US: vaccination vs. autism?

[Dr Mordrid]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20060728-14204500-bc-ageofautism.xml

The Age of Autism: 'Amish bill' introduced

By DAN OLMSTED

WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- For the second time this week, legislation aimed at determining whether vaccines are linked to an epidemic of unrecognized side effects has been introduced in Congress -- this time as a direct result of reporting by Age of Autism.

The new legislation, titled the Comprehensive Comparative Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Populations Act of 2006, would order the National Institutes of Health to study "health outcomes, including autism," in those two groups.Maloney cited particular concern about the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal, to which children were increasingly exposed beginning in the late 1980s. It was phased out starting in 1999 at the recommendation of public-health officials and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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Subsequent studies have found no association between thimerosal and autism, but critics say those studies have been inadequate and beset by conflicts of interest. Nor have they compared vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations, in part because officials say such groups are hard to find in a society where childhood immunizations are routine -- and mostly mandatory for school attendance.
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But this column identified several groups that might fit the bill -- from the Amish in Pennsylvania Dutch country to homeschooled children to patients of a Chicago family practice.

"I have not seen autism with the Amish," said Dr. Frank Noonan, a family practitioner in Lancaster County, Pa., who has treated thousands of Amish for a quarter-century.

"You'll find all the other stuff, but we don't find the autism. We're right in the heart of Amish country and seeing none, and that's just the way it is."

In Chicago, Homefirst Medical Services treats thousands of never-vaccinated children whose parents received exemptions through Illinois' relatively permissive immunization policy. Homefirst's medical director, Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, told us he is not aware of any cases of autism in never-vaccinated children; the national rate is 1 in 175, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We have a fairly large practice," Eisenstein told us. "We have about 30,000 or 35,000 children that we've taken care of over the years, and I don't think we have a single case of autism in children delivered by us who never received vaccines.
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[Jammrock]

My son got all his vaccines on time until he was two and he has near autism, though not autistic, symptoms. Yes, little boys are hyper, but he is above and beyond the call of duty.

My daughter has not received any, save for one that was required by law at birth. She's the happiest, healthiest baby I know.

*shrug* coincidence? Maybe. But if you have read what happens to some kids after getting vaccinated you would think twice. As for the people who are going to automatically jump on me, the US is pretty much the only G8 nation left that uses thimerosal to preserve vaccines. So anyone from Europe and non-North American countries who says, "I've never seen it happen..." you haven't. Because your government outlawed thimerosal a long time ago.

The reason why thimerosal is still in use in the US? It allows pharmacuticals to use larger jars, thus less production costs. Or something along those lines. The vaccines themselves are mostly harmless, but the preservative many say is very harmful ... so this isn't an anti-vaccine post, just an anti-thimerosal post.

Jammrock

[Wombat]

How old is your son?

[ND66]

A few years ago I did some search on Autism & I must say I'm happy this does come back for re-evaluation.

If I find my old E-mail, I’ll post a couple of links. If I remember properly, this issue got more attention after a Congressman son did develop (or was diagnosed) with autism right after vaccination.

It all make a lot of sense on the Vaccine/Autism connection, seems like the Drug maker’s Lobby is stronger then anyone trying to fight it.

[ND66]

The reason why thimerosal is still in use in the US? It allows pharmacuticals to use larger jars, thus less production costs. Or something along those lines. The vaccines themselves are mostly harmless, but the preservative many say is very harmful ... so this isn't an anti-vaccine post, just an anti-thimerosal post.

Jammrock

If I remember right, it gives a longer shelf life of the vaccines.

You know, your son may just be misdiagnosed, they still don't really know how to recognize it ahead of time.

And, if I remember right (it’s been a while), there is a simple way to check yourself, when you suspect something.

They say, when you play with your child, (has to be in the proper age for this one too, capable of doing this) and just keep dropping things on the floor, every child will try to pick it up for you. If you continue dropping things on purpose, the Autistic child will retrieve it for you every single time while a healthy child, after some time, will figure out that you’re doing it on purpose and will not help you out after that.

