The mainstream media is doing their best to minimize a devastating study showing a high correlation (7.7-fold) between flu vaccines and miscarriages. A review of the scientific literature shows a body of evidence that supports the new study’s conclusions. Why can’t we all just deal with the facts?
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lena Sun, reporter for the Washington Post, had an unenviable task: cover a newly released study implicating the flu vaccine in spontaneous abortions (aka, miscarriages). The study, released today in the highly respected and prestigious journal Vaccine, has a title that will likely increase the stress level of pregnant women trying to figure out how to keep their baby safe:
Like all good journalists working in the mainstream media, Ms. Sun’s challenge was to report on a potentially catastrophic new study that might hurt the primary source of advertising revenue for her employer: the pharmaceutical industry. And while I’ve seen a number of different ways for reporters to try and minimize the implications of damaging studies, Ms. Sun’s headline may just take the cake:
For those of you not steeped in the jargon of statistics or epidemiology, you’re going to have to take my word for it that “hint” is not a statistical term nor does “hint” in any way provide a specific assessment of risk. “Hint” is more like a word that you hope might keep people from reading your article.
(Imagine saying McDonald’s hamburgers provide a “hint” of spontaneous death or riding a rollercoaster provides a “hint” of lifelong paralysis…)
Despite Ms. Sun’s choice to minimize the significance of the study, the actual conclusions by the study authors were deeply troubling. In a nutshell, what the authors found is that women who had received an H1N1flu shot in the 2010–11 season and who then received a normal flu vaccine in the 2011–12 season were dramatically more likely to have a spontaneous abortion. How much more likely? Here’s what the study says:
Among women who received pH1N1-containing vaccine in the previous influenza season, the aOR in the 1–28 days was 7.7 (95% CI 2.2–27.3); the aOR was 1.3 (95% CI 0.7–2.7) among women not vaccinated in the previous season.
(Author’s note: soon after my article was published, the headline of Ms. Sun’s article was changed to remove the word “hint” although she is still using the word to describe the 7-fold relationship researchers found within the article itself.)