Cracking The Autism Riddle: Common Sense About Vaccines And Autism
All sorts of arguments are thrown around to persuade parents that shots threaten their children with autism. I'd like to discuss 4 of the commonly repeated concerns, 3 flawed...and 1 that I think has merit.
1) Too many shots can overwhelm a child and cause autism. No!
Babies get more vaccines today than 30 years ago, but if you think that means more things are injected into their young bodies...you'd be wrong! That's because immunizations today are much more purified than those of the past.
For example, in 1980, the DPT shot (Diphtheria/Pertussis/Tetanus) was made from a soup of blendarized bacteria (over 1000 different illness particles - antigens - all mixed together). And, the polio vaccine had live virus that actually protected children by triggering a minute case of...polio! Today, our modern DPT vaccine is highly purified, containing only 3-5 bacterial antigens and the polio shot has absolutely no live virus.
Actually, the current trend to give kids more shots is a win-win for them. They win because they're protected from many more illnesses and because they have fewer antigens put into their bodies.
But, some still worry, "Can too many shots overwhelm a baby's immature immune system?" That idea is pretty close to a baby urban legend.
The immune system is a superb multitasking, fighting machine. Every day, babies are bombarded by thousands of threats: irritating pollen; colonic microbes; bacterial invaders from the skin, eyes, nose, mouth; viral swarms; offending dietary proteins; damaged cells; even tiny, little cancers. The immune system's magnificent ability to protect against many, mild attacks at one time is exactly why most babies tolerate several shots at once with no reaction whatsoever. (In fact, a new theory suggests that allergies and asthma may be on the rise in part because we have made the world so clean it doesn't exercise a baby's immune system enough!)
2) Shots hurt the brains of extra-sensitive children. No!
Each of us has special sensitivities. Some have peanut allergies...some get lots of strep throat....and a very, very few get serious reactions to vaccines. I wish we had a test to detect which infants are susceptible to severe measles or big vaccine reactions, but no such test exists.
The good news, however, is that shot risks are tiny compared to the risks of full-blown illness. For example, influenza and chicken pox hammer the immune system 100-1000 times harder than the impact of the flu or pox vaccines. While most kids breeze through the chicken pox shot, even a mild case of real pox can weaken a child's immunity for weeks to months and lead to ear infections, pneumonia and, rarely, toxic shock syndrome. (And, it can often land an adult in the hospital!)
There is one special case of possible vaccine susceptibility that made headlines last year and became a major new focus for those who claim vaccines cause autism. A 19-month-old child developed autism after getting 5 shots. But - and this is a huge "but" - unlike most autistic kids, this one child also has a rare medical problem - Mitochondrial Disease (MD).
Recently, vaccine avoiders have floated the theory that perhaps many healthy looking kids have hidden MD. They suggest that it may be the combination of vaccines plus hidden MD that is triggering autism in so many seemingly normal children.
But, the research suggests that this is unlikely to affect more than a handful of kids. Here's why:
MD is rare (1 in 5-10,000 children). A Portuguese study found ~93% of autistic children had no evidence of MD (and even that 7% figure has yet to be confirmed). In a recent study, scientists from Harvard and Johns Hopkins could find only 25 children with both MD and autism. And, these kids had serious problems rarely seen in most cases of autism (like, delayed walking, acid reflux, liver disorder, severe fatigue, etc).
Fourteen of these kids seemed to be developing normally then suddenly deteriorated into autism during toddlerhood. But only 1/14 (7%) got worse right after shots. (Had 2 or 3 or 5 kids gotten worse after the shots, one could make the argument that children with MD are at increased risk for getting autism after vaccinations. However, as I mentioned in part 1 of this blog, 7% is very close to the number of cases one would expect to be diagnosed right after shots...just by chance.)
Another dramatic finding of this study argues against a link between MD and the national rise in autism incidence: classic autism spectrum disorder affects many more boys than girls (3-9 times more boys!)...but children with Mitochondrial Disease + autism are evenly split between the genders.
While it remains to be proven that children with MD are more vulnerable to shots, there is no doubt that they are super-vulnerable to illness. In other words, MD kids who skip shots can get very sick, very fast it they catch a vaccine preventable disease like influenza or pneumonia.
3) Doctors push risky shots on children to make more money. Please!
This accusation is as appalling as it is ridiculous. Pediatricians labor through 23 years of education; wake at all hours to help worried parents; and desert our own families on weekends and holidays to rush to the hospital to care for sick babies.
In fact, a greedy doctor wanting more money would actually discourage parents from giving their children shots...not encourage it! Why? Because doctors make more money caring for sick kids - needing repeat office visits - than caring for the well.
In truth, the only reason doctors cajole, beg and pressure parents to immunize their children is because we want to protect them - and other children - from the pain and suffering of preventable infections.
I agree that there are too many ties between doctors and big pharmaceutical companies. This must be stopped because it creates the appearance of conflict of interest and the real potential of collusion. However, the record of organized medicine is reassuring. Over the past 30 years, doctors have rejected many vaccines when concerns arose that they were not effective enough or caused unacceptable side effects.
4) Shots can be delayed. MAYBE...but only those risking your child's health.
This is one of the most critical issues facing parents: Are shots a personal choice or a civic duty?
As a pediatrician, I recommend all vaccines, but I suggest parents think of shots as falling into 2 different groups: 1) those given primarily to protect your child, 2) those protecting your child and your neighbors' children.
The first group of shots stops infections like, influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis A, chicken pox and hepatitis B. They help your child but don't give great protection to the community. That is either because the illnesses are very common (spread quickly through your neighborhood even if your child gets the shot) or hard to spread (difficult for your child to give it to others). (Note: Older kids, teens and adults are at risk for hepatitis B. It has caused thousands of cases of liver failure and cancer and so all citizens should eventually get this vaccine.)
The second group of shots stops infections that threaten your child and your community (your neighbor's baby, the elderly, chronic disease sufferers, etc.). These shots include, whooping cough, meningitis (Hib), pneumococcus (Prevnar) and measles. They miraculously halt diseases that are so contagious just one cough, one airplane flight or one germy doorknob can spread them like wildfire through your town.
I believe giving the first group of shots is a parent's personal choice because the suffering you risk is mostly limited to your child and family. Skipping the flu shot, for example, may cause your child to be one of the 36,000 Americans who die from influenza this year, but it probably won't stop a flu outbreak (although it may help to reduce it).
However, giving the second group of shots is an important civic responsibility., because delaying them creates a serious public health risk. By immunizing at least 95% of children with these shots we create "herd immunity" that can totally halt the spread of deadly epidemics in our communities. Herd immunity stymies the spread of disease the way that frequent rain keeps lightening strikes from starting raging forest fires.
Some doctors may fairly argue which vaccines should go into which groups, but the important point is that the shot schedule has some flexibility...it is not written in stone. In fact doctors have repeatedly tweaked this schedule to make it safer and more effective (for example, over the past 30 years, the measles vaccine was pushed from 9 months to 12 months...and now is recommended to be given as late as 15 months of age). However, the second group of vaccines is crucial if we are to protect children in our communities who are too young to get their own shots. Parents who skip these shots may not mean to harm others, but their action significantly increases the risk of avoidable suffering and death to innocent children.
For over 10 years, a huge amount of passion and debate about the cause of autism has focused on vaccines. But recently a totally new suspect has surfaced that warrants investigation as a potential autism trigger. In the last installment of this 3-part blog, I'll discuss the worrisome compounds known as...endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
No one has commented on what I wrote earlier. Instead they opted to talk about our "civic duty". Sorry - but it is not mandatory to get vaccinated. In almost all states there are medical exemptions. Most have religious exemptions and some (where live) have philosophical exemptions. I do not have to homeschool, although I may choose to do so. But how about someone discussing this:
"How many of you, before you had children, got your booster shots to stay up to date? I would be hard pressed to find anyone who even thinks about vaccines until you have kids (unless you're a medical professional). So, I find this talk of protecting the masses a bit hypocritical. No one even thinks about it until they become a parent (and only until their kids are grown) - but then they get on their soap box about my little unvaccinated kid threatening the country with disease. Please! Were you lined up the Dr's office for your boosters?"
Here's the adult schedule:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5753-Immunization.pdf
Discussion? Is anyone who is supportive of vaccines, even up to date on their vaccinations, either partially or fully or had their titers checked?
I am currently recruiting volunteers for the Autism Spectrum Disorder foundation. I can tell you that they do not subscribe to this idea that vaccines cause autism. Right on their web site they state that researchers don't yet know the cause, but that it is a growing problem. I have 3 college age girls, and all their vaccines are up to date. I would encourage parents to stop being afraid of autism due to vaccines, and be more afraid of what they will go through if they don't get them. Get info on the Autism Spectrum Disorder foundation @ myasdf.org
Yep, sure am but I am probably in the minority. I'm in the military and we are required to stay up on our vaccinations.
I'm up to schedule, even though my doc didn't want give me the shots. Contrary to what these BS artists say, doctors lose money on vaccinations and it's a pain in the booty just to get them to agree to adhere to the schedule. Oh, that sad bit of reality flies in the face of these sad conspiracy theorists that claim doctors make money on vaccines..no, they don't They are lucky to break even.
Both my wife and I are, and our kids. But since we're both health care professionals, we have to be.
I received boosters for Tetanus every ten years and when I was about to lose my job (and therefore my medical insurance) my provider kindly brought me up to date on all my vaccinations in order to better protect me until I was able to find another job and hopefully afford coverage.
I wouldn't travel to many countries in the world without first protecting myself with vaccinations and I would never deprive my children of vaccinations against debilitating or life-threatening diseases.
If you haven't kept up to date with your vaccinations, I would suggest having blood tests to find out whether you still have protection --especially if you are a parent.
I am up-to-date on all my vaccinations (I get an annual physical and my physician always discusses vaccines and checks my last vaccinated date) and have fully vaccinated my two boys and will vaccinate the one that I am carrying now. My titers have been checked with every pregnancy for MMR since they need to determine immunity for rubella in particular. And I had chicken pox (varicella) as a child so there's no need, as the footnote of the chart says, to have that one. I also get a flu shot every year.
You'll notice on the schedule that the majority of the vaccines are only recommended for people with underlying conditions that make them more susceptible. I've never had a pneumonia vaccine, because I'm only 35, don't have any lung issues and have never had pneumonia. My husband gets one every five years because he had pneumonia twice in his 20s. Hasn't since he's been getting vaccinated.
I am fully supportive of vaccinations. I think that, for me, more conclusive research would need to be done to convince me to not vaccinate my child. There's too much conflict and too much anecdote to convince me that my pediatrician is wrong. Plus, for many the main issue has been the link between mercury-based preservatives and vaccines and none of my childrens' vaccines have contained mercury--my pediatrician's practice doesn't use them and virtually no vaccines are preserved with mercury anymore.
Doctor, you cannot risk going against a single thing the AMA endorses, correct?
x76, you cannot risk going against a single thing Jenny McCarthy endorses, correct?
Does that make any less sense?
If there's evidence to the contrary, maybe But so far there is none. What's your point?
This debate is analogous to the Creationism/Intelligent Design VS Evolution debate, one side using anecdotal evidence and the other side using the scientific method.
They're using lying science, evidently.
They have to be, because the growing number of claims show the true reality to this matter.
These growing numbers are the witnesses & they are falsely being called the liars, when in fact, the jig for the real liars is up.
You'll be okay & forgiven if you're one that was just duped when this is over.
But those deliberately being part of the cover up, things might not go so well for you.
By the way, both Creationism/Intelligent Design & Evolution play into the equation so there should be no argument there.
Can you show me any evidence that the majority of doctors are using lying science?
A claim needs to be considered plausible with objective/scientific investigation to be taken seriously.
And how does Creationism/Intelligent Design play into the equation, are you suggesting God creates ASD people?
Yeah, cover up. Um hm. Right I'm sure you have evidence to prove that
OK...we'll wait Ay day now. Just show us the evidence. Any day now.......
Well Dr. Karp, since you obviously know it all with your sweeping statements. Can you tell us what DOES cause autism? Genetics? Perhaps they play a role, but not in the "inherited" sense. In that case we'd see a bunch of autistic adults in diapers running around flapping their arms. Can you tell us how our children can get better? That's what we really want to know. If you go by the media you'd think it was a full force of doctors and researchers that are saying "Vaccines are Safe" and Jenny McCarthy with other soap box moms saying "Vaccines Cause Autism". Many doctors including toxicologists and Dr. Bernadine Healy (former NIH director) question the safety of vaccines and agree that it requires more study to have a good idea. Many of these doctors write books on autism with titles like "Children With Starving Brains", "Changing the Course of Autism" and "Healing the Childhood Epidemics". You are writing "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and then suddenly come out as an autism expert. Which child with autism have you helped recover? The doctors that are bio-medically helping kids with autism believe there is a link between vaccines and the condition. That's why the parents believe it too.
"In that case we'd see a bunch of autistic adults in diapers running around flapping their arms."
What you call "autism" is actually a collection of developmental disorders. The key word is "developmental". That means kids with PDDs continue to grown, learn, and adapt. If autism was developmental stasis then yes, we would see adult autistics showing some of the exact same symptoms as children with autism.
If you want your kids to get better, then stop pestering the medical establishment with baseless conspiracy theories and let them do their job.
Statements like this, ANB, really do make you appear like you have lost touch with reality.
The parents live with these children and this is NOT a developmental disorder.
You are really running out of schemes here.
If you are talking about the toxicologists who presented evidence at the Omnibus Autism Proceedings supporting the link between vaccines and autism then you really should seek out more credible sources. One hadn't actually studied mercury and its effects on brain development (just read articles on it) and the other talked about mercury loads (when the amount of ethyl mercury in vaccines that is quickly excreted) is far exceeded by the mercury found in the environment and breast milk (and not as quickly excreted). One reason the Petitioners lost their case was the poor quality of their expert witnesses.
As for Dr. Healy, she is one of a small number of MDs who is buying into the POSSIBILITY that vaccines cause autism. She has NEVER said they cause, she is simply hedging her bets should the evidence prove that their is actually a causal relationship. However, this position has been severely distorted by the "believers" since it is yet another "piece" of validation to their "belief system".
BTW, none of these biomedical interventions has ever been shown to work in a randomized clinical trial. They are all based on "associated theories" that if A treats B, and people who have something that MIGHT be related to B, then A treats that condition. If your physician worked like that we'd all be dead.
I can only fault Dr. Karp for believing that common sense is common. From one point of view, the very success of childhood vaccination is what enables these unsubstantiated and apparently indestructible fears: we have forgotten the true horror of unstoppable childhood epidemics.
If you go through the comments on here and recent posts, you will find that the critics of vaccines claim they dont work and that we should leave it to our immune systems to fight this off. if we were to stop vaccinating, I'd like to see what these same folks thought once children started dying and the hospitals were overwhelmed with contagious diseases that they are no longer setup to deal with.
i'm sure it would the blame would be pointed at the doctors.
I wonder from which Drug Co making vaccines and how much Dr Karp is compensated for his "professional opinion?" I would bet that the vaccines used years ago and those of today are not comparable and therefore cannot be used as a basis to make the assumptions that Dr. Karp makes.
Drop the "pharma shill" gambit. If you dont agree with Dr Karp, present something to refute his claims.
"I would bet that the vaccines used years ago and those of today are not comparable "
I agree they are not comparable. Todays vaccines are far safer and effective than those of previous decades
Google "Dr. Mary Berry" and the "SV40 virus" to educate yourself. Dr. Berry died rather soon after publishing her findings on the contaminated Simian Virus 40, the polio vaccine. It's not impossible to trace the explosion of nut/tit "soft tissue" cancers to the extradinarily PROFITABLE polio vaccine... do your own homework, cowboy.
Wow, great point Ok, maybe not Well, that's probably the best you have. Heh, thanks for playing genius. " I would bet that the vaccines used years ago and those of today are not comparable and therefore cannot be used as a basis to make the assumptions that Dr. Karp makes." Yeah.you are one smart cookie! I mean REALLY smart! I am so glad people like have the right to vote! It makes me really proud.
Two issues: #1. Groupthink. It does not require conscious malfeasance for doctors to recommend any remedy that may have negative consequences. The history of medicine is littered with examples of widely and enthusiastically prescribed drugs that turned out to be bad for us. Many of these drugs had people pointing to the dangers who were ignored by mainstream medicine and the media. Some doctors said things like, "Please...[how dare you suggest...]"..
#2. Cognitive dissonance. When anyone invests in a strategy or solution, they become increasingly less willing and able to look at alternatives, or to the fact that they may be wrong. (I recommend the book, Mistakes Were Made (but not by Me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson.)
All of us can have greater faith in the medical profession when they make a greater effort to declare conflicts of interest (even when they believe they will not be influenced by them), and when they make a conscious effort to listen to ALL the warnings in a timely way.
I notice in your closing line that you are going to talk about endocrine disruptors in the environment in a future post. The book, Our Stolen Future by Colborn, Dumanoski and Myers rang a loud warning bell about these in 1997. It's taken twelve years for their warnings to hit the mainstream press. - a perfect example of exactly why doctors should have a bit of humility and a bit more curiosity about the downside.
Cognitive dissonance. Hmmm? Do you suppose vaccine rejectionists are susceptible as well?
Well said
This really is a complex issue, and I hope that Dr. Karp will ensure that he explores all of the concerns if he going to write about it. The only way to establish a dialog with nervous parents is to be informed about their PRECISE concerns.
Truly the only medical response to this issue that I have read that does justice to it is Dr. Sears' Vaccine Book. I think all concerned doctors (certainly all pediatricians) should read this book so they understand what the debate is actually about. Too often, parents (particularly mothers) concerned about vaccines are turned into stereotypes and caricatures. People don't trust vaccines for three overall reasons: there hasn't been a satisfactory explanation of the causes and increase in autism; the government has not done a good job of regulating and protecting its citizens across many areas and consequently trust has been lost; and the CDC's response to vaccination concerns has been horrendous and embarrassing. Someone needs to explain to them that bullying tactics, PR campaigns and a deaf ear are only going to make the trust issue worse. The parents I know are scared about ASD AND diseases. They aren't sitting around watching Oprah and Googling indiscriminately. They have valid questions. They have valid concerns. They have good points. It's time for someone to take them seriously.
Hear hear.
Dr. Karp states, "The immune system is a superb multitasking, fighting machine. Every day, babies are bombarded by thousands of threats..." True, but don't these threats have to find their way into babies' bodies through the nose, mouth, eyes, other mucus membranes or cuts? Might there be a difference when you inject these agents directly into the blood stream or muscle? After all, the body has layers of defensive response to an invading threat, starting at the typical entry point, and these defenses are bypassed by the needle.
As for vaccines being more "purified" than in the past, Dr. Karp seems to be considering only the bacteria and not any of the other ingredients, including adjuvants, preservatives, and many chemicals. These things (like alluminum) are being called into question too.
Do you have any idea how many wild bacteria and viruses enter a child's body when he scrapes his knee? How is that any different than an IM injection containing a dozen or so antigens?
Aluminum (actually aluminum salts) are used an as adjuvant. Aluminum is the most abundant metal on the planet. Babies who breastfeed take in more al in their first 6 mos than is present in the entire schedule. You swallow aluminum every day. So do your kids when they pop open a can of soda.
we're back to the "toxic" ingredients again.
does anyone care to roll out the formaldehyde or anti-freeze nonsense?
Hi Dr. Karp,
I believe you are approaching the issue from the wrong perspective, the essence of your arguments is an appeal to reason.
I took a quick look at Age of Autism: they still claim that you can’t sue vaccine manufactures. This falsehood has been corrected countless times.
Anyone can read how US courts have ridiculed the vaccines cause autism arguments, ruled they are such crap that they can’t even be considered, and the court’s suggestions that the lead “scientists” advocating the vaccines cause autism are dishonest, out for personal gain.
The same article led to Generation Rescue site which repeats many previously corrected falsehoods and makes arguments that insults the intelligence of anyone that can read and count.
Skimming down the comments here:
-The Court of Federal Claims is a hidden court system
-There is no data on 100% unvaccinated kids
-That safety is only tested in completely health kid
-That courts have ruled that vaccines cause autism (Banks, Poling)
-That Hep B can only be acquired through drug use or sex
-That Amish don’t have any cases of autism
Etc ,these are falsehoods that have been corrected countless times.
No one is expected to be a scientist here, the only standard required is literacy and a willingness to verify claims.
I believe that what is needed is a psychologist. The issue is how to deal with people that are unbounded by reason and who simply disregard facts that they don’t like?
"The issue is how to deal with people that are unbounded by reason and who simply disregard facts that they don"t like?"
I think we just voted some of them out of office. ; - )
Here's a new one for your list: Autism is not a pervasive developmental disorder.
"they still claim that you can"t sue vaccine manufactures. This falsehood has been corrected countless times. "
What are you trying to say here? -- and present an actual web address that shows where you read it.
Thanks
The VICP still hears claims from parents who have legitimate claims dealing with vaccine-induced issues. It can happen. But the reality is that only a small number of people have legitimate claims in this regard. Apparently someone hasn't been surfing the right sights.
Sykes v Bayer
http://neurodiversity.com/weblog/article/155/
also, Blackwell v Sigma Aldrich
http://neurodiversity.com/weblog/article/145/
Dr. Karp,
Thanks for discussing the wide use of vaccines in children today. How about having a colleague at UCLA discuss the relevance and effectiveness of the DAN diet for autism? Thank you.
CSK
Make of this what you will:
After doing a quick search in my library database (linked to 10,000 + journals, along with magazines and newspapers) I came upon 30 articles. The majority (23) of the articles were from mags. Like Time, Newsweek, Lawyers USA, and lesser mags- in other words, mostly opinion pieces sprinkled with data from actual journal articles. Of the other 7 articles, not one showed statistically significant links between any or all vaccines and autism. Most of the studies on autism that show progress toward causation are focused on genetic research or a combination of genes and environment (i.e. diathesis-stress model research).
They start out with a hypothesis and trust me, it's not "vaccines cause autism", it's "scapegoat causes autism"
the scapegoat being pharma :)
As a mother of a son with autism, I am not against all vaccines. I do question this doctor's giving lip service to the dangers that vaccines present though and to the fact that doctor's have been inculcated to believe these multiple vaccines are absolutely necessary. England's rate of autism skyrocketed after they started to vaccinate on the US schedule instead of waiting until a child is two years . If an infant's immune system is so advanced why won't a vet give multiple vaccinations to a puppy because of an immature immune system. The current schedule is convenient for the doctor; offers fewer injections for a child, but I really do believe the government has decided that a certain percentage of dead or disabled children is acceptable. If I don't vaccinate my child against the group of diseases you describe as a risk to the general population, why does that put the general population which is vaccinated at risk? Wouldn't my child be the only one at risk if the rest are vaccinated and the vaccines are as effective as you maintain. We recently had an outbreak of several cases of whooping cough in our region. All of the children had been vaccinated. FYI, my son is vaccinated and I do get him yearly flu shots. At twenty he's at less risk. I will advise my other children to delay the vaccines for their children and to seek a doctor willing to give them in as few combinations as
Though your questions of the validity of the schedule are certainly valid, please do not forget that in our society, many children are entering day care environments as early as 6-8 weeks after birth. This may be another reason the schedule has been moved up- to protect all the children present in that env.
