MedAlerts Vaccine Reaction Reporting Database

How MedAlerts Became the "Go-To"

Vaccine Reaction Report 

Search Engine

by Patrice La Vigne

MedAlerts is the unique database search engine created and launched online in 2003 by computer science expert Steven Rubin, PhD to allow people to search and review reports of vaccine-related complications made to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS).  Dr. Rubin developed MedAlerts to provide people with a user-friendly way to search vaccine reactions reported to the U.S. government by doctors, nurses and other vaccine providers, as well as the public.

VAERS was included as part of the vaccine safety informing, recording and reporting provisions that NVIC co-founders secured in the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act as an integrated post-marketing surveillance system to monitor potential safety problems with vaccines. VAERS is jointly operated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

With 60,000 hits daily, Dr. Rubin estimates MedAlerts attracts some 3,000 unique visitors to the website per day. Following is an historical look-back at why and how Dr. Rubin created the invaluable online VAERS database search engine, MedAlerts, that can be accessed through NVIC website.

Parents' Experiences with Vaccine Reactions Leads to Computer Program

Steven Rubin never planned to create MedAlerts or get involved with vaccine reaction reporting. The VAERS data wasn't even on his radar. In the 1990's, he was simply working as a computer scientist writing open-source software. In 1996, his wife, Amy Lansky, PhD, left her job as a computer scientist to study homeopathy and later wrote the book, "Impossible Cure," about their son's autism and the important role homeopathic remedies played in their son's recovery from autism.

In the late 1990's, Dr. Rubin became aware that babies were dying and suffering brain injury after routine vaccinations and he began investigating the federal VAERS data...

To read more and make a comment, click here. 

ICPA Offers NVIC Supporters Special Subscription to Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine

The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA), which represents doctors of chiropractic caring for children, has supported NVIC's mission to prevent vaccine injuries and deaths through public education for more than two decades. An article by Barbara Loe Fisher on the "Moral Right to Religious and Conscientious Belief Exemption to Vaccination" is featured in ICPA's Summer 2013 issue of Pathways to Family Wellness magazine. 

ICPA is offering NVIC donor supporters and NVIC Newsletter subscribers a complimentary digital version of Pathways to Family Wellness or a print copy at a significant discount. Learn more about the special offer.

NVIC in the News

NVIC Executive Director Theresa Wrangham participated in a Skype interview on the new Post-TV "On Background" show along with Dr. Corey Hebert of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. The  Washington Post-sponsored TV segment titled "Vaccines: Science vs. Skeptics" was moderated by Nia-Malika Henderson. Theresa defended parents' right to make informed vaccine choices. She emphasized there are both vaccine science research gaps and individual susceptibility to vaccine reactions, as well as an association between vaccine-induced encephalopathy and poor health outcomes like autism, which have been acknowledged in the federal vaccine injury compensation program.
Watch the Aug. 20, 2013 Post-TV interview and make a comment here.

In the News

Scientists Disagree About Risky Bird Flu Virus Lab Research 

The scientists behind controversial lab research to deliberately create mutant, lethal strains of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which could easily infect and be transmissible among  humans, are moving forward with similar lab experiments on H7N9 bird flu virus despite continuing concerns among other scientists about biosecurity. The lead scientists, Yoshihiro Kawaoka in Wisconsin and Ron Fouchier in the Netherlands, said they need to tinker with the genetic makeup of H7N9 in order to evaluate the potential pandemic threat of the virus and why it could be more infectious in humans or be resistant to anti-viral drugs. The H7N9 bird flu virus is associated with the deaths of 43 people among 130 infected in China, primarily those working in the bird farming industry.  Read the Aug. 7, 2013  LA Times article.

Use of Unauthorized Vaccine Caused H5N1 Outbreak Say Vets in Nepal.

Veterinarians in Nepal are saying that the use of unauthorized bird flu vaccines imported from abroad could be responsible for an H5N1 bird flu outbreak among chickens in the Kathmandu Valley. The illegally imported H5N1 vaccines recently used for the first time by poultry farmers were manufactured by Merial, Pfizer and Civa. One veterinarian in Nepal was quoted as saying that vaccines cannot stop bird flu but "rather help in spread of bird flu. Had the vaccine not been used, a new strain of virus would not have originated," he said. 

    Read the Aug. 8, 2013 Himalayan Times article. Also read Jabs for Avian Influenza Banned in the Aug. 13, 2013 Himalayan Times.

High-Dose Experimental Malaria Vaccine in Early Human Trials

Sanaria Inc. released results of an NIH-funded human trial on 40 adults, who were given an experimental intravenous vaccine containing live, weakened purified malaria parasites. Six of the volunteers given five doses of the vaccine did not develop malaria when bitten by malaria parasite-infected mosquitoes but eight of the 15 volunteers who got fewer doses did develop malaria. Sanaria noted the new malaria vaccine, which is injected directly into the veins, was "remarkably safe and well-tolerated" and hopes to make it "a commercial reality" within three to five years. Read the Aug. 8, 2013 Sanaria press release.   

FDA Approves Novartis Meningococcal Vaccine for Infants

The Food and Drug Administration approved Novartis' Menveo meningococcal vaccine for use in infants as young as two months of age. Previously, the quadrivalent conjugate vaccine was licensed for use in children two years and older and in adults through age 55 years. The CDC recommends one dose of meningococcal vaccine for all 11-12 years olds and another dose for 16 years olds. Currently 22 states mandate the vaccine for entry to sixth grade, high school or college. Read the Aug. 1, 2013 Novartis press release and Aug.1, 2013 MarketWatch article.

Texas Relaxes Meningitis Vaccine Requirements for College Students

Under a new law effective Oct. 1, 2013, only students under 22 years old will be required to show proof of meningococcal vaccination to attend colleges in Texas. A law passed in 2011 applied to all college students under 30 years old. Texas public health laws allow a conscientious belief exemption to vaccination and students may file an exemption if they choose not to get a meningococcal vaccination, which costs $114 per shot in a private pediatrician's office.  Read the Aug. 10, 2013 Texas Tribune article. 

Learn more about meningococcal disease and the vaccine and why NVIC opposes meningococcal vaccine mandates on NVIC's website.

Vaccine Freedom Wall:Have you or your children been threatened or forced to get a vaccination without your voluntary, informed consent? You can share your story with others by posting your experience on NVIC's Vaccine Freedom Wall here.

NVIC Calendar Notes

Oct. 12, 2013. Annual Natural Living Conference sponsored by Holistic Moms Network at the Sheraton Mahwah, New Jersey. 8:30 - 4:30 p.m.  Speakers and panelists include Andrea Donsky, Laura Evans, Barbara Loe Fisher, Dr. Lawrence Rosen, Jefrey Smith and Dr. Shefali Tsabary. Holistic Living Awards Gala and Fund Raiser 6:30 p.m. 

Federal Vaccine Advisory Committee Meetings and Other Meetings:

Sep. 5-6, and Dec. 5-6, 2013: Meeting dates for the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines.

Sep. 10-11, 2013:  Meeting dates for the National Vaccine Advisory Committee. Meetings are open to members of the public.  

Sep. 18-19 and Nov. 13-14, 2013: Tentative meeting dates for the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. 

Oct. 23-24, 2013: Meeting dates for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

http://www.medalerts.org/