine the cases, according to officials.

The ministry is expected to let the vaccinations resume if the panel decides the two vaccines don't pose serious safety concerns.

The four children were a 3-month-old girl in Kawasaki who died Feb. 20, a 2-year-old boy in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, who died Tuesday, a 1-year-old girl in Nishinomiya, also in Hyogo, who died Wednesday, and a 6-month-old girl in the city of Kyoto who died Friday.

The doctors of the children described the causal relationship between the vaccines and their deaths as either unclear or impossible to evaluate. Some had underlying illnesses and others did not.

All four children were administered a vaccine against streptococcus pneumonia made by Pfizer Inc., and all except the girl in Nishinomiya received ActHIB, an Hib vaccine made by Sanofi Pasteur Inc.

In addition, all except the boy in Takarazuka received a mixed vaccine against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus on the same day they received other vaccines.

The streptococcus pneumonia vaccine has been administered to an estimated 1.10 million people in 2.15 million doses since it went on sale in February 2010. The Hib vaccine has been administered to an estimated 1.55 million people in 3.08 million doses since its launch in December 2008.

Japan, known for being notoriously slow to accept new vaccines, approved the Hib vaccine in 2007, 20 years after the United States did so. Approval for the streptococcus pneumonia vaccine came in 2009, compared with 2000 in the U.S.

An increasing number of people are believed to be receiving these vaccines because of a subsidy program launched last November in which the government agrees to shoulder half the cost of vaccination if municipal governments organize and subsidize vaccination programs.

Acute Encephalopathy Followed by Permanent Brain Injury or Death Associated With Further Attenuated Measles Vaccines: A Review of Claims Submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Robert E. Weibel^*, Vito Caserta^*, David E. Benor

, and Geoffrey Evans^*

From the ^* Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation, National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, Health Resources and Services Administration, Public Health Service, Rockville, Maryland; and the Dagger

Office of the General Counsel, United States Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, Maryland.

PEDIATRICS Vol. 101 No. 3 March 1998, pp. 383-387
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/101/3/383

Objective. To determine if there is evidence for a causal relationship between acute encephalopathy followed by permanentbrain injury or death associated with the administration of furtherattenuated measles vaccines (Attenuvax or Lirugen, Hoechst MarionRoussel, Kansas City, MO), mumps vaccine (Mumpsvax, Merck andCo, Inc, West Point, PA), or rubella vaccines (Meruvax or MeruvaxII, Merck and Co, Inc, West Point, PA), combined measles and rubellavaccine (M-R-Vax or M-R-Vax II, Merck and Co, Inc, West Point,PA), or combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (M-M-R orM-M-R II, Merck and Co, Inc, West Point, PA), the lead authorreviewed claims submitted to the National Vaccine Injury CompensationProgram.

Methods. The medical records of children who met the inclusion criteria of receiving the first dose of these vaccines between1970 and 1993 and who developed such an encephalopathy with nodetermined cause within 15 days were identified and analyzed.Results. A total of 48 children, ages 10 to 49 months, met the inclusion criteria after receiving measles vaccine, alone orin combination. Eight children died, and the remainder had mental regression and retardation, chronic seizures, motor and sensory deficits, and movement disorders. The onset of neurologic signsor symptoms occurred with a nonrandom, statistically significant distribution of cases on days 8 and 9. No cases were identifiedafter the administration of monovalent mumps or rubella vaccine.Conclusions. This clustering suggests that a causal relationship between measles vaccine and encephalopathy may exist as arare complication of measles immunization.
Key words: measles vaccine, encephalopathy, encephalitis.

Comments are convincing. One especially:

November 6, 2009 at 11:00 am (40) kathy-sd says:

"I'm from a town of 2000 in SD, there are several women pregnant and we are all due within a few weeks of each other. Four of us got the H1N1 vaccine 2 weeks ago and one by one each of us started to have preterm contractions. We are all due in Nov and Dec so we are further along than most of the people that lost their babies. There is no way you can tell us that our preterm labor was not caused by the H1N1 vaccine. It may look like a "fluke" to some people when these women are scattered all over the country but we are talking about 4 of us in our small community. My heart goes out to all of you that lost your babies."

Posted on Sun Nov 15 04:19:29 2009 by American Dream 246

The reports are rolling in:

http://miscarriage.about.com/b/2009/09/29/some-pregnant-women-fearful-of-h1n1-vaccine.htm#gB3

(2) Regrets says:

I got both vaccines on Thursday. I was 9 weeks pregnant. I miscarried on Sunday. I was told by several doctors to get these vaccines. Now I wish I followed my gut feeling and not get them at ALL!

