CDC Offers Another Non Response on Autism and Vaccines in the AJC

The CDC has issued a response to David Kirby’s piece entitled, "Give Us Answers on Vaccines" offered to us in yesterday’s AJC by Rear Admiral Anne Schuchat, MD.

I have done a lengthy break down of it, ridiculous assertion by empty statement, and responded to Dr. Schuchat on several of her statements.

"Vaccines' Benefits Outweigh Dangers"

Let’s start here, with the title. Have you heard this one before? Have you hear this one a thousand times before? We keep finding out more and more information about the dangers of vaccination and the increases in the risks, but no matter how much risk of danger is added to the balance, the scale not only never tips, but it never moves.

Vaccines like RotaShield cause so much damage that they get removed from the market, yet, this statement never wavers. There is never any variation like, "although we have discovered that risk of vaccine injury extends to those with mitochondrial dysfunction which must be taken into account when making vaccine decisions, we believe the benefits outweigh the dangers".

And it is all lumped together. Always. Every vaccine seems to have the same benefit/danger risk for everyone. There is never a CDC press release that says, "benefits outweigh dangers, except in the case of the Hepatitis B vaccine for those with mitochondrial dysfunction and an history of vaccine reaction".

No matter how much new information comes to light on the risks of vaccines, 'benefits outweigh risks' remains the mantra.

"Autism claim shouldn't deter parents"

Ok… she has made an emphatic 'should' statement telling parents what to do. Let's look at the information that she offers to justify giving that direction to parents

"By ANNE SCHUCHAT
Published on: 03/26/08
David Kirby's March 20 opinion column, "Give Us Answers on Vaccines," misinterpreted available information about a case before the National Vaccine Injury Compensation program and may have parents wondering what is best for their child when it comes to immunizations.

So Kirby got it wrong… let's find out where.

"That is unfortunate, given that our nation's childhood vaccines are very safe and are proven to protect and save lives."

Well… she has made the "very safe" safety claim, but that is kind of the statement that Kirby and mom’s like me are demanding proof of in light of the Poling case and the research that got HHS to concede it. We are looking to see what she has to offer us.

"Parents should know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with other agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the wide range of scientists and health professionals involved in the nation's immunization programs take seriously questions and concerns related to vaccine safety."

Well… again… we don’t believe that this statement is true, because we don’t see actions that would prove it true. No one at the CDC investigates our vaccine injury claims, when I walked into my Pediatrician’s office with the safety data sheet of the first shot that harmed my son, he wouldn’t even read it because he didn’t have time. He was respectful, but said that he can’t even keep up with what the AAP was sending him.

The AAP takes direction from the CDC, if CDC is so concerned with vaccine safety, then why did my ped, who is only two degrees of separation from them, have no interest in my son’s vaccine injury?

And I myself have raised lots and lots of questions and echoed the questions and concerns of other parents, and CDC has completely ignored them. In the spring of 2005 CDC posted a notice on their web site saying that they would be responding to the questions and concerns raised in David Kirby’s book, Evidence of Harm, and three years later, still no response.

Dr. Schuchat, parents DON’T know that CDC takes questions of vaccine safety seriously, because you completely ignore them. Until you behave differently and actually even discuss and debate the questions and concerns publicly, why in the world would we just accept this easily disprovable statement from you?

I have often compared CDC’s claim of seriousness about dealing with the vaccine/autism connection to my claims of seriousness about dealing with the size of my big behind. If I got up and declared that I was obsessed with fitness, one would merely have to glimpse the size of my two hundred and (cough, cough, cough) pound form to see that such pronouncements, are indeed, malarkey.

You are not addressing the vaccine/autism question any more than I am jogging around the block. Let’s not embarrass ourselves by making claims that are so obviously false.

"Furthermore, our efforts in vaccines, developmental disabilities..."

What efforts in developmental disabilities are you referring to exactly?

"... and the health of children go far beyond our professional interests, as many of the dedicated professionals involved are also parents and grandparents."

While it is nice that many employees have children, I am not sure what that proves. I did note though from your bio that you do not seem to have children, so you are not really in the same risk boat that we are. Vaccine injury will never make you quit your career to care for a sick child as it has for most of us.

"Kirby's column included many inaccuracies related to childhood vaccines."

Great… now we are going to hear what they are and where Kirby was wrong.

"As such,.."

Wait, Doctor… don’t you have to list what those inaccuracies are and counter them with some sort of correction or argument to the contrary? You just made the statement, decided it was true and move onto, "As such"! How is this exactly advancing the vaccine autism discussion?

Are we just supposed to take your word for it that Kirby was wrong?

"As such, it illustrates…"

I guess that we are just supposed to take your word for it.

Except that you have not made your point, and now you want you point to actually prove another point?

"...that when it comes to immunizations, child development and specific medical conditions, the best source of guidance is the child's health care provider."

So now we are supposed to make two leaps here? David Kirby is wrong, which we know because you said so, which somehow also proves that pediatricians are right?

"Parents should not be reluctant to ask their child's doctors or nurses about any health concerns, including immunizations."

Dr. Schuchat, have you ever taken a baby into the office and actually done this? Try this experiment. Take off your uniform, put on a blond wig, borrow a friend’s baby and walk into a pediatrician’s office and say, "doctor, I have concerns that vaccines may cause autism" and watch what happens.

What usually happens to us is that, at best, we get belittled, at wost, reamed and dismissed from the practice. We even get harassed by nurses. I once had a doctor yell at me over the phone and hang up on me.

Is that behavior might make parents 'reluctant' to raise concerns about vaccinations?

"Vaccines are often given early in life in order to protect against diseases that can seriously harm infants and young children. The joint immunization recommendations of CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians do recognize there are instances when a child should not receive a recommended vaccine or when a recommended vaccination should be delayed."

They do? Because that is not what the head of the AAP, Dr. Tayloe, said on the Today show two weeks ago. He was asked the following question:

"Do you believe that all vaccines should be used on every child?"

His complete response:

"Yes. I think any of the vaccines we have today have been tested and proven to be safe, and the credible studies don't show any relationship between vaccines and permanent injury. So we favor this and we know that unless we have vaccination rates that are in the 90 to 95% range we are not going to prevent epidemics from coming into this country of measles, of polio, from countries where these diseases are still endemic. So its very important that we vaccinate all our children."

"Those decisions, however, are best made in consultation with the child's doctor."

This would be the doctor that is the member of the AAP and takes direction from Dr. Tayloe? Because not only does Tayloe not take the vaccine/autism concern seriously, he does not even believe that permanent vaccine injury exists.

How seriously do you think the medical professionals who follow his lead take vaccine injury and parental concerns about autism?

"As the column correctly noted, vaccine injury cases are often handled through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation program administered by HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration."

They are "often handled" there (as opposed to 'always handled' there)because most vaccine injuries are not handled at all.

Many people who are victims of vaccine injury are not told that they are even victims of vaccine injury (raising my hand), and when they do believe they are, don’t even hear about the compensation program until the three year statute of limitations has run out. Their vaccine injury cases are not handled anywhere.

"This program is charged with determining whether a claimed injury meets pre-established criteria or if vaccination may have contributed to a child's serious medical or health condition. If such a determination is made, the program works to provide timely and compassionate compensation."

And by "timely" she means that it takes around 7 to 10 years to have your case heard, and by "compassionate" she means that when you actually win and award, they hold on to it for you and make you apply for your own money when you have a need of some kind.

A great example of this "compassionate" compensation is the family whose disabled daughter grew out of her wheelchair and when her parents tried to access her VICP money to buy her a new one, the "compassionate" program declined the request because they had already purchased a wheel chair for her. The one that she no long fit into.

Can you feel the government compassion!

"Since 1988, HRSA's vaccine injury program has provided compensation in about 2,100 cases, including some that have involved vaccines and encephalopathy (injury to the brain). While Kirby's column suggested otherwise, to date, this program has never determined in any case that autism was caused by a vaccine."

So says you. Let’s see the proof! Kirby says he has a document, you obviously have all the documents from all 2,100 cases. Get a big black marker out and start blacking out names and let’s get to readin'!

With 2,100 cases of proven vaccine injury, who knows how much we could learn about how many medical disorders and their causes and treatments! Not just autism, but who knows how many! Well... you know how many, because you have all the documents... but imagine the expansion of the knowledge base for everyone else!

I mean look how much we learned about the relationship between mito dysfunction and autism from just that ONE Poling document that Kirby released and then Dr. Poling commented on.

The autism world is abuzz with this new piece of the puzzle and talking with mito experts and I am even learning more about what could be going on in my own son’s little body.

Isn’t the thought off that flood of information entering the scientific community an exciting idea for you?! I mean, you and all the other officials at the CDC, NIH, HHS, AAP are so concerned about vaccine safety, and take these questions and concerns so seriously, so I would assume that you guys would be jumping for joy and the thought of such a big giant bolus dose of proven vaccine injuries to pick through and examine and contrast and compare! I know I am excited about the idea of what it could teach me about Chandler’s vaccine induced autism.

