Autism and the H1N1 vaccine
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Before I say anything else about this hot-button topic, let me say this: I am not a doctor. I have no medical degree. And here on the internet, where anyone can claim to be an expert on anything, I want to make sure to clarify my qualifications.
I am, quite simply, an autism mom. This year, my husband and I decided to give Brooks the H1N1 vaccine, and I have a recommendation for all other parents. My recommendation is to make sure that you get reliable information about this vaccine. And all vaccines. From legitimate sources.
Start by reading Amy Wallace’s article, “Fear,” in this month’s Wired Magazine. I admire several aspects of her piece: it presents a litany of medical facts that are very difficult for any reasonable person to dispute; it reminds us that it is not the function of medical science to disprove that vaccines cause autism, but rather to prove that vaccines are safe; it warns us that while pharmaceutical companies have their fair share of corruption, we must not make the error of indicting them in every situation, without just cause.
According to our own Insideschools poll, 45% of parents will not give their children the H1N1 vaccine. Clearly, many parents are skeptical that it will work, and ironically, that very skepticism is making Brooks’s vaccine less effective. After all, we are now becoming a largely non-vaccinated population, meaning that my son will certainly be exposed to the virus. And vaccines don’t work 100% of the time. Some might argue that H1N1 is mild, but as more and more people are getting it, more people will develop life-threatening complications. Including more children.
Of course, there is always the chance that this flu season will blow over without much fuss and bother, and that is my sincere hope. But if it goes a different way, I also hope that we don’t have to look back and say we could have prevented it all. With something that was safe and held a very low risk.
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Marni, with all due respect, Amy Wallace’s piece is NOT balanced reporting. She actually ignores many studies, including recent studies from highly reputable universities and research organizations concerning possible links between vaccines (incl. HepB) and autism. Dr. Bernadine Healy — former head of the National Institutes for Health — has frequently pointed out that there simply is not yet a definitive answer one way or the other on this issue — the studies have not been done to prove either YES or NO on the question. Ms. Wallace ignores that very reputable source. I wish she had done a balanced piece but what she has really done is a disservice to science by being so biased in her reporting under the guise of investigative reporting. I would urge you to read the actual studies she is relying on — they do not all say what she claims they do — and to investigate the studies that do (contrary to her claims). In urging others to start with her piece you are not actually turning them to a reliable source. Or certainly they should not rely on her piece alone for a complete picture.
Comment by Kim — October 28, 2009 @ 12:04 pm
Ugh. Horribly one sided article from Wired that you referenced.
I’m not a doctor either, but as a parent of a child formerly diagnosed as autistic, it seems obvious to me that the correlation between autism and digestive problems, heavy metal presence, and immune system disorders is far too great to be coincidental. To assert (as the article does) that the increase in autism cases is due to improved diagnosis is inane — where are all the 30 and 40 year old autistic people who went undiagnosed 30 years ago?
The fact is the majority of our children diagnosed on the spectrum have a similar biological profile with digestive disorders, high levels of bad metals, low levels of good metals, and provable deficiencies in certain biochemical processes. Yes, its anecdotal and not scientifically proven, but the success of treatments (diet, supplements, etc.) that are ridiculed in the article are attested to by thousands of parents who have used such a protocol, in conjunction with therapy, to reverse the effects of autism. In so doing, they have astounded a doubting medical establishment.
I agree, vaccination should be an individual choice for every parent, but I hope that none base their decision on the irresponsible article which you linked in your posting. I would have no reservations vaccinating my typically developing daughter, but would never consider doing so to my 5-year old son, who is now “recovered” from his autism diagnosis of three years ago.
Parents, please realize that science has no conclusive evidence either way on this issue, and please research both sides.
For a contrasting view to the article linked above, please see here: http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/clinical-treatment.php
Comment by Mark — October 28, 2009 @ 12:51 pm
Marni — It was brave of you to come out on the side of science. There HAS been research (see Paul Offit’s “False Prophets of Autism”) and there HAVE been epidemiological studies that have failed to show even a shred of evidence for ANY link between vaccines and autism, or between mercury in vaccines and autism. A vocal minority of parents are buying snake oil in the form of diets, suppplements et al and are convincing each other that they see remarkable progress.
Statistically speaking, a small number of children diagnosed at a young age will “lose” their diagnosis — some because of a particular therapy and some for no discernable reason at all. So some children may indeed have “recovered,” depending on how you define that term, at least for the time being.
