Fw: Pertussis facts, as opposed to 60 minutes fiction.

[Guest guest]

you might have to click Messages In This Topic to view the graphs and articles at the group site; but well worth it. Pertussis deaths have in fact risen in recent years. The reason is not, as you might think, because of lack of "enough vaccinated persons!" It is because the vaccine has driven Pertussis mutations, and now has around a 30% real-world effectiveness rate. (When they say "Efficacy", this is the ability for the vaccine to produce said antibodies in the vaccinated; never a reliable test of its real world effectiveness, especially when there are new strains out there). LioraBY HILARY BUTLERMedical Researcher Extraordinare.Subject: Pertussis facts, as opposed to 60 minutes

fiction.Date: Sunday, July 3, 2011, 2:32 PM

Re the stupid documentary showing tonight on 60 minutes, you can

read the transcript here. <http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/8259732/getting-the-point> I’ve attached OZ pertussis notifications for 1991 to today (Pertussis

notifications OZ 1991 – 2011) See also NZPHSR2004 – the reason little is said

here, is that as you see from page 2 highlights, the vaccine used since 2004

has a 33% “effective vaccination†rate. (Don’t you love the weasel words?) The attached articles ALSO show that pertussis vaccination has

mutated because of vaccination; that pertussis vaccine increases parapertussis

infections which are indistinquishable from pertussis; that Oz vaccination

rates have never been higher, and ironically, neither has their rate of

pertussis been this high since the start of the use of the vaccine. The NZ Public Health Surveillance unit’s data has long admitted

that at most NZ’s vaccine is 30% (and that’s a guestimate) which is one reason

why they are shutting up, but encouraging 60 minutes to screen crap like this.

I’m sure IMAC’s bunker will enjoy their morning tea tomorrow, having been party

to fraudulently terrifying parents, vilified non-vaccinators, and sought to divide

and rule by fear. That the vaccine is mutating pertussis is confirmed below, but

why expect 60 minute OZ journalists to actually deal with the truth. Mind you,

the same can be said of most NZ journalists up until 1st July 2011

as well. And certainly.... 60 minutes have not a clue how to research stuff. Same trend in USA – see further down. . Emerg Infect Dis. 2010

Feb;16(2):297-300. Bordetella pertussis clones identified by

multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis. Kurniawan J, Maharjan RP, Chan WF, Reeves PR, Sintchenko V, Gilbert GL, Mooi FR, Lan R. University of New South

Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Abstract Multilocus variable-number

tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) of 316 Bordetella pertussis isolates collected

over 40 years from Australia and 3 other continents identified 66 MLVA types

(MTs), including 6 predominant MTs. Typing of genes encoding acellular vaccine

antigens showed changes that may be vaccine driven in 2 MTs prevalent in

Australia. PMID:

20113564 http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/whooping-cough-strain-now-immune-to-vaccine/story-e6freuy9-1225828959714 Last Updated: February 14, 2010 Whooping

cough strain now immune to vaccine

By

Danny Rose From: The Daily Telegraph February 11, 2010 12:00 AM

THE bacteria

that causes whooping cough has mutated, eroding the protection provided by the

vaccine now given to children, scientists warned yesterday. University of NSW

researchers have identified significant changes in the two most common strains

of the bordetella pertussis bacteria, which they also traced back to events in

the late 1990s. Australian children

were given a broad-acting "whole cell" vaccination against whooping

cough up to 1997, but this was phased out over two years and replaced with a

more targeted version. Concerns over

potential side-effects were behind the change to a vaccine with a narrower

scope, but this now appears to have contributed to the promotion of resistant

strains. "A

key issue is that the whole cell vaccine contained hundreds of antigens, which

gave broad protection against many strains of pertussis," UNSW School of

Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences associate professor Ruiting Lan said. "But

the (targeted) acellular vaccine contains only three to five antigens. Our

findings suggest that the use of the acellular vaccine may be one factor

contributing to these genetic changes." The research team

analysed more than 200 samples of the bacterium collected over the past 40

years in Australia and compared them with samples from Japan, Canada, USA and

Finland. They found while the

vaccine now in use was effective against some of the strains circulating in

Australia it may no longer protect against two strains, known as MT27 and MT70. Dr Lan said more

research was needed to confirm the results but health authorities may need to

modify the vaccine to broaden the protection it offered. Whooping cough cases

are on the rise in Australia, with several significant outbreaks seen last year

in western Sydney. Protection

against whooping cough is contained in childhood vaccinations which, in NSW,

are usually given to infants. Parents

who opt out of this child vaccination process were thought to have contributed

to the rise in cases. (UM how do they work that out??? Never let an opportunity go by to

slag parents, huh?)

