WASHINGTON, June 4, 2008
Marching Over Vaccines And Autism
A New Battle Cry For Those Arguing There's A Link
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Play CBS Video Video Celebrities March For Autism Celebrities work to raise awareness of a possible link between the CDC's recommended vaccination schedule and autism. But many doctors warn parents against ignoring vaccinations. Jon LaPook reports.
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Video Stars March For Autism Parents like actress Jenny McCarthy protested the current vaccination policy in a Washington, D.C. march. Vaccines and their preservatives are a disputed cause of autism. Thalia Assuras reports.
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Protesters marched on Washington to challenge the medical establishment, which says there's no evidence vaccines cause autism. (CBS)
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Interactive Breaking The Silence Find out more about autism, and where to get help for someone who may have this neurological disorder.
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Interactive HealthWatch Explore health issues including AIDS, cancer and antibiotics.
"We want to send the message to the CDC and our federal government that vaccinations schedules are not one size fits all for all children and that each child is different," said concerned parent Michael Williamson.
Their new battle cry: Spread out the vaccine schedule.
"Thirty-six vaccines in the first few years of the life are too many too soon," Carrey said.
By the time a child is two years old, the CDC recommends 14 different vaccines in as many as 28 doses. That may sound like a lot - but these shots have helped to wipe out diseases like smallpox, polio and measles, saving an estimated 33,000 lives a year, according to the CDC.
Even so, some are asking: Why give so many vaccines over a relatively short period of time? Dr. Paul Offit helped invent one of those vaccines.
"There is no advantage to spacing out, delaying or withholding vaccines," Offit said. "The only thing that will come of that kind of behavior will be allowing for a period of time to occur when children are at risk of vaccine preventable diseases."
The activists are also worried about the preservatives used to keep vaccines sterile.
Safety concerns about a mercury-based preservative called Thimerosol led to its removal from most childhood vaccines almost a decade ago. But since then autism rates have gone up, not down. Still, parents are asking lots of questions.
"I would say that as a pediatrician I spend about 50 percent of my day talking about vaccines," said Pediatric Dr. Bruce Brovender.
He insists his patients be vaccinated, but he's willing to compromise with parents - up to a point.
Brovender warns them about the risks if they don't follow the schedule recommended by the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics.
"They are 100 percent warned that by delaying or spacing them out they are not going to get the protection they need," Brovender said. "It's better to follow the academy's schedule, but it's better to get something than nothing."
He says the marchers have forgotten the consequences of failing to vaccinate properly.
"The child who didn't get the whooping cough vaccine and is now on a respirator and now may have permanent brain and lung damage," he said.
For more information from both the medical and activist communities on this issue, you can check out:
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Add a Comment See all 69 Comments
- Yes, rational, there is a lot of mercury exposure in the environment. Dental fillings, coal power plants in the U.S. and China, fish, and fluorescent lightbulbs which contain mercury and will contaminate our soil and ground water for generations to come. I fully agree that we need a comprehensive national and international mercury policy, but we don''t have one.
There is one place we have control, however. We should be able to control whether or not mercury is in the vaccines that we inject into people. This is the 21st century. It''s ridiculous that people are even making an argument in favor of keeping mercury in vaccines.
And regardless of mercury poisoning (environmental or otherwise), there are plenty of other toxins in vaccines that deserve serious scrutiny. It''s not just the mercury. It''s the FDA-approved aluminum adjuvant that causes motor neuron death in the lab and has been linked to Gulf War illness. (Neuromolecular Medicine, Sept. 2007). Nasty stuff. No more vaccines for us until it''s gone. Just lots of OT, PT, speech therapy and chelation. - Reply to this comment
- I challenge anyone to explain why the least likely disease on schedule, Hep B, is given the 1st day of life. I didn''t get this vaccination until I was in college! Even though hep B is an adult disease, is not highly contagious, is not deadly for most who contract it, and is not in epidemic form in the U.S.(except among high risk groups), in 1991 the ACIP of the CDC recommended that ALL INFANTS be injected with the first dose of Hep B vaccine at birth before being discharged. A similar recommendation was also made by the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the AAP. This, despite the fact almost nothing is known about the health and integrity of an individual baby''s immune and neurological systems at birth.
In 1991, media reports generated by the CDC used Hep B disease statistics that were not anchored in documented fact but are still used today to promote mass Hep B vaccination. Most of the inflated disease statistics originate with statements generated by the CDC. In the 1991 ACIP Recommendations calling for mass vaccination with Hep B vaccine published in the MMWR, the CDC states that there are an "estimated 1 million-1.25 million persons with chronic hepatitis B infection in the United States" and that "each year approximately 4,000-5,000 of these persons die from chronic liver disease" and that "an estimated 200,000-300,000 new [hepatitis B] infections occurred annually during the period 1980-1991." The CDC gives no scientific reference for this data other than the CDC. - Reply to this comment
- Well, rational, last I checked 6 month old babies don''''t consume half a pound of swordfish steak at a sitting. And pregnant women have been warned off of
Posted by Garbosmed at 09:20 PM : Jun 06, 2008
No, of course they don''t. But if there is a background environmental load to which they are being exposed and there are a subset of children who don''t excrete it as quickly as others (maybe those susceptible to autism?? I don''t know), you could see how mercury levels would build up in their systems. My point was that kids could be getting mercury exposure from many sources other than vaccines and to point out that only 25 grams of swordfish (1/20th of a pound which you might expect a two-year-old to eat) is equivalent to 25 micrograms of mercury. And your comment about pregnant women doesn''t apply to vaccines (eg. MMR) given to kids long after they are born and may have been exposed on their own.