And we could even have some kind of open public forum for doctors and scientists and families and health officials and even the families of the settlement recipients (if they want to share more of their stories) can participate in so that we can all just feed off the information that will be out there!

When do we get started?!

"In comparison, during this same time period, about 100 million American children received recommended childhood vaccinations, and cases of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S. have decreased to record or near-record lows."

That is interesting, but that is not what we are talking about. Whether or not vaccines prevent diseases and whether or not vaccines trigger autism are two completely different, mutually exclusive questions. Both could be true or false and either statement's veracity actually has no impact on the other.

We are not examining the question of whether or not they prevent infectious disease right now. We are examining the question of whether or not they contribute to autism and other autoimmune and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Once we have the correct answer to THAT question, then we can go back and examine your title thesis that the ‘benefits outweigh the dangers” by comparing them to risks associated with disease from non-vaccination.

But you seem to try to get us to ignore the million dollar autism/vaccine question by distracting us with the 'prevents disease' assertion.

So can we set that aside until we actually know the real risk to compare to the benefits?

"Recently, mitochondrial disorders have become the focus of media attention with respect to vaccine injury compensation. Mitochondrial disorders, which occur very rarely in children, are believed to be genetic."

Not by these researchers. They found that thimerosal causes mitochondrial dysfunction.

You claim that the CDC is all about taking questions and concerns seriously. Why then will you not discuss the idea that, as Dr. Poling is asserting, that the first round of vaccines set up his daughter’s mito dysfunction and another round of vaccines interacted with that mito problem to cause the autism? HHS has already conceded the second half, and research clearly shows that the first half is possible too.

So why are you ignoring all this and saying that it is believed to be only genetic?

"Children born with these disorders often appear normal through the first years of life. When placed under severe stress from such things as infections, fever, dehydration, malnutrition or lack of sleep, children with these disorders often experience loss of some brain and nervous system functions."

Or vaccines… you forgot to mention vaccines.

"Some have suggested that infants and children be screened for mitochondrial disorders before getting recommended vaccinations. Unfortunately, mitochondrial diseases are very difficult to diagnose and it is usually not possible to identify children with such disorders until there are signs of developmental decline. A definitive diagnosis often requires multiple blood tests and may also require a muscle or brain biopsy (removal of a portion for testing, usually under anesthesia). Therefore, providing routine screening tests on children who have no symptoms would bring other medical risks and raise many ethical questions."

And honestly, and in all frankness, I don’t care how hard it is to do.

Figure it out.

HHS has admitted that mito dysfunction is a precursor to Autism. I don’t wanna hear "too hard", I don’t wanna hear, "too expensive", I don’t wanna hear any excuses what so ever.

You have billions of dollars at your disposal to figure out this problem. If you want to vaccinate every person in this country then come up with a way to discern which children are at risk for LIFE LONG PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE.

DO IT!

Repeating my mantra… My children are not acceptable losses in your war against communicable diseases.

"At present, we do not know definitively if vaccines can trigger neurological or developmental declines among children with mitochondrial disorders."

Then wait just a minute! HHS said that they did in Hannah Poling! They are paying her a million bucks or so because of it!

You guys need to make a decision. Either they do or they don’t. If they do, then you need to get into high gear and figure out exactly what this all means, and if they don’t and as an American tax payer I don’t want one single penny going to the Poling family for their fraudulent claim.

You don’t get to go with which ever theory is convenient to you in the moment. How dumb do you think we are?

"We do know, however, that infections can cause neurological and developmental declines among these children — and we also know that childhood vaccinations protect children against some of the same infections known to cause developmental decline among children with mitochondrial disorders. These include vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, chickenpox and influenza."

Again… distracting us from question A by diverting us to question B which does not help us answer question A in any way what so ever.

"In the case of children with mitochondrial disorders, we do not yet have sufficient evidence to make general immunization recommendations."

And I am betting, from the complete lack of interest in the mito question that you have shown since the Polings went on CNN (and since the concession was made last year for that matter) you will probably never get around to finding that "sufficient evidence" to make changes in recommendations in the vaccine schedule.

It is most likely on your list right under "Get back to David Kirby on that whole 'Evidence of Harm' thing".

"Physicians who care for children with these disorders usually recommend that these children receive their childhood vaccines, but, depending on the child's health status or medical condition, they may change when those vaccinations are provided."

It would be appreciated if the CDC could provide us a list of these physicians who might actually deviate from the vaccine schedule due to the health needs of an individual child. It is hard for us to find them on our own.

"We recognize that developmental disorders, whether related to mitochondrial disease, autism or other causes, are a serious challenge for many families. In the case of autism, CDC has actively supported vaccine safety research in this area."

Are you joking? Can you seriously say something like this and expect autism parents not to scream at you at this point? After years and years of bogus studies and ignoring us?

You should be ashamed at yourself for making this statement.

"To date, the best science indicates that there is no association between vaccines and autism."

Bull-shit.

"As part of our efforts to foster understanding of autism, CDC is currently conducting the largest study to date designed to identify potential autism causes and risk factors."

CDC has not yet addressed 'questions and concerns' with their last disaster of a vaccine/autism study, but actually stands by Verstraten, but you think we will be placated by the next one? How about you open up the Safety Data Link, bring Thomas Verstraten back into the country and have an open examination of that study.

Then when we get all our questions and concerns properly addressed there, we can move onto the next study, making sure it is open and transparent and not a piece of crap like that one.

"We recognize that much of the success of our nation's immunization efforts comes from the trust of parents. We do not take that trust lightly. Rather, CDC, FDA and other HHS agencies are continually working to expand efforts in vaccine safety research and science as well as clinician and parent input and involvement. Like parents, we want the best information possible when it comes to protecting and ensuring children's health."

Clearly you don’t understand that you have already lost the trust of the autism community and the rest of the public has taken notice, and call us for vaccine advice instead of their own doctors, or any of you.

"Our nation's high immunization rates are the reason why very few children suffer from vaccine-preventable diseases that in the past used to harm them in large numbers. These high rates show that parents realize the importance of childhood vaccinations."

Well if you keep insisting on touting the effectiveness of vaccines to distract from the question at hand, then I am just gonna post this:



And this:

"CDC is committed to maintaining that high level of support as well as making sure all our efforts are working to foster the health of children."

…Well not for your specific child, per se, but for most children. I mean if all the children in the US were melted into one big child, that child would be kinda healthy. That is the "children" we are referring to.

So that is the CDC's response. We never did get to find out what Kirby wrote that was incorrect, or get any of our vaccine questions answered, but we did get to hear, once again, that "CDC cares", "Vaccines safe and don’t cause autism", "benefits outweigh risks", and we have now added a new point to the old standbys, "Mito dysfunction too hard to screen for".

Truly Anne Schuchat has calmed our fears and addressed our lengthy and complicated questions with her repetition of the ethos, "Just Trust Us".

Except that blindly trusting government is what got us here in the first place. So we don't.

Wrapping up, I would like to point out that Admiral Schuchat has told us what her personal directive is on her bio:

"My top priority is to improve our ability to do excellent infectious disease science leading to public health impact." - Rear Admiral Anne Schuchat, MD

Her top priority is infectious diseases, and autism is not an infectious disease. It is an autoimmune disorder, a toxic injury and a GI disorder, among other things. This is just another example of the phenomena that I have been complaining about for years now.

When we ask for answers on autism, we are not offered responses by immunologists or toxicologists or gastroenterologists, who might actually offer us some real understanding on the processes going on in our children’s bodies, and how vaccine additives like mercury and aluminum may be triggering the dysfunction of those processes.

Instead we are, time and time again, offered the testimony of government virologists Like Dr. Schuchat who are basically trotted out to defend their life’s work.

Here is a taste of her bio:

"…director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and has spent over 18 years at CDC working in immunization, respiratory, and other infectious diseases. Prior to her current appointment, she served as the director of CDC’s National Immunization Program (NIP); acting director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID)…" and on and on.

Read the whole thing. The woman has lived and breathed viruses and vaccines her entire professional life. But the CDC expects that we will see her as an unbiased source from whom we should be taking direction from on the safety of vaccines?

(I have long speculated that the reason that they don’t have a toxicologist come out and allay our fears about vaccines toxins, is that they can’t find one who will do it.)

This pronouncement is nothing more than a continuation of the public misinformation, political bullshit and CYA tactics, that we get every single time CDC addresses autism. Year after year I attend conferences and absolutely drown in new information on what is going on causes and treatments for autism. I can’t keep up with all of it.

But CDC hears none of it, recognizes none of it, discusses none of it, shows up at 0 conferences, interviews 0 parents who claim vaccine injury, and investigates 0 cases where parents claim recovery from autism.

But trust them… we may not be able to see it, but down deep, inside, they care.

David Kirby on Ring of Fire

http://www.adventuresinautism.com/images/AirAmericaKirby032208.mp3

The Spectator: Another Piece in the Jigsaw

They are catching on to Hannah's story in the UK.

