U.S. study clears measles vaccine of autism link

[Sing4Him]

U.S. study clears measles vaccine of autism link
Wed Sep 3, 2008 8:37pm EDT
By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists who tried to replicate a study that once tied a measles vaccine with autism said on Wednesday they could not find any link and hope their study will encourage parents to vaccinate their children to combat a rash of measles outbreaks.

Parents' refusals to have their children vaccinated against measles have contributed to the highest numbers of cases seen in the United States and parts of Europe in many years.

Measles kills about 250,000 people a year globally, mostly children in poor nations.

Public health officials have been stressing the safety of the combined measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, shot and other childhood vaccines in the face of vocal groups who claim the immunizations may cause autism and other problems.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine has issued several definitive reports showing no connection between autism and any vaccinations.

This study took a new tack. It attempted to replicate 1998 research by a team led by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, then of Britain's Royal Free Hospital, in the Lancet medical journal that suggested the vaccine was linked to autism and gastrointestinal problems.

Wakefield is undergoing disciplinary action for professional misconduct by Britain's General Medical Council and 10 of his collaborators formally withdrew their original Lancet study.

Scientists at Columbia University in New York and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta looked for evidence of genetic material from the measles virus in intestinal tissue samples taken from 25 children with autism who also had GI problems. They compared these to samples from 13 children of similar ages who had GI problems but no autism.

NO DIFFERENCES

The samples were analyzed in three laboratories that were not told which came from the children with autism. One of the labs had been involved in the original study suggesting a link between measles virus and autism.

"We found no difference in children who had GI complaints and no autism and children who had autism but no GI complaints," Dr. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University told reporters in a telephone briefing.

The team also collected data about the children's health and immunization histories from parents and physicians to see if vaccinations preceded either their autism or bowel trouble.

"We found no relationship between the timing of MMR vaccine and the onset of either GI complaints or autism," Dr. Mady Hornig, also of Columbia, said in a statement.

But the study did find evidence that children with autism have persistent bowel troubles that should be addressed.

"No longer can mainstream medicine ignore parents' claims of clinically significant GI distress," said Rick Rollens, a parent and autism research advocate.

He commended the researchers for their work but said, "This study by itself does not exonerate the role of all vaccines."

The CDC estimates that about one in every 150 children has autism or a related disorder such as Asperger's syndrome -- 560,000 people up to age 21 in the United States.

The findings, reported in the
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN0327603720080904?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

[LookingUplinda]

I have always been confused about measles, in the 50's it was just measles, everyone got 'em. I had a naturopath that said 30 years ago that is would be bad to keep putting off these normal childhood diseases, he said it's better to get it out of the body, it is the bodys way of cleansing our systems, and that makes sense to me:idunno

[NewWorldOrder]

I don't believe that parents not vaccinating are contributing to new outbreaks of measles, that sounds like a scape goat to me. There are so many people coming here from other countries, illegally, who carry diseases and we never know it because they get in under the radar. Also, diseases mutate and turn into different strains. What strain a vaccine works for may not work for newer strains that are now spreading.

[Walker]

New World Order

Measles does not mutate very rapidly in the wild. Measles has a very limited host range, which does not confer large genetic variability. Measles only infects humans. The virus cannot "hide" in an animal subpopulation. This is one reason why vaccination is so successful in keeping measles at bay. The same reasoning is why polio vaccination and smallpox vaccination has been so successful, these viruses are not prone to mutation. To date, there are only 21 strains of measles isolated. The vaccine confers immunity to all strains.

(Journal of Virology, January 1999, p. 51-54, Vol. 73, No. 1)

Lookinguplinda

I have always been confused about measles, in the 50's it was just measles, everyone got 'em. I had a naturopath that said 30 years ago that is would be bad to keep putting off these normal childhood diseases, he said it's better to get it out of the body, it is the bodys way of cleansing our systems, and that makes sense to me

Measles is a significant infectious disease because the disease itself is so infectious that the sheer number of people who would suffer complications in an outbreak would quickly overwhelm available hospital resources. If vaccination rates fall, the number of non-immune persons in the community rises, and the risk of an outbreak of measles consequently rises. Secondary infection with bacterial pneumonia occurs in about 30% of cases. Considering that the fatality rate is 10% overall, I would much rather live in a vaccinated community than a non-vaccinated one. So even if you only know 10 people who catch it, statistically, one will die.

[Freedbychrist]

I was always suspicious about this supposed link, especially when naive people at my former work mentioned that they'd "heard about a kid who had his vaccinations and came down with autism that same day" as if autism were some infectious disease you just "catch."