Now about the difference between methylmercury and ethylmercury, the methyl form does get into the brain because there is a transporter for it that gets it across the blood:brain barrier. I don''t know the pharmacokinetics of the two forms to see which is cleared from the body faster but can look it up if you''d like. By the way something else to perhaps consider - I don''t believe the blood:brain barrier is fully formed in young children (newborns), so it''s leaky - Reply to this comment
- Well, rational, last I checked 6 month old babies don''t consume half a pound of swordfish steak at a sitting. And pregnant women have been warned off of those larger fish (tuna, swordfish, king mackerel, shark, etc.) because of mercury content. And a recent study suggests that the ethyl mercury in vaccines crosses the blood-brain barrier and lodges in brain tissue, whereas the methyl mercury found in the environment/fish does not, at least not with the same ease.
But it''s not just the mercury. Personally, I think the aluminum adjuvants and some of the viral components themselves are at least partly to blame. Another recent study found the aluminum adjuvant in used in vaccines causes motor neuron death, and has linked it to Gulf War Syndrome. Turns out that the soldiers who were vaccinated against anthrax come down with Gulf War Syndrome at the same rates regardless of whether or not they were ever deployed to the middle east.
Maybe they ate some bad fish, too. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by natkitmom at 09:00 AM : Jun 06, 2008
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Ten different doctors, ten different opinions!!!
How can one be certain where the truth lies????? - Reply to this comment
- rlford3: I have read your posts, and frankly, it scares me to death....I have a brand new grandson born on May 30, and this baby is so alert!! He has his eyes open, and follows movement,makes eye contact (or at least seems to...) I worry about vaccines, yet worry about him getting sick without them....It''s frightening to walk in uncharted territory, particularly when there is no turning back if something goes wrong...
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- With ANY medical research, especially of diseases and conditions, the researcher must always take a brief moment to observe the GEOGRAPHICAL component of the picture. -- This is vital because many studies miss obvious connections when this step is avoided. -- This is true even if the studies only involve specific population groups. -- If a geographical link is clearly visible, it can suggest an entirely different clinical picture than was supposed. -- We assume too much when we define studies with narrow parameters, and leave out vital information as a result.
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- Um, yeah, there is still mercury in shots. Unlike europe, 90% of the flu shots in this country still contain 25 mg of mercury, including that given to...
Posted by Garbosmed at 09:22 PM : Jun 05, 2008
I was curious how that 25 microgram dose of mercury compares to what we might typically consume in our diets, particularly fish. I found an FDA website that has mean mercury levels sampled from a wide variety of fish. If you''re interested in your favourite fish check out
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html
The levels seem to range from about 0.05 ppm (catfish, scallops), ~0.5 ppm (various tunas) to 1.0 ppm in swordfish. Converting ppm to micrograms per gram is easy - it''s 1, so 1 ppm = 1 microgram/gram. So if swordfish has 1 ppm mercury and you eat a half pound swordfish steak (say 250 grams), that means your mercury intake from that one meal is 10 times what might be in the vaccine.
So, my big question then becomes, if mercury is causing these kids'' problems, how do we know they''re getting it from the vaccines? - Reply to this comment
- I can just feel my back going up over the doctor''s and CDC''s comments regarding this issue. I am a college graduate with a responsible challgenging job, but my intelligence constantly feels insulted over some of the medical establishment''s comments.
I am not not going to vaccinate my child. I have found that the schedule is too aggressive. I also have asked for my son''s titers to be taken to measure if they are high enough to avoid another SHOT!!
I find it interesting that one doctor said that there is NO benefit to spacing our vaccinations better. There was no DATA cited to back his claim up. But, he did bring up the old scare tactics about how being a better informed cautious parent and not trusting the medical establishment''s word is going to cause an epidemic.
My son''s doctor listened to my concerns and worked with on this issue. She did not treat me like an idiot but a concerned mother.... - Reply to this comment
- I''''''''ll let the abstract of this recent review answer your question for me. I took a quick look through it; it says that there is a 70-90% concordance for autism between identical twins (higher than for schizophrenia). Happy?
Posted by rational_1 at 12:19 PM : Jun 05, 2008
not so much. you''''re the one who constantly calls out people when they state stuff and don''''t back it up. why should you also not be accountable? certainly you would expect this out of your students...... then again, looking at your posts, you are consistently lazy and opinionated.....the markings of tenure.