Another piece in the jigsaw?
22 March 2008
Melanie Phillips
The Spectator


A propos the Wakefield affair discussed in my post below, a recent case in America should not pass without comment. In a landmark ruling, the US Court of Federal Claims, Office of the Special Master, under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Programme, conceded a vaccine injury to a child from Georgia who, having been developing normally until she received multiple vaccinations, subsequently developed serious brain and body disorders.

Nine year-old Hannah Poling, who at 18 months was recorded by paediatricians as meeting all her developmental milestones, was then given no fewer than five vaccinations in one day — DTaP, Hib, MMR, Varivax, and IPV. Id — following which she suffered a catastrophic breakdown in brain and bodily functions, regressing in language and social development and with persistent gut problems. The court ruled that

the vaccinations CHILD received on July 19, 2000 significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder, which predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of autism spectrum disorder.

Writing in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, journalist David Kirby goes further and says:

The November report said Hannah's vaccine reaction had ‘manifested’ as early-onset brain disease, with ‘features of autism spectrum disorder.’ But the February report is more blunt. It says that Hannah's vaccines ‘caused’ her ‘autistic’ brain disease.

This ruling is the first time a causal link has been established between childhood vaccines and autistic spectrum disorder. It is important to note straightaway an important point of difference from the MMR controversy in the UK. This child’s immune system collapsed not as a result of MMR alone but because she received multiple vaccinations in one day, including the MMR triple jab.

Precisely what caused Hannah Poling’s catastrophic reaction, therefore, cannot be established. We don't know whether it was one of these vaccines or the fact that they were in combination. Nevertheless, this case should not be dismissed as having no relevance. These vaccines did include MMR, and the symptoms she displayed bear remarkable similarities to those reported by countless parents in the MMR controversy. Despite the differences, the significance for the MMR controversy is that this ruling established for the first time that a hitherto unknown problem with a child’s cellular system caused a catastrophic reaction in that child to a vaccination schedule, including delivery of the already multiple MMR, that has produced no ill-effects in other children. This suggests that, in some children, multiple vaccines overload immune systems that are particularly vulnerable.

In America, the health authorities are dismissing this ruling as a one-off with no further significance. But surely it suggests instead that urgent questions now demonstrably need to be asked about both the safety of these these childhood vaccines in themselves and the policy, so dear to the medical establishment on both sides of the Atlantic, of multiplying the number of vaccines delivered simultaneously to small children?

Serious Concerns Over Hepatitis B Vaccine

Today is one of those days that I read things like this and it just makes me cry.

If I knew this in March of 2002, would I have allowed Chandler to have that first Hep B shot that sent him on his journey down the rabbit hole?

All this information was out there. My doctor told me none of it.

Serious Concerns Over Hepatitis B Vaccine
Friday, March 21, 2008 7:05 AM
Michael Arnold Glueck and Robert J. Cihak, The Medicine Men


As some readers know, we have expressed our concerns about childhood vaccinations a number of times. (See Newsmax,com Medicine Men Archives.)

We are not saying that all vaccines are bad, but we ask that parents, physicians, and health authorities proceed with care and caution and sometimes resist some of the "automatic" childhood vaccinations.

Today the issue is that of the hepatitis B vaccine.

From 1994 to 1998, almost two-thirds of the French population and almost all newborn babies were vaccinated against hepatitis B, but the campaign was temporarily suspended because of concerns about side effects.

In what was called a "thunderclap in the vaccine industry," French authorities have opened a formal investigation regarding a hepatitis B vaccination campaign by GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur in the 1990s. It is alleged that the companies failed to fully disclose neurologic side effects.

Another investigation opened by Judge Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy concerns the death ("manslaughter") of a 28-year-old woman from multiple sclerosis, allegedly connected to the vaccine (Le Figaro 1/31/08).

Some 30 plaintiffs, including the families of five patients who died after the vaccination, have launched civil actions (Reuters 1/1/08).

A British case-controlled analysis showed an odds ratio of 3-to-1 (95 percent) for the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis in recipients of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine compared to controls. Two previous French studies had shown a ratio of about 1-to-5. Other studies showed a non-significant increase (or null findings) especially when date of diagnosis rather than date of first symptoms was used (Neurology 2004; 63: 838-842).

According to attorney Clifford Miller, "British doctors administering hepatitis B vaccine to infants could face criminal prosecution if fully informed consent is not obtained. Civil prosecution for damages is possible over 21 years later if the injured survive as adults" (UK Press Association Newswire/Romeike, September 2005).

The hepatitis B vaccine has been considered "one of the safest vaccines ever produced" (Neurology, 2004; 63: 838-842). On the other hand, French medical expert Marc Girard has said that "for a preventive measure, hepatitis B is remarkable for the frequency, variety and severity of complications from its use" (Romeike, September 2005).

In the past, individual concerns over vaccination have often been transgressed because of the platitude that the public good takes precedence over the individual.

We suggest that when it comes to the routine childhood hepatitis B vaccination those affected and involved should think a little harder before they shoot.

We think that the French authorities finally got something right.

* * *

Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., comments on medical-legal issues and is a visiting fellow in Economics and Citizenship at the International Trade Education Foundation of the Washington International Trade Council.

Robert J. Cihak, M.D., is a senior fellow and board member of the Discovery Institute and a past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

A-CHAMP Action Alert - Call Congress

From A-CHAMP:

Read David Kirby's Editorial,"Give Us Answers on Vaccines" in the Atlanta Journal Constitution Today - and then call Congress!


Tell Your Congressional Representatives that You Want Answers!

Today's Atlanta-Journal Constitution contains an editorial by David Kirby entitled

We have recently had a glimpse of the truth about the link between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism. When the news was revealed by the Poling family that the government conceded that vaccines caused their daughter, Hannah's, autism, we had a window into the truth about vaccine safety and what has happened to a generation of children.

But the Poling documents and the truth remain sealed!

We want to parents and family members to call Congress...call...call...and keep calling, and demand the

Truth about vaccine safety,

Truth about whether vaccines have harmed our kids and

JUSTICE for our children!

Talking points suggestions:


We need the truth about vaccine safety.

For years the government has denied any association between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. In private, public officials have conceded that vaccines have caused autism, such as in the government's recent concessions in the Poling case. Vaccines have been found to have caused autism in at least nine other cases considered by our public officials.

Our kids were damaged because because of the vaccine program, but the government told us vaccines were safe. Our children missed the statute of limitations because we trusted the CDC when they told us repeatedly there was no association between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders.

We want the Poling documents released.

We want access to the VSD, the publicly financed Vaccine Safety Datalink database that may answer important questions about vaccines and their relationship to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.

We want the statute of limitations extended with a look back so that hundreds of thousands children harmed by vaccines are allowed access to justice. Right now they have no right to make claims and obtain justice.

If Congress can hold hearings on Roger Clemens's steroid use, our elected representatives can hold hearings on why hundreds of thousands of children are suffering with neurodevelopmental disorders in an unprecedented epidemic.

We want the CDC and the FDA held accountable.

"Millions of parents are anxiously waiting for their government to tell them what the hell is going on."

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES, AND KEEP CALLING UNTIL THEY ANSWER YOU AND AGREE TO SUPPORT OUR KIDS .
"We are everywhere and we are not going away!"

...and we are coming to Washington in June.

Jenny McCarthy on The Hour

So apparently The White House called Jenny and asked her to tell people to stop calling.

Apparently Jenny didn't feel like passing on the message because I have not heard her to tell us to stop calling.

When George Bush fires Julie Gerberding and shows up at a DAN conference with the new head of the CDC, then we can stop calling.

202-456-1414

Kirby in AJC: Give Us Answers On Vaccines

New Poling Case documents are surfacing which inform us that, "Hannah's autism was caused by vaccine-induced fever and overstimulation of her immune system, according to court documents."

That is NOT what Julie Gerberding told us out side of the CDC two weeks ago.

Keep those calls to the White House up. 202-456-1414 Ask them when they are going to get HHS to release all the documents from the Poling case and all the other cases in Vaccine court.

Running tomorrow in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Give us answers on vaccines
By DAVID KIRBY
Published on: 03/20/08

By now, many parents in America have heard of the Hannah Poling court case. They know the government has acknowledged that vaccines contributed to autism in at least one little girl from Georgia. Understandably, they are worried, and they want answers.

But instead of frank talk from leading health officials, their concerns are being met with stonewalling, denial and misinformation.

By refusing to address what really happened to Hannah — by commanding parents to settle down and adhere to the nation's rigid immunization regime — officials will only drive people away from vaccines in anxiety-ridden droves.

But what if we could test children for underlying conditions that might increase their risk of vaccine injury and autism? And what if we allowed those at risk to slightly delay and spread out their shots?

It's a difficult, but not impossible, proposition. And I believe doing so would reduce the rate of autism, seizure disorders and even asthma in some children. And we would boost vaccination rates by restoring faith in the nation's teetering immunization program.

Why do I say this? New documents have surfaced in the Poling case that shine more light on how Hannah's vaccine injury led to autism.

