Anna's Last Days -- after recieving the chickenpox vaccine

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he Age of Autism: Anna's Last Days -- 1 By Dan Olmsted for UPI. http://tinyurl.com/gp3ch On April 26 a Scottish child named Anna Duncan attended a party wheretwo children had chickenpox. Nine days later she got her routinemeasles-mumps-rubella vaccination. Four days after that she developedclassic chickenpox symptoms -- spots and fever. One week later, on May 14, Anna was dead from an apparent seizure. Shewas 17 months old. Now her father, John, is struggling with the sudden loss of a bright,lively child -- and increasingly suspicious that the MMR shot during anapparent chickenpox infection triggered her death. Those suspicions deepened after he came across Age of Autism's recentinvestigative series, Pox, which found that giving MMR and chickenpoxvaccines at the same time might raise the risk of autism in a susceptiblesubset of children. By happenstance, the series began the week before Anna'sexposure to chickenpox and ended the week after her death. In Anna's case, Duncan believes the chickenpox she caught at the partysuppressed her immune system to the point that the measles virus from theMMR triggered a fatal seizure. "I feel now that I have an answer to our daughter's death," saidDuncan, of Cardrona, Scotland. "What I'm going to try to do with this isforce a fatal accident inquiry, because there is a potential scenario herewhere it could happen again, and if (they) realize that this is a developingstory, it can only get bigger." The Pox series centered on several autistic children in Olympia,Wash., whose families had problematic histories with chickenpox and relatedherpesviruses. All of the children got the MMR and chickenpox vaccines, inmost cases at their 12-month checkups; two of the children were in Merck & Co. clinical trials of investigational chickenpox vaccines in combinationwith the MMR. John Duncan said that like the Olympia families, he also had unusualreactions to viral infections and experienced a monthlong outbreak ofpox-like spots just after Anna was born. He took photographs at the time todocument the spots, which spread diffusely from his abdomen. "I believe her response to the MMR while infected with chickenpox wasdue to her genetic makeup from myself," Duncan wrote in a posting on theBritish Web site jabs.org.uk. "Anna's normal response to a benign childhood illness, for whichrecovery was a formality, was interrupted by the MMR vaccine, which due toher understandable immunosuppression resulted in the replication of themeasles virus -- 'virus replication,' an accepted and understood medicalevent in relation to vaccines." It will be weeks before laboratory tests confirm whether Anna hadchickenpox and health authorities rule on cause of death. But authorities inboth Britain and the United States assert there is no association betweenthe vaccines and serious health problems. They say the real risk isforegoing vaccinations based on unfounded fears. The Daily Mail reported in June that "Britain is now in the grip ofthe biggest measles outbreak since the vaccine's introduction in 1988.Doctors have reported hundreds of cases of measles since January in justthree areas of the country, including the death of a 13-year-old boy." Last week "a group of Britain's leading pediatricians and childhoodvaccination experts ... warned that more children will die unless a line isdrawn under the autism and MMR vaccine controversy," according to Britain'sGuardian newspaper. "In an open letter, 30 scientists, including some of the country'smost eminent child health experts, say that an overwhelming body of evidenceshows the vaccine is safe. They add that urgent immunizations are necessaryto prevent potentially devastating outbreaks among schoolchildren." The MMR vaccine Anna received was Priorix, manufactured byGlaxoSmithKline. Chickenpox vaccine is not routinely administered inBritain; in the United States it is recommended by health authorities forall children beginning at age 12 months. John Duncan provided this sequence of events leading up to Anna'sdeath. Wednesday, April 26 -- Anna attended the party with her mother,Veronica, where one child was getting over chickenpox and that child'syounger sister had all the symptoms of chickenpox. Friday, May 5 -- Anna got her MMR shot at Haylodge Health Centre,Peebles, Scottish Borders; her mother questioned whether Anna's runny noseand exposure to chickenpox was a cause for concern. The healthcare workersaid it was not. Tuesday, May 9 -- Anna developed signs of chickenpox with spotsappearing and a slight fever. This developed into what appeared to beclassic chickenpox. Sunday, May 14 -- Anna died around 9 a.m. with what appeared to be aseizure, with evidence of blood on her lips and on sheets in close proximityto her mouth. "When Anna had chickenpox we gave her (a fever reducer) to bring hertemperature down when it spiked," John Duncan said. "Her temperatureaccording to her mother, who is a nurse, seemed to stabilize on the Saturdaynight through to Sunday morning, but Anna became restless early on Sundaymorning and had two very smelly nappy (diaper) changes. A tired mother putAnna in her cot at around 6 p.m. as she seemed to be more contented on herown. "Anna's death came as a major shock to us all because at no time didwe think that she was going to die. The seizure would have been undetectablein the circumstances. I was with (son) Cameron that morning downstairsbecause I thought Anna had turned the corner." Duncan said a doctor who came to the house to confirm the death toldhis wife it appeared "Anna had chickenpox." She may also have starteddeveloping new spots characteristic of measles, he said. "I would say at time of death there were more measles-like spotsappearing around her neck. But I cannot be too sure." Duncan asked on the Jabs site: "Could this scenario cause autism? Isthere a genetic susceptibility in some children to deal with the herpesvirusin a different way to the normal response, making these children more atrisk to a bad reaction from MMR at the time of herpes infection? ... "Had Anna survived her bout of seizure 10 days after her MMR, herbrain very possibly could have been damaged and a diagnosis of autismeventually given." -- Next: Chickenpox and measles -- a troubling combination.