Evidence To Refute Wakefields Claims About Autism And Mmr
The strong evidence for the lack of association between MMR and autism is contained in a very comprehensive AAP Report and in a Canadian Paediatric Society statement . Taylor et al and Kaye et al in England have some of the most convincing evidence.
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The increased rate of reporting of autism to the General Practice Research database was not affected by MMR.
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A nearly fourfold increase in the incidence of autism occurred in two- to five-year-old boys born between 1988 and 1993, while the uptake of MMR stayed constant at 95%.
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Incidence and age at diagnosis of autism was the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated children.
The rate of regressive autism in the United Kingdom was similar pre- and post-MMR introduction in 1988. Fombonne and Chakrabarti published a similar review of pre- and post-MMR data in which no change in regression rate or age of onset of parental concerns were found. Similarly, in California, Dales et al reported that the increase in reports of children receiving services for autism spectrum disorder occurred in the late 1980s and 1990s, long after the MMR vaccine was introduced in the United States. In Sweden, ecological data of Gillberg and Heijbel showed rates of autism that did not change with MMR introduction in the 80s.
The Research Claiming Links Between Autism And Mmr Was Fraudulent
Not only was Wakefield’s paper inconclusive, it was later revealed that he tweaked timelines and manipulated data to show increase links between the vaccine and did not disclose that lawyers mounting a case against vaccine manufacturers financed his research. In fact, the parents quoted in Wakefield’s paper were also litigants. Immediately following these revelations, 10 of the 12 co-authors of the paper retracted its conclusion.
But that did not stop thousands of parents from standing in the way of their children being vaccinated.
Vaccine Memories: From Polio To Autism
April 15 Polio Vaccine Perfected!!!!
So wrote my mother in 1955, on the Babys Health Record page of my baby book. I unearthed it a few days ago while looking for some old writing clips.
Just a day earlier, Id just reported in Medscape on a study finding that adding injected Salk polio vaccine to the oral Sabin vaccine series can boost immunity in parts of the world where polio is still endemic, such as Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
The coincidences continued.
THE SUMMERTIME NIGHTMARE OF POLIO
Among my old article clips I soon found Polio Eradication Goal Extended, in The Scientist from 2000, which had been the target year for ending polio. Id quoted U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala defining herd immunity on a global scale: No nation is truly free from polio unless every nation is free of polio.
Its a message that needs repeating, for a number of infectious diseases.
My Scientist article began with a glimpse of the pre-polio-vaccine days:
For those old enough to remember the Beatles, polio vaccines were part of childhood. By 1955, youngsters in many nations received injections of Jonas Salks inactivated polio vaccine. By 1962, children were lining up at school, tongues out to receive pink-stained lumps of sugar impregnated with Albert Sabins live, attenuated oral polio vaccine.
But is it fine to continue taking a high dose of folic acid beyond the point at which the neural tube closes?
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To 24 Months: The Crucial Stage
Typically, parents first note behavioural symptoms suggestive of autism at around 15 months of age, the time when the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is first administered . Furthermore, at least one in three children with autism has regression in language and social skills in the second year of life . Because neurological investigation reveals no organic etiology, the temporal association with immunization suggests to some parents that vaccination must be causally linked. Although home video reviews and current studies of infants who have an older sibling with autism suggest that differences exist in the first year of life, most parents do not detect differences in their child until the second year .
The recurrence risk for autism in subsequent siblings is at least 5% to 8% . When parents of one autistic child also worry about the vaccination connection, subsequent siblings are not only at risk for autism but also for not receiving timely vaccination.
Timing Of First Symptoms
Using a sophisticated movement analysis, videos from children eventually diagnosed with autism or not diagnosed with autism were coded and evaluated for their capacity to predict autism. Children who were eventually diagnosed with autism were predicted from movies taken in early infancy. This study supported the hypothesis that very subtle symptoms of autism are present in early infancy and argues strongly against vaccines as a cause of autism.
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The Charge To The Committee
Challenges to the safety of immunizations are prominent in public and scientific debate. Given these persistent and growing concerns, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health recognized the need for an independent, expert group to address immunization safety in a timely and objective manner. The has been involved in such issues since the 1970s. In 1999, because of IOM’s previous work and its access to independent scientific experts, CDC and NIH began a year of discussions with IOM to develop the Immunization Safety Review project, which would address both existing and emerging vaccine safety issues.
The Immunization Safety Review Committee is responsible for examining a broad variety of immunization safety concerns. Committee members have expertise in pediatrics, neurology, immunology, internal medicine, infectious diseases, genetics, epidemiology, biostatistics, risk perception and communication, decision analysis, public health, nursing, and ethics. While all of the committee members share the view that immunization is generally beneficial, none of them has a vested interest in the specific immunization safety issues that come before the group. Additional discussion of the committee composition can be found in the Foreword, written by Dr. Harvey Fineberg, President of the .
