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Autism Breakthrough--gene defect link

Mercury Vaccine:
Thimerosal, Mercury, Autism, and Children
By MomsAgainstMercury.com

Amy Carson 828-776-0082
Angela Medlin 919-633-0200

Outraged by the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) latest report finding no causal relationship to thimerosal, a mercury based preservative, and autism, Congress Members, Doctors, and Scientists speak out about its conflicts of interest and conclusions based on flawed studies

Washington D.C. - In light of the recent Institute of medicine's (IOM) latest report citing "…rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal containing vaccines and autism," Congress Members along with doctors and scientists speak out about how the IOM came to their questionable conclusion.

"The report released from the IOM clearly indicates the complete absence of any desire to discover scientific truth at the supposed highest levels of medical academia. The individuals responsible for the IOM report either severely lack any intellectual integrity or, are suffering from neurological impairment due to mercury toxicity themselves. There is NO other explanation for the IOM report," states Dr. Rashid Buttar.

Dr. Buttar recently gave Congressional testimony at a hearing with the Government Reform & Oversight Hearing Subcommittee on Wellness & Human Rights, on his revolutionary new treatment for autistic children that is getting them well by removing the mercury from their bodies. His son Abi has had a full recovery from his treatment.

"When 31 children recover from a devastating disease by a simple transdermal treatment that detoxifies metals, then common sense dictates that perhaps metals are involved," states Dr. Bob Nash the chairman of the American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology (ABCMT) in regard to Dr. Buttar's treatment.

He adds, "Congress must create a National Metals Task Force by line item funding. This task force could be a resource to the congress and also establish a Quick Reaction Capability that presently does not exist to address health problems. We can no longer continue to destroy our children’s health even as an unintended consequence of a program that meant well. We need action today, not in 5 years."

It appears the IOM based most of their findings on a Danish study by Anders Peter Hviid. Mr. Hviid clearly stated that from four months up to nine months of age, the discrepancy widens between the Danish and the US schedule showing clearly that American children have a much higher mercury burden than children in Denmark.

Another flawed study the IOM has seemed to base their findings on was by Elizabeth Miller of the UK. Ms. Miller stated that the children of the UK do not get the flu shot nor the hepatitis B shot as American children do. She goes on to add, "the only source of exposure to thimerosal containing vaccines in the UK children in the first year of life is the DTP or DT containing vaccines." Which yet again reiterates that the American vaccine schedule clearly exposes children to a much higher amount of mercury containing vaccines in the first year of life.

Dr. Boyd Haley, while questioning Mr. Hviid's findings asked him the rate of autism per 10,000 population in Denmark versus the US and Britain because he was showing two different vaccine schedules, Mr. Hviid was not able to give him an answer.

"The reason I asked the young man the question, our work is comparing apples to cows when we compare the American autism situation to the Danish situation," says Dr. Haley.

He also points out, "So the conclusion that I have is, there appears to be a subset of the population that cannot effectively excrete mercury and they are at greater risk for exposure in the general population. The presence of the other heavy metals, antibiotics, may enhance the toxicity of thimerosal."

Dr. Mark Geier comments on their studies, "At the high levels (of thimerosal exposure), it is undeniable there is a causal relationship, and we have gone to high levels. Their studies, therefore are not relevant, I am not saying they are wrong, although there are many criticisms of it. It is just not relative to the US situation."

Dr. Geier’s study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons concludes that there is an increase of neurodevelopment disorders following the use of Thimerosal containing vaccines.

Congressman Dave Weldon who opened the IOM meeting on Vaccine Safety and Autism, said, "Lastly, I am also troubled by the lack of liability or accountability by these decision makers should they be proved wrong. I want more than just a "sorry" from them should their conclusions be found erroneous a few years down the road. Too many lives are at stake."
 
Full list of UK Licensed Vaccines containing mercury (thiomersal)


Childrens vaccines:

Adsorbed Diphtheria and Tetanus Vaccine BP(child) (DT)

Adsorbed Diphtheria Vaccine (BP (child) )

Adsorbed Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine BP

Adsorbed Tetanus Vaccine BP

Trivax-AD

Adsorbed Diphtheria and Tetanus Vaccine for Adults and Adolescent (Td)

Act-HIB DTP

Act-HIB DTP d.c.

Adsorbed Diptheria and Tetanus Vaccine BP

Trivax-Hib
 
Daily Mail 18 May 2004

MMR KILLED MY DAUGHTER

By Bonnie Estridge


The authorities still refuse to admit any link between autism and the MMR jab. Yet this mother tells for the first time how she made them concede it DID cause her child's death.