October 29, 2009 at 8:33 am (3) says:

i work in a hospital like setting and was told 'the benefits outweigh the risks" 1am i got the vaccine, 3am i started bleeding and craming, 3pm miscarried. you decide

October 31, 2009 at 1:29 pm (4) sue says:

I had the H1N1 vaccination and 24 hours later had a miscarriage.

October 31, 2009 at 8:25 pm (5) Linda Hill says:

My daughter in law was 10 weeks pregnant and had the H1N1 vaccine on Friday that night she miscarried.

November 1, 2009 at 9:58 pm (6) Stephanie says:

I received the H1N1 over a week ago. I am now 5 weeks. I am doing well so far.

November 2, 2009 at 10:52 pm (7) SoSorry says:

I was so ready to get the H1N1 vaccine last week and they were only giving them to pregnant women. I was 6 weeks along and got it and the next day I started cramping and miscarried. I already had two healthy pregnancies and never miscarried or had any problems. My doctors think I am crazy to think it was the H1N1 but if no one looks into this than other women will not know. I am so sorry that I got it.

November 3, 2009 at 4:30 pm (8) Connie says:

I also received the H1N1 vaccination on October 22nd, 2009 and went into labor on October 25th, at 16 weeks pregnant and we just heard the heartbeat and everything was fine with my pregnancy on October 16th, 2009, then on October 28th my water broke then on October 29th, I delivered a stillborn baby boy, and no one can tell me why.Everyone wants to say it did not come from the shot but I believe it did. My baby was growing at the correct pace and everyone wants to brush off the vaccination. I say if you have the vaccination and suffer a miscarriage if they are able to perform an autopsy have it done. November 3, 2009 at 4:34 pm

November 4, 2009 at 10:12 pm (10) sioux falls, south dakota says:

I received the H1N1 vaccine on October 16th and started experiencing cramping on the 22nd. I was nearly 17 weeks pregnant and gave birth to a stillborn baby boy on the 23rd. Like many of the other women here, the first thing I suspected was the H1N1 vaccine. I immediately asked a nurse at the hospital if that would have anything to do with it. Without hesitation, she told me "absolutely not." I had reservations about getting the vaccine, but followed the advice of my long trusted family doctor. In a follow up appointment with my doctor 3 days after I lost my baby, I asked him if the vaccine would have had any adverse effects on my baby. He also said that it was not possible. I don't believe that my doctor was necessarily lying to me, he was simply following the accepted practices and opinions of his field. I do, however, believe that as a nation, we are being lied to. This vaccine is NOT safe during pregnancy. There has not been enough testing done to determine this and there are far too many "coincidences" for this to be anything but a result of a vaccine that was hastily pushed into production and distribution in an effort to stop widespread panic. I have read so many stories in defense of the vaccine that will talk about how common miscarriages are, but I would challenge you to ask ANY health care professional how common second trimester miscarriages are. My baby was doing perfect developmentally and I had felt him move earlier that day. My heart goes out to all of you out there who have had to go through the same heartache and loss that I have had in the last couple of weeks. There is no reason that any woman or family should have to go through this. Get the word out to all of the pregnant women that you know. I know that if I had heard that women had been losing their babies shortly after they received the vaccine, I would have followed my gut and not gotten it myself. Maybe then Wyatt would have had a chance at life.

November 6, 2009 at 8:16 am (36) Marina Rossi says:

I recently got the H1N1 vaccine and miscarried 3 days later. I thought it could have been the vaccine but didnt ask. After finding this site I believe it was the vaccine. Sorry to everyone else out there who has just experienced a miscarriage.

November 6, 2009 at 11:54 am (42) ashley says:

Im not sure but not only myself, i know someone that withing 4 days of getting the shot we both miscarried, i was only 6 weeks and she was 4 months along, not sure if the shot caused it and cant find any other information but i am a little concerned about this coincidence.

November 11, 2009 at 2:05 pm (238) zoe says:

I was vaccinated on Friday and on Tuesday my first trimester screening ultrasound showed that my baby did not have a heart beat. I was 12 weeks along and the baby measured 12 weeks so it must have happened after the vaccination (when I was 11 weeks). I doubt that they will ever draw any conclusions about the cause of my baby's death but it is quite uncommon to have a miscarriage after 12 weeks and if I could make the decision again, I would have played it safe (although that's what I thought I was doing) and NOT have had the shot.

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http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=171377352549&id=1263973969&ref=nf Still thinking about getting a flu shot?

This is a heart breaking story from a friend of mine... Yes, tomorrow I will be protesting (with the consent of the mother who I'm still waiting to hear back from) in memory of Wyatt James Ihnen. The mother who received the vaccine is my best friend's sister-in-law. I am extremely close to the family.

