What Are The Most Common Risk Factors For Autism
ASD occurs among all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.
Common risk factors for autism spectrum disorder include:
- Having a twin with ASD, or other family history.
- Boys are about 4 times more likely to develop ASD than girls.
- Parents who have had a child with ASD have a 2% to 18% chance of having another child with the disorder.
- Children born to older parents also seem to have a higher risk, but more research is necessary.
- About 10% of children with autism also have certain genetic disorders like Rett Syndrome or fragile X syndrome, or tuberous sclerosis, where benign tumors develop in the brain.
- Preterm babies born before 26 weeks of gestation may have an elevated risk of autism spectrum disorder.
- Over 80% of children diagnosed with ASD also have a psychiatric, neurologic, chromosomal, or genetic diagnosis.
The Nvac And Acip: Who They Are And What They Do
A group of medical professionals who advise the National Vaccine Advisory Committee on how to prevent human infectious diseases through vaccine development is a critical component of NVAC. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices advises and counsels the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about how to use vaccines and other related agents to prevent vaccine-sensitive diseases among the general public. Because of the rare cases of death associated with the vaccine strain of the disease, most immunocompromised patients cannot be immunized against MMR .
What Exactly Is Autism Or Asd
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder , is a brain development disorder in children that leads to problems with communication, behavior, and social interaction. A child may not show signs until age 2 or 3, and symptoms may continue throughout the childs lifetime.
What exactly causes autism is not known, but most experts agree it is genetically linked. Researchers are also studying whether environmental factors such as viral infections, pregnancy complications, or air pollutants could increase the risk of autism.
ASD is 4 times more common in boys than girls about 1 out of every 44 children are diagnosed with this disorder, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control .
- 1 in 27 boys identified with autism
- 1 in 116 girls identified with autism
There is no known cure for autism, but children can learn new skills. While 31% of children with ASD have an intellectual disability, 44% have IQ scores in the average to above average range.
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Myth #: Better Hygiene And Sanitation Are Actually Responsible For Decreased Infections Not Vaccines
Vaccines don’t deserve all the credit for reducing or eliminating rates of infectious disease. Better sanitation, nutrition, and the development of antibiotics helped a lot too. But when these factors are isolated and rates of infectious disease are scrutinized, the role of vaccines cannot be denied.
One example is measles in the United States. When the first measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, rates of infection had been holding steady at around 400,000 cases a year. And while hygienic habits and sanitation didn’t change much over the following decade, the rate of measles infections dropped precipitously following the introduction of the vaccine, with only around 25,000 cases by 1970. Another example is Hib disease. According to CDC data, the incidence rate for this malady plummeted from 20,000 in 1990 to around 1,500 in 1993, following the introduction of the vaccine.
What Are The Risks Of Vaccines
Redness and soreness at injection sites, as well as fever and allergic reactions, are the most common side effects of vaccines.
Pfizer Or Moderna: Which Vaccine Is Best Against Covid-19?
Despite Pfizers best efforts, recent studies indicate that Modernas mRNA vaccine may be more effective at preventing breakthrough infections than Pfizers mRNA vaccine. The Moderna vaccine costs less than the traditional vaccine, but it is unclear whether it is more effective. Although the COVID-19 vaccine can be effective for a short period of time, we are unsure how long it will last. COVID-19, in addition to being a serious illness, has resulted in the deaths of a number of people.
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Structural Abnormalities Of The Nervous System
Toxic or viral insults to the fetus that cause autism, as well as certain central nervous system disorders associated with autism, support the notion that autism is likely to occur in the womb. For example, children exposed to thalidomide during the first or early second trimester were found to have an increased incidence of autism. Thalidomide was a medication that used to be prescribed to pregnant women to treat nausea. However, autism occurred in children with ear, but not arm or leg, abnormalities. Because ears develop before 24 days gestation, and arms and legs develop after 24 days gestation, the risk period for autism following receipt of thalidomide must have been before 24 days gestation. In support of this finding, Rodier and colleagues found evidence for structural abnormalities of the nervous system in children with autism. These abnormalities could only have occurred during development of the nervous system in the womb.
Why Were Vaccines Linked To Autism
In the late 1990s, some researchers raised concerns over the amount of thimerosala mercury-containing preservativefound in many children’s vaccines. Although thimerosal had been used as an anti-contamination agent for decades, the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccination was the only thimerosal-containing shot recommended for infants and children until 1991.