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/dec/14/immunized-people-getting-whooping-cough-experts-sp/ Immunized People Getting Whooping Cough, Experts Spar Over

New Strain By Joanne Faryon, KPBS and Crowe, Watchdog

Institute December 14, 2010 SAN DIEGO —

Bryce was born a healthy 8 pounds, 9 ounces on Oct 11, 2010, so

when he showed signs of a cold at just two weeks, his parents knew something

more might be wrong. They were not first-time parents. “He was just really stuffy. He was having difficulty

breathing,†Marlon Bryce, ’s father, recalled. Audio Popup | Download VideoAbove: Marlon Bce describes why they knew something was

wrong with their two-week old son. CDC Vaccine Recommendations Young Children DTaP is routinely recommended at 2, 4, and 6 months, at 15

through 18 months, and at 4 through 6 years. Adults Any adult 19 through 64 years of age who has not received a

dose of Tdap should get one, which can replace one of the 10-year Td booster

doses. However, it is not necessary to wait the typical 10 years to get the

adult dose of Tdap after the last dose of Td. The doctor suspected whooping cough, although everyone in the

house had been vaccinated. For Marlon and Bryce, a young couple who had

met in San Diego when both were in the Navy, it was a terrible prospect.

Whooping cough, known also as pertussis, can be fatal in babies. The doctor took a nasal swab, and started the infant on

antibiotics. It took six days to get the lab results. , at 23 days

old, had pertussis. California is experiencing its worst whooping cough outbreak

in more than 60 years. Thousands of people have gotten sick and 10 infants have

died, including two in San Diego County. Health officials across the country are trumpeting pertussis

vaccinations, but a four-month investigation by KPBS and the Watchdog Institute, a nonprofit

investigative center based at San Diego State University, has found that many

people who have come down with whooping cough have been immunized. Enlarge this image Above: A timeline of the history of whooping

cough in the United States. Two of the world’s most respected experts on the disease

disagree about why there are such high numbers of people who are getting sick.

Dr. Cherry, a prominent researcher at UCLA, says increased awareness

of whooping cough has led to more reports of it. However, Dr.

Fritz Mooi, a well-known Dutch scientist who has been studying mutations of

the pertussis bacteria for 15 years, says a more virulent strain of bacteria is

contributing to outbreaks. KPBS and the institute have been asking about the possibility

of more virulent whooping cough strains for months, and the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced studies of the disease, and the

bacteria causing it, in California and Ohio. Two members of the California

study group said it was prompted by the increasing death toll and

KPBS-institute inquiries. Story continues below. Above: Deaths attributed to pertussis have risen

steadily since the late 1970s. The above chart shows the rise from 1982 to

2010. Officials from the CDC, the California Department of Public

Health (CDPH) and two pertussis experts from UCLA held a conference call Oct.

13 to discuss studying whether a more virulent strain was responsible for

infant deaths and is contributing to the current epidemic. That same day,

whooping cough claimed the life of its tenth newborn in California. Dr. Jeff , a scientist involved in the study at UCLA,

said the possibility that the pertussis bacterium has mutated “is an important

hypothesis to test.†He added, “I wish we would have started it in 2005.†Mooi, the scientist who has been studying the bacterial

mutations, said his research has been ignored by those who influence public

policy on pertussis in the U.S. and beyond, in part because they rely on

vaccine makers to fund their meetings and research. There is little incentive for pharmaceutical companies to

pursue a new vaccine because it would cost billions, he said. The circulation

of a more virulent strain of pertussis could mean a new vaccine should be

created. Video Above: Dr. Frits Mooi is a scientist with The

Netherlands Center for Infectious Diseases Control. Mooi says his research

suggests there is "mis-match" between the current pertussis vaccine

and a new more virulent strain of the disease which is now circulating. In examining the pertussis epidemic, KPBS and the Watchdog

Institute collected federal, state and county statistics and consulted and

interviewed experts from Los Angeles to the Netherlands. Key findings include: • For pertussis cases in which vaccination histories are

known, between 44 and 83 percent were of people who had been immunized,

according to data from nine California counties with high infection rates. In San

Diego County, more than two thirds of the people in this group were up to date

on their immunizations. • Health officials in Ohio and Texas, two states also

experiencing whooping cough outbreaks, report that of all cases, 75 and 67.5

percent, respectively, reported having received a pertussis vaccination. • Today, the rate of disease in some California counties is as

high as 139 per 100,000, rivaling rates before vaccines were developed. • Public officials around the world rely heavily on two groups

of pertussis experts when setting vaccine policy relating to the disease. Both

groups, and many of their members, receive money from the two leading

manufacturers of pertussis vaccine. Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory illness that may

mimic a cold for the first 10 days. It then can produce a violent and

persistent cough with a unique “whooping†sound. For adults, pertussis may only be a nuisance, like a bad cold.

