As Childhood Vaccine Requirements Rise So Does Autism
The following was published in the Roanoke Times on March 17, 2008, which can be viewed HERE.
One of Ellen DeGeneres’s recent talk show guests was a young girl who raised a large sum of money selling bracelets to benefit autism treatment. She was motivated by the fact that her brother is autistic. At one point the mother of the girl spoke, saying something I’ve heard other parents say over and over. She told the audience that her son had been happy and normal, meeting every developmental milestone, but a few days after receiving a round of vaccinations he regressed into autism.
In a poll at an online autism support site, 70% of those who participated said they believe that their child’s autism was caused by vaccines. The shocking rise of autism correlates with the rising number of compulsory immunizations that the majority of children are now getting. I was suspicious of the few that were recommended when my sons were young. I couldn’t fathom shooting formaldehyde, thimerosal laden with mercury; ethylene glycol, aka antifreeze; sodium hydroxide, aka known as lye; aluminum; and a list of other suspect ingredients into my baby’s bloodstream. Currently there are at least twelve compulsory childhood immunizations, and because many are given twice, most children have had twenty or more shots before the age of two, and new vaccines are being developed all the time.
With one in every one-hundred-and-fifty child being diagnosed with autism, why is so much of the public debate about treatment, rather than causes? Why are parents who are reporting that their previously healthy children descended into autism after a round of vaccines being taken less serious than the drug companies who sell vaccines for profit? Not only are the drug companies not required to prove that vaccines are safe, new rules made by Bush appointed FDA officials in 2006 protect pharmaceutical companies from private liability litigation.
Those who make the case for immunizations defend them by talking about the diseases they prevent, but that’s not what we should be debating now. Rather than arguing about whether immunizations save lives or not, we should be talking about the cumulative effect that so many vaccines are having on our children. We know antibiotics save lives, but their overuse has created resistant super bugs and the emergence of deadly infections like MRSA. Why is there no public debate about the overuse of immunizations?
The drug companies’ poor safety records are regularly revealed as drugs on the market have proven to be harmful and are pulled from distribution. Why were vaccines containing mercury ever given to babies when it is known that mercury is one of the most poisonous elements on the planet, second only to uranium? The public was being advised not to eat tuna because it contained small amounts of mercury while doctors were routinely administering rounds of immunizations to children with combined mercury levels exceeding the EPA’s recommended maximums. Only after public outcry was the mercury removed. (It is still in flu shots.)
Sometimes the side effects of a drug treatment are worse than the disease being treated. In the case of immunizations, they do not treat a disease but are a supposed preventative measure in case our children contract something. Considering the track record of vaccine makers and the number of known vaccine injuries, I echo what Dr. Mendelsohn said in his 1979 book Confessions of a Medial Heretic, “If this is prevention, I’ll take my chances with disease.”
Recent headlines have announced that vaccines do not cause autism, but these headlines are misleading because they reflect a conclusion based on the assumption that because autism has not declined since mercury was taken out of vaccines they must be safe. As toxic as mercury is, it may not be the primary culprit linking autism and vaccines. A 2002 study published in Pediatric Neurology revealed that elevated levels of measles antibodies exist in autistic children, suggesting that autism could be an autoimmune disease triggered by the measles virus in vaccines.
Evidence suggests a genetic predisposition to autism. It seems obvious that a round of vaccinations containing a number of viruses and neurotoxins could be enough of an assault on a child’s body to push the susceptible ones over into this illness. In the case of the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, and rubella), children are exposed to a mixture three live viruses at one time, something that would never happen in nature. It’s understandable that some parents choose to protect their children against disease by strengthening their immune systems through health giving practices and that they would reject over-relying on the recommendations of government experts with alliances to the profit driven medical establishment.
The least I hope for is that doctors and parents begin to take a cautious approach to the practice of immunization, such as delaying shots until an infant is older, administering one shot at a time, and picking and choosing which ones are given. I hope they keep in mind that some of the diseases children are immunized against were considered normal childhood illnesses that strengthened children’s immune systems when I was growing up. I hope they remember that it took decades before big profit cigarette companies were forced to concede that their products were dangerous.
Smoking one cigarette won’t hurt anyone but regular use can kill. When it comes to man-made inventions and interventions, more is hardly ever better.
Colleen Redman
January 21st, 2008 11:09 pm
I so agree with you on this. When my sons needed shots, I at least tried to get the ones that were NOT live viruses. Just this week, my 23 year old was REQUIRED to get a second measles/mumps/rubella shot in order to take his graduate classes. Our school systems were REQUIRED to send kids home in January of last year if they were not up to date on all of their shots. So it really isn’t even a choice anymore for parents to opt out of having the shots. I’m just thankful my two boys remained healthy in spite of them.
January 21st, 2008 11:19 pm
There is also the option of signing a form that states that immunization is against your religion, which I and many I know have done.
January 21st, 2008 11:51 pm
Oh I so agree with you Colleen….There is so much that happens like this that is not really dealt with the way it should be. Doctors and Pharmeceudical(?) Cmpanys are in bed with each other…And THAT has effected ALL the drugs that are dispensed by our doctors. They may have taken the mercury out of that vaccine, but, as you said, what else is in there that they have left in….And I do not trust the FDA as far as I can throw my house. Their latest edict: “Meat that comes from cloned animals does not have to be labeled”! HELP US AND SAVE US!
January 21st, 2008 11:59 pm
It never dawned on me that autism could be caused by something external like vaccines. It bears study and intense research!
January 22nd, 2008 6:33 am
Why no talk about the causes? First, there’s no money in prevention…they’d rather keep us sick. And second, they sure don’t want the information to evolve into litigation…like the tobacco companies. I’m actually in favor of the concept of “public health”….having worked in the jails, I know how TB, Hep C, and staph can spread. But it’s hard not to criticize its implementation what with the drug companies looking out for their own interest vs ours and the government standing by.
January 22nd, 2008 7:57 am
I concur . My dog breeder says even many animal vaccines are unnecessary and sometimes weaken immunity. I am fully convinced that drs do for money only and Colleen as I’ve stated before happy I am to be alive but found out lots was unnecessary and here I am broke..sk
January 22nd, 2008 11:30 am
Wow — This is new information to me, but I have family members and friends with young kids to whom I’ll definitely pass it along. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs and blessings.
January 22nd, 2008 10:19 pm
Well argued.
In general, the drug industry approach is scatter shot and there is no real assessment of risk. If the system were set up to see who is a risk, drugs like Vioxx would help the people they help and kept away from the minority at risk.
The problem here is that the “minority” is huge! Something like one in a million has an adverse effect from Vioxx.
RM
January 23rd, 2008 10:20 am
in maryland this year, the school systems were going to sue parents who didn’t get the proper immunizations for their children. they gave them a timeline, and i’m not sure what has happened since.
a lot of people homeschool for this particular reason. i refuse to get the flu shot, and i get tired of people always asking us if we have gotten it yet. it still contains mercury.
i remember in my abnormal psychology course, studying about genetic pre-dispositions for mental disorders, and how sometimes it takes an outside trigger to spur it, which may be the case in autism, too… like you stated.
my brother-in-law, who has asperger’s (a milder form of autism), was developing normally until he had an adverse reaction to a vaccine, which sent him into seizures. it was a downhill spiral after that.
January 23rd, 2008 11:18 am
I agree Colleen. I was so angry when Caleb had to have all those shots as a baby. Especially hepatitis. There were so many side effects and dangers. I didn’t think it was worth it. I think we are shooting the kids up with too many vaccines. I have even stopped giving my pets all those vaccines that haven’t’ been changed or examined since 1968!
January 23rd, 2008 12:00 pm
Colleen, I have to agree with you on this one! I can remember being a first-time mother at age 30, and wondering why did my child have to have all those darn shots? And the doctors were adament that she have them. “Well, they are necessary!) Well, I had the measles and it didn’t kill me! was my reaction. And, half of the diseases they give the kids immunizations for aren’t even around any more!
Then the schools got on the band wagon – and you were damned if you didn’t give you child all these shots – because then they couldn’t go to school…And, we didn’t have much in the “home schooling” camp 32 years ago.
Makes you sort of wonder who is making all the bucks off these things – my guess would be the drug companies, doctors, and the school systems…they all seem to be sleeping together!!! And, it is at the risk of our country’s children!!!
January 23rd, 2008 9:38 pm
It is not just autism on the rise. My daughter is ADHD. We have no history of that in either my husband or my family so it was shocking when our daughter was diagnosed.We always felt that it had something to do with immunizations or diet. I am a health food nut and did nothing different between pregnancies. Nat know has to take speed(basically only called Adderal) and has for the last 7 years. She can’t think or function without this. What are the long term effects of this going to be on her health? I worry all of the time.
Sue
January 23rd, 2008 11:54 pm
So sad. Yes, I think there is a spectrum of neurological disorders that are plaguing our children like never before.
January 24th, 2008 6:56 pm
Our paper did a story marking the coincidence of the higher number of autism diagnoses with the increase in number of autism experts. That too is scary.
When I was pregnant, a doctor said my daughter to be had slightly dilated renal pelvices. Whatever that was. My midwife told me not to worry about it because the quack said that about every unborn child.
In addition to looking at the vaccines out there, maybe we need to look at the professionals at work!
February 9th, 2008 8:34 am
So many questions, so few reliable answers. As a school nurse I am amazed at the number of children on powerful medications at very young ages.Is it immunizations, polution, teachers or parents who just can’t handle an active child? I know there is some need for some children, but why is the incidence so high. I believe it is definately time to duct tape the drug companies mouths and pocket books and fund quality independent studies. We also need to free physicians from the grip of insurance and drug companies.
February 9th, 2008 9:35 am
Right on, Gloria.
And Sandy, I do think diagnosis’s get thrown around too easily these days. But it’s unlikely that the percentage of loose diagnosis accounts for much in the 1 in 150 kids who get it equation.
March 10th, 2009 1:04 am
My kids are not vaccinated and they are doing well. Your children can still attend school without vaccinating. We requested an Immunization Exemption Form from the Ministry of Health (Ontario)and had a Notary public sign this form and we provided it to our school. The government does not make the public or schools aware/informed of this form.
February 11th, 2015 11:45 pm
[…] Read The Vaccine-Autism Debate: Why it Won’t Go Away HERE. And HERE is the commentary I wrote in 2008 that was published in The Roanoke […]