The researchers hypothesized that, as more thimerosal-containing vaccines like hepatitis B and Hib were added to the recommended schedule, babies were receiving too much of the chemical in too short a timeframe, which could potentially impact brain development.
In a totally separate issue around this time, another group of researchers lead by a British doctor named Andrew Wakefield theorized that children who received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine were more likely to develop autism than those who did not receive it. By January 2011, however, Dr. Wakefield’s study was discredited by the British Medical Journal.
Today, scientists and experts are confident that vaccines play no role in the onset of this developmental disorder. “More than a dozen studies across researchers, study designs, and populations have all concluded that there’s no relation between vaccines and autism,” says Matthew Daley, M.D., a pediatrician for Kaiser Permanente in Colorado and a researcher who studies vaccine topics. Read on to find out more about these studies.
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What Were The Side Effects Of Thimerosal
What are some of the side effects of having the hormone thimerosal in vaccines? Thimerosal is not associated with any side effects, but some people will experience mild side effects such as redness and swelling at the site of the injection, which lasts only 1 to 2 days. Its extremely unlikely that youll develop an allergic reaction to thimerosal.
Countless Studies Have Shown No Link Between Vaccines And An Increased Risk Of Autism Spectrum Disorders And That Includes Getting The Flu Shot While Pregnant So Why Are Parents And Expecting Parents Still Hesitant To Vaccinate
Concerns that vaccines may cause autism have been worrying parents since fraudulent research introduced the theory in the late 1990seven amid mounting evidence that proves otherwise. In light of more new studies disputing the link between autism and vaccinations, here are some relieving answers to your most pressing questions.
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The Flu Vaccine And Autism
While the majority of flu vaccines don’t contain thimerosal nowadays, multidose vials may have trace amounts to prevent bacteria, fungi, and other germs from forming. “Introduction of bacteria and fungi has the potential to occur when a syringe needle enters a vial as a vaccine is being prepared for administration,” according to the CDC. “Contamination by germs in a vaccine could cause severe local reactions, serious illness or death. In some vaccines, preservatives, including thimerosal, are added during the manufacturing process to prevent germ growth.”
Parents can always choose thimerosal-free alternatives of the flu vaccine though, and experts assert that it’s safe for kids. Indeed, the CDC recommends that everyone over 6 months of age receive a flu vaccine, with rare exceptions. Read more about the guidelines here.
Getting the flu vaccine during pregnancy is especially important since expectant women have a higher chance of severe illness from influenza. That’s because pregnancy changes your heart, lungs, and immune system. The flu vaccine also helps protect newborns from influenza during their first several months of life.
Family To Receive $15m+ In First
The first court award in a vaccine-autism claim is a big one. CBS News has learned the family of Hannah Poling will receive more than $1.5 million dollars for her life care lost earnings and pain and suffering for the first year alone.
In addition to the first year, the family will receive more than $500,000 per year to pay for Hannah’s care. Those familiar with the case believe the compensation could easily amount to $20 million over the child’s lifetime.
Hannah was described as normal, happy and precocious in her first 18 months.
Then, in July 2000, she was vaccinated against nine diseases in one doctor’s visit: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, varicella, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and Haemophilus influenzae.
Afterward, her health declined rapidly. She developed high fevers, stopped eating, didn’t respond when spoken to, began showing signs of autism, and began having screaming fits. In 2002, Hannah’s parents filed an autism claim in federal vaccine court. Five years later, the government settled the case before trial and had it sealed. It’s taken more than two years for both sides to agree on how much Hannah will be compensated for her injuries.
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Addm From The Cdc: Asd Community Monitoring And Support
Additional community resources need grow to support ASD locally, such as educational services and a coordinated response to families whose children have ASD.
CDCs Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network is a populagtion-based collaborative network that tracks the number and characteristics of thousands of children with autism spectrum disorder in multiple communities in the U.S. CDC encourages partners to use this information from their local communities and across the country to move forward initiatives, policies, and research that help children and families living with ASD.
The CDC has tracked data using the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Sites. The goals of the ADDM Network are to:
- Describe the population of children with ASD
- Compare how common ASD is in different areas of the country
- Identify changes in ASD occurrence over time
- Understand the impact of ASD and related conditions in US communities
Is Thimerosal Still Found In Vaccines
Thimerosal has been removed or reduced to trace amounts in most vaccines, with the exception of the multi-dose vial of the seasonal flu shot . Thimerosal is added to multi-dose vials to help prevent overgrowth of bacteria.
