Vaccines: When Doctors don't Listen to a Mothers adverse reaction reports

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I was doing research on cancer when I came accross this book. I was dumfounded at the reports by adverse reactions to vaccines: hours of baby screaming and then 4+ weeks of silence. I have cut and pasted the reports from the reviews section of this book. CharlieExeland, WI http://www.amazon.com/A-Shot-Dark-H-Coulter/dp/089529463X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1 I heard about this book soon after my daughter had a vaccine reaction in 2002. I figured the contents might not apply to me since my child got the DTaP vaccine (with acellular pertussis) instead of the no-longer-in-use DTP with whole cell pertussis. I finally decided to read it in late 2004.I couldn't believe how very relevant and applicable the book is to my situation in 2004. Yes, this book IS STILL VERY RELEVANT in a world where DTP has been replaced by DTaP.How is it still relevant?In my case, my child had inconsolable high pitched screaming for 6 hours straight after her 4 mo. shots. As explained in the book, high pitched screaming is a known and well-documented adverse effect of the whole-cell pertussis component of DTP. My child did not get DTP but instead got "the safer" DTaP, and yet this reaction still occurred. There were also longer term side effects that this book would categorize as neurological. My infant stopped making eye contact for over a week, and my previously vocal and communicative infant stopped cooing for nearly 4 weeks!! How I prayed every day God would give me my baby back!When I reported the longer term side effects to my doctor, she dismissed it as "anecdotal" suggesting there is nothing in the data to support that a lack of eye contact or loss of cooing could be caused by any vaccine. I couldn't believe the disrespect and disregard for my report of the facts of what had occurred. This book offered some relief and support in this regard because I know now that I am not alone. And this is unfortunate. Other parents of children who have vaccine reactions are treated similarly by their pediatricians.I concur with asking the question posed by the author, exactly when did the medical community switch from listening carefully to reports of symptoms from parents and patients and begin to listen only to published reports from controlled studies - most of which are funded by organizations with a conflict of interest? Something is very wrong with a system that denies and dismisses the valid reports of concerned parents who have witnessed changes in their child post-vaccination.In my case, prior to reading all I could get my hands on about vaccines, I was ready to agree with the doctor that my daughter should continue with all other vaccines eliminating only the pertussis vaccine. Then, just before the next round of shots were given, a last minute record review indicated that the leg that had swollen up like a goose egg was not even the leg where the DTaP was administered!! Polio and Hib went into that leg!!So what a quandry for this parent, indeed! Which toxin caused the swollen leg? Which toxin/vaccine/component caused the loss of eye contact? Which caused the cessation of verbal cooing and the ongoing restlessness and the changes in sleep patterns? Was it acellular pertussis? Or was it diptheria, tetanus, hib, or polio? Or could it have been some ingredient in the vaccines, a preservative or adjuvant material? Could it have been carryover materials from the human fetal cells or animal cells used in manufacturing? No one will ever know. Nor will answers ever come as long as the medical community continues to deny that vaccine reactions occur.The last sentence of the book reads, "The time has come to become educated about vaccines."I completely agree with the author on this point and think others will too after reading this book and others on the topic of vaccine safety.