Last week, the parents of 1,000 children allegedly damaged by the MMR vaccine were sent letters by one of the drug manufacturers, threatening them with huge legal costs if they refused to drop their claims for compensation. One mother, Carol Buxton, found the news particularly shocking. Thirteen years ago, her daughter fell ill and died following the MMR jab. But Carol, a travel consultant who lives with her police officer husband Tony and three sons in Northampton, did get her day in court - with astonishing conclusions. Here, she reveals to BONNIE ESTRIDGE how she made the Government accept liability.

When I heard of this latest twist to the MMR debacle, my blood ran cold. Why should these parents be intimidated into dropping their claims for compensation? If anyone should believe that they are right to fight on, it's me. For not only did my daughter fall ill after she was injected with the controversial triple vaccine, she died as a direct result of it.

How can I be so sure? Because I was paid £85,000 in compensation for her death by the Government. The decision that MMR led to my only daughter's death was confirmed by doctors and agreed at a tribunal.

So what I want to know is: why did the Government admit liability to me when it is vilifying so many others?

I will never forget the moment I opened the door of Hannah's nursery on a winter's night 13 years ago. The room was warm, but I felt a chill throughout my body - I sensed something was wrong. I looked into the cot and froze. My baby had died in her sleep, just two months before her third birthday.

I felt shock, panic and a stabbing emptiness as well as anguish. Hannah had died from one of the hundreds of fits she suffered during her short life. My husband Tony and our three sons were devastated.

The Department of Health was forced to listen to me - and two other families whose children also died - when we brought our case.

But it was only after her death that they paid compensation, admitting that the brain damage she suffered was directly attributed to MMR. So what price do today's parents have to pay before anyone will listen?

We didn't go to court because our daughter died. We had been trying for compensation for some time before because Hannah was very disabled and we wanted her to have some kind of financial security.

She was suffering up to 40 fits a day, but we were told that it would take months or years before a decision could be made. But two years after she died, our case was heard and the link between her illness and MMR was agreed.

Our nightmare began when Hannah was 18 months old, in October 1988. She had been due to have the single measles vaccine at 13 months but had a cold, so our GP and I decided it should not be given.

I had no misgivings about my baby having the single measles vaccine, as my sons - now in their 20s - had all had it with no ill effects.

As we had already booked a holiday, we would have been away at the time of the next available appointment.

Unfortunately, the third time Hannah was called to be vaccinated was the first week the MMR jab was introduced.

I thought nothing of it at all. It seemed a good idea to get everything over in one go. She was fine after it - but a week later, she developed a very high temperature, and became very red in the face.

I called the doctor out and asked him whether he thought there was any link with the vaccine, but he said this was highly unlikely and diagnosed her as having 'slapface syndrome' - a mild virus which causes a high temperature and a marked redness of the face.

I gave her some Calpol to try and bring her temperature down and put her to bed. When I went to tuck the boys up, all was quiet in Hannah's nursery.

But as I opened the door to look in on her, I could hear a strange noise and I froze - she was having convulsions and her eyes were staring and glazed.

I stripped her clothes off and made sure she couldn't bang her head on the side of the cot and then called the doctor.

He arrived minutes later. The doctor looked alarmed because she wasn't calming down at all, and suggested I take her to the hospital, which would be quicker than calling an ambulance.

A neighbour drove us there and when we arrived, Hannah was rushed away for tests. It took almost four hours to stop the fits; then, heavily sedated, she stayed in intensive care for a week.

I mentioned the MMR, but I certainly didn't make a fuss about it because I could see they were more concerned with what was happening at that moment: they had to stop Hannah having these fits.

The doctors said that they didn't think the vaccine had caused it. They explained that it was quite common for babies to have febrile convulsions when they had a high temperature due to a virus. There was no mention of the fact that she might be brain-damaged.

Tony and I were terrified when we took her home, because she was just not right. She was jittery - having always been calm - and had stopped talking.

I felt very frightened that she would have more fits, although she'd been put on medication to prevent them.

Two weeks later, the fits started again. When a brain scan showed nothing, Tony and I embarked on a treadmill of hospital visits, including Great Ormond Street, in an effort to find out what was causing them.

Blanks were drawn everywhere we went. Epilepsy was suggested, but there was no family history of it, or anything on the brain - such as a tumour - to indicate why she should have become epileptic. By then, Hannah was having anything from one to 40 fits a day, of varying intensity.

Looking back, I don't know how I coped. I had the three boys to look after, too, and we tried to make family life normal. But how could it be? I never felt safe to leave Hannah for a minute. It was so stressful to see her suffer.

Hannah was definitely not normal; she had been slow in walking even before having the MMR jab, but I was told that some children take a while to catch up and by the time she was two she'd be fine.

Now, she was frankly backward. She had virtually stopped talking - the only word she ever said now was 'Mummy', which broke my heart whenever she said it, and she always had an unfocused look in her eyes.

