Posted on 09/03/2008 5:38:58 PM PDT by Pharmboy
New research further debunks any link between measles vaccine and autism, work that comes as the nation is experiencing a surge in measles cases fueled by children left unvaccinated.
Years of research with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, better known as MMR, have concluded that it doesn't cause autism. Still, some parents' fears persist, in part because of one 1998 British study that linked the vaccine with a subgroup of autistic children who also have serious gastrointestinal problems. That study reported that measles virus was lingering in the children's bowels.
Only now have researchers rigorously retested that finding, taking samples of youngsters' intestines to hunt for signs of virus with the most modern genetic technology. There is no evidence that MMR plays any role, the international team — which included researchers who first raised the issue — reported Wednesday.
"Although in fact there was evidence that this vaccine was safe in the bulk of the population, it had not been previously assessed with respect to kids with autism and GI complaints," said Dr. W. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, who led the work published in PLoS One, the online journal of the Public Library of Science.
"We are confident there is no link between MMR and autism," Lipkin said.
Added co-author Dr. Larry Pickering of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "I feel very certain that it is a safe vaccine."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Health ping...
Now you’ve done it! The anti-vaccine, anti-virus, whackos will be out in force.
Aren’t they all at the Ron Paul convention??
OK, what is Sarah Palin accused of doing this time?
No,
Who funded the study?
Maybe a Mercola bash.
CDC folks cannot take any outside money--from you, from me, or from Merck.
Mmm hmmm, and Dr. W. Ian Lipkin who specializes in immunology - no bias there?
it’s almost pointless to bring it up. The Trail Lawyers created the argument and the conspiracy theorists on both sides take off with it because it ‘seems’ like it might be true.
Dalkon Shield. Breast Implants. Vaccines. Just add it to the list of multi-billion dollar deep pockets trial lawyers need to keep their industry flush.
Please explain more. It's very hard to follow your logic. Yes--he's an immunologist. Are you implying that immunologists are incapable of being unbiased scientists?
thanks, bfl
I’d like to know where most of his funding comes from.
No, with his biography, I don’t believe he’s unbiased.
Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University
Ian Lipkin M.D. Professor
wil2001@columbia.edu
Telephone: 342-9033
Fax: 851-5395
Research interests
Background: W. Ian Lipkin, MD, is Professor of Epidemiology in the Mailman School of Public Health, and Director of both the Laboratory for Immunopathogenesis and Infectious Diseases, and the Center for Developmental Neuroscience. Through June 2002 Dr. Lipkin also holds academic positions at University of California Irvine where he is the Louise Turner Arnold Chair of Neuroscience, Director of the Emerging Diseases Laboratory and Professor in the Departments of Neurology, Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. He is internationally recognized as an authority on the use of molecular biological methods for pathogen discovery and the role of immune and microbial factors in neurologic and neuropsychiatric diseases.
Dr. Lipkin received a BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 1974, where he studied cultural anthropology, philosophy, and literature; and an MD from Rush Medical College in 1978. His postgraduate training included Clerkship at the Queen Square Institute of Neurology in London, UK (1977-78); Internship in Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh (1978-79); Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington (1979-81), Residency in Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF, 1981-84), and Fellowship in Neurovirology and Molecular Neurobiology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla (TSRI, 1984-1990). His honors include National Multiple Sclerosis Society Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1984-1987, Clinical Investigator Development Award, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, 1987-1992, NARSAD Young Investigator, 1991, Pew Scholar, 1991, Visiting Professor, Japanese Human Science Foundation, 1999, Visiting Bruenn Professor, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, 2000, Louise Turner Arnold Chair in the Neurosciences, 2000, Foundation Lecturer, American Society of Microbiology, 2001, Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar in Global Infectious Diseases, 2001.
While a Resident in Neurology, Dr. Lipkin established the first clinic for investigating neurologic manifestations of HIV infection. In 1983, he identified AIDS-associated inflammatory neuropathy and demonstrated that this crippling syndrome could be treated with plasmapheresis. In 1988 as a fellow with Dr. Michael Oldstone at TSRI he demonstrated that early life viral infection can cause behavioral and neurotransmitter disturbances without obvious evidence of brain infection or injury. The observation that cryptic infection can influence brain function is increasingly recognized as important in the context of neuropsychiatric diseases such as autism and schizophrenia; and it may also play a role in neurodegenerative disorders. To address such questions, Dr. Lipkin created molecular methods for rapidly detecting unknown viruses in clinical materials. The first application of these methods resulted in identification of Borna disease virus, a new type of virus that had eluded classical methods for virus purification. Since isolating the first genes of this virus in 1990, Dr. Lipkin cloned its genome and defined its replication strategy and the molecular basis for neurotropism and behavioral syndromes associated with acute and persistent brain infection. An international multi-center program coordinated by Dr. Lipkin is assessing the role of Borna disease virus in human neuropsychiatric diseases using methods patented by Lipkin, Briese and colleagues. Dr. Lipkin is the leader of the team that established the method of domain specific differential display and subsequently identified the West Nile virus in the brains of encephalitis victims in New York State in the fall of 1999.
Your personal attacks do nothing for your argument.
YOU were the one who started with personal attacks, and if you cannot make any points based on data, than shut up and do not make baseless claims. You sound like a liberal.
I’d like to know where your funding comes from and what bias’ you have.
Who are you relying on for information and on what do you base your comments?
Little hot under the collar for someone disagreeing with you how come? I thought we could disagree??
I work in the field with medical research, and if you don’t know there are biases, and studies that have a desired outcome, perhaps it’s not I that is ignorant.
No, surprisingly the liberals are normally the one who think we need the government to take care of us and our children. I’m shocked that you think otherwise.
Now, you have insulted me at least three times, I didn’t insult you once I merely disagreed with you.
Does putting people down continually usually make you more right? Or do people just tire of your insults
I didn’t accuse HIM of bias, I asked Where does his funding come from - it’s a legitimate question. For you to be so upset makes me wonder why?
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