She went in to get the H1N1 shot and that same night started experiencing cramps and the baby started kicking more than usual. She didn't think anything of it at first, just thought that she was getting sick or something, but the next morning she still had cramps so she went to the hospital and Wyatt was stillborn (natural birth!). Wyatt was 17 weeks old and 7 inches long. The mother and child were healthy with no complications prior to the shot.

She and the father are having an extremely hard time with the death of their son. She feels like by baby Wyatt kicking he was trying to tell mommy," Help me!" That thought haunts her.

The family performed a funeral and everything.

Dr. Joseph S Arvay Doctor of ChiropracTIC 303.457.8080 office 303.349.6011 cell info@spinegeek.com www.maximizedlivingdrarvay.com

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Emily November 14th, 2009 at 8:22 pm

THIS WEEK.. Tues 10 Nov 2:30pm I had the seasonal flu shot (not H1N1)- supposed to be safe for pregnant women & highly advised. Wed 11 Nov 4:30pm began bleeding and taken by ambulance to ER where heartbeat could not be confirmed externally. Thurs 12 Nov 9:30am internal ultrasound confirmed no heartbeat. Fri 13 Nov I had a D&C. My heart is absolutely broken.

I have never had a miscarriage before. Have 1 healthy son who I carried to term. No history of poor health (ie: diabetes, obesity, blood pressure, etc.)No drugs/alcohol. I eat a healthy diet with lots of raw veggies & fruit, but not vegatarian.

I heard my baby's heartbeat just a few weeks before and everything seemed to be progressing normally. Now may baby is gone and there is nothing I or anyone can do to turn back the clock. I will never know if this immunization was the cause of my loss or what. But I am utterly broken. Emily, Ft Benning, GA, USA

------

11-08-2009, 09:26 PM nic.cox

This is so sad.

A friend of ours had a miscarriage on October 30th. She was just over 12 weeks along, and there was no heartbeat at the 12 week ultrasound. She was right on target for size and heartbeat the week before.

I just called my close friend (the woman who miscarried's best friend) and asked if she had gotten the H1N1 shot recently. It turns out that she got the shot the week before, at 11 weeks, when everything was fine with the pregnancy. Makes me wonder.

Personally, I'd never get a vaccine while pregnant. My gut just says "NO" and I try to trust that instinct, as it hasn't led me wrong so far.

Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt
Former Senior Policy Advisor
U.S. Department of Education

http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com
http://www.americandeception.com

VIC (Vaccine Information Coalition)
Autism is 1 in 67 children today and it's impossible to have a genetic epidemic!
Please learn from our mistake and educate BEFORE you vaccinate!
For more information visit www.vacinfo.org or call 800-939-8227

Dutch pull Pfizer infant vaccine after deaths
November 6, 2009 — 7:42am ET | By Liz Jones

Dutch health authorities have yanked a batch of Pfizer's Prevnar following the deaths of three infants.

Prevnar, which is known as Prevenar in Europe, is used to protect infants from certain pneumococcal bacteria that can cause meningitis and bacteremia. Pfizer acquired the drug through its recent acquisition of Wyeth.

"On average about 5 to 10 deaths are reported annually after babies get vaccines," said a spokeswoman for the Dutch health institute RIVM. Each infant had received the vaccine within the past two weeks, according to Forbes.

Pfizer spokeswoman Gwen Fisher said preliminary investigations by the company and health authorities had found no link between the vaccinations and the deaths. Fisher said the company initiated the "quarantine" of the batch, which she said contained 110,000 doses of the vaccine. She added that the three infants also received two unrelated other vaccines as part of routine immunizations.

Read more: http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/dutch-pull-pfizer-infant-vaccine-after-deaths/2009-11-05#ixzz0YfHbdQGQ

With trembling hands, the distraught mother stroked the yellow bear which belonged to Finlay – her beloved son. The little boy died two weeks ago at the age of 21 months after having a vaccination against swine flu.

Mother Yvonne B. (34), a nurse for the elderly in Berlin, said: “Finlay was born with a heart defect and damaged lungs. He had been operated on four times. Now he was waiting in hospital for a new heart and a new lung. “He was doing quite well. We went out with him everyday. He played in the leaves and liked to watch birds.”

Doctors told the parents that the tot should be inoculated, mirroring the advice of the standing committee on vaccinations.Mom-of-three Yvonne added: “They said the side effects would be no problem, but that swine flu would be a real danger to our son. On top of that, a patient in the room next door had been diagnosed with swine flu.”

In the afternoon the boy was vaccinated. On the next day he was still laughing and happily playing around in the leaves. But in the night, his condition suddenly worsened. He vomited and fluid got into his lung. The organ failed, and then so did his heart. The devastated mother said: “We were called at night. Finlay fell asleep on my husband’s arm.” Immediately a horrific thought surfaced - was the H1N1 virus vaccination to blame for the agonising tragedy? “The assumption is simply an obvious one! At least that the vaccination played some kind of role.”

