DATA REVEALS THREAT OF SHINGLES EPIDEMIC FROM VACCINE USE Health Officials Threaten Legal Action Against Researcher

[Guest guest]

Somehow I missed this from last October (was still traveling)

In touch today re: paralysis in Ohio........

Sheri

" Goldman also reports that shortly after communicating on authorship

issues with health officials associated with the Centers for Disease

Control (CDC) concerning the shingles data and analysis, he was threatened

with legal action if he published the manuscript in the medical literature.

He said, “Whenever research data and information concerning potential

adverse effects associated with a vaccine used in a human population are

suppressed and/or misrepresented by health authorities, not only is this

most disturbing, it goes against all accepted scientific norms and

dangerously compromises professional ethics.” "

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2003/10/prweb82645.htm

ATA REVEALS THREAT OF SHINGLES EPIDEMIC FROM VACCINE USE Health Officials

Threaten Legal Action Against Researcher

Three different analyses of reported cases of shingles and chickenpox

were published today in the October 2003 issue of Vaccine and suggest the

threat of a shingles epidemic in the US due to mass vaccination with

varicella (chickenpox) vaccine.

Contact: S. Goldman, Ph.D.

Phone: 661-944-5661

Fax: 661-944-4483

Email: pearblossominc@...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (PRWEB October 1, 2003

DATA REVEALS THREAT OF SHINGLES EPIDEMIC FROM VACCINE USE

Health Officials Threaten Legal Action Against Researcher

Pearblossom, California (PRWEB) October 1 2003-- Three different analyses

of reported cases of shingles and chickenpox were published today in the

October 2003 issue of Vaccine and suggest the threat of a shingles epidemic

in the US due to mass vaccination with varicella (chickenpox) vaccine. Data

collected under the CDC-funded Varicella Active Surveillance Project (VASP)

of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Acute Communicable

Disease Control Unit revealed that when chickenpox disease was

significantly reduced in a population, there was an unexpectedly high

number of shingles cases among unvaccinated children with a previous

history of chickenpox. Shingles is usually mild in children and can be

severe in adults. Complications from shingles, which is caused by the

reactivation of the chickenpox virus that lies dormant in the body, result

in about three times the number of hospitalizations and five times the

number of deaths as those from chickenpox disease.

The analyses were authored by Goldman, Ph.D., a former research

analyst with the VASP, using capture-recapture methods. Goldman worked from

1995 through late 2002 at one of three projects in the nation assigned to

actively study the effects of chickenpox vaccine and received reports from

three hundred different public and private schools, day cares, and

healthcare facilities. He observed that because the vaccine is eliminating

chickenpox disease, children and adults no longer receive the natural boost

to their immune systems that they received from periodic exposures to the

disease. Due to the dramatic decline in chickenpox, children are now

experiencing a higher incidence of shingles and Goldman predicts that a

large scale increase in shingles incidence will soon become manifest among

adults—a group more susceptible to serious complications.

Vaccine manufacturers plan to license a booster “shingles” vaccine to

substitute for the boosting that naturally occurred when chickenpox disease

was previously circulating in the population. “This will likely lead to

endless disease-and-cure cycles,” says Goldman. “Varicella vaccination

would have been less problematic if all children had the opportunity to

gain natural immunity and only those still susceptible at twelve years old

were vaccinated.”

Goldman also reports that shortly after communicating on authorship

issues with health officials associated with the Centers for Disease

Control (CDC) concerning the shingles data and analysis, he was threatened

with legal action if he published the manuscript in the medical literature.

He said, “Whenever research data and information concerning potential

adverse effects associated with a vaccine used in a human population are

suppressed and/or misrepresented by health authorities, not only is this

most disturbing, it goes against all accepted scientific norms and

dangerously compromises professional ethics.”

Between 1995 and 2000, shingles was not being studied, and positive

aspects of vaccination contributed by Goldman were published in the Journal

of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and other medical journals. In

2000, after hearing reports that school nurses were seeing cases of

shingles in children for the first time, Goldman suggested shingles be

added to the active surveillance project. After two years of shingles data

collection, Goldman documented the adverse effects that might well be

associated with the universal varicella vaccination program. Currently,

varicella immunization is mandated in thirty-eight states.

The European journal, Vaccine (Volume 21, Issue 27/28) has devoted

eighteen pages to Goldman’s three reports. -end-

*******

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2003/10/prweb83848.php

STUDY REVEALS IMPORTANT SIDE EFFECT OF MASS VARICELLA VACCINATION OF

HEALTHY CHILDREN: Reduction in chickenpox may increase incidence of

shingles.

The results of a new study published in the October 1, 2003 issue of the

European journal Vaccine indicate that a higher than expected number of

shingles cases was reported among children with a previous history of

chickenpox—approaching the incidence rate normally seen only in older

adults. Results of the study suggest mass vaccination with varicella

(chickenpox) vaccine may be responsible for this adverse effect.

PEARBLOSSOM, Calif. (PRWEB)October 8, 2003--– The results of a new study

published in the October 1, 2003, issue of the European journal Vaccine

indicate that a higher than expected number of shingles cases was reported

among children with a previous history of chickenpox. The rates observed

approach those normally seen only in older adults. Results of the study

suggest mass vaccination with varicella (chickenpox) vaccine may be

responsible for this adverse effect. Complications from shingles, which is

caused by the reactivation of the chickenpox virus that lies dormant in the

body, result in about three times the number of hospitalizations and five

times the number of deaths as those from chickenpox disease itself.

Shingles, usually mild in children, can be severe in adults.

On March 17, 1995, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the

live varicella vaccine, and shortly thereafter 38 states mandated that

every infant be inoculated at twelve months of age. The CDC-funded

Varicella Active Surveillance Project (VASP) of the Los Angeles County

Department of Health Services was established to study trends in varicella

disease among the 300,000 residents in the Antelope Valley health district.