Mark wrote, “Yes, its anecdotal and not scientifically proven, but the success of treatments (diet, supplements, etc.) that are ridiculed in the article are attested to by thousands of parents who have used such a protocol, in conjunction with therapy, to reverse the effects of autism. In so doing, they have astounded a doubting medical establishment.”
NOT TRUE. There is NO DOUBT about vaccines and autism — they are NOT linked. There is NO EVIDENCE that parents using certain “treatments” can “reverse the effects of autism.” Anecdote is not science. It’s “grandma’s stories,” best left back in the Dark Ages.
Comment by bklynlifer — October 28, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
Bklynlifer -Wow, impressive — if you say “NO” enough times do you think you will convince others (as you obviously have convinced yourself). You are doing just what Ms. Wallace did — ignoring many studies that show a possible link (In recent weeks at least a couple of studies have come out). You are ignoring Dr. Bernadine Healey, former head of the NIH who recognizes that a definitive study either way does not yet exist. You are ignoring the significant flaws in many of the studies upon which Dr. Offit relies. You are ignoring that his book too is biased (in favor of an industry that has made him a multimillionaire). You are ignoring that Dr. Offit does not even treat children with autism. You are ignoring that he has been sued for falsehoods in his book (and has acknowledged at least some of them and is having to change his book and take other steps in compensation). You are ignoring whatever it is convenient for you to ignore. How nice for you. But ignoring these facts — and they are facts — does not make them go away. The science on vaccines and autism is not there yet, either way. Why are you so scared of an answer with which you clearly are not comfortable possibly being found? Why is it so hard to believe that a subset of children may have a genetic predisposition that is triggered by some environmental insult and that for some children (not all) that may include vaccines. Closemindedness does not advance science, it sets us back. For my child’s sake and the sake of all children, I hope that scientists who are open-minded keep looking for the answers, whatever they may be.
Comment by Kim — October 28, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
Dr Healy has never, ever, ever said that children shouldn’t be vaccinated. Period.
The much-ballyhooed Hep B study has yet to be peer-reviewed. And it relies on parent self-reporting with respect to the children’s diagnoses.
It’s laughable that people would question the integrity of Offit when the “study” that started this whole mess of anti-vaccination sentiment and a burgeoning public health disaster was produced by a doctor who falsified data, accepted funding from anti-vaccine trial lawyers, and performed excessive spinal taps and colonoscopies on children, all because he wanted to discredit the current MMR vaccine and rush his own patented vaccine to market. That same doctor, Andrew Wakefield, created “Thoughtful House,” which another poster has linked to above.
Yes, by all means, let’s be open-minded. And let’s keep pressure on the scientific community to discover the causes of autism in the hopes of creating a cure. Encouraging practices that are causing a giant step backward in terms of public health hurts all of us.
Comment by T — October 28, 2009 @ 5:12 pm
No one said she did — where did you get that, that is a complete misrepresentation of what I said above! What I have said she did say — and what she has said repeatedly — is that sufficient research has not been conducted to date with respect to a connection between vaccines and autism. Period.
Look, the bottom line to me is that there needs to be more science on BOTH sides. You have an issue with the HepB study — well, I have issues with a lot of the studies Offit relies on (including the verstraaten study whose data was horribly manipulated — and there is a solid paper trail proving the manipulation of data there) For example, the much talked about recent study allegedly showing no link b/w GI issues and autism never examined a child — they relied on medical records alone (the study had other problems as well). I can tell you that medical records do not report every single thing that a parent tells a doctor — having seen my own child’s complete file which contains barely a mention of the GI issues that plagued him from an early age and which were discussed at every visit to the doctor. We have an excellent caring pediatrician but they cannot write down everything or each visit would have pages and pages of notes. (And my experience is similar to that of my friends who have examined their children’s files, so I know I am not alone).
I also am not saying that everyone should stop vaccinating. It is a personal choice (the CDC’s schedule is recommended not mandated for starters). For the most part, vaccines were introduced after most of the diseases they allegedly prevent (and I say allegedly because many are not particularly effective) stopped killing significant numbers of people (there are exceptions, of course, but many vaccines were introduced well after the # of deaths from the illness the vax was designed to prevent had dipped precipitously due to better hygiene and medical treatment) — vaccines prevent illness for the most part, not death, and it is not entirely clear that, for many people (again I am not saying everyone), it might be better to get sick and build up a natural immunity rather than be injected with a vaccine and all the contaminants used in them.
Comment by Kim — October 28, 2009 @ 5:33 pm
Kim and Mike,
Your “arguments” are illogical. As an education researcher, I believe that your advice for parents to consider “both sides” is dangerous and reckless. There IS no other side. Children who don’t get vaccinated put themselves and others at risk of contracting serious illnesses.
Comment by bklynlifer — October 28, 2009 @ 8:20 pm
Read “Evidence of Harm” by David Kirby. I believe he came into this looking to find the truth from an unbiased perspective. Anybody who reads the entire book who cannot see some link between mercury and autism is not being intellectually honest. The medical/pharma community is afraid of finding these links. How would that make them look if it was discovered that they had harmed hundreds of thousands of innocent children? They quickly got protection from lawsuits and tried to eliminate thimerosol from vaccines. But it is not only the thimerosol. There are other damaging ingredients in many vaccines. The fundamental problem with this research is not there is not a 1:1 relationship between vacinne and autism. It is probably a cummulative effect of toxins hitting a vulnerable immune system. Studies can be designed and data can be manipulated to “not” find the correlations. As someone with a PhD and someone who has done research, I know this is not difficult to do. Things will not change until independent funding will be able to publish studies in a public manner. AMA journal would be reluctant to publish any studies showing the neurotoxic effects of thimersol.
Comment by Beth — October 29, 2009 @ 10:04 am
Totally agree with Marn, bklynlifer and T. The other people are wrong. Sorry.
Comment by bkparent — October 29, 2009 @ 1:34 pm
I agree with Marni and will get the shot for my son. I am also no doctor, just a mom dealing with my son’s issues. Early on, even before his autism-spectrum diagnosis I decided to go by the old maxim “first do no harm” and have treated my son only with behavior-based interventions (based mostly on the floor-time model). This has lead to him losing his diagnosis at age 5, but still having some issues. Of course there are times when one must go beyond that and give medication when necessary. He gets antibiotics when he tests positive for strep, etc even though there are a lot of antibiotic allegies in my family. So far he doesn’t have any.
Because his bout of strep last spring put him in the hospital overnight I do not take lightly the threat of H1N1 flu putting him in the hospital for an extended period of time (I refuse to even think of him dying). Given that in the last 6 weeks nationwide there have been over 8,000 confirmed H1N1 based hospitalizations and 21,000 suspected, I really don’t want to go there, especially as there is nothing equivalent to antibiotics to treat this. I am still paying the medical bills and dealing with my son’s fear of IVs from last spring from one night in the hospital. I would rather take the very small chance that he might have a bad reaction to the shot than the very real chance that he might end up in the hospital traumatized by the experience and our finances ruined (and I have health insurance!) If he does end up getting it after the shot I at least will know I did whatever I could to prevent it and the shot should let him have a milder case.
I know it it never easy to sort through all the information out there but this is the best decision I think I can make for him right now.
Comment by Margaret — October 29, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
Let me just begin by saying that I am a doctor and I do have familiarity with the vaccination/autism issue. I am also the parent of 3 small children (who are up to date with all vaccinations recommended by the CDC and are in the process of being vaccinated for seasonal flu and H1N1). I have no affiliations with any pharmaceutical companies, vaccine manufacturers, or anyone undertaking vaccine research. Having read the literature regarding the safety of vaccination, I think some risks to vaccination do exist (hypersensitivity reactions, etc) but that they are exceedingly rare. I don’t believe there is any scientific evidence to support an association between vaccines and autism, and I think we can say with a high level of certainty that there is no association. I understand the concerns of many parents regarding autism, and I know that this issue is especially troubling because the incidence of autism is increasing and not much is currently known about etiology. Like all parents out there I love my kids very much and want to protect them in any way that I can, but I also care about the people and kids around me (why I chose my particular career.) Therefore, I find it very upsetting when misinformed individuals disseminate information that could be potentially harmful to kids. Foregoing vaccination IS potentially harmful for children!I’m not posting a comment here to espouse my particular opinion or to tell others why they’re wrong or what to do, but I am frustrated because there is a lot of bad information out there that has confused and upset many parents and also led those parents to make dangerous choices for their children (not out of malice, but because someone with a way for words and no medical background has misled them). As a physician, it is very frustrating to see kids come in with serious illnesses that we developed vaccines to prevent 20 or more years previously! (As an aside, diseases such as measles and diphtheria, once thought eradicated, are on the upswing due to recent trends in non-vaccination.) The diseases these vaccines were developed to prevent are serious and even life-threatening. Someone previously commented that most vaccines were developed to prevent diseases for which medicine already had developed cures–this is simply not true! I will give only one example (although there are many): there is no cure or effective treatment for smallpox, but the virus has been eradicated worldwide since 1979 due to the vaccination efforts of the WHO. The CDC has photographs of infants and children dying of hemorrhagic smallpox for anyone who doubts that vaccines represent a life-saving and worthwhile cause–one of the true miracles of modern medicine. The H1N1 virus is not anywhere near as deadly as smallpox thankfully, but there are children throughout the US who have died as a result of that infection. This is a simple fact which anyone could demonstrate to you. Thus far, despite millions of dollars in research, no one can demonstrate an association between vaccines and autism. (For those who have not had a course in biostatistics, please note that it is not possible for a research study to prove that something is 100% without risk for the simple reason that it is not possible to conduct a study large enough to mathematically exclude ever smaller measures of association.) To the person who commented about the “contaminants” in vaccines, I would just remind you that all vaccines are manufactured in a sterile process, multiply-tested, and sterilly packaged and sealed. The degree of oversight and testing that goes into vaccines is actually tremendous–I doubt the groceries we buy, the cosmetics we use, the electronics and appliances we come in contact with everyday are anywhere near that carefully controlled. As a matter of fact, the ever-popular bottled water is not even tested or regulated by any state or federal agency (tap water, however, is required to be tested and meet minimal standards of cleanliness).
Please vaccinate your children. Not only will you be protecting them against childhood diseases, but some vaccines (notably Hep B and HPV) provide protection against certain forms of cancer as well. I’m sure that all who have posted here have perfectly healthy children who, if they catch the flu, will have a mild illness only. But your healthy child could potentially spread the virus to a child with a weakened immune system (or a pregnant woman) who could become severely ill. Just as a reminder, measures such as hand-washing and keeping ill children home from school are also good practices. Still, nothing is as effective at preventing disease as timely vaccination. I hope I have not offended in any way, and I apologize for the lengthiness of this comment. Thank you for allowing me to present my views on the topic (and the views of the majority of the medical community).
Comment by LIC Parent — October 29, 2009 @ 4:26 pm
My children are healthy and they are not getting the vaccine. Whether your child has autism or not, mercury is a toxin. It is 100% proven that it is toxic to the body. Why would you want to put that in your child? Right now I am waiting and will not have my children vaccinated at school. Does anyone remember the last swine flu vaccine when it was discovered only a few weeks after the vaccinations started that the swine flu vaccine was harmful and causing Guillain Barr syndrome. This vaccine has not been tested on large numbers of children. In a few weeks if there are no side effects reported then I will have my doctor give my children the mercury free vaccine. Right now, I would rather wait then live with the knowledge that I harmed my children if something should go wrong with the vaccination.
Comment by parent — October 29, 2009 @ 5:29 pm
You lost me with this one, Marni. It would be great if you would present a genuinely incisive article, but a blog saying, “I vaccinated, and this is why,” is not particularly helpful. Just another side of the argument.
Comment by parent also — October 29, 2009 @ 8:04 pm
To Eache’s own. If you want to protect your child in one way or another it is up to you to do so wisely. Reading and doing your homework is so inportant, although not everything we read or think about is believed to be the truth.Please have an open-mind and use a wise decision in what you might do concerning your children’s health. Get a second opinion and don’t rush if your instincts don’t match up. The flu virus is a big scare but we should do only what feels right.
Comment by Anonymous — November 1, 2009 @ 8:55 pm
Yeah Beth!!!!(#8 comment)
Language is everything!
Every news station has produced a show claiming ‘vaccines do not cause Autism’ or ‘ there is no link between vaccines and Autism’ It’s not the vaccine…..IT’S THE THIMERISOL. Thimerisol is a preservative containing mercury, used often in multiple dose vaccinations. With each 3in one (ex.DPT, MMR) another delivery of mercury enters the system. I am in my 50’s…we got a few simple vaccines that were less mass produced. How many vaccines these days? 9 or 10 when all is said and done, and they’re always ready to add a new one. A certain Senator’s grand child got 3 3’s in one day and is to this day in a state of seeming catatonia. Pharmaceutical firms own the ‘doctors’ who speak like experts on your local news stations. In The Homeland Security Act,it is ‘recommended’ that these companies remove the mercury based preservatives, it IS NOT MANDATORY. Mercury is a known neurotoxin,the symptoms of neurotoxicity mirror those described as autistic spectrum. If US pharm companies admitted that they poisoned the vaccinations of millions of children worldwide it would be admitting they participated in mass genocide. By the way…the day before The Homeland Security act was passed. George Bush snuck in alittle somethin’….you cannot sue Pharmaceutical Co’s for damages
relating to autism. I’m paraphrasing, but the message is crystal clear.
Comment by MJean — December 2, 2009 @ 10:03 pm