NEW STUDY - "Mitochondrial Autism" is Real; Vaccine Triggers Cannot Be Ruled Out

The December 1st issue of Time Magazine carries a special section on "The Year in Medicine," which mentions the case of Hannah Poling, the young girl with autism who received compensation from the federal vaccine injury program. Like many news accounts back then, Time has called the case "rare," because it involved an underlying dysfunction of Hannah's mitochondria, the little powerhouses within each cell that produce energy.

The widespread misconception that Hannah's case was "unique," and without any bearing on other autism cases, was promulgated by opinion leaders such as CDC Director Julie Gerberding and the newly rich vaccine inventor Dr. Paul Offit, (who told Newsweek that his share of the royalties from the vaccine was "like winning the lottery.")

But on Wednesday, a new chart-review study was published showing that "mitochondrial autism" is not rare at all.

"These and prior data suggest a disturbance of mitochondrial energy production as an underlying pathophysiological mechanism in a subset of individuals with autism," wrote the authors of the study, "Mitochondrial Disease in Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: A Cohort Analysis." http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0003815

In fact, the authors wrote that mitochondrial dysfunction "may be present in a substantial percentage of children with ASD." (They did not mention prevalence in adults with autism).

I first reported on this phenomenon back in March, when I interviewed one the of the study's authors. Back then, I wrote that mitochondrial dysfunction was detected in 7-to-30 percent of people with autism, and that genetic mutations that might confer such dysfunction could be as common as 1 in 50 people in the general population.

Now, I freely admit that I do not understand everything written in this new study. But there are a few things that I think are worth pointing out.

REGRESSIVE AUTISM IS REAL

I have long held that there are many different subsets of autism cases. One such group is made up of children who were developing normally, only to regress later - typically between one and two years of age. Nearly all of the children in my book regressed into autism - a process that often began almost immediately after receiving multiple vaccinations.

Perhaps that is why the very idea of regressive autism has been cause for derision among many scientists, who insist that the parents were simply too ignorant to "notice" autism symptoms in their children earlier on.

But among the 25 children in the chart review, 14 of them, or 56%, suffered from "regression of previously acquired skills." This is a rate that is significantly above the roughly "one third of autistic children" in general who are reported to have regressed, the authors said. So then, not only is regressive autism real, it seems to be almost twice as common in cases of "mitochondrial autism," (the authors; words, not mine).

MANY CHILDREN WITH AUTISM ARE PRONE TO BIOMEDICAL PROBLEMS

Most of the children in my book - and Hannah Poling as well - had rather severe physical, biomedical problems associated with their regression. Again, this claim has been met with scorn by many in the medical and science communities, who say that autism is much more of a behavioral/neurological than biomedical condition. Parents and doctors who do try to treat these physical symptoms - with conventional and alternative therapies alike - are singled out for particular damnation by many of these so-called experts.

And yet, the authors of this study found the following:

Twenty-one patients (84%) had histories of major non-neurological medical problems, most commonly of the gastrointestinal system, with gastroesophageal reflux affecting nine and constipation affecting eight subjects. Seven patients had structural or functional cardiovascular abnormalities. In addition, 17 patients had excessive fatigability or exercise intolerance and several children had abnormal physical exam findings including six with facial dysmorphism, four with microcephaly, four with macrocephaly, and five with growth retardation.

Again, biomedical problems - in addition to regression - may be more common in the subset of children with "mitochondrial autism."

Much more research is needed in this regard. As the authors noted: "it is possible, if not likely, that a still broader clinical, biochemical and genetic spectrum of mitochondrial autism exists."

MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION IS NOT NECESSARILY INHERITED

Of the 25 children in this study, only two (8%) had specific mutations in their mitochondrial DNA that are considered pathogenic (disease causing). Mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother only. And though mutations in the nuclear DNA (inherited from both parents) can affect mitochondrial function, the authors wrote: "It is possible that there are important environmental or genetic factors in addition to the mtDNA mutation" in the development of autism in some cases.

