Autism and Vaccines

Many people aren't familiar with the autism and vaccines controversy. If you are one of the many who have been following it for some time, feel free to skip this introductory section.

Vaccines
Vaccines are simply the shots that we give our children at a young age that are intended to prevent our child from suffering from a specific illness later in life. Today in the U.S., the Center for Disease Control mandates the following vaccines be administered before 15 months of age:
· Hepatitis B
· Rotavirus
· Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis
· Haemophilus Influenzae type b (HIB)
· Pneumococcus (viral Pneumonia)
· Polio
· Influenza
· Measles, Mumps, and Rubella
· Varicella
· Hepatitis A
· Meningococcus (Meningitis)

Several of these require multiple shots over time, for a total minimum of 21 shots in your baby's first year of life. Compare this to less than 30 years ago, in 1980: children were only given 3 shots for Polio, and 4 shots of the Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis vaccine; one-third the number of shots today's babies receive. It's worth every parent investigating the facts about vaccinations.

Autism
Autism is a brain disorder that affects a child's development, affecting his or her ability to communicate, to relate to others, and to interact with his or her surroundings. The first signs of autism usually appear between 14 and 18 months old, yet it's often not diagnosed until two or three years of age. Boys are nearly four times as likely to be diagnosed with autism as girls.

Most autistic children are perfectly normal in appearance, but spend their time engaged in puzzling and disturbing behaviors which are markedly different from those of typical children. Less severe cases of autism are marked by social and behavioral problems, and have unique names, the most well-known being Asperger's Syndrome.

There is no cure for autism, but there are a wide variety of treatment options that may be very helpful. Age at intervention has a direct impact on outcome--typically, the earlier a child is treated, the better the prognosis will be. In recent years there has been a marked increase in the percentage of children who can attend school in a typical classroom and live semi-independently in community settings. However, the majority of autistic persons remain impaired in their ability to communicate and socialize.

Many resources exist for concerned parents looking for the facts about Autism.

So what's the connection?
Autism rates have risen dramatically over the last 20 years, since the addition of new vaccines for Hepatitis B and Measles, Mumps, and Rubella in 1990. Because the signs of autism first appear around the time the vaccines are given (12-15 months of age), many parents feel that it's obvious there is a connection. The Center for Disease Control disagrees, but many public figures have come out strongly urging a proper scientific investigation into the connection between autism and vaccines.

When I started getting worried about vaccinating my child, I did all of the research I could on the dangers of autism. This guide not only told me what it would look like in the early stages, but gave me a good knowledge of what steps I could take to combat autism should my child be diagnosed with it. If you have an autistic child (or adult) in your life, I'd suggest it to anyone.

We all love our children.
In all seriousness, this is a very hard question to answer; the science linking autism and vaccines is only just beginning to come out with firm results. The simple reality is, most diseases our babies are vaccinated against just don't show up anymore, because most of us were immunized against them. On the other hand, if too many parents decide to avoid vaccinations, the likelihood of a disease finding a 'route in' by infecting a non-immunized person increases exponentially.

Also, in many cities and some states, having your child vaccinated is a mandatory part of getting your child into the school system. Most places allow a religious exemption from this rule, but the debate is heating up so much that some are insisting on 'sincerity interviews' wherein the parents prove their conviction has a religious basis.

Let's do some math.
Assuming that you don't live in one of those areas, and you have actual freedom of choice regarding your child's health care, you have to ask yourself this question:

"Is the chance of my child being severely disabled and/or killed by a disease that s/he is not being immunized against greater or worse than the chance of getting autism?" This lens does the math for you, but here's the end result:

1 in every 150 children is diagnosed as autistic these days. That means an .667% chance of being mildly to severely disabled.

As the above lens shows, a completely unvaccinated child has less than one-sixth that chance of dying to all or any of the diseases we currently vaccinate against, using only the most extreme of available data.

According to Edward Yazbak of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the criteria for determining autism has become more restrictive since 1990, when there were only 1 in 200 children diagnosed as autistic. "There is a true and significant increase in autism in the U.S." his conclusion states, "to date, the CDC and other governmental health authorities have not given enough attention to this serious epidemic...they must face their responsibility now."

In my opinion, the chance of my child being killed or crippled by any or all of these diseases is significantly lower than the chance of him developing autism, and most of the diseases we vaccinate against are not meaningfully dangerous regardless.

Follow your heart.
Of course, each parent should do the research for themselves (Wikipedia is a great starting point for everything from looking up individual disease to looking up the vaccine controversy in general). Just don't blindly accept what anyone - including me - tells you.

Let's examine what "they" will tell you if you mention in public that autism is caused by vaccines:

No scientific study has ever been released that confirms a link between autism and vaccines!

On Feb 9, 2004, the National Autism Association issued a press release that reported on one of the larger studies under review based on the Center for Disease Control's Vaccine Safety Datalink. Under independent investigation, the Association reported, of the CDC's data children were found to be 27 times more likely to develop autism after exposure to three thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs), than those who receive thimerosal-free versions.

Now, that's only three Thimerosal-containing vaccines, not the dozen or so that we used to give infants. Even today, a parent that isn't careful can get their infant 2 Thimerosal-laden vaccines: one of the formulations of the Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis vaccine still has it, and all BUT one of the Influenza vaccines has it. Still, assuming the relationship is arithmetic or exponential, that's somewhere between three times and nine times the likelihood of getting autism.

The CDC outlawed Thimerosal years ago!

Well, no. Thimerosal wasn't outlawed -- but the pharmaceutical companies were required to reformulate many vaccines that contained thimerosal. Most vaccines were, in fact, reformulated -- but the old vaccines weren't thrown away. Thimerosal-laden vaccines have been found on the shelves as recently as 9 months ago, but there are further issues than that.

According to June 9th article by New World Communications, Inc, "the current [Aventis Pasteur vaccine] package inserts do not accurately reflect what is being marketed...This is total mislabeling and fraud by their own admission."

So, if we cannot trust the labels that tell us what is in our vaccines, how can we trust the pharmaceutical companies to be obeying the CDC? It's not like they're the picture of honesty.

Above and beyond all that, Thimerosal is not the only theory behind the autism and vaccines juju. Check the new sublens: Adjuvant Atrocities for more.

But not getting your children vaccinated is irresponsible, and turns your child into a breeding ground for disease!

Not really. The math on that claim just flat doesn't work out.