[bpsdb] Guest post by British doctor DeeTee. See more by DeeTee here.

I don’t often waste my time browsing websites that promote an anti-vaccine agenda. I usually have far better things to do, and I find that a few minutes exposure to the malignant stupidity they contain makes my head throb. But recently, I looked at the JABS web site, and ended up reading through a thread from 2006. It was from the father of a little girl called Anna, and it started by describing the anguish and heartbreak his family had experienced following her tragic death the month before.

I found it quite tough to read as Anna’s Dad talked about how delightful a child she was, and how the family were completely “overwhelmed with grief”. Being a parent myself, I cannot even begin to imagine the horror of losing a child, and I know that if it were to happen I would be utterly devastated. As I began to read the rest of the thread, my thoughts went out to Anna’s parents, and I wondered how they were coping in the 3 years since they first posted the story on the JABS website.

Quite understandably, the father’s distress and incomprehension was palpable, and he naturally wanted some sort of explanation. Why and how could such a thing happen? Unsurprisingly, his reaction was to link her death to something that happened 10 days before she died. As you may have already guessed, this event was a vaccination and Anna’s death was blamed on a reaction to the MMR vaccine.

Anna’s dad had this to say in his criticism of MMR:

"It is clear to us and many others that Anna’s death was not an act of God but man's own bungling ineptitude at trying to play God whilst reaping financial returns. This sinister scenario that has enveloped our lives and destroyed Anna's and is happening to many other children must be recognised. We now know too late that the MMR vaccination is just not worth the risk. The risks of MMR damage to your child far outweigh the benefits."

In the posts that followed, there was no shortage of comments offering genuine and heartfelt sympathy, and also offering advice on what Anna’s parents could do. Some of this was quite appropriate, such as filling in yellow cards to flag the death as a vaccine reaction. Of course the tragedy of Anna also served as a red rag waved in front of a bull, so the thread soon became populated by the usual anti-MMR and antivaccination outrage that all JABS threads seem to contain. There were also posts by parents who decided, on the basis of the story, to skip having their own children immunised.

Looking at some of the linked items mentioned in the thread, it was clear that Anna’s story had become "global", and reports of her death from MMR vaccine appeared on numerous websites and blogs, and even on mainstream news outlets with added commentary by the US antivaccine campaigner Dan Olmsted. The story achieved national prominence in the UK, with the Daily Mail (among other tabloids) getting in on the act with their perennial battle cry of "MMR cover-up!"

However, by page two of the JABS thread it became clear that Anna’s story was not that straightforward a case of possible vaccine reaction. You see, she had also been exposed to chickenpox in the lead up to her MMR whilst attending "a party" [it is unclear whether this was a "chickenpox party", at which children are deliberately exposed to chickenpox]. And according to Anna’s father in the Daily Mail, she had a "runny nose" at the time of her MMR vaccination, so she "shouldn’t really have been given it" (Current medical advice is that exposure to another infection is not a contraindication to giving the vaccine, as there is no evidence this increases the incidence or severity of reactions).

It was obvious that her father continued to attribute Anna’s death to MMR, but now with the added implication that the vaccine should never have been given, spreading the blame onto the Health Centre nurse who administered it.

But by the end of page three, nearly a year after her death, Anna’s father posted the results of the post-mortem. The listed cause of death was as follows:
Purpura Fulminans caused by Systemic Varicella Zoster Virus Infection [Chickenpox].

It is clear this poor girl died after developing serious complications from her chickenpox infection, and the MMR vaccination was totally coincidental. Infections with varicella-zoster virus are usually uncomplicated, but in some cases it can cause severe manifestations, purpura fulminans being recognised as one of them. This condition is a rare type of blood coagulation disorder that accompanies some severe infections.

MMR vaccination had nothing to do with this child’s death, but that doesn’t stop the case still being used by antivaccinationists as an example of "Death from MMR", accompanied by demands for vaccinations to cease, or for single components of the vaccine to be made available.

Anna’s father did not say in the JABS thread what he now thinks, or whether he had accepted that Anna’s death was after all "an act of God", and had nothing to do with the "bungling ineptitude" of those "reaping financial returns" (i.e. the vaccine manufacturers). Reading the newspaper reports of the case, he seems to be of the opinion that MMR still was the primary factor that killed Anna, and even at one point he speculates that had she not died, Anna would have become autistic because she had received MMR.

Was the Daily Mail informed of the true cause of Anna’s death? I don’t know, but I hardly imagine it cared one way or another. And if the Mail did know, it would hardly rush to report its own "bungling ineptitude" would it?

The tragedy of this case is manifest. It is a catastrophe not only for the family of Anna, whose lives will never be the same, but it is a tragedy waiting to happen for all those who have been dissuaded from vaccinating their children because of what happened to Anna, and who have been put in harm’s way as a result.

The irony is that there is a vaccine that would have prevented Anna’s death. That vaccine is the chickenpox vaccine, one you will never, ever find someone from JABS or other antivaccine web sites endorsing, since they appear to loathe it with the same vehemence that hold for other vaccines like MMR. Chickenpox vaccine is recommended at 1 year of age as part of the infant vaccination schedule in the United States, but as yet is not routinely given in the UK. With it perhaps a few children, instead of dying like Anna from the disease, will instead live long and happy lives. I sincerely hope so.

Even more bizarrely, I find that Anna’s case is still being used on some websites, such as "Vaccinetruth", as a reason not to give chickenpox vaccine, when her death provides a very persuasive, albeit anecdotal, reason for all children to have it.

There is a singularly sad postscript to this story. It appears that Anna’s family were indeed lastingly scarred by her death. Anna’s father is reported to have blamed his wife, who was a nurse, for allowing Anna to have the MMR vaccine. Anna’s mother, emotionally unhinged through grief and guilt, injected insulin into a friend’s healthy baby girl in a fit of jealousy, causing her to lapse into a coma causing possible permanent brain damage. She was initially charged with attempted murder but subsequently convicted of assault after confessing to her actions.

This was a guest post by British doctor "DeeTee". See more by DeeTee here.

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