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E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982." ========================================================================================== BL Fisher Note: Over the years, newborns have suffered vaccine reactions and died. Although infants can suffer bleeding in the brain after being violently shaken, vaccine-induced brain inflammation can also cause bleeding in the brain. Whole cell pertussis vaccine was associated occasionally with bleeding in the brain. Methodologically sound clinical research to evaluate the biological mechanisms for vaccine injury and death, including risk factors for vaccine induced bleeding in the brain, should have been conducted long ago. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-02/wfub-rsc021706.phpEurekaAlert Source: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Posted: February 26, 2006 Researchers Say Criterion For Diagnosing Child Abuse Not Always Accurate When it comes to looking for damage to the eyes to prove child abuse, new
research shows that things aren't always as they seem, "Contrary to what many doctors have been taught, we found that number
and location of hemorrhages of the eye's retina aren't Lantz found that about 16 percent of the 700 individuals he examined during autopsy had hemorrhages of the retina, which is light-sensitive nerve tissue at the back of the eye. The bleeding occurs when tiny blood vessels on the retina's surface rupture. Lantz found the hemorrhages in individuals who had died from ruptured aneurysms, falls, car wrecks, gunshot wounds, meningitis and even drug overdose. "Our research shows that you see the hemorrhages in a lot of different situations," Lantz said. "Retinal hemorrhages occur in child abuse, but they don't always mean a child was abused. Unfortunately, many pathologists, pediatricians and ophthalmologists have been taught that retinal hemorrhages are diagnostic of child abuse unless the child was involved in a high-speed car crash or fell more than two stories." Currently, when child abuse is suspected, doctors conduct an eye exam to
look for retinal hemorrhages and other eye changes that are considered proof
of child abuse. Lantz got the idea to question this common assumption after
he found that another eye condition, To test his theory that retinal hemorrhages also may not always be indicative of child abuse, Lantz decided to look for the condition during autopsies to learn more about when they occur. Previously, the only way to look for the hemorrhages during an autopsy was to remove the eyes. Lantz came up with an alternative -- performing eye exams during autopsies using a surgical headlight and a handheld lens. This simple technique is sometimes used by ophthalmologists when more sophisticated equipment is not available, but no one had ever reported using it during autopsies. The 700 deaths were in people ranging in age from birth to 96. Causes of death or conditions associated with retinal hemorrhages included suffocation, sudden infant death syndrome, meningitis, blunt trauma to the head, ruptured cerebral aneurysms, hemorrhagic strokes, cancer that had spread to the brain, high blood pressure, bleeding disorders, diabetes and gunshot wounds to the head. "Many doctors have been taught to look for the hemorrhages when they suspect child abuse and often will diagnose child abuse without considering other possibilities," Lantz said. "Our research shows that you see the hemorrhages in a variety of different situations in infants, children and adults." According to medical literature, retinal hemorrhages in infants are rare except in cases of abuse. "We're finding just the opposite," said Lantz. "We've found more retinal hemorrhages in non-abuse cases than in abuse cases, but most doctors don't look in the eyes of children unless they suspect child abuse." Retinal hemorrhages were found in 30 children under age 14, yet only 6 cases were associated with child abuse. As one of the first pathologists to routinely look at the back of the eye during autopsies, Lantz has learned that the technique can help diagnose hypertension, glaucoma, Marfan syndrome and even diabetes. He has taught residents and medical students to conduct the examinations and published an article in the Journal of Forensic Science (Nov. 2005) on the technique. Lantz's co-researcher was Constance A. Stanton, M.D., neuropathologist, from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. ============================================= News@nvic.org is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations. To sign up for a free e-mail subscription http://www.nvic.org/emaillist.htm
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