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Breaking: Vaccines Still Don't Cause Autism
Well, it's back again. The zombie meme that just won't stay dead.
We love a good conspiracy as much as the next investigative magazine—especially one that involves Big Pharma, the FDA, and the CDC. But as we've extensively reported here, the vaccines = autism meme might just be the most damaging medical myth of the decade. Not only is it based on false "science" that's tearing apart the families of sick children, it's unintentionally sickening thousands of others.
If you don't watch Oprah or read HuffPo, the theory goes like this. An ethylmercury-based preservative thimerosal (which was removed from all vaccines in the early 2000s) is retained by young children who then exhibit symptoms of mercury toxicity, the true cause of autism. Alternately, the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines, when given in tandem as MMR (the only form of the vaccine currently available) overwhelms the systems of sensitive children, causing intestinal distress, which causes autism. Sound odd?
Putting aside for just a moment the enormous weight of scientific evidence against these theories and the sound discrediting of virtually every doctor or scientist who has ever supported them, the MMR-causes-autism theory is downright dangerous.
Anti-MMR crusaders like Jenny McCarthy and longtime partner Jim Carrey insist they're not anti-vaccine. But their position is dangerously close, for two reasons.
One, the overall hysteria about vaccine safety has led many parents to refuse shots outright, especially in Europe, where the burden of measles infection has transferred from poor countries like Romania, Ukraine, and Georgia to rich ones like the UK, France, Germany, and Austria.
Secondly, the 'single-antigen' vaccines McCarthy and others claim to support only exist in theory. Merck, the top vaccine producer, stopped making individual doses of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines in December, due to low demand and high production costs.
Even with our country's stringent vaccination laws (New York has some of the toughest, Oregon and California some of the loosest), domestic measles infections tripled between 2007 and 2008. That year, New York saw the biggest outbreak in more than a decade, followed by another one this summer, and San Diego hit the headlines after a massive outbreak and an aggressive quarantine in a community where greater than 10 percent of children aren't vaccinated at all.
That, says CDC virologists, is an out and out disaster. When herd immunity (a community's overall resistance to a disease) drops below critical mass, the risk of a major outbreak increases exponentially.
Don't blame the McCarthy-Carrey family for holding a wacky position—parents of sick children (even celebrity parents of sick children) can and have done worse. Save it for the MSM and others who give them a platform, particularly the ones who quote quack journalist David Kirbyin a misguided pursuit of "balance." And next time you see a headline with a CYA question mark like "No Link Between Vaccines and Autism?," don't click.
Autism--An Environmental
Autism--An Environmental Health Issue After All?
By Rebecca Berg, Ph.D. and the National Environmental Health Association.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Autism--an+environmental+health+issue+afte...
For anyone who wants to understand the bigger picture, try reading this article.
Autism and vaccines
Leading US health officials have approved or recommended at least seven new studies that are related to autism and vaccination in some way. The following US Government agencies and affiliated groups concur that many gaps in vaccine-safety research – including possible associations with autism spectrum disorders in a genetically susceptible subgroup of children - remain:
US Department of Health and Human Services
US Environmental Protection Agency
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institute of Mental Health
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
National Vaccine Advisory Committee
There are many environmental triggers that are suspect in ASD. I am glad the US government has decided to continue studying them, until we identify all the various causes of autism.
APPROVED STUDIES:
1) The National CADDRE Study -- This 5-year project of the CDC's Centers for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (CADDRE) Network will "help identify what might put children at risk for autism," the CDC says. Among those risk factors: "specific mercury exposures, including any vaccine use by the mother during pregnancy and the child's vaccine exposures after birth."
2) The National Children's Study – This HHS-EPA joint effort will investigate "the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States," including autism. As part of their work researchers will track medical records, including vaccinations and their impact on neurodevelopment.
3) The Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) – This network of NIH agencies (NIEHS, NICHD, NIMH, NINDS) and affiliated sites will follow 1,200 pregnant women who already have a child with autism, to identify the “earliest possible environmental risk factors and their interplay with genetic susceptibility during the prenatal, neonatal and early postnatal periods.” Potential risk factors in the study include vaccines, thimerosal, and heavy metals.
RECOMMENDED STUDIES
On June 2, 2009, the Federal Government’s National Vaccine Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend a sweeping list of vaccine safety studies, including four related to vaccines and autism. The CDC had previously proposed studying autism as a “clinical outcome” of vaccination, and NVAC concurred.
4) Study the Feasibility of Comparing Vaccinated, Unvaccinated and Alternatively Vaccinated Children – NVAC recommended asking an expert panel, such at the Institute of Medicine, to weigh in on the strengths, weaknesses, ethical issues and costs of studying and comparing vaccinated, unvaccinated, and “alternatively vaccinated” groups of children for a number of disorders - including autism. Prospective clinical trials, where children would be randomized into vaccinated and placebo groups, would be unethical. But NVAC suggested one publicly submitted idea to conduct an “observational study” looking at, “natural variation in vaccination schedules, including some children where vaccination is declined through parental intent.”
