The Vaccine Trigger Gets To Court (USNews&WorldReport)

[Guest guest]

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2008/04/10/fighting-\

the-autism-vaccine-war.html

The Vaccine Trigger Gets To Court

U.S. News & World Report

<http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2008/04/10/fighting\

-the-autism-vaccine-war.html>Fighting

the Autism-Vaccine War

April 10, 2008

By Bernadine Healy M.D.

One of the most vitriolic debates in medical

history is just beginning to have its day in

court­vaccine court, that is. Without laying

blame, the independent Office of Special Masters

of the Court of Federal Claims­with a 20-year

record of handling vaccine matters­recently

conceded that the brain damage and autistic

behavior of Hannah Poling stemmed from her

exposure as a toddler to five vaccinations on one

day in July 2000. Two days later, she was

overtaken by a high fever and an encephalopathy

that deteriorated into autistic behavior. Even

though autism has a strong genetic basis, and she

has a coexisting rare mitochondrial disorder, I

would not be too quick to dismiss Hannah as an

anomaly. As a trigger, vaccines carry a ring of

historical and biological plausibility.

At some level, the decision was a vindication for

families who have been battling with the vaccine

community, arguing that some poorly understood

reaction to components of vaccines or their

mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, could

cause brain injury. Yes, vaccines are

extraordinarily safe and bring huge public health

benefit. (Remember the 1950s polio epidemics?)

But vaccine experts tend to look at the

population as a whole, not at individual

patients. And population studies are not granular

enough to detect individual metabolic, genetic,

or immunological variation that might make some

children under certain circumstances susceptible

to neurological complications after vaccination.

A trigger? Families are not alone in searching

for a trigger that might explain why autism and

autism spectrum disorders have skyrocketed; now

they reportedly affect about 1 in 150 kids. No

doubt some of the increase is soft, due to

broader diagnostic criteria, greater awareness,

and­now that the notion of a detached

" refrigerator " mom as a cause has blessedly

fallen by the wayside­greater openness. But the

rise of this disorder, which shows up before age

3, happens to coincide with the increased number

and type of vaccine shots in the first few years

of life. So as a trigger, vaccines carry a ring

of both historical and biological plausibility.

Go back 40 or 50 years. The medical literature is

replete with reports of neurological reactions to

vaccines, such as mood changes, seizures, brain

inflammation, and swelling. Several hundred cases

of the paralytic illness Guillain-Barré after the

swine flu vaccine were blamed on the government

and gave Gerald Ford heartburn­but eventually led to the vaccine court.

Pediatricians were concerned enough about

mercury, which is known to cause neurological

damage in developing infant and fetal brains,

that they mobilized to have thimerosal removed

from childhood vaccines by 2002. Their concern

was not autism but the lunacy of injecting

mercury into little kids through mandated

vaccines that together exceeded mercury safety

guidelines designed for adults. But as in all

things vaccine, this move too was contentious.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention and the World Health Organization

remain unconvinced that thimerosal puts young children at risk.

There is no evidence that removal of thimerosal

from vaccines has lowered autism rates. But

autism numbers are not precise, so I would say

that considerably more research is still needed

on some provocative findings. After all,

thimerosal crosses the placenta, and pregnant

women are advised to get flu shots, which often

contain it. Studies in mice suggest that genetic

variation influences brain sensitivity to the

toxic effects of mercury. And a primate study

designed to mimic vaccination in infants reported

in 2005 that thimerosal may clear from the blood

in a matter of days but leaves inorganic mercury behind in the brain.

The debate roils on­even about research. The

Institute of Medicine in its last report on

vaccines and autism in 2004 said that more

research on the vaccine question is

counterproductive: Finding a susceptibility to

this risk in some infants would call into

question the universal vaccination strategy that

is a bedrock of immunization programs and could

lead to widespread rejection of vaccines. The IOM

concluded that efforts to find a link between

vaccines and autism " must be balanced against the

broader benefit of the current vaccine program for all children. "

Wow. Medicine has moved ahead only because

doctors, researchers, and yes, families, have

openly challenged even the most sacred medical

dogma. At the risk of incurring the wrath of some

of my dearest colleagues, I say thank goodness for the vaccine court.

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

Vaccines -

http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm Vaccine

Dangers & Childhood Disease & Homeopathy Email classes start April 18

[Guest guest]

>

>

>http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2008/04/10/fighting\

-the-autism-vaccine-war.html

>

>The Vaccine Trigger Gets To Court

>U.S. News & World Report

><http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2008/04/10/fightin\

g-the-autism-vaccine-war.html>Fighting

>the Autism-Vaccine War

>April 10, 2008

>By Bernadine Healy M.D.

>Yes, vaccines are extraordinarily safe and bring huge public health

>benefit. (Remember the 1950s polio epidemics?) But vaccine experts

>tend to look at the population as a whole, not at individual patients.

Certainly disagree with this

>Pediatricians were concerned enough about mercury, which is known to

>cause neurological damage in developing infant and fetal brains,

>that they mobilized to have thimerosal removed from childhood

>vaccines by 2002. Their concern was not autism but the lunacy of

>injecting mercury into little kids through mandated vaccines that

>together exceeded mercury safety guidelines designed for adults. But

>as in all things vaccine, this move too was contentious.

This certainly is NOT what happened. Pediatricians did not instigate

the removal of mercury - we did.

but grateful for what she did say that was accurate.

>--------------------------------------------------------

>Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

>Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

>Vaccines - http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm Vaccine Dangers &

>Childhood Disease & Homeopathy Email classes start April 18

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

Vaccines - http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm Vaccine Dangers &

Childhood Disease & Homeopathy Email classes start April 18

[Guest guest]

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2008/04/10/fighting-the-autism-vaccine-war.html

The Vaccine Trigger Gets To Court

U.S. News & World Report

Fighting the Autism-Vaccine War

April 10, 2008

By Bernadine Healy M.D.

Yes, vaccines are

extraordinarily safe and bring huge public health benefit. (Remember the

1950s polio epidemics?) But vaccine experts tend to look at the

population as a whole, not at individual patients.

Certainly disagree with this

Pediatricians were concerned

enough about mercury, which is known to cause neurological damage in

developing infant and fetal brains, that they mobilized to have

thimerosal removed from childhood vaccines by 2002. Their concern was not

autism but the lunacy of injecting mercury into little kids through

mandated vaccines that together exceeded mercury safety guidelines

designed for adults. But as in all things vaccine, this move too was

contentious.

This certainly is NOT what happened. Pediatricians did not

instigate the removal of mercury - we did.

but grateful for what she did say that was accurate.

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales

UK

Vaccines -

http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm Vaccine Dangers &

Childhood Disease & Homeopathy Email classes start April

18

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales

UK

Vaccines -

http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm Vaccine Dangers &

Childhood Disease & Homeopathy Email classes start April 18