SIDS, VACCINES AND VAERS: A FOLLOW-UP

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SIDS, VACCINES AND VAERS: A FOLLOW-UP

 

By F. Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP

 

TL Autism Research

Falmouth, Massachusetts

E-mail: TLAutStudy

 

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in VAERS: A Review, published on September 22, 2003

at the redflagsdaily.com Online Conference on Vaccines, raised many questions.

One of them was whether the cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) under

the age of 1 month, which were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting

System (VAERS), could have been related to the Hepatitis B vaccination, which

was administered alone to the infants shortly after birth.

 

Private physicians, parents or the officials of the immunization programs in the

local state health departments must have felt strongly enough about the cases to

report them to VAERS, in spite of a Medical Examiner’s diagnosis of SIDS, which

by definition means that the death was both sudden and unexplained.

 

Some of the reported deaths were clearly neither unexplained nor sudden, and the

majority of SIDS deaths were never reported to VAERS. The Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that there were some 5400 SIDS deaths in

1990 and 2,523 in 2000. Only 916 reports of SIDS were filed with VAERS between

1990 and 2002, a mean of 80 cases per year.

 

A commentary by Sandy Mintz " The CDC should appropriately prove its claim that

SIDS is not linked to vaccines, " which was published shortly thereafter at the

online conference [P4F2] raised very valid points and called for further focused

studies by the CDC. A week later, David Foster wrote: " Is This What The

Institute Of Medicine Calls A Vaccine Safety Review? " [P6], in which he vividly

reported what he believed really happened at the Institute of Medicine’s Vaccine

Safety Review Session " Potential Role of Vaccination in Sudden Unexplained Death

in Infancy, " held in October 2002. The CDC often uses the report of that

particular session to support its contention that a Vaccine-SIDS connection does

not exist. For the benefit of the readers who did not see the full report, the

press release / summary is reproduced in its entirety at the end of this

presentation. Its irrelevance should be evident after one becomes aware of the

findings of this investigation and David Foster’s

observations.

 

Concerning neonatal deaths following Hepatitis B vaccination, it is only fair to

mention a 1999 report by Drs. Niu, Salive and Ellenburg titled " Neonatal Deaths

After Hepatitis B Vaccine, The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System,

1991-1998.

 

(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1999;153:1279-1282).

 

Manette T. Niu, MD is associated with the Division of Biostatistics and

Epidemiology, Center for Biologic Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug

Administration (FDA).

 

The purpose of the study was to evaluate reports to VAERS of neonatal deaths

(aged 0-28 days) after hepatitis B vaccination from January 1, 1991, through

October 5, 1998. There were 1771 neonatal reports in all and 18 deaths, divided

about equally by gender (8 boys, 9 girls and one case where the sex of the

infant was not reported). The median time from vaccination to onset of symptoms

was 2 days. Obviously, the median time from symptoms to death was 0 days. The

mean birth weight was just above 3 kg (6lb 6oz). In 17 cases, autopsies were

performed. The cause of death was SIDS in 12 (66.7%) of those cases and

infection in 3 (16.7%). Of the remaining 3 (16.7%), 1 infant was thought to have

died because of an intracerebral hemorrhage; another had a congenital heart

disease; and in one infant the cause of death was listed as suffocation.

 

The authors concluded: " Few neonatal deaths following HepB vaccination have been

reported despite the use of at least 86 million doses of pediatric vaccine given

in the United States, since 1991. While the limitations of passive surveillance

systems do not permit definitive inference, these data suggest that HepB

immunization is not causing a clear increase in neonatal deaths. "

 

Under " Editor’s Note " , Catherine D. DeAngelis, MD stated:

 

" This report should help allay the fears of the antivaccine groups; it should,

but will it? "

 

 

 

There is little else on the subject in the medical literature.