She was never diagnosed autistic, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case.

Over the 18 months that we tried to find out what was wrong with Hannah, I could see the doctors were bewildered.

I did not mistrust any of them, even when I found out that a strain of the MMR being used in this country had already been banned in Canada. I truly felt that the doctors were unaware of this - but in hindsight, I'm not completely sure they were.

As it turned out, the MMR vaccination was banned in Japan in 1992, and that country went back to single vaccines from then on.

The day Hannah died everything had been perfect. We'd visited my sister-in-law who had just had a baby and Hannah seemed to be enjoying herself.

That night, I went to look in on her and found her dead in her cot. She'd had a fit in her sleep.

Before Hannah died, Tony and I had been terribly worried about how we would look after her as she got older. We are a comfortably-off family, though not wealthy by any means, and we thought Hannah would need very special care as she got older; we didn't know how we would be able to afford it while also giving our other children a reasonable standard of living.

During Hannah's illness I always felt there was a connection with the MMR vaccine, but my opinion was either dismissed by doctors or they genuinely appeared not to know.

Then, I heard about the Vaccine Damage Unit, a body set up by the Government to look into any case where a person might have been injured by a vaccine. Tony and I decided we would apply for compensation, which would perhaps help us to look after Hannah.

Every so often, I received letters from the unit saying the matter was still being looked into. But two weeks before Hannah died, I had a letter saying that her case was on-going and would probably take months or years to reach a conclusion.

Just after she died, I had another letter saying that the MMR link was unproven, and I became very angry. I believed that they wanted to get rid of this 'problem'.

So, we went to appeal, deciding to represent ourselves. We went to the tribunal in March 1992. There had been an autopsy as this had been a case of sudden death but no conclusions had been drawn from it.There were half a dozen people on the tribunal a mix of lay-people and doctors.

I was questioned thoroughly for an hour and a half, then they said I would be informed whether I would be awarded compensation by post, as all the facts now had to be carefully considered.

Four months later, we received a letter which included the following: 'Hannah Buxton was disabled as a result of a vaccination to which the claim relates.' It also stated: 'The tribunal found it particularly significant that the reaction to the MMR vaccination was exactly at the expected period of time following this vaccination. This reaction was severe and prolonged, and therefore the development and progress were halted and if anything, deteriorated to a marked and obvious extent. We know this evidence is uncontested and to our minds argues strongly in favour of the award.'

In other words, the Government had not argued against the case and were admitting liability.

We were awarded £20,000 - the maximum amount allowed at the time; this was followed by another £65,000, four months later, because the original payment was deemed not to be enough.

I really didn't want to know about the money. I just needed to know why Hannah had become so ill and why she had died.

The most important thing for me is that someone had confirmed what I had always suspected - that the MMR had caused this; that MMR had done so much damage to the brain that she became severely handicapped, and started having fits.

That is why I am so angry that the parents who believe MMR has damaged their children are not being listened to. I have heard that a number of those autistic children also have fits. I cannot imagine what it must be like caring for these children, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for those who do. They must be listened to, given answers and helped.

Does a child have to die before it is acknowledged to have been damaged by MMR? Is it not enough that so many parents have a disabled child to look after?

Of course, not every child is damaged by the MMR jab. But if there is any doubt, then that case should be investigated individually - the parents should not simply be fobbed off as a group because they are fighting together.

There should be a tribunal for each and every one of them, to prove or disprove that there is a link between their child's illness and MMR.

Someone needs to come clean about MMR, as this problem goes on and on. Our children are getting pushed into having this vaccination, and doctors should listen to parents when they say they are afraid of what might happen.

The Government should not deny parents the option of single measles vaccine.

Hannah was my precious only girl, and barely more than a baby when she died. Now, I want today's children to have a better chance.

There must be a proper investigation into MMR - drug companies which are paying doctors to conduct their own research surely cannot give unbiased answers.

Vaccine damage is known and recognised. Last year more than 1,000 Japanese children were awarded compensation after being damaged by MMR vaccination. Those families had been battling for more than ten years to have their day in court.

Why can't parents in this country be given the chance to be heard - and taken seriously - now?
 
this is BIG NEWS just last month!!!
GOVERNMENT'S DEFENSE OF MERCURY IN VACCINES SHAKEN BY WITHDRAWAL OF EXPERT REPORTS

PRESS RELEASE CONTACTS: For Immediate CoMeD
President [Rev. Lisa K. Release Sykes (Richmond, VA) 804-364-8426] July 13, 2008 CoMeD Sci. Advisor [Dr. King (Lake Hiawatha, NJ) 973-263-4843]

WASHINGTON, DC - In the United States Court of Federal Claims, National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the contention by the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), that mercury in vaccines does not cause autism, has suffered an unexpected setback. In a June 27, 2008 Autism Omnibus Proceeding (OAP) conference,
attorneys for the DHHS announced that they were withdraw-ing two key written reports and any state-ments which relied on those reports. Those key reports, written by two world-renowned
toxicologists (Dr. Laszlo Magos, formerly from the Medical Research Council Labora- tories, England, and Dr. Thomas Clarkson, from the
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY USA), were the toxicological pillars underpinning the government's claim that Thimerosal does not cause autism.

