Professors from two prominent universities are offering a cash reward of over $10,000 to find a woman who claimed her daughter suffered mental retardation after receiving the HPV vaccine.
GOP candidate for President Representative Michele Bachmann has been making national news headlines with her story about a woman who alleges her daughter suffered mental retardation after taking the HPV vaccine. Bachmann has bee railing against Texas Gov Rick Perry for forcing residents to take the vaccine in exchange for money from political lobbyists.
Bachmann Says Perry Forced Residents To Take HPV Vaccine That Causes Mental Retardation
Bachmann Says Perry Forced Residents To Take HPV Vaccine That Causes Mental Retardation
Around 1:55 in this video, Bachmann discusses the vaccine issue.
Mediaite reports:
Doubling Down: Michele Bachmann Claims HPV Vaccine Causes ‘Mental Retardation’
Michele Bachmann spoke out against the HPV vaccine this morning on The Today Show, telling Matt Lauer that following last night’s debate, a mother told her that it caused “mental retardation”.
“I will tell you that I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa, Fla., after the debate,” Bachmann explained. “She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. The mother was crying when she came up to me last night. I didn’t know who she was before the debate. This is the very real concern and people have to draw their own conclusions.”
Beyond the anecdote from the mother, Bachmann did not offer any scientific evidence to back up her claims. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccine for young girls and says the shot is “safe and effective.” According to the CDC, HPV vaccines were “studied in thousands of people around the world” and “studies have found no serious side effects.”
[…]
Ed Morrissey of Hot Air was also bewildered by Bachmann’s statement, saying she “got duped into repeating a vaccine-scare urban legend on national television” and was “stoking an anti-vaccination paranoid conspiracy theory.”
Source: Mediaite
Scientists from two major universities are jumping in on the saga and have offered cash reward to confirm Bachmann’s story.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:
A University of Minnesota bioethicist is offering $1,000 for medical proof that a woman’s daughter suffered mental retardation from the vaccine for human papillomavirus virus, a story that was told by Rep. Michele Bachmann after Monday’s debate.
Bachmann has come under fire from the medical community for suggesting the vaccination for the HPV virus, a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer, is linked to mental illness.
Steven Miles, a U of M bioethics professor, said that he’ll give $1,000 if the medical records of the woman from Bachmann’s story are released and can be viewed by a medical professional.
His offer was upped by his former boss from the University of Minnesota, Art Caplan, who is now director of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics. Caplan said he would match Miles’ challenge and offered $10,000 for proof of the HPV vaccine victim.
“These types of messages in this climate have the capacity to do enormous public health harm,” Miles said of why he made the offer. “The woman, assuming she exists, put this claim into the public domain and it’s an extremely serious claim and it deserves to be analyzed.”
After attacking Texas Gov. Rick Perry over his vaccination executive order at Monday’s debate — which scored Bachmann points from debate pundits — the Minnesota Republican said a woman had told her that the HPV vaccine had caused her daughter’s mental retardation. Bachmann repeated the story on NBC’s “Today” the next morning.
Source: The Minneapolis Star Tribune
The Star Tribune points out the CDC website makes no mention of mental illness on the adverse affects page on the Gardisil HPV vaccine.
Reports to VAERS Following Gardasil®
As of June 22, 2011, approximately 35 million doses of Gardasil® were distributed in the U.S. and VAERS received a total of 18,727 reports of adverse events following Gardasil® vaccination: 17,958 reports among females and 346 reports for males, of which 285 reports were received after the vaccine was licensed for males in October 2009. VAERS received 423 reports of unknown gender. Of the total number of VAERS reports following Gardasil®, 92% were considered to be non-serious, and 8% were considered serious.
Non-serious adverse event reports
VAERS defines non-serious adverse events as those other than hospitalization, death, permanent disability, or life-threatening illness.
The vast majority (92%) of the adverse events reports following Gardasil® vaccination have included fainting, pain, and swelling at the injection site (the arm), headache, nausea, and fever. Syncope (fainting) is common after injections and vaccinations, especially in adolescents. Falls after fainting may sometimes cause serious injuries, such as head injuries, which can be prevented by closely observing the person for 15 minutes after vaccination.