 

In Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in VAERS: A Review, it was pointed out that 12

of 21 (57%) reports of Neonatal SIDS to VAERS over 10 years came from New

Hampshire alone. Further investigation revealed that in New Hampshire, the

office of the Chief Medical Examiner refers any sudden infant death, while the

final diagnosis is pending, to both the NH SIDS Program as a possible SIDS and

the NH Immunization Program for their follow-up, as a possible vaccine adverse

event. Once the final diagnosis of the infant's death has been made, a copy of

the death certificate is sent to the NH Immunization Program, which then reports

to VAERS, if appropriate. Apparently there are approximately 10-15 referrals

per year in all, of which approximately 6 to 10 end up with a final diagnosis of

SIDS. Two requests for further information to the NH immunization Program were

not acknowledged.

 

The incidence of SIDS in neighboring Massachusetts and the percentage of those

infants under the age of 4 weeks is shown in Table I.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year

 

 

 

SIDS Deaths

 

% Under

 

4 weeks of age

 

1988

 

94

 

5

 

1989

 

103

 

5

 

1990

 

90

 

4

 

1991

 

72

 

13

 

1992

 

67

 

9

 

1993

 

62

 

6

 

1994

 

72

 

9

 

1995

 

34

 

3

 

1996

 

42

 

10

 

1997

 

39

 

7

 

1998

 

29

 

3

 

1999

 

23

 

4

 

2000

 

26

 

4

 

2001

 

23

 

4

 

2002

 

22

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

Table I: Number of cases of SIDS in Massachusetts in the last 15 years and

percentage of infants under 4 weeks of age

 

The population of Massachusetts is approximately 6 times that of New Hampshire.

 

It is not possible to make any inference or draw any statistically significant

conclusion from the fact that in 1991, the year neonatal hepatitis B vaccination

was recommended, the percentage of infants under the age of 4 weeks with the

diagnosis of SIDS, reached an all-time high of 13% in Massachusetts. Similarly,

whether the fact that the average percentage of SIDS under age 4 weeks in the 3

and 6 years starting 1991 was about double that in the 3 years before 1991 (9.39

and 8.33% vs. 4.67) may or may not be relevant.

 

The State of Washington has kept careful SIDS statistics for years as shown in

Table II.

 

 

 

Year

 

SIDS deaths

 

<30 days old

 

All SIDS deaths

 

Live Births

 

<30 days old - rate per 1000 births

 

All SIDS- rate per 1000 births*

 

1981

 

8

 

158

 

69987

 

0.1

 

2.3

 

1982

 

12

 

197

 

69681

 

0.2

 

2.9

 

1983

 

10

 

167

 

68794

 

0.2

 

2.5

 

1984

 

12

 

191

 

69059

 

0.2

 

2.9

 

1985

 

18

 

198

 

70357

 

0.3

 

2.9

 

1986

 

12

 

179

 

69572

 

0.2

 

2.7

 

1987

 

16

 

182

 

70409

 

0.2

 

2.7

 

1988

 

12

 

183

 

72660

 

0.2

 

2.6

 

1989

 

12

 

186

 

75595

 

0.2

 

2.5

 

1990

 

14

 

185

 

79468

 

0.2

 

2.4

 

1991

 

10

 

177

 

79962

 

0.1

 

2.3

 

1992

 

11

 

130

 

79897

 

0.1

 

1.7

 

1993

 

10

 

140

 

78771

 

0.1

 

1.8

 

1994

 

11

 

115

 

77368

 

0.1

 

1.5

 

1995

 

8

 

101

 

77240

 

0.1

 

1.4

 

1996

 

7

 

80

 

77874

 

0.1

 

1.1

 

1997

 

5

 

84

 

78141

 

0.1

 

1.1

 

1998

 

12

 

91

 

79640

 

0.2

 

1.2

 

1999

 

10

 

69

 

79577

 

0.1

 

0.9

 

2000

 

9

 

76

 

81004

 

0.1

 

0.9

 

2001

 

5

 

60

 

79542

 

0.1

 

0.8

 

 

Table II Deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Washington State residents.