On July 3, 2008, the three OAP Special Masters recorded that they had granted the DHHS' request to withdraw the expert reports of Drs. Magos and Clarkson. In addition, their court order[1]
stated: "… respondent would be permitted to withdraw any reliance on those two expert reports, and that we would not consider those
reports at all in resolving those test cases."

Ironically, though Drs. Magos and Clark- son were expected to testify to the safety of Thimerosal in vaccines, their previous publications clearly document its significant toxicity. For example,
Dr. Clarkson, working under a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), essentially declared that organic mercurial antiseptics, including Thimerosal, should be heavily
restricted or withdrawn, "as the fact that mercury readily pene- trates intact membranes and is highly toxic seems to have been forgotten" in a peer-reviewed study published in 1977.[2]

With the recent publication of studies proving a link between Thimerosal exposure and autism, the current exodus of experts who are willing to testify for the DHHS that Thimerosal does not
cause autism appears to be escalating.

Tellingly, Dr. Bernadine Healy, the former director of the National Institutes of Health, also recently said: "I think the government or
certain public health officials in the government
have been too quick to dismiss the concerns of
these families without studying the population that got sick."
 
so tell me why autism diagnoses were still on the increase when children in the American study were getting mercury-free vaccinations? think about it logically - it has been proven to be a false relationship.

and especially in light of the new genetic research, we should really make people aware of these studies. the reason for this is because if more and more of the public become scared of immunisations and decide not to vaccinate their children, it will affect the whole system by putting the entire population at risk.

unless you have a plausible theory as to how we can immunise a whole population without the use of vaccines, then autism would be the last of your worries if you'd know just how many pathogens we're exposed to. and in fact, diseases are making a comeback because of such unfounded worries.
 
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and with regard to your articles, MMR vaccines do not have nor ever contained mercury in the UK.

and as to your thiomersal list, there's no need to over-dramatise this since only the following three vaccines contain it that are currenly used for children here:

Act-Hib DTP
Adsorbed Diphtheria and Tetanus
Diftavax vaccine

i sincerely hope your aim is to look for the truth and not to ride with rage against all odds just to prove an already-set agenda.

and i'd appreciate it if you'd answer my above question with your own thoughts instead of copy-pasting from anti-vacc propaganda sites.
 
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I thought that this was an interesting article that highlights the complexity of the issue...


Autism: Why the Debate Rages
June 15, 2008
CBS News
Posted by Sharyl Attkinson: Capitol Hill Correspondent for CBS News

With the first autism case now being heard in federal vaccine court in Washington D.C., it makes sense to ask: Why is anyone even still debating the possibility of a link between vaccines and autism? After all, for years, many government health officials, advisors and vaccine manufacturers have said there's no association.

Here are a number of reasons why the question remains open:

1. While public health officials, government scientists, advisors and pharmaceutical companies have been responsible for innumerable lifesaving and life improving medical advances, they are not infallible.

• For many years, public health officials thought it was safe to use x-ray machines in shoe stores and allowed mercury in medicines. Doctors prescribed Thalidomide - a drug marketed as a sleep aid - to pregnant women to treat morning sickness. In the case of Thalidomide, it came with no warning against use by pregnant women and the drug maker apparently did not predict it could cause fetuses the devastating damage that it did. (The bulk of the injuries were outside of the U.S. because the Cincinnati phamaceutical company was denied a license to sell Thalidomide in the this country. At the time, according to news reports, the pharmaceutical company's representative complained that the FDA was being unreasonable and nit-picking in not quickly approving the drug). The medical establishment assured us Vioxx and Duract were safe painkillers, prescribed Rezulin for diabetics and then denied any of them were responsible for patient deaths. If we never questioned the presumed experts, we might not have discovered that Fen-phen and the dietary supplement Ephedra are not safe weight-loss products, that antidepressants in kids can lead to suicidality and Viagra can cause blindness. The list goes on.

• When it comes to vaccines, the same group failed to predict that the 1990's rotavirus (diarrhea) vaccine would have to be pulled from the market after infant deaths. They encouraged use of the oral polio vaccine (eventually discontinued after it gave too many children polio). And they allowed the use of a mercury neurotoxin preservative in childhood vaccines, only to admit later that they hadn't thought to calculate the cumulative amount kids were getting as more and more vaccines were added to the childhood immunization schedule.

