Childhood Vaccinations – Necessary or Overkill? Sequal Thread

Percy writes:The mention of a possible link between vaccines and autism is the other thing that I thought might be off. I thought studies had shown no link. This has been discussed in this thread, and I thought the science side was pretty certain there was nothing to it. But this doctor seemed to have a lot on the ball. Was she wrong?

According to the article, vaccines given to newborns contain an array of chemicals including formaldehyde (used in embalming), thimerosal (nearly 50 percent mercury), aluminum phosphate (toxic and carcinogenic), antibiotics, phenols (corrosive to skin and toxic), aluminum salts (corrosive to tissue and neurotoxic), methanol (toxic), isopropyl (toxic), 2-pheoxyethanol (toxic), live viruses and various other components.Among these components, previous studies suggest that there is a link between neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, and mercury exposure from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines. Although U.S. health officials called for thimerosal to be removed from vaccines in 1999, the article details how--because of mislabeled package inserts and other issues--it is extremely difficult for parents and physicians to know whether the preservative is actually in the vaccine.

And you are correct, sir. Studies have shown no link. The definitive studies were conducted in Canada and the Netherlands (where thimerosal has been absent from vaccines for over 10 years).Mercury, in the form of thimerosal, is no longer in vaccines here in the US.Autism continues to be diagnosed at the same rate as it was when thimerosal was in the vaccines.Therefore, mercury has no link to autism.If mercury poisoning were the cause of autism, the entire nervous system would be affected. Autistic children do not exhibit the movement disorders and peripheral nerve damage characteristic of mercury poisoning.Furthermore, mercury is found in the earth's crust and is ubiquitous in the environment. Thus, even without vaccinations (or amalgam fillings), everyone has small but measurable blood and urine levels.Funny. The woomeisters never mention that point!

mobiogirl writes:Mercury, in the form of thimerosal, is no longer in vaccines here in the US.

Mobiogirl, if Deborah Ray is full of beans so are the clinical studies which she cites regularly on her shows.

They both also agree with content within the above link that autism has mushroomed in the US. Whitaker claims that autism in children has increased from around one in 120 to about 1 in 2500 presently.

wiki writes:In November 2002, a study reported a lower incidence of autism in Denmark than in the US and other countries. An incidence of 1 in 727 (738 out of 537,303) was reported, compared with up to 1 in 86 among primary school children in the United Kingdom and around 1 in 150 children in the USA. Danish authorities also reported a continued increase in the incidence of autism after 1992 after withdrawal of thiomersal-containing vaccines.[12] Data presented in 2003 shows a clear increase in incidence between 1990 and 1995 (before the criteria changed). Thus, the increased incidence of autism after the removal of thiomersal was not a measurement artefact.

Vacate writes:On this point, study after study has shown that these serious effects occur at the same rate with or without vaccine.

As the number of vaccines increased, the rate of autism among children exploded. During the 1990s, 40 million children were injected with thimerosal-based vaccines, receiving unprecedented levels of mercury during a period critical for brain development. Despite the well-documented dangers of thimerosal, it appears that no one bothered to add up the cumulative dose of mercury that children would receive from the mandated vaccines. "What took the FDA so long to do the calculations?" Peter Patriarca, director of viral products for the agency, asked in an e-mail to the CDC in 1999. "Why didn't CDC and the advisory bodies do these calculations when they rapidly expanded the childhood immunization schedule?"But by that time, the damage was done. Infants who received all their vaccines, plus boosters, by the age of 6 months were being injected with levels of ethylmercury 187 times greater than the EPA's limit for daily exposure to methylmercury, a related neurotoxin. Although the vaccine industry insists that ethylmercury poses little danger because it breaks down rapidly and is removed by the body, several studies -- including one published in April by the National Institutes of Health -- suggest that ethylmercury is actually more toxic to developing brains and stays in the brain longer than methylmercury.Officials responsible for childhood immunizations insist that the additional vaccines were necessary to protect infants from disease and that thimerosal is still essential in developing nations, which, they often claim, cannot afford the single-dose vials that don't require a preservative. Dr. Paul Offit, one of CDC's top vaccine advisors, told me, "I think if we really have an influenza pandemic -- and certainly we will in the next 20 years, because we always do -- there's no way on God's earth that we immunize 280 million people with single-dose vials. There has to be multidose vials."But while public-health officials may have been well-intentioned, many of those on the CDC advisory committee who backed the additional vaccines had close ties to the industry. Dr. Sam Katz, the committee's chair, was a paid consultant for most of the major vaccine makers and shares a patent on a measles vaccine with Merck, which also manufactures the hepatitis B vaccine. Dr. Neal Halsey, another committee member, worked as a researcher for the vaccine companies and received honoraria from Abbott Labs for his research on the hepatitis B vaccine.Indeed, in the tight circle of scientists who work on vaccines, such conflicts of interest are common. Rep. Burton says that the CDC "routinely allows scientists with blatant conflicts of interest to serve on intellectual advisory committees that make recommendations on new vaccines," even though they have "interests in the products and companies for which they are supposed to be providing unbiased oversight." The House Government Reform Committee discovered that four of the eight CDC advisors who approved guidelines for a rotavirus vaccine laced with thimerosal "had financial ties to the pharmaceutical companies that were developing different versions of the vaccine

mobiogirl writes: If you would be so kind as to provide the cites, I would be more than happy to look into these clinical studies.However, since you have not chosen to share these mysterious cites in other threads, I'm not gonna hold my breath.That said, I'm willing to bet big $$$ that these "studies" were published in "journals" like The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine.Wanna put your money where your mouth is?

