Canadian Study Reports Combining Vaccines Doubles Risk of Febrile Seizures
Managing Editor's Note: Pediatricians will "soft pedal" febrile seizures as if they are completely benign. My daughter's first seizure was called "febrile." Her 673rd was called Grand Mal..... Vaccination should not cause a baby to convulse. If a dose of Motrin caused convulsions the product would come off the shelf faster than my 17 year old can find Blue's Clues on YouTube...
Combined vaccine doubles seizure risk in children Vancouver Sun:
Combining two common childhood vaccines into one — rather than administering them separately — doubles the risk of febrile seizures in children, a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal has found.
Febrile seizures — convulsions brought on by fever in infants or young children — are a rare side effect of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, occurring at a rate of less than two seizures per 10,000 doses. When the MMR vaccine is combined with the vaccine against chickenpox, creating the MMRV (for varicella) vaccine, that risk doubles. It still remains relatively small, however — at a rate of 3.52 seizures per 10,000 doses, according to the study by a team led by Dr. Shannon MacDonald at the University of Calgary’s faculty of medicine. Seizures among high-risk children were not significantly different, the study also found.
Febrile seizures rarely have long-term effects, said MacDonald, but they do cause distress “and may undermine confidence in immunization programs.” Read more.
I'm certainly very skeptical that his daughter ever had a seizure reaction.
In the same sentence, he calls it a febrile seizure AND a grand map seizure, AND he hints (oh so carefully) that it was due to the DTaP. Or was it? His words were "actually associated with the DTaP vaccine." But that could be understood two ways. He might have meant that his daughter's seizure was associated with the DTaP vaccine. Or he might have meant that seizures in general are associated with the DTaP vaccine.
Either way, he makes my skin crawl.
Posted by: Taximom5 | June 11, 2014 at 06:51 PM
Oh, Thank you Teresa;
I see my Epiphany that I had last night-- is - is late to the party
Posted by: Benedetta | June 11, 2014 at 03:14 PM
I was making lacto fermented cauliflower last night (see always something) this cooking with this speical diet takes all my time.
I was thinking on Taxi Mom's find of Offit saying his daughter had a grand mal seizure.
You know what are problem is -- do ya -- we are honest folks and what ever comes out of people's mouths we believe them.
Offit is a liar. He has never seen his daughter having a seizures after a DTaP shot.
He has heard about it that is all.
He said that to show just how benign a tonic clonic seizure if linked to a vaccine is. He made it up.
He was taking the attitude of:
-- OH, my daugther had a reaction to the DTaP -- yeah a febrile seizure -- hard to watch -- but really it was nothing -- she was fine afterwards - is still fine -- all is fine -- she is going to Harvard next year on since she made a 55 on an ACT score, full scholarship.
Having that grand mal seizure was perfectly normal -- better than normal -- a blessing even. IT made her smarter.
Posted by: Benedetta | June 11, 2014 at 02:57 PM
I find it odd that Dr. Offit would not have mentioned his daughter having a seizure after the DTAP vaccine. Here he is 5 years ago when his book, "Autism's False Prophets," came out, where he bashes everything he can possibly bash about autism, then goes on to say he knows nothing about autism. That last thing is true. He is an infectious disease specialist and a vaccine millinonaire. So here he is being interviewed and brings up seizures. If his daughter had a seizure, one would think THAT would be the incident he would recall. Very odd.