This finding is not inconsistent with an earlier estimate from the Cleveland Clinic, which says that 75% of mitochondrial disorders are "sporadic" in nature, meaning they were probably triggered by environmental factors. Heavy metals, pesticides, formaldehyde, alcohol and some medications can damage mitochondria, especially in developing fetuses, published studies show.

BIO-MARKERS FOR MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION ARE NOT DIFFICULT TO MEASURE

The authors used reference levels to measure "blood lactate and pyruvate, plasma alanine, urinary organic acids, CK (creatine kinase) AST (aspartate transaminase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase," they wrote. And they added that, "Biochemical evidence of mitochondrial ETC dysfunction included increased blood lactate and pyruvate levels, elevated plasma alanine level, and increased urinary levels of Krebs cycle intermediates or 3-methylglutaconate."

This is significant because one day, we may routinely test children for signs of mitochondrial dysfunction. Such tests might be able to predict which children are most at risk for autistic regression and other developmental problems. They could also be quite useful for diagnostics and biomedical treatments in children with autism.

VACCINES MAY PLAY A ROLE IN AUTISTIC REGRESSION IN SOME CHILDREN WITH MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION

Here is where the long knives of science really come out. And it is why the Hannah Poling case is so extraordinarily controversial.

"Recently, there has been increased concern regarding a possible causative role of vaccinations in autistic children with an underlying mitochondrial cytopathy (cellular disorder)," the authors wrote. "For one of our 25 patients (Hannah, who DOES have autism, contrary to claims by Gerberding, Offit et al, who erroneously insisted, without ever meeting the child, that she only had "features" of autism), the child's autism/neurodevelopmental deterioration appeared to follow vaccination. Although there may have been a temporal relationship of the events in this case, such timing does not prove causation."

Maybe not - but one must wonder, then, why medical personnel at HHS's Vaccine Injury Compensation Program conceded that the "cause" of Hannah's "autistic encephalopathy" was "vaccine induced fever and immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic reserves."

When I first reported this story, the researcher I spoke to told me there had been 30 children in the study, and two of them (8%) showed signs of brain injury from vaccines. Of the five children since excluded from the final published review, one must have been the second vaccine-related regression.

Most of the children had regressed following illness-induced fever, the doctor told me. But now I wonder how accurate that statement was.

Why? Because we now find out that nine of the children (36%) had so-called "multiple regressions," and nothing in this review indicates that any attempt was made to determine if vaccines, febrile infections, or some other factors acted as triggers in the subsequent regressive episodes.

But there is no mention at all in this new review of parental interviews, nor of comparing vaccination records with the timing of the regressions. Likewise, there was no attempt in the paper to explain the regressions with other illnesses or stressful events.

No wonder, then, that the authors themselves conclude that "there might be no difference between the inflammatory or catabolic stress of vaccinations and that of common childhood diseases, which are known precipitants of mitochondrial regression."

In fact, they added: "Large population-based studies will be needed to identify a possible relationship of vaccination with autistic regression in persons with mitochondrial cytopathies."

This statement will surely be heartily endorsed by the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF), which supports research into mito dysfunction and autistic regression. Last April, at a vaccine safety meeting at HHS in Washington, a leading scientist affiliated with the UMDF, Dr, Douglas Wallace of the University of California at Irvine, said that over-vaccination of people with mitochondrial disorders was a deep concern, especially in light of Hannah Poling, who got nine vaccines at once.

(Time Magazine said she got "five injections" but failed to mention that two of them contained triple vaccines. Time also said that Hannah's situation was "unique," which is demonstrably false and will require a correction).

We have always advocated spreading the immunizations out as much as possible because every time you vaccinate, you are creating a challenge for the system, Dr. Wallace testified. And if a child has an impaired system, that could in fact trigger further clinical problems.