A government document filed in the case last November conceded that Hannah's vaccines had aggravated an underlying disorder of the mitochondria. Mitochondria are the tiny powerhouses within each cell that convert food and oxygen into energy. Government officials acknowledged that Hannah's disorder led to a condition known as low cellular energy metabolism, which was aggravated by vaccines and ultimately led to an autism diagnosis.

It was a tantalizing admission but did little to explain just how the vaccines had aggravated the disorder or caused autism.

But on Feb. 21, the U.S. government made a second, unpublicized concession in the case. In addition to triggering autism, officials now admitted, Hannah's vaccines had also led to her "seizure disorder," or epilepsy.

And there was more. The November document claimed that Hannah had a mitochondrial "disorder." But by February, this was modulated to a mere mitochondrial "dysfunction."

That's because Hannah's underlying condition was asymptomatic and most likely environmentally acquired. It was not some rare, grave, inherited disease that would have progressed to autism anyway, as many officials contend.

The November report said Hannah's vaccine reaction had "manifested" as early-onset brain disease, with "features of autism spectrum disorder."

But the February report is more blunt. It says that Hannah's vaccines "caused" her "autistic" brain disease.

But the real bombshell was this: Hannah's autism was caused by vaccine-induced fever and overstimulation of her immune system, according to court documents. Her low cellular energy and reduced metabolic reserves, due to mitochondrial dysfunction, were overstressed by the contents of nine vaccines (including mercury) at once.

The Cleveland Clinic defines low cellular energy metabolism disorder this way: "The process of converting food and oxygen (fuel) into energy requires hundreds of chemical reactions, and each chemical reaction must run almost perfectly in order to have a continuous supply of energy. When one or more components of these chemical reactions does not run perfectly, there is an energy crisis, and the cells cannot function normally. As a result, the incompletely burned food might accumulate as poison inside the body."

The cause of Hannah's mitochondrial dysfunction is up for debate, though ample evidence exists to implicate heavy metals in air, water, food and vaccines as possible suspects. But the government has acknowledged that low cellular energy can increase the risk of immune system overdrive, and regression into autism.

Now, one would think that investigating — and preventing — such vaccine-induced overstimulation in susceptible children would be a top priority of health officials. But it is not.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has vowed to "adamantly" enforce the one-size-fits-all vaccine schedule, no matter what happened to Hannah and other kids like her.

Frantic parents, desperate for answers, were admonished by Gerberding to "set aside this very isolated, unusual situation" in so-called Vaccine Court, even though "the court apparently made the decision that it is fair to say that vaccinations may have been one of the precipitators."

Gerberding was either grossly misinformed, or lying.

To begin with, this "decision" was not made by the court at all, but by medical personnel working for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Gerberding's boss.

More important, the Poling case is neither isolated nor unusual. At least 12 other autism-related claims have been paid out in Vaccine Court to date, and perhaps hundreds more cases like Hannah's are pending.

Most striking is how typical Hannah's cellular dysfunction may be among children with autism. While extremely rare in the general population, at two per 10,000 people, it seems unusually common in autism — with estimates up to 2,000 per 10,000.

Many opinion leaders are calling on the government to release all relevant documents leading to the Poling concessions. The family has waived all claims to privacy, and the public has a right to know.

For now, all we have is the CDC Web site, which says that "simultaneous vaccination with multiple vaccines has no adverse effect on the normal childhood immune system."

But did Hannah have a "normal" immune system? Are other kids out there also metabolically primed for overstimulation from too many shots at once? Should their vaccines be spread out?

Instead of answers, we get adamant silence. This is not a matter of national security. It's a national emergency. Millions of parents are anxiously waiting for their government to tell them what the hell is going on.

• David Kirby, an investigative journalist, is author of "Evidence of Harm – Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy"

Mark Blaxill and Boyd Haley Respond to Pichichero et. al. Thimerosal Mercury Excretion Study

Comment from Boyd Haley:

...Attached is a letter Mark Blaxill and I prepared and sent to the Pediatrics Journal in response to a Pichichero et al. study which claimed thimerosal (or ethyl mercury) left the body to fast to be toxic. Pediatrics refused to publish it which showed a total lack of support for any scientific debate in this journal for items concerning mercury toxicity causing autism. This same Pediatrics journal rejected the Nataf paper showing abnormal urinary porphyrin profiles in autistic children indicating they were mercury toxic. What the paper shows is that using Pichichero’s own data on fecal mercury excretion there was a definite retention of mercury in children receiving the normal vaccine schedule. Boyd Haley

From The Lancet 2002:

Mercury concentrations and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing thiomersal: a descriptive study.

Pichichero ME, Cernichiari E, Lopreiato J, Treanor J.

Department of Microbiology/Immunology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, NY, USA. michael_pichichero@urmc.rochester.edu

BACKGROUND: Thiomersal is a preservative containing small amounts of ethylmercury that is used in routine vaccines for infants and children. The effect of vaccines containing thiomersal on concentrations of mercury in infants' blood has not been extensively assessed, and the metabolism of ethylmercury in infants is unknown. We aimed to measure concentrations of mercury in blood, urine, and stools of infants who received such vaccines. METHODS: 40 full-term infants aged 6 months and younger were given vaccines that contained thiomersal (diptheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, and in some children Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine). 21 control infants received thiomersal-free vaccines. We obtained samples of blood, urine, and stools 3-28 days after vaccination. Total mercury (organic and inorganic) in the samples was measured by cold vapour atomic absorption. FINDINGS: Mean mercury doses in infants exposed to thiomersal were 45.6 microg (range 37.5-62.5) for 2-month-olds and 111.3 microg (range 87.5-175.0) for 6-month-olds. Blood mercury in thiomersal-exposed 2-month-olds ranged from less than 3.75 to 20.55 nmol/L (parts per billion); in 6-month-olds all values were lower than 7.50 nmol/L. Only one of 15 blood samples from controls contained quantifiable mercury. Concentrations of mercury were low in urine after vaccination but were high in stools of thiomersal-exposed 2-month-olds (mean 82 ng/g dry weight) and in 6-month-olds (mean 58 ng/g dry weight). Estimated blood half-life of ethylmercury was 7 days (95% CI 4-10 days). INTERPRETATION: Administration of vaccines containing thiomersal does not seem to raise blood concentrations of mercury above safe values in infants. Ethylmercury seems to be eliminated from blood rapidly via the stools after parenteral administration of thiomersal in vaccines.

Blaxil and Haley's submission to Pediatrics:

Infant stool eliminates vaccinal mercury slowly suggesting high retention in tissue

To the editor,

In a study in The Lancet, Pichichero et al 1 argued that ethylmercury administered to infants through vaccines is eliminated rapidly from the blood and effectively excreted in stool. Our analysis of this data, combined with a more recent analysis2 of mercury excretion in baby hair suggests a more worrisome interpretation, one that offers support for the hypothesis3 linking early mercury exposures with autism.

Our calculations suggest that Pichichero et al. overstated the significance of their excretion findings. Although their data support a rapid rate of ethylmercury elimination from blood, instead of similarly rapid stool elimination, their findings demonstrate slow stool excretion in many infants, suggesting that significant amounts of ethylmercury from vaccines may be retained in infant tissue.

Most methyl mercury is eliminated from the body through stool and ethyl mercury from vaccines most likely follows the same path. Both mercury species must pass out of the blood to allow excretion in feces or (in lesser amounts) hair. 4 Nevertheless elimination from blood also allows for mercury transport into tissue, without prompt excretion. Our analysis of mercury excretion in autistic and control baby hair demonstrated that, although mercury was excreted at high rates in hair of normal infants, hair of autistic infants contained very little mercury, only 0.47 mcg/g versus 3.63 mcg/g in controls. This finding raises the possibility of increased mercury retention in the tissue of autistic infants, who also had higher rates of prenatal mercury exposure.

Pichichero et al provide data specific to infant mercury excretion through feces. They measured mercury concentrations in stool of 22 normal infants exposed to thimerosal in vaccines, ages two and six months, and found a range of 23-141 nanograms of mercury per gram of stool (dry weight). The authors interpreted these levels, mere parts per billion, as positive evidence of mercury elimination.

But these mercury concentrations are extremely low, not nearly enough to allow rapid excretion. Infant dry weight stool volumes have been measured at between 1-3 grams per kilogram (kg) per day.5 Based on the 50th percentile weight progression from 3.5-8 kg in the zero-six month period, infant stool volumes may be expected to range from 6-18 grams (dry weight) per day. Taking the stool concentration range for mercury from Pichichero et al, we calculated the time required for an infant to excrete the ethylmercury (187.5 mcg) that U.S. infants received by six months of age during the 1990s.

Stool Hg concentration Daily Hg excretion Days to excrete 187.5 mcg
(ng/g) (mcg/day) (days)

Minimum: 23 0.14-0.41 457-1,339
Maximum: 140 0.84-2.52 74-223

In the case of maximum excretion, early vaccine exposures are eliminated within the time period of exposure, but for those children with stool concentrations at the low end of the range, the infant elimination rate rises to nearly four years. For autistic infants, with evidence of reduced excretion in hair and additional fetal exposures2 (from maternal amalgam filling, fish consumption and Rho D immunoglobulin injections) these excretion times were likely far longer.

