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Vaccines and Autism: Facts and Fears
When I wrote "Should You Refuse Vaccines?," I was not trying to stir things up. I just wanted to say publicly what I say privately to any of my patients who ask that same question. I had the idea that the debate about vaccines and autism was over. And it is over, at least among mainstream pediatricians and related scientists. But, as I learned from your comments to that post, there are still many questions out there. Let me try to answer some of these questions directly:
- Comment #1: "Why risk it?... Why not wait til they are older and stronger?"
We immunize little babies because many of the diseases we are trying to prevent, like whooping cough, are most severe in the very young. Immunizing later would leave many children without protection when they need it most. - Comment #17: "Why not do a study looking at how many children got autism who did not get a vaccine?"
In fact, many studies like this have been done. For example, a study in the British Medical Journal found that rates of autism rose quickly between 1988 and 1999, while the rate of MMR vaccination did not change; thus, there was no connection between the risk of autism and having gotten MMR. A 2008 study in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that the rate of autism in California rose each quarter from 1995 to 2007, even while the amount of mercury in vaccines was cut sharply. A 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine tested more than a thousand children ages 7 to 10, and found no connection between mercury exposure in vaccines and neuropsychological problems (although not specifically autism). - Comment #24: "Full refusal is one approach. Another is a slower schedule of vaccinations. One at a time instead of three. Why aren't pediatricians providing this as an option...?"
As far as we know, giving vaccines separately does not cut down the side effects. But it would mean babies getting shots much more often (like, every other week). If a parent in my practice really wanted to, I'd spread out the shots as much as possible. But the three vaccines combined in MMR are not sold separately. - Comment #45: "When a child receives multiple vaccinations at one time the trace amounts accumulate. If a child gets four, five or more it would seem that they are getting a fair amount of mercury as well."
I don't think so. The amount of mercury in vaccines is so small that even five or ten doses still delivers almost none. But children are exposed to mercury all the time, in polluted soil, water and food. For example, a recent study from the University of Texas found a positive connection between the risk of autism and how close a child lived to a power plant releasing mercury.
I could say more, but many of you have already said it better than me. See, especially, comments 3, 5, 25, and 77. But I do want to put in two more quotes that touch the heart of this tough issue:
- Comment #42: "I do believe there's a cure for measles ect; but autism? Trust me, the thought of it affecting my off-spring is truly scary."
Actually, there is no cure for measles. In 2006, at least 173,000 people died of measles world-wide, according to the World Health Organization. The thought of autism is scary. And it is especially scary because we do not know enough about the causes, or how to prevent it. But if fear leads you to make choices that increase your child's risk of measles, pertussis, Hib, and other serious infections, without actually lowering the risk of autism, then I think that is a mistake. - Comment #22: "Parents who choose not to have the vaccinations administered to their children are not necessarily misinformed. Perhaps they just have access to different information."
Yes, there is a lot of information out there, so much that it is hard know what, or who, to believe. I tend to trust organizations that have a track record of serving children, like the American Academy of Pediatrics, and articles published in respected journals. Click here for the AAP's take on autism. For the studies I cite above and many more, go to PubMed and search for "autism vaccines."
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Each child should be treated separately. That is how we should
approach Autism. It is a spectrum disorder, therefore it is wise for parents to be educated and cautious according to their own child, not 1 doctor's opinion. We don't know yet was causes it....whether it be a weakness in a childs immune system that makes them more at risk..?? So until we know for sure, let's work together and keep our kids safe.
Does the government (using the physician as their agent) have the right to insist that a parent inject their child with ingredients that MAY have undesired effects on an immature immune system or cause inflammation in the brain because the immune system and the blood-brain barrier are immature? Any physician knows that an allergist/immunologist will not see a child until after the age of 2 years old because of the immune system is immature and that several vaccines (PCV/HIB) are not as important after the age of 2yo because the blood-brain barrier has matured so there is less of a need to protect against meningitis,
In my opinion, research shows that most children will not have a problem with vaccines. The problem is we cannot pre-identify the few individuals who are outlyers and will have problems processing vaccines.
Enlightened physicians have learned that the best medical decisions arise from focusing strictly on the patient sitting in front of us in the exam room. If a physician makes decisions for the common good/public health reasons and ignore a parent's concerns, then that physician is like a military general who is satisfied with acceptable losses.
The US should drop its compusory approach to vaccines and institute a team-approach (parent-physician) that allows parents with concerns to delay the current schedule. At the minimum, parents should receive better feedback from pediatricians than the strongarm tactic that parent's concerns are unscientific and therefore invalid. The last I checked the human experience is rooted in love and truth and should allow for "illogocal concern" if the child's welfare is held in the balance.
The truth is that most of the health benefits from vaccines REALLY arise from better sanitation. See the following link: http://www.healthsentinel.com/graph s.php?id=23&event=graphs_print_ list_item that shows that vaccine-preventable illnesses were dramatically reduced BEFORE their corresponding vaccine was available.
The medical establishment should openly discuss the pros and cons of scientific studies as well as reasons for alternative vaccine habits in other industrialized countries with their patients. Physicians, as patient advocates, must also demand that ACIP/CDC open all past and upcoming vaccine policy discussions. Once the vaccine vault is open, initial investigations can examine the scientific basis for the limitedness of vaccine initiation and study their long term effects. Physicians will succeed in improving vaccine promotion by understanding the liberty that immunizations represent.
Delaying DPT Vaccination May Reduce Incidence of Childhood Asthma.
Again, the medical estabishment does not how vaccines affect children in the short AND long term.
Also, and this is old news, the hepatitis B vaccine is associated with Multiple Sclerosis per the Journal of Neurology.
One consideration that vaccine advocates do not address is the constructive role that contracting childhood illnesses play in the maturation of a person’s immune system. Or, to put it another way, does removing natural infection from the human experience have any adverse consequences? Could the fact that cancer has become a leading cause of death result partly from vaccines? The journal Cancer published that women who had mumps during childhood are found to be less likely to have ovarian cancer than women who did not have this infection.
Lawrence Horowitz, D.O.,F.A.A.P.