I took that to mean that children with impaired mitochondria might also have impaired immune systems. And children with impaired immune systems might not be able to handle nine vaccines at once.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

There were many other very interesting findings from this review that should be followed up by scientists as soon as possible. For example, the ratio of boys to girls was roughly 1-to-1, as opposed to the 4-to-1 boy/girl ratio found in "idiopathic" cases (or, autism of unknown origin).

The rate of multiple births is also intriguing and deserves further investigation. Also, some of the siblings of the autism cases also had mitochondrial disorders, but did not regress into autism. This fact would be extremely important in developing a susceptibility hypothesis, rather than a genetically predetermined disease process..

Finally, the youngest children in this chart review were two years of age. I was told that the review first began five years ago, meaning that all of these cases were born before 2002. That is significant because most of these children would have received a large number of vaccines containing thimerosal - the preservative made with 49.6% mercury - which is a known toxicant to mitochondria.

One would expect that this new study would prompt Time Magazine, Julie Gerberding and Paul Offit to issue statements of correction on the "rarity" of mitochondrial disorders in autism.

But one should not hold one's breath, in my opinion.

Comments

[ThoJ]

David Kirby seems to be implying that all mitochondrial autism is vaccine-damage.

If Mr. Kirby were in touch with the community, or even keeping up on public comments by the very researchers he used to use as sources, he would know that is definitely not the case. He would know that the term "rare" is used for vaccine injury in this subpopulation.

Yet another example of why blogging on very specialized subjects without a medical background or access to good sources is dangerous.

[CraigWilloughby]

If you actually read his post, you would see that he mentions that mitochondrial dysfunction is more common in autistic children than first thought and that, yes, their autism could be a result of vaccine damage. Since the only known case of this is Hannah Poling, he is suggesting that scientists do further investigation into children with the mitochondrial dysfunction and who are reported to be regressively autistic.

Yet another example of why trying to dispute facts within a blog without actually reading the blog or access to logic is dangerous.

[mom2luke]

Uninformed pediatricians are irresponsibly following the CDC's recommendations that claim "science" supports. Never mind the CDC's, FDA's conflicts of interests that create those "studies" and pressure CDC/FDA/AMA etc receive from pharmaceutical companies.

The truth is, healthy American children are NOT at risk for ALL these now mostly rare diseases at once. But if they do have a mild cold and you assult them with too many vaccine agents (combo shots like MMR, DTap, etc--whether they contain "traces" of Hg or not) at same time they are fighting a cold, they are at great risk for vaccine damage.

The child is not in a position to weigh risk/benefit of disease/shot w/ aluminum, mercury, other toxins. It is a travesty that continues, despite great evidence (parental reports) of great harm.

Heavy metal damage is slow, incideous, cumulative and cell damage is irreversible. Get a flu shot every year starting at 6 months and those "trace" amts of Hg, plus aluminum WILL do their harm. Why is this so difficult for scientists/CDC to understand?

[AutismNewsBeat]

Do you have any evidence for these claims?

[sdtech]

See “walks like a duck discussion” at http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/burton.pdf pages 37 and 38.

[sdtech]

Also see the Health Effects section at http://www.epa.state.oh.us/ocapp/p2/mercury_pbt/mercur.pdf

and

the Minimata discussion on pages 3.2 through 3.5 at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/methylmercury/pdf/merc13.pdf .

[mom2luke]

Autism Diagnois IS nothing more than observation that checks off various symptoms. The severity is what causes people to say "full blown autism" but it IS possible to have "a little bit of autism"...as in MILD symptoms. But to say Hannah Polling somehow does not have autism, but "features" is ridiculous. If she's severe enough that the "features" affect her development....she "has" autism.

"trace amounts" of mercury may have only a little effect, depending on immune system's robustness when assaulted by mercury and an individual's ability to expell it. Damage is damage...80 symptoms of mercury poisoning mirror "features" of autism. See the connection? yet scientists are not satisfied with the obvious.
WHERE are the animal experiments with thirmerosal? There are "none" because when they tried to conduct experiments, all the animals DIED! There is no "safe" level of Hg, only less harmful levels.

