MMR The Debate That Won't Go Away

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MMR: The debate that won't go away

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 26/05/2008Page 1 of 3

It seemed the MMR controversy had been resolved, but does new research point to

another possible connection between autism and vaccinations? Cassandra Jardine

reports

Four years ago, it seemed as if the agonising over autism and the measles, mumps

and rubella (MMR) triple vaccine had finally been consigned to history. Several

large-scale epidemiological studies concluded there was no evidence of a link

between the two.

By the age of three, 90 per cent of children have had the MMR vaccine

Taking just one of these studies - involving 4,500 children in Denmark - Sir

King, chief scientific adviser to the Government until the end of 2007,

said: " If anything, there was more autism found among the children who weren't

vaccinated. "

Parents who had claimed that their children had regressed mentally and

physically following the MMR vaccination were told it was probably a

coincidence. Meanwhile, Dr Wakefield, the gastroenterologist whose

research had triggered the scare, with a study in 1998 of 12 such cases, is

currently defending himself in front of the General Medical Council against

charges of gross professional misconduct.

So how is it now that the debate has been reignited in the US, with growing

concern that an apparent increase in the number of children with autism may have

an environmental cause (including MMR and other childhood vaccinations)?

All three presidential candidates have referred to what Republican Senator

McCain calls the " autism epidemic " , pledging substantial sums of money for

research.

advertisementThen, earlier this month, Dr Bernardine Healy, former head of the

National Institutes of Health, America's medical research agency, told CBS News:

" I think that the public health officials have been too quick to dismiss the

[autism link to vaccination] hypothesis as irrational. " She called for detailed

studies of children whose parents believe they have been affected. " I have not

seen major studies that focus on 300 kids who got autistic symptoms within a

period of a few weeks of the vaccines, " she said.

Healy's comments are significant because she's the first figure from the

mainstream medical establishment not to dismiss the link.

Next month Kirby, author of the award-winning book Evidence of Harm, will

be in London giving a public lecture and addressing the House of Lords about the

causes of regressive autism (as opposed to classic autism, which does not

involve a sudden loss of speech and other functions).

The focus of his attention is not MMR but thiomersal, a preservative containing

mercury (a known neurotoxin) that is used in some vaccines, including those for

flu. (The Department of Health is keen to stress that no children's vaccine in

this country has contained thiomersal for the past four years, and when it was

formerly used in childhood vaccines it was at levels that were lower than those

in the US.)

" A convergence of events, " Kirby says, " has highlighted the importance of

research, treatment and identifying the minority of children who may be

susceptible to vaccine damage. "

Chief among these convergent events is the case of Hannah Poling, the

nine-year-old daughter of neurologist Jon Poling, from Georgia. In July 2000,

aged 19 months, she received five different vaccinations, against a total of

nine diseases, in one day. Her mother Terry says that when she entered the

surgery, she was a bright - even precocious - child. Within 48 hours, she had

stopped eating, ceased to respond to speech and become prone to episodes of

screaming and fever.

Hannah Poling's case is part of the Omnibus Autism Proceeding - 5,000 cases of

regressive autism being looked at by the US Vaccines Court, a body funded by a

75 cent levy on every vaccine given in the US. In February, the US government

agreed compensation for her disabilities, having conceded, out of court, that

her condition had been " significantly aggravated " by vaccination.

Initially, her case didn't appear to be of widespread significance because she

was found to have a dysfunction of the mitochondria, the " batteries " in our

cells that produce energy essential for normal functioning. This abnormality

made her an unsuitable test case in any legal proceedings.

But then the next child under consideration as a test case was found to have a

similar weakness, raising the possibility that a small minority of children may,

because of a genetic predisposition, be more susceptible to the damaging

side-effects of vaccination.

" It now looks as if 20 per cent of children with regressive autism may have this

weakness; some are saying 65 per cent, " says Kirby. " The cause of this weakness

could be genetic or environmental. "

The last point is crucial. Jon Poling, Hannah's father, believes two triggers

are needed before a child becomes severely ill: possibly, an early vaccination

which might compromise a child's metabolic system, then a later one which

results in symptoms. There are various theories why this might be so. According

to Kirby, even trace elements of mercury and aluminium (also used in

vaccines) might damage the mitochondria and could be passed from mother to

foetus.