By Year 1981- 2001

 

Source: Washington State Department of Health, MCH Assessment

 

Data Source: Birth and Death Certificates, Center for Health Statistics,

Washington State DOH.

 

*Rates prior to 1999 adjusted by the ICD10-ICD9 comparability ratio for SIDS of

1.0362

 

There were 1,826 cases of SIDS in Washington State between 1981 and 1990, of

which 126 (6.9%) were under the age of 30 days. In the 10 years after 1991,

there were 88 (9.3%) cases under the age of 30 days out of 946. This represents

a statistically significant increase in the number of SIDS deaths in infants

less than 30 days of age. (X2=5.05, P<0.025)

 

Thus, while the total number of SIDS in the State of Washington has decreased by

48%, the proportion of those infants under 1 month of age has undergone a

statistically significant increase of 35% since the introduction of Neonatal

Hepatitis B vaccination [(9.3%-6.9)/6.9].

 

International SIDS statistics are not easily available by age group. The

incidence of SIDS in 22 countries with complete data is reported in Table III.

 

 

COUNTRY

 

POPULATION

 

IN MILLIONS

 

SIDS/ UNEXPECTED

 

INFANT DEATHS

 

PER ANNUM

 

HOW OFTEN AUTOPSY PERFORMED

 

INCIDENCE PER 1000 LIVE BIRTHS

 

Argentina

 

33

 

378

 

Sometimes

 

0.56

 

Australia

19

 

120

 

100%

 

0.54

 

Austria

8

 

50

 

70-100%

 

0.6

 

Belgium

10

 

90

 

20-80%

 

0.6

 

Canada

30

 

154

 

100%

 

0.45

 

Denmark

5.3

 

20

 

75%

 

0.3

 

England / Wales

57

 

284

 

100%

 

0.45

 

Finland

5.5

 

15

 

100%

 

0.25

 

France

54

 

360

 

50%

 

0.49

 

Germany

82

 

603

 

55%

 

0.78

 

Hungary

10

 

30

 

100%

 

0.3

 

Hong Kong

7

 

7

 

100%

 

0.1

 

Ireland Republic

3.5

 

42

 

100%

 

0.9

 

Italy

58

 

545

 

Sometimes

 

1.0

 

Japan

122

 

360

 

20%

 

0.30

 

Netherlands

15

 

27

 

70%

 

0.14

 

New Zealand

3.9

 

60

 

Almost 100%

 

1.04

 

Norway

4.5

 

40

 

90%

 

0.6

 

Scotland

5

 

52

 

100%

 

0.6

 

Slovenia

2.2

 

10

 

0.47

 

Sweden

9

 

45

 

100%

 

0.45

 

USA

249.6

 

2991

 

Usually

 

0.77

 

 

 

 

Table III. SIDS in the USA and in other reporting nations (Updated 24th August

2000)

 

Although the incidence of SIDS in the United States is half of what it used to

be, it is disturbing to find out that it is the third highest of the 22 nations

with complete data and more than double that of Japan and several European

countries.

 

It is difficult to understand why the incidence of SIDS in 2000 was higher in

New Zealand and Germany than it was in the United States. Infants (<1 year old)

in New Zealand receive DTAP (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Acellular Pertussis

vaccine), HIB (Haemophilus Influenzae B vaccine), OPV (Oral Polio vaccine) and

Hepatitis B vaccine when they are 6 weeks old and again at 3 and 5 months of

age. Infants in Germany receive Hepatitis B vaccine, HIB, IPV (Inactivated Polio

vaccine), Pertussis and Tetanus Toxoid vaccines at 2, 3, 4, and 11-14 months of

age and Measles and Rubella vaccines at 11-14 months. WHO records do not mention

whether any of the above vaccines contained or still contain Thimerosal.

 

Vaccination schedules of most nations are available by accessing the WHO Vaccine

Preventable Diseases Monitoring System.