For parents who prefer, preservative-free versions of the flu shot are available all you have to do is request it from your doctor or pharmacist. You may need to check with your insurance first to be sure they’ll pay for the preservative-free form.
Thimerosal used to be found in the hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B and diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccines, among others. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has worked with vaccine manufacturers to eliminate thimerosal from vaccines recommended for children 6 years and younger. In many common childhood vaccines, thimerosol was never present.
Thimerosal, mercury or any other preservative is not present in any COVID vaccine issued for emergency use authorization in the U.S. To see a full list of ingredients for COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S., follow this link.
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Autism And The Mmr Vaccine
What is Autism?
Autism is a complex biological disorder of development that lasts throughout a person’s life. People with autism have problems with social interaction and communication, so they may have trouble having a conversation with you, or they may not look you in the eye. They sometimes have behaviors that they have to do or that they do over and over, like not being able to listen until their pencils are lined up or saying the same sentence again and again. They may flap their arms to tell you they are happy, or they might hurt themselves to tell you they are not.
One person with autism may have different symptoms, show different behaviors, and come from different environments than others with autism. Because of these differences, doctors now think of autism as a “spectrum” disorder, or a group of disorders with a range of similar features. Doctors classify people with autism spectrum disorder based on their autistic symptoms. A person with mild autistic symptoms is at one end of the spectrum. A person with more serious symptoms of autism is at the other end of the spectrum. But they both have a form of ASD.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development , part of the National Institutes of Health , is one of the NIH Institutes doing research into various aspects of autism, including its causes, how many people have it, and its treatments.
Why do people think that vaccines can cause autism?
Should my child have the MMR vaccine?
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.
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Natural Immunity Won’t Protect Your Kids
Some anti-vaxxers think their kids are born equipped to fight these diseases. But in fact, 90 percent of vaccinated kids exposed to measles get infected. Vaccines were game changers. Generations ago, kids did not stand a fighting chance against illnesses like polio. Give your kids the tools they need to protect themselves.
Myth #: We Don’t Need To Vaccinate Because Infection Rates Are Already So Low In The United States
Thanks to “herd immunity,” so long as a large majority of people are immunized in any population, even the unimmunized minority will be protected. With so many people resistant, an infectious disease will never get a chance to establish itself and spread. This is important because there will always be a portion of the population infants, pregnant women, elderly, and those with weakened immune systems that can’t receive vaccines.
But if too many people don’t vaccinate themselves or their children, they contribute to a collective danger, opening up opportunities for viruses and bacteria to establish themselves and spread.
Not to mention, as the Centers for Disease Control warn, international travel is growing quickly, so even if a disease is not a threat in your country, it may be common elsewhere. If someone were to carry in a disease from abroad, an unvaccinated individual will be at far greater risk of getting sick if he or she is exposed.
Vaccines are one of the great pillars of modern medicine. Life used to be especially brutal for children before vaccines, with huge portions being felled by diseases like measles, smallpox, whooping cough, or rubella, to name just a few. Today these ailments can be completely prevented with a simple injection.
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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.
Why People Think Vaccines Cause Autism
One of the most widespread myths is that vaccines cause autism. This myth started in 1998, when former U.K. doctor Andrew Wakefield published a study in The Lancet suggesting that autism might be triggered by MMR vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella.
The result was an 80% drop in the rate of 2-year-olds in England who received MMR vaccines over the next few years.
The myth unraveled in 2004, when journalists discovered that Wakefield failed to disclose a major conflict of interest: He had applied for a patent on his own measles vaccine.
Wakefield was also being paid by lawyers who were filing lawsuits against the manufacturers of MMR vaccines for downplaying side effects.
Citing ethical concerns, The Lancet retracted Wakefields paper in 2010. Soon afterward, Wakefield was permanently stripped of his medical license by the U.K. General Medical Council, so he fled to Texas to continue his anti-vaccination campaign in the United States.
In 2016, Wakefield directed a movie, Vaxxed, accusing the Centers for Disease Control of covering up evidence that the MMR vaccine could increase the risk of autism in black children.
The CDC says the association was not because vaccines were causing autism. Instead, children who already had autism were also more likely to have received vaccines as a requirement of attending special education preschools.
Furthermore, another study in 2014 found no difference in autism rates for vaccinated and un-vaccinated children.
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