Is the Whooping Cough “Epidemic” in California Caused by our Community? Hardly.
By J.B. Handley
It’s the #1 talking point from the other side right now: there is a terrible Pertussis (whooping cough) epidemic in California, kids are dying, and it’s the whole thing has been caused by celebrities and the “anti-vaccine” community.
How rare and wonderful to see two investigative reporters in San Diego (of course, public television) who actually took the time to understand the truth, as you can see from this great clip HERE.. What did these two investigative reporters learn?
- 40-80% of the kids who came down with Pertussis had been immunized
- The state and county data used to trump up the story that there is a Pertussis epidemic was highly unreliable
Here’s some of the transcript from the reporters, sorry about the All caps, that’s how it appeared on their website (edited by me to correct transcription errors):
“WELL, WHEN WE GOT THE SET OF DATA FROM THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH IT WAS DETAILED. TOLD US HOW MANY CASES OF PEOPLE WERE IMMUNIZED, HOW MANY WEREN'T. THEY SUBMIT THE DATA TO THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC OF HEALTH. WE WANTED TO FIND OUT STATE- WIDE AND ON A COUNTY LEVEL WHAT COUNTIES WE ARE SEEING AS FAR AS THE EPIDEMIC GOES. WHEN WE GOT THE STATE DATA WE FOUND IT WAS LACKING. THE HISTORY WAS UNKNOWN FOR A MAJORITY OF THE CASES THAT HAD BEEN REPORTED IN CALIFORNIA THUS FAR.”
“WE GOT DETAILED DATA FROM COUNTIESS AND AGGREGATE INFORMATION FROM OTHERS WHO WERE NOT GOING TO RELEASE THE INFORMATION OR DIDN'T HAVE THE INFORMATION. ON A COUNTY-BY-COUNTY BASIS 40-80% OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE GOTTEN PERTUSSIS HAS BEEN IMMUNIZED.”
I’d like to finish with an excellent piece written by Dr. Jay Gordon:
“Very few of my patients are vaccinated according to the recommended schedules. I support parents' making this decision and have long thought that schedule is not as safe as it could be. The ultimate choice is obviously made by parents, but I share complete responsibility for the decisions they make.
In our office, we have seen quite a few children and adults with long hard coughs as we always do this time of year. Very few of these children and adults actually have pertussis. The media and the California Department of Public Health are exaggerating the threat. This is a miserable long disease, and rarely it can be dangerous to very young infants. But implying that there is a whooping epidemic is inaccurate.
The pertussis epidemic of 2010 is probably very similar to the pseudo-epidemic documented in the New York Times news story linked right HERE:
Diagnosing pertussis is very difficult and the vast majority of doctors err on the side of making the diagnosis rather than testing for the bacterium. Much of the illness around right now and being reported as whooping cough may be caused by a related bacterium called B. Parapertussis. The vaccine does not protect against this illness; it is rarely dangerous and culture growth confirmatiom for both pertussis and parapertussis bacteria is difficult. RSV and dozens of other respiratory viruses are much, much more common causes of fall and winter coughs. Again, very few coughing children and adults really have pertussis.
The accuracy of the diagnosis of the reported pertussis fatalities is very difficult to confirm. Media emphasis should focus on these deaths being almost exclusively among medically underserved children and families. The reports from public officials are not helpful in a meaningful discussion of the risks of winter illnesses and the condition of our health care system.
Breastfeed babies and toddlers, feed your family well, stay well hydrated, avoid crowds when practical and worry far less. Boring advice but more effective than the panic created by sensationalized media stories.”
J.B. Handley is Co-Founder of Generation Rescue.
Question: Do pertussis victims cough at night?
Posted by: nhokkanen | January 07, 2011 at 04:57 PM
I love how there is a whooping cough "epidemic" but never an autism epidemic. 1 in 100 kids affected by autism but still not an epidemic. How many will it take? 1 in 50, 1 in 30, 1 in every ten children??? Of course, by then it will be the new normal. I grew up in the 60's,and 70's and graduated HS in 1980 and knew a few kids with Down Syndrome but NEVER EVER anyone with autism. Believe me, as an autism parent, I would remember if I'd grown up with any kids with autism. Where were all the supposed autistic adults hiding back then?? Denial - it's not just a river in Egypt!!
Posted by: Michelle Wandrack | January 07, 2011 at 12:22 AM
@ jenB:
Thanks for link to CNN Spitzer "interview" of JB Handley.
@ JB Handley
Thanks for your calm, reasoned response .. to provocative questioning by CNN's Spitzer.
My friend .. God bless you for all you do for our community.
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | January 06, 2011 at 05:11 PM
Thanks JB for this info and your appearance on CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/01/05/ps.autism.vaccines.cnn
Posted by: JenB | January 06, 2011 at 03:37 PM
Is there a link to the JB CNN clip ???
I would suppose they are hiding it someplace...
Posted by: cmo | January 06, 2011 at 12:53 PM
Gin - Love the line about "genetic predisposition" to pertussis! Classic.
Dr. Gordon has an article in this month's Mothering magazine on pertussis, as well. I didn't know about parapetussis -- the disease that can pretty much cause the same symptoms as pertussis but there's no vaccine for -- and it seems likely that some of this "epidemic" could be caused by that, not that they'd bother to culture for it or the "real" pertussis if you show up with a whooping cough.
Posted by: Laura Sauls | January 06, 2011 at 12:14 PM
And when the reporters say "immunized," they mean up to date on their whooping cough vaccinations, as Faryon has made clear.
Here's the KPBS documentary: http://www.kpbs.org/news/envision/whoopingcough/
Posted by: Carol | January 06, 2011 at 11:35 AM
JB, Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for your continued efforts to educate the public. I saw you on CNN and I commend you for your straight forward, calm demeanor when dealing with the press. I hope that folks can see beyond the hysteria and look into the details as you recommend. I can't thank you enough for being a voice of reason. Thank you to all at Age of Autism as well!
Posted by: Catherine | January 06, 2011 at 11:23 AM
Got to love the blame game!! Sometimes things just HAPPEN!! That's life! There is not always an explanation. All one can do is try to keep themselves as healthy as possible and keep up on immune building vitamins and minerals. Even then there are and I quote and put it in big letters so they get it NO GUARENTEES IN THIS LIFE!!!!
Nothing is a sure thing! Even with vaccines one can still get sick! I happen to be exhibit A! Even after getting a flu shot I still got very sick with Phuemonia (probably spelt that wrong but oh well). Sickness doesn't care whether or not you have been vaccinated.
If it wants to get you, bacteria will always find a way. Please accept this. We are not to blame for all the sickness in the world!
Posted by: Theodora Trudorn | January 06, 2011 at 10:59 AM
From what I have heard - southern California is already eat up with atuism already, is that true????
If it is then that pretty much tells the tale for those that have thought on this at all.
The DPT shot was a very bad shot that caused vaccine reactions and even worse - on top of it all- the P in the DPT/DTaP didn't work.
Our children were damaged for nothing.
Posted by: Benedetta | January 06, 2011 at 10:55 AM
Maybe we should finance large genetic studies investigating why these children got pertussis as clearly there is a genetic predisposition. Clearly these health officials are "just looking for someone to blame" by shifting attention to the unvaccinated and healthy.
Posted by: Gin | January 06, 2011 at 09:13 AM