No end in sight as of yet…
Recall that the CA DDS only services core autism, not Asperger’s, PDD-NOS or other forms of high-functioning autism.
Recall also that the 2002 follow up report determined that better than 90% of the children serviced by CA DDS are native born Californians.
Increases in Autism Diagnosis in California keep rising
From Rick Rollens:
According to the latest figures just released by the California Department of Developmental Services, in 2002 California experienced an astounding 31% one year increase in the number of new children professionally diagnosed with the most severe cases of autism entering it’s developmental services system. The 31% one year increase from 2001 to 2002 represents an all time record number of new cases in the system’s 33 year history…. 3,577 new severely autistic children added in just the past 12 months. The figures reported by the Department DO NOT include persons with PDD-NOS, Asperger’s, or any other autism spectrum disorders, just those who have received a professional diagnosis of level one, DSM IV autism.
According to the Department, eight years ago, in 1994, there were 5,108 cases of level one autism in the entire system, as of January 6, 2003, there are now 20,377 cases of level one autism in the system. From 1971 to 1980, California consistently added one to two hundred new cases a YEAR. In 2002, California added 3,577 new cases. Since 1980, the documented start of California’s autism epidemic, the numbers of new cases have exploded to where we are today with California adding, on average, 10 new children a day, 7 days a week with the most severe form of autism to it’s system, an increase of over 2 additional new children per day over the 2001 rate of 8 children a day. Keep in mind that from January 1994 to January 1995, California added on average 2 new children a day…..today we are adding 10 children a day.
One only needs to examine the age distribution of the persons in the system to recognize the genesis of this epidemic. Over 81.5% (8 out of 10) of the autism population in the system were born AFTER 1980…. with 2 out of 3 persons in the system currently between the ages of 3 and 13 years old, compared to 18.5% (less then 2 out of 10) who were born BEFORE 1980. Autism now accounts for 40% of all of the new intakes to the system, making level one autism the number one disability entering California’s DD system. (The other eligible conditions besides level one autism are mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and other conditions similar to MR.)
thimerosal
In late 1999, the FDA, acting upon a recommendation from the IOM and AAP, requested that thimerosal be removed new production of pediatric vaccines beginning in 2000. This did not include a recall on tainted stores of vaccines already produced, which the FDA said could be continued to be used (can’t jeopardize the herd over an untested theory). One company wasasked by Burton’s committee specifically how much DTaP they had already produced containing thimerosal and they replied with “two lots”, but declined to state how many jabs this equated, citing “proprietary information” protection (although why the number of jabs a lot would create would compromise their production formula secrecy, which isn’t really a secret to begin with is beyond me).
Conservative estimtes placed the supply of tainted jabs to last until sometime in 2003, other estimates said they would be around till 2005. Not all vaccines were included in this moratorium on thimerosal use. Hep B, DT, Td, and the flu shot will still contain thimerosal (despitethe fact that Hep B is given to babies in their first day of life, and they are now suggesting that toddlers get the flu shot).
I am hopeful that the removal of thimerosal will indeed have an impact on the prevalance rate, but I do not think we will see this until after those children born in the next two years reach school age (most areas of this country have a poor track record of early diagnosis of autism as demonstrated in both the Rhode Island survey and the Atlanta study; better than 33% in RI and approx 58% in Atlanta were not dx’d until they were already in school.)
I also am not sure that thimerosal is the only factor involved. Autism is already known to be caused by viral infection, notable measles, rubella, and herpes 6, and also by the pertussis organism. Additionally, the mercury leeching out of mama’s fillings while she carries her babies is not only shared with the fetus, but the baby actually seems to draw it in. And then you have all the completely unknown factors, increase in organic polutants, wide use of hormones in meat, the genetic alteration by various viruses and toxins, etc.
whatever the source may turn out to be, we have not yet peaked in incidence. I wonder how high it will have to get before our elected officials start really addressing the problem and not just giving lip service…
Re: how goes that old song? train kept a' rollin' - autism
The New York Sunday Times article I read basically said that this is waht the medical community is waiting for- to see if there is a connection. If a decade after getting the thimerasol out there is a lower incidence of autism, speech and language probs - then that would indicate a connection. Meanwhile the Dr’s , including the former surgeon general who ordered all the new vaccinations in the 90’s , who testified in the congressional hearings were saying things like I cannot reccommend these vaccinations for my own grandchildren.
If I had it to do over when they came to do the hep on my newborn I’d pack him up and run.
Dad,
With mercury now out of most immunization (is this true) do you think the rate of cases will drop?
Helen