The parents consented to an autopsy of their son. “The Pathological Institute told us yesterday they couldn't exclude a connection, but also that there was nothing speaking for it compellingly. “If I had the choice again, I would not let my son be vaccinated.” The investigation of the boy’s death is still ongoing. A week ago the parents carried their son to his grave. “He had an unbelievable willingness to live. We never thought for a second that he wouldn’t make it,” said his mother.

“The name Finlay means ‘small blond hero’. We had so much hope that our little hero would finally be able to start living.”
http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/world-news/2009/11/18/swine-flu-tot-tragedy/my-boy-finlay-agonising-death-after-vaccination.html##

Two die after getting Chinese H1N1 vaccine
http://www.dailypioneer.com/215922/Two-die-after-getting-Chinese-H1N1-vaccine.html
PTI | Beijing

Two people have died in China after receiving domestically manufactured vaccines against swine flu, Government said on Saturday.

The preliminary autopsy report of one of the deceased showed that the patient suffered a sudden cardiac death while results of the autopsy on the second person are still awaited, the Ministry of Health was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency.

“Experts have basically ruled out the possibility that the patient’s sudden death was the result of immediate allergic reactions to the flu vaccines,” a statement on Ministry’s Website said.

Around 43 people have so far succumbed to swine flu in China due to the disease.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jhGEii8dlPMGhQ-pVgtYXF2LsO_A

GlaxoSmithKline H1N1 Vaccine Disaster Toll Rises

There have been 24 confirmed cases of a type of severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis in Canadians who have received an H1N1 flu shot, including one person who died after getting vaccinated, the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada said Wednesday. Butler-Jones disclosed the information in Ottawa during a news conference at which federal health officials revealed flu activity appears to be levelling off. All but 15,000 doses of the vaccine had been used by the time the halt-use order was issued, said Dr. Danielle Grondin, assistant deputy minister of the public health agency. But confirmed cases of anaphylaxis have been seen with other batches as well. And some possible cases may still be under investigation.
Helen Branswell, Medical Reporter, Canadian Press

Krishnagiri: A two-month old female baby died reportedly after being given Diptheria-Pertussis-Tetanus (DPT) and Hepatitis B vaccination shots at Kappalvadi near Bargur on Wednesday.

According to sources, the baby developed fever 11 hours after being administered the vaccines at the Kappalvadi Primary Health Centre. The parents gave tablets as prescribed by a doctor at the PHC. Though the temperature came down initially, it shot up again. The baby developed diarrhoea and the parents rushed the child to a private hospital in Bargur. Doctors on duty referred the baby to the Krishnagiri Government Hospital. However, it died on way to the hospital.

K. Ganesan, Deputy Director, Health Services, ruled out the possibility of allergic reaction due to immunisation. The vaccination was administered after taking all precautions, he said. The exact cause of the death could be ascertained only after the visceral analysis was done at the Salem Government Medical College Hospital.

More than 22 children were given vaccine shots at the Kappalvadi PHC on the day of the immunisation campaign and no complaint was received from any of the children.

Over 90 hospitalized after measles vaccination in east Ukraine
12:40 | 18/ 05/ 2008

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080518/107670116.html

KIEV, May 18 (RIA Novosti) - A total of 92 people, including 87 children, were hospitalized in eastern Ukraine as of early Sunday after measles vaccination, Ukraine's emergencies ministry said. On May 13, a 17-year-old boy died after measles inoculation in the Donetsk Region. Two days later, over 60 people in eastern Ukraine were hospitalized after vaccination. A total of over 20,000 people in the region received the same vaccine.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko said he was concerned over the teenager's death and demanded from the Ukrainian health ministry to take all measures to prevent such instances in the future. By now, measles immunization has been halted in Ukraine.

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01SOC160607

Hepatitis-B vaccine suspended nation-wide

Ha Noi — The Ministry of Health has given orders to ban further use of two batches of hepatitis-B vaccine nationwide as they wait for autopsy results on two children who died following vaccination. Deputy Health Minister Cao Minh Quang made the announcement yesterday to suspend the two batches of hepatitis-B vaccine produced locally by the Biological Product and Vaccine Company 1.