""…it’s hard to make a statistical argument, or an epidemiological argument, to a parent who’s seen something that’s very emotional. There’s a story that I tell, because I think it’s a powerful one. My wife is a privately practicing pediatrician in the suburbs. And she was in the office one day and there was a four-month-old sitting on her mother’s lap. And my wife was drawing a vaccine into a syringe that she was about to give this child. Well, while she was drawing the vaccine into a syringe the child had a seizure, and actually went on to have a permanent seizure disorder—epilepsy. And there had been a family history of epilepsy, so she was certainly at risk for that. If my wife had given that vaccine five minutes earlier, I think there’s no amount of statistical data in the world that would have convinced that mother that anything other than the vaccine caused the seizure, because I think those sort of emotional events are very hard to argue against." http://www.virology.ws/2009/03/03/offit-on-vaccines-and-autism/
Then he was making parents EMOTIONAL thus the old Freudian HYSTERIA. It appears his new tactic is to join in and say his own daughter had a seizure(did she?)but it was NO BIG DEAL. Can any of what he says be trusted at this point? He has too much of a vested interest and much conflict of interest.....http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-independent-are-vaccine-defenders/
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | June 11, 2014 at 01:10 PM
@Benedetta:
Thanks. I wonder why nobody else has commented on this? Dan? Mark? Kim?
It's not just that doctors are soft-pedaling febrile seizures. Here we see OFFIT soft-pedaling a GRAND MAL seizure (or tonic-clonic--thanks, Benedetta). Moreover, that seizure was (perhaps) a severe adverse reaction to vaccination, so he's soft-pedaling adverse reactions, too.
We need a few neurologists who specialize in seizure disorders to weigh in here...
And I still want to know if there is any record anywhere else of his daughter's having had a seizure reaction to DTaP, and if it was ever reported to VAERS.
Posted by: Taximom5 | June 11, 2014 at 11:20 AM
Taximom; to read Offit is self torture but what you found is gold.
Question: "There has been a report that the current swine flu vaccine has been causing febrile seizures in some people. Could you talk about this, and clarify the difference between febrile and classic seizures?"
Offit's answer:
"First of all, it appear that it possibly may have been associated with an increased risk of seizures due to fever, but that's still to be determined. I wouldn't say that's solid yet.
There are about 150,000 children who suffer febrile seizures in this country; my daughter had a febrile seizures, actually associated with the DTaP vaccine. They're hard to watch -- my daughter's was a grand mal seizure, it lasted for a couple of minutes, she was out of it for a couple of minutes. But the data are very clear -- febrile seizures don't cause sequelae, we know they're benign. Anything that causes fevers in a child less than two at risk for febrile seizures can cause febrile seizures. Ear infections can cause febrile seizures, colds can cause febrile seizures, not just vaccines. One shouldn't make more of this than it is."
How old is his daughter? Has she reached puberty yet? Wonder if th ambulence has been called to her school yet cause she just had a grand mal seizure.
They now call grand mals tonic clonic Doctor Offit; just saying.
Posted by: Benedetta | June 10, 2014 at 07:43 PM
I just read an interview of Paul Offit, where he claims his daughter had a seizure, and implies (note the very careful wording he uses) that it might have been caused by the DTaP vaccine.
Read here:
"There are about 150,000 children who suffer febrile seizures in this country; my daughter had a febrile seizures, actually associated with the DTaP vaccine. They're hard to watch -- my daughter's was a grand mal seizure, it lasted for a couple of minutes, she was out of it for a couple of minutes. But the data are very clear -- febrile seizures don't cause sequelae, we know they're benign. Anything that causes fevers in a child less than two at risk for febrile seizures can cause febrile seizures. Ear infections can cause febrile seizures, colds can cause febrile seizures, not just vaccines. One shouldn't make more of this than it is."
--http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2011/01/interview-dr-paul-offit.html
This raises many questions:
Was it a febrile seizure or a grand map seizure?
Was his daughter's reaction reported as an adverse event to the DTaP vaccine?
What other vaccines was his daughter given at the same time, and at what age did this happen?
By any chance, did he delay any vaccines for his own daughter?
Anyone else have any questions about this?
Posted by: Taximom5 | June 10, 2014 at 04:16 PM
Taximom
I've been meaning to make the very same point. MMR has suddenly become a single vaccine!