Our analysis contradicts the optimism expressed by Pichichero et al and suggests that low mercury excretion rates in some infants may underlie the link between mercury exposures and autism.

Mark F. Blaxill
Director, Safe Minds

Boyd E. Haley, PhD
Professor of Chemistry and Department Chairman
University of Kentucky


References:
1. Pichichero ME, Cernichiari E, Lopreiato J, Treanor J. Mercury concentrations and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing thiomersal: a descriptive study. Lancet. 2002;360(9347):1737-1741
2. Holmes AS, Blaxill MF, Haley BE. Reduced levels of mercury in first baby haircuts of autistic children. Int J Toxic. 2003;111(4):277-285
3. Bernard S, Enayati A, Redwood L, Roger H, Binstock T. Autism: a novel form of mercury poisoning. Med Hypotheses. 2001;56:462-471
4. Clarkson TW. The three modern faces of mercury. Environ Health Perspect. 2002;110 Suppl 1:11-23
5. Chou C, Studies on the use of soybean food in infant feeding in China and the development of formula 5410. Food Nutr Bull. 1983;5(1) :10-11 http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food/8F051e/8F051E00.htm - Contents

Mito/DNA/Autism/GFCF/Glutamate Thoughts From A Food Process Engineer

Now THIS is the kinda thing I was talking about in my fantasy "Responsible Government" piece. Medical professionals hearing the mito/autism news and applying their understanding from other fields to the autism problem! It even has autism gene theory with, get this, real world application that can be of use for helping kids today!

Except in my fantasy she would not have to be posting this to a CNN site, because NIH would have called her when she sent it into them months ago.

Another fascinating Dr. Gupta comment:

Dr. Gupta,

Here is what I wrote to the NIH in January. It still sums up my thoughts. It should be noted that one of the genes for autism discovered last year codes for a MITICONDRIAL aspartate/glutamate carrier.

I am a former food process engineer who believes, because recent studies have implicated genes which code for glutamate synapses in ASD, we should investigate the effects of both INGESTED and INJECTED excitatory free amino acids (glutamic acid and aspartic acid) on children with these autism genes.

If excitatory free amino acids affect ASD children, it would explain both the impact of GF-CF diets AND a vaccine link. Vaccines have free glutamic acid added to preserve the virus. I have created and attached a chart showing where free glutamic acid comes from. It is found in extremely high amounts in processed wheat and dairy products so much so that food manufacturers use these two items routinely to produce free glutamic acid in foods but with a clean label.

Consequently, a child may not improve on a GF-CF diet alone, because it doesn’t limit all potential sources of free glutamic acid like soy. Children are tested at birth for PKU and phenylalanine is limited until the brain is hardwired by the age of 7. Why not treat the predisposition for autism similarly and limit the glutamic and aspartic amino acids in the diets of children with autism genes?

ASD also includes errors of metabolism for sulfur containing amino acids like cysteine. Cysteine is converted to taurine and glutathione by the liver. Taurine regulates heartbeat and osmotic balance as well as bile production and was found to be low after a seizure. In ASD, symptoms include arrhythmias, digestive disorders and a high rate of epilepsy, suggesting that taurine production may be compromised. Glutathione levels are also lower in ASD leading one to conclude that possibly, cysteine metabolism may be responsible for the myriad and seemingly unrelated additional symptoms of ASD. It should be noted that glutamate interferes with the handling of cysteine. When cysteine metabolism is compromised, homocysteine levels may increase. The lower levels of glutathione may put ASD individuals at risk of mercury poisoning, since glutathione helps eliminates mercury from the body.

It should be noted that the NMDA receptors that respond to both glutamate and aspartate are found in the amygdala - part of the limbic system involved in the perception of taste and smell as well as fear. Activating the amygdala in ASD, causes gaze avoidance. ASD children may also over-react to smells and tastes and face to face encounters can overwhelm them with fear. Limiting excitatory amino acids that target the amygdala may help.

Japan consumes more MSG, and fish (a dietary source of mercury) than nearly any other country. Compared to the amount of mercury consumed in fish and the amount of MSG consumed in the diet, the MMR contribution was probably small compared to a typical Japanese diet. In Japan, the MMR vaccine was stopped in 1993. Autism rates still increased. Perhaps in Japan, the diet plays more of a role in autism than the vaccines. Children from other countries with a lower consumption of fish and MSG may find a stronger correlation between vaccines and autism.

New research studies into ASD should include people who are sensitive to the food additives MSG and aspartame. MSG-sensitive persons have reported a distinct lessening of symptoms by using taurine, ibuprofen, CoQ10, Vitamins B6 and B12, carbohydrate, foods high in butyric acid like butter, and Magnesium. Perhaps they share some of the same genes that predispose a child to ASD. New treatment studies should look into these easily available, inexpensive and relatively safe compounds.

Based on what I have observed, here are my recommendations:

1. Treatment of ASD?

REMOVAL of excitatory amino acids (glutamate, aspartate) from VACCINES.
Glutamate and aspartate restricted diet (similar to treatment for PKU) in addition to GF/CF diet.

Supplementation of taurine, glutathione, vitamins B6, C, magnesium, CoQ10.
Increased carbohydrate.

Labeling of free glutamic and aspartic acid on food labels.
Glutamate blockers, anti-histamines and leukotriene blockers for children already suffering or getting vaccinated.

We should calm their surroundings, encourage quiet tasks and less-threatening contact to enhance communication. We need to give them space and not overwhelm them.


2. Diagnosis of ASD?

Test for autism genes preferably AT BIRTH like PKU.

Tests for aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glutathione, taurine, cysteine, homocysteine.


3. Risk factors for ASD?
Autism Genes
Sensitivity to excitatory amino acids
Low taurine, Low glutathione
Sulfite Sensitivity
Vaccination with glutamic acid as a preservative
Damage to the microglia
Overactive immune system
Junk food diet
Aspartame in medications or vitamins or foods
Multiple food allergy


4. Biology of ASD?

Excess CNS sensitivity,

Inability to handle sulfur-containing amino acids,

Overactive immune response linked to Nerve Growth Factor


5. Other areas of ASD research?

Common genes in Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, ALS, MS, and excitatory amino acid sensitivity.

Study persons without ASD who suffer from overactive CNS or neurodegenerative disease and sensitivity to excitatory amino acids. See if they share same genes.

Could Alzhemier’s sufferers simply be ADS children whose brains were hard-wired before damage by the environment?


Thank you for this opportunity to share my ideas on this very important topic,

Please see this webpage that clearly shows why a wheat and dairy based processed food diet may be very harmful to a child sensitive to excitatory amino acids:
http://www.msgtruth.org/avoid.htm

HT:Here in HP

Jenny In Canada

Pharma Insider?

An interesting comment on Dr. Gupta's blog (let's get you guys on the record already!):

I work for a drug company, pharma companies pay big money and lobby over many years to get their vaccines on the schedule, its the dirty truth.

The other truth is that vaccines are developed in separate silos from one another by different companies. They are not clinically tested as a given group -- in other words, where are the clinical studies that mimic the real world dosage schedule and I will start to believe the CDC's position that no harm is caused by vaccines.

Where is the statistical analysis of safety and side effects in the real world for combined dosing of vaccines? Drug companies use these points to sell the efficacy of their individual vaccines but, when combined as groups, no data has been shown to tell parents for sure that vaccines combined from different companies for different diseases will meet the safety threshold as a group given over sustained periods of
time in the first two years of life.

The vaccine discussion must continue because new vaccines are being lobbied everyday to be added to the CDC list of mandated vaccines. As parents we have an obligation
to educate ourselves and understand how vaccines get on the market. We are the voice of our children. If the scientists and clinicians can not answer our questions and have an honest debate over it, then we have nothing but a shell game going on.

There is no doubt that vaccines can save lives on an individual disease basis and prevent massive outbreaks of fatal disease. However, the CDC has an obligation to public safety and should force the drug companies to do the work to understand the interaction of vaccine dosing schedules, active and inert ingredients used in the manufacture of vaccines, and importantly answer supply chain questions (the recent heparin debate with ingredients sourced from China) should have made this issue crystal clear.

I do not want to hear that removal of thimerosal did not reverse autism rates, you can slice data to your advantage there. The fact is the number of vaccines given since thimerosal was removed has probably risen. Where is the data that charts the number of vaccines given under two years old against the number of autism cases? Where are our good scientific minds to think this through?

MMR + Chicken Pox Vaccine = More Seizures

Getting the Merck MMRV (Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Chicken Pox combo vaccine), rather than the MMR and separate Chicken Pox vaccine, results in "slightly more" or more than double the seizures, depending on how you want to spin the story:

"It found a rate of febrile seizure of nine per 10,000 vaccinations among MMRV recipients, and four per 10,000 among children who got separate MMR and chicken pox shots. Of 166 children who had febrile seizures after either type of vaccination, 26 were hospitalized and none died, the CDC said."

So CDC removes its preference for the MMRV vaccine, but does not change it's preference to the MMR and separate chicken pox vaccine. It just does not state a preference. Because half the seizures is not worth stating a preference?!

