Watchdog Group Demands Answers from CDC About Spike in RSV Rates in Children Linked to COVID Vax

The illness can be serious in small children.

QUICK FACTS:
  • The Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) is requesting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) respond to a recent spike in cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in children.
  • A rise in cases of the influenza-like virus is typically seen in winter months and can be a serious illness for young children and the elderly. 
  • Questions and concerns have surrounded the current rise in RSV cases occurring during the off-season.
  • ICAN’s attorneys sent a letter to the CDC on October 26, 2022, regarding clinical trial data that demonstrated a correlation between increased RSV cases and receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine.
  • The letter from ICAN demanded data about the percentage of children who have tested positive for RSV who had received the COVID-19 vaccine prior to the RSV diagnosis.
FROM THE LETTER:
  • “On behalf of our client, Informed Consent Action Network (‘ICAN’), we write regarding the increase in RSV cases currently being observed in the United States,” the letter said. “In the clinical trial for Moderna’s pediatric Covid-19 vaccine (mRNA-1273), it found an increased rate of RSV and upper respiratory infection among children that received the vaccine. As provided in the FDA’s review memorandum for this vaccine.”
  • The letter also cited the study which outlined infection rates for children from 6-23 months of age, children aged 2-5 years, and children from 6 to 11-year-olds
  • In discussing these data, FDA’s VRBPAC committee “stressed the importance of continued post-authorization safety surveillance, in particular for myocarditis/pericarditis and for certain respiratory infections (RSV and pneumonia) in the youngest age group, for which imbalances of uncertain clinical significance were observed in the clinical trial,” ICAN’s representatives went on. “In the clinical trial for Pfizer’s pediatric Covid-19 vaccine (BNT162b2), serious adverse events ‘reported in the BNT162b2 group included RSV bronchiolitis (5 participants), pneumonia (2 participants), gastroenteritis (2 participants), lower respiratory tract infection (2 participants).'”
  • “We commend the CDC for the meticulous level of data it collects regarding RSV cases across the country, as detailed here https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/nrevss/rsv/index.html. The CDC provides surveillance reports dating back to 1984 and offers state, HHS regional, census region and division, and national trends related to RSV. Given the CDC’s robust and ongoing data collection among those tested for and positive for RSV, please let us know the percent of children who have tested positive for RSV who had received a Covid-19 vaccine prior to their RSV diagnosis.”
BACKGROUND:
  • Tennessee Gov Bill Lee has taken a stand against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for school children, announcing that Tennessee will not be required to follow the CDC’s recommendation to add the COVID vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule.
  • “I’ve always said mandates are the wrong approach, & TN has led in pushing back on federal covid vaccine requirements,” Lee tweeted.
  • While the CDC has issued the recommendation, the agency cannot demand states follow and the decision is not a mandate, as American Faith previously reported. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office also released a statement urging CDC Director Rochelle Walensky to reject the committee’s proposal.
  • “Tennessee continues to oppose federal vaccine mandates and stands firm in defense of personal freedom,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a tweet. “Tennessee law already protects children and families from today’s CDC vote.”

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