The two children were one-week-old Nguyen Ngoc Thao from Hoa Binh Province who died on June 4 after being injected with hepatitis-B and tuberculosis vaccines at the province’s Cham Mat health clinic. Some days earlier, on May 25, four-month-old Nguyen Ba Thanh from Ha Tay Province also died after receiving an injection of hepatitis-B vaccine and DPT vaccine against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus; and an oral polio vaccine.

http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/documents/media/MMR%20Vaccine%20Suspended%
20in%20Ho%20Chi%20Minh%20City,%20Thanh%20Niens%20News,%20Vietnam.doc
HCMC suspends US-made vaccine after worker’s death

Last Updated: Saturday, June 9, 2007 13:34:26 Vietnam (GMT+07)

The Ho Chi Minh City Health Department has ordered city hospitals and health centers to stop using a batch of US-made vaccines after a worker died and five others fell ill after getting vaccinated. Six women workers from the Tango Candy Company were hospitalized Tuesday 30 minutes after getting a shot of MMR, a vaccine to protect people against measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles).

One worker, Huynh Thi Kim Hoa, experienced breathing difficulties and a fall in heart rate, and she later fainted and slipped into a coma. Hoa was taken to Gia Dinh Hospital where doctors said she had suffered a brain hemorrhage. The 20-year-old died Friday morning.

Hospital director Do Hoang Giao said Hoa's condition was not caused by the vaccination but was the result of defective blood vessels around her brain. The bleeding could have been triggered anytime. The five others also suffered breathing difficulties and were also taken to the hospital. Doctors discharged them that evening.

The batch in question, H1666, was manufactured by American drug company Merck Sharp & Dohme Inc. on October 24, 2004, and expires in November this year. The city Preventive Health Center said it imported 10,000 doses of the vaccine, more than 1,000 of which had already been used.

Source: Tuoi Tre, Lao Dong, VietNamNet – Translated by Thu Thuy

Thursday, April 24, 2008 (Chennai)
The measles immunisation programme across Tamil Nadu has now been put on hold and two nurses have been suspended after four babies died soon after getting vaccinated for measles. The Union Health Ministry has rushed a two-member team of experts to the area. Samples of the vaccine have been sent for testing. There are also reports that the medical camps did not have any provisions for emergencies.

A mother, Arputhamaal, who was blessed with a girl baby twenty years after her marriage, lost her child to the killer vaccine. The ten-month-old died on Wednesday soon after she was administered measles vaccine, in the Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu. Three other babies too lost their lives after vaccination at their neighbourhood government health centre. Arputhamaal was inconsolable and visibly shaken after she lost her child. ''I had not taken my daughter to the hospital even once after the birth. And the first time she was taken she died, said Arputhamaal, a mother.

Another mother recounts the horror she faced at the immunization center.

''She died at the centre itself soon after the vaccine. Froth started coming out of her nose instantly,'' said Suganthy. The state government has ordered a probe. According to the health officials, the vaccine was supplied by the Central government-owned Human Biological Institute in Hyderabad. There's a pal of gloom along with simmering tension in the area. While the government has announced a compensation of Rs three lakh to families, there is no consolation for those who have lost their innocent children. Ironically, Tamil Nadu is in the forefront of the vaccination movement in the country. The state has successfully eradicated polio and several other diseases.

In January 2008, Tamil Nadu became the first state chosen for implementing the Hepatitis-B vaccination programme.

St. Paul, Minn. — Minnesota has recorded its second pediatric influenza-related death this season. The Minnesota Department of Health says a 5-year-old girl from the greater Twin Cities metro area died this week shortly after receiving a flu shot. Immunizations expert Kris Ehresmann said the girl received her flu vaccination on March 4th.

"She was healthy. She didn't have any underlying health conditions and had a history of being vaccinated," Ehresmann said. "Although she was vaccinated while she was already ill and infected. So likely that obviously didn't provide any protection." The child who died earlier was a 12-year-old who hadn't been vaccinated.

Ehresmann said flu shots are still available. The flu season typically runs through the end of April.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2986733,prtpage-1.cms
Another baby dies, hepatitis shot blamed
27 Apr 2008, 0238 hrs IST,TNN

DINDIGUL: Tension gripped Dindigul after parents of an 11-month-old girl baby, Mariammal, blamed the hepatitis B vaccine for her death on Saturday. Mariammal was administered the vaccine two days ago at the Narasingapuram primary health centre in the district. She died on Saturday morning at the Dindigul Government Hospital.

Deputy Director of Health, Dr. K Jagadeesh Kumar, however, dismissed the claims of Murugesan and his wife Nagammal that their baby had died of the vaccine. "The preliminary report says the baby died of aspiration asphyxia. She was severely malnourished and terribly underweight when she was brought to the PHCs."

Mariammal’s parents complained that she developed high fever and when they took her to the Government Hospital there was no doctor to take care of her.

With four babies in Tiruvallur district dying after being administered the measles vaccine on Wednesday, a wave of panic has spread across the state, with at least two more districts, including Dharmapuri and now Dindigul, reporting deaths of babies due to vaccines.

Several cadres of the CPM and SFI staged a demonstration in front of the hospital, demanding action against the vaccine manufacturers.

