AUTISM AND VACCINATION

   - The Debate

I have been curious about this issue for a long while and every time I come across an autistic child the issue comes back to my mind and so I thought it is high time I dig deeper into it.

There has been an ongoing debate for a number of years now as to whether or not vaccinations play a role in children developing autism and the jury is still out on this issue. The case for a link of autism to vaccination has definitely not been helped by a report that was published in a leading medical journal in the UK (The Lancet) in 1998 by one Dr Andrew Wakefield, who contended that his study provided evidence that Autism does have a link to the MMR vaccinations. His study was later proved to be fraudulent and so the paper was fully withdrawn in 2010 and he was struck off the Medical Register so he could no longer practice as a doctor. This has been an unfortunate development. I will however provide you with some statistics and some quotations from other persons in the medical profession and you can be the judge.

The below are excerpts taken from an article in NaturalNews.com done in September 2005 by Dawn Prate:

The Growth of Autism

To take the USA alone, Autism grew by over 273% between 1987 and 1998 in the state of California, while for Maryland it grew by over 513% between 1993 and 1998. Several other states all over the United States has similar findings. In an eerie way this increase parallels the growth of vaccinations (number and frequency) containing a substance called Thimerosal (a type of mercury) that has been administered to infants. Since 1991 the numbers of vaccinations administered to infants have increased to 22 in the first 15 months of their lives. Before 1991 the stats was 1 in 2500 child diagnosed with autism, after 1991 the ratio dropped to 1 in 166!

What is Thimerosal?

Thimerosal is the preservative of choice for vaccine manufacturers. First introduced by Eli Lilly and Company in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the company began selling it as a preservative in vaccines in the 1940s. Thimerosal contains 49.6 percent mercury by weight and is metabolized or degraded into ethylmercury and thiosalicylate. Mercury, or more precisely, ethylmercury, is the principle agent that kills contaminants. Unfortunately, mercury also kills much more than that.

The Department of Defense classifies mercury as a hazardous material that could cause death if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Studies indicate that mercury tends to accumulate in the brains of primates and other animals after they are injected with vaccines. Mercury poisoning has been linked to cardiovascular disease, autism, seizures, mental retardation, hyperactivity, dyslexia and many other nervous system conditions. That's why the FDA rigorously limits exposure to mercury in foods and drugs. Some common sources of mercury include dental amalgam fillings, various vaccines and certain fish contaminated by polluted ocean waters.

The toxicity of mercury has never been in question. The real question is precisely how much mercury-laced thimerosal is toxic, and what are the possible consequences for our children at low doses?

Eli Lilly and Co. supposedly answered this question for us back in 1930. Concluding thimerosal to be of "a very low order of toxicity . . . for man," the company hired its own doctors to perform thimerosal experiments in Indianapolis City Hospital on meningitis patients during a severe outbreak in 1929. This 60-year-old evidence was still quoted on the company's brochures as recently as 1990. Andrew Waters, who is involved in a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, claims that most critical studies on the toxicity of thimerosal were suppressed by the company until now.

Banned around the world, but not in the United States

That might explain why thimerosal was eliminated in many countries 20 years ago. In 1977, a Russian study found that adults exposed to ethylmercury, the form of mercury in thimerosal, suffered brain damage years later. Studies on thimerosal poisoning also describe tubular necrosis and nervous system injury, including obtundation, coma and death. As a result of these findings, Russia banned thimerosal from children's vaccines in 1980. Denmark, Austria, Japan, Great Britain and all the Scandinavian countries have also banned the preservative.

Eli Lilly stuck to its "scientific" facts, but the truth began slipping between the cracks in 1999. After the number of immunizations rose to 12 to 15 per child, the public finally became privy to the possible dangers of thimerosal. One 1999 study revealed that some infants, due to a genetic or developmental factor, lack the ability to eliminate mercury. Trace amounts of mercury in these infants, when accumulated over several vaccines, could pose a severe health risk. Some vaccines, such as vaccines for hepatitis B, contained as much as 12.5 micrograms of mercury per dose. That's more than 100 times the EPA's upper limit standard when administered to infants.

Hepatitis B vaccines aren't the only immunizations under suspicion. According to Burton Goldberg in Alternative Medicine, scientists are finding stronger and stronger links between thimerosal and neurological damage. One report by Dr. Vijendra Singh of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan found a higher incidence of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) antibodies in autistic children.

The National Vaccine Information Center in Vienna, Virginia, has noted a strong association between the MMR vaccine and autistic features. Reporting similar findings, the Encephalitis Support Group in England claims that children who became autistic after the MMR vaccine started showing autistic symptoms as early as 30 days after vaccination. The diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine (DPT) given at two, four and six months has triggered autistic symptoms, as well.

When the FDA finally formally released this information in 1999, the news came too little too late for some parents. The damage had already been done.

The thimerosal debate continues

Along with the enormous amount of controversy surrounding this issue, the five-year-old plea for "more research" may have finally produced some results. Burton Goldberg notes that a defect in the myelinization process (insulation of nerve fibers) could explain mercury's propensity to cause autism and neurological damage. This may also account for the frequent development of epilepsy in older autistic children.

Scientists are also working on biological links that support the strong correlations. Researchers at Northeastern University, working with scientists from the University of Nebraska, Tufts and Johns Hopkins University, may have recently found the mechanism by which thimerosal interferes with brain activity. If these researchers are right, vaccine manufacturers could do little to keep the damaging effects of thimerosal hidden.

Pharmacy professor Richard Deth and colleagues found that exposure to thimerosal potently interrupts growth factor signaling, causing adverse effects on the transfer of carbon atoms. These carbon atoms play a significant role in regulating normal DNA function and gene expression and are critical to proper neurological development. Additionally, the scientists recently obtained more insight into the mechanism by which thimerosal interferes with folate-dependent methylation. The mechanism inhibits the biosynthesis of the active form of vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin), a vitamin now being administered to autistic children.

The experts speak on mercury, vaccines and thimerosal

Now all childhood vaccines have at least one mercury-free version, and I urge parents to ask for those versions if they choose to vaccinate their children. Injecting mercury into children, especially infants whose immune systems are still underdeveloped (hepatitis B shots are typically given at birth, before the immune system has developed), can be an assault to the immune system.
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Autoimmune Disorders by Stephen B Edelson MD, page 65

In 1999 studies began to surface showing that multi-dose vial vaccines, such as the MMR and hepatitis B vaccines, contained enough thimerosal to expose vaccinated children to 62.5 ug of mercury per visit to the pediatrician. This is one hundred times the dose considered safe by the Federal Environmental Protection Guidelines for infants! Worse yet, some infants will receive doses even higher; because thimerosal tends to settle in the vial. If it is not shaken up before being drawn, the first dose will contain low concentrations of mercury and the last dose will contain enormously high concentrations. If your baby is the unlucky one that gets the last dose, serious brain injury can result…
Health And Nutrition Secrets by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 166

Vaccines may afflict 45,000 cases of autism per year in America, which afflicts 15 victims in every 10.000 births: there are now 5 00,000 of these victims in the U.S. In Sweden not using the pertussis vaccine, there is virtually no autism (and likewise in Holland).
Anti-Aging Manual by Joseph B Marion, page 600

The Debate continues…you be the judge!

Be Blessed and Stay Healthy!
sharbs

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