[rylan]

Luckily there are vaccines available that don't use the mercury based preservative Thimerosal. Problem is you have to specifically ask for them, they're harder to get and cost a few dollars more. Plus you have to make sure you're actually getting a Thimerosal free vaccine after you ask for one for your child.
The whole issue of studies done by drug companies and the FDA as to whether Thimerosal can cause health problems is quite shady also. There are too many reports that were quietly slipped under the table of babies and children suddenly having substantial personality changes after getting thermisol preserved vaccine injections.
Even if the stuff is proven to not have a link to autism, common sense should tell you not to be injecting a what is a derivative from a known neuro-toxin into a baby.

[KvHagedorn]

Any government that would do nothing about this because it is being bribed by a megacorp that wants to make a few pennies more needs to be taken down.

[Jammrock]

How old is your son?

He just turned 3 a week ago. I have a lot of friends with kids the same age, or who have recently had kids the same age, and his hyperactivity is not normal, though not autistic level (one of my old neighbors has an autistic child and I know one at church).

When Javan was born he was small and cried a lot, but there were other reasons for that (my wife's milk never came in, so he was hungry and jaundice in the beginning). Anyway, there is a program that my old county ran called Parents as Teachers (if it's available in your area and you have children under 3 I highly recommend it). Our initial person noticed he exhibited behaviors of autistic children after 6 months (6 months is a big vaccination period) and sent in two specialists, plus paid for testing - one of th reasons why PAT is so good, is all the testing and specialists they recommend is paid for by the program.

Long story short, the specialists and our doctors said he is not autistic, but his activity level is well above average. It was after dealing with Javan for over a year that my wife started researching possible causes for his abnormal activity level and found several testimonials and research done into mercury based preservatives. The symptoms my son has are very similar to spot on with what her research yielded.

Anyway, with our daughter we decided to hold off vaccination until her body was more mature. She will be vaccinated, but not until 3 or 4 depending on the vaccine. As such she's been healthy, happy and has normal activity levels and turned 1 last week two (b-days are two days apart), so we are happy thus far with our decision.

Like I said, whether it's coincidence or linked to thimerosal in his vaccinations I don't know, but I think thimerosal needs to go away in any case.

Jammrock

[KvHagedorn]

I bet the drug companies just want to sell more ritalin, so they purposely poison vaccines.

See? The ONLY goal allowed by a corporation is by definition, profit. This outweighs everything else. If there was money to be made by burning little children alive and the corporations could lobby "our" government to allow this legally, it would happen, period.

The problem is there are too many apologists for unrestrained corporate behavior in general, especially in this country.

[Wombat]

If he's only 3, did he get any vaccines with thimerosal?

[Jammrock]

Um ... yes. Like it has been stated, all children who get their complete set of vaccines recieve vaccines with thimerosal. Thus Congress wants to investigate "concern(s) about the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal, to which children were increasingly exposed beginning in the late 1980s," and "MOUNTING EVIDENCE suggests that Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative in children's vaccines, may be responsible for the exponential growth of autism, attention deficit disorder, speech delays, and other childhood neurological disorders now epidemic in the United States"

Second quote from: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/edi..._and_politics/

All children who receive the complete compliment of "traditional vaccines" for children - meaning the average Joe and Mary who take their kids to the doctors and get the regular shots at the regular times by a regular doctor - under the age of 6 recieve dosages of thimerosal. That would include my son.

Sometimes I get the impression that you think I'm an inbreed backwoods uneducated country bumpkin, Wombat, because that was a pretty stupid question to ask. Unless you've never had kids or never got your kids vaccinated, because anyone in the US with kids know that they get thier first vaccine within 24 hours of being born (a Hep-B shot that is the most notrious of the thimerosal vaccination), and about another 6-10 in the first year alone.

This is the CDC recommended immunization schedule: http://www.cdc.gov/nip/recs/child-sc...olor-print.pdf

Note that some immunizations require 2 shots, a booster and then the actual vaccine, while others are a series of vaccinations. Thus several shots appear for a single vaccination. While most vaccination with thimerosal now have preservative-free counterparts, until the big debate regarding thimerosal really took front stage they have been more expensive to buy (smaller bottles with a shorter shelf life = more cost to the doctor) and with the FDA and the CDC both saying thimerosal is harmless many doctors think the thimerosal is nothing more than a conspiracy theory. Others argue that the research was not unbias and tainted (but that's a completely different arguement), or the sample population that the tests were run on did not have an accurate control group.