This does not just call for a preference, it seems to make the MMRV obsolete. What they had before the MMRV was safer.

Is the CDC's priority the health of children or the health of Merck's bottom line?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Children who get a combined vaccine against measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox are slightly more likely to have seizures compared to those getting two separate shots for the same diseases, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The seizures are not usually life-threatening and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was no longer expressing a preference that children get the so-called MMRV combined vaccine rather than two shots -- the MMR vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (German measles) and a separate one against varicella (chicken pox).

The CDC said it made the change after seeing evidence that children who got the combined MMRV vaccine faced an elevated, but still very small, risk of suffering febrile seizures after vaccination compared to those who got the two shots.

A febrile seizure is a convulsion in young children associated with an increase in body temperature, often from an infection. While frightening, the seizures are not usually dangerous and only a small percentage of children who experience one go on to develop epilepsy.

Dr. John Iskander, the acting director of the CDC's Immunization Safety Office, said it remained very important that parents get their children vaccinated against these diseases.

"These are vaccines that have had enormous public health benefits," Iskander said.

The CDC said the availability of the MMRV vaccine, made by pharmaceutical company Merck, already was limited in the United States because of manufacturing constraints unrelated to vaccine safety, and was not expected to be widely available until 2009.

The CDC said a study examined the risk for febrile seizures seven to 10 days after vaccination among 43,353 children ages 12 months to 23 months who received the MMRV vaccine and 314,599 children of the same age who received the MMR vaccine and chicken pox vaccine administered separately.

It found a rate of febrile seizure of nine per 10,000 vaccinations among MMRV recipients, and four per 10,000 among children who got separate MMR and chicken pox shots. Of 166 children who had febrile seizures after either type of vaccination, 26 were hospitalized and none died, the CDC said.

CJR: The Wrong Debate Over Autism

IMHO: Mr. Juskalin misses the point a bit here.

Instead of "Why focusing on thimerosal misses a larger story", I think it would be more accurate to say, "Why focusing on thimerosal is the tip of a larger story"

Most autism looks to be derived from a toxic insult, of which vaccines are likely the worst offender, and of the ingredients of which mercury is most likely the worst offender.

The questions at the conclusion are important, but they have pretty much been answered. And those answers are leading to recovered children. It is hard to argue with results.

The Wrong Debate Over Autism
Why focusing on thimerosal misses a larger story

By Russ Juskalian Tue 11 Mar 2008 10:51 AM

Columbia Journalism Review

Back in 2005, CJR published a story by Daniel Schulman about media coverage of "whether a mercury-containing vaccine" preservative called thimerosal was to blame for an alarming spike in autism cases among a generation of children. Last summer, yet another study was released that showed no link between autism and vaccinations, and last week came news of a lawsuit settlement that required a girl's medical costs to be covered by the government after she was diagnosed with a rare mitchochondria disorder and autistic symptoms related to receiving nine vaccinations in one day. Clearly, the debate rages on, so we decided to take another look at the press-coverage landscape.

Schulman concluded in his piece that the media had been too quick to close the door on the potential link between thimerosal and autism. "[W]ith science left to be done and scientists eager to do it, it seems too soon for the press to shut the door on the debate," he wrote. He cited stories like a New York Times piece by Gardiner Harris and Anahad O'Connor in June of the same year, with the headline: "On Autism's Cause, It's Parents vs. Research".

Schulman, now an editor at Mother Jones, noted that while the vast majority of studies appeared to disprove a vaccine link to autism, there were serious researchers (notably Dr. Mady Hornig and Dr. Ezra Susser, both epidemiologists at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health; Richard Deth, a Northeastern University pharmacologist; and Jill James, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas) who supported the possibility that environmental factors—and perhaps thimerosal in vaccinations—could at least be triggers for autism in predisposed populations that might otherwise not have developed the disorder.

(It's a lot like the global warming debate in reverse: almost every major study said there was no credence to the autism-vaccine link, but there were, and still are, a few credible voices out there saying the case isn't closed.)

So, where are we now?

Last summer, a report on vaccinations and neurological problems in children was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the vaccine-autism debate got a little more fuel. Depending on which side of the fence you stand, the argument can be made that coverage of this report was good or bad. Autism is a touchstone issue, so it was often mentioned in headlines and stories, even if only to note that the study itself was not focused on autism.

A sample of stories and headlines from September 27, 2007, paints a picture:

Newsday: "CDC: Vaccines are safe; Though autism was not a focus, study says mercury preservative in shots did not cause neurological problems"

Federal health officials yesterday reassured parents that childhood vaccines are safe and that kids who got routine immunizations a decade ago when shots contained a controversial mercury preservative are not at risk of neurological problems….An investigation examining autism and thimerosal, the preservative that once was added to common vaccines, is expected to be published within 12 months, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.

The New York Times: "Vaccine Compound Is Harmless, Study Says, as Autism Debate Rages"

Yet another study has found that a controversial vaccine preservative appears to be harmless. But the study is unlikely to end the increasingly charged debate about vaccine safety.

The Globe and Mail (Canada): "Vaccine preservative can cause tics; But according to U.S. research, thimerosal does not appear harmful to kids' learning skills or physical abilities"

"The scientific literature to date does not support a causal link between autism and thimerosal, but it's important to say this study isn't of autism," she said. "There's a separate CDC study ongoing that's going to get at that question to provide more information."

Even more recently, the issue of an autism-vaccine link came up in response to a settlement involving the government and nine-year-old Hannah Poling. Poling started showing symptoms typical of autism shortly after receiving a bundle of vaccinations when she was a toddler. The government decided that Poling's vaccinations, given on top of a rare metabolic disorder, caused her problems.

The headlines this time covered broader ground: KHBS Fort Smith, "Vaccine-Autism Link Unproven By Controversial Georgia Case"; Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Ga. girl helps link autism to childhood vaccines"; The New York Times, "Deal in an Autism Case Fuels Debate on Vaccine".

Not even John McCain could let this one go by as was noted by Benedict Carey in the Times, in a piece titled, "Into the Fray Over the Cause of Autism":

"It's indisputable that autism is on the rise among children," Senator John McCain said while campaigning recently in Texas. "The question is, What's causing it? And we go back and forth, and there's strong evidence that indicates that it's got to do with a preservative in vaccines."

With that comment, Mr. McCain marked his entry into one of the most politicized scientific issues in a generation.

It appears that Schulman was on to something when he claimed the media had taken too narrow a tack on the autism-vaccine link issue. But he, too, may have had his keyboard aimed in the wrong place.

The problem with the coverage was not that the few credible opposition voices didn't receive balanced coverage, but rather that the whole issue of whether vaccines containing thimerosal or mercury cause autism served as a distraction from the ongoing efforts to tease apart the causes of this enigmatic disorder. That's not to say the vaccine issue shouldn't be covered at all, but that there are many more important—if less emotionally driven—questions related to autism that deserve further investigation.

Is autism caused by environmental factors? Can it be triggered by these factors? How does epidemiology try to solve these riddles? Are some people genetically predisposed to respond to environmental factors (like mercury)? Can we find a way to screen for these predispositions (like Poling's metabolic condition)? What else is in our environment that poses a risk?

Lest we forget about the long list of environmental contaminants that have been pointed out going back to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, the AP just released its own investigation that found a wide array of pharmaceuticals in tap water across America. A potent reminder that while important, the vaccination story is only one part of a bigger issue.

Schulman is right about one thing: when we simplify science to "yes" or "no" questions the repercussions can be dangerous. And simply because a few scientist are in the minority does not mean their careers and their work should be dismissed with the wave of a hand.

We may never find an answer to the autism-vaccine debate that satisfies everyone—and that's okay. Science pushes on, and the myriad questions about autism will continue to be researched long after the last mercury-containing inoculation is administered.

Dr. Poling Responds To Autism/Vaccine Nay Sayers

Dr. Stephen Novella on his blog NeuroLogica has posted his evaluation of the Poling case and why he believes it does not support the vaccine autism connection.

Dr. Jon Poling has responded as seen on The Age of Autism countering the arguement and expanding on the information that has been available publicly on the case.

It is a discussion between two neurologists and I will need to read them each 5 times before I can even begin to comment on the conversation.

But I will note two things.

First, I am impressed that Dr. Poling lists his potential conflicts of interest at the end of his letter. I think that every medical professional should do that as a part of their signature (For example I would sign Ginger Taylor, B.S., M.S., Mother of regressive autistic child who suspects vaccines had a causal relationship to ASD, Has Google Ads on her autism blog).

Second, for all of his in depth analysis of the medical facts in this case, Dr. Novella failed to correctly discern the sex of the child in question. He refers to Hannah several times as "he" and "the child", never as a female. He criticizes David Kirby's articles about the case, but did not read them thoughtfully enough to see that Mr. Kirby was clearly talking about a girl.

I will reserve this space for further comment as I come to understand this case further.