• Recent history demonstrates that too often, government health officials, mainstream doctors and pharmaceutical companies aren't on the leading edge of alerting us to health risks; they're bringing up the rear. Patients feel left to fend for themselves, seeking independent research and opinions on their own. They and their dogged, relentless determination have often been the catalyst that eventually brings medical dangers to the forefront.

2. Government scientists, advisors and vaccine manufacturers often take an all-or-nothing approach to vaccinations.

• Government officials and infectious disease experts I've spoken with are fearful that if vaccine side effects are better publicized, or if a link between vaccines and autism and ADD were made, the public would overreact and lose faith in the entire vaccination program. The result, they're afraid, would be parents refusing to give their children any vaccines, leading to new, deadly epidemics of preventable diseases. That indeed would be a disaster. However, their fears have resulted in something I call an all-or-nothing approach: they tend to promote nearly all vaccines for nearly all children as equally necessary and equally safe. Yet at the same time, if asked, they agree not all vaccines are equally safe, equally beneficial, equally necessary and equally tolerated by each individual child.

• Through the Internet and other resources, parents are now able to find research on vaccines and read it for themselves. They compare the government's all-or-nothing approach to the research and become skeptical that the government is presenting the whole picture on vaccine safety generally.

3. Government officials and mainstream scientists who dispel any vaccine/autism/ADD link have ties to vaccine makers.

• There's so much overlap among pharmaceutical companies, government scientists and advisors that the information they provide at least has the appearance of a conflict of interest. Government scientists and advisors often do not mention their connections to the vaccine industry when they provide opinions on the vaccine/autism/ADD issue.

• One of the best examples of this is the landmark autism/vaccine study published in Pediatrics. Early in his study, the lead author, CDC's Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, found statistically significant associations between the amount of mercury (thimerosal) exposure kids got from their childhood vaccines, and a wide range of brain disorders. However, the published version of the study (the one the authors say is accurate) found no evidence of a link to autism. Not disclosed was that Dr. Verstraeten had left CDC midstream during the study and had gone to work for Glaxo, a vaccine manufacturer. That failure to disclose was criticized in a later publication of Pediatrics, but it got little mainstream attention. Also getting little attention was a letter from well-respected scientists, also in Pediatrics, who echoed what parents of autistic children had been saying for months: they questioned the use and exclusion of certain data from Dr. Verstraeten's study that eventually reduced the statistical ties between vaccines and neurodisorders.

• University and government researchers and advisors often do research for vaccine companies, help develop vaccines (even profit from them), and/or are paid to consult for them. Often, these researchers do not disclose their industry ties when they publicly dispel the notion of a link between autism or ADD and vaccines.

• Lastly, the CDC is inextricably tied to vaccine makers through contracts and other business and financial relationships that open the door for the possibility of conflicts.

4. Non-profits which dispel any vaccine/autism/ADD link have ties to vaccine makers.

• Non-profits that promote vaccinations have ties to vaccine makers that they often do not disclose when giving their opinions on vaccine safety. One example is "Every Child By Two." This group contacted CBS News several years ago in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent one of our stories about the vaccine safety from airing. In forms filed for the IRS, the non-profit lists an official from vaccine maker Wyeth Pharmaceuticals as its Treasurer. It lists vaccine maker Chiron as a paid client.

• Another example of a non-profit tied to the industry is "The Vaccine Fund." Its President from 2000-2005 was Jacques-Francois Martin, formerly CEO of vaccine maker Sanofi-Pasteur, CEO of vaccine maker Chiron, and President of the International Federation of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association. While at The Vaccine Fund, his salary was paid by a company that says it "has developed particular strength in the vaccine industry and vaccine development."

5. The dual role of the CDC undermines the appearance of fairness.

• There is a perceived, if not real, conflict of interest with the government's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) heavily promoting vaccines, but also responsible for monitoring adverse events. At least two respected medical journals, the "American Journal of Public Health" and "Pediatrics" have published letters or articles recommending "greater independence in vaccine safety assessments" apart from "the highly successful program to promote immunizations." In short, the CDC's bread and butter is achieving high vaccination rates. But that role is in conflict with the agency's responsibility to fully research and disclose adverse events that could, in theory, bring down vaccination rates.

6. There is no definitive research proving a link between vaccines and autism or ADD, but there is also no definitive research ruling it out.

• Something rarely reported is that while there's no definitive study linking vaccines to autism or ADD, there is also no study definitively disproving a link. And there's a substantial body of peer-reviewed, published science from places like Columbia, Yale and Northeastern suggesting a link, or pointing to the need for further study.