5) Study Vaccine-Mitochondria-Autism Links - “Recent developments around mitochondrial dysfunction reinforce the importance of studies of vaccine adverse events in rigorously defined subsets of the ASD spectrum,” the NVAC wrote. The rate of mitochondrial dysfunction in autism has been estimated at somewhere between 7%-to-30% of all ASD children. “Mitochondrial dysfunction carries an established risk of brain damage subsequent to infectious disease,” the NVAC wrote. “Thus, a small and specific subset of the general population (such as those with mitochondrial dysfunction) may be at elevated risk of reduced neurological functioning, possibly including developing ASD, subsequent to live virus vaccination.”
6) Study Vaccines and Regressive Autism - “In the context of vaccination research, the ASD clinical subset of particular interest is regressive autism” the NVAC wrote. Estimates of ASD regression range from about 15 to 50% of all ASD cases, depending on the definition used. “Regressive autism does fit the recommendations of the IOM (immunization) committee for further research in rigorously defined subsets of ASD,” the NVAC said. Such studies might entail, “prospective vaccination response profiling in siblings of children with regressive ASD, a subpopulation who are at higher risk.”
7) Study Vaccine Injuries and the Risk of Autism - Another autism subpopulation that should be included in vaccine studies is what the NVAC called “the intersection of ASD cases with (clearly defined vaccine outcomes) such as fever, febrile seizure, or hypotonic-hypo-responsive episode (HHE).” Do these adverse effects correlate with ASD? “It would be worthwhile to assess,” the NVAC wrote. “On a molecular level, it might be feasible to compare ASD cases with history of adverse events following immunization against cognitively normal controls with a similar history of adverse events, to assess whether there are significant differences in immune response profiles between groups.”
More at www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby
Why does Mr. Kirby leave out vitally important information?
Mr. Kirby,
I see your usual arguments above. I see, also, the usual gaps in your discussion. Over the years, you have gone from promoting the "vaccines caused an epidemic of autism" to dancing around the subject of the false "epidemic", neither stating that there was an epidemic, nor admitting your mistake. Could you comment somewhere, on the record: was there an "epidemic" of autism caused by mercury? You seem to leave that to your colleague, Mr. Blaxill, giving yourself some form of plausible deniablity. It is irresponsible.
You rely heavily now on the NVAC recommendations. Why do you leave out so many comments by NVAC?
"The NVAC is assured by the many epidemiological studies of the effects of mercury exposure done in a variety of populations, which have demonstrated that thimerosal in vaccines is not associated with autism spectrum disorders in the general population.”
Are you prepared to agree with NVAC that the data are in and that there has been no epidemic of mercury caused autism? It would be the honest thing to do.
You rely heavily on the idea that mitochondrial disorders are related to autism. You pushed heavily on your blog the idea that mitochondrial disorders are caused by mercury, without substantiation. In fact, this idea is strongly rejected by the very experts you rely upon.
Further, you leave it implied that children with mitochondrial disorders and autism indicate a link to autism as a vaccine injury. This is clearly not the case.
Why do you leave out the fact that most children with mitochondrial disorders and autism do not show regression. Without regression, it is clear that vaccine injury is not causing autism in these individuals?
Why do you leave out the fact that in the one study of children with mitochondrial disorders and autism, it is clear that vaccines are not causal in the vast majority of cases, and could be questionable in the one case cited so far?
You cite that there could be a sizable population of autistics who have a mitochondrial dysfunction. Yet you leave out the public statements by one of the very doctors who supported the Hannah Poling case in vaccine court that any such injuries are rare. This from the few doctors who support the idea of mitochondrial disorder as a vaccine injury. Other specialists have stated that it is far to early to draw a conclusion that mitochondrial disorders caused by vaccination is even "rare".
Why have you not removed your blog piece that was so erroneous that you were forced to rewrite it within a day, with an admission that you seriously erred? Isn't that a form of dishonesty?
Are you prepared to join Rick Rollens, one of the strongest proponents of the vaccines-cause-autism notion, in stating that the idea that MMR causes autism has been tested and MMR is no longer suspect?
I will ask again, if you are going to cite NVAC, are you willing to join them and state that mercury did not cause an "epidemic" of autism?
Would you at least be willing to include quotes from NVAC that are, shall we say inconvenient, to the notion of a vaccine induced "epidemic" of autism? Quotes such as:
Vaccination almost certainly does not account for the recent rise in ASD diagnoses; however, public concern regarding vaccines and autism coupled with the prevalence and severity of ASD warrant additional study in well defined subpopulations.”
This quote makes it clear that
a) NVAC does not support the idea of an autism "epidemic" caused by vaccines
b) NVAC is not calling for studies of vaccines and autism due to evidence presented so far, but, instead, by public concern.
Mr. Kirby, your half truths and misleading arguments cause great harm to the autism communities, as well as to public health. You personally are responsible for much of the public's misconception that mercury caused an "epidemic" of autism. Don't you agree that you personally should publicly refute your previous stance?