But to infants it can be deadly because they can’t cough up what collects in

their lungs and infections can spread. Vaccinations nearly wiped out whooping cough more than 30

years ago, but it has made a vengeful comeback in California and other highly

vaccinated communities around the U.S. Story continues below. Above: Cases of pertussis declined rapidly in

the 1940s. The all-time low was in 1976, with only 75 cases reported in the

United States. Since the early 1980s, there has been an increase in reported

cases of whooping cough. While public health officials and scientists agree that

vaccines are still the best available tool against pertussis, they argue over

how effective they are with time and in the face of a possible increase in

virulence. Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of

Public Health, said health officials expect to see a certain percentage of

people who have been vaccinated contracting whooping cough. He says no vaccine

is 100 percent effective, and those who are immunized and getting sick are

likely those for whom the vaccine did not work or whose immunity has waned. “That’s no surprise to us,†he said, “nor is it a reflection

on the efficacy of the vaccine.†Mooi, who heads the Pertussis Surveillance Project at the

National Institute of Health in the Netherlands, said an epidemic in 1996 in

his country gave the need for research more urgency. “And we found really a kind of new mutation in that bug,†Mooi

said. In tests, Mooi’s lab found the mutated strain produced more

toxins, which could make people sicker. At the Bryces’ home in Chula Vista, Marlon, who is 31 and a

contract specialist at the Naval Medical Center, and , 27, puzzle over how

could have contracted pertussis. He hadn’t been out of the house much,

they said. Their other boys Jordan, 4, and , 3, were up to date on

their vaccinations. Marlon had gotten his a month before was born.

was immunized before leaving the hospital after giving birth. Marlon clearly remembers ’s call when she learned

had whooping cough. “She was crying … The moment that I heard it, I immediately

started thinking the worst. You’ve heard the news about the babies that have

passed away … Why is this happening?†Marlon is soft-spoken and thoughtful. “The one thing I would want to know is: Is the vaccine

working? Is it as effective? … I thought that if I did everything I was told to

do that our sons would be protected,†Marlon said. The bacterium that causes whooping cough was first identified

in 1906, when the illness was a common cause of death in infants and young

children. The discovery lead to the first attempts at a vaccine, but it

wasn’t until the late 1940s, when the rate of disease was around 157 cases per

100,000 population, that scientists developed a vaccine effective enough to

prevent pertussis. By the 1970s, the pertussis infection rate had dropped to

less than one per 100,000. But the vaccine, made of whole bacterial cells killed in labs,

had side effects, such as prolonged crying spells in babies and seizures. By 1996, the FDA approved a new whooping cough vaccine: an

acellular version, which uses only purified components of the disease-causing

organism. It is considered safer than the whole-cell vaccine and is the only

one used in the U.S. today. Just as the vaccines were changing, health officials across

the country were reporting increasing numbers of whooping cough cases.

According to a CDC report, most of the children four years old and younger who

got whooping cough nationwide between 1990 and 1996 were not fully immunized. That trend appears to have reversed in California’s latest

outbreak. KPBS and the Watchdog Institute requested information from 19

California counties most affected by pertussis. Nine counties supplied

pertussis case information and vaccination history. In all but Stanislaus

County, more than half the people sick with whooping cough had been immunized. As of the end of October, and in cases where immunization

history was known, data showed 83 percent of the people with whooping cough in

Fresno had been vaccinated. In San Obispo, 76 percent were up to date on

their immunizations. In San Diego, 68 percent were up to date. Public health experts say the surge of the disease is

cyclical, with increased diagnoses every two to five years. “And that tells us bordatella pertussis is circulating today

exactly as it did in the prevaccine era,†Cherry said. “The main reason is

increased awareness,†he explained. “People, particularly public health people,

are much more aware, and that trickles down.†Cherry and Mooi agree that immunity provided by vaccines wanes

over time. But, they disagree over how long immunity lasts, and whether a

mutated strain of pertussis is exploiting waning immunity. Video Above: Dr. Cherry says there is no

