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.

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

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?

Vacate writes:Don't you consider it important that these injections have saved people? I know of one person with autism even though everyone I know has been immunized.

Pesticides and Polio:
A Critique of Scientific Literature
"Early in 1949, as a result of studies during the previous year, the author published reports implicating DDT preparations in the syndrome widely attributed to a 'virus-X' in man, in 'X-disease' in cattle and in often fatal syndromes in dogs and cats. The relationship was promptly denied by government officials, who provided no evidence to contest the author's observations but relied solely on the prestige of government authority and sheer numbers of experts to bolster their position. . . ."['X-disease'] . . . studied by the author following known exposure to DDT and related compounds and over and over again in the same patients, each time following known exposure. We have described the syndrome as follows: . . . . In acute exacerbations, mild clonic convulsions involving mainly the legs, have been observed. Several young children exposed to DDT developed a limp lasting from 2 or 3 days to a week or more. . . ."Simultaneously with the occurrence of this disorder [X-disease], a number of related changes occurred in the incidence of known diseases. The most striking of these is poliomyelitis. In the United States the incidence of polio had been increasing prior to 1945 at a fairly constant rate, but its epidemiologic characteristics remained unchanged. Beginning in 1946, the rate of increase more than doubled. Since then remarkable changes in the character of the disease have been noted. Contrary to all past experience, the disease has remained epidemic year after year."

Percy writes:I'd like to echo Molbiogirl's request that you focus on the evidence and not on charges of bias and lack of honesty.

Mobiogirl writes:If you say you are going to leave, then leave.

LindaLou writes:Quackwatch. Self-confessed skeptic sites. These kinds of sites have the agenda of "debunking" alt med in all of its forms. The kind of information they give is going to reflect that bias and I would not trust them to be honest or to include all the facts.
You have the ability to find a study yourself and comment on it. Why not do this, instead of trusting these sources to do it accurately for you?

WK writes:I'd say there is a whole lot of claim and no way of judging its credibility. There are many very technical assertions and without knowing where they come from, i.e. what research they are based on, it is very hard to evaluate their worth.

mobiogirl writes:One. Thimerosal has been in vaccines since 1928.
Two. The rate of autism disgnosis has risen dramatically since it was recognized in 1943.Why didn't autism rates skyrocket between 1943 and 1978 (the site you linked to said 1/10,000 in 1978 and 1/700 now)?

jar writes:Growing up mercury was a favorite play toy. Everyone loved it and almost everybody had some. We would rub pennies in it and drop it on the floor then work the drops back together again, squeeze it between our fingers, just generally have fun with it.