Posted by: John Stone | June 10, 2014 at 04:14 PM
They seem to have a problem with their math skills. "Combining 2 vaccines into 1?" The MMR is ALREADY a triple vaccine. So, essentially, they are adding a 4th vaccine to 3--and getting double the rate of seizures. Of course, they completely fail to recognize that seizures and other adverse events may go unrecognized and unreported, especially if they occur 10-14 days post-vaccination, rather than within hours of vaccination.
But if 3 vaccines combined with a 4th results in double the number of seizures, what happens when you go from 1 to 2 vaccines? Or give 3 or 4 at once?
Posted by: Taximom5 | June 10, 2014 at 04:07 PM
Isn't it interesting how medical professionals can consider seizures in children so life-threatening that they can report parents who refuse seizure medication for their children - and can recommend that children be placed into protective custody (now there's an oxymoron!) if seizures are left untreated - but if seizures are the direct result of immunization, they are regarded as completely harmless? Gosh darn, those vaccines sure are magical! No wonder everybody loves 'em so much!
Posted by: Hand me another syringe...WHEE!!! | June 10, 2014 at 03:35 PM
Hold it..why are they telling us vaccine induced seizures are benign febrile seizure. Where are the studies to indicate that as a fact? I do NOT believe vaccine seizures are febrile seizures. Where's the science? Where's the science that determines any seizure as benign?
Posted by: barbaraj | June 10, 2014 at 02:53 PM
The assertions that "Multiple vaccinations are no more reactive than single vaccines in a visit, and that combo vaccines are no more reactive" is false.
Here is a link to some of the US VSD information about the combination of Varicella and MMR vs MMRV. There is a chart showing each singly, and in combination. The standard MMR is a 1/3500 seizure rate, MMR + V is 1/2500, and the MMRV is 1/1250.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/120430481/CDC-MMRV-Vaccine-Data-Safety-Link-Slides
Posted by: Vaccine Information | June 10, 2014 at 12:09 PM
S. Ilfray-Hraka
Notice the name down here in the middle of this paragraph that I copied and pasted from Vancouver Sun:
Deciding whether to offer separate vaccines or a combination is, ultimately, a policy decision, said MacDonald, whose findings were consistent with a study on the U.S. version of the vaccine. The U.S. findings led its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to withdraw its preference for use of the combination vaccine for the first dose (usually administered to children at about 12 months of age). The committee advised health officials and parents to discuss the benefits and risks of each option before choosing. If there is no preference it recommends the separate vaccines be given for the first dose in young children (12-47 months) and the combined vaccine be given to older children or those getting a second dose.
MacDonals was an author of the pdf file paper you gave a link here.
But as a Mother of a now 26 year old son -- I know I am just one of the mud - the weak -the small, and one of who witnessed immediate vaccine reactions in her nine month old. There was two more seizures ithin the next 5 months from that injury -- -- and many afterwards and now is an epileptic that takes two pills a day ---- and all while he was growng up peds - quoted me stats on the chances that my son would not have any more -- So much for an odds game - bring out the poker cards - or let me get a lottery ticket -- That is My life experience
Posted by: Benedetta | June 10, 2014 at 10:52 AM
S.Ilfray-Hraka
Have you seen who wrote it?
Posted by: For S.Ilfray-Hraka | June 10, 2014 at 10:33 AM
A top woman editor at one of these papers sneered when told of this fact. So there's the kind of sympathy you get from mainstream or news media.
Posted by: Disgusted | June 10, 2014 at 10:20 AM
If you're going to complain about this, then to be fair, you need to explain this: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/05/14/peds.2013-3429.full.pdf
Posted by: S. Ilfray-Hraka | June 10, 2014 at 08:42 AM
"Combining two common childhood vaccines into one — rather than administering them separately — doubles the risk of febrile seizures in children, a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal has found."
Common sense dictates that "combining 14 vaccines in 48 doses" before the age of 5 .. more than "doubles the risk" of life-long .. life-threatening .. chronic autoimmune disorders plaguing today's generation of children.
When will the maddness stop?????
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | June 10, 2014 at 08:18 AM