evidence current whooping cough vaccines are less effective then they were 15

years ago. Drug package inserts included with the two most common pertussis

vaccines in the U.S. state they are 85 percent effective. Cherry, who was

involved in the efficacy studies when the vaccines were licensed by the FDA,

estimates the efficacy is between 70 and 80 percent. Mooi said there’s no way

to know how effective the vaccines are because they haven’t been tested against

the new strain. “The vaccines have less efficacy than many people believe,â€

Mooi said. Public health agencies recommend five vaccine doses by age 6,

and they recommend adults get a booster every 10 years. The California state

legislature passed a law in September requiring all children entering middle

school to receive a pertussis booster. Cherry advocates booster shots. Mooi isn’t so sure adult

boosters are cost effective. Both agree that the current vaccine offers the

best protection against the disease, especially for families with an infant in

the house. In the long run, Mooi says there should be better vaccines. Money should be spent studying today’s strains and making a

vaccine that would work against them, Mooi said. “After all, every year we have

a new flu vaccine, so, I think we should have something like that for bacterial

vaccines, too,†he said. Cherry believes a new, better vaccine is a long way off. “I think the likelihood of the logistics of getting a new

vaccine right now in this country is almost impossible, because of the FDA

rules and requirements,†he said. “There’s a lot of things you could do (to

improve current vaccines), but to get it approved would cost billions of

dollars.†and Marlon Bryce were certainly aware of the deadly

nature of whooping cough. Six weeks in October and November were harrowing for

them. Today, their routine is more normal. has started day care. “The one thing I would want to say to parents is watch your

kids, just be concerned,†Marlon said. “At first we thought we were being

overprotective. But I’m glad we were." He continued, “I would just hope that there is something we

can do about this. If there’s something that we can do, if there’s something

that the scientists who look at these things every day, if they think that

there’s a better way to do this, if there’s a way that they can improve this

vaccine, then please. I would support it.†Tomorrow - Blurred lines of influence: when pertussis experts

rely on vaccine companies for money, ethical dilemmas abound. Freelancer reporter Roxana Popescu,

Watchdog Institute intern Sandy Coronilla and KPBS Reeves Scholar

Plautz contributed to this report. The Watchdog Institute is an independent

nonprofit investigative journalism center, based at San Diego State University. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/18/3041031.htm More kids' hospital doctors get

whooping cough Updated Mon Oct 18,

2010 11:59am AEDT Two doctors

confirmed with whooping cough at Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital. (ABC

News)

Related

Story: Kids' doctor tests positive for whooping cough (below) Related

Story: Infant dies from whooping cough (below)

Two more Women's and Children's Hospital

doctors have been confirmed with whooping cough in Adelaide. There have now been three cases in recent weeks. Nine adults and 41 babies who were patients at the hospital

have been offered antibiotics as a preventative measure. The hospital says the doctors have contracted the infection

despite keeping their vaccinations up to date. One of the doctors diagnosed over the weekend also worked

at North Eastern Community Hospital in Adelaide. Another 46 patients there have been offered antibiotics. There has also been a recent infant death in Adelaide from

whooping cough. Dr Wheatley, from the hospital, concedes vaccination

is not always effective. "While the vaccine is extremely effective in

preventing severe disease, it does not always prevent infection in all

people," he said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/07/3032219.htm Kids' doctor tests positive for

whooping cough Updated Thu Oct 7,

2010 3:38pm AEDT Doctor tests positive for whooping cough at

Women's and Children's Hospital (ABC News)

Video:

Whooping cough risk at Adelaide hospital (7pm

TV News SA) Related

Story: Infant dies from whooping cough

A doctor at Adelaide's Women's and Children's

Hospital has tested positive for whooping cough. Authorities say he has been vaccinated in the past. SA Health is contacting 59 people who have had contact with

the doctor. Hospital official Dr Wheatley said some people were being

given medication as a precaution. "I have no doubt that it will cause concern for some

people but I think I can reassure people this is a very unusual event and

certainly in all my experience at the Women's and Children's Hospital, this is

the first time that anything like this has happened," he said. An infant died from whooping cough in South Australia

recently. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/16/3013584.htm Infant dies from whooping cough Updated Thu Sep 16,

2010 5:07pm AEST Professor Paddy : An infant has died

from whooping cough (ABC News)

Video:

Infant dies of whooping cough (7pm TV News SA)

A baby has died from whooping cough in South

Australia for the first time in almost a decade. The five-week-old Adelaide boy died in intensive care in

hospital this week. No other details have been released about the tragedy. Professor Paddy from SA Health said: "It's a

tragedy and my sincere condolences go out to the family. We want to make sure

that these things don't happen." He said immunisation remains the best protection against

whooping cough, but babies younger than six months cannot be given all the

required vaccinations. There have been nearly 4,000 cases of whooping cough in SA

this year, a rise of about one-third over last year. There have been six deaths from the infection in SA since

it was declared a notifiable disease in 1990.

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