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But the
mother of
one of the
children
said it's no
coincidence
that her
4-month-old
son died
within days
of receiving
injections
to prevent
serious
childhood
illnesses,
including
diphtheria,
tetanus,
pertussis,
hepatitis B,
polio,
rotavirus
and invasive
pneumococcal
disease.
"My baby
was so
healthy,"
said Shelly
Walker, 39,
of Hayden.
"He was
extremely
full of
life, energy
and
vitality."
Nevertheless,
early on the
morning of
Sept. 15,
less than
three days
after Vance
Vernon
Walker
received a
round of
vaccines at
Lakeside
Pediatric
and
Adolescent
Medicine in
Coeur
d'Alene, his
mother awoke
to a
nightmare.
"It was
about 5:15
a.m. I woke
up and
thought,
'He's not
making any
noise!' "
Walker
recalled. "I
went to pick
him up and
then I
screamed."
Her 16
1/2-pound
boy was warm
and his lips
were still
pink, but he
wasn't
moving.
Blood was
crusted
beneath his
eyes, and
his clothes
and toys
were covered
with a
bloody
froth.
As her
husband,
Brian, 46,
called 911,
Walker
worked
frantically
to
resuscitate
their child.
But in the
emergency
room at
Kootenai
Medical
Center,
doctors said
Vance had
been dead
for several
hours.
"I
grabbed my
baby in my
arms and
held him up
and I
screamed,
'How in the
hell did
this
happen?' "
Walker said.
"Was it the
vaccines?"
Medical
officials
from the CDC
and the
federal Food
and Drug
Administration
are working
to answer
that
question for
the Walkers
and for
families of
two other
babies who
died within
six weeks of
each other.
Two of
the deaths
have been
logged in
the
voluntary
Vaccine
Adverse
Event
Reporting
System
–VAERS –
jointly
operated by
the CDC and
FDA, agency
officials
said. But
Dr. Robert
West, the
Kootenai
County
coroner,
confirmed
that three
infants died
this fall
within days
of
immunization.
Parents
of the other
babies could
not be
reached for
comment.
Autopsies
failed to
detect any
specific
vaccine
reactions,
West said,
forcing a
determination
of SIDS – a
"diagnosis
of
exclusion,"
he noted.
He said
he welcomes
the federal
review. "It
is a little
bit unusual
but not
totally
unheard of,"
West said.
"It deserves
the
investigative
clout of the
CDC."
Walker
confirmed
that her
son's death
was one of
the Idaho
cases
reported to
VAERS. The
other
reported
child likely
was also
under the
care of the
Coeur
d'Alene
pediatric
group, Allen
said. That
raises the
possibility
the children
received
vaccines
from the
same batch.
If the
CDC receives
three
reports of
deaths or 10
reports of
serious
non-fatal
injuries
related to
the same lot
of a
vaccine, it
launches a
review,
Allen said.
In Vance
Walker's
case, the
immunizations
included a
dose of
Pediarix, a
combined
vaccine that
contains
DTaP,
hepatitis B
and
inactivated
polio
vaccines.
His mother's
records
indicate the
lot number
of the
vaccine
manufactured
by
GlaxoSmithKline
was
AC21B124B.
He also
received a
dose of
Prevnar, lot
number
B54007C, a
vaccine
manufactured
by Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals.
Allen, of
the CDC,
said it
would be up
to the
medical
practice to
decide
whether to
suspend use
of the
vaccine. Dr.
Brian
Hickok, the
pediatrician
for Walker's
son, did not
return calls
about the
issue. A
representative
for the
medical
practice
declined to
comment.
Those two
vaccines are
the most
likely to be
implicated
in any
adverse
events, said
David
Terzian, a
Virginia
lawyer who
specializes
in vaccine
injury
cases.
Terzian said
the Walkers
have a good
chance of
receiving
compensation
for their
son's death
through a
federal
program
because it
occurred so
soon after
immunization,
well within
the 72 hours
required by
federal
rules.
Information
provided by
drug
manufacturers
and attached
to the
vaccines
reports low
numbers of
associated
deaths. In
14 clinical
trials of
Pediarix,
five deaths
were
reported
among 8,088
recipients
of the
vaccine,
including
two cases of
SIDS.
In a
study of
more than
34,000
children in
which about
half
received
Prevnar and
half
received a
control
vaccine,
a dozen
deaths,
including
five SIDS
deaths,
occurred in
the Prevnar
group.
By contrast,
21 deaths
occurred in
the control
group,
including
four SIDS
deaths,
according to
manufacturer
data.
Immunization
specialists
acknowledge
that any
death
following
vaccination
is a
tragedy. But
they
emphasize
that far
more
children
died or fell
ill in the
era before
vaccinations.
"For the
most part,
disease is
always going
to be more
risky than
getting a
vaccine,"
said Nicole
Pender,
health
educator for
the
immunization
program at
the
Washington
state
Department
of Health.
That is
no comfort
to Shelly
Walker. She
hopes her
experience
inspires
parents to
educate
themselves
about the
risks of
vaccines and
prompts them
to monitor
any
reaction,
however
slight. She
plans to
file a claim
through the
National
Vaccine
Injury
Compensation
Program,
which
provides a
maximum of
$250,000
after a
vaccine-related
death.
In
return, all
records
related to
her son's
injury and
death will
be sealed by
the drug
manufacturers.
Walker is
optimistic
that they'll
use the data
to improve
product
safety so
other
families
won't
experience
her tragedy.
"My hope
is they're
compiling
data and
statistics
to make
things
better," she
said. "I'm
trying to
believe in
the inherent
goodness of
something
here."
David
Waddel Died
Sept. 4,
2007
Vance Walker
Died Sept.
15, 2007
Paiytu Ames
Died Oct.
10, 2007
All from the
same
pediatricians
office
(cidpusa
adds that
parents
beware are
you children
allergic to
eggs )
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