A brief history of vaccine screw-ups: Vaccines have a more spotty history than many believe

I’ve made a minor hobby of looking skeptically at immunizations since my case report on atypical measles was published as the centerpiece article in JAMA 45 years ago. That case illustrated at least one unpublicized problem from immunizations.

It seems that the original measles vaccine, “a killed measles vaccine” was given to preschool kids beginning in 1962-63 and available until 1968. It did prevent measles for about six years. Thereafter, when these kids were exposed to measles they sometimes developed an inverted and much more serious illness. My case was the first that occurred in a young adult 14 years after immunization. The current live virus vaccine is somewhat less likely to lead to atypical measles.

Among other immunization screwups I include Robert Koch’s attempts to immunize for tuberculosis which apparently caused a few deaths as reported in older literature. Before him, there was variolation, the inoculation of children with smallpox, which greatly diminished the number of serious cases but also led to about 1% developing smallpox and dying. Jenner used vaccinia, the cowpox virus which was safer but would occasionally cause progressive vaccinia and generalized disease in individuals with certain skin conditions.

The biggest problem occurred during WW II. All U.S. soldiers destined for the South Pacific got a yellow fever vaccine that was prepared and administered using pooled plasma harvested around NYC. Seven million doses were made. Lots were contaminated with Hep B and C and huge numbers of these soldiers were sickened. It may well explain how serum hepatitis was disseminated widely in America. These soldiers eventually became veterans who died thirty years later of cirrhosis that was falsely ascribed to their alcoholism. (We didn’t know about hepatitis B and C until later.)

The measles vaccine is my case in point that there are problems with vaccines.

I fit the time frame but have no idea whether I got the bad one or the good one. I dont recall getting the measles but have to assume I got the bad one.

So I got the MMR shot..and still have ringing in both my ears that may or may not be due to the shot. Started about 3 days after the shot.

Vaccines are imperfect and it’s worth having a discussion about the risks and benefits involved, but it’s important to be honest in such discussions. We have virtually wiped out most significant childhood diseases in my lifetime with vaccines.

Smallpox: gone. Polio: gone. Measles: gone. Pertussis (Whooping Cough): gone. Mumps: gone. Rubella: gone. Diphtheria: gone. Tetanus: gone. Varicella (chickenpox): gone.

Millions of lives saved. Millions saved from lifelong disability and/or disfigurement. About 1 in a million have a noteworthy reaction to a vaccine and most of those self-resolve in days or weeks. Sadly, some do suffer ill effects. But do you take a 0.00001% chance of a bad outcome to avoid a .5% chance of a bad outcome? Nearly everyone will gladly take those odds. And even now, we continue to improve vaccine safety. Just in the past couple years, flu shots that no longer carry a risk of chicken egg allergies became available.

When I went to kindergarten, in 1958, and one day I came home with chicken pox, mumps and measles - all at the same time. I got blamed for making my brothers and sisters sick.

All I remember is not wanting to move. My dad came in the bedroom and stroked my hair.

Even with that I am glad I got the wild version of those illnesses and not the vaccines. I was just sick for a couple of weeks.

There are those who argue that the spread of AIDS through Africa was due to the Polio vaccinations where seed stocks of vaccines were transported to distant regions and then standard tissue culture methods were used to amplify the virus at local production facilities.

Kidney cells were used for cultures and blood serum was used for media, both harvested from local primates and used in production. In South Africa, monkey tissue was used to amplify the Sabin oral polio vaccine.

At about 12 months old (1951) I contracted diphtheria and scarlet fever at the same time. Family doctor advised my parents to look for an infant coffin. My mother and father gave me alcohol and ice baths around the clock until the fever broke. I was legally blind in one eye for 14 years after that, but had significant improvement later on. I am not an anti-vaxxer, but I do think that we have developed a vaccine cult in US public health circles.

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