Being wishy-washy on the epidemic question and letting your colleague Mark Blaxill push the idea in your tag-team briefings is just dishonest. Either you still believe in the mercury-caused-epidemic (and you are wrong) or you should be clear that it was a mistake.
It was a mistake. Earn some respect. Admit it.
Youth is wasted on the young... and so is this internship
Obviously Mother Jones' editorial intern missed investigative journalist David Kirby's July 17 Congressional presentation in Washington, DC. Also speaking were Mark Blaxill of Safeminds, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ). Oops.
Generalist writers on deadline cannot possibly understand the complexities of the vaccine safety issue, so sadly some resort to polaritizing black-and-white fearmongering. And in the process they deny medical treatment for children with "autism." Oh, the irony.
Here's a good primer for MJ's nascent scribe: Former NBC war correspondent Gary Matsumoto wrote a disturbing investigative book called "Vaccine A." For anyone who receives vaccines it's worth a look, considering squalene may be an H1N1 vaccine adjuvant.
Here's a rather troubling remark from a public health administrator:
“We won't know that the vaccine is safe until it's given to large numbers of people," said Dr. Scott R. Lillibridge, a professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health in Houston and executive director of the National Center for Emergency Medical Preparedness and Response.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/hscout/2009/07/21/hscout629120.html
Now, you'd think that a muckraking mag like MJ would be all over the disorganized, politicized story of H1N1 vaccine development. After all, the vaccine potentially will be given to hundreds of millions of people worldwide. But alas, no. Instead readers get the formulaic star-bashing seen at other struggling publications that rely on pharmaceutical company advertisements.
MJ reporters don't even wonder why the vaccine injury reports of thousands of autism families have not been investigated by public health officials. In 1976 more than 500 swine flu vaccine recipients developed Guillain-Barre syndrome. Apparently behavioral and subclinical symptoms aren't as dramatic as full body paralysis. But equally heartbreaking are reports to VAERS or vaccine injury cases settled or conceded by the NVICP. Oh, right. That would take extra work.
Fifty years later McCarthyism has been repackaged by neophyte writers fresh out of ASPJ conferences where CDC officials feed one-sided PowerPoint presentations that advise attendees to "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."
Nationally newspapers and magazines like MJ are dumping fact checkers and proofreaders, selling out and/or making themselves obsolete, leaving it up to the public to file FOIA requests and months later sift through piles of redacted but still incriminating documents.
Oh, by the way, Merck is bringing back the monovalent shots.
Some of us still make time to look up these things....
Guillian Barre
I had Guillian Barre (in tandem with other diagnoses) and it left me completely paralyzed at 8 and near death, because it's a fast and fatal disease. I will never have full use or feeling in my lower extremities. The 1976 swine flu vaccine was definitively linked to that disease, as are many other vaccines. I'm barred from taking most now, because they might cause me to relapse, so I'm very concerned about vaccine safety. I'm not alone, which is precisely why the government and independent companies have done so many studies on autism and vaccines. Epidemiological studies definitively linked flu vaccines and Guillian Barre. Dozens of credible, peer reviewed studies have yet to find the same link between Autism and MMR. Oh, and I spoke to Merck. They hope to bring back the shots, if and when they have adequate manufacturing capability. Think a couple of years from now, maybe.
Bad logic
Once again, the anti-vaccination drones use personal attacks to feebly attempt to refute a well argued position. Mr. Kirby, who never seems to own up to the consequences of his blatherings, and nhokkanen, a leader of the anti-vaccination movement, provide either partial information (as documented by Sullivan) or use logical fallacies. Their position is bankrupt, and intellectually dishonest.
Quit writing about things you know nothing about
This article is a ridiculous concoction of media flair.
Go look up macrophagic myofaciitis and get back with us. By the way, don't come back till you look up everything in the journal articles that you don't understand. Welcome to my world.
An autism mom.
The truth about the vaccination-disease link
tagged as:- result
Exactly. The view of this obviously misinformed writer is biased in favor of Big Pharma and all the scum suckers who make billions, if not trillions off of people being sick. One of Merck's top vaccine and virus experts spoke up recently and admitted vaccines through history have been full of live viruses (including cancer viruses) and all kinds of other toxic crap. It's a fact that the advent of vaccinations has paralleled the spike in diseased western society in general.
Watch this video for more:
Remember Thalidomide
No discussion about MMR is complete without reminding people how the doctor who discovered that Thalidomide wasn't such a great idea was treated.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25253506-5006784,00.h...
There are many doctors who question the practice of giving babies immune systems a major hit with a single MMR jab.
When it comes to medicine and newborns there is precious little done in terms of experimentation - understandably because no parent wishes to have their baby experimented on. So the NHS in the UK and many other health organisations around the world inject newborns with an adult dose of Vitamin K within hours of birth although there is legitimate concern it may not be a good idea.
A discussion is here:
http://www.radmid.demon.co.uk/vitk.htm
Given the complex and emotionally charged nature of parenthood I'm not sure this topic was suitable material for an intern to write a 'No News...' article that unfortunately belittles many parents concern that large Pharma companies are inclined to put profits above the welfare of individual children.