Serious adverse event reports
Any VAERS report that indicated hospitalization, permanent disability, life-threatening illness, congenital anomaly or death is classified as serious. As with all VAERS reports, serious events may or may not have been caused by the vaccine.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) has been reported after vaccination with Gardasil® . GBS is a rare neurologic disorder that causes muscle weakness. It occurs in 1-2 out of every 100,000 people in their teens. A number of infections have been associated with GBS. There has been no indication that Gardasil® increases the rate of GBS above the rate expected in the general population, whether or not they were vaccinated.
Blood Clots
There have been some reports of blood clots in females after receiving Gardasil®. These clots have occurred in the heart, lungs, and legs. Most of these people had a risk of getting blood clots, such as taking oral contraceptives (the birth control pill), smoking, obesity, and other risk factors.
Deaths
As of June 22, 2011 there have been a total 68 VAERS reports of death among those who have received Gardasil® . There were 54 reports among females, 3 were among males, and 11 were reports of unknown gender. Thirty two of the total death reports have been confirmed and 36 remain unconfirmed due to no identifiable patient information in the report such as a name and contact information to confirm the report. A death report is confirmed (verified) after a medical doctor reviews the report and any associated records. In the 32 reports confirmed, there was no unusual pattern or clustering to the deaths that would suggest that they were caused by the vaccine and some reports indicated a cause of death unrelated to vaccination.
Source: The Center for Disease Control
In all fairness, while the Star Tribune points to the CDC page which does not specifically name mental illness or mental retardation as a side effect there are two striking side effects.
First being the formation of blood clots in the heart, lungs and legs. Now this would imply the possibility exists for a blood clot to form that blocks flow of blood to the brain, resulting in brain damage. In such a scenario, it may not be technically correct to call it mental retardation or “mental illness” as the Star Tribune chooses to label it, but at this point we are arguing semantics.
My Grandmother suffered a stroke and spent many years as a vegetable in a hospital. To more specifically describe her condition, she wasn’t a complete vegetable, but her condition appeared to be that more like a bed ridden person with extreme mental retardation and partial paralysis. As you may well know, the brain damage that is caused during a stroke is caused by lack of blood flow to the brain. While her condition may not technically be considered mental retardation I do have an uncle who does have mental retardation. The brain damage caused by the stroke left my grand mother with many striking similarities in the symptoms to that of my uncle, with the exception she was bed ridden with partial paralysis. At the end of the day both conditions are the result of a malfunctioning brain and blood clots can and do cause such symptoms.
Next, the CDC lists Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) as an adverse affect, which is a “rare neurological disorder”. You could argue that GBS itself is false within the definition of a mental illness. While the CDC describes it in a harmless light, as simply causing muscle weakness, GBS can in fact be much more severed, with the entire central nervous system shutting down to damage cause to the brain.
Guillain–Barré syndrome
Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) (French pronunciation: [ɡiˈlɛ̃ baˈʁe], English pronunciation: /ˈɡiːlæn ˈbɑreɪ/), sometimes called Landry’s paralysis, is an acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP), a disorder affecting the peripheral nervous system. Ascending paralysis, weakness beginning in the feet and hands and migrating towards the trunk, is the most typical symptom. It can cause life-threatening complications, particularly if the breathing muscles are affected or if there is dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The disease is usually triggered by an acute infection. Guillain–Barré syndrome is a form of peripheral neuropathy.
The diagnosis is usually made by nerve conduction studies. With prompt treatment by intravenous immunoglobulins or plasmapheresis, together with supportive care, the majority will recover completely. Guillain–Barré syndrome is rare, at 1–2 cases per 100,000 people annually, but is one of the leading causes of acute non-trauma-related paralysis in the world. The syndrome is named after the French physicians Georges Guillain and Jean Alexandre Barré, who described it in 1916.
Classification
Six different subtypes of Guillain–Barré syndrome exist:
Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) is the most common form of GBS, and the term is often used synonymously with GBS. It is caused by an auto-immune response directed against Schwann cell membranes.
Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) is a rare variant of GBS and manifests as a descending paralysis, proceeding in the reverse order of the more common form of GBS. It usually affects the eye muscles first and presents with the triad of ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and areflexia. Anti-GQ1b antibodies are present in 90% of cases.
Acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN),[1] also known as Chinese paralytic syndrome, attacks motor nodes of Ranvier and is prevalent in China and Mexico. It is probably due to an auto-immune response directed against the axoplasm of peripheral nerves. The disease may be seasonal and recovery can be rapid. Anti-GD1a antibodies[2] are present. Anti-GD3 antibodies are found more frequently in AMAN.
