Nexus - 0706 - New Times Magazine-pages

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SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME OR ADVERSE VACCINE REACTION? SHAKEN SYNDROME BABY REACTION? ADVERSE VACCINE Many parents have been charged with murder for allegedly shaking their babies to death, but medical evidence suggests that vaccinations are to blame ina large number of these cases. o loving, caring parents, the act of child abuse is abhorrent. However, it must be recognised that child abuse has occurred in the past and inevitably will occur in the future. Medical professionals have the unenviable task of establishing, by applying sound medical practice and scientific evidence, if child abuse has in fact occurred. Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) was described in medical literature in the early 1970s' but was recognised as a form of severe child abuse as far back as 1860.? It is a collective term for internal head injuries which a baby or young child may sustain from: (a) being violently shaken (child abuse); (b) a combination of medical problems exacerbated by a serious vaccine adverse event; (c) a lone serious vaccine adverse event. According to New Scientist,’ researchers may be on the way to identifying a biochemi- cal signature that can help distinguish between brain injuries caused by accidents and those resulting from violent abuse. Whilst this research may identify SBS, it may not identify underlying medical problems which have been exacerbated by a serious vaccine adverse event or a lone serious vaccine adverse event. Unless sound scientific evidence is initiated swiftly to diagnose the difference, parents could find themselves in the position of a father in Sydney, Australia, who in 1995 was charged with the murder of his child. THE TRAGIC DEATH OF RIKKI LEE WALTERS Scott Warren Walters was charged with the murder of his four-month-old baby daugh- ter, Rikki Lee Walters, by allegedly shaking the baby to death on 22 April 1995. Rikki Lee was born on 23 January 1995 at 41 weeks' gestation. The apgar scores (the scale, from | to 10, upon which a baby's physical health is judged) were 8 at one minute and improved to 9 at five minutes. She was vaccinated on 19 April 1995, 72 hours prior to her death. Vaccines given were triple antigen (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), Hibtiter (Haemophilus influenzae), hepatitis B and polio syrup. The transcript of an electronically recorded interview between the police and Scott Warren Walters is significant: Q: Did she have any medical problems which you were aware of any time in between those two visits to the doctors? A: Oh, we were worried about her chest, ‘cause she was, um, breathing a bit heavy and like, we took, the doctor said she's just got a cold. Q: When did the doctor say that? A: When we took her to, um, get her needles and that, she was... Q: So, you were worried about her chest when you took her to the doctors. A: Yeah, we were; her chest was, since she was born, like she had a...she caught a cold, and, you know, through the month...through, like, the second month, she's caught a cold and it hasn't gone away; it was just...her breathing was just heavy. by Maureen Hickman © 2000 PO Box 274 Ettalong Beach, NSW 2257 Australia Telephone: +61 (0)2 4342 5294 Fax: +61 (0)2 4342 5379 E-mail: acii@ozemail.com.au PO Box 274 Ettalong Beach, NSW 2257 Australia Telephone: +61 (0)2 4342 5294 Fax: +61 (0)2 4342 5379 E-mail: acii@ozemail.com.au The transcript of the police interview with the mother is also significant: Q: Did Rikki Lee receive any vaccination? A: Yeah; the other day it was her two-month-old needles, ‘cause she had a cold when they were due; ones for polio, hepatitis B, measles and mumps, all that type of thing. Q: Did Rikki Lee have diarrhoea? A: No. Q: Did she have vomiting? NEXUS - 35 OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2000