 

The CDC has always argued that a Vaccine-SIDS connection does not exist because

in the decade of the nineties, the incidence of SIDS in the United States

decreased while infants were receiving more vaccines in the first year of life.

 

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) special report " Potential Role of Vaccination in

Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy " [see Press Release below] stressed that

SIDS was the leading cause of post-neonatal mortality in the United States in

2000, that between 1990 and 2000, the incidence of SIDS decreased dramatically

and that in the same period the infant mortality decreased from 9.2 per 1000

live births to 6.9 per thousand, the " lowest infant mortality rate ever recorded

in the United States " .

 

The report seems to intimate that the decrease in post neonatal and infant

mortality is somehow related to the decrease in the number of SIDS cases and the

success of the " Back to Sleep " campaign.

 

The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and the Post-Neonatal Mortality Rate (PNMR) had

actually been dropping consistently since the 1950’s as shown in table IV.

 

Infant Mortality refers to death during the first year of life; Neonatal

Mortality refers to death during the first 28 days of life and Post-Neonatal

Mortality refers to death between 28 and 364 days of age. Rates are per 1,000

live births.

 

 

 

 

Year

 

Infant

 

Mortality Rate

 

Neonatal

 

Mortality Rate

 

Postneonatal

 

Mortality Rate

 

1950

 

29.2

 

20.5

 

8.7

 

1960

 

26.0

 

18.7

 

7.3

 

1970

 

20.0

 

15.1

 

4.9

 

1980

 

12.6

 

8.5

 

4.1

 

1990

 

9.2

 

5.8

 

3.4

 

2000

 

6.9

 

4.6

 

2.3

 

 

 

 

 

Table IV. First Year of Life Mortality Rates per 1,000 live births

 

Source CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics

System.

 

 

 

Internationally, the United States was ranked 8th in infant mortality in 1970

and 16th in 1980 among 20 industrialized nations.

 

According to a 1997 study by Gerard Anderson, Ph.D., Professor of Health Policy

and Management at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, the United States’

infant mortality ranking had slipped to 23rd (out of 29 industrialized

countries), because the Infant Mortality Rate in the other countries had dropped

even faster.

 

The United States consistently spends more resources on health care than any

other industrialized nation. In 1996 the U.S. spent 14.2 percent of its gross

domestic product (GDP) on health. Germany was next with 10.5 percent. The U.S.

also spent the most per capita on health care in 1996 ($3,708). Switzerland was

second with the equivalent of $2,412. Of the G7 countries (U.S., France,

Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Canada and Italy), only the U.S. remains without

universal publicly mandated health insurance coverage.

 

The Infant Mortality Rate and the spent health care dollars per capita among the

G7 countries in 2001 are shown in Table V.

 

Source: The CIA Factbook 2001.

 

 

 

 

Country

 

IMR/1000

 

Healthcare $ per capita

 

Canada

 

5.0

 

2,278

 

France

 

4.5

 

2,261

 

Germany

 

4.7

 

2,402

 

Italy

 

5.8

 

1,699

 

Japan

 

3.9

 

1,864

 

UK

 

5.5

 

1,550

 

USA

 

6.8

 

4,662

 

 

 

 

 

Table V Infant Mortality Rate and Healthcare Cost-G7 Countries

 

 

 

The March of Dimes regularly reports health statistics on infants and children

in developing countries.

 

The following table (Table VI) is part of a larger table listing the changes in

the mortality rates of infants and children less than 5 years, in developing

countries, over the last four decades. The countries listed had an Infant

Mortality Rate of less than 10 per1000 live births in 1999. The United Kingdom

and the United States were listed for comparison.

 

 

 

 

Country

 

Infant Mortality

 

Under 5 Mortality

 

 

 

1960

 

1999

 

1960

 

1999

 

Brunei

 

63

 

8

 

87

 

9

 

Cuba

 

39

 

6

 

54

 

8

 

Cyprus

 

30

 

7

 

36

 

8

 

Korea Rep.

