Natural News Downplays Meningitis

The meningitis outbreak at Princeton University in New Jersey has caused a lot of concern for parents, school, and health officials recently. Seven people have been diagnosed with the rare Type B meningitis since March, for which there is no approved U.S. vaccine.  Bacterial meningitis like type B can cause swelling of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It can cause mental disabilities, hearing loss, paralysis and death.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently gave permission for the vaccine Bexsero to be imported. Bexsero vaccinates against type B meningitis and is already being used in Europe and Australia.

Natural News recently published a blog post claiming that seven cases of a disease were hardly an epidemic and that it was irrational urgency to push an unapproved emergency vaccine.

Natural News goes on to seek the advice of Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, DO, AOBNMM, and ABIHM, who calls the meningitis infections at Princeton a media-hype. She continues, and “recommends that concerned students simply get more rest, drink more clean water and avoid sharing food and beverages with their friends.” Her final recommendation is that students take in plenty of vitamin C and vitamin D for strong immune support.

In an article for USA Today, Jason Schwartz of Princeton’s Center for Human Values states that health authorities “wouldn’t make this decision (to import Bexsero) lightly. It reflects the assessment of gravity of the unfolding public health threat here on campus and experts’ judgment of the benefits of this vaccine on helping to minimize or eliminate this risk.” Schwartz is a research associate in bioethics who studies vaccine policy.

Meningitis bacteria are spread by coughing, sneezing, and kissing, and can easily spread in crowded conditions like dorm rooms. All students living in dorms are required to have a meningitis vaccine, but it doesn’t cover type B. Princeton students will have the option of receiving a Bexsero vaccine in early December and a booster in February. School officials are also telling students to wash their hands, cover their coughs and not to share drinking glasses and eating utensils.

By downplaying the severity of meningitis, Natural News is creating a potential health crisis. Meningitis is serious and can cause death in a matter of days. The irresponsible reporting of Natural News could be detrimental to student’s health. Vaccine Watch encourages anyone concerned about meningitis to speak with his or her physician.

Propaganda of the Anti-Vaccine Movement

Photo: Wikimedia

The Internet can be a great source of information. It can also be an unfortunate source of propaganda. There are no regulations on what is posted on the Internet and many people and websites take full advantage of this.

Natural News recently published an article stating that the whooping cough vaccine can cause brain damage and death. The article was published in response to Missouri offering a free vaccine after approximately 41,000 cases of whooping cough occurred in the U.S. in 2012. There were less than 19,000 cases in 2011.  Both VacTruth.com and Natural News advocate natural remedies and state that vaccine dangers outweigh the risk of actually getting the disease.

In yet another propaganda article, Natural News contends that 98 million Americans were given polio vaccines contaminated with a cancer-causing virus and claim that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) admit this. The link to the article isn’t on CDC’s web site, because Natural News claims CDC removed it. They have a link to an archived copy of the article that doesn’t work. Natural News lists their sources for both of these articles – but all of the sources are either their own articles or other propaganda sites. No real science or doctors are quoted.

At Natural Blaze, Christina England blames vaccines for infertility problems in women. She states that thousands of women are infertile because of vaccines and that governments are using vaccines in women as fertility control guinea pigs. Her sources also fail to include doctors or sound science. England is also co-author of the book on Shaken Baby Syndrome with discredited Dr. Harold Buttram.

In a final case of anti-vaccination propaganda, the Tap Blog states that the Hepatitis B vaccine killed three newborn babies in Vietnam, although the reports hadn’t been confirmed when the article was published.  The blog contends that children shouldn’t be receiving the vaccine because its an adult disease – and that there are no horror stories of children contracting the disease. The blog again fails to offer any sources with real science or the reasons the Hepatitis B vaccine is necessary.

Contradicting that blog post, Taiwanese researchers report a 90 percent reduction in deaths from complications of hepatitis B since the country began its infant vaccination program in 1984. Hepatitis B can be spread from mothers to newbords and there are 350 million chronic carriers of hepatitis B in the world, with most in the Asia-Pacific region and sub-Saharan Africa. 12 million Americans (or 1 in 20 people) have been infected, with 100,000 new infections every year.

The World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and your local physician are the most reliable sources for vaccine safety information. Internet articles about vaccines should be studied carefully and sources checked – many of the scare tactics used in these articles are not true and can be detrimental to your child’s safety.

Vaccines and The Media

Childhood vaccines have been strongly debated in the media recently, both positively and negatively.

Billboards

The National Vaccination Information Center (NVIC) has posted billboards in Tucson, Arizona; Chicago, Illinois; and Austin, Texas urging parents to check the risk of vaccinations. The non-profit organization believes there are gaps in science and that vaccines can be risky. The billboards were placed in states currently discussing vaccine exemptions.

Arizona is one of twenty states that allow vaccination exemption for personal beliefs. A bill recently failed in the legislature that would have required parents to get a doctor’s signature before exempting children from vaccination. Kathy Malking of the Pima County Health Department believes parents should be informed, but finds fault with the billboards and NVIC website. “It [the website] focuses on all the negatives of vaccines and doesn’t talk about any of the positive aspects and how vaccines have saved many lives,” she states.

Internet

Many websites and blogs spread misinformation, encouraging parents not to vaccinate their children. From Natural News to VacTruth, just running a google search on childhood vaccines brings up many anti-vaccination websites.

VacTruth published a blog post in April that stated the media uses propaganda to condition people to accept vaccines. VacTruth claims that pharmaceutical companies use propaganda and pay doctors to sell drugs, including vaccines. VacTruth goes on to state that the polio vaccine had little to do with the decline of polio. Unfortunately, VacTruth did not use any scientific research or studies as references for their blog post, the entire post was fueled by propaganda and anti-vaccine sources.

Greeting Cards

For the past eighteen years, Hallmark has run the “For America’s Babies” program, printing personalized greeting cards for new parents that include a detachable growth chart and immunization schedule. In a new addition to the program, Hallmark teamed up with twenty-seven state governors, and the cards now come from the governor, urging parents to vaccinate their children. 

The immunization schedule in the cards reflects the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) current recommendations. Hallmark pays for printing the cards in English and Spanish, and taxpayer dollars fund the small cost of distributing the cards to hospitals. Hospitals can choose whether or not to participate in the program.

The Florida greeting card is sent by Governor Scott and his wife Ann, and reads:

“Congratulations on the birth of your new baby! As you grow together in family and community, we encourage you to build your baby’s healthy imagination through reading and your baby’s healthy life through immunizations.”

In 2010, Florida ranked second for the percentage of children up to date on immunizations at 80%.

Vaccine Watch encourage parents to carefully consider all media they see and read about vaccines. Consult your pediatrician with questions about vaccines, as media like billboards and websites often only present one side of the argument.