FACT: Estrogen protects against Hg ill effects, Testosterone worsens ill-effects, 4-fold. Thus 4 to 1 ratio boys vs. girls...boys are at greatest risk for developing autistic "features."

It is infuriating to have a poison (mercury) defended as causing no harm when it is injected into tiny babies, one size fits all, never mind if the child has a cold, if their immune system is already under assault (CDC website says it is ok to get shots as long as any fever is lowgrade. Nevermind fever may spike later in the afternoon.­..somethin­g we parents observe without additional assualt of vaccines)

[ThoJ]

"But to say Hannah Polling somehow does not have autism, but "features" is ridiculous."

Actually, from the little that has been made public about her records, it is ridiculous to say anything except that she has "features of autism".

Check back to David's first posts about the Poling case. "Features of autism" was used by Andrew Zimmerman and Richard Kelley--Hannah Poling's doctors--in their expert reports supporting her claim for compensation. If someone like Paul Offit were to claim that Hannah Poling has autism based on the information available, *that* would be speculation.

But, you are promoting the incredibly incorrect notion that mercury poisoning and autism are similar. PLEASE listen to real scientists, not the scientific illterates like David Kirby and Mark Blaxill. Understand that Blaxill's paper in "Medical Hypotheses" would never get published in a real medical journal because it is NONSENSE. Plan and simple, NONSENSE.

[AutismNewsBeat]

A closed head injury can cause "features of autism". Not saying that's what happened to Hannah, only that features of X are not necessarily the same as X.

[CraigWilloughby]

She had no symptoms of autism before vaccination. This has been conceded by HHS. She began developing symptoms of autism shortly after vaccination. This has been conceded by HHS. She had full blown autism before the NVICP hearings. And now you're saying that she doesn't have autism? Did the NVICP cure her?

[sdtech]

You said “But, you are promoting the incredibly incorrect notion that mercury poisoning and autism are similar. PLEASE listen to real scientists...”

Now that is opinion. One should try to stick to facts.

[sdtech]

ThoJ

Before discussion ensues using the left side of our brains, let us first take a moment for the right side. I understand that you have a child diagnosed with Autism. We have a granddaughter that would have been 9 years old today. She was diagnosed as well. My heart goes out to you and your family and it is clear that we all desire the truth, as best we can find it, regarding the cause of this.

First, the physical chemistry of this decade has surpassed the medical inoculation science by several. We are able to observe images of atoms with the electron microscope. We know the electron configuration of mercury and organic mercury. We know that it is greedy when bonding to hydrocarbons. That is why it is such a good preservative. It kills bacteria. But we also know that it will destroy brain cells. We know that it can even alter DNA. And yet we allow injection of this heavy metal that will circulate through the bloodstreams of a fetus after the mother receives a flu shot with levels of trillions of atoms per drop of blood. It doesn’t take a scientific journal to tell us this is wrong. This is basic physical chemistry.

[Aasa]

Vaccines are not evaluated for the potential to cause genotoxicity and mutagenicity (even carcinogenicity, for that matter). This is plainly stated on vaccine product monographs and package inserts. It should not be surprising that vaccines can cause sporadic mutations. Even the aluminum hydroxide, which is used as an adjuvant in several vaccines, causes significant motor neuron loss.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/x457214811q62412/

[NeuroDoctor]

After reading the original article on PLOS, the scientific questions raised by this intriguing study are both fascinating and numerous. Vaccines are not 'off the table.'

1. What would these children's mitochondrial biochemical and/or biopsy studies look like before regression into the autism spectrum? In other words, are there pre-morbid biological markers other than the mentioned 'gross motor delays' sometimes seen?

