Anti-Vaccine Propaganda about Hot Lots
The Bernstein Memo
Why are anti-vaccine influencers still talking about hot lots after all of these years?
After all, it was one of the earliest forms of anti-vaccine propaganda to be refuted.
Well, at least one of the earliest forms of anti-vaccine propaganda of the modern anti-vaccine era…
Anti-Vaccine Propaganda about Hot Lots
And while it is true that there was a cluster of SIDS cases in Tennessee in 1979 and eventually, that led manufacturers to limit distribution of large lots of DPT vaccines to each region, everything else you have likely heard about this story is pure propaganda.
Wait, what else is there to the story?
Well, for one thing, the Bernstein memo wasn’t the first response to the alert about the cases of SIDS in Tennessee!
Instead, the lot of DPT vaccine was quickly recalled, on March 9, and federal health officials quickly went to Tennessee to investigate the deaths.
And it was a nationwide recall of that lot.
Plus, not surprigingly there was an investigation.
“An investigation was carried out to determine if there was a meaningful association between DTP vaccine from the suspect lot and sudden infant deaths in Tennessee.”
Diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-pertussis vaccination and sudden infant deaths in Tennessee
What did the investigation find?
The investigation found that “the differences in the number of vaccinated infants who died within eight days or within 24 hours of vaccination with lot A in the study period and with any lot in the control period were not statistically significant…”
What else did the investigation find?
“The overall incidence of SIDS in Tennessee did not increase during the time period when lot A was in use. Samples from lot A were tested at the Bureau of Biologics, Food and Drug Administration, and found acceptable with regard to potency and freedom from toxicity for all components.”
Diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-pertussis vaccination and sudden infant deaths in Tennessee
The researchers also reminded folks that “Anecdotal evidence from foreign countries where different DTP vaccination schedules were used beginning at later infant ages as compared to the United States experience does not suggest an association between DTP and SIDS because the age distribution curves of SIDS cases are similar, even though vaccination patterns are quite different.”
In other words, if in general, vaccines cause SIDS, or more specifically, the DTP vaccine causes SIDS, then why are the rates of SIDS the same in countries all over world even though many start to give vaccines at different ages?
To be clear - the investigation found that the DPT vaccine was not associated with the cases of SIDS.
And of course, many other studies have since confirmed that vaccines are not associated with SIDS…
The Bernstein Memo
When was the Bernstein memo?
It was written five and a half months after the vaccine recall, on August 27.
It was written after investigations were well underway.
It was written so that anti-vaccine activists could no longer exploit and take advantage of families suffering with the loss of a child to SIDS and encourage them to blame vaccines.
It removed the issue of ‘hot lots,’ as things that happened coincidentally after a vaccine would be less likely to come from the same lot.
#StopAntiVaxPropaganda
References
Bernier RH, Frank JA Jr, Dondero TJ Jr, Turner P. Diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-pertussis vaccination and sudden infant deaths in Tennessee. J Pediatr. 1982 Sep;101(3):419-21. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(82)80076-0. PMID: 7108666.
Baraff LJ, Ablon WJ, Weiss RC. Possible temporal association between diphtheria-tetanus toxoid-pertussis vaccination and sudden infant death syndrome. Pediatr Infect Dis. 1983 Jan-Feb;2(1):7-11. doi: 10.1097/00006454-198301000-00003. PMID: 6835859.
Hoffman HJ, Hunter JC, Damus K, Pakter J, Peterson DR, van Belle G, Hasselmeyer EG. Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis immunization and sudden infant death: results of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Cooperative Epidemiological Study of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome risk factors. Pediatrics. 1987 Apr;79(4):598-611. PMID: 3493477.