On Thursday, a 3 month-old boy died in Dharmapuri district, 10 days after he was given triple antigen shots.

Human error or faulty measles vaccine? One Of These Reasons Killed Four Babies In Tamil Nadu, Finds The Initial Probe Kounteya Sinha

NewDelhi: All four children who died after being administered the measles vaccine in Tamil Nadu on April 23 suffered severe brain haemorrhage resulting from an anaphylactic shock, an inquiry has found. This will be pointed out by the five member expert team sent by the health ministry to investigate the deaths, when they submit their initial report to health minister A Ramadoss on Monday. Experts in the team said an anaphylactic shock—a severe, potentially lethal systemic allergic reaction—following a measles vaccination is highly rare and occurs in one out of every 10 lakh cases. They said the anaphylactic shock killing all four—within half-an-hour of the vaccine being administered around the same area—pointed to two likely reasons for why the deaths occurred—a human error resulting in mixing thef reeze-dried vaccine with a different chemical in place of saline water or a contaminated vaccine containing a foreign protein, like bacteria, from being kept in the open for more than three hours after being reconstituted.

Ateam member who returned from Chennai on Friday after investigations ,however, confirmed that the public health centre’s cold chain system, which was used to store the vaccines, was not at fault. Puttingto rest allegations that the nurses may have used the same syringe to vaccinate the three children after dipping it in chemicals like adrenaline or muscle relaxants, the team said individual syringes were used. One of the experts said, “There was no conflict between what the nurses, angadwadi workers and family members of children who died said. The cold chain system was fine. Police reports also showed that individual syringes were used. But the government hospital which carried out the postmortem found that all of them died of haemorrhage, which is strange.” The Central Drug Laboratory has started testing 20 samples of the vaccine from the same batch that killed the children—10 each collected from the fatal site in Tiruvallur and those lying with the Human Biologicals Institute in Hyderabad. Worried about its good manufacturing standards, the health ministry is nowsending a three-member team to HBI on Tuesday to check the PSU’s measles vaccine production unit.

“HBI is a pre-qualified WHOunit. However, we need to be sure that it is following goodmanufacturing standards set by WHO and the government of India. Theteam will inspect the vaccine production area, check raw materialsbeing used and inspect its quality control measures,” a health ministry official said.
He added, “This case is really intriguing. Asingle child can be sensitive to the vaccine and suffer from ananaphylactic shock. But how can it occur on three children, one afteranother, after being administered the vaccine from a single vial? On the other hand, records show that 230 doses of the same vaccine batchwere used in the same PHC that day but no other deaths were recorded.”

The team of experts has said that the public health centre’s cold chain was not to blame for her grief

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1750553/>http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1750553/

12 Babies die during vaccine trials in Argentina

Buenos Aires, Jul 10, 2008 (Buenos Aires, Jul 10, 2008

At least 12 babies who were part of a clinical study to test the effectiveness of a vaccine against pneumonia have died over the past year in Argentina, the local press reported Thursday. The study was sponsored by global drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and uses children from poor families, who are "pressured and forced into
signing consent forms," the Argentine Federation of Health Professionals, or Fesprosa, said. "This occurs without any type of state control" and "does not comply
with minimum ethical requirements," Fesprosa said. The vaccine trial is still ongoing despite the denunciations, and those in charge of the study were cited by the Critica newspaper as saying that the procedures are being carried out in a lawful manner.

Colombian and Panama were also chosen by GSK as staging grounds for trials of the vaccine against the pneumococcal bacteria. Since 2007, 15,000 children under the age of one from the Argentine provinces of Mendoza, San Juan and Santiago del Estero have been included in the research protocol, a statement of what the study is trying to achieve. "Only 12 have died throughout the country, which is a very low figure if we compare it with the deaths produced by respiratory illnesses caused by the pneumococcal bacteria," pediatrician Enrique Smith, one of the lead investigators, said. In Santiago del Estero, one of the country's poorest provinces, the trials were authorized when Enrique's brother, Juan Carlos Smith, was provincial health minister. According to pediatrician Ana Maria Marchese, who works at the children's hospital in the provincial capital where the studies are being conducted, "because they can't experiment in Europe or the United States, they come to do it in third-world countries."

"A lot of people want to leave the protocol but aren't allowed; they force them to continue under the threat that if they leave they won't receive any other vaccine," said Julieta Ovejero, great aunt of one of the six babies who died in Santiago del Estero. Fesprosa's Juan Carlos Palomares said that "in most cases these are
underprivileged individuals, many of them unable to read or write, who are pressured into including their children" in the trials. According to Fesprosa, "the laboratory pays $8,000 for each child included in the study, but none (of that money) remains in the province that lends the public facilities and the health personnel for the private research." EFE

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3340464,prtpage-1.cms
The Times of India -Breaking news, views. reviews, cricket from across India

Baby boy dies after DPT vaccination
8 Aug 2008, 0907 hrs IST,TNN

SRIKAKULAM: A two-month-old baby boy died within 10 hours of being administered a shot of DPT vaccine at a medical camp in Srikakulam district on Wednesday.

