Autism and vaccines

[Michaelaw]

I remember looking at this way back but ended up shelving it due to lack of any credible argument to support it. I remember reading a whole boatload of testimonials from parent who's vaccinated children developed autism following the shot. Maybe after this though, the whole argument will have to be revisited?

LINK (http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=693716&Itemid=29)

[Gremlich]

What needs to be done is comprehensive research that disproves any correlation between the vaccine/adjuvants and autism. Research has also found that environmental conditions have been implicated.

[Bambi]

Micael- this is old news in my world- the world in which people actually work with children with autism. This experiment did more to damage care and treatment for children and those with Autism then anything else. Gremlich- it has been disproven, over and over. A few years ago I gave MAW links on this. I can find them if you like. The difficulty arises that autism symptoms often become apparent at the same time that vaccines are given. it's a correlation but it was used to imply causality. The other issue is that prenatal exposure to rubella and other diseases has been causally linked to the baby developing autism. there are a number of factors that are linked to autism and they are not well understood. It's not like Down Syndrome in which you can point to a specific deletion.

[Greg_R]

The original study that created this controversy has been shown to be fraudulent: Autism-vaccine study was 'fraud' says journal (Update) (http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-autism-vaccine-fraud-journal.html)

"...the study was retracted by The Lancet last year and Wakefield was disgraced on the grounds of conflict of financial interest and unethical treatment of some children involved in the research."

You can also check out http://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com

[Gremlich]

I understand that there is no correlary between autism and vaccines, I've seen interviews and read papers and you just can't tell that to parents of autistic children, however much information there is counter to their argument. (You can't tell them what they don't want to hear)

They desperately need something to point to and vaccines are easy. The other issue with vaccines are parents who refuse to let their children get the standard vaccine series. This contributes to resurgence of things like Rubella and whooping cough (which is happening!). "The needs of the many,......" doesn't hold much water for some and will eventually cause greater issues within 5-10 years.

[Wicked Dark]

I would like to see autism rates graphed against population totals. I often wonder if things like autism aren't evolutionary responses to over-crowding/population overload.

[Bambi]

autism is believed to be a neurological disorder. There have been many factors linked to it and none that are exclusive. This includes prenatal exposure to drugs, viruses and toxin within the first 6 weeks (interestingly enough this is also when a cleft palate will occur). There is a genetic link but the cannot find the exact genes. I do know that in Nova scotia there is a high rate of ASD in Cape Breton which is not very populated.

[Michaelaw]

I posted this last night but have no time to get into it as I'm about 72 hours away from having my ass sued to the moon for failure to deliver my latest show. It will be a freakin miracle if I can pull all the parts together in time:wall-an: If the article didn't phase Bambi I'll have to assume it was more gibberish. It seemed like it fit somewhere, thought maybe I was onto something but Bambi seems to be on top of it so back it goes on the shelf :laughing:

[Bambi]

go work MAW, I'm on it! ;)

FYI the link of vaccines and Autism has been based around the presence of Themerisol in vaccines. This is a mercury compound and mercury is a neurotoxin in sufficient doses. However, no vaccines given to children have contained Thermisol for a long time. and many NEVER contained it (like the MMR). Here's a table for your information:
Thimerosal in Vaccines (http://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/safetyavailability/vaccinesafety/ucm096228.htm)