The committee is charged with assessing both the scientific evidence regarding the hypotheses under review and the significance of the issues for society.
Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism
- Some people have had concerns that ASD might be linked to the vaccines children receive, but studies have shown that there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing ASD. The National Academy of Medicine, formerly known as Institute of Medicine, reviewed the safety of 8 vaccines to children and adults. The review found that with rare exceptions, these vaccines are very safe.Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality external icon
- A CDC study published in 2013 added to the research showing that vaccines do not cause ASD. The study focused on the number of antigens given during the first two years of life. Antigens are substances in vaccines that cause the bodys immune system to produce disease-fighting antibodies. The results showed that the total amount of antigen from vaccines received was the same between children with ASD and those that did not have ASD.Increasing exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides in vaccines is not associated with risk of autism external icon
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Autism And Its Histories
The hypothesis that thimerosal-containing vaccines could explain the remarkable rise in the prevalence of autism arose not among environmental scientists but among the communities that have emerged over the past 20 years of parents and professionals caring for autistic children. Specifically, parents and clinicians who have framed autism in biomedical terms have been critical agents in promoting both the concept of theautism epidemic and the primacy of vaccines as its cause. The passion behind their arguments stems from a long history of advocacy on behalf of their children, often in the face of psychiatric theories perceived as parent blaming and inadequately funded developmental and educational resources in many communities.
In 1965, psychologist Bernard Rimland rejected the psychogenic model of autism in his ground-breaking Infantile Autism, proposing that the condition was instead rooted in biology. The collapse of the psychoanalytic model gave rise, however, to two rather different explanatory frameworks in its place. The ways in which these have diverged and have been embraced by different communities of parents and professionals is of critical importance to understanding the current debate over the existence of an autism epidemic.
How The Oral Polio Vaccine Can Cause Polio
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One of the vaccines used to prevent polio has actually been causing some people to get the disease.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Just last month, the World Health Organization announced that two of three strains of polio had been eradicated. It’s been one of the great success stories of modern medicine. The disease, which, of course, can lead to paralysis, has been reduced to just a handful of cases around the world. But now scientists say there’s been a troubling setback. One of the vaccines used to prevent polio has actually been causing some people to get polio.
NPR’s Jason Beaubien joins us now. Jason, thanks for being with us.
JASON BEAUBIEN, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning.
SIMON: I understand the problem begins with what’s called a live vaccine, which has little bits of weakened polio virus in it, given to children around the world. What seems to have gone wrong?
BEAUBIEN: Yeah, that is the crux of it – that this – the oral polio vaccine that’s used primarily in low- and middle-income countries – it’s been the workhorse of this global effort to eradicate polio. But it is a live vaccine. It’s cheap. It’s easy to administer.
SIMON: Now, we should underscore, Jason, this is not the version of the vaccine that’s given to youngsters in the United States.
BEAUBIEN: Yeah.
SIMON: Why are other countries still using it?
SIMON: NPR’s Jason Beaubien, thanks so much.
BEAUBIEN: You’re welcome.
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Myth #: Infant Immune Systems Can’t Handle So Many Vaccines
Infant immune systems are stronger than you might think. Based on the number of antibodies present in the blood, a baby would theoretically have the ability to respond to around 10,000 vaccines at one time. Even if all 14 scheduled vaccines were given at once, it would only use up slightly more than 0.1% of a baby’s immune capacity. And scientists believe this capacity is purely theoretical. The immune system could never truly be overwhelmed because the cells in the system are constantly being replenished. In reality, babies are exposed to countless bacteria and viruses every day, and immunizations are negligible in comparison.
Though there are more vaccinations than ever before, today’s vaccines are far more efficient. Small children are actually exposed to fewer immunologic components overall than children in past decades.
The Polio Vaccine Causes Polio
Yes, the polio vaccine has caused polio. In the past. But, do you know what else causes polio? Thats right polio.
In 1955 there was a batch of the supposedly killed Salk vaccine that mistakenly received the live virus. The horrific result was that 40,000 people who received the vaccine developed transient polio. There were five deaths and 51 cases of paralytic polio as well. The 1960s saw the introduction of the purposefully live vaccine .
This version causes about four to five cases of vaccine-associated paralytic polio a year. The combination of the tragic IPV mistake and the four to five annual cases of paralytic polio from the OPV vaccine gave the immunization a bad rap.
Scared that their children would develop polio, parents took the four to five children a year figure and ran with it. Yes, thats four to five children who should never, ever have to deal with this disease. But, compare that to the 16,000 children a year who caught polio naturally before the vaccine was in use.
