March 31, 2017
ZERO U.S. Measles Deaths in 10 Years, but Over 100 Measles Vaccine Deaths Reported
Brian Shilhavy
Health Impact News Editor
With the measles and measles vaccine debate reaching a near frenzy on the Internet, it is always nice to throw some cold hard facts on the firestorm currently raging in the measles debate.
So here are some easily verifiable facts regarding deaths associated with measles in the United States for the past 10 years, and deaths associated with measles vaccines during the same 10 year period.
First, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) keeps a weekly tally of disease outbreaks, including deaths. According to a statement made by Dr. Anne Schuchat, the director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, in an Associated Press story picked up by Fox News on April 25, 2014:
There has been no measles deaths (sic) reported in the U.S. since 2003 [1]
The weekly CDC
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR) since that date have not revealed any measles deaths either. (*See edit below.)
And while health authorities are blaming measles outbreaks in recent years on unvaccinated children, when you mention the fact that nobody is dying from measles in the U.S., they are quick to turn around and claim vaccines have eliminated measles deaths (even though they cannot eliminate the disease itself apparently.)
Besides the obvious contradiction in reasoning with such a claim, the historical evidence just does not support it either:
Image from healthsentinel.com –
Click image to enlarge.
Death by Measles Vaccines
What about deaths associated with the measles vaccine during the same time period?
The U.S. Government keeps a database of reports called
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). The database is available to the public, and there is a search portal the public can use at
Medalerts.org.
We ran a search for a ten year period for deaths reported with measles vaccines, including a few that are no longer in production. The search result contained 108 deaths over this period, associated with four different measles vaccines sold in the United States during the past 10 years.
Today, one can only purchase a measles vaccine in combination with the mumps and rubella vaccines (MMR Vaccine).
When searching for just the MMR vaccine during the past 10 years, 96 deaths were reported:
Anybody with a computer and Internet access can search this database by visiting
MedAlerts.org.
This database reflects only deaths that were reported during the time frame, and therefore probably reflects a much lower number than actual deaths, since most doctors and health authorities believe vaccines are safe, and would not normally attribute a death to a vaccine and actually report it.
The U.S. Government Settlements on Measles Vaccine Injuries
The other place to find facts regarding injuries and deaths due to the measles vaccine is to look at U.S. Government settlements for MMR vaccine injuries and deaths. The U.S. public is largely unaware that manufacturers of vaccines have been given legal immunity from being prosecuted in civil court for vaccine injuries and deaths, since 1986. If someone is injured or killed by a vaccine, they have to sue the U.S. Government in a special “vaccine court.”
The Department of Justice issues
quarterly reports on claims and settlements, and one can search for specific vaccines settlements at the
United States Federal Courts website.
As
search here for “measles” returns a result of 111 claims settled for the MMR vaccine since 2004. Some of them are for settlements due to deaths related to the MMR vaccine, as determined by the judge.
http://vaccineimpact.com/2015/zero-...but-over-100-measles-vaccine-deaths-reported/