The drones are out...
tagged as:- result
Sure as night follows day, the anti-vaccination drones and their lemmings have now infested this article. One even has the utter stupidity of mentioning Thalidomide, where the FDA made certain that it never entered use in the USA. If you want to prove a point, try something better.
The simple fact, that these scientifically illiterate people refuse to understand, is that scientific investigation has proven them wrong. Science works by repitition, and every scientific study repeats the same conclusion: there is no link between any vaccination and autism.
reply to Free Speaker
You wrote:
"One even has the utter stupidity of mentioning Thalidomide, where the FDA made certain that it never entered use in the USA. "
That is just plain not true. In northern Illinois, 1966, my close friend's mom was prescribed Thalidomide by her OB to alleviate nausea. Her beautiful daughter was born with a very damaged (virtually absent) hand and partially damaged foot.
As you were wrong about Thalidomide, I now doubt the rest of your argument.
Jane, Your understanding
Jane,
Your understanding Thalidomide's history is less correct than Free Speakers..
In 1966 there was no way for your close friend's mom to have been prescribed Thalidomide... There are other, diseases, teratogenic drugs, and genetic anomalies that cause malformations similar to those caused by Thalidomide.
Though never licensed for sale in the US, Thalidomide was approved for distribution in Canada until March of 1962 and available in pharmacies there as late as May of that year.
Below is a more accurate early Thalidomide history:
-->
First distribution in Germany 1957
The Australian obstetrician William McBride and the German pediatrician Widukind Lenz suspected a link between birth defects and the drug, and this was proved by Lenz in 1961
The impact [of Thalidomide] in the United States was minimized when the pharmacologist Frances Oldham Kelsey refused Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an application from Richardson Merrell to market thalidomide, saying more study was needed. Richardson Merrell gave the tablets to doctors on the understanding that the drug was still under investigation. Seventeen children in the U.S. were born with the defects.
In 1962, the United States Congress enacted laws requiring tests for safety during pregnancy before a drug can receive approval for sale in the U.S. Other countries enacted similar legislation, and thalidomide was not prescribed or sold for decades.
1962: FDA inspector Frances Oldham Kelsey received an award from President John F. Kennedy for blocking sale of Thalidomide in the United States.
Here's a URL:
http://www.thalidomide.ca/filesNVIAdmin/File/281Malformationscaused(1).pdf
Mother Jones is rolling in her grave!!!
I won't waste time critiquing this piece of....er......."journalism." Nancy Hokkanen and David Kirby have said it all.
Is Paul Offit the new editor there?
Mother Jones has COMPLETELY run off the rails in the last year or so. Sadly, we've lost another good investigative journal......
Former Investigative Fund contributor,
Mary Hirzel
Sonja is right!
Sonja your're right! Vaccines do not cause autism. Autism is simply a term from the psychiatric DSM-IV manual. It's nothing but a smokescreen. It provides an alibi for the drug companies who added mercury to vaccines at levels 250 times higher than hazardous waste levels (based on toxicity characteristics). It provides an alibi for the CDC, FDA, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the other drug company cronies who are responsible for the safety of our children. It provides an alibi for the pediatricians who administered this poison. It provides an alibi for health insurance companies so they don't have to pay for treatment for these sick kids. It provides an alibi for psychiatrists so they can force powerfull anti-psychotic drugs on these kids who are already terribly confused.
There will never be an identifiable cause for autism. There are though 12 published papers which identify the underlying medical condition of autism as neuroinflammatory disease. My favorite is "Neuroglial activation and Neuroinflammation in the Brain of Patients with Autism". This was published by John Hopkins University. Now, do you want to debate whether mercury, a known neurotoxin, added to childhood vaccines at levels 250 times higher than what the EPA identifies as hazardous waste, causes neuroinflammatory disease? Do you want to debate whether brain damaged kids behave in a way so that some psychiatrist can label them as somewhere on the "spectrum
Glad to see so many strong reactions
HI everybody. I'm glad this has generated so much interest. If you go back and read the piece, you'll see it's about the rising rates of measles, a very serious disease that is still the number one vaccine preventable killer of children in the developing world. That the rise has been caused largely by vaccine refusal, a product of the fear that's been manufactured around a supposed link with autism and MMR. That's the CDC's words, not mine. I did a lot of reporting to make sure those numbers are right.
I know the alleged vaccine/autism link has emotions running high for a lot of people. That's fair—autism is real and serious illness that deserves good doctors and better science. I was merely trying to shed light on the unintended consequences of bad science which has linked this complex and confounding disease to a life-saving medicine that good science has proven over and over again isn't at fault. Like all journalists, I don't write my own headlines.
Just curious re: bad science
Just curious re: bad science vs. good science. Have you taken the time to read the 14 studies that are used to "prove" that vaccines don't cause autism? If not, you may want to take a look.