Posted by lucasnico at 11:00 PM : Jun 05, 2008
You called me on something (genetics in autism) - I answered it. Am I wrong? If not then I answered your call, so why the complaint now? And if anyone could be accused of lazy thought it is you my friend - even a few minutes reading would reveal that in 1911 when Bleuler coined the term autism he was referring to catatonic schizophrenia. Surely, you must be aware that there is a huge difference between autism and the signs of catatonia in schizophrenia, so I infer that you were lazy in just noting the connection between Bleuler and the word autism and didn''t bother reading even a little bit more. - Reply to this comment
- Informed consent and vaccination choice are the most important aspect of this issue to me. There are risks on both sides of this issue. I don''t vaccinate my kids and some people say, "Aren''t you scared? What if they get sick?" but I''ve done the research, read what the CDC has to say, and I see how likely it is for them to catch the disease vs. have a reaction from the shot. Obviously from the attendance at this rally, some kids DO get harmed by vaccines - if not, there would be no need for the VAERS system, which compensates families of vaccine injured children and protects Doctors and pharmeceutical companies from lawsuits connected to vaccine injury.
We must not ignore the statistics that say that most of the disease we vaccinate against were on their way out before mass vaccination became the norm. Improved sanitation and living conditions were a major cause of this.
NY is trying to mandate all the cdc''s recommended shots. Right now NJ leads the pack with 4 new mandates coming into effect this fall. Learn more about conscientious belief exemption to mandatory vaccination in New Jersey at http://njvaccinationchoice.org - Reply to this comment
- MommyRN2, I understand the problem of having too many full dose vaccines at once. My daughter screamed for 12 hours straight after one injection. The next time we gave her half dosage. She has grown to be a healthy, intelligent woman. My concern though is the early exposure to a preventable disease that can do, particularly when very young children are placed in daycare. There would probably be less of a problem if we lived in remote rural areas.
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- I wonder if our vaccines are manufactured in China. If so, how long? Wonder if there''s a corellation there. They''ve been trying to maim and kill our kids for years with all their illegal lead fillers.
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I''''ll let the abstract of this recent review answer your question for me. I took a quick look through it; it says that there is a 70-90% concordance for autism between identical twins (higher than for schizophrenia). Happy?
Posted by rational_1 at 12:19 PM : Jun 05, 2008
not so much. you''re the one who constantly calls out people when they state stuff and don''t back it up. why should you also not be accountable? certainly you would expect this out of your students...... then again, looking at your posts, you are consistently lazy and opinionated.....the markings of tenure.- Reply to this comment
- ausus, sorry, I was unclear in my comment. Until 2001, almost ALL the different types of childhood vaccines had similarly high levels (25mg) of mercury in them. NONE of them was recalled, ALL remained on shelves through their expiration dates. Gradually the mercury has been phased out of most, but trace amounts remain. Now the flu shot is the only one left with "full dose" mercury.
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- Exactly my point. Vaccines are a boon for mankind, but the way they are being manufactured, tested and administered is unsafe. Instead of addressing the fact that giving babies megadoses of toxins and virus month after month causes harm to the developing brain and immune system, the CDC has consistently chosen to paint parents as crazy. As a result, the CDC is killing the golden goose-- the vaccine program -- that they are trying so hard to save. The blame lies squarely with them, and nowhere else.
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- YBotherAtAll, you need to do your research. There IS thimerosal in vaccines. It''s in black and white right on the CDC website...go here:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf
And ausus, you say, "A small risk from a vaccine must be better than an epidemic of a fatal disease." Ya think???? Why do we have to take that risk??? Why can''t we look at reducing or eliminating that risk? Why can''t we do titers to our children before they automatically get boosters when they may already be immune??? Why can''t we spread our vaccines out instead of giving a combination of 5, 6, 7, or more at once??? What is the harm in that???
I am not an "anti-vaccine, tree hugger, granola" mom. I think that vaccines have done amazing things for the world in general. But I KNOW that we need to reconsider the "safety" of our vaccines and their schedule. It absolutely is "too much, too soon." - Reply to this comment
- There should be no flu vaccine older than a few months as every new there are new strains of flu that must be attacked. Throughout history flu has been a major killer and even when it hasn''t killed it has been know to cause permanent damage, eg the Spanish flu.
Visit any graveyard that has been around for 100 years or so and see how many children died from diphtheria, typhoid, tetanus, etc. A small risk from a vaccine must be better than an epidemic of a fatal disease. - Reply to this comment
- Um, yeah, there is still mercury in shots. Unlike europe, 90% of the flu shots in this country still contain 25 mg of mercury, including that given to pregnant women and babies as young as 6 months old, and repeated annually. In addition, it is used in the manufacturing process of many vaccines and then taken out, like decaffeinating coffee, but a trace amount remains behind. The FDA does not monitor these trace amounts, or what they might add up to. And even though the recommendation to remove thimerosal was made in 2001, the already manufactured vaccines had expiration dates as late as 2005 and they were never recalled, they were injected into babies, children, and pregnant women. On top of that, the aluminum in the vaccines has recently been shown to be neurotoxic in a published study; it caueses motor neuron death. The CDC, IOM, and NIH are doing an incredible amount of CYA right now. Thus articles like this piece of propaganda.
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- THERE IS NO MERCURY IN VACCINES. Let me repeat. THERE IS NO MERCURY IN VACCINES. Drop the BS and work towards something viable.
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