I f a child is going into day care then that is a different story but still on the parents or daycare provider should address. My children did not have daycare. I still believe that I should have the choice on the number of vaccines given at one time and the age at which to start. If this causes my child to be excluded from some activities, then that is my decision and consequence. Obviously since autism has already affected my family, i am especially concerned about my future grandchildren. If it is a susceptibility that might be triggered by an overwhelmed immune system, how can you just blithely dismiss my vaccine concerns.
Firstly the UK has not adopted the US vaccination schedule. You can see here:
http://www.immunisation.nhs.uk/
Secondly, the vaccination rate has massively dropped in the UK, due to the false claim by Wakefield linking vaccines to autism. At the same time the autism rate has not dropped.
"the government has decided that a certain percentage of dead or disabled children is acceptable"
no, the government has decided that 1000s of disabled and dead children from not vaccinating is their opinion.
See Harvey Karp's Profile
Please don't close your eyes to the science. Here's what we know about whooping cough:
1) it is one of the most contagious diseases known to mankind
2) Many adults and teens get a mild-moderate version (prolonged cough), but it is hardest on babies inthe first year of life.
3) Young babies often get pneumonia and brain swelling from whooping cough....many have to be in the ICU and 1/2-1% die from complications of the infection...this is why we immunize them at such an early age. (Parents and siblings often bring the illness into the home, even though they are not sick.)
4) The immunity is not perfect...even with 4 shots, some kids can get the illness...but they get a less severe form.
5) Recent Colorado studies found that children who delayed shots were 6-23 times more likely to get whooping cough than those who got their shots.
This shot is VERY important to help your family's child...and all the children in your community.
Thank you Doctor Karp. Far too much nonsense is spewed about vaccines. Considering that this section also hosts blogs by Deepak Chopra (ugh) it is nice to see someone talking sense on HiffPost. Keep up the good work.
As someone who has lived abroad since 1991, I have often wondered why Japan is not mentioned in the MMR-autism debate. Japan stopped giving the MMR in 1993. Kids receive the vaccines as separate components. And yet, the rate of autism has risen.
Don't forget that the incidence of measels increased.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090221a7.html
So did mumps, IIRC. I believe some universities were closed as a result.
See for yourself:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/clifford.g.miller/hondarutter.html#the_power_of_rechallenge
What web page is this? Are you using this as "evidence" in your "research"?
Go to the main page....it speaks for itself. This is an ambulance chaser trying to drum up business.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/clifford.g.miller/index.html
Stick with bonafide scientific and medical publications. not trial lawyer websites.
This is a link to an anti-trust lawyer- where is the scientific data to back your claims? Try actual medical journals or even well-stocked library databases- Google is no place to find actual scientific research.
Here are more"information sources" for you, on other topisc. Note that they too has all sorts of "scientific information" to back up their claims.
http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/FlatHome.htm
http://www.moonmovie.com/moonmovie/default.asp
http://www.bfro.net/
While I do not have the exact link ( i will find it) the cdc had started a pilot study to look at disease rates, SIDS rate, autism rates etc in vaccinated and unvaccinated. It was set to go.. guess what happened...Vaccine manufacturers pressured the pulling of this. It would be nice to look into this but of course it will never happen when funding comes from the people you are defending. Also if you lookat the Vaccine Court which was set up by congress after the manufacturers threatened to end vaccine production because of lawsuits against them in the 70-80's.. Most people do not know it even exists. You get compensated depending on defined reactions to vaccines, illness, etc even death of a child.. the catch is....if you accept the payment and go through this hidden court system.. the records are sealed...and you can not speak about it ever again.. TRUTH!!!!!!!! look it up......
Hidden court system?!?
http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/vaccine-programoffice-special-masters
They don't do a very good job hiding it.
I was looking for that court system, and it was right where I left it the whole time! ;-)
You don't have a link because it is a proposed study, not one that has actually been started.
We know full well the disease rates in large unvaccinated populations (high) vs. large vaccinated populations (low).
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
