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Sudden Hearing Loss After COVID Vaccination?

There is a great deal of interest in the otolaryngology (ENT) community and the general medical community at large with the perception that hearing loss rates have increased after COVID vaccinations. The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery estimates that sudden sensorineural hearing loss affects 5 to 27 per 100,000 people annually, with about 66,000 new cases a year in the U.S.

Estimates of sudden sensorineural hearing loss after COVID-19 vaccination ranged from 0.3 to 4.1 per 100,000 per year based on the recent Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) data according to Eric Formeister, MD, MS, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and co-authors in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

“Among the otolaryngology community and larger medical community, there is a lot of interest surrounding a perception of an increased rate of sudden hearing loss that has been observed in some patients after COVID vaccination,” Formeister told MedPage Today.

“However, sudden hearing loss can also occur naturally, so it is not known whether sudden hearing loss occurring after COVID vaccination is coincidental or may be related to the vaccine,” he added. “Further, some patients who have suffered sudden hearing loss after the first dose have been hesitant to receive the second dose due to safety concerns.”

Formeister and his colleagues found 147 reports of sudden hearing loss, deafness, deafness unilateral, deafness neurosensory, and hypoacusis associated with COVID vaccinations from December 14, 2020 to March 2, 2021 in the VAERS system.

However, Formeister and MedPage Today downplayed these 147 reports, stating that of these reports, only 40 had a temporal association (hearing loss onset occurred within 3 weeks of vaccination).   Because of how they were reported only these 40 were considered high credibility (they had been reported by a healthcare clinician with documented audiologic findings or steroid treatment).  Formeister states that these 40 reports were classified as “most likely.”  However, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was not included in this report.

The mean age in the most likely group was 56 years old, and most cases (63%) involved women. Twelve people received Moderna vaccines and 28 received Pfizer. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss occurred an average of 4 days after vaccination. Thirty of the 40 cases were treated with steroids.

Based on about 86 million SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses that had been administered in the U.S. during the study period and using only the 40 most likely reports, the researchers estimated a minimum incidence of 0.3 per 100,000 per year, assuming a single vaccine dose per person.

Maximum incidence using all 147 accounts in the VAERS database, based on two vaccine doses per person in the time period, was estimated to be 4.1 per 100,000 per year.  This took into account the fact that the exact number of unique individuals receiving a vaccine was unknown.

Formeister states that “These results so far provide evidence that COVID vaccination is not associated with sudden hearing loss” because it is statistically identical to the rate of hearing loss seen in the general public each year.

“One of the pushes behind this publication is to urge clinicians and patients alike to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, so we may accrue more data to allow a more accurate prediction of the rate of sudden hearing loss after COVID-19 vaccination,” he noted.

If you experience hearing loss symptoms after vaccination should contact their healthcare provider immediately.  Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is potentially treatable, but treatment efficacy is time-sensitive.

The reporting period did not include vaccines other than Pfizer and Moderna, the researchers acknowledged. VAERS reports are unverified and subject to underreporting bias. Because people may experience multiple adverse effects after vaccination and these may not be fully captured in VAERS and the reports of hearing loss may be more that we are aware.

 

Vaccine Propaganda

Let’s call it what it is – propaganda.  Over the last few months, as I drive down the freeway, I continue to see Arizona Department of Transportation signs and other media advertising the number of people vaccinated, and how we are supposedly “saving our country by getting a shot.”  This morning at 7 am the message board on the 303 freeway loop stated:
“5.4 MILLION DOSES AND COUNTING. GET VACCINATED”
Now colleges & universities are considering mandating vaccination before allowing students to return to class.  Travel companies and international airlines have actually already mandated vaccination. I am actually horrified that our state officials pay for and  support this type of propaganda. The scientific evidence to support this type of health propaganda does not exist.  I’ve scoured the medical literature for it and it just doesn’t exist.
In fact, my patients are showing up in my office after being told by their cardiologists and gastroenterologists that they need their COVID vaccine.  I can guarantee that many of these specialists have never read the vaccine literature and have no idea of the side effect profile and/or risks of this or any other vaccine.
Let me start by stating up front that I am a strong proponent of vaccines.  We have many tried and true, fully vetted vaccines to prevent many diseases.  The science states that if you’ve already had the virus, you have two to four years of immunity. We know the vaccine doesn’t prevent the virus, it just decreases likelihood of severity for 4-6 months.  In fact, I’ve already had four patients in my office get a full blown COVID-19 infection post vaccination.  However, this and seven other essential points are being blatantly ignored by governments, churches, college campuses and other organizations encouraging, propagandizing and even “requiring” vaccination.
  1. Young adults are a healthy and immunologically competent and vibrant group that is at “extraordinary low risk for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.”
  2. Even though the FDA granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for three COVID-19 vaccines, they are not FDA approved to treat, cure or prevent any disease at this time.
  3. The COVID-19 vaccines on the market in the U.S., produced by Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, have been associated with serious side effects. These adverse reactions result in absence from school and work, hospital visits, and even loss of life. More than 2,300 deaths have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) as of April 20, 2021.
  4. Students who have recovered from COVID-19 already likely have protective immunity, and vaccination of these groups significantly increases risk of autoimmune reactions.
  5. Protections expressed by the Nuremberg Code require individuals “to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force.”
  6. Informed consent is the standard for all medical interventions. The FDA fact sheet for the healthcare provider reads: “The recipient or their caregiver has the option to accept or refuse [the] vaccine.”
  7. College-age women may be at unique risk for adverse events following administration of the experimental COVID vaccinations currently available. According to the CDC, all cases of life-threatening blood clots subsequent to receiving the J&J vaccine have so far occurred in younger women. In addition, “women are reporting having irregular menstrual cycles after getting the coronavirus vaccine,” and 95 miscarriages have been reported to VAERS following COVID vaccination as of April 24, 2021.

This is the position of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and it is my position.  This push for vaccination when these questions still remain may appear prudent in an emergency situation to those who have been selected and elected to lead us, however, after five months of availability to evaluate this approach it is actually coercive and blatantly ignores the science that supports these points.  This course of action is, in my opinion, an egregious lack of insight, or if done knowingly is actually malevolent.

As a family physician, whose job revolves around vaccination of children and adults, and one who is given the mission of providing appropriate preventative medical care to his community, I cannot in good conscience support the propaganda behind this vaccine.