A Shot in the Dark 089529463X H. Coulter Avery Trade A Shot in the Dark Books Still Relevant in DTaP age I heard about this book soon after my daughter had a vaccine reaction in 2002. I figured the contents might not apply to me since my child got the DTaP vaccine (with acellular pertussis) instead of the no-longer-in-use DTP with whole cell pertussis. I finally decided to read it in late 2004.I couldn't believe how very relevant and applicable the book is to my situation in 2004. Yes, this book IS STILL VERY RELEVANT in a world where DTP has been replaced by DTaP.How is it still relevant?In my case, my child had inconsolable high pitched screaming for 6 hours straight after her 4 mo. shots. As explained in the book, high pitched screaming is a known and well-documented adverse effect of the whole-cell pertussis component of DTP. My child did not get DTP but instead got "the safer" DTaP, and yet this reaction still occurred. There were also longer term side effects that this book would categorize as neurological. My infant stopped making eye contact for over a week, and my previously vocal and communicative infant stopped cooing for nearly 4 weeks!! How I prayed every day God would give me my baby back!When I reported the longer term side effects to my doctor, she dismissed it as "anecdotal" suggesting there is nothing in the data to support that a lack of eye contact or loss of cooing could be caused by any vaccine. I couldn't believe the disrespect and disregard for my report of the facts of what had occurred. This book offered some relief and support in this regard because I know now that I am not alone. And this is unfortunate. Other parents of children who have vaccine reactions are treated similarly by their pediatricians.I concur with asking the question posed by the author, exactly when did the medical community switch from listening carefully to reports of symptoms from parents and patients and begin to listen only to published reports from controlled studies - most of which are funded by organizations with a conflict of interest? Something is very wrong with a system that denies and dismisses the valid reports of concerned parents who have witnessed changes in their child post-vaccination.In my case, prior to reading all I could get my hands on about vaccines, I was ready to agree with the doctor that my daughter should continue with all other vaccines eliminating only the pertussis vaccine. Then, just before the next round of shots were given, a last minute record review indicated that the leg that had swollen up like a goose egg was not even the leg where the DTaP was administered!! Polio and Hib went into that leg!!So what a quandry for this parent, indeed! Which toxin caused the swollen leg? Which toxin/vaccine/component caused the loss of eye contact? Which caused the cessation of verbal cooing and the ongoing restlessness and the changes in sleep patterns? Was it acellular pertussis? Or was it diptheria, tetanus, hib, or polio? Or could it have been some ingredient in the vaccines, a preservative or adjuvant material? Could it have been carryover materials from the human fetal cells or animal cells used in manufacturing? No one will ever know. Nor will answers ever come as long as the medical community continues to deny that vaccine reactions occur.The last sentence of the book reads, "The time has come to become educated about vaccines."I completely agree with the author on this point and think others will too after reading this book and others on the topic of vaccine safety. NC Reader "NC Reader" October 18, 2004

Overall: 5

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In reply to an earlier post on Dec 2, 2008 4:21:43 PM PST Last edited by the author on Dec 2, 2008 4:22:34 PM PST

Joanne of Joanneunleashed website says:

Your doctor was responsible for reporting the side effects you brough to her attention to the adverse reactions database. That way there WOULD be a record of such events. Posted on Mar 13, 2010 9:25:07 PM PST

Shanyn Zink says:

My child was also VERY verbal (we have video ofhim making MANY different almost wordlike articulations - consanant & vowel sounds) before his first DTaP. Within one hour of receiving his first DTaP shot he went COMPLETELY silent (except for crying)and stayed silent for 4 weeks. Then he began talking again. I told my pediatrician (after MUCH deliberation) that I would try one more time, but if he went silent again, I would never give him that shot again (and this is BEFORE I read ANYTHING on the web or in a book or even HEARD of "clinically silent" or the above book or ANY reactions of DTaP). And to my almost horror he went silent AGAIN for 4 weeks and has slowly come back to his talkative self - but just now at 10 months (and after no more vaccines at all). She said she had never heard of this reaction before and I believe her. I think parents don't often correlate it or have guts to report it/talk about it to pediatrician. I actually was apologetic to her nurse saying that before these two incidents with my son, I was all pro-vaccine for the most part. And her nurse, in a very low almost whisper, confided in me that she thought I was doing a wise thing (holding off on vaccines until he was a bit older at least), because of what she had seen in her experience as a nurse and as a parent (she was wondering if her not-talking 2 1/2 year old had had a vaccine reaction of silence also). Then, just last week a mom in my neighborhood told me her daughter (who is about 9 months old) used to "jabber a lot when she was really little but then she went silent" and was only jabbering again in the last few days. I tell ya - I don't know a lot, but where there's smoke there's fire folks. More research by non-partisan, no strings attached - including anecdotal accounts from parents - needs to be done