An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The United S

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An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In TheUnited States Following Removal of Thimerosal From Childhood Vaccines© Med Sci Monit, 2006; 12(6): CR231-239 WWW.MEDSCIMONIT.COM A. Geier, Mark R. GeierSummaryThe US is in the midst of an epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders(NDs). Thimerosal is an ethylmercury-containing compound added to somechildhood vaccines. Several previous epidemiological studies conducted inthe US have associated Thimerosal-containing vaccine (TCV) administrationwith NDs.An ecological study was undertaken to evaluate NDs reported to theVaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from 1991 through 2004 bydate of receipt and by date of vaccine administration.The NDs examined included autism, mental retardation, and speechdisorders. Statistical trend analysis was employed to evaluate the effectsof removal of Thimerosal on the proportion of NDs reported to VAERS.There was a peak in the proportion of ND reports received by VAERS in2001–2002 and in the proportion of ND reports by date of vaccineadministration in 1998. There were signifi cant reductions in the proportionof NDs reported to VAERS as Thimerosal was begun to be removed fromchildhood vaccines in the US from mid-1999 onwards.The present study provides the first epidemiological evidence showingthat as Thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines, the number of NDshas decreased in the US. The analysis techniques utilized attempted tominimize chance or bias/confounding. Additional research should be conductedto further evaluate the relationship between TCVs and NDs. This isespecially true because the handling of vaccine safety data from theNational Immunization Program of the CDC has been called into question bythe Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2005.http://www.medscimonit.com/fulltxt.php?IDMAN=8PMID: 16733480