At Least 15 Syrian Children Died in 2014 Measles Immunization Campaign

Vaccine Catastrophe Serves as Reminder that MMR Vaccine Administration Has Rare Fatal Risks

By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

The intense push for MMR vaccination is hitting a feverish pitch as more measles cases are reported across the United States. However, measles vaccination and the administration of vaccine products to small children has a long history of risks, particularly when considering human error.

Leslie Roberts filed this report in a 2104 issue of Science:

At least 15 children, all or most under age 2, have died after receiving an injection in a measles immunization campaign in an opposition-held area of northern Syria. Up to 50 more children were sickened.

Details are hazy, says a World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Geneva, Switzerland, but at this point the cause looks like a "very bad human error," in which a strong muscle relaxant was administered instead of the measles vaccine. The tragic deaths threaten to undermine all vaccination efforts across Syria, where childhood immunization rates have dropped precipitously after years of civil war.

WHO and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have dispatched an investigation team but for now are dependent on secondhand information from nongovernmental organizations and other partners in northern Syria, says WHO's Christian Lindmeier. (For security reasons, neither organization has staff on the ground in Idlib, where the deaths occurred.) Until the cause is confirmed, rumors will continue to circulate, he warns; various press accounts are alleging a plot by the government of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or perhaps the terrorist group ISIS.

This report indicates that each and every MMR vaccine death that occurs annually in the United States should be investigated and reported by the media with the same vigor as death attributed to measles infection. Parents should have freedom of choice with no pressure, coercion, or threat of reprisal when considering MMR or any vaccine for their child.

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Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

President, McCullough Foundation

www.mcculloughfnd.org