However, this and the other 238 cases were explained away by the authors as part of the “expected incidence” of seizures in this population, a "background incidence", as it were.

If a "background incidence"is stipulated, one would assume that it had been ascertained in a non-vaccinated population. Instead, somewhat surprisingly, the "background incidence"is defined as the incidence in the vaccinated population later than 30 days after a vaccination. The assumption seems to be that any seizure provoked by a vaccination will necessarily occur within the first 30 days after a vaccination; those occurring later than 30 days post-vaccination are thought to be God-given, a part of Nature, as it were. However, there is no evidence for this.

No study of natural seizure incidence, or natural crib-death incidence, in an unvaccinated group of Americans has ever been performed, as far can be determined. Mass vaccination began in the late 1940s, and the medical establishment became concerned about vaccine damage only in the 1970s. Thus they were vaccinating children for over thirty years before they got interested in statistical comparisons; today it is difficult or impossible to locate a group of unvaccinated children sufficiently large to have any statistical value.

Also there seems to be the feeling that not vaccinating a child is “unethical,” and that medical research should not venture into “unethical” areas. If that is how they feel, well and good, but they then should not discourse glibly about the “background incidence” of this or that disease or neurologic condition.

These sorts of unfounded assertions about the “natural” or “background” incidence of seizures or other kinds of vaccine reactions bedevil nearly every study of this subject.

Another trick used by the medical establishment to manipulate public opinion is to cite some study as supporting its arguments when, in actuality, the study came up with contrary conclusions. Sometimes one finds a conflict within the article itself -- for instance, the summary or the abstract will make claims which are not supported in the body of the article. Both of these criticisms can be levelled at: W. Donald Shields, Claus Nielsen, Dorte Buch, Vibeke Jacobsen, Peter Christenson, Bengt Zachau-Christiansen, and James D. Cherry. “Relationship of Pertussis Immunization to the Onset of Neurologic Disorders: a Retrospective Epidemiologic Study.” J. Pediatrics 1988; 113, 801-805.

This, conducted in Denmark, was of two groups of children who received pertussis and other immunizations at different ages, to see if this affected the dates of onset of neurological conditions. Before April, 1970, Danish children got the DPT shot (together with the Salk polio vaccine) at 5, 6, 7, and 15 months of age. After this date children received the monovalent pertussis vaccine at 5 weeks, 9 weeks, and 10 months of age, and the diphtheria, tetanus, and Salk polio vaccines at 5 months, 6 months, and 15 months. At the time of the change the potency of the pertussis vaccine was reduced by 20%, and the aluminum adjuvant (a frequent cause of reactions) was removed.

This study compared 82,518 births in the 1967-1968 period with 73,390 in the 1972-1973 period.

Records of all hospital admissions for seizure disorders and related conditions were examined and “patients whose cases were appropriate for the study were entered into the computer data base. This is the first criticism to be made: the authors do not give further information on the criteria of inclusion.