 

90

 

5

 

127

 

5

 

Malaysia

 

73

 

8

 

105

 

9

 

Singapore

 

31

 

4

 

40

 

4

 

United Arab Emirates

 

149

 

8

 

223

 

9

 

United Kingdom

 

23

 

6

 

27

 

6

 

United States

 

26

 

7

 

30

 

8

 

 

 

Table VI Mortality Rates in 7 Developing Countries, the UK & the USA

 

Source: UNICEF State of the World's Children, 2001 and 1999 editions.

 

If the above figures are correct and if comparisons are indeed valid, then it is

seems that the infant mortality and the mortality of children under age 5 years

of age have been decreasing at a faster rate in some developing countries than

they have in the United States.

 

The three leading causes of infant death in 2000 in the United States were

congenital malformations, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome

(SIDS), which together accounted for almost one-half of all infant deaths.

 

Post-neonatal mortality contributes substantially to infant mortality.

Post-neonatal mortality has decreased substantially in the last few years. Most

of the decline resulted from reduced mortality from infections and SIDS.

 

Discussion

 

The above findings suggest that the conclusions of the IOM Committee study of

the " Potential Role of Vaccination in Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy " were

not justified.

 

The following quotes from the attached Press Release are particularly

questionable:

 

" These and other findings about childhood vaccines, SIDS, and other types of

sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) do not warrant a review of the

childhood vaccination schedule "

 

" Although the timing of infant vaccinations coincides with the period when SIDS

is most likely to occur, parents should rest assured that the number and variety

of childhood vaccines do not cause SIDS "

 

" We do not have the data that would definitively answer all questions about

links between vaccines and SIDS and other forms of sudden, unexpected death in

infancy. However, we believe that the data we do have, along with the increasing

rarity of these kinds of infant deaths, make a review of the vaccine schedule

unnecessary "

 

" While the number and variety of vaccines infants receive is not linked to SIDS,

there is not enough evidence to determine whether exposure to multiple different

vaccines is causally linked to SUDI in general. Evidence also is not sufficient

or adequate to determine if HepB, the only vaccine given to newborns, is linked

to neonatal deaths "

 

" The number of infant deaths declined between 1990 and 2000, dropping from 9.2

deaths per 1,000 live births to 6.9 per 1,000, the lowest infant mortality rate

ever recorded in the United States. Because SUDI are difficult to define, there

are no data on the national rate of SUDI in the United States. SIDS is the

leading diagnosis for postneonatal death–death occurring after the first 27

days–and there were 2,523 deaths attributed to SIDS in the United States in

2000. The rate of SIDS has been declining over the past several years "

 

It is no consolation for parents who lose a healthy infant very shortly after a

vaccination to know that SIDS is now less common and that an Institute of

Medicine Committee did not find evidence of a link between their infant’s sudden

and unexplained demise and vaccination. Just as upsetting for them will

certainly be the fact that even a review of the present vaccination schedule is

considered " unnecessary " .

 

It appears that proportionately more neonatal sudden deaths have been occurring

since 1991, the year the Hepatitis B vaccination of the newborn was introduced.

 

It is unclear why the CDC and the IOM Special Committee still insist that

vaccines do not play any role in SIDS causation when certain State Health

Departments review all SIDS deaths routinely and report a few to VAERS when

indicated.

 

Conclusions

 

Conflicts of interest must be removed and independent evaluation of data must

occur if true science is to be found.

 

A comprehensive and unbiased review of the possible role of vaccines in the

causation of SIDS should be launched.

 

The CDC should require that each and every State Health Department review every

case of SIDS and report to VAERS those suspected to be vaccine-related.

