Baltimore Sun Today: Autism activists unmoved

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Oh, this makes my blood boil . . . .

Autism activists unmoved

Many scientists are satisfied that mercury in vaccines is not the

cause of the condition, but some parents reject the research and

reassurances that immunizations are not to blame

By Desmon | Sun reporter

January 9, 2008

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For years, the scientific evidence has been accumulating. The latest,

published this week, once again showed that thimerosal, a mercury-

based preservative long used in childhood vaccines, does not cause

the neurological disorders associated with the U.S. autism epidemic.

In fact, scientists at the California Department of Public Health

demonstrated that in the years since nearly all thimerosal was

removed from vaccines in 2001, the rate of autism has continued to

rise there. Had thimerosal been the culprit, those numbers should

have decreased.

Case closed?

Not in the world of autism, an emotionally charged place where Web

sites, blogs and parent advocacy groups have spent a decade promoting

the theory that the thimerosal injected into babies beginning when

they were just weeks old has left as many as one in 150 children

disabled by autism. These advocates have lobbied Congress, screamed

about coverups and filed financial claims against the government.

" I know the people who want to believe it's thimerosal will find

fault with this [study], " said Dr. Goldstein, president & CEO of

the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. " The scientists, they're

saying, 'Why are we still talking about this?' "

Thimerosal, which is almost 50 percent mercury, has been a

preservative in vaccines since the 1930. The first case of autism was

identified at s Hopkins University in the 1940s.

Before 1991, only one vaccine - the one for diphtheria, tetanus and

pertussis - contained thimerosal. Starting in 1991, two more were

added to the schedule for infants - sharply increasing the quantity

of mercury given to young children. Most other vaccines have remained

mercury-free.

By 1999, some government scientists were concerned that infants might

be getting too much mercury. As a precautionary measure, the federal

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy

of Pediatrics asked pharmaceutical companies to remove thimerosal

from vaccines.

Still, according to Dr. A. Offit, the infectious diseases chief

at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, doctors kept insisting that

parents not worry about the safety of vaccines.

But the firestorm came. " Many parents, frightened by a sudden change

in policy, reasoned that thimerosal was targeted because it was

harmful - and their faith in the vaccine infrastructure was shaken, "

Offit wrote in a September issue of The New England Journal of

Medicine.

By 2002, the last U.S. doses of required vaccines for children made

with thimerosol had expired, though other countries continue to use

it.

Those who publicly deny the link between thimerosal and autism have

been harassed - some have received death threats. Goldstein said he

has gotten hate e--mails and a call saying, " I hope your child dies. "

In the new California study, published in Archives of General

Psychiatry, researchers looked at data reported to the California

Department of Developmental Services, which serves the state's

disabled population. " To me, the body of evidence is persuasive, "

said study author Dr. Schechter.

But Lyn Redwood, a co-founder of SafeMinds, a nonprofit that raises

awareness of mercury exposure in children, said she isn't ready to

write off the thimerosal/autism connection. That's because thimerosal

has not disappeared. Pregnant women receive flu shots - which contain

a full dose of thimerosal - and flu vaccines for babies often contain

it, she said.

" Our children are still getting exposed to mercury, " said the Atlanta

nurse practitioner and mother. " I think mercury should still be on

everybody's radar screens. "

She said the California data are flawed because the continued rise in

autism could be explained by immigrants there who were vaccinated in

other countries where thimerosal is still used.

" I think it's a little bit early to close the books on thimerosal, "

she said.

Dr. Mark Geier, a Silver Spring epidemiologist, agreed. " Everyone

worries about lead poisoning, " he said. " Do you know how much more

dangerous mercury is? "

It is still unknown what causes autism, a spectrum of disorders

marked by impairment in social development and communication.

Autistic children usually exhibit language delays and often have

difficulties relating to people, failing to read basic social cues in

the faces of others.

Most specialists believe autism's cause will be found in genetics,

but many also suspect that an environmental trigger contributed to

the explosive growth in autism cases in the past generation. Doctors

also attribute some of the growth to better diagnosis and a

broadening of autism's definition.

But it's the scientific community's inability to provide a definitive

cause that has led so many to thimerosal. " The final answer to me

will come when that paper is written that says, 'This is what causes

autism', " said Dr. Deth, a pharmacologist at Northeastern

University in Boston, who calls thimerosal " a prime suspect. "

Some health experts are concerned that thimerosal worries might keep

some parents from vaccinating their children, forgetting the value of

protecting them from diseases that were once major killers.

" Immunizations have kind of become the fall guy for problems, " said

Dr. W. Zimmerman, a pediatric neurologist at Kennedy

Krieger, " but the public has a short memory - because before

immunizations, the diseases themselves were much worse. "