Death by medicine - Chicken Pox
The other day on the AVN's Facebook page, we had a discussion about how sometimes, children or adults die after being diagnosed with diseases which prior to vaccination, were considered to be mild. That discussion was about deaths from pertussis (whooping cough). Tonight, while filing some articles which were recently scanned in, I rediscovered this article on deaths supposedly from Varicella (chicken pox) from the January 2003 edition of Informed Choice (the previous name for Living Wisdom magazine).
Have a read and see what you think - death by chicken pox - or death by medicine. What do you think? (please note - this was a scan so if there are errors in the text, it's because the OCR software may not have worked perfectly)
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In Pediatric News, it was stated that, "Last year, three children, all unvaccinated, died as a result of contracting varicella, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The children were aged 21 months, 23 months and 5 years. The 5-year-old had a history of asthma; all three were otherwise healthy. ...These deaths could have been prevented...."
Now first of all, if there were 3 deaths in 1998 in the United States whose population is in excess of 300,000,000, the death rate would already be so low as to make mass vaccination not only a waste of money but an unnecessary waste at that.
However, the death of any child is a tragedy and should be prevented if the means of prevention exists.
So, let's look at the original report that this news story was taken from.z (my comments øre in italics)
Case 1 - This was a previously healthy, unvaccinated (against Varicella - there is no indicøtion that any of these children had missed out on any of their other vaccines) 21 month old boy. He developed a typical varicella rash and was taken to the hospital with a high fever and immediately put on acetaminophen (A fever reducer, much like Pønødol) and diphenhydramine (an antihistamine, meant to preaent the discomfort of allergic reøctions). Three days later, his doctor prescribed oral acyclovir, (an antiviral commonly used to trent Varicella which suppresses the rash and may lead to more serious complications.) The next moming, he became lethargic his circulation was poor and he had developed a purpural rash (skin haemorrhages). He was transferred to a local Emergenry department where fluids and intravenous ceftriaxone (a bactericide - antibiotic) were initiated but the child continued to deteriorate rapidly, requiring intubation (pløcement on a machine to breathe), mechanical ventilation and inotropic support with dopamine (used to treat shock and hypotension). Approximately 2 hours later, he suffered cardiac arrest and died. The death was attributed to varicella with hemorrhagic complications.
Case 2 - A 5-year old unvaccinated boy with a history of asthma was taken to the local Emergency Department with a fever of 40.3 and a typical varicella rash in multþle stages of healing. The child was treated with antipyretic (fever reducing) and antiprurilc (rash reducing) medications and discharged. That night, the boy developed mild dyspnea (trouble breathing) and was treated at home with metered-dose inhalers and one dose of oral prednisone (ø steroid which can cause immune suppression among other side effects). He was brought back to Emergency the next day with shortness of breath and stomach and leg pain. He was found to have pneumonia and to also be positive for Group A Streptococcus, (a hospitøl-borne bacteriø). He was put onto IV ceftriaxone, nafcillin (both antibiotics) and acyclovir (anti-vairøl medication).His breathing continued to worsen and 5 hours later, he was dead. The post mortem put down the cause of death as Group A streptococcal septicaemia, pneumonia and pleural effusion, complicating varicella infection.
Case 3 - A previously healthy, unvaccinated 23-month-old boy developed a fever and typical varicella rash. He was taken to a doctor because of fever and cellulitis (an infection of the skin or connective tissue) of the left foot. Five days later, after no improvement in his condition, he was hospitalized. His condition continued to deteriorate despite IV administration of methicillin and ceftriaxone (antibiotics) and he was transferred to another hospital two days later. Sepsis, possible viral meningoencephalitis and mild pleural effusion were diagnosed. His urine, when cultured was positive for penicillin-resistant Golden Staph (Staphylococcus aureus bacteriø - almost always associøted wíth hospitalisation and multi-antibiotic resistønt). Antibiotics were changed to nafcillin and gentamycan (the third and fourth antibiotic this child was placed on) and intravenous acyclovir (antiviral) was added. The next day, the boy developed aortic insufficiency, murrnur and an ECG reveale d a 9X9 mm vegetation on the aortic valve consistent with bacterial endocarditis (a growth of bacteriø on his heørt - can actually eat through the wall of the heart ønd cause heørt failure. Most commonly caused by støph or strep bacteriø). While awaiting surgery, he developed refractive heart failure secondary to staphylococcal endocarditis. He died several days later.
The kicker is the Editorial note to this article: "The three cases described in this report indicate that healthy children continue to die from complications of varicella, a disease that is preventable through vaccination."
Now, the following story, from the death of Britain's King Charles II, demonstrates that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
"By wøy of introduction to the subject of " deøth by doctoring", we traael back a few hundred yeørs to the bedside of King Chørles Il, where 14 of the highest-qualified physicians in the land are earnestly "reaiaing" the king from ø stroke.
"The king was bled to the extent of ø pint ftom a vein in his right nrm. Next, his shoulder wøs cut into and the incised are was sucked of an additional I oz. of blood. An emetic ønd a purgative were administered, followed by a second purgative, followed by an enema containing antimony, sacred bitters, rock salt, mallow leaves, violets, beetroot, chamomile flowers, fennel seeds, linseed, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, saffron, cochineøl and aloes. The king's scalp was shaved and a blister raised. A sneezing powder of hellebore was administered. A plaster of burgundy pitch and pigeon dung was applied to the feet. Medicøments included melon seeds, manna, slippery elm, black cherry wøter, lime flowers, lily of the aølley, peony, lavender and dissolved pearls. As he grew worce, forty drops of extrøct of human skull were ødministered followed by Raleigh's antidote. Finally, bezoar stone was given.
"Curiously, his Majesty's strength seemed to wane after all these interventions and, as the end of his life seemed imminent, his doctors tried a last-ditch attempt by forcing more Raleigh's mixture, pearl julep and ammonia down the dying king's throøt. Further treatment was rendered more dfficult by the king's death.
No doubt King Charles II's doctors blamed his death on stroke just as the doctors at the CDC blamed those 3 children's deaths on Varicella.