While CBS is cancelling Two and Half Men while Charlie Sheen enters rehab, it is still sticking with Andrew Wakefield. Specifically CBS Evening News producer Sharyl Attkison – who works for Katie Couric – continues to carry on the anti-vaccine crusade of Andrew Wakefield and others who believe that Wakefield is a misunderstood martyr. Atkinson, who in the past sought to smear Paul Offit and other scientists for promoting the safety and importance of immunizations remains Wakefield’s staunchest support among the mainstream media outlets. After Wakefield’s fraud was exposed and many journalists began to acknowledge that they had provided him and anti-vaccine groups with an “evidence free pass” over the past decade, CBS News came out with this fearmongering headline:
Child Flu Vaccine Seizures?
More confusing news for parents trying to do the best, safest things for their children when it comes to vaccination.
According to a Vaccine Safety "update" issued by the FDA on Jan. 20, there's been an increase in reports of febrile seizures among infants and children following this year's flu vaccine. Febrile seizures are seizures associated with fever.
According to the FDA: "FDA and CDC have recently detected an increase in the number of reports to VAERS of febrile seizures following vaccination with Fluzone (trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine or TIV, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, Inc.). Fluzone is the only influenza vaccine recommended for use for the 2010-2011 flu season in infants and children 6-23 months of age. These reported febrile seizures have primarily been seen in children younger than 2 years of age."
The FDA says 42 more seizures than usual were reported through Dec. 13; most within a day of the child receiving the flu vaccine. The FDA recommends parents take no action based on this information. They should, the FDA says, continue getting their children vaccinated against flu, as usual. (It should be noted that non-government medical experts differ on the issue of whether flu shots should be given to children.
The FDA points out that data from VAERS, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, is preliminary and serves as a sign that further investigation is warranted. The maker of the flu vaccine in question, Sanofi Pasteur, has issued a statement saying that no clear link has been established between the flu shot and the seizures, and the cases may be nothing more than coincidence.
And CBS concludes:
Even with "no clear link established," the mere suggestion of a link may be troubling to parents.
Not content to stop there, CBS adds a link to another study that has nothing to do with flu shots:
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Molecula.pdf
But the study says nothing about kids, vaccines, seizures, autism.. The study merely points out that in animals early life seizures can result in cellular and molecular changes that could contribute to learning and behavioral disabilit
As the LeftBrainRightBrain blog (points out): “Attkisson has either not read the study she cites, does not understand it, or has a very dark agenda. The paper discusses patients with early life seizures and epilepsy. Attkisson gloms on to the findings and applies them, with no credible reason, to the general population.
The 42 extra cases of febrile seizure reported in the VAERS database do not come close to establishing causality. Instead of telling readers the FDA report is no cause for alarm, Attkisson does the exact opposite.
And Attkisson has been a stalwart in using CBS News to flack for and support anti-vaccine causes:
http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2008/07/sharyl-attkisso.html
Where are the health care journalists and watchdog types when it comes to CBS News as a platform for anti-vaccine rhetoric? It’s time to demand that CBS both explain this troubling pattern and seek to ensure it’s coverage of vaccine safety issues – as well as other medical news – is science-based.
It should worry about the lives of kids more than it does the future of one of it’s sit-coms.