2. Is the one case of Hannah Poling really a unique regression temporally related to vaccination or is the cohort review subject to the ascertainment biases of medical records review? I doubt the doctors in the study asked the question about vaccine-regression link back in 2000. There is no mention of parental interviews regarding regression timing to triggers or review of immunization records. Likely, this would not be very helpful anyway, retrospectively, and the authors did the responsible thing by suggesting further study of vaccination safety in patients with mitochondrial cytopathies.

3. What is the broader phenotype of 'mitochondrial autism?' They mention nonaffected sibs and parents with mitochondrial disorders in the paper.

4. Is there still evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction biochemically in these 25 cases or does this improve with age? Is the mitochondrial problem genetic, developmental, or toxic.

5. What is the significance of the high rate of multiple births? This is confusing, but probably extremely important.

[JeffMOM]

Love some of the comments. David is looking for answers to HELP children and others would rather keep this all behind the scenes and quiet.

Thanks David for looking. We need more folks like you to find answers for the hundreds of thousands of children with autism. Thank you.

[camsmom]

Thanks, David. Since mercury poisons through the mitochondria, this is really not surprising. I would imagine that it is not shocking to anyone at HHS or the CDC. I would also like to point out that even Dr. Poling states that Hannah no longer shows signs of mitochondria disease/dy­sfunction. I have also been told by a well known doctors that by the time a child with autism reaches 8 or 9 years old, mitochondria markers are not so easily tested and even muscle biopsies are not reliable. Leads me to believe that these children were not destined to regress into mitochondrial autism but poisoned through their mitochondria. These children would have been perfectly normal had they not received massive amounts of mercury as infants. Shame on whoever is defending this. Many families have been destroyed for pharma profit - disgusting.

[JohnDanStone]

For Kev Leitch's very unfortunate involvement in the Hannah Poling case it may be helpful to read this blog:

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/lies-damn-lies-and-blog-posts/

David

One thing increasingly strikes me about this debate is the institutional bias. If you have adverse symptoms from illness they are reported and researched (in principle). If you have adverse symptoms from a vaccine then the onus is on the patient or their representative to prove it, with a wall of institutional and public hostility to overcome. So long as this goes on we must recognise that anything like fairness, due scientific or medical care, or fundamental rationality are being excluded from the debate. And so long as we go on being told that we have to prove it we will not have scientific balance, and due care will not have been taken with our children.

The message to the medical profession and to health officials must be to stop lecturing and start listening - otherwise they are not doing their job and they are not credible. This is, I believe, in so many words is what Bernardine Healy was saying six months ago. I hope we are inching towards change.

[KevLeitch]

"For Kev Leitch's very unfortunate involvement in the Hannah Poling case it may be helpful to read this blog:"

Huh? John you keep brining this up and I damned if I can see whats unfortunate about it.

[amdachel]

Great piece David! I read the 2008 the Year in Medicine in TIME and saw the "mistakes" concerning the Poling Case. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860289_1859694_1859693,00.html
TIME reported, "Poling's case is unique in that she received five injections in one day" and "she also had a rare mitrochrondrial condition." What science did TIME have to back the claim that mitrochrondral disorders are rare in autism? Why did TIME tell us that receiving five injections is rare? And why did TIME say five injections and omit the fact that they contained nine vaccines?
You set the record straight!
Anne Dachel Media Editor: Age of Autism

[AutismNewsBeat]

Here are some more questions:

How many antigens did those nine vaccines contain? How many antigens is a child exposed to on a typical day through breathing, eating, and putting things in her mouth? How do we know Hannah's "features of autism" were not precipitated by an environmental cause other than vaccines?

How does the standard of proof in vaccine court differ from other courts? How does the court's admission differ from a scientific finding of proof?

It's gratifying to see Mrs. Dachel and Mr. Kirby participating in an honest discussion, including answering questions such as these. It's only through such vigorous give and take, which is at the heart of science, that we can resolve some issues and eventually help these children.

