What’s Wrong With Posts About a Measles Vaccine Trial That Was Conducted in Honduras?
Anti-vaccine influencers are in panic mode over rising measles cases and a child with measles encephalitis.
There is a lot wrong with recent posts by anti-vaccine influencers about a measles vaccine trial that was conducted in Honduras.
A study that was published in 1967…
What’s Wrong With Posts About a Measles Vaccine Trial That Was Conducted in Honduras?
To begin with, this is not the original trial on which the measles vaccine we used was based.
To be fair, it is one of the clinical trials that helped them develop the final measles vaccine, but this isn’t the definitive trial, as they are making it seem.
Remember, the MMR vaccine uses the Moraten strain of the measles virus, which is a modified Enders’ Edmonston strain. That strain was developed in 1968.
What’s the difference in these strains?
The modified Enders’ Edmonston strain was further attenuated so that it would cause fewer side effects.
And to figure that out, they had to do a few clinical trials…
The Majority of Kids Did Not Get Sick in a Measles Vaccine Trial in Honduras
Still, while the measles strains in the Honduras measles vaccine trail did cause more side effects than the final MMR vaccine, it still isn’t true that the majority of kids got sick.
“Cough and diarrhea were common in the community, and there was no difference in the incidence of these symptoms.”
Edmonston B and a further attenuated measles vaccine--a placebo controlled double blind comparison
Most symptoms were also seen in the placebo group and were commonly seen in the community in kids who weren’t vaccinated.
Not surprisingly though, kids who got the Edmonston B vaccine did have more fever than the others and one had a febrile seizure, but with no further problems.
And systemic symptoms were reported to be mild.
The Study Wasn’t Done in Honduras So That Bodies Could Be Buried
That anti-vaccine influencers think that this study was done in Honduras so that “any bodies could be buried,” just goes to show how deep they are into conspiracy theories!
Vaccine trials are done all over the world, as vaccines are needed and used all over the world.
Anyway, many of the first measles vaccine trials were done in the United States.
And no bodies were buried, except tragically, for the unvaccinated kids who got measles…
What About the Idea That the Measles Vaccine Doesn’t Prevent Encephalitis?
Of course, in addition to wanting you to believe that vaccines are dangerous, anti-vaccine influencers push the idea that vaccines aren’t necessary.
That’s why you are seeing posts like this one suggesting that getting vaccine won’t prevent you from developing encephalitis after an unvaccinated child developed measles encephalitis.
That they don’t think there is evidence to support that measles vaccines prevent encephalitis, a life-threatening complication, shows how well they do their vaccine research!
In Finland, a study showed that measles encephalitis ‘totally vanished’ once they started vaccinating kids against measles.
“462 patients (269 males, 193 females, aged from 1 month to 16 years) with encephalitis were treated at the Children’s Hospital, University of Helsinki, over a 20-year period. The incidence of encephalitis was 8•3/100 000 child-years (range 198 in 1974 to 2•5 in 1985 and 1986). The organisms most commonly associated with encephalitis in children were mumps, measles, and varicella viruses, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. After the start of the nationwide measles, parotitis, and rubella (MPR) vaccination programme in 1982 in Finland, encephalitides associated with these viruses seem to have totally vanished.”
Effect of measles, mumps, rubella vaccination on pattern of encephalitis in children
And not surprisingly, studies found similar results in England.
“In this study, admissions for measles encephalitis were high before the mid-1980s, when the single measles vaccine was being used and when coverage was low (<60%) and insufficient to fully interrupt transmission.4 After introduction of the single- dose MMR vaccine in 1988 and an increase in vaccine coverage to more than 90%4—possibly due to an increase in public awareness—a sustained decline in measles encephalitis was observed. The increase in measles encephalitis admissions observed in 1994 matches the increase in overall measles case notifications in England in the same year.”
30-year trends in admission rates for encephalitis in children in England and effect of improved diagnostics and measles-mumps-rubella vaccination: a population-based observational study
How’s that for proof?
Mostly proof that anti-vaccine influencers are trying to scare and mislead you, but also some nice proof that the measles vaccine does indeed prevent measles encephalitis!
Now go get vaccinated and protected and help Stop the Outbreaks.
More on Measles Vaccine Misinformation
Edmonston B and a further attenuated measles vaccine--a placebo controlled double blind comparison
Measles Vaccination Before the Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine
Development and evaluation of the Moraten measles virus vaccine
Effect of measles, mumps, rubella vaccination on pattern of encephalitis in children
I’m with you, but I couldn’t help noticing that Table 4 shows some symptoms were commoner in the Edmonston B vaccinated vs placebo, such as rash and tonsillitis.
Significantly so in fact. The Moraten strain didn’t have the same impact though for those symptoms.
Rash I can understand, like fever you expect a degree of minor disease “leakage” with attenuated vaccines, but tonsillitis seems an odd one.