I will post both pieces:

Has the Government Conceded Vaccines Cause Autism?
Published by Steven Novella

No. But David Kirby and other anti-vaccinationist ideologues and members of the so-called mercury militia would like you to think so. For background, the Autism Omnibus refers to a set of hearings before the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program regarding claims by about 5000 parents that their childrens’ autism was caused by vaccines. These claims are primarily based upon the various hypotheses that the MMR vaccine, or thimerosal in some vaccines (but not MMR), or the combination of both, is a cause of autism.

So far there have been hearings, but only one final decision. In November the US government settled one case in favor of the petitioner. This is the case those who have supported the failed hypothesis that vaccines cause autism now point to as admission that they were right all along (or at least as a means of stoking the flames of fear about vaccines.) But the US government did not admit vaccines cause autism - they conceded one case that is highly complex and not necessarily representative of any other case and cannot be reasonably used to support the vaccine/autism connection.

David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm, wrote a highly misleading article the other day in the Huffington Post on this issue. Orac has already done an excellent job of tearing down Kirby’s claims. He points out that legal cases are often decided for legal - not necessarily scientific - reasons. That the government only conceded that “compensation is appropriate.” That is all - they conceded nothing about the larger question of vaccines and autism. Orac also points out that if this case were a concession of a connection why would the petitioner’s lawyers settle and give away a case that could win them all their other cases?

David Kirby has also written a follow up article, where he publishes verbatim the US government’s decision. Kirby asks his readers:

If you feel this document suggests that some kind of link may be possible, you might consider forwarding it to your elected representatives for further investigation.

But, of course, if you feel that this document in no way implicates vaccines, then let’s just keep going about our business as usual and not pay any attention to all those sick kids behind the curtain.

I think Kirby is hoping that most people will not have the patience or medical background to read and understand the entire document, and that they will come away with a vague notion that there must be something to all this vaccine fear-mongering. What does the document really tell us?

To summarize the case history, the child in the case appeared normal and healthy, except for chronic otitis media, until about 20 months of age at which time he had a series of vaccines according to the routine vaccination schedule. Two days later the child had a fever to 102.3, was lethargic, irritable, and would arch his back when he cried. The child then developed a rash. It was later determined that the child had: “encephalopathy progressed to persistent loss of previously acquired language, eye contact, and relatedness.” The child regressed and developed symptoms similar to those of autism spectrum disorder. However, the child does not have autism - he has a regressive neurological disorder that includes blood and muscle abnormalities not seen in autism, and any clinical resemblance to autism is not a reflection of a common cause.

Six years after symptoms began the child also developed partial temporal lobe epilepsy that required treatment.

During this time the child also had an extensive workup, which discovered:

A CSF organic acids test, on January 8, 2002, displayed an increased lactate to pyruvate ratio of 28,1 which can be seen in disorders of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation.

A muscle biopsy test for oxidative phosphorylation disease revealed abnormal results for Type One and Three.

In February 2004, a mitochondrial DNA (”mtDNA”) point mutation analysis revealed a single nucleotide change in the 16S ribosomal RNA gene (T2387C)

It if often difficult or impossible to draw firm conclusions from a single case, so I will lay out what I see as all the possible alternative hypotheses to explain this information.

1) One possibility is that the child was perfectly normal prior to the vaccines, which caused an encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) which caused brain damage, including the later seizures. The metabolic disorder and mutation may be a red herring and have no bearing on the child’s clinical condition.

2) The mitochondrial disorder predisposed the child to have a reaction from the vaccines, resulting in encephalitis. The subsequent neurological regression was due to some combination of the vaccine-induced encephalitis and the underlying mitochondrial disorder.

3) The child’s mitochondrial mutation is the primary cause of their neurological regression, but that this regression was exacerbated by the vaccine-induced encephalitis (this seems to be the US government’s conclusion).

4) The child has a mitochondrial encephalopathy which is the sole cause of all of the child’s neurological signs and symptoms. The reaction to the vaccines may have played no role at all in the subsequent regression, and the child’s current neurological condition is exactly what it would have been had they never been vaccinated. It is even possible that the encephalitis was merely the first manifestation of the mitochondrial disorder and the timing after the vaccines was merely coincidental.

That lays out the spectrum of possibilities in this case. At this point in time we do not have (or at least I am not privy to) sufficient scientific information to say definitively where along this spectrum the truth lies. The US government’s decision was based partly on this uncertainty - erring on the side of compensating the child and family.

But we can discuss the plausibility of each scenario. Kirby dismisses anything resembling option 4, but his dismissal is naive and unjustified. In fact the patient’s clinical syndrome resembles what is called a mitochondrial encephalopathy - with increased lactic acid, abnormal muscle biopsy, neurological regression, appropriate age of onset, even seizures. It is probably not a coincidence that the child has a point mutation in a gene that has been previously linked to these very mitochondrial disorders. Kirby incorrectly argues:

While it’s true that some inherited forms of Mt disease can manifest as developmental delays, (and even ASD in the form of Rhett Syndrome) these forms are linked to identified genetic mutations, of which T2387C is not involved. In fact little, if anything, is known about the function of this particular gene.

This is misleading. Kirby refers to “this particular gene” which makes me think that he believes T2387C is a gene. It’s not - it describes a point mutation (at location 2387 a thymidine has replaced a cytosine). The gene is the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Mutations in this gene have been identified to cause mitochondrial encephalopathy. So Kirby is just wrong. It is true that I could not find that this specific mutation has been identified before, but that is common in genetics - a disease is linked to point mutations in a specific gene (or perhaps specific regions of a gene) but most or all families identified have their own specific mutation.

This makes option 4 very plausible - it would be an incredible coincidence if this child just happened to have a mutation in a gene that was known to cause their exact constellation of neurological signs and symptoms and yet the mutation was not the sole or primary cause of those symptoms.

But it does not rule out option 3 - that the mitochondrial disorder was the primary cause of the child’s neurological disorder but that a reaction to the vaccines worsened the ultimate symptoms. Therefore the government’s decision was reasonable - but is absolutely not a concession about any claim made by the petitioners concerning a link between vaccines an autism.

It does, however, make any hypothesis resembling option 1 or 2 extremely unlikely. Further testing regarding the physiological effects of this child’s specific mutation would be helpful, and such testing may be under way but I could find nothing published to date. It is theoretically possible that the identified mutation does not cause a change in the gene product or mitochondrial function, and is therefore just a coincidence. But this is unlikely given the clinical features in this case are a good match to known mutations of that gene.

Kirby, however, apparently wants to wring as much fear and confusion out of these events as he possibly can. So now he speculates wildly that maybe children diagnosed with autism really have this mitochondrial disorder combined with vaccines (he has to keep vaccines in the loop). Given the rarity of such mutations, and the fact that there were specific features in this case that would likely be uncovered in the routine evaluation of a child with autism (like an elevated lactic acid), it is highly unlikely that there are many children with vaccine-triggered mitochondrial encephalopathy mimicking autism out there.

It has been found that some children with autism have mitochondrial dysfunction - one study found that 7.2% of subjects with autism had “definite mitochondrial respiratory chain disorder.” Poling et al, in response to this child’s case, did a retrospective study of children with autism and with other neurological disorders and found that “Aspartate aminotransferase was elevated in 38% of patients with autism compared with 15% of controls.” Such findings are preliminary - the only conclusions that can be drawn is that the association between autism and metabolic disorders requires further investigation. However, these studies did not look at the incidence of suspicious mitochondial mutations in autism, and these findings may not be relevant to this case.

Kirby also wildly speculates that perhaps the evil toxins in vaccines caused the mutation in the first place. He writes:

Use of the AIDS drug AZT, for example, can cause Mt disorders by deleting large segments of mitochondrial DNA. If that is the case, might other exposures to drugs or toxins (i.e., thimerosal, mercury in fish, air pollution, pesticides, live viruses) also cause sporadic Mt disease in certain subsets of children, through similar genotoxic mechanisms?

Among stiff competition, this is perhaps the most absurd and scientifically ignorant thing Kirby has every written. AZT does NOT cause a genetic disorder. AZT blocks DNA replication (it blocks the copying of DNA) - that is its mechanism as an anti-retroviral drug. In patients it can also block mitochondrial DNA replication, thereby causing mitochondrial depletion. This results in there being too few mitochondria (the energy factories of cells) in some cell populations and causes dysfunction in tissue that is especially susceptible to the effects of this dearth of mitochondria. This is a side effect of AZT and also other retrovirals because of sustained use at doses designed to inhibit DNA replication. This does result in some effects that are similar to mitochondrial genetic disorders - because both result in insufficient mitochondrial activity. But that is the only similarity. AZT does not cause a disseminated somatic mutation, which is the incredible analogy that Kirby is making.

What Kirby is suggesting is that in infants and toddlers toxins can cause the same point mutation in millions of different cells throughout the body. Toxin-induced mutations do not cause genetic diseases, unless they occur in a germ cell in which case a mother or father can pass the mutation onto their children. If it occurs in the womb then large cell populations may be affected (whatever cells derive from the cell that had the mutation). But in a child a point mutation would affect only one cell and any cells that derive from it. A toxic mutagen would cause different random point mutations in different cells. This could not cause the mitrochondrial encephalopathy in this child. It can increase the risk of cancer, because cancer can develop from a single mutation in a single cell that causes it to become neoplastic.

