One doctor wouldn't sign it because he believed that my brother should be vaccinated, and that he wasn't convinced that the epilepsy was a result of his response to the vaccinations.
From the
Epilepsy Research Foundation:
Researchers in Australia, led by the award-winning scientist
Professor Samuel Berkovic, noticed that in many of these cases, the types of seizures seen closely resembled another type of epilepsy called severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy. This has a genetic basis: patients have altered versions of a gene called SCN1A. They therefore decided to test fourteen patients diagnosed with "vaccine encephalopathy" for this mutation.
Eleven out of the fourteen patients had a mutated version of the SCN1A gene. In nine cases, the patients' parents' DNA was available and was also tested: none of the mutations were inherited; they were all new mutations in the child's DNA. All fourteen patients' seizure symptoms were reassessed: all were found to have specific epilepsy syndromes which are not typically associated with damage due to vaccination.
The researchers, writing in the June issue of Lancet Neurology, concluded that cases of "vaccine encephalopathy" could in fact be cases of a genetically caused condition that had nothing to do with the vaccine. The gene mutation causing the condition is new, so that there is no history of epilepsy in the family of the patient. If these results are confirmed in larger studies, this could have major implications for the treatment of people believed to have "vaccine encephalopathy" and also for the perceived acceptability of vaccines across society.
Clearly this doesn't prove that vaccines can't cause epilepsy. But if there is not evidence of a direct link (again, causation, not merely correlation) between vaccines and epilepsy, I'm still skeptical. If anyone knows of any evidence, please post it. Meanwhile I'll look myself.
ETA: OK, at least
one study has shown that there may be a slight increase in seizures after getting the MMR vaccine. I'd like to see further studies on this. But this is a dilemma, as M, M, and R are things we don't want our children to deal with either:
Measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles) are serious diseases. They spread when germs pass from an infected person to the nose or throat of another person.
Measles causes rash, cough, and fever. This disease can lead to ear infection, pneumonia, diarrhea, seizures (convulsions), brain damage, coma, and death.
Mumps causes fever, headache, and swollen glands under the jaw. This disease can lead to hearing loss, meningitis (infection of brain and spinal cord coverings), painful, swollen testicles in males, and sterility in male patients.
Rubella causes rash, swollen glands, and arthritis (mostly in women). Pregnant women can miscarry. Babies can be born with birth defects such as deafness, blindness, heart disease, brain damage, and other serious problems.
Is there a proven, safe, and effective way to prevent the above diseases other than the vaccine (sincere question, not rhetorical)? Does the bad outweigh the good? Should we ban any or all vaccines?