The boy, Savara Praveen, died at his home in Savara Jhoudupally of the Maoist-infested Meliaput mandal, about 175 km from the district headquarters, on the Orissa border. The infant was among 15 others who were given a DPT shot on Wednesday morning. But sources said the boy was given hepatitis-B vaccine along with the DPT shot.

Family members said Praveen started frothing at the mouth, turned blue and died around 5.30 pm. Sources said Praveen, who was born on June 2, was administered the vaccination by a health worker of Asha. The boy's parents -- Savara Janu and Annapoorna -- are farm labourers belonging to the tribal community.

The child was doing well for the first few hours after the vaccination, but cried a lot in the afternoon, and by evening, he died. What worsened the matter was that there was no provision to take the baby boy to a nearby hospital. "We did not plan for an ambulance or medical support," a health official said, adding that it was supposed to be a routine programme of immunisation where nearly 10,000 kids were given the DPT shots.

District immunisation officer Y Nagaraj rushed to the village and seized the samples from various batches of the vaccine. "The vials of the vaccine have been sent to Hyderabad for testing," he said. He said the boy was suffering from aspiratory pneumonia and milk was flowing from his nose when a paediatrician went to check him

The officials could not indicate whether the death was vaccine-related as the parents refused to send the body for a post-mortem to verify the cause of death. DM&HO Rambhatnaik said the boy was forcibly fed milk when he was crying. "Parents could not react properly to the symptoms," he said. Praveen's death was the first vaccine-related tragedy in eight years in the district.

Status epilepticus and lymphocytic pneumonitis following hepatitis B vaccination

aRheumatology Division, São Paulo University School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil bDepartment of Medicine B, Center for Autoimmune Diseases, affiliated to Tel-Aviv University Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel cIncumbent of the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair for Research of Autoimmune Diseases, Tel-Aviv University, Israel

Received 23 April 2007; revised 3 July 2007; accepted 22 October 2007. Available online 4 December 2007.

The case reported refers to a patient who developed status epilepticus in the day of her third dose of hepatitis B vaccination and we review the literature on this subject. A 12 year-old girl, without a relevant previous history, taking no drugs, developed a seizure attack followed by unconsciousness, and eventually died after three days of her third dose of hepatitis B (HB) vaccination. Autopsy study revealed cerebral edema with congestion and herniation and diffuse interstitial type pneumonitis. There seem to be a straight forward time relationship between the third HB vaccine, the event of convulsion and the sudden death of the patient. We suggest that, in some cases, vaccination may be the triggering factor for autoimmune and neurological disturbances in genetically predisposed individuals and physicians should be aware of this possible association.

Keywords: Hepatitis B vaccination; Status epilepticus; Vaccination; Vaccine; Convulsion; Pneumonitis

George Fisher who died aged 17 months, 10 days after having the MMR triple jab.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/dec/04/mmr-death-verdict
A healthy baby boy who was heard "chatting away on the baby monitor" just hours before he died received an MMR jab shortly after suffering a fever fit that the vaccine may have aggravated, an inquest heard today.

George Fisher, who was 18 months old when he was discovered dead in his cot in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire by his mother, Sarah Fisher, had been given the MMR jab 10 days earlier in January 2006, a coroner heard.

George suffered from febrile convulsions, fits caused by high temperatures. Fisher, 44, and her husband, Christopher, 43, believe the vaccine was "implicated" in their son's death. They say the temperature-raising effects of the drug on children with febrile convulsions were not explained to them, and that this knowledge might have allowed them to act sooner. According to Department of Health guidelines, the jab should be given ''with caution''. However, the guidelines do not ban child sufferers of febrile convulsions from receiving it, but rather recommends monitoring their temperatures.

Two doctors confirmed that giving MMR to sufferers such as George was permitted under patient guidelines, with careful watches recommended. In evidence, Fisher said her son had been a "healthy and robust" child who she had breastfed for 11 months - longer than her other three children. He was given antibiotics for his febrile illness shortly before he received his MMR jab, and had been "running around playing football with his father" on the Wednesday before he died .The night before he died, he was "chatting away on the baby monitor", she added.

"He took his bottle of water and I put the quilt over him, stroked his head and said goodnight. I went to bed, heard him drink his water, then throw the bottle on the floor. I heard him shuffling around."