Because this high desert community, including the primary cities of

Lancaster and Palmdale, is geographically distinct with few individuals

seeking healthcare outside the region, it is nearly ideal for scientists to

detect preliminary disease trends.

“Because the vaccine is eliminating chickenpox disease, children and adults

no longer receive the natural boost to their immune systems that they

received from periodic exposures to the disease,” says S. Goldman,

Ph.D., author of the study and former research analyst with VASP. “Due to

the dramatic decline in chickenpox, children are now experiencing a higher

incidence of shingles.”

To compensate for this, vaccine manufacturers plan to license a booster

" shingles " vaccine to substitute for the natural boost in immunity that

occurred when chickenpox disease was previously circulating in the

population. Goldman expresses doubts about the effectiveness of this

approach to the impending problem.

" This will likely lead to endless disease-and-cure cycles, " says Goldman.

" Varicella vaccination would have been less problematic if all children had

the opportunity to gain natural immunity and only those still susceptible

at twelve years-of-age were vaccinated. "

Previous research shows that Japanese pediatricians who were exposed to

patients with chickenpox demonstrated shingles incidence rates one-half to

one-eighth that of the general population. In 2002, researchers in England

and Wales also found a lower incidence of shingles among adults living with

children compared to those living without children.

According to a spokesperson from the FDA, " There is no legal precedent

requiring a vaccine manufacturer to perform studies on individuals who have

not received their product. "

However, Goldman insists that, “To assess the safety of chickenpox vaccine,

continued study of the effect of widespread vaccination on increasing

shingles incidence is critical.” Goldman hopes this study encourages other

investigators to examine shingles rates not only among vaccine recipients,

but also among those who have not received vaccine.

Dr. Goldman concludes, " If a clear vaccine-associated increase in shingles

is confirmed in further studies in broader populations, this should be

considered by public health authorities in evaluating vaccine use strategies. "

For more information on the current study, see the three reports published

on 18 consecutive pages in Vaccine (Volume 21, Issue 27/28) or contact

S. Goldman, Ph.D., at (661) 944-5661 or via e-mail at pearblossominc@....

###

About S. Goldman, Ph.D.:

From 1995 to 2000, shingles was not studied, and positive aspects of

vaccination contributed by Dr. Goldman were published in the Journal of the

American Medical Association (JAMA) and other medical journals. In 2000,

after hearing reports of school nurses observing cases of shingles in

children for the first time, Goldman suggested shingles be added to the

active surveillance project. After two years of shingles data collection,

Goldman documented the adverse effects that might well be associated with

the universal varicella vaccination program.

************

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_ui

ds=14505904 & dopt=Abstract

Vaccine. 2003 Oct 1;21(27-30):4238-42. Related Articles, Links

Varicella susceptibility and incidence of herpes zoster among children and

adolescents in a community under active surveillance.

Goldman GS.

P.O. Box 847, Pearblossom, CA 93553, USA. pearblossominc@...

Licensure of varicella vaccine by the US Food and Drug Administration in

March 1995 has given rise to concerns that include a potential shift in

varicella incidence to susceptible adults and increase in herpes zoster

(HZ) incidence. Baseline values prior to widespread vaccination were

obtained through distribution of an adolescent survey to all 13 public

middle (seventh and eighth grade) schools in the Antelope Valley, CA health

district. Based on 4216 respondents aged 10-14 years, varicella

susceptibility is 7.7% (95% CI, 6.9-8.5%) and true cumulative (1987-2000)

HZ incidence rate is 133 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI, 95-182 per

100,000 person-years).

PMID: 14505904 [PubMed - in process]

********

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_ui

ds=14505905 & dopt=Abstract

Vaccine. 2003 Oct 1;21(27-30):4243-9. Related Articles, Links

Incidence of herpes zoster among children and adolescents in a community

with moderate varicella vaccination coverage.

Goldman GS.

P.O. Box 847, Pearblossom, CA 93553, USA. pearblossominc@...

Active surveillance for herpes zoster (HZ) was conducted for 2 years

(2000-2001) in the Antelope Valley community of 312,000 residents among 290

public and private schools, daycares, and healthcare providers. The true

ascertainment-adjusted HZ incidence rate is 307 per 100,000 person-years

and 138 per 100,000 person-years among children <10 and individuals aged

10-19, respectively. The unadjusted rate among vaccinated children is 9.5

per 100,000 person-years and an estimated 22 per 100,000 vaccine doses.

Unvaccinated children with a previous history of varicella may have greater

sensitivity to exogenous exposures (boosting) and a poorer cell-mediated

response following primary infection relative to older age groups.

PMID: 14505905 [PubMed - in process]

*******

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_ui

ds=14505906 & dopt=Abstract

Vaccine. 2003 Oct 1;21(27-30):4250-5. Related Articles, Links

Using capture-recapture methods to assess varicella incidence in a

community under active surveillance.

Goldman GS.

P.O. Box 847, Pearblossom, CA 93553, USA. pearblossominc@...

The Varicella (chickenpox) Active Surveillance Project (VASP) has been

conducting active surveillance since 1 January 1995 in the high desert

community known as Antelope Valley, CA (population 300,000) among 300

public and private schools, daycares, and healthcare providers.

Capture-recapture methods were applied to estimate reporting completeness

for 1995 varicella incidence data and these were compared with the national

average incidence rates by age reported by the National Health Interview

Survey (NHIS). Varicella cases reported among individuals aged <20 years

reflect under-reporting in excess of 50%. Despite limitations on accuracy,

capture-recapture estimates are a reasonably accurate, quick, and

inexpensive approach in epidemiologic studies.

PMID: 14505906 [PubMed - in process]