antonlavey
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Most of the vaccine scare is based on studies linking it to autism
[table][tr][td]The Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2004: Pediatric Vaccines and Autism[/td][td] [/td][td] [table][tr][td][img]http://www.acsh.org/images/icon_print_this.gif[/img][/td] [td]Printer Format[/td] [/tr][tr][td][img]http://www.acsh.org/images/icon_email_this.gif[/img][/td] [td]E-mail Information[/td] [/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table][table][/table]
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D., Aubrey Noelle Stimola, Rivka Weiser, Lynnea Mills
Posted: Monday, December 13, 2004
REPORT
Publication Date: December 13, 2004
Introduction
Pediatric Vaccines and Autism
PCBs in Salmon and Cancer
Cell Phones Cause Brain Tumors
Nightlights and Leukemia
Chemicals in Cosmetics
Mercury in Seafood Causes Neurological Problems in Humans
Cheeseburgers and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
Antibiotics Cause Breast Cancer
Teflon Causes Health Problems in Humans
Soda Causes Esophageal Cancer
Dishonorable Mention
Deodorants, Antiperspirants Cause Breast Cancer
Plastics Cause Cancer
[table][tr][td]
[/td][td] [/td][/tr][/table]The Scare:
Autism is a complex developmental disorder that generally appears in the first three years of life and is estimated to occur in 2/1,000 children. It is broadly characterized by impaired communication skills and social interactions, inappropriate attachments to objects or routines, repetitive actions, and inappropriate or aberrant responses to verbal cues, pain, danger, and change.(5,6) The condition is poorly understood and its causes largely unknown, though some suspect genetic components and obstetric complications.(7)
In the last decade, suspicion arose about a link between pediatric vaccines and autism. More specifically, many individuals have attempted to prove causal links between the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism or, most frequently, between the vaccine preservative thimerosal and autism. This suspicion was prompted by clinical observations that the onset of autistic symptoms correlates temporally with the period during which children receive many vaccines, and was fueled by studies indicating that the rate of autism has increased significantly since the 1980s, a period over which the percentage of children receiving vaccines has also risen.(8,9) It is important to note that MMR vaccines do not now, nor did they ever, contain thimerosal. Thus, there are two separate issues to be addressed.
Where Did the Scare Come From?
Public awareness of the potential link between MMR vaccines and autism began with the 1998 publication in the medical journal Lancet of a study by A.J. Wakefield et al.(10) This study involved a case series of twelve patients at a referral clinic in England, all of whom had inflammatory bowel disease and autism. Dr. Wakefield’s hypothesis was that in some children the MMR vaccine provokes inflammation of the intestines, which then causes toxins to leak into the blood stream. These toxins presumably enter the brain, where they cause the damage that manifests as the clinical symptoms of autism.
Thimerosal, an ethyl-mercury salt, is a vaccine preservative that has been used since the 1930s to prevent bacterial contamination in multidose vaccine vials. Because mercury is a known neurotoxin, concerns about cumulative mercury exposure in children resulted in the 1999 decision to significantly reduce or eliminate thimerosal from pediatric vaccines manufactured for the U.S. market.(11) It is, however, still found in trace amounts in some pediatric influenza vaccines.(12) In addition to the temporal correlation described above, the concern over vaccines and autism was brought to the fore as the result of a 2000 study designed to test the hypothesis that autism is a unique form of mercury poisoning. This hypothesis, put forth by the executive director of Safe Minds, an anti-thimerosal autism awareness group, was based on observations that some of the clinical signs of mercury toxicity look similar to particular manifestations of autism.(13)
Despite the consensus of the overwhelming majority of scientists to the contrary, public concern persists that vaccines may be causally linked to autism, a situation worsened by the popular press’s failure to let sleeping dogs lie.
The Media Coverage:
Although the possibility of a vaccine/autism link has been soundly and repeatedly debunked by professional analyses of numerous studies, the press continues to capitalize on parents’ fears about the link by ignoring the science, and by presenting mixed messages. Virtually all media outlets continue to run stories about the alleged link, including ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, the Associated Press, Reuters, PR Web, U.S. News and World Report, Newsday, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, L.A. Times, Washington Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago-Sun Times, People, and countless others. And that does not include the vast sea of websites posting articles on the topic.
Coverage has ranged from blatant scaremongering and dismissal of scientific evidence, to fairly unbiased assessments of the data.(14,15) One of the top offenders was CBS, which based one of its anxiety-provoking interpretations on a single study in which mice injected with thimerosal “developed profound problems
[table][tr][td]The Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2004: Pediatric Vaccines and Autism[/td][td] [/td][td] [table][tr][td][img]http://www.acsh.org/images/icon_print_this.gif[/img][/td] [td]Printer Format[/td] [/tr][tr][td][img]http://www.acsh.org/images/icon_email_this.gif[/img][/td] [td]E-mail Information[/td] [/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table][table][/table]
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D., Aubrey Noelle Stimola, Rivka Weiser, Lynnea Mills
Posted: Monday, December 13, 2004
REPORT
Publication Date: December 13, 2004
Introduction
Pediatric Vaccines and Autism
PCBs in Salmon and Cancer
Cell Phones Cause Brain Tumors
Nightlights and Leukemia
Chemicals in Cosmetics
Mercury in Seafood Causes Neurological Problems in Humans
Cheeseburgers and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
Antibiotics Cause Breast Cancer
Teflon Causes Health Problems in Humans
Soda Causes Esophageal Cancer
Dishonorable Mention
Deodorants, Antiperspirants Cause Breast Cancer
Plastics Cause Cancer
[table][tr][td]
Autism is a complex developmental disorder that generally appears in the first three years of life and is estimated to occur in 2/1,000 children. It is broadly characterized by impaired communication skills and social interactions, inappropriate attachments to objects or routines, repetitive actions, and inappropriate or aberrant responses to verbal cues, pain, danger, and change.(5,6) The condition is poorly understood and its causes largely unknown, though some suspect genetic components and obstetric complications.(7)
In the last decade, suspicion arose about a link between pediatric vaccines and autism. More specifically, many individuals have attempted to prove causal links between the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism or, most frequently, between the vaccine preservative thimerosal and autism. This suspicion was prompted by clinical observations that the onset of autistic symptoms correlates temporally with the period during which children receive many vaccines, and was fueled by studies indicating that the rate of autism has increased significantly since the 1980s, a period over which the percentage of children receiving vaccines has also risen.(8,9) It is important to note that MMR vaccines do not now, nor did they ever, contain thimerosal. Thus, there are two separate issues to be addressed.
Where Did the Scare Come From?
Public awareness of the potential link between MMR vaccines and autism began with the 1998 publication in the medical journal Lancet of a study by A.J. Wakefield et al.(10) This study involved a case series of twelve patients at a referral clinic in England, all of whom had inflammatory bowel disease and autism. Dr. Wakefield’s hypothesis was that in some children the MMR vaccine provokes inflammation of the intestines, which then causes toxins to leak into the blood stream. These toxins presumably enