No Link Found Between Shots & Autism
By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - There is no proven link between childhood vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella and the neurological disorder autism, a report concludes.
An Institute of Medicine (news - web sites) committee, in a report issued Monday, said it examined studies about the health effects of the MMR vaccine in young children and found that “the evidence favors rejection” of a connection with autism.
The committee recommended that there be no changes in immunization practices that now require children to be immunized during early childhood.
However, committee chairman Marie C. McCormick of the Harvard School of Public Health, said the committee “does not exclude the possibility that MMR vaccine could in rare cases contribute” to autism or related disorders in “a very small number of affected children.”
She said the epidemiological data is not precise enough to assess such rare response to MMR “if it occurs at all.”
McCormick said that the “government has a major responsibility to ensure that MMR vaccine is safe, even if adverse outcomes are rare.
“The level of concern among some parents about MMR safety is tremendous and must be addressed meaningfully,” she said.
The report, one of a series on the health effects of immunization, was issued by the IOM’s Immunization Safety Review Committee. Members of the committee are all health care professionals selected to exclude any who have a financial or advisory connection with vaccine manufacturers. The IOM is part of the National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites), an independent organization of scientists and other experts which does research at the request of the government.
MMR vaccine protects against three diseases: mumps, measles and rubella. The shots are generally given at age two, about the same age as symptoms emerge from autism. A 1998 study in England suggested that the MMR vaccine was linked to a perceived increase in the incidence of autism, a severe neurological disorder.
The committee report, however, noted that many other studies on MMR and autism find no association.
Additionally, the committee said there have been no animal studies linking MMR vaccine and autism and that suggested biological mechanisms connecting the vaccine and autism have not been proven in controlled studies.
Autism is a permanent neurological disorder. Children with autism generally have difficulty communicating, may become obsessed with repetitive motions, such as head rolling, and often are intolerant of changes in their environment. They also may have learning difficulties.
MMR vaccine shots are required in all 50 states before a child is admitted to public schools or day care centers. The vaccine has been credited with generally controlling the once-common childhood diseases. The number of measles cases, for instance, has dropped from about 400,000 a year to only 100 in 1999. In countries worldwide where the vaccine is not used, measles was blamed for about a million childhood deaths last year.
Yes, but I do not put as much faith in it as some would. It is not so much a study as it is an analysis of statistics. Because the rate of autism grew faster than the increased usage of one particular vaccine does not mean that their is no link. It likewise could not prove that there is a link. What they should have stated is it is extremely unlikely that MMR is the sole trigger in the rise of autism.
To date there are only two published studies that looked into the specific link between the MMR vax and the rise in autism. Wakefield’s, which suggested that this link may very well exist and we need to look at this much more closely, and Taylor’s, which perports to refute Wakefield’s, both conducted at Royal Free in London. A few interesting points about each:
Wakefield’s study survived peer review per se, his science was good if abrieviated, he has since expanded his study from the original 12 children with bowel problems to 170. Wakefield instead has been slanderously villified personally. Taylor’s study holds the dubious distinction of being the only study in the history of the Lancet to refuse to release the project notes for scrutiny. Coincidentally, Merck (the maker of the MMR used in UK) paid for Taylor’s study.
If the Institute of Medicine wishes to prove once and for all if there is or isn’t a link between the triple jab and a good percentage of the current crop of autistic kids, they need to work the other way. Do not rely upon diggin thru databases and look at ways to corelate the numbers. Look at the alleged victims and see if you can find the evidence there.
The IOM should chose an average town somewhere, with between 30K and 75K, one with a basically static population, and examine all of the autistic kids there. If the MMR works like Wakefield suggests, then some of these kids will have the leaky gut syndrome, and the measles can be retrieved using biopsy. The measles that are used in the vaccines have unique genetic fingerprints, and can be distinguished from the wild or native strain the child would be likely to become infected with. (Amazing thing this DNA testing, it can hang a man, free one from death row, or tell me which company made the shot that poioned my boy.)
There is another way to test the hypothesis too… that is if our govt. is really interested in knowing or sharing the truth in this. They should take 3 states, not very populous ones, states that do not have a large number of people moving in. I am going to suggest ND, NM & WV. In those states, the MMR will no longer be administered. Instead, they will use single virus jabs spaced several months apart, to lower the impact on the child’s immuno system( France is one country that gives the shots this way). After a few years, we will check to see how many autistic kids there are in those three states, and then compare that to the rest of the country. Then we shall see if there is a link between the prevalance rate and the MMR vax.
Think the take the wager?