 

VAERS is a valuable resource and it should be utilized.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

March 12, 2003

Contacts: Christine Stencel, Media Relations Officer

Cory Arberg, Media Relations Assistant

Office of News and Public Information

(202) 334-2138; e-mail

 

For Immediate Release

 

SIDS Not Linked to Number and Variety of Childhood Vaccines

 

WASHINGTON–The evidence does not support a causal link between sudden infant

death syndrome (SIDS) and either the diphtheria, tetanus, and whole-cell

pertussis (DTwP) vaccine or exposure to multiple childhood vaccines, says a new

report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Only an older

version of a vaccine against diphtheria and pertussis that is no longer

administered to infants is causally related to fatal anaphylaxis, a rare and

severe inflammatory reaction. These and other findings about childhood vaccines,

SIDS, and other types of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) do not

warrant a review of the childhood vaccination schedule, the report concluded.

 

" Although the timing of infant vaccinations coincides with the period when SIDS

is most likely to occur, parents should rest assured that the number and variety

of childhood vaccines do not cause SIDS, " said Marie McCormick, chair of the

committee that wrote the report and professor and chair, department of maternal

and child health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. " We do not have the

data that would definitively answer all questions about links between vaccines

and SIDS and other forms of sudden, unexpected death in infancy. However, we

believe that the data we do have, along with the increasing rarity of these

kinds of infant deaths, make a review of the vaccine schedule unnecessary. "

 

American children routinely receive five vaccines against seven infectious

agents before age 1: the DTaP vaccine–which contains a different form of the

pertussis component than DTwP, which it replaced in the United States in 1997 --

and vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B (HepB), polio,

and pneumococcal bacteria. Although HepB is given to newborns, the others

typically are administered at 2 months of age, with additional doses of certain

vaccines given at 4 and 6 months.

 

SUDI encompasses sudden, unexpected deaths in which there may or may not be a

clear cause of death. SIDS is the diagnosis most often given for infant deaths

that occur without warning and for which no cause is identified. Medical

researchers have not reached consensus on the risk factors for SIDS or how it

occurs, although current guidelines to place babies on their backs or sides to

sleep are based on theories that the prone position may contribute to SIDS.

Another possible explanation, the " triple-risk " hypothesis, postulates that SIDS

may occur through the interaction of an underlying biological vulnerability, a

critical development period, and exposure to an outside trigger. It has been

speculated that vaccination may act as such a trigger. Further research could

show that there are many causes of SIDS.

 

Evidence from studies based on human exposure is strong enough to favor

rejection of any causal connection between SIDS and multiple doses of different

vaccines. In addition, the report reaffirmed previous findings that SIDS is not

linked to the older DTwP. Because the currently used DTaP vaccine has fewer side

effects than DTwP, the committee found no reason to suspect any link between

DTaP and SIDS. However, without sufficient or adequate evidence available, the

committee could not definitively reject a link between DTaP and SIDS. Evidence

was also insufficient or inadequate to determine whether relationships exist

between other individual vaccines and SIDS.

 

Although some research suggests that an abnormal immune response to common

respiratory bacteria or viruses may be a factor in SIDS, there are no studies

demonstrating the ability of vaccines to provoke abnormal inflammatory responses

of the kinds seen in some SIDS cases. The committee concluded that the ability

of vaccines to act as triggers of SIDS is only theoretical. A similar conjecture

that fever or other common side effects of vaccination could spur an acute

metabolic reaction in babies with an innate metabolic condition is also

theoretical.

 

Although very rare, anaphylaxis from any cause–such as a food, drug, or

environmental allergen–can lead to sudden, unexpected death. On the basis of a

well-documented case of fatal anaphylactic shock in twin babies that occurred

after each received a second dose of diphtheria toxoid and whole-cell pertussis

vaccine (DwP), the committee concluded that the evidence favors acceptance of a

link between this vaccine and infant death due to anaphylaxis. The case occurred

in 1946, however, and the committee did not find any other well-documented

reports of infant deaths related to anaphylaxis following vaccination, despite

the widespread use of childhood vaccines during the 57 years since that case.

Moreover, DwP is no longer used in the United States.