If the AAP and CDC want parents to trust vaccines, we need credible science based on more than flawed epidemiology. You forget that we parents DID vaccinate our children in accordance with the CDC's schedule. Our children suffer from serious, painful, debilitating illnesses including gastrointestinal distress, sleep disturbances, recurrent infections, seizures, ... Why hasn't the CDC made an effort to look at a few hundred of our children? Why won't most mainstream docs offer any real help? Our kids are sick. Fortunately, the "quack" DAN physicians actually take the time to try to understand what's going on inside our children's bodies and offer treatments which often bring remarkable improvements in health, behavior, and cognition. Yet the CDC refuses to look at any of the kids who have been helped and in some cases even lost their diagnoses. Why? How about a story in MJ about these kids?
Worst science
So that's what the anti-vaccine movement is calling recovery now - losing a diagnosis.
Why does the medical literature not contain one single case of recovery from autism? Why do DAN docs still recommend secretin therapy, even though secretin performed no better than placebo in clinical trials?
So many questions.
Great article
Sonja - great article, and don't fret about the mercury militia invading your comments. That's what they do.
The science is clear - there is no association between vaccines and autism. Here is a good summary - http://www.csicop.org/si/2007-06/novella.html
Thanks Sonja and you too Dr. Novella
This autism parent wants to take the opportunity to thank you, Sonja, for your effort. Dr. Novella is quite right.
Dr. Novella has taken heat from the "mercury militia" a number of times. I thank him for his efforts.
Please don't use the word "journalist"
Please do not insult intellectuall vigorous, responsible, objective journalists by grouping the author of this rubbish with their like. This poorly researched, shallowly considered trash was not written by someone who is, "like all journalists."
Measles
I had measles Sonja. Me and my 2 sisters had to spend four whole days in the house! Thank God for "Leave it to Beaver". Now I never have to worry about getting them again (or mumps, chickenpox, etc.). My vaccine injured child's condition is dire. After 10 years of teaching he can almost write his name (nothing else). He will never talk. Between healthcare expenses and therapy, the taxpayers have blown over a 1/4 million dollars (thanks Mr. Novella) on him already. This is just a start.
Measles is a serious disease
Measles killed 200,000 people last year, according to the World Health Organization. It can also result in permanent brain damage. Remember Helen Keller from your American history classes? Yup, that was measles that left her blind and deaf.
Measles is anything but trivial
Like just about any disease going measles varies in its severity but is serious enough often enough make vaccinating children against it a necessity. 'Leave it to Beaver' may have 'saved' your correspondent but I had a childhood friend die of measles and as an adult working with chidlren watched the horrifying spectacle of children succombing to post measles pan encephalitis.
I do understand that blaming an external agent is much less painful than contemplating the lurking possibility that the cause lies in a tragic confluence of genetic triggers. No parent wants to feel 'to blame' for such fate befalling a beloved child.
When you draw out the foaming fringe, you know you've done well
Angry comments from the usual cadre, complete with the David Data Dump - awesome. Why is it easier for some people to believe in a vast multinational conspiracy than the increasingly obvious fact that vaccines...just...don't...cause...autism?
(No matter how desperately the dashing DK spins the efforts of the feds to pacify the antivax screamers by wasting a few more million dollars that could have gone to legitimate autism research.)
So young and naive!
Well, Ms. Sharp - I guess it's a thrill having a byline. Perhaps it would be more thrilling if you were actually responsible for the content, as in doing some real investigation and reporting.
Perhaps, as parents who believed what YOU wrote and contact you post-injury, one will have an attorney who has become fed up enough to take on the difference between "Freedom of Speech" and speech and printed word that causes harm.
In all of your roamings around the prepared material you've parroted, has it ever occurred to you to read the actual package inserts for side effects and adverse effects of using a vaccine on someone allergic or immune-compromised? Perhaps you should.
As the events surrounding the upcoming Swine Flu vaccine, perhaps your position will be given enough actual responsibility to do some on-site reporting for what happens when mass vaccination campaigns occur. Perhaps you will be able to report on the amubulances and hearses pulling up as kids on steroid asthma medication or with anaphylactic allergies to the components prove in real time that vaccines are to be approached with real caution, and not suitable for everyone...and they can be more deadly than any disease they are intended to prevent.
Given the apparent talent to sell something without even researching the product, perhaps your calling is in late night TV advertising.
Freedom of Speech
JB Handley sues writers who get too close to the truth, but that only works in the UK.
Good article
Thanks for writing this. The vaccine blamers will descend to complain but be assured, they do not represent the majority of people who parent autistic children. I want my children to be protected from infectious diseases. My autistic son and his non-autistic siblings are, I'm lucky to say, very healthy and fully vaccinated.
I care for the health of others in my society too, especially those with chronic illnesses who need to be protected by herd immunity.
Good call too on the culpability of the MSM and its false definition of balance, as if one maverick doctor holding an utterly dodgy view that 99.9% of other doctors refute, should be given as much of a platform as real doctors and scientists.
Great blog Sonja don't let
Great blog Sonja don't let the likes of Kirby and Nancy Hokanen get you down.