• Many credible voices deny a link. But many other credible voices support the idea of a link. One example of the latter is George Wayne Lucier, formerly a senior official at the National Institutes of Health in Environmental Toxicology, an NIH advisor, member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Toxicity Testing and a scientific advisor for EPA who concludes "...it is highly probably that use of thimerosal as a preservative has caused developmental disorders, including autism, in some children." A lengthy Congressional investigation also concluded that the autism epidemic is likely linked to vaccinations.

7. Those who say autism and ADD are not linked to vaccines do not know what is causing the epidemics.

• The most frightening part of the autism/ADD epidemics is that if, indeed, they're unrelated to vaccinations, that our best, brightest public health experts still have no idea what is causing it. Excluding ADD, one out of every 150 American children are now being diagnosed with autism.

Vaccinations have provided lifesaving miracles in public health. However, it's undisputed that they are also responsible for many serious adverse events including brain disorders and, rarely, deaths. Trying to maximize the potential benefits of vaccines and minimize the harm shouldn't be seen as a threat to the nation's inoculation program, it's merely a logical step forward.

One scientist who testified for the plaintiff this week in The Vaccine Court said there's a way to test children for a hidden hole in their immune make-up that makes them susceptible to bad immune reactions from vaccinations. He said that, ideally, every child should undergo such a test before their first vaccinations. But he also said the test is very expensive and so "not worth it." Many parents might disagree. If they knew such a test was available, they'd find a way to pay for it. But such information has to be disseminated to the public before a first step can even be considered.

Mainstream medicine initially said that autism was caused by mothers who weren't affectionate enough with their children. If that doesn't teach us that we should always seek further knowledge and not necessarily accept what's spoon-fed to us by certain experts…then nothing will.
 
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some of today's news:

USA:

Measles are Back!

http://www.13wham.com/guides/health/story.aspx?content_id=13e0ab0f-dc79-448c-b8b2-dee045148538

Rochester, N.Y.) - According to the Centers For Disease Control, the recent outbreak of measles is caused by people who became infected overseas and then returned to the U.S.

Most Americans are vaccinated for measles when they're very young, so the disease isn't common in the U.S., but doctors are concerned that may change -- as an increasing number of parents now fear that measles shots are linked to autism.

Five-year-old Lilly Ansley-Purpora did not expect to get her measles, mumps and rubella shot at a routine doctor's visit; but those plans changed.

"Now if we're going to have the possibility of some measles, she might get exposed and measles can be a very serious illness," said Dr. Michael Pichichero of Legacy Pediatrics.

Dr. Pichichero has researched vaccine safety for over 20 years and is a consultant to the World Health Organization on the topic. He says you won't find a doctor in Rochester who thinks there is a link between vaccines and autism.

He said, "The best question you can ask your doctor is, ‘Would s/he give this vaccine to his/her children?’ And I say, ‘I would give this vaccine to my child or my grandchild.’"

The measles, a disease once declared dead in the U.S is spreading, and fueling debate.

Symptoms of measles include rash, high fever, and in severe cases, swelling of the brain.


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Australia:

Measles: it's back

http://www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/stories/2008/07/17/2306469.htm

Measles is on the rise again, and health authorities are urging parents to make sure kids are vaccinated.

Prior to the 1960s, measles was a common disease of childhood – most kids caught it, along with mumps and rubella (German measles).


A measles vaccine first appeared in 1966, and children were immunised en masse. Cases began to plummet, to the point where it was effectively eliminated in Australia. These days many young doctors don't recognise it, it's so rare.
But numbers are starting to increase again. In 2006 there were about 60 cases in Australia; numbers went back down to 11 cases in 2007, but so far this year 58 cases have already been reported, most in New South Wales.


The spike is largely due to tourists bringing in the measles virus from places where it's endemic – that is, in continual circulation – particularly the United Kingdom, United States and Japan. These countries have experienced falls in vaccination rates over the past few years, allowing the disease to get a foothold again.


Measles is a highly infectious disease and people who haven't been immunised can easily catch it, says Dr Steven Donohue, from the Tropical Population Health Unit in Queensland (where there have been outbreaks of measles in Cairns and Townsville).

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UK:

Measles in the UK

http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/article/default.aspx?objid=48981

A measles epidemic is affecting adults and teenagers in the UK. Individuals born between 1970 and 1979 may have been vaccinated against measles and many will have been exposed to mumps and rubella during childhood. However this age group should be offered MMR, particularly if considered to be at high risk.

Indivduals born between 1980 and 1990 may not be protected against mumps but are likely to be vaccinated against measles and rubella. They may never have received mumps containing vaccine or only have had one dose of MMR and little exposure to mumps. The MMR vaccine should be considered for this age group. A second dose may be necessary one month later.