So may still be asking, "do you really know your sons has recieved thimerosal?" The answer is still yes, because my wife asked my doctor if he uses vaccines with preservatives and the answer was yes. There is only one common preservative for vaccines. Do the math.

Jammrock

PS - the RFK Jr. article is a good read.

PPS - "Mercury-laced vaccine stocks were given to American children until the end of 2003." My son was born July 2003 and by 6 months (the end of 2003), had recieved 6+ vaccination shots.

[schmosef]

Wow, I find this whole issue very scary.

I just did some quick research and while thermisol is now banned in Canada for the manufacture (and storage, I guess) of vaccines there still exists old stock (as old at 30yrs!) that is perfectly legal to be used.

So even in Canada a parent has to specifically request that their child be given preservative free vaccinations.

I wonder, once you, the parent, have made the request, do you just have to trust the doctor that he's going to follow though? How do you ensure that your baby receives the good stuff?

[Jammrock]

I wonder, once you, the parent, have made the request, do you just have to trust the doctor that he's going to follow though? How do you ensure that your baby receives the good stuff?

Find a good doctor...

Or make sure your doctor is getting new drug on the non-preservative list here: http://www.mcguffmedical.com/Custome...in_mercury.htm

[KvHagedorn]

My cat got a fibrosarcoma tumor, and we think it was because of these preservatives in his vaccine. After he got it, I googled fibrosarcoma and found out about it. The tumor site was almost the very spot on his back where the shots were given. These tumors spread their tendrils everywhere and it's almost impossible to get rid of them. He was a great cat.. died in Feb 2005. I still miss him.

Be careful about your pet's vaccine as well.

[Wombat]

Um ... yes. Like it has been stated, all children who get their complete set of vaccines recieve vaccines with thimerosal.

Stated by whom? They were wrong.

Today, with the exception of some influenza vaccine, none of the vaccines used to protect preschool children against 12 infectious diseases contain thimerosal as a preservative.
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With the exception of some influenza vaccines and tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccines (given to children age 7 and older), the last lots of recommended childhood vaccines which contained thimerosal as a preservative expired by early 2003.

http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/thimerosal/faqs-availfree.htm

Sometimes I get the impression that you think I'm an inbreed backwoods uneducated country bumpkin, Wombat, because that was a pretty stupid question to ask. Unless you've never had kids or never got your kids vaccinated, because anyone in the US with kids know that they get thier first vaccine within 24 hours of being born (a Hep-B shot that is the most notrious of the thimerosal vaccination), and about another 6-10 in the first year alone.

Gee, such a "stupid" question has such interesting answers. No, I have no children. But let's look again at the CDC

All hepatitis B vaccines intended for use in infants and children are free of thimerosal as a preservative, and an adequate supply of these vaccines is available for all infant and childhood vaccinations.

So may still be asking, "do you really know your sons has recieved thimerosal?" The answer is still yes, because my wife asked my doctor if he uses vaccines with preservatives and the answer was yes. There is only one common preservative for vaccines. Do the math.

And the math says that your son may not have received it, and that at his current age you could have made sure he never did, since the vaccines were available. Thimerosal has not been a "common preservative" in child vaccines for 3 years - it has been replaced (or preservatives eliminated entirely, depending on the vaccine). If he were a little younger we could be certain that he didn't receive any,unless your doctor ignored expiration dates. Seems like you're okay to take your daughter in for those vaccinations now.

Personally, I've dug into this issue a good bit, and I strongly doubt a vaccination link to autism. It looks to be part hyper-diagnosis, part previous undiagnosis, and an increase of a genetically-influenced defect - notice how the autism rates in the children of Silicon Valley are far above the national average. Also, if a child has autism, their siblings are 25 times more likely to have it than the national average - and if an autistic child has an identical twin, that twin has a 90% chance of being autistic.