PIC Releases Educational Documents; States ‘Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (Hib) Vaccine Has Not Been Proven Safer Than Hib’

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., August 19, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC) has introduced two new educational documents, “Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (Hib): What You Need to Know” and “Hib Vaccine: Is It Safer Than Hib?” The educational materials provide key scientific data on the risks of Hib as well as the risks of the Hib vaccine, thereby assisting parents, physicians, and policymakers in calculating the risk-benefit ratio of vaccination.

Important facts from the Hib Disease Information Statement (DIS) include the following:

• Most Hib infections are asymptomatic (have no symptoms).
• Before the introduction of the Hib vaccine, invasive Hib was a disease of low incidence, occurring in about 1 in 68,000 (0.0015%) in the U.S. population.
• Exclusive breastfeeding can prevent invasive Hib infections. The majority of invasive Hib infections occur in children who are not exclusively breastfed for 13 weeks or more.
• Before the introduction of the Hib vaccine, annually about 1 in 143,000 or 0.0007% of children under age 5 who were exclusively breastfed for 13 weeks or more contracted invasive Hib that was fatal or led to permanent disability.

Key facts from the Hib Vaccine Risk Statement (VRS) include the following:

• The Hib vaccine has reduced the incidence of reported cases of Hib infections; however, studies have observed that mass vaccination may lead to an increase in the prevalence of non-type b Haemophilus influenzae strains.
• The PedvaxHib vaccine contains 225 mcg of aluminum, an amount that is more than 40 times greater than the maximum safe level of aluminum in the bloodstream per day for an 11.7-pound infant, which is derived from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
• The Institute of Medicine has not ruled out the possibility that Hib vaccination can lead to transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, thrombocytopenia, and sudden infant death syndrome.
• Seizures may occur in about 1 in 1,098 children vaccinated with Hib vaccine. 
• A study published in Autoimmunity observed an increased risk of type 1 diabetes of 1 in 1,852 among children who received 4 doses of the Hib vaccine.
• A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) did not rule out the possibility that the Hib vaccine may cause permanent disability 58 times more often than Hib can cause permanent disability or death in U.S. children who were breastfed exclusively for 13 weeks or more.
• The Hib vaccine has not been proven safer than Hib.

To read and share the newest documents on Haemophilus influenzae type b and the Hib vaccine, visit picdata.org/hib.

Source: Physicians for Informed Consent