I’ve heard that one early childhood immunization , in particular, is suspected as being related to autism.
My question is, does anybody know which one(s) is/are?
Autism and vaccination returns a boatload of hits on google.
There has been a lot of discussion about it here in Sweden and quite a few of my friends have chosen not to vaccinate their kids because of it.
There are a number of people who insist that the combined MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) inoculation can lead to complications that result in autism.
Rigourous tests, trials and investigations have been carried out regarding this allegation; nothing was found (that isn’t to say that the tests were inconclusive; the tests concluded that the alleged effect simply doesn’t seem to happen)
And I should add that even if the allegations were correct, one would have to judge (from the number of cases where this is alleged to happen vs the number of MMR vaccinations in total) that the risk of different complications from NOT vaccinating would still be greater.
Similarly, there are suggestions that an preservative called thimerosal found in some vaccines is neurotoxic to children.
The risk is if your child gets many vaccines with thimerosal the total may be above one of the limits. Which is why they’re fazing out thimerosal. AFAIK, most, if not all, vaccines are now available without it.
I looked into the vaccine/autism stuff a while ago and, unfortunately, many of the groups/spokespersons who make the claim are more concerned with swaying opinion than getting at the truth. At least that’s my interpretation of some of the extreme claims. You might want to check out the CDC’s site about it. I’ll try to find the cites, but what I remember is that the countries that stopped giving the vaccine (IIRC, Japan, and a nordic country (Sweden?)) didn’t have a drop in autism, but did show a sad example of what the vaccine could have prevented.
PC
I don’t vaccinate because of concerns about the MMR vaccine and autism. I’m on the opposite side to Poster Child in this debate as I look at the CDC site and my feeling is who has the most invested in being right here? The anti-immunisation people or the medical people who give the vaccines?
It’s a very heated debate with strong feeling on either side. At this point in time we cannot give a clear factual answer that no children have developed autism as a result of the MMR. My GP has an autistic child who developed a fever as a result of the MMR and emerged from the fever autistic. Now my paediatrician would argue that this child would have been autistic no matter what and the vaccination merely precipitated the autism.
There’s a worldwide surge in the incidence of autism. Tony Attwood who is one of the leading researchers in Aspergers syndrome recently said he feels there is a connection between the MMR and autism (Brisbane Sunday Mail). I think all a parent can do is make the decision which they can live with in the long run.
I probably shouldn’t comment, as I definitely agree that it’s up to the parent. And there has been an increase in the incidence of autism (though it doesn’t quite follow the introduction of the vaccine, and IIRC, the increase doesn’t correspond to use of the vaccine in different countries). I have to question the implication here. No physician I know of gains any monetary benefit from giving vaccines. They get the same benefit from giving antibiotics or sending the kid home with reassurance and advice to get rest and drink fluids. This is especially true of Pediatricians who earn much less for more work than most other specialties (so you can be pretty sure their motivation for becoming Pediatricians was caring for kids, not money.) I wonder if you trust physicians for any other advice, either?
Autism generally develops at the same age that children are given one of the MMR shots and a fever is one of the more common (though relatively rare) side effects of the shot. Therefore, it would have been very surprising if people did not develop autism soon after getting the immunization, and would occaisionally occur after an immunizatin induced fever. (Not that children are prone to colds with fevers, either.)
Of course, it’s a scary thing (if you’re not sure) to put your child at risk, and one of the benefits of immunization, is that if enough of your peers immunize their kids, your children get some benefit, too. Though there have been outbreaks, because immunization is not perfect, and unimmunized children can still put other kids at risk (which has happend).
I agree with you, much as I disagree with the aspersions you cast on “medical people.”
PC
I believe part of the perceived surge in autism may be because it is being diagnosed differently now than it has been in the past. Also, if I’m not mistaken, the incidence of autism in boys is much higher than in girls, so even if it is being caused by vaccinations, there has to be at least one other significant factor.
I probably shouldn’t comment, as I definitely agree that it’s up to the parent. And there has been an increase in the incidence of autism (though it doesn’t quite follow the introduction of the vaccine, and IIRC, the increase doesn’t correspond to use of the vaccine in different countries). I have to question the implication here. No physician I know of gains any monetary benefit from giving vaccines. They get the same benefit from giving antibiotics or sending the kid home with reassurance and advice to get rest and drink fluids. This is especially true of Pediatricians who earn much less for more work than most other specialties (so you can be pretty sure their motivation for becoming Pediatricians was caring for kids, not money.) I wonder if you trust physicians for any other advice, either?
Autism generally develops at the same age that children are given one of the MMR shots and a fever is one of the more common (though relatively rare) side effects of the shot. Therefore, it would have been very surprising if people did not develop autism soon after getting the immunization, and would occaisionally occur after an immunizatin induced fever. (Not that children are prone to colds with fevers, either.)
Of course, it’s a scary thing (if you’re not sure) to put your child at risk, and one of the benefits of immunization, is that if enough of your peers immunize their kids, your children get some benefit, too. Though there have been outbreaks, because immunization is not perfect, and unimmunized children can still put other kids at risk (which has happend).
I agree with you, much as I disagree with the aspersions you cast on “medical people.”
PC
oops. darn hamsters. :smack:
It should be pointed out that even though thimerosal and MMR are often mentioned together the MMR vaccine does not and to the best of my knowledge has never contained thimerosal.