Speak truth to the mercury militia -they are endangering our children needlessly.
The unfortunate truth
Thanks for speaking the truth Mr. Kirby and Ms. Hokkanen. Never let the pro-poison camp silence you!
Interns who agree: heroes. Interns who disagree:too young
Sonja,
there is some real irony in the statements here. Many have taken the usual tactic of the vaccines-cause-mercury crowd: attack the person rather than respond to the ideas.
I had to actually laugh reading the comments calling your piece into question since you are a mere "intern".
These same people recently gave an award to an undergraduate journalism major who produced one of the worst bits of local TV programing to hit the midwest.
Had you joined their mission, you would be "visionary".
2008 Ashley Awards
The 2008 Ashley Awards:
http://autism-news-beat.com/?p=166
Drive-By-Kirby has left the building
Outstanding job, Sonja. Don't let David and the anti-vax crowd bully you.
Now read this, commenters
We published a huge feature on vaccines last year. If you haven't read it yet, you need to: Vaccine Skeptics vs. Your Kids: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/09/vaccine-skeptics-vs-your-kids
New Media Editor, Mother Jones
http://www.motherjones.com/authors/laura-mcclure
Vaccines
"Zombie meme"? "Good conspiracy?" "False science?" "Wacky?" I'm surprised at Mother Jones, running an article which supports the big corporation drug companies who are interested only in making more money off their vaccines and drugs at the expense of young lives.
My doctor, who has been in practice for over 20 years, told me that children grow up healthier and happier without vaccines. He does not administer vaccines. I know many adults who are also healthy and happy without vaccines. I got one or two when I was young. Now it is recommended that children receive at least 14 before the age of six.
As the mom of young children, I did a lot of research about vaccinations, and decided that my children would not receive them. Looking at the graphs of the rise of the number of recommended vaccinations and the rise of children with autism in this country helped me make my decision. We eat healthy food, we exercise, we take care of our bodies -- why should we inject our children with chemicals, often not adequately tested for the young, which might damage them irreversibly? My children are very healthy and have hardly ever been ill. I intend on doing my best to keep them that way - without vaccinations. Despite articles like this which label me "dangerous." I am glad that there is the opportunity for me and others who agree with me to post our comments.
Again, I am extremely disappointed that Mother Jones chooses to publish an article like this. I remember a cover article that Mother Jones ran many years ago about the fact that sunscreen does not necessarily protect people from the dangerous aspects of the sun. I wish that they would continue in this vein and really LOOK at the issue instead of spreading flip generalizations about something that affects so many of us. This article does not belong in a magazine that I have known to be progressive. I am tempted to suspend my subscription.
My doctor, who has been in
Your chiropractor is badly mistaken, not to mention negligent.
" I got one or two when I
" I got one or two when I was young. Now it is recommended that children receive at least 14 before the age of six.
As the mom of young children...."
If you are the mom of young children, you are almost certainly less than 50 years old. I am your senior. I got more than "one or two" vaccinations in my childhood, as was the norm. Not as many as they have now, certainly, but quite a few nonetheless.
So, either you grew up in a non-industrialized country, your parents did not give you proper medical care, or you grew up Amish or Christian Scientist.
Which is it?
Wow, is Mother Jones
Wow, is Mother Jones profiting from the health care industry just like most other American Corporations are? Where are we getting the information and "studies" that are claiming vaccines aren't linked to Autism and more importantly, who are thy funded by? Those working on these "studies" are almost exclusively doctors and scientists. Makes sense? Of course! Unless you're smart enough to make the well-known connection that doctors are in love with the kick-backs they get from the drug companies and in most cases (especially public ones) they're not going to jeopardize that. This is like listening to the Marlboro Man when he tells you that cigarettes are safe. Ignorant.
MJ Supports Big Pharma only interested in making a profit?
I'm the parent of three...
Vaccinations didn't prevent one of them from acquiring a life threatening disease. It's even remotely possible that a vaccination was a contributing factor. If I had it to do over again today, I'd make doubly sure all my children received their vaccinations to protect them from well meaning but misguided parents.
You may not trust the CDC, the WHO, or science in general... but even really nice physicians are susceptible to superstition and capable of malpractice. Your kids are lucky, maybe really really lucky... thankfully due to a vaccination the incidence of measles in the US has gone from endemic to being declared "eliminated". In countries with good health care one in 1000 children that catch measles will die, 3 in 1000 will suffer serious mental retardation from SSPE which is a neurodegenerative complication of slow measles infection in young children. Currently YOUR kids are only protected by the vaccinated "herd"! What happens if/when they're exposed to the disease from outside the herd?
Just because a profit can be made from producing vaccines that shield us from killer diseases doesn't mean we should expose our children just to spite the profiteers.
is this issue really so black and white?
Is this an either/or proposition? Is there no other position to take than either accepting all vaccines with blind faith or rejecting them all and risking the spread of epidemics?