1. Can you cite one or two of these studies? I'm wondering how they can study the population when nearly all of the child members of the population receive the vaccines.

2. It is my understanding that the incidence of autism began to escalate commencerate with the practice of vaccinating babies.

You could be right.

Epidemiologic studies have shown no relationship between MMR vaccination in children and development of autism:* In 1997, the National Childhood Encephalopathy Study (NCES) was examined to see if there was any link between measles vaccine and neurological events. The researchers found no indication that measles vaccine contributes to the development of long-term neurological damage, including educational and behavioral deficits (Miller et al., 1997).* A study by Gillberg and Heijbel (1998) examined the prevalence of autism in children born in Sweden from 1975-1984. There was no difference in the prevalence of autism among children born before the introduction of the MMR vaccine in Sweden and those born after the vaccine was introduced.* In 1999, the British Committee on Safety of Medicines convened a "Working Party on MMR Vaccine" to conduct a systematic review of reports of autism, gastrointestinal disease, and similar disorders after receipt of MMR or measles/rubella vaccine. It was concluded that the available information did not support the posited associations between MMR and autism and other disorders.* Taylor and colleagues (1999) studied 498 children with autism in the UK and found the age at which they were diagnosed was the same regardless of whether they received the MMR vaccine before or after 18 months of age or whether they were never vaccinated. Importantly, the first signs or diagnoses of autism were not more likely to occur within time periods following MMR vaccination than during other time periods. Also, there was no sudden increase in cases of autism after the introduction of MMR vaccine in the UK. Such a jump would have been expected if MMR vaccine was causing a substantial increase in autism.* Kaye and colleagues (2001) assessed the relationship between the risk of autism among children in the UK and MMR vaccine. Among a subgroup of boys aged 2-5 years, the risk of autism increased almost 4 fold from 1988 to 1993, while MMR vaccination coverage remained constant at approximately 95% over these same years.* Researchers in the U.S. found that among children born between 1980 and 1994 and enrolled in California kindergartens, there was a 373% relative increase in autism cases, though the relative increase in MMR vaccine coverage by the age of 24 months was only 14% (Dales et al., 2001).* Researchers in the UK (Frombonne & Chakrabarti, 2001) conducted a study to test the idea that a new form, or "new variant," of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) exists. This new variant IBD has been described as a combination of developmental regression and gastrointestinal symptoms occurring shortly after MMR immunization. Information on 96 children (95 immunized with MMR) who were born between 1992 and 1995 and were diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder were compared with data from 2 groups of autistic patients (one group of 98 born before MMR was ever used and one group of 68 who were likely to have received MMR vaccine). No evidence was found to support a new syndrome of MMR-induced IBD/autism. For instance, the researchers found that there were no differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups with regard to when their parents first became concerned about their child’s development. Similarly, the rate of developmental regression reported in the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups was not different; therefore, there was no suggestion that developmental regression had increased in frequency since MMR was introduced. Of the 96 children in the first group, no inflammatory bowel disorder was reported. Furthermore, there was no association found between developmental regression and gastrointestinal symptoms.* Another group of researchers in the UK (Taylor et al., 2002) also examined whether MMR vaccination is associated with bowel problems and developmental regression in children with autism, looking for evidence of a "new variant" form of IBD/autism. The study included 278 cases of children with autism and 195 with atypical autism (cases with many of the features of childhood autism but not quite meeting the required criteria for that diagnosis, or with atypical features such as onset of symptoms after the age of 3 years). The cases included in this study were born between 1979 and 1998. The proportion of children with developmental regression or bowel symptoms did not change significantly from 1979 to 1988, a period which included the introduction of MMR vaccination in the UK in 1988. No significant difference was found in rates of bowel problems or regression in children who received the MMR vaccine before their parents became concerned about their development, compared with those who received it only after such concern and those who had not received the MMR vaccine. The findings provide no support for an MMR associated "new variant" form of autism and further evidence against involvement of MMR vaccine in autism.* Madsen et al. (2002) conducted a study of all children born in Denmark from January 1991 through December 1998. There were a total of 537,303 children in the study; 440,655 of the children were vaccinated with MMR and 96,648 were not. The researchers did not find a higher risk of autism in the vaccinated than in the unvaccinated group of children. Furthermore, there was no association between the age at time of vaccination, the amount of time that had passed since vaccination, or the date of vaccination and the development of any autistic disorder. Though there were many more vaccinated than unvaccinated children in the study group, the sample was large enough to contain more statistical power than other MMR and autism studies. Therefore, this study provides strong evidence against the hypothesis that MMR vaccination causes autism.* DeStefano et al. (2004) conducted a study to see if there was a difference in the age at which children with autism and without autism received their first MMR vaccination. The study's findings showed that children with autism received their first MMR vaccination at similar ages as children without autism. More information about this study can be found on the CDC's research on vaccines and autism web page. 4. Are there studies that suggest there might be a connection between autism and MMR vaccine?The existing studies that suggest a causal relationship between MMR vaccine and autism have generated media attention. However, these studies have significant weaknesses and are far outweighed by the epidemiologic studies described above that have consistently failed to show a causal relationship between MMR vaccine and autism.* The MMR-autism theory is based on the idea that intestinal problems, like Crohn’s disease, are the result of viral infection and can contribute to the development of autism. The theory has its origins in research by Wakefield and colleagues (1989; 1990) which suggested that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is linked to persistent viral infection.* In 1993, Wakefield and colleagues reported isolating measles virus in the intestinal tissue of persons with IBD. However, the validity of this finding was later called into question when it could not be reproduced by other researchers (Afzal, 1998; Iizuka et al., 2000).* Thompson and colleagues (1995) suggested in a retrospective cohort study that MMR vaccine might be a risk factor for Crohn's disease. However, the selection and recall biases and the differences in data collection in this study were so substantial as to cast doubt on the validity of the findings.* Two studies out of Sweden linked measles infection in utero to the development of IBD (Ekbom et al., 1994; Ekbom et al., 1996). However, these studies involved a very small number of cases and when researchers identified the persons to be included in the 1996 study, they had prior knowledge that cases of Crohn’s disease had occurred in the offspring of two women who were infected with measles during pregnancy. This is called "selection bias" and limits the strength of the study.* The MMR-autism theory came to the forefront when, in 1998, Wakefield and colleagues reviewed reports of children with bowel disease and regressive developmental disorders, mostly autism. The researchers suggested that MMR vaccination led to intestinal abnormalities, resulting in impaired intestinal function and developmental regression within 24 hours to a few weeks of vaccination. This hypothesis was based on 12 children. In 9 of the cases, the child's parents or pediatrician speculated that the MMR vaccine had contributed to the behavioral problems of the children in the study. There are a number of limitations in the Wakefield et al. (1998) study:1. The study used too few cases to make any generalizations about the causes of autism; only 12 children were included in the study. Further, the cases were referred to the researchers and may not be a representative sample of cases of autism.
2. There were no healthy control children for comparison. As a result, it is difficult to determine whether the bowel changes seen in the 12 children included in the study were similar to changes in normal children, or to determine if the rate of vaccination in autistic children was higher than in the general population.
3. The study did not identify the time period during which the cases were identified.
4. In at least 4 of the 12 cases, behavioral problems appeared before the onset of symptoms of bowel disease; that is, the effect preceded the proposed cause. It is unlikely, therefore, that bowel disease or the MMR vaccine triggered the autism.In 2004, 10 of the 13 authors of the study retracted the paper's interpretation, stating that the data were insufficient to establish a causal link between MMR vaccine and autism (Murch et al., 2004)* In another study that generated media attention and raised public concern in the UK (Uhlmann et al, 2002), researchers found measles virus fragments in the intestines of children with "new variant" IBD (children with both IBD and developmental disorder). Scientists looked for the presence of measles virus in the intestinal tissue of 91 children with new variant IBD and 70 "controls" (children without this type of IBD). The researchers found measles virus fragments in 75 out of the 91 children with "new variant" IBD, and in only 5 of the 70 controls. While this provides evidence for an association between the presence of measles virus and IBD in children with developmental disorder, it does not mean that the measles component of the MMR vaccine causes IBD or developmental disorder. As a commentary published with the article asserts, the data could just as easily be interpreted as indicating that the IBD or the developmental disorder cause the persistence of measles in the intestines (Morris & Aldulaimi, 2002). In addition, the researchers did not compare the virus found in the intestines of patients with the virus used in the MMR vaccine; nor did they provide information regarding whether or not the children in the study had been previously vaccinated with MMR or had previously contracted measles disease.

In December of 2006, the Sunday Times further reported that in addition to the money given to the Royal Free Hospital, Wakefield had also been personally paid 400,000 which had not been previously disclosed by the attorneys responsible for the MMR lawsuit.[18]

wiki writes:In February of 2004, controversy resurfaced when Wakefield was accused of a conflict of interest. The London Sunday Times reported that some of the parents of the twelve children in the Lancet study were recruited via a UK attorney preparing a lawsuit against MMR manufacturers, and that the Royal Free Hospital had received 55,000 from the UK's Legal Aid Board (now the Legal Services Commission) to pay for the research.[15] Previously, in October 2003, the board had cut off public funding for the litigation against MMR manufacturers.[16] Following an investigation of The Sunday Times allegations by the UK General Medical Council, Wakefield was charged with serious professional misconduct, including dishonesty.[17] The GMC opened the hearings in the summer of 2007 but, after the prosecution case was presented, suspended the proceedings and defense presentation until March, 2008.

They both also agree with content within the above link that autism has mushroomed in the US. Whitaker claims that autism in children has increased from around one in 120 to about 1 in 2500 presently.

autism in children has increased from around one in 120 to about 1 in 2500 presently