After seeing some of the terrible diseases that ravage the third world on my missions abroad, I urge any of you who have qualms about vaccinating your children to please, please vaccinate them as suggested. Yes, some diseases are worse than others, i.e. polio vs. measles. But you really never know - people, especially children and old people, can die from anything if it strikes their immune system at the right time.

From Wikipedia: "Measles is a significant infectious disease because, while the rate of complications is not high, the disease itself is so infectious that the sheer number of people who would suffer complications in an outbreak amongst non-immune people would quickly overwhelm available hospital resources. If vaccination rates fall, the number of non-immune persons in the community rises, and the risk of an outbreak of measles consequently rises. . . . According to the World Health Organization (WHO), measles is a leading cause of vaccine preventable childhood mortality."
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles

I think that our culture has gotten so USED to being healthy and disease-free that we don't realize how terrible "outbreaks" of a virus can be. Our country is just not prepared for mass outbreaks . . . not that we ever were a century ago, but at least now we have far fewer cases, correlating with far better treatment.

Hope this helps! Vaccinate your kids!

[Freedbychrist]

Walker - you beat me to it! And thanks for posting about how measles does not rapidly mutate (as opposed to say, influenza). I forgot to mention that.

:thumbs

[Pat Hood]

So much is said about the measles vaccine, and when I am asked if our daughter who is autistic and has been been from birth, has had it Ireply "Yes, she had the triple-antigen injection as a baby". This of course was a totally different vaccine than is given today. As I have heard differeing things about the latest one I would have my doubts about using it. By the way, Mandy is now 33 years old, so a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since she had her injections.

[ScienceTeacher]

I work with autistic kids. A good amount of the research suggests that there is a genetic predisposition with and environmental trigger. Many parents of autistic children have been able to point to a vaccination/onset of symptoms link. Others find diet and other environmental factors to be linked. The truth is there is nothing out there that is conclusive as to what causes autism and to complicate matters, autism manifests itself differently in each individual. Studies can be misleading sometimes, too. For a long time "experts" were claiming that smoking was not linked to lung cancer. NOt everyone who smokes gets lung cancer, either. A lot of what I have read recently suggests that it is not the vaccinations in itself as much as too many given in a short amount of time.

Even though I work with autistic children and I understand the concern of their parents, I am still pro vaccination. HOwever, I do agree that we bombard kiddos with too many at once; I hope the medical field will prioritize which ones are of greatest concern and emphasize those the most. The study at the beginning of the thread mentioned 1/150 children are on the autism spectrum; the stats specifically for males are even grimmer- 1/94.

Autism is also one of those things that is particularly hard to understand unless one has truly interacted with it (much like the difference between knowing what cancer is and actually watching/living with/loving someone who is fighting it). I often describe my work with autistic children as being like working with someone for whom "blue" is not a color, but a smell. (I must add that the kiddos I work with are severely autistic; not all autistic people even have obvious behaviors/symptoms). MOst of my "students" do have weaker immune systems so it is important that those of us working with them are not brining in any diseases.....I get my flu shot yearly.

[lovinlife4]

Recently we had a speech therapist suggest our child age 2 may have PDD or a very mild form of autism. This runs nowhere on either side of our famlilies so it's got us thinking what a factor may be IF he has it. Vaccinations certainly have been on the hot list though.

[Rinji]

Autism just seems like a catch all category for anything they can't identify a cause for. You know how science has to know everything, instead of admitting they don't know (which might be safer in my opinion).

It could be the science community is having a severe case of ignorance.

The way they classify anyone as autistic is sickening.
If I was growing up in these times, they may have called me autistic too.
I was not very social with people my age because my class was small and my fmaily wasn't from the area, there were only adults at my house, and they spoke to me like adults, so my communication skills with kids my age were lacking. This made me shy, and passive to the point I just didn't talk to any kids.
There was a period or two where I did horrible in school because I had an horrible teacher who insisted I needed drugs to succeed, and my mom and dad never payed attention to make sure I did my homework. I was a very forgetful child. The doctor said I didn't need such medication.
I used to have a small speech impediment where I would not say "th" in the middle of words. But my family was from a southern part of the state, and more people spoke that way down there.

Without any of the reasoning behind all of that, they probably would classify me as autistic or some derivative thereof. If you see me today you wouldn't even know, I figured out how to get past that.

Not saying there are child that don't have it.... but stuff can get classified as such when it's not exactly the truth.