At 8am, his sister Meg, who was sharing a room with him, called out to her. "I was surprised he was not awake. I tried to wake him, but it was clear he was dead because of his colour, and he was cold," Fisher said. He had been due to attend a doctor's appointment for his worsening symptoms on the day he died. She added that she now knew George should have been more closely monitored because of his previous condition. The coroner heard George was born at a healthy 8lbs 10oz, and came through his routine injection with no side-effects.

Dr Annette Bugaighis, his GP, said the child fell ill on September 25, 2005, after returning from a holiday in Spain, and developed a high temperature. After suffering a fit at the Overton Park surgery, he was rushed to hospital, where it was found he had suffered febrile convulsion. When admitted, George had a high temperature, stiff neck, puffy eyes, and green-tinged stools. Both Dr Annette Bugaighis and consultant paediatrician Alan Day of Cheltenham general hospital agreed that he was safe to be given the vaccine on January 9 2006, and that he should be monitored for raised temperature.

"There was nothing obvious in his medical history to explain his sudden death,'' Dr Bugaighis said.

A Department of Health pamphlet advises only that MMR2 should be given "with caution" to those "with an individual or family history of cerebral injury or any other condition in which stress due to fever should be avoided. The physician should be alert to the rise in temperature that may follow." Mr Fisher said that the family had not been given a patient information leaflet on the MMR precautions to be taken with children who had previously suffered fever. Nor was any verbal advice specific to his circumstances.

"How I remember it, we were told if he had a rising temperature to give him Calpol if he got grizzly. I had been present at all my children's vaccines and it's the same spiel on every occasion," he said. "Given his condition, they should have been aware of his medical history. At no point were we asked for this before his vaccination."

"If we had been [given the leaflet], we would have gone to hospital much quicker because of the information in that list. We would have been much more concerned than we actually were." Heather Mitchell, the nurse who gave George his injection, said she trusted his parents' instincts and was satisfied when they told her George was well on the day. Nurse Mitchell, who vaccinates "in excess" of 1,000 babies a year, said no specific advice was required other then regular checking of temperature.

The Gloucestershire coroner, Alan Crickmore, will hear up to three days of evidence at the Shire Hall, Gloucester, before recording a verdict. Ten years ago, research led by Dr Andrew Wakefield, a gastroenterologist at London's Royal Free Hospital, prompted fears that the combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine was linked to autism.

Despite several studies in Britain, Finland and Japan disproving the connection, anxiety has persisted over the vaccine. Cases of measles have topped 1,000 for the first time in more than a decade, according to information that emerged last week. The Health Protection Agency has attributed the rise to the "relatively low" uptake of the MMR vaccine.

Ukrainian Teenager's Death Blamed on Illegal Vaccine

China's Ministry of Health on Thursday ordered a probe into unsafe vaccines after a media report claimed they had caused the death of four children in the northern Shanxi province.

On Wednesday, the China Economic Times in an investigative report claimed that faulty vaccines sold by the local government between 2006 and 2008 led to the deaths of at least four children and left at least 74 sick. The paper blamed health authorities in Shanxi of storing the vaccines improperly and alleged that local officials had allowed an unqualified company to make the vaccines. Some officials were involved with the company, said the report. Four children aged between eight months and three years had died after being vaccinated, while others had developed encephalitis.

The health bureau of the Shanxi provincial government rejected the report, though the Ministry of Health in Beijing said the claims would be fully investigated. The Ministry said in a statement it had “immediately begun an investigation and demanded the Shanxi health authorities report as soon as possible any new abnormal reactions to the vaccines”. If accurate, this will only be the latest in a series of food and drug safety scandals here that have stoked public ire against the government; most evident in 2008 when tainted milk left more than 3,00,000 children ill.

Wary of the spread of public anger, authorities on Thursday moved quickly to restrict local newspapers in Shanxi from reporting on the deaths. The Internet Propaganda Administrative Bureau had ordered the deletion of all references to reports on the vaccines, said the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in a statement.

Even when the tainted milk scandal broke in 2008, one month before the Beijing Olympics, local newspapers were barred from reporting on children falling ill for more than two months. Chinese journalists had discovered in July 2008 that several provincial hospitals were reporting a large number of babies becoming sick after consuming milk powder made by Sanlu, one of the country's biggest dairy companies. A subsequent investigation found that milk sold by at least 22 Chinese brands contained the industrial chemical melamine, which appears to raise the appearance but not actual level of protein in dairy products.

The government acknowledged the milk scandal only in September, after the Olympics had concluded. By then, more than 3,00,000 babies and young children had fallen ill and six had died.

Acute Encephalopathy Followed by Permanent Brain Injury or Death Associated With Further Attenuated Measles Vaccines: A Review of Claims Submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Second child dies from the flu

Ukrainian Teenager's Death Blamed on Illegal Vaccine