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Has Incidence Of Autism Increased
Recently a report from the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network indicated that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders amongst 8-year-old children had increased from 6.7 per thousand children in the year 2000 to 11.3 children per thousand children in 2008. That means that in the year 2000, one in 150 children was diagnosed with ASD and in 2008 it was one in 88 children. The question is why has the incidence increased so steadily? None of us medical professionals currently know, but most believe the majority of the increase is due to our greater awareness of the diagnosis and improved record keeping. There are likely many factors that account for the increase in the incidence of recorded ASD and researchers continue to search for exposure or risk factors. However, there are a number of established risk factors for developing an ASD and these include genetic and non-genetic associations including:
- Sibling or parent with an ASD
- Children born to older parents
- Certain genetic disorders
- Certain drugs
- Low birth-weight, prematurity
One of the major challenges of ASDs is that they can neither be simply categorized nor described. They exhibit a spectrum of symptoms and severities involving a variety of typical social, communication, and repetitive behaviors.
Where Can I Learn More About Autism And Vaccines
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , The American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Food and Drug Administration all have information on their websites detailing vaccine use and the risk of autism spectrum disorder .
Always ask any questions you may have of your pediatrician or other health care provider, too they will have the latest updates.
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Methylmercury And The Developing Brain
Methylmercury, the form of mercury linked most closely in the public mind with environmental pollution, has a history as public and infamous as the history of ethylmercury has been quiet and inconspicuous. Much in the thimerosal debate hinges on the alleged similarity, or dissimilarity, of ethylmercury to methylmercury. The two compounds sound alike, differ by only one methylated side chain in their structure, and tend to be mentioned interchangeably in the popular press. Yet the chemical distinction is not trivial it may be compared with that between ethanol and its highly lethal counterpart methanol. Methylmercury was once used widely in developing countries as a fungicide as part of the Green Revolution that transformed agriculture after 1945. It is also synthesized by bacteria living in mercury-polluted waters, where it is passed up the food chain and concentrated in fish. The dangers of methylmercury in both contexts have been vividly demonstrated in a series of environmental disasters.
Science Shows Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism
The primary voice behind claims of a link between autism with the measles-mups-rubella vaccine was Andrew Wakefield, a doctor in the United Kingdom who led a controversial study that was published in a prominent medical journal in 1998. Parents feared their children would become autistic and refused to have them vaccinated. Lawyers, eager to place blame, filed class action lawsuits.
It was all for nothing. The United Kingdom General Medical Council investigated the study, and found Dr. Wakefield to be dishonest and irresponsible. The Lancet, which had published the article, did something it has rarely done in its 200 year history: In 2010, it retracted Wakefields article from the published record, publicly acknowledging that the study had no place in any science-based discussion of vaccine safety or autism.”
A series of articles by journalist Brian Deer later showed the extent of Wakefields fraud and how it was perpetrated. Drawing on interviews, documents, and data made public at the General Medical Council hearings, Deer showed how Wakefield altered numerous facts about the patients medical histories in order to support his claim how the Royal Free Hospital and Medical School in London supported Wakefield in his efforts to capitalize on the ensuing fear.
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Vaccines: Autism Case Study
Vaccines show a predominate link to autism, 1 in 68 children affected, with a 600 percent increase since the year 2000, and there is no known cure. Autism is a developmental disability that affects a persons ability to communicate, form relationships, and use language properly. The source of the widespread increase in still unknown, however tainted vaccines paired with negative side effects host an eye-opening link between the two. Many health care professionals will not admit to the connections
Healthat Least 80000 People Died Of Flu Last Winter In Us Cdc Says
Today, stars use their platforms to question the safety of vaccines, for childhood diseases like measles and for seasonal maladies like the flu. In 2007, the MTV star Jenny McCarthy appeared on Oprah to say her mommy instinct told her that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine had caused her sons autism.
Other celebrities who have come out against vaccinations include Charlie Sheen, Alicia Silverstone, and Rob Schneider. Robert De Niro, who has a son on the autism spectrum, has also questioned the safety of vaccines.
In his book The Panic Virus, science journalist Seth Mnookin estimates that with Oprah and McCarthys later appearances on Larry King Live and Good Morning America, her message reached 15 million to 20 million viewers.
It was a watershed moment for ordinary American parents of autistic children, desperate for answers and willing to believe a celebrity even one with no medical expertise.
Celebrities have always had an exaggerated and often unwarranted influence on society, Andrew Selepak, a media professor at the University of Florida, said in an email to NBC News. That we place such high value on the uninformed opinions of celebrities is one problem, but the bigger problem is when we act on these uninformed opinions and it puts ourselves or others in danger.
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