ZDogg Ignores Risks of Hepatitis B Vaccine

In a presentation from his video blog, ZDoggMD, aka (Dr. Zubin Damania) broke out the suit and tie and a professional appearance to get serious about the hepatitis B vaccine:

ZDogg’s right about the ugliness of hepatitis B and its ability to kill later in life but he downplays the short-term risks and completely ignores the literature that has come out linking the vaccine to autoimmune disease, learning disabilities, and yes, autism.

The hepatitis B vaccine was initially intended for infants at risk, which is to say infants of mothers who were drug users or homeless, but it was too difficult to ascertain the at-risk population so authorities just recommended it for ALL children. It’s important to note that the hep B test for pregnant mothers is standard of care procedure and in the United States at least, there is no uncertainty about whether a mother has the disease and is likely to spread it to her child.

But the vaccine would be fine to administer if there were no side effects or they were as minimal as ZDogg makes it sound.

ZDogg says, “What ware the adverse events? Redness at the site of injection; low-grade fever. One in 1.1 million babies could have an anaphylactic reaction, but they’re usually in the hospital and that can be managed. So this vaccine is not only safe, it is absolutely effective.”

But is is safe?

There is a wealth of data coming in that would indicate otherwise.

Developmental delays

A study published in 2008 from SUNY-Stony Brook compared children who received the triple hepatitis B vaccine series to those who had not. The results were published in Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry and were quite alarming: boys who had received the full, recommended hepatitis B vaccine series were nine times more likely to need special education than boys who did not receive a single dose of the vaccine. Furthermore, the same researchers found that premature boys who received the hepatitis B vaccine had a threefold increase in autism diagnoses.

Autoimmune reactions

Hepatitis B vaccine might be followed by various rheumatic conditions and might trigger the onset of underlying inflammatory or autoimmune rheumatic diseases: https://academic.oup.com/rheumatology/article/38/10/978/1783598, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9733447, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10534549, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11892701

This paper points out that information on the safety of hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) is biased as compared to classical requirements of evidence-based medicine (EBM), as exemplified by a documented selectivity in the presentation or even publication of available clinical or epidemiological data.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15722255

Post-vaccination encephalomyelitis: literature review and illustrative case.

“Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that is usually considered a monophasic disease. ADEM forms one of several categories of primary inflammatory demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system including multiple sclerosis, optic neuropathy, acute transverse myelitis, and neuromyelitis optica (Devic’s disease). Post-infectious and post-immunisation encephalomyelitis make up about three-quarters of cases, (…). Post-vaccination ADEM has been associated with several vaccines such as rabies, diphtheria-tetanus-polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, rubella, Japanese B encephalitis, pertussis, influenza, hepatitis B, and the Hog vaccine.” Journal of Clinical Neuroscience 2008 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/18976924/

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

“The simultaneous sudden deaths of twins rarely occur and therefore it has received limited attention in the medical literature. When the deaths of the twins meet the defined criteria for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) independently and take place within the same 24 h range it can be called as simultaneous SIDS (SSIDS). The case(s): Twin girls (3.5-month-old) were found dead by their mother in their crib, both in supine position.”  Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine 2007
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17654772

There are more damning studies at Learn the Risk: https://www.learntherisk.org/hepatitis-b-studies/

Conclusion

Hepatitis B is certainly something you want to avoid for your children. From the sounds of it, it’s a horrible disease. But the risk of getting the disease is very low for infants not having unprotected sex or using intravenous drugs. And there are serious short-term and long-term risks from the vaccine. If you think the benefits outweigh the risks, then by all means get the vaccine. But don’t let anyone make you feel bad for making the rational choice of rejecting it for your newborn.