Varicella Vaccine

Abstract

To the Editor. I am writing to protest the use of propaganda in the advertisement of immunization products in the medical and lay press. The development of many immunizations has been one of the great scientific triumphs of history. Who would dispute the achievements of eradication or reduction of smallpox, polio, or tetanus? The case for these immunizations required nothing more than a clear statement of the simple facts.In the case of varicella immunization, however, the promotional materials have been at the very least misleading and at worst intellectually dishonest. Perhaps the most egregious advertisement is featured widely in the medical press. A deeply concerned man with a stethoscope around his neck looks grimly out from a dark black and green background. The lead message states, “If you don't think chickenpox is serious … think again.” The punch line is: “According to CDC data … chickenpox kills more children and adolescents than all other diseases combined for which vaccination is routinely recommended.”This statement is misleading propaganda. Each of its words are true, as is the sentence, but its implied conclusion is clearly wrong. It is true that chickenpox kills more children than all other diseases for which vaccination is routinely recommended, but nearly everything kills more people than the diseases for which vaccination is routinely recommended. If you add up the deaths from polio, tetanus, and mumps for the quoted period, 1990 through 1994, all causes of death killed more people because no one died of these diseases in that time period. The other eight diseases cited killed a total of 185 young people in the relevant period. The point is that deaths from diseases we routinely vaccinate against are rare because we vaccinate against them routinely. It is egregious to use the incidence of death from these diseases as a standard for comparison against any danger. Nearly any risk, even trivial, will appear ominous against this false standard. To put forward such a silly standard for comparison is insulting to the scientific mind, and may be blatantly unethical as a professional advertisement.I am an ardent supporter of preventive medicine, an activist in our community's efforts to immunize. If the varicella vaccine needs to be promoted to the medical community, let its manufacturers state its case in a legitimate scientific manner. The current ad campaign is base propaganda. It hurts the scientific process, weakens our professional standards, and insults our minds. Our profession needs to safeguard our values and condemn this approach to promoting a new medical intervention.