I survived mumps, measles, German measles and chicken pox as a child, have also received a few vaccines in my 51 years. I can't tell from my personal experience what our public health policy should be. I don't know what the answer is in this debate, but I have to say the pro-vaccine folks do seem to resort to ad hominem attacks quite readily when challenged.
I also know that many thoughtful, educated, intelligent people question the wisdom of subjecting infants and small children to multiple inoculations at once. I know that the real improvements some autistic children make through intensive nutritional therapy are dismissed by some of the pro-vaccine folks, who put their faith in chemical medicines more than in nutrient-dense food.
Yes, let's study the issue -- and look at all the studies, not cherry-pick. As a former health-care industry and science editor at a major newswire, I have seen for myself that many, many health-related studies are poorly designed or designed with a desired outcome in mind, especially when funded by the pharmaceutical companies.
I'm extremely concerned at proposals in Washington to force a swine flu vaccine on the public. I have much more faith in my immune system and my ability to stay healthy because of the way I take care of myself than I have in the pharmaceutical industry or well-intentioned politicians and bureaucrats.
Your immune system
I have much more faith in trained medical professionals who know what they are talking about. Magical thinking - not so much.
Good to see a little bit of sense
Thanks for writing this. Don't let the haters get you down. I know, it's heart breaking to see your beautiful child regress into non-commmunication, and it's natural to pin the blame on something, but I truly think that energy is wasted pursuing the vaccines/autism link.
I do think toxins are involved, but not from vaccinations.
I'm a pediatrician, I've treated thousands in the past 15 years, and I've seen more kids harmed by vaccine-preventable illness than by vaccines. By orders of magnitude. But, it doesn't matter if you're talking to an anti-vaccine activist. All of the facts are fixed around the conspiracy theory.
The idea that I'm pushing dangerous vaccines on innocent kids to line my pockets is so ludicrous, I don't know where to begin. Let's start with the fact that I don't make any money on vaccinations. When you figure in losses due to mishandling or vaccines going past their expiration dates, we don't even break even. We could move on to the fact that I make less money than you think, as a pediatrician, but I need to go home and see my kids.
Well, I agree with getting
Well, I agree with getting some of them but parents need to be informed. Thankfully, I have a doctor who supports this.
And while pediatricians may not get paid directly by the drug companies I beg to differ (in a BIG way) that their pockets aren't being lined. Every time I'm IN a doctors office there's drug reps bringing in lunches or "snacks" or hosting "talks" in which doctors are paid large amounts of money to endorse those products. Conferences and "educational opportunities" held at lavish resorts. You'd be a fool to think that doctors' aren't influenced by these sorts of gifts.
All you mom-autism trolls
All you mom-autism trolls are some of the most pathetically desperate retards I've ever seen. YOU caused your kids to get it. It's from YOUR genes. What a bunch of cowards. Tough luck. Shouldn't have had kids. Put your foil hats on!
Re: mom-autism trolls
While I believe the anti-vax contingent is misguided and that they assiduously ignore all the scientific evidence that runs contrary to their beliefs it's way too harsh and counter productive to resort to name calling... and if you're trying to lay autism squarely at the foot of genetic inheritance you're just as misguided.
It's highly likely there is no one specific cause for the spectrum of conditions that fall under the label.
As a parent that's had a child with an illness with no clear etiology I can empathize with the driving need to find causality and how desperate we become to make sure it wasn't something we could have somehow avoided or to at least help others avoid.
response to "mom autism trolls" post above
You have a lot of growing up to do--no matter what age you are.
No---really.
Web Site
http://antiantivax.jottit.com/
Patriot Act
Regardless of what side you're on, my question would be this: Why was there a last minute provision in the Patriot Act that states parents would not be allowed to sue drug companies should it ever be found out that there is a link between vaccines and autism? Why not a clause that says: People can't sue drug companies if it's found that aspirin causes brain tumors? The reason, it would seem to me, is that it's ridiculous to put something into law that's too absurd to exist. If there's NO link, NO possibility that there might be a link, then why protect themselves from it?
Autism
tagged as:- result
Thoughts Regarding Autism Spectrum Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Of these rare neurological disorders, Autism is the most common. The autism spectrum reflects the broad range of symptoms in which the names of these autism disorders have been given their own name for their disorder.
Autism is a disability that is suspected to be caused possibly by a brain development disorder of unknown etiology. Others suspect the cause is some sort of neurological dysfunction- possibly with a genetic predisposition.
Autism is about 3 times more common in males than females as well, and it is unclear as to why this occurs.
Usually, symptoms of the disease present themselves before the toddler reaches the age of three. Before Autism was more understood, others inaccurately labeled autistic people as childhood schizophrenia or as having a psychosis or mental retardation.
Symptoms of the autistic patient included limited or dysfunctional social and personal or intimate relationships with others, their intelligence is affected, and the autistic person typically is adverse to change.
Also, the autistic person tends to be compulsive and prefers to be alone. They lack eye contact as much as physical contact with other people.