[passionlessDrone]

HuffPost's Pick

Hi Autism News Beat -

"How many antigens did those nine vaccines contain? How many antigens is a child exposed to on a typical day through breathing, eating, and putting things in her mouth? "

Completely irrelevant and a perfect illustration of a poor understanding of common senese, much less basic science. The antigens a child is exposed to on a typical day through breathing, eating, and putting things into ones mouth all must overcome an array of immune barriers (think skin, mucus, and acidity of the stomach to start with). Antigens in vaccines bypass these. If anyone needs a more common sense approach, consider why vaccines typically cause a fever between five and twenty five percent of the time, yet for some curious reason, your child does not get a fever five to twenty five percent of the time they breathe. If this is not a sign of the intellecutal bankruptcy of this argument.

"How do we know Hannah's "features of autism" were not precipitated by an environmental cause other than vaccines?"

If there was evidence of this, the government would likely not have conceded.

"How does the standard of proof in vaccine court differ from other courts? How does the court's admission differ from a scientific finding of proof?"

Again irrelevant; the standard of proof was never needed to be met, the government conceded the case; because of this, the judge never had to take into consideration any standard of proof.

- pD

[Gatogorra]

This one's still sinking in because I think the end is near. I read the whole study and, from what I can understand as a layperson, this line of inquiry will lead inexorably to more uncontestable truths unfavorable to the CDC's position, despite the author's seeming attempts to put the breaks on the inevitable conclusions. In other words, the vaccine apologists are pretty screwed, aren't they? Seems to be so.

For instance, the authors state:

"there might be no difference between the inflammatory or catabolic stress of vaccinations and that of common childhood diseases, which are known precipitants of mitochondrial regression."

Yes, but why didn't common childhood illnesses create an autism rate of 1 in 28 (Minnesota Somali) or 1 in 67 (US military stats) fifty, one hundred and one hundred and fifty years ago? Are the authors (or their overseers, more likely) relying on the excrutiatingly thin ice alibi of "increased recognition"? It won't wash. There isn't space for a credit card to squeeze out of this new argument. Someone's going to try but I think this might really be "check".

Every other autism parent you talk to reports elevated markers for mitochondrial dysfunction. They're not making it up since the Poling case, they've just been informed where to look.

[AutismNewsBeat]

"But on Wednesday, a new chart-review study was published showing that "mitochondrial autism" is not rare at all."

How do you define "rare"?

Olivera's (2005) data indicate the prevalence of "mitochodrial autism" at about 1 in 6,600, or 600 births in the US this year.

[linwessels]

Great article, David. Outstanding reporting. Thanks for continuing to follow the autism causation science as it unfolds. We appreciate your keeping us informed!

[AutismNewsBeat]

Facial dysmorphism? Wouldn't that indicate a genetic basis for the child's particular ASD? I mean, if the two are linked?

[AutismNewsBeat]

Perhaps that is why the very idea of regressive autism has been cause for derision among many scientists, who insist that the parents were simply too ignorant to "notice" autism symptoms in their children earlier on.

Which scientists said parents are too "ignorant" to notice autism symptoms? It is rather well established that many parents miss the earliest signs of autism.

[ObjectiveAutismDad]

"It is rather well established that many parents miss the earliest signs of autism." This would laughably stupid if it wasn't so sad. This is true, many parents do miss the earliest signs of autism. However, they don't miss the fact that, for many many of the children with autism, the absolutely normal development that occurs before that. AND, once the parents start to notice the signs it often takes them months, sometimes years, to convince the medical professionals that there is a problem.

So you point seems to be that parents miss the signs more than Doctors do where that's not the case for the vast majority of parents that I know. How many parents do you know who didn't suspect anything was wrong with their child before it was diagnosed???

[AutismNewsBeat]

I'm sorry, but I am unaware of any personal, anecdotal evidence to back up my previous claim. I'm afraid I would have to rely more reliable forms of evidence.