The Health Protection Agency has stated that measles is once again endemic in the UK. It has been 14 years since the local transmission of measles was halted in the UK. Following a decade of low MMR vaccination coverage across the UK, the number of children susceptible to measles is now sufficient to support the continuous spread of measles.​
 
I understand your concern ArXter--I really do. Personally, I would never advise a parent not to immunize their child, even though, for five years I convened a bio-medical interventions support group for families dealing with autism. I always advised parents to find out all they could about each immunization, consider their child's health and the risks involved and to use a modified schedule that was less shocking to the immune system.

You know, here is a question that I often find myself asking...
Of those people who actually catch measles, what percentage of them are left seriously and permanently neurologically impaired? Is it 1 in 1000? 1 in 10,000? When I was a child no one was vaccinated against measles (I was born in 1959) and we all routinely went through measles, mumps and rubella. The vast majority of us survived, unscathed. Perhaps some children were left with visual impairment, some fetuses were made deaf or blind, and with all of the diseases I believe that there is the risk of it going to the brain and causing brain damage. Terrible. But such cases must have been relatively rare--rare that is, compared to the EPIDEMIC number of children (now 1 in 150) who are seriously and permanently neurologically disabled and rendered autistic by whatever it is that is triggering autism.

Perhaps people who have never cared for an autistic child, do not understand how devastating the disorder is--not just to the child but to their entire family. The child appears normal, and may even appear healthy, but believe me, autism can be, and very often is, life shattering!

Here's a thought: hypothetically, if a doctor insisted that I had to choose whether to inject my child with a live measles virus (the disease, not the vaccine), or alternatively, with a known autism-causing trigger, which one would I choose? I would choose the measles virus, because I'd know that my child had a very large chance of recovering from the disease unscathed, whereas my child had a 1 in 150 chance of getting autism. No... wait, I don't need anything at all injected into my child to give him a 1 in 150 chance of becoming autistic! (Or so we are assured.)

It seems to me that the overwhelming concern about the re-emergence of measles is like being preoccupied with the health of one tree while the forest is burning down all around.

No, we don't want measles to take hold again. I agree! However, Governments need to start funding research to discover what is causing this new and more immediate epidemic that is threatening our world-wide population--AUTISM.
 
I've just looked up the statistics for encephalitis resulting from measles. Reports range from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 5,000. It really is a terrible illness and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone, but with most of the population still being immunized, I would guess that the number of cases of measles encephalitis in the States (for example) per year is not very high.

Can you imagine what the incidence of autism is in the States if 1 in every 150 kids has autism????? Is there some reason why modern governments find the neurological impairment of autism so much less worrying than the neurological impairment of measles?

OK, so we need to prevent measles.

HELLO!

We need to prevent AUTISM!
 
thanks for your understanding Dimity - but i have to point out that the concerns aren't about hyping up fear of measles over autism but the question of asking - "what next?". we are exposed to many pathogens and are susceptible to more extreme pandemics if populations' vaccinations are compromised in this way. and this is made more frustrating and worrying for me due to the overwhelming findings and logical evidence against the vaccine-autism link.

i'm sure you understand the above too but i wanted to point out that i'm not so senseless as to view measles vs. autism in this way and have invested a lot in recent years to the cause of autism sufferers.

which brings me to your final point - we really do need to look at the more plausible causes of autism and this genetic research is definitely a step in the right direction.

but one thing i would question you on is whether the actual prevalence has increased so dramatically or it's a case of more complex epidemiological factors and diagnostic changes over the years. and equally probably of both, which i believe could be the case.
 
I have autism, seriously I do, but remember this, autism is NOT a retardation, that's blasphamis, it can be learning disablility or social disability that's all I know about it, I had since I was about 2 years old my mother told me. I didn't know until I was in the 8th grade. A year later I made a speech in high school about what I have and I tried desperately trying to get peoples attention and mainly my friends. I always hated being alone, most of the times I feel like when I get to see people then a minute or 5 minutes later they left you it's they're repalling. They always never approach me or approach me to my face, but I always approach them and this is all I get for trying to approach them? I often felt angry and thinking they've screwed me. I was also thinking a while I was thinking of writing a book about my life and about autism. I will tell the parents about thier kids is that thier kids with autism is very unique and keep continuing on support me like my mother gave up on me. Parents who take autism well or don't want to except it I'd say "Get use to it either you live with it or not, that's thier problem and don't blame god for it, it's not his fault, blame the genes. Well I thank god for making me autistic anyways and I will be autistic forever. I might as will a new role model for people including kids with autism.
 
arXter said:
thanks for your understanding Dimity - but i have to point out that the concerns aren't about hyping up fear of measles over autism but the question of asking - "what next?". we are exposed to many pathogens and are susceptible to more extreme pandemics if populations' vaccinations are compromised in this way. and this is made more frustrating and worrying for me due to the overwhelming findings and logical evidence against the vaccine-autism link.