Out of over two dozen diagnostic criteria utilized for these disorders, eight must be present to be considered autistic, according to the DSM. As with all passive developmental disorders, the person expresses language, social, and behavioral difficulties.
Treatment includes what are called psychotropic medications that delay the progression of the disorder, as well as relieve some of the symptoms of one who is autistic. Behavioral therapy is common as a treatment regimen as well. Boys get Autism much more than girls.
Then there is the controversy between many who claim that thimerosal- a preservative containing mercury, which is a neurotoxin that was used in vaccines until 2001, was the catalyst for autism in children.
Over 5000 lawsuits have been filed because of this belief, and some have been successful for the plaintiff. Yet most agree the correlation between thimersal and autism is void of scientific merit. Furthermore, the cases of autism have not decreased since the preservative was discontinued in 2001.
Aside from Autism, the other four passive developmental disorders are known as autism spectrum disorders.
Asperger’s Syndrome is more common than autism, and the symptoms are milder, as there is minimal delay in language abilities, if at all. What is expressed with Asperger’s syndrome is mild autistic symptoms. In time, the patient may express atypical personality disorders, though.
While intelligence is within normal limits with the Asperger’s patient, social interactions and abilities preset difficulty for such a patient. As with Autism, medications and behavioral therapy are treatment regimens with one with this syndrome.
Rett’s Syndrome or disorder presents with not only atypical behavior, but also suffers from restricted physical growth and movement. There is cognitive and social impairment as well. The disorder affects mostly girls, and the cause is due to a gene mutation.
Childhood Disintegrative disorder is rare, and is 10 times less common than autism. The disorder has a late onset with mild autistic symptoms. The disorder affects mostly boys, and regression is sudden and possible with this disorder.
Skills lost with this disorder may be language, social, self-care, as well as play or motor skills. Decreased function or impairment with this disorder may include social skills and behavioral flaws. Central Nervous System pathology is a suspected cause of this disorder.
Finally, there are passive development disorders that are not otherwise specified. This may include atypical autism, for example. Yet as with the rest of types of these disorders, the symptoms vary in their frequency and intensity, as well as the range of abilities of these developmental disorders vary widely as well.
Medicinal treatment is believed to be not necessary for the management of all of those who may have autistic spectrum disorders.
Depending on the patient’s health care provider, medications may be prescribed by their doctor to manage any affective disorders autistics may present in an acute or chronic nature.
However, cognitive and behavioral therapy prove to be most beneficial for all the different types of Passive Development Disorders that exist for reasons yet to be defined.
www.autism-society.org
Dan Abshear
DAN A... "Treatment includes
DAN A...
"Treatment includes what are called psychotropic medications that delay the progression of the disorder, as well as relieve some of the symptoms of one who is autistic."
**Psychotropic medications of all kinds have shown in studies to have absolutely NO benefits to children with autism at all. So I'm very curious as to your above statement that it can "delay the progression", this is a ridicules statement ...There have however been many recent studies on autism involving the entire body and immune system affecting the brain (neuroimmune). Very similar actually to something along the lines of Guillan Barre. Autism is a medical disorder not a mental one.
Sonja, I'm very sorry you have had the history of dealing with GB but I do have to let you know that there are confirmed cases of neurological encephalitis post MMR vaccination and some of those confirmed cases the neurological regression leads to an autism spectrum diagnosis. My son developed a 105 degree temp within 24 hours of MMR, 3 days later full body rash, with this physical decline came seizures, food intolerences, stopped sleeping, chronic non stop, toxic smelling stools,etc. Becaues I was so blind to the fact that the side effects from vaccines he was having wouldn't just go away, I still got the next round for him 3 monts later, and the next day new high fever, immediate loss of imitative skills and he avoided sister and father and began to loose all speech. over 7 years later he's having seizures again, still has chronic loose stools, cannot tell me how or what he is feeling, and he constantly puts himself in dangerous situations like breaking free and running into the street. Vaccine adverse reactions are real and and can be critical and autism is no walk in the park. The diagnosis autism has to be taken seriously and understood as a chronic lifelong battle for health.
My request is that you realize that vaccines have caused inflammatory disorders that have lead to autism, this is known, most mainstream educated neurologists know that any immune insult may cause this regression in some children. This issue should be as important, or more so since it's an imminent threat to 1/150 children, as those who worry about the return of measles which is not such and imminent situation.
MMR is not the only situation, vaccination in general and what it possible could be inciting in the immune system in some individual populations has to be looked at, with biological/cellular level science not epidemiological populations generalized studies.
Autism and Blame
"As a parent that's had a child with an illness with no clear etiology I can empathize with the driving need to find causality and how desperate we become to make sure it wasn't something we could have somehow avoided or to at least help others avoid."
I am the elder sister of an woman in her 50s who has severe autism, and
has exhibited symptoms since birth.
While I can appreciate what this poster says, as I saw the guilt in my own
mother concerning my sister's condition, parents who are abusive,
sometimes dangerously so, to medical researchers who do not believe the scientific evidence supports the autism-vaccine link, do their children, themselves, and autism research no favors.