Acute motor sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN) is similar to AMAN but also affects sensory nerves with severe axonal damage. Like AMAN, it is probably due to an auto-immune response directed against the axoplasm of peripheral nerves. Recovery is slow and often incomplete.[3]
Acute panautonomic neuropathy is the most rare variant of GBS, sometimes accompanied by encephalopathy. It is associated with a high mortality rate, owing to cardiovascular involvement, and associated dysrhythmias. Impaired sweating, lack of tear formation, photophobia, dryness of nasal and oral mucosa, itching and peeling of skin, nausea, dysphagia, constipation unrelieved by laxatives or alternating with diarrhea occur frequently in this patient group. Initial nonspecific symptoms of lethargy, fatigue, headache, and decreased initiative are followed by autonomic symptoms including orthostatic lightheadedness, blurring of vision, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dryness of eyes, and disturbed micturition. The most common symptoms at onset are related to orthostatic intolerance, as well as gastrointestinal and sudomotor dysfunction (Suarez et al. 1994). Parasympathetic impairment (abdominal pain, vomiting, obstipation, ileus, urinary retention, dilated unreactive pupils, loss of accommodation) may also be observed.
Bickerstaff’s brainstem encephalitis (BBE), is a further variant of Guillain–Barré syndrome. It is characterized by acute onset of ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, disturbance of consciousness, hyperreflexia or Babinski’s sign. The course of the disease can be monophasic or remitting-relapsing. Large, irregular hyperintense lesions located mainly in the brainstem, especially in the pons, midbrain and medulla are described in the literature. BBE despite severe initial presentation usually has a good prognosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a critical role in the diagnosis of BBE. A considerable number of BBE patients have associated axonal Guillain–Barré syndrome, indicative that the two disorders are closely related and form a continuous spectrum.
Signs and symptoms
The disorder is characterized by symmetrical weakness which usually affects the lower limbs first, and rapidly progresses in an ascending fashion. Patients generally notice weakness in their legs, manifesting as “rubbery legs” or legs that tend to buckle, with or without dysesthesias (numbness or tingling). As the weakness progresses upward, usually over periods of hours to days, the arms and facial muscles also become affected. Frequently, the lower cranial nerves may be affected, leading to bulbar weakness, oropharyngeal dysphagia (drooling, or difficulty swallowing and/or maintaining an open airway) and respiratory difficulties. Most patients require hospitalization and about 30% require ventilatory assistance.[4] Facial weakness is also commonly a feature, but eye movement abnormalities are not commonly seen in ascending GBS, but are a prominent feature in the Miller-Fisher variant (see below.) Sensory loss, if present, usually takes the form of loss of proprioception (position sense) and areflexia (complete loss of deep tendon reflexes), an important feature of GBS. Loss of pain and temperature sensation is usually mild. In fact, pain is a common symptom in GBS, presenting as deep aching pain, usually in the weakened muscles, which patients compare to the pain from overexercising. These pains are self-limited and should be treated with standard analgesics. Bladder dysfunction may occur in severe cases but should be transient. If severe, spinal cord disorder should be suspected.
Fever should not be present, and if it is, another cause should be suspected.
In severe cases of GBS, loss of autonomic function is common, manifesting as wide fluctuations in blood pressure, orthostatic hypotension, and cardiac arrhythmias.
Acute paralysis in Guillain–Barré syndrome may be related to sodium channel blocking factor in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Significant issues involving intravenous salt and water administration may occur unpredictably in this patient group, resulting in SIADH. SIADH is one of the causes of hyponatremia and can be accompanied with various conditions such as malignancies, infections and nervous system diseases. Symptoms of Guillain-Barré syndrome such as general weakness, decreased consciousness, and seizure are similar to those of hyponatremia
The symptoms of Guillain–Barré syndrome are also similar to those for progressive inflammatory neuropathy.[5]
Source: Wikipedia
Wikipedia goes on to cite studies linking GBS to the Flu virus, specifically flu vaccines with the most notable case being the swine flu vaccine incident in te 1970′s. The article also cites studies finding no correlation between a particular vaccine and CBS. That is not surprising since such studies are based on statistical analysis. As we all know, statistics can be manipulated to argue for either point of view. As the famous quote goes “there are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics.”