Conclusion

This is a unique and idiosyncratic case that raises more questions than it answers. In my opinion as a neurologist, with the information provided, the child has a mitochondrial encephalopathy. The role of the vaccines is unclear, but at worst a rare vaccine reaction exacerbated the underlying mitochondrial disorder. This case has no clear implication for the larger question concerning vaccines and autism, which is likely why both sides agreed to settle.

Yet those who insist, despite the evidence, on claiming that vaccines or mercury are linked to autism are likely to add this permanently to their litany of misinformation and fear-mongering.

Note: I am searching for any follow up information pertinent to this case and will post any addendum here.

DR. JON POLING TO DR. STEVEN NOVELLA ON AGE OF AUTISM

PolingsBy Dr. Jon Poling, father of Hannah Poling.

OPEN LETTER TO DR. STEVEN NOVELLA
IN RESPONSE TO "Has the Government Conceded Vaccines Cause Autism?"

Dr. Novella,

Thank you for generating interesting discussion regarding my little girl, Hannah Poling. I would like to give you additional information in order to generate further productive discussions on this matter amongst the neurology community. This information should assist you, Dr. DiMauro, and Dr. Trevethan, who have also commented publicly, to formulate better theories as to the significance of Hannah’s mitochondrial dysfunction in relation to her autism.

1. Mito Dysfunction or Mito Disease? Chicken or Egg?

To begin with, I would like to point out that the spectrum of mitochondrial dysfunction is probably considered more broad and complex than the spectrum of neurobehavioral abnormalities seen with autism. Dysfunction of the mitochondria, specifically dysfunction of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway, most likely contributes, but may not be the cause of many diseases—including Parkinson’s disease, Friedreich’s Ataxia, Alzheimer disease, etc. Thus, it is probably incorrect to refer to mitochondrial dysfunctional and mitochondrial disease interchangeably. Indeed, the role of the dysfunctional mitochondrial are yet to be clarified in these diseases. Thus, I will refer to Hannah’s metabolic condition as a mitochondrial dysfunction, not a mitochondrial disease.

2. Mito Genetic Finding? Mito mtDNA ‘red herring’ ?

ADDITIONAL GENETIC TESTING NOT AVAILABLE IN THE J CHILD NEUROL CASE REPORT: Dr. Shoffner performed genetic testing on both Hannah’s muscle and her mother’s leukocytes subsequent to our case report. Hannah (muscle mtDNA) and her mother (leukocyte mtDNA) were both found to be HOMOPLASMIC for the mtDNA T2387C transition mutation.
Our analysis of this genetic finding in the mtDNA was significantly different than those of other physicians that I’ve seen in scientific blogs or commentary. I suspect it would have been fatal to both Hannah and her mother if this homoplasmic mutation was pathogenic since (as I am sure you are aware) the mutation is on the 16S ribosomal subunit which is highly conserved. Thus, this mutation probably represents a benign polymorphism rather than pathogenic mutation. It is unlikely, but possible, that the mutation is significant to Hannah, but in such a case, it must work in concert with other nuclear genes to cause her mitochondrial dysfunction. To our knowledge, this point mutation has not been reported in cases similar to Hannah’s.

3. Encephalitis? Metabolic Encephalopathy? Or “Regressive Encephalopathy with Features of Autism Spectrum Disorder”

The other interesting term you used was encephalitis rather than encephalopathy. We are not sure that she had an “-itis” but we did clearly document a regressive encephalopathy based on not only our parental reporting, but also based on the pediatrician’s documents, affidavits from other family members, and the growth curve measurements (injury pattern). Early on in the regression we did note back arching (opisthotonus), fever, and disrupted sleep. Although fever occurred a lumbar puncture was not performed.

An interesting developing story in autism research is the immune/inflammatory connection. In her senior resident thesis, Dr. Anne Comi, a former JHU colleague, along with Dr. Andy Zimmerman, reported, the increased prevalence of autoimmune disease in families of autistic offspring. Interesting, Hannah also has a maternal family history of autoimmune disease. Dr. Carlos Pardo, another one of my former chief residents, along with Andy and Dr. Vargas, published a beautiful study in the Archives of Neurology, demonstrating neuroinflammation on autopsy of brain samples and inflammation cytokine markers in the CSF of individuals with Autism. The interesting thing was that inflammation was demonstrated in autopsy specimens from adults as old as 44 years of age. The conclusion was that further research would be required to determine if inflammation was a primary disorder in autism or; alternatively, if inflammation and microglial activation was secondary to neurodegeneration. Dr. Sudhir Gupta at UC Irvine has a nice model of how the two pathways of neuroinflammation and mito dysfunction may not be mutually exclusive. This remains to be seen; however, study of mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation hold the promise of treatment development. The two avenues of research deserve funding at the highest levels.

4. How many Hannah Polings are out there?

The short answer is that nobody knows. However, there is emerging data to suggest that she is not alone.

Dr. Shoffner will be presenting his experience with 37 patients with combined autism and mitochondrial dysfunction at the AAN meeting in Chicago this April. 65% of his referrals are positive for mitochondrial dysfunction. Of course, his yield is subject to referral bias as a mito expert, so the prevalence of mitochondrial dysfunction in Autism is surely less than 65%.

The best estimate to date of the prevalence of mitochondrial dysfunction in autistic patients comes from Oliviera et al. in a population of 120, 5 of 69 (or 7.2%) showed mitochondrial dysfunction. If this is generalized to the US estimate of 1 million patients with ASDs, then the number of kids like Hannah could be 72,000! Isn’t this worth further study?

Dr. Shoffner furthermore advocates, along with us, that vaccination is important even for kids with mitochondrial dysfunction. I would argue that you should not give nine at one time and that none of them should contain Thimerosal (mercury).

5. Thimerosal—On or Off the Table?

I don’t want to dwell on mercury, as this theory is not why HHS conceded Hannah’s case (imo). Dr. DiContanzo just wrote an interesting blog about how his opinion of mercury in vaccines has changed (http://drugs.about.com/b/2008/03/08/mercury-in-vaccines-and-autism-the-burden-of-proof-may-shift.htm).

My opinion is that mercury is a potent neurotoxin. Therefore, don’t inject it into kids! Interestingly, basic research studies have shown that Thimerosal toxicity occurs through mitochondrial pathways. Officials point to the large epidemiology studies as proof that there is no link between thimerosal and autism. However, these studies are not powered to disprove the null hypothesis when considering that the mitochondrial autistic population may be just a small percent of the case totals. Remember that while the CDC sponsored Verstraten study is hyped as a negative study, it DID find a statistically significant increase in childhood tics in those exposed to higher doses of thimerosal.

6. Hannah was destined to regress? Or was she?

Some experts have already stated that ‘mitochondrial disease’ is degenerative so the vaccine reaction was just the start of an inevitable decline. This was neither the opinion of Dr. Richard Kelley at KKI nor Dr. John Shoffner. In fact, the markers that led us down the mitochondrial trail (inc AST but not ALT, low serum bicarbonate, and slight increased CK, increase in the alanine to lysine ratio on PAA) are no longer present. Furthermore, in our pilot study (unpublished but mentioned in the J child neurol paper), Dr. Frye (the statistician for our study and also a child neurologist) found a non-significant trend that AST decreased toward normal with increasing age. With further studies we hoped to examine the hypothesis that this abnormality may be representative of a developing/immature biochemical pathway present in some children.

7. Triple Hit Hypothesis—#1Underlying genetic susceptibility #2Insult must occur during specific developmental period #3 A certain vaccination or combination thereof is the environmental trigger (?vaccine component like thimerosal ?direct immune stim/fever reaction ?live virus reaction?)

The implication is that Hannah’s type of autism requires a genetic susceptibility and properly timed insult to manifest disease. We have not subjected Hannah to another muscle biopsy or re-examined ox phos functional assays that were published in the paper. I can inform your readers though that the serum biochemical markers have resolved, growth resumed and continues along a normal trajectory, and there have been no other episodes of regression since 2000. We are however left with autism and later in 2006, epilepsy.
It is recommended that studies be initiated immediately to screen siblings of cases to identify biochemical markers so as to identify potential screening tests.

I agree with the mainstream that my daughter’s case has raised many intelligent discussions and questions. I’m very proud of her for starting this discussion. Our hope is that further research into this case and others like it, we will be also to find screening tests to prevent what happened to my daughter from happening to anybody else.

(Dr. Poling acknowledges the editorial comments and insightful suggestions of Dr. Richard E. Frye. He also would like to declare his conflicts of interest. First of all, he is the father of Hannah Poling. Dr. Poling has also accepted consultancy or speakers honoraria from Pfizer, Eisai, Ortho-McNeil, Biogen, Teva, Immunex (now Amgen), and Allergan.)

PS While I thought it useful to clarify some of the neurological issues raised by the government's concession of my daughter's case, please understand that I will not be able to respond to individual comments posted. Thank-you. Jon