The actor Jim Carrey and his wife McCarthy believe that McCarthy's son,

Evan, was " vaccine-damaged " four years ago, aged two. " In the Eighties. children

received only 10 vaccines by age five, whereas today they are given 36

immunisations, most of them by age two, " says McCarthy. " With billions of

pharmaceutical dollars, could it be possible that the vaccine programme is

becoming more of a profit engine then a means of prevention? " On June 4 they

will be leading a march in Washington DC, waving banners saying " Too many. Too

soon. "

To date there has been no successful legal challenge to MMR in the UK. There is

a Vaccine Damage Payments Unit which was set up in 1979, following concerns that

the whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine could cause brain damage (the vaccine has

since been changed).

However, compensation is capped at £120,000 (including legal costs) and

disability thresholds are high. Only two out of 53 claims were successful in the

year to April 2008 - neither of them for autism.

" Under the US system, a person may receive an award if they can prove the

vaccine caused an existing condition to get worse, " explains a spokesperson for

the Department of Work and Pensions. " This provision doesn't exist in the UK

system, where… payments are made when it can be shown that it was more probable

than not that someone became severely disabled as a result of vaccination. "

In the civil courts, more than 1,000 cases were being prepared for a group MMR

action until, in September 2003, legal aid was withdrawn. No reason was given.

Following the success of the Poling case in the US, Todd of London

solicitors Hodge, & , has 200 clients who want to reapply for legal

aid. He believes vaccines could be linked to a whole range of neurological and

auto-immune disorders - epilepsy, childhood diabetes, arthritis, and even

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

" Vaccines are designed not to infect but to stimulate the immune system into

making a response, so it would not be surprising if they were implicated in

auto-immune disorders, " Todd says. " Even if the condition was underlying,

vaccines may have materially affected its onset. "

The vaccine hypothesis was bolstered recently by a five-year study in monkeys

who were given the same vaccinations that American children are routinely given.

Last week, Dr Hewitson, a specialist in obstetrics, gynaecology and

reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, told the International

Meeting for Autism Research in London that in the double-blind

placebo-controlled study, 13 vaccinated animals showed increased aggression,

impaired cognitive skills and developmental delay. The three unvaccinated

animals in the study developed normally.

" There was a significant difference between the two groups, " said Hewitson. " The

vaccinated group had trouble developing reflexes?… They also became more insular

and more aggressive. There was an increase in aggressive behaviour after they

had their MMR vaccines, and they stopped exploring their surroundings as much. "

Abnormal brain activity was found in the monkeys, and higher sensitivity to a

naturally occurring brain chemical linked to sleeplessness, hallucinations, lack

of social skills and a high pain threshold - all symptoms found in children on

the autistic spectrum. The monkeys also exhibited abnormalities of the amygdala,

the part of the brain which regulates emotions.

" We can't conclude that vaccines cause autism from this study, " said Hewitson,

" What we can conclude is that the vaccinated monkeys showed significant negative

behavioural differences before and after the MMR. "

Certainly autism appears to have increased dramatically. In the early Nineties

prevalence in the UK was put at four or five per 10,000. In 2006, The Lancet put

it at one in 86 and, last year, Cambridge University's Autism Research Centre

estimated that some 210,000 children - one in 58 - suffer from an autistic

spectrum disorder.

Few people believe that vaccination programmes should cease. The vast majority

of children benefit from being protected against a range of diseases, but there

are concerns that some may be paying a high price for immunity. Already there is

a sense of panic coming from Government circles about the future of the

immunisation programme.

Earlier this month Labour MP, Creagh, proposed that children should not be

allowed to attend school if they haven't had all their jabs; last week it

emerged that doctors in the south-east of England were giving children two doses

of MMR in a three-month interval (the usual regime is at 13 months and then aged

3) to prevent a measles outbreak spreading beyond the capital.

Of course further research is needed into the early identification of autism and

its causes. However the new evidence from the US suggests that screening

children for mitochondrial dysfunction (there are " markers " in the blood of

affected children) may also be beneficial.

Delays in vaccinating children who display asthma, eczema, food allergies and

other signs of a compromised immune system should also be considered, as well as

a ban on " catching up " - children who have missed immunisation being given

vaccines in a shorter time period - which could overload a young system.

Many parents believe that provision of single vaccines on the NHS would allay

concern further and that some vaccinations should be scheduled for later in

childhood when immune systems are stronger. The alternative may be another

panic.

Additional reporting by Sally Beck

Kirby is giving a free public lecture on Wednesday 4th June, 6.30-10pm at

Regent Hall, 275 Oxford Street, London W1.