Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla (free reads TXT) 📕

nerdy kind of way. Rarely are they anywhere near as well attended as this one.

Or as controversial.

The new policy she has come to present isn’t even her brainchild. It came directly from the state legislature via the governor’s office in Olympia. But this audience is unlikely to focus on such distinctions. Many of them appear poised to shoot the messenger.

Lisa appreciates that not all the attendees are hostile. A number have come to support, or at least to learn more about the new law that mandates immunization for all middle-school-aged girls and boys with the newest HPV vaccine. But she isn’t surprised by the public outcry. Among the anti-vaxxers—or the “vaccine hesitancy” community, as most prefer to be known—the HPV vaccine might be the most outrage-inducing one of all. She has already heard an earful from her own sister yesterday about the new policy. She can’t even imagine how her dad would react to it, nor does she intend to find out.

The rumblings grow throughout her talk, and even before Lisa clicks on the final slide on her presentation, hands shoot up throughout the crowd. Mentally bracing for the onslaught, she points to a willowy woman with a rainbow headband in the second row, who has already sprung to her feet.

“You used the word ‘safe.’ Safe?” The woman’s voice cracks. “How can you say that when we all know what happened to Cody Benson.”

The case of the Utah teenager had become a rallying point for the activists after he died a year earlier from a progressive spinal condition a few weeks after receiving the HPV vaccine.

“What happened to him is tragic,” Lisa says. “But there’s no definitive proof his transverse myelitis was related to his vaccination.”

“How can you even say that?” the woman asks, visibly trembling. “He was dead within two weeks of getting that shot!”

And if he had been hit by a truck two weeks after his injection, would you still blame the vaccine? Lisa thinks. But she understands how emotional the cause is for some, having grown up with like-minded people in her own family. She views the woman solemnly. “In medicine, timing is not always evidence of causality. In other words, just because two things happen near the same time, it doesn’t mean the first is responsible for the second. Millions of kids have been immunized so far. And we’ve only seen a handful cases of degenerative neurological disease among them.”

“But you have seen them!”

“Yes, but the rate is no higher than among nonvaccinated children. Which tells us there is no link.”

Shaking her head in what appears to be disgust, the woman drops back into her seat.

“You talk about your right to protect the community,” another voice calls out from somewhere in the middle of the auditorium. “What about our right to choose? And our individual rights to protect our own children?”

Lisa scans the rows to spot the questioner, a brunette whose outstretched hand reveals a glimmering rock on her ring finger that’s big enough to be seen from the podium. “All the medical evidence suggests that’s just what this HPV vaccine will do,” Lisa says. “Protect your children. From developing cervical cancer, of which there are forty-three thousand new cases every year in the US.”

“Evidence planted by the drug companies to protect their profits!” someone else calls out from near the back of the room.

Lisa takes a breath. “No. Evidence such as the massive population study in Denmark that reviewed a million vaccinated children and found no increase in adverse outcomes compared to the general population.”

“With enough money and influence, you can buy any result you want!”

And so it goes. It was as if she hadn’t bothered to give her carefully crafted, data-filled presentation that reviewed the many benefits of the vaccine and debunked the myths about its risks. A few people in the audience voice their support. And there are moments of infighting among the crowd. But for the most part, Lisa faces a flurry of emotional outbursts that are as disconnected from logic or science as she could imagine. One distraught woman even raises the old myth about how a vaccine that prevents sexually transmitted cancer will lead to promiscuity. It feels like being back at her parents’ dinner table.

Lisa points to the man in the front row who has been patiently holding his arm up for the past while. In a blazer and jeans with hair gelled back and wire-rimmed glasses on, he reminds Lisa of the physiology professor she had a crush on in medical school.

“Excellent presentation, Dr. Dyer.” The man’s self-assured grin and square jaw evoke even stronger memories of her old prof. “Thank you for taking the time to share such important information on such a vital threat.”

“You’re welcome,” Lisa says. But his use of the word threat raises her guard. “Did you have a question?”

“A few, as a matter of fact,” he says, rising languidly to his feet. “You covered a lot of ground in your slideshow. But there were a number of things you left out. For example, the more recent Danish study that found a link between the vaccine and neurologic complications.”

“That was a study of only thirty-five participants. And the EMA—the European equivalent of the FDA—found no evidence to support its claim.”

“And yet, the American College of Pediatrics claims that this vaccine is responsible for numerous bad outcomes, all confirmed through the VAERS database.”

“That database—the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System—is only for self-reporting vaccine reactions.”

“Exactly,” he says. “Real reported cases, not nebulous population studies.”

“We use the VAERS database to identify potential patterns of reactions.” For the first time, Lisa struggles to keep the exasperation from her tone. Breathe. “But picking and choosing individual entries from VAERS is like substituting bad Yelp reviews for scientific evidence.”

A ripple of chuckles run through the room.

The man only shrugs. “All right, then why did the Japanese government suspend the very same program that you are now proposing?”

“That was a political decision.”

“And this isn’t?” He frowns. “After the Japanese vaccination program