i'm sure you understand the above too but i wanted to point out that i'm not so senseless as to view measles vs. autism in this way and have invested a lot in recent years to the cause of autism sufferers.

which brings me to your final point - we really do need to look at the more plausible causes of autism and this genetic research is definitely a step in the right direction.

but one thing i would question you on is whether the actual prevalence has increased so dramatically or it's a case of more complex epidemiological factors and diagnostic changes over the years. and equally probably of both, which i believe could be the case.
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Thanks ArXter for all of your comments on this thread. I do appreciate both sides of the argument. It is a difficult one. A lot of the passion that fuels the debate comes from the contention between those who are passionately committed to issues of public health, versus those who are passionately committed to the immediate health of their loved ones. And many people working in the health system, like you, have the best of intentions. I just hope that the research continues and that answers are soon found.

I face a dilemma right now. My niece, who helped me home-school my autistic son, and who later became an ABA therapist and has worked extensively with autistic children, now has children of her own. She has decided not to immunize her second child because she is very afraid of the possible side effects, given that she knows that autism runs in her genetic pool. I don't know how to advise her. I understand her terror. I am inclined to try to persuade her to have her baby immunized according to a revised and cautious schedule. I feel a sense of responsibility for her fear and for the safety of her baby, and I would hate for her child to suffer any childhood diseases.
 
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PoP said:
I have autism, seriously I do, but remember this, autism is NOT a retardation, that's blasphamis, it can be learning disablility or social disability that's all I know about it, I had since I was about 2 years old my mother told me. I didn't know until I was in the 8th grade. A year later I made a speech in high school about what I have and I tried desperately trying to get peoples attention and mainly my friends. I always hated being alone, most of the times I feel like when I get to see people then a minute or 5 minutes later they left you it's they're repalling. They always never approach me or approach me to my face, but I always approach them and this is all I get for trying to approach them? I often felt angry and thinking they've screwed me. I was also thinking a while I was thinking of writing a book about my life and about autism. I will tell the parents about thier kids is that thier kids with autism is very unique and keep continuing on support me like my mother gave up on me. Parents who take autism well or don't want to except it I'd say "Get use to it either you live with it or not, that's thier problem and don't blame god for it, it's not his fault, blame the genes. Well I thank god for making me autistic anyways and I will be autistic forever. I might as will a new role model for people including kids with autism.
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Thanks for your post PoP. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. It sounds as though life hasn't been easy for you, but you have much to teach others.

Of course it is very true that many autistic people have normal or above average intelligence, and that some of the most amazing and innovative people in history have been autistic (e.g. Einstein, Bill Gates is thought to be autistic too I believe.) My own father was an intelligent, artistic and sensitive man, and I believe that he had Aspergers syndrome. The world would be poorer without autistic people, who contribute their unique perspectives and gifts to society.

So when we speak of looking for a "cure" for autism, it must be disturbing for those people with autism who are perfectly happy and productive as they are, and who feel insulted by the notion that their "condition" requires a cure.

But then there are a lot of people who suffer terribly due to autism, and it is for them and their families that we must strive to find ways to overcome the disabilities that limit them, and to prevent such extreme disabilities in the future.

I adore my autistic son. He has been my greatest challenge in life, but I owe him so much for all that he has taught me. There are many things that he cannot do--he can't hold a conversation, he can't write or read much at all, he doesn't play with other children--at least not in a constructive or imaginative way, he is always in danger of being hurt unless someone is supervising him, he is locked into compulsive routines and rituals and he gets very anxious whenever anything unpredictable happens, he has trouble keeping his emotions under control and at times he hurts others and himself in his frustration. But he is healthy and mostly happy, because I try to keep his world under control for him, so that the 'chaos' is not overwhelming. It takes a lot of effort, but my son gives me a lot of joy too. I love him just as he is.
 
I'm glad you're touched about my story Dimity. My little brother is autistic too, but he refuses to accept it, he believed it's a life threatening disease, I kept telling him it's not a disease and believe me I'm the ony friend he's got. I strongly believe he wants a cure for autism, well I say "no" to me, I never wanted to be cured for it and that's it. Like I said god gave me autism, I'm born this way and I'm gonna stay that way. I'm glad to hear about your father and your son. Your son is a very unique bunlde of joy god gave him, I say give him some more time to learn to read write play with others soon enough and don't give up on him. You must be very proud of him. I will pray for the both of you.
 
You know who I feel real inspired by through this Autism issue..

Jim Carrey, the 'Autism Whisperer'.... Those who know what I'm talking about would probably feel the same way..

That gift he has with that child is magical, something I hope I would have if I was arround a person in that circumstance..
 
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