AUTISM FEARS ABOUT VACCINES

VACCINES AND AUTISM

In April 2008, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee asked the general public to help set up its safety research agenda for the next 5 years.  Can you imagine asking us to help the advisors?

There is still a lot of fear that vaccines might cause autism.  This has been fuel recently by a lawsuit involving a 19-month girl named Hannah who got 5 vaccines and two days later became lethargic and febrile.  Ten days later she got a rash seen in vaccine induced varicella.    Months later she developed neuralgic signs seen in autism.  Her parents believed the vaccines triggered her problems. She sued the Dept of Health and Human services who made a concession in the Federal claims court.

The government created in 1982 a Vaccine inquiry act, the VICP, to compensate families quickly who got paralysis after the polio vaccines, thrombocytopenia after the measles vaccine, Reye’s syndrome, transverse myelits, mental retardation and epilepsy.  This dropped dramatically the number of lawsuits.

It seems the VICP has recently turned its back on science.  In 2005, they ruled that if someone proposed a plausible biologic mechanism in which a vaccine could cause harm and a logical sequence of cause and effect, they would grant a financial award.

This resulted in many claims that MMR vaccine caused fibromyalgia and epilepsy, hepatitis B vaccine caused Gullian Barre syndrome and demyelinating polyneuropathy, and the Hib vaccine caused transverse myelitis.

In 2006, the VICP granted awards in Hannah’s case, and also for a hepatitis B vaccine causing multiple sclerosis.

SCIENCE AND DRUG COMPANIES  FIGHT BACK

Children, who have deficiencies, as Hannah, with mitochondrial enzyme deficiency, are more susceptible to infections and they should on the contrary get all the vaccines available. 

Multiple vaccines can overcome and weaken the immune system.  Thanks to advances in protein purification and DNA technology, the 14 vaccines given young children only have 150 immunologic components compared to 200 years ago with just the small pox vaccination.

Development of fever and varicella vaccine rash after getting 9 vaccines can put stress on mitochondrial enzyme deficiency, as in Hannah’s case.  They are a miniscule contribution to this ‘antigenic’ challenge.

Kids with mitochondrial enzyme deficiencies might have a lower risk of exacerbation if they did not get the vaccination, but the change would come at a price.  Pneumoccocus, varicella and pertusis are still common in the U.S.

THE GOVERNMENT SPEAKS

Center for Disease Control spokesperson Julie Gerberding, makes no statement indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism.  Since autism is a clinical diagnosis, children are labeled autistic because of a collection of clinical feature as difficulty speaking and communicating.  In Hannah’s case, what was considered autistic was really a part of a global encelopathy caused by a mitochondrial defect.  Other disease also has autistic features as tuberous sclerosis, fragile X syndrome and Down’s syndrome.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Dr. Offit who authored the above paper gets royalties for vitamins, and vaccines.  He serves on the advisory Board for Merck and is chief of infectious diseases @ Philadelphia children’s Hospital.  Who better to right an impartial analysis of autism?

COMMENTARY

Why not have the drug companies run a double blind study of kids not getting vaccines and those getting all 14?   In a couple of years we would have all the answers.

Most kids who get measles, whooping cough, and chicken pox recover with no ill effects.  It sounds like everyone who gets these viral infections will die.     HOGWASH.

Source; Science 5.15.08

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