[mathme]

I think that this stuff is really intriguing, even if I'm not totally buying the role of vaccination. This certainly does NOT mean that I am closing my mind by any means. Something to consider is the absolute amount of mercury in the vaccinations. From what i understand there is about 25 micrograms of mercury per injection. Is that a toxic level? After the Clear(ing the) Skies (of life) Initiative and other loosened constraints, there are far more dangerous source of mercury in the environment, aren't there?

But I really think more needs to be done to investigate this as a source. However, there are enough people who are already convinced by the timing of the onset of symptoms and vaccinations that they will never believe any contrary evidence.

I don't really know enough about the toxicity of mercury to know when or if damage could occur... and of that 25 micrograms, how much of it isn't filtered out? How much of it remains? All important questions... I hope someone takes up this challenge seriously and investigates it even if it's to allow us to move past it.

[AutismNewsBeat]

All good questions, mathme. Thimerosal was phased out of scheduled childhood vaccines beginning in 1999, and was gone by the end of 2002. Flu vaccines given to children over the age of three still contain approx. 25 mics of hg, but most children born since 2002 have received no more than trace amounts in vaccines during their first three years of life. If thimerosal caused autism, we would see a dramatic decline in autism in today's 3 to 5 year olds. But we haven't. Also, the symptoms of autism are not the same as mercury poisoning.

[sdtech]

You said: “Flu vaccines given to children over the age of three still contain approx. 25 micrograms of hg, but most children born since 2002 have received no more than trace amounts in vaccines during their first three years of life.”

But in 2008 the CDC says:

“Is it safe for children to receive an influenza vaccine that contains thimerosal? Yes… Therefore, vaccination with either reduced or standard thimerosal-content flu vaccine is recommended for children between the ages of 6 and 59 months by CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.”
“Is it safe for pregnant women to receive an influenza vaccine that contains thimerosal? Yes… the benefits of influenza vaccine with reduced or standard thimerosal content outweighs the theoretical risk, if any, of thimerosal.”
See http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/ABOUT/QA/thimerosal.htm

So children 6 months old and pregnant women are STILL receiving the standard thimerosal content with a false statement of safety from the CDC.

[foe2Hg]

Ken

When will you finally get it? Autism has many similar and overlapping symptoms of mercury poisoning. Here they are and yes, I know your next move is to post back to me that this journal is "not good enough" for you. That opinion means nothing to me. Let the facts, data, and excellent research of the relevant similarities speak for themselves.

http://www.autismwebsite.com/ari/vaccine/mercurylong.htm

[sdtech]

Look at the Minamata, Japan mercury poisoning disaster.

“On the cellular level there is no ‘Threshold Point.’”
Masazumi Harada, “A Medical Report.” W. Eugene Smith and Aileen Smith, “Minamata - The story of the poisoning of a city and the people who choose to carry the burden of courage,” 1975, p. 191.

Read the Simpsonwood transcript.

“The other thing is that each time you have an exposure there is a certain amount of irreversible damage, and that as you [increase] exposure the damage adds up. Not because of dose, but because they are irreversible.”
Dr. Robert Brent, Developmental Biologist and Pediatrician from Thomas Jefferson University and Dupont Hospital for Children, CDC Simpsonwood Transcript, http://www.safeminds.org/legislation/foia/Simpsonwood_Transcript.pdf , 2000, p. 163.

Look at tables 2 and 3 in this report by Bernard http://www.autismwebsite.com/ari/vaccine/mercurylong.htm .

Read pages 3.1 through 3.35 of the EPA report on neurotoxicity of mercury http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/methylmercury/pdf/merc13.pdf .

Finally, read this study http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/121/2/e208 . It shows that the children have over one nanogram of mercury per milliliter of blood for up to 5 days after receiving vaccines with Thimerosal. A simple Avagadro’s number calculation (using a conversion factor of 20 drops per milliliter) shows that just one nanogram gives 150 billion atoms of mercury per drop of blood circulating though the brain of a child.