The "Open Question" On Vaccines and Autism

CBS News ^ | May 12, 2008 | Sharyl Attkisson

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Perhaps the most puzzling thing about autism and ADD is that more than a decade into this public health crisis, our best, smartest government scientists and public health officials still say they have no idea what's causing it. Scary stuff, when parents having a child today realize there's at least an estimated 1 in 150 chance their child will have an autism disorder (1 in 90 if it's a boy).

While the government has been utterly unable to stop it, or even tell us what is causing it, they say they do know one thing: it's not vaccines. But today, in an exclusive interview with CBS News, Dr. Bernadine Healy becomes the most well-known medical voice yet to counter the government on that claim.

Healy's credentials couldn't be more "mainstream." After all, she once was a top government health official as head of the National Institutes of Health. She founded the first school of public health in Ohio, and then headed both the school of public health and the school of medicine at Ohio State University. She's an internist and cardiologist. And she's a member of the Institute of Medicine, the government advisory board that tried to put the vaccine-autism controversy to rest in 2004 by saying a link was not likely.

According to Healy, when she began researching autism and vaccines she found credible published, peer-reviewed scientific studies that support the idea of an association. That seemed to counter what many of her colleagues had been saying for years. She dug a little deeper and was surprised to find that the government has not embarked upon some of the most basic research that could help answer the question of a link.

The more she dug, she says, the more she came to believe the government and medical establishment were intentionally avoiding the question because they were afraid of the answer.

Why? Healy says some in the government make the mistake of treating vaccines as an all-or-nothing proposition. The argument goes something like this: everybody gets vaccinated at the same time with the same vaccines or nobody will get vaccinated and long-gone deadly diseases will re-emerge. (When I asked about cases of brain damage resulting in autism that have been quietly compensated by the government in vaccine court over the years, one government official recently told me that "it's still better overall to get vaccinated than not to get vaccinated.")

Healy says the argument need not be framed in those terms (vaccinate or don't vaccinate). Instead, she says, we should vaccinate, but work to do it in the safest manner possible based on what we know and what we can find out.

That's what the parents of autistic children have told me as well. If we can screen children to see which ones might be more susceptible to vaccine side effects, and vaccinate them on a more personalized schedule that is safer for them, why wouldn't we? If it's safer for all children to have their vaccinations spread out, why wouldn't we? Healy says it's called "personalized medicine" and is being done in virtually all areas of medicine today with the exception of vaccines. Yet the government continues to frame the conversation in all-or-nothing, "one-size-fits-all" terms.

Lastly, Healy says the government has a long way to go to even do basic research that could get at the heart of what she believes is an open question. For example: why in the past decade hasn't the government compared the autism/ADD rate of unvaccinated children with that of vaccinated children? If the rate is the same, it tends to point away from vaccines. If the rate is markedly lower in unvaccinated children, it tends to point toward vaccines.

The government has a dataset of unvaccinated children available. It has published more than one survey of parents of undervaccinated and unvaccinated children (to find out why the parents are choosing not to vaccinate). It would seem simple to use those same families to measure their rate of autism/ADD. Also, why hasn't the government used vaccine court as a resource to ask the autism/vaccine question. There, nearly 5,000 families have self-selected as believing their children's autism was caused by vaccines. Many have expressed willingness to let their children's medical records be released and studied; but nobody in the government has been interested.

As if that's not scary enough, look down the road a little. Millions of autistic children will - in the not-too-distant future - outgrow their parents, or their parents will no longer be able to care for them. Their only option in many cases is institutionalization. Who, but a parent or family member, can and would devote the moment-by-moment attention it takes to raise an autistic child? Our nation has not, to my knowledge, begun to build these institutions, or figure out how to pay for them.

Back to the subject at hand. If the day comes that public health officials can finally tell us with reasonable certainty what is causing all the autism and ADD, and if the cause has nothing to do with vaccines, I think most people will just be relieved to know what it is and feel that we can, then, be closer to stopping it. Until then, in the minds of many, including Healy, it remains a sad, open question.

[CodeToad]

Kids being drugged for having the energy of a kid, and the lazy parent and teachers not wanting to provide supervision.

I can only imagine my parents cherishing the time I slept.

[Luircin]

Never, ever, EVER try to bring this up to an autistic person or an Aspie.

EVER.

Okay, that may be a little hyperbolic, but autists and aspies tend to think in very logical step by step manners, and the suggestion that people shouldn’t be vaccinated because it causes autism suggests, in their minds, that you’d rather that they die from a preventable disease than live with autism/Aspergers.

I mean, we get really pissy about women aborting Down Syndrome babies. It seems to me that this vaccination mess is very similar, except it only exposes the child to possible death instead of guaranteed death.

[Luircin]

See post 62.

The problem I have is that if we object to a woman aborting a Down Syndrome child, it seems a little hypocritical to potentially expose a child to deadly and disfiguring diseases in the name of health care. Only difference is potential death vs. guaranteed death.

[SgtHooper]

No one is denying autism. They are denying the prevalence of autism. It doesn’t make sense given what we know from our distant past, and the leftist BS political correctness climate intertwined with greed and selfishness. There is so much of everything nowadays, and it doesn’t add up!

[Magnatron]

Autism isn’t caused by vaccines. In my opinion, the increase in autism is directly related to the increased use of antidepressants, especially in women...

...and the pharma companies are happy for us to believe otherwise to keep the focus off of their cash cow

[Paperpusher]

The fact is that Polio was on the decline before Salk came along

Yes, yes it was because The 1952 U.S. epidemic (just before the 1955 introduction of the vaccine) was the worst outbreak in the nation’s history, MASSIVELY more than any other years outbreak. Just going back to normal looked like a decrease.

[Mears]

“Perception is not the same as statistics”

---

Agreed,but where are the statistics showing that polio was on the wane?

.

[BereanBrain]

Polio was in worldwide decline since the early 1900s with occasion outbreaks....If what I say is true, why?

Because there is only 1 way to get polio, as nasty as it sounds. It comes from feces. The live virus is shed through the intestinal tract, and passes out in feces. This is the way it spreads.

Now, think about what occurred at the beginning of the 20th century in terms of sanitation. Flush Toilets, Sanitary sewers, etc. The potential for exposure dropped.

https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-jonas-salk-and-the-polio-vaccine

https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/jonas-salk-and-albert-bruce-sabin

The idea that a virus that causes neurological damage (paralysis) could have a side-effect on neurological function should not be dismissed as Hoax, UNTIL and UNLESS proper research (double blind) has been conducted.

Nobody has conducted it, so this is why the controversy continues....

[freedumb2003]

>>Child affected personal experience here

<<

Anecdotes are not proof.

[Mears]

It is also contagious——very important.

.

[silverleaf]

Well if you want to be an aspergers caretaker let me know
Shifts are available

[logi_cal869]

And just like the heart disease, pain med, autism, preterm birth and all the other "epidemics" no one asks why. I do not assert that vaccines are bad; thus do not make the terminal error of libs and label me an anti-vaxxer. My assertion is that human activity can make people more susceptible to health threats in our biosphere...against the sheer number of which it is not possible to be vaccinated. I also believe that the current vaccine schedule is recklessly harmful for the sake of convenience, at least in part responsible for many complications I'm not going to address here.

@ old curmudgeon: You adults in the 50s didn't know then that you were being played. One modern example of what began in the 50s and later exploded due to reckless expediency: Many today still believe that fat is bad. Give me a break. Open up the mind or don't. Your choice, but facts are facts.

@ oh8eleven: "Baby boomers?" I think not. That means the rate per 100,000 would remain flat corresponding to population growth; it did not. See below. What happened in the early & mid-20th century? I know; look it up.

I've researched the matter and it is clear that people are appallingly-ignorant of one simple fact: We survive in a hostile environment because of our biology and despite our actions to the contrary. In the very early 20th century the "big city" drinking water problem was addressed (I will not use the word solved), but we were poisoning ourselves and still-ignorant to this day about the truth of the matter. Human actions greatly-compromised human health in the 20th century and we were later told it was "natural."

Total BS. Arguing that compromising public health is progress is...well, quite progressive. A comprehensive review of medicine, science & education is long overdue. I personally fault lack of leadership. Since this POTUS has so much on his plate, I do not expect anything to change in the next 20 years or in my lifetime...a pathetic footnote for those who have grandchildren.

@ Mears: If you all want to know the truth, pull the heads out and use that tool in front of you. My chapter on vaccines is a mere snapshot into the reality of the failings of our medical and scientific institutions and if we cannot rely on open-minded Conservatives to undo a century of damage not just to our government, but to education, medicine & science alike...

...then we are doomed.

[freedumb2003]

>>Well if you want to be an aspergers caretaker let me know
Shifts are available<<

A non-sequitur is not a response.

[Hugin]

Using that logic it’s clear that mothers using cellphones causes autism.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Using that logic it’s clear that mothers using cellphones causes autism.

It isn't logic and doesn't prove anything. It is an observation that bears research.

No one has any idea what being assaulted with 5-10 vaccines at one time does to a child.

[hinckley buzzard]

Ten year old article is not very persuasive, given the abundance of research since then. There still is no evidence that “vaccines cause autism.”

[Yooper patriot]

As a parent of an autistic child, the nasty, caustic replies and reliving my son’s reaction to his vaccination literally brought me to tears.
My wife and I are professionals both with multiple degrees. We don’t use drugs, and my wife was alcohol free the entire pregnancy. I was suspicious of vaccines prior to the time of my son’s birth, but we were bullied by the doctor into accepting them. He was a little over 3 YO, and was given the shots for multiple vaccines all at once. His reaction was immediate, by the time he got home his temp was 106. A swift call to the doctor and we were told to treat him for the temperature and seek help Monday if still elevated.(This was Friday afternoon.)
He never recovered, and in fact his development regressed. We have before and after pictures where the terrible changes are plain to see in his face.
He is now 16, and partially verbal, but he can never be independent. We have nearly bankrupted ourselves trying to get him help, including moving 500 miles to get to where there were additional services.
He receives a whopping $221 a month from the state for the last 3 years, and it ends when he turns 18 or can’t go to school. He will never work, earn a degree, have his own family, his own home, or a drivers license. It has been devastating for the entire family.
Because we were not on welfare, he could not get the treatment he needed that was available if we had been, and it was unavailable for purchase until recently.
Anyway, this is our personal experience.

[BobL]

Sorry to hear that. Obviously I wouldn’t lump it in with the WPA comment...scary stuff.

[StolarStorm]

Ok, here is a possible answer. Autism is likely caused by an autoimmune issue. Most people with autism have leaky gut syndrome, celiac or some other autoimmune issue. I would suspect that one has to have a preexisting susceptibility that "could" be triggered by a vaccine. Other immune altering triggers could also cause autism to express itself.

For myself, my autism symptoms DID begin after I had a very severe reaction to an MMR vaccination (have scars on my arm). That said, I would probably have been on the autism spectrum anyway ... once exposed to any severe viral infection. I've improved over the years but I've had setbacks after severe flu episodes and so forth. I also have several autoimmune issues.

As with with most medical problems, autism has a mix of causes, triggers and unique genetics of the individuals affected.

[Cronos]

There’s also the risk of vaccination versus no-vaccination. Anyone remember the days before vaccinations? When kids died left right and center or were debilitated by polio?