Study Finds No Autism Link in Vaccine

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Washington Post

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 4, 2008; Page A02

A common vaccine given to children to protect them against measles, mumps and rubella is not linked to autism, a study published yesterday concludes.

The findings contradict earlier research that had fueled fears of a possible link between childhood vaccinations and a steep increase in autism diagnoses. In February 1998, the Lancet journal published a study by British researcher Andrew Wakefield of 12 children with autism and other behavioral problems that suggested the onset of their behavioral abnormalities was linked to receiving the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.

The new study comes as the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington is in the midst of evaluating evidence on whether children's vaccines are implicated in causing autism. A special master is evaluating three different kinds of claims -- two of which specifically link the MMR vaccine with autism.

Like Wakefield's study, the new study looked for evidence of potential links between MMR vaccinations, autism and the digestive (gastrointestinal, or GI) problems sometimes seen in autistic children.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303396.html?hpid=topnews

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

3. selfish?

Someone who feels they are protecting their children by not injecting them with something that may be harmful is selfish? Hmmm, that's a new spin.

[Indydem]

6. When in the real world...

They are HARMING their children by not protecting them from horrible, destructive diseases that are COMPLETELY preventable when not operating under the shadow of unreasonable, unfounded paranoia.

[Veronica.Franco]

28. They're not horrible diseases ...

I had measles, mumps, and rubella ... as did all five of my siblings ... we're ALL fine and in our 50's and 60's now ...

Polio ... now that WAS a horrible disease ...

[MomforObama]

8. The reason it is selfish is because vaccines work

on a principle called "herd immunity". They are not 100% effective. The more individuals in a population that are vaccinated, the more effective the vaccine is over the entire population. The more individuals that are not vaccinated, the higher the chances that even vaccinated individuals can contract the disease. This is why we are seeing outbreaks of pertussis (whooping cough), measles and even a few cases of polio in recent years. So yes, it is selfish, because if you do not vaccinate your children, you increase the chances that the vaccinated children sitting next to them in a classroom will get sick. That is why most schools require them.

Edited to add: If you have ever seen a baby or toddler with whooping cough (pertussis), you would urge everyone you know to go out and vaccinate their kids immediately. It causes coughing so intense that breathing is almost impossible and eating is out of the question. If you have not seen whooping cough, just go here (warning, not for the faint of heart):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ5jf-5MobE

[uppityperson]

18. Welcome to DU!

[Ian David]

11. Prisoner's Dilema. The only ones who consistently cheat the system are economists and sociopaths.nt

[sudopod]

29. Some people feel like they are protecting their children by

not treating their childhood diabetes. Is that selflish?

Maybe not.

But it's dumb.

[halobeam]

2. I'm thinking RFK Jr. might disagree with this.

Knowing I'm behind in reading ALL of the information needed to form my own opinion (at least an updated opinion); three thoughts come to mind.

One.. aren't these vaccinations available now without thimerisol/mercury?
Two.. the science confirms the relationship between the two, NOT just based on Wakefield's study of 12 children, but hosts of studies; leading to the consensus of the science community that there is a real relationship.
Three.. overall, vaccinations prevent the larger health threat.

Tough call for parents, as I am one of them, and I prayed for the slight side effects of low fever or achiness. I've seen a friends struggle when their child was not ever the same after a vaccine. I've seen what the measles can do, as my aunt had them while pregnant and my cousin can not hear.

[slackmaster]

4. Fascinating

:popcorn:

[Stuckinthebush]

7. Pass it over here

:popcorn:

[AngryAmish]

5. The stupid will still not vaccinate their children

If you don't vaccinate your kids in light of all the evidence, then you are a selfish asshole.

on edit: You are also probably scientifically illiterate.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. well stated.

[uppityperson]

17. I'd call them fearful and selfish.

[MicaelS]

20. Agreed,

It's really amazing how some Progressives decry the anti-science, anti-rational, anti-intellectual mindset of Conservatives, and then turn right around and use the same type of mindset when it comes to vaccinating their children. Just shows that they aren't as enlightened as they pretend.

[MannyGoldstein]

9. Same As Every Single Study To Date Has Found

The Lancet subsequently retracted the paper mentioned in the OP. Actually, 10 of the 13 original authors retracted it, and it turned out that Wakefield, prior to publication, had been personally paid more that $500k by lawyers looking to sue vaccine manufacturers. It is irresponsible that the WP did not mention that the Lancet study was withdrawn and the main author found to be deeply corrupt.

Every other study has found zero link, including studies in Northern Europe which are typically the best and freest of outside influence in the world.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Furthermore, Japan, which has never had mercury in its vaccines

is also experiencing a rise in autism.

A REAL scientific study would look at every factor in a child's life, including family history, prenatal exposure, chemicals in the home, nutrition, etc.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

25. is there really a rise?

I would be curious as to how many of these new autism cases are actually real diagnosed autism.

One of my neighbors kids has been "diagnosed" as being autistic, the school says he has Aspergers Syndrome, which just seems to be the new disability of choice for kids pissing off their teachers and a scam to obtain additional funding from the state for having disabled students. Apprently the school is insisting that almost 10% of their students are autistic with aspergers.

His parents don't believe a word of it and all anyone else sees is a kid socially mature for his age with perhaps less than victorian manners.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. I think there may be a broadening of the diagnostic categories

I first heard of autism when I was a teenager in the 1960s. I think that the severe cases were simply classified as "retarded" before that. The popular designation for Asperger's people was "odd," while hyperactive kids were "a real handful."

If they're counting Asperger's as autism, then this may be a matter of "lying with statistics." There's a real qualitative difference between someone who is non-verbal, unable to handle the world, and in need of life-long custodial care, and someone who can get a good education, hold down a job, and conduct an intelligent conversation, even if their reactions to emotions and interactions are atypical.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

27. I don't really know what to make of it

I would just really like to see a breakdown, I have encountered a number of children who have been declared autistic by way of aspergers and based on that I have a very hard time taking it too seriously if including them is the basis on which they say autism is exploding.

Looking at the kid next door all I see is a kid whos emotional maturity has overtaken his physical maturity by a couple of years, I can see why his attitude irritates teachers and I can see why he probably wants nothing socially to do with his classmates and vice-versa. But that isn't a mental disability requiring intervention by the state of california.

The next kid I know is pretty reclusive and more interested in hacking the cell phones I bring him from all over the world on to AT&T and Verizon than hanging out at South Coast Plaza, but rather than saying he is autistic or aspergers or whatever, lets compare his situation to that of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs at his age. This kid is more likely to be running Motorola or ripping off casinos in Las Vegas in 20 years than requiring care for autism.

I think it comes down to that everything has to have some sort of medical label and saying their autistic gets extra funding for the school.

The greatest concern I have for them is simply that this label that has been applied to them and others to scam extra school funding will ultimately see them screened out of a job prospects or used to deny health insurance as a pre-existing condition or god knows what else.

[bitchkitty]

30. Sounds like something Tom Cruise would say...

I worked for my county's Dept. of Developmental Disabilities. I can assure you that autism and AS are both real, and both can seriously impact the entire family, not just the child. Your friends should take their child to a therapist and get an independent diagnosis if they don't believe the school, but I wouldn't be so quick to scoff if someone told me my child had AS - I'd be doing everything I could to confirm, or disprove it.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

31. I didn't say autism isn't real

But this school is claiming every single kid with less than perfect social skills is autistic with aspergers, and in doing so just happens to be scoring extra funding on the basis of having a high number of special needs students.

The only thing wrong with this kid is an attitude problem,

[TrogL]

34. Schools cannot diagnose Aspergers and neither can you so stop it

[WriteDown]

13. Darn....

Now I guess people will be forced to give their kids vaccines for made-up diseases such as polio, measles, and mumps :sarcasm:.

[Ranting_Wacko]

14. Maybe it's not the mercury...

My younger brother is Autistic, so I have more than a passing interest in this. And I'm skeptical of the autism/vaccine link too, but I've talked with too many parents and seen the numbers of autistic children going up over my lifetime to think that it isn't worth investigating the connection... unlike many of my colleagues, who seem to think that it's "stupid" for a parent to question that maybe, just maybe, a medical company might lie about the safety of their products in order to increase profits.

As I understand it, most of the studies done on this matter were looking at one vaccine (the MMR) which no longer contains the thermasol and mercury which made people start asking questions in the 1990s. Well, what if it's some other factor that hasn't been tested?

Just curious.

[jajs123]

15. Vaccines and autism

White House memo exposes Rove knew of problems with anthrax vaccine
Allen McDuffee
Published: Thursday August 7, 2008

Rove said Gulf War Syndrome, vaccine political stumbling block

The Department of Defense continued its controversial mandatory anthrax vaccinations program despite high ranking Bush administration officials acknowledging there were problems with the vaccine within months of the Bush administration being in office—well before the attacks of 9/11 and the October 2001 anthrax letters.

A 2001 memorandum from former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove to then-Defense Undersecretary Paul Wolfowitz indicates that the White House knew of problems relating to the Gulf War Syndrome and the military’s controversial anthrax vaccine.

Obtained by RAW STORY earlier this year from a senior military official and exposed in today’s New York Daily News, “I do think we need to examine the issues of both Gulf War Syndrome and the Anthrax vaccine and how they can be dealt with,” Rove wrote. “They are political problems for us.”

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the military official who leaked the memo said, “It didn’t bother me that Rove referred to it as a political problem at the time because it meant that it would be properly dealt with, finally. The political problem became a problem to me when they dropped the ball and allowed the program to continue. It was politics that motivated them to investigate and it was politics that motivated them to allow the program to continue. Now the political nature bothers me.”

more at:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Memo_shows_White_House_kn…

The “Patriot Act” gave the vaccine makers immunity from selling a defective product. The parents of children with autism just want the ability to give their children one vaccine at a time instead of overloading their childrens systems with numerous antigens.

[uppityperson]

19. Welcome to DU. Odd, a post yet it says you have none.

OooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOooooo.

It is possible to get vaccines one at a time, but some parents want to not have their kids get them at all.

[AngryAmish]

21. A big cluster of vaccinations is like 9

(My tot just had her sixth month and it was 4 shots and oral vaccine).

Mrs. AA is also concerned and asked the doc about the vaccines. He said there was around 9 vaccines in that particular round (I think, not sure of the exact number - could be 6, could be 12).

Every time a child picks something off the ground and puts it in her mouth there are about 100 different species of bugs put into her mouth. The immune system handles this fine.

Vaccine injuries are real. Each one is a tragedy. But on balance we are better off with the vaccines.

[uppityperson]

22. I agree. "Vaccine injuries are real. Each one is a tragedy. But on balance we are better off with th

"Vaccine injuries are real. Each one is a tragedy. But on balance we are better off with the vaccines."

[jajs123]

23. A big cluster of vaccinations is like 9

A full 30% of all the military from Gulf War One have Gulf War Syndrome. The numbers are real. Seems like everyone is for the "patriot act". (immunity for vaccine makers even if they make a defective product) The vaccine makers are so unscientific that they purposely make sure every area of the country gets varied production lot numbers because a certain lot of one of their vaccines caused a SIDS cluster. Therefore if one production lot caused SIDS the other "good" lots would be there to offset the "bad" lot = no cluster.
There is still thimersol in use in vaccines but they say they filter it out!!!! They only use thimersol in multi-dose bottles. There was no problem with single dose bottles. It is cheaper (not safer) for the vaccine makers to do this.


One out of every 99 boys is autistic, the numbers are real.

[Ranting_Wacko]

16. Looks like the study might be flawed...

http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/press090308.php

[western mass]

32. So let me get this straight....

We're supposed to believe that a random website (which according to the mission statement is run by pseudoscience-promoting wackjobs) has mastered the science more completely than all the experts in field, including the expert peer reviewers of the studies that have found ZERO connection to vaccines.

Please give us a list of the institutions where these brilliant skeptics received their PhDs and postgraduate training.

[Ranting_Wacko]

33. I'd hardly call the National Autism Associaton...

a random website.

[happyslug]

24. Similar Studies have had the same results.

The problem is the Actual Studies can NOT show the Mercury in the Vaccine is the cause of Autism or is NOT the cause. All the studies can show is that among these children studied no connection can be made. Please note the Study restricted itself to the Vaccine NOT other sources of Mercury. That is all this study says, it is similar to other studies on the same subject, i.e. no finding of direct causation therefore the Vaccine have NOT be shown to cause Autism. The fact that the same study also shows no evidence DISPROVING the link is just ignored. This reminds me of the Studies done on DDT in the 1940s, no problem was found within 30 days of spraying DDT, therefore DDT is safe to the environment (DDT was found to kill Birds, but took 5 to 10 years to do so, do to thinning of bird's eggs do to the buildup of the Concentration of DDT in the bird, DDT almost killed off all the predator birds in the Eastern US do to excessive use of DDT). Remember the problem with the Vaccine is the Mercury in them. The Mercury may very well be to little to cause Autism, but if added to other sources of Mercury may be enough to start the child into autism (High Doses of Mercury is released with the burning of Ligate coal. Today Ligate Coal is the #1 coal used in the US for Electrical generation, replacing bituminous coal.

The other studies were discussed below:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=387&topic_id=135&mesg_id=201

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3160332&mesg_id=3160662

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3160332#3161584