# 4577
Earlier today my attention was called to an article that appears in an online publication called The Foreigner, providing Norway-centric news in English.
I’ll not reproduce more than the opening to the article. It’s relatively short, so by all means, follow the link to read it in its entirety.
I’ll have more when you return . . .
Swine flu vaccine caused deaths
Published on Tuesday, 18th May, 2010 at 10:18 under the news category, by Michael Sandelson.
Norwegian state agency launches investigation.
A syringe
Photo: Wikimedia CommonsTen people in Norway have died as a result of last year’s mass vaccination programme against the swine flu (Influenza A H1N1).
According to figures released by the Norwegian Medicines Agency (Statens legemiddelverk), the Pandemrix vaccine also accounted for 801 reported incidents of side-effects. Health authorities considered 201 of these cases to be severe.
This seems pretty definitive. Ten deaths in Norway as a result of the mass vaccination program.
But is this what the Norwegian Medicines Agency reported?
A look at their 2009 Adverse Report (released 05/17/10) shows quite a difference between their analysis and the above declaration that the vaccine killed 10 people in Norway.
(Google Translated –emphasis mine)
Deaths
It was reported ten deaths after vaccination with Pandemrix. So far there are no indications that deaths are caused by the vaccine. When many people vaccinated in a short time, it will happens to be death in the modern context of vaccination, but have not causation by the vaccine.
The reported deaths occurred from 1 to 38 days after vaccination. This includes three men and seven women aged 23-101 years, median age was 76 years. All who died had underlying diseases that may explain the death
The Norwegian Medicines Agency website has a summary of this recently released Adverse report, a Google translation of which is below.
Adverse Report for 2009
The number of adverse event messages in 2009 is a record high. Taken together came in 2914 messages. The high number is due to the flu pandemic.
More than half of adverse messages were reported as a result of vaccines.
Read the complete adverse event report for 2009 (pdf, opens in new window).Serious and fatal side effects in 2009
- The proportion of serious adverse events at the same level as in 2008 (46%).
- Despite a large number of messages is the number of reported deaths stable (127 deaths).The proportion of fatal cases is 4.4%. It is somewhat lower than the previous five years.
- As in previous years, most deaths related to treatment with blood-thinning drugs.
2009 Side effects of pandemic vaccine in 2009
Burden associated with influenza pandemic has been great, but health professionals have nevertheless been quick to report side effects.
- In 2009, it was reported 801 cases of adverse reactions after vaccination with Pandemrix. Health care was specifically asked to report serious events after vaccination. . 201 of these messages is considered serious, such as severe allergic reactions, seizures and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
- It is reported ten deaths in patients who have had pandemic vaccine. Since the death of 100 people in Norway every day, some deaths identity in the era of vaccination. Preliminary results show that the deaths do not have any probable connection with the vaccine.
- It is reported 16 cases of abortions, fetal death or stillbirth associated with vaccination in 2009. In many cases there was severe disease in the fetus that could explain the abortion or stillbirth. So far the data does not signal that the vaccination of pregnant women has caused risk to the fetus or the pregnant.
Whether or not the pandemic vaccine will be ultimately linked to any of these deaths is something I can’t answer. It’s possible.
But the assertion that `Ten people in Norway have died as a result of last year’s mass vaccination’ is a far cry from what the Norwegian Medicines Agency reported yesterday.
Which proves that sometimes, if you want the full story, it pays to go to the source’s mouth.