 

While the number and variety of vaccines infants receive is not linked to SIDS,

there is not enough evidence to determine whether exposure to multiple different

vaccines is causally linked to SUDI in general. Evidence also is not sufficient

or adequate to determine if HepB, the only vaccine given to newborns, is linked

to neonatal deaths, the report says.

 

A standard definition of SUDI should be developed, and criteria related to SIDS

and SUDI should be consistently applied for research and reporting purposes.

Comprehensive postmortem work-ups should be performed on all infants who die

suddenly and unexpectedly, the report says.

 

The number of infant deaths declined between 1990 and 2000, dropping from 9.2

deaths per 1,000 live births to 6.9 per 1,000, the lowest infant mortality rate

ever recorded in the United States. Because SUDI are difficult to define, there

are no data on the national rate of SUDI in the United States. SIDS is the

leading diagnosis for postneonatal death–death occurring after the first 27

days–and there were 2,523 deaths attributed to SIDS in the United States in

2000. The rate of SIDS has been declining over the past several years.

 

This study is the sixth in a series of eight on vaccine safety sponsored by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Allergy

and Infectious Diseases. The Institute of Medicine is a private, nonprofit

institution that provides health policy advice under a congressional charter

granted to the National Academy of Sciences. A committee roster follows.

 

Copies of Immunization Safety Review: Vaccinations and Sudden Unexpected Death

in Infancy will be available later this year from the National Academies Press;

tel. (202) 334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu.

Reporters may obtain a pre-publication copy from the Office of News and Public

Information (contacts listed above).

 

# # #

 

INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE

Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

 

Immunization Safety Review Committee

 

 

Marie C. McCormick, M.D., Sc.D. (chair)

Professor and Chair

Department of Maternal and Child Health

Harvard School of Public Health

Boston

 

Ronald Bayer, Ph.D. *

Professor

Division of Sociomedical Sciences

Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health

Columbia University

New York City

 

Alfred Berg, M.D., M.P.H.

Professor and Chair

Department of Family Medicine

School of Medicine

University of Washington

Seattle

 

Rosemary Casey, M.D.

Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Jefferson Medical College, and

Lankenau Faculty Pediatrics

Wynnewood, Pa.

 

Joshua Cohen, Ph.D.

Senior Research Associate

Harvard Center for Risk Analysis

Harvard School of Public Health

Boston

 

Betsy Foxman, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Epidemiology

School of Public Health

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor

 

Constantine Gatsonis, Ph.D.

Professor of Medical Science and Applied Mathematics, and, Center for Statistical Sciences

Brown University

Providence, R.I.

 

Steven Goodman, M.D., M.H.S., Ph.D. *

Associate Professor

Department of Oncology

Division of Biostatistics

School of Medicine

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore

 

Ellen Horak, M.S.N.

Education and Nurse Consultant

Public Health Certification Program

Public Management Center

University of Kansas

Topeka

 

Michael Kaback, M.D.

Professor of Pediatrics and Reproductive Medicine

University of California

San Diego

 

Gerald Medoff, M.D.

Professor

Department of Internal Medicine

School of Medicine

Washington University

St. Louis

 

Rebecca Parkin, Ph.D.

Associate Research Professor

Department of Occupational and Environmental Health

School of Public Health and Health Services

George Washington University

Washington, D.C.

 

Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D.

Co-Director

Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, and

Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology

School of Medicine

Yale University

New Haven, Conn.

 

Christopher Wilson, M.D.

Professor and Chair

Department of Immunology

University of Washington

Seattle

 

INSTITUTE STAFF

 

Kathleen Stratton, Ph.D.

Study Director

 

 

 

SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME AND THE VACCINE ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING SYSTEM: A

REVIEW

A Physician investigates sudden and unexpected deaths of apparently healthy

infants and the possible link of some of these deaths to vaccines

By F. Edward Yazbak, MD

 

 

 

 

 

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