How MedAlerts Became the "Go-To"
Vaccine Reaction Report
Search Engine
by Patrice La Vigne
MedAlerts is the unique database search engine created and launched online in 2003 by computer science expert Steven Rubin, PhD to
allow people to search and review reports of vaccine-related
complications made to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting
System (VAERS). Dr. Rubin developed MedAlerts to provide
people with a user-friendly way to search vaccine reactions reported to
the U.S. government by doctors, nurses and other vaccine providers, as
well as the public.
VAERS
was included as part of the vaccine safety informing, recording and
reporting provisions that NVIC co-founders secured in the 1986 National
Childhood Vaccine Injury Act as an integrated post-marketing
surveillance system to monitor potential safety problems with vaccines.
VAERS is jointly operated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and
Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
With
60,000 hits daily, Dr. Rubin estimates MedAlerts attracts some 3,000
unique visitors to the website per day. Following is an historical
look-back at why and how Dr. Rubin created the invaluable online VAERS
database search engine, MedAlerts, that can be accessed through NVIC website.
Parents' Experiences with Vaccine Reactions Leads to Computer Program
Steven Rubin never planned to create MedAlerts
or get involved with vaccine reaction reporting. The VAERS data wasn't
even on his radar. In the 1990's, he was simply working as a computer
scientist writing open-source software. In 1996, his wife, Amy Lansky,
PhD, left her job as a computer scientist to study homeopathy and later
wrote the book, "Impossible Cure," about their son's autism and the
important role homeopathic remedies played in their son's recovery from
autism.
In
the late 1990's, Dr. Rubin became aware that babies were dying and
suffering brain injury after routine vaccinations and he began
investigating the federal VAERS data...
To read more and make a comment, click here.
ICPA Offers NVIC Supporters Special Subscription to Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine
The
International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA), which
represents doctors of chiropractic caring for children, has supported
NVIC's mission to prevent vaccine injuries and deaths through public
education for more than two decades. An article by Barbara Loe Fisher on
the "Moral Right to Religious and Conscientious Belief Exemption to
Vaccination" is featured in ICPA's Summer 2013 issue of Pathways to Family Wellness magazine.
ICPA is offering NVIC donor supporters and NVIC Newsletter subscribers a complimentary digital version of Pathways to Family Wellness or a print copy at a significant discount. Learn more about the special offer.
NVIC in the News
NVIC
Executive Director Theresa Wrangham participated in a Skype interview
on the new Post-TV "On Background" show along with Dr. Corey Hebert of
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. The Washington
Post-sponsored TV segment titled "Vaccines: Science vs. Skeptics" was
moderated by Nia-Malika Henderson. Theresa defended parents' right to
make informed vaccine choices. She emphasized there are both vaccine
science research gaps and individual susceptibility
to vaccine reactions, as well as an association between vaccine-induced
encephalopathy and poor health outcomes like autism, which have been
acknowledged in the federal vaccine injury compensation program.
Watch the Aug. 20, 2013 Post-TV interview and make a comment here.
In the News
Scientists Disagree About Risky Bird Flu Virus Lab Research
The
scientists behind controversial lab research to deliberately create
mutant, lethal strains of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which could easily
infect and be transmissible among humans, are moving
forward with similar lab experiments on H7N9 bird flu virus despite
continuing concerns among other scientists about biosecurity. The lead
scientists, Yoshihiro Kawaoka in Wisconsin and Ron Fouchier in the
Netherlands, said they need to tinker with the genetic makeup of H7N9 in
order to evaluate the potential pandemic threat of the virus and why it
could be more infectious in humans or be resistant to anti-viral drugs.
The H7N9 bird flu virus is associated with the deaths of 43 people
among 130 infected in China, primarily those working in the bird farming
industry. Read the Aug. 7, 2013 LA Times article.
Use of Unauthorized Vaccine Caused H5N1 Outbreak Say Vets in Nepal.
Veterinarians
in Nepal are saying that the use of unauthorized bird flu vaccines
imported from abroad could be responsible for an H5N1 bird flu outbreak
among chickens in the Kathmandu Valley. The illegally imported H5N1
vaccines recently used for the first time by poultry farmers were
manufactured by Merial, Pfizer and Civa. One veterinarian in Nepal was
quoted as saying that vaccines cannot stop bird flu but "rather help in
spread of bird flu. Had the vaccine not been used, a new strain of virus
would not have originated," he said.
High-Dose Experimental Malaria Vaccine in Early Human Trials
Sanaria
Inc. released results of an NIH-funded human trial on 40 adults, who
were given an experimental intravenous vaccine containing live, weakened
purified malaria parasites. Six of the volunteers given five doses of
the vaccine did not develop malaria when bitten by malaria
parasite-infected mosquitoes but eight of the 15 volunteers who got
fewer doses did develop malaria. Sanaria noted the new malaria vaccine,
which is injected directly into the veins, was "remarkably safe and
well-tolerated" and hopes to make it "a commercial reality" within three
to five years. Read the Aug. 8, 2013 Sanaria press release.
FDA Approves Novartis Meningococcal Vaccine for Infants
The
Food and Drug Administration approved Novartis' Menveo meningococcal
vaccine for use in infants as young as two months of age. Previously,
the quadrivalent conjugate vaccine was licensed for use in children two
years and older and in adults through age 55 years. The CDC recommends
one dose of meningococcal vaccine for all 11-12 years olds and another
dose for 16 years olds. Currently 22 states mandate the vaccine for
entry to sixth grade, high school or college. Read the Aug. 1, 2013 Novartis press release and Aug.1, 2013 MarketWatch article.
Texas Relaxes Meningitis Vaccine Requirements for College Students
Under a new
law effective Oct. 1, 2013, only students under 22 years old will be
required to show proof of meningococcal vaccination to attend colleges
in Texas. A law passed in 2011 applied to all college students under 30
years old. Texas public health laws allow a conscientious belief
exemption to vaccination and students may file an exemption if they
choose not to get a meningococcal vaccination, which costs $114 per shot
in a private pediatrician's office. Read the Aug. 10, 2013 Texas Tribune article.
Learn more about meningococcal disease and the vaccine and why NVIC opposes meningococcal vaccine mandates on NVIC's website.
Vaccine Freedom Wall:Have
you or your children been threatened or forced to get a vaccination
without your voluntary, informed consent? You can share your story with
others by posting your experience on NVIC's Vaccine Freedom Wall here.
NVIC Calendar Notes
Federal Vaccine Advisory Committee Meetings and Other Meetings:
Oct. 23-24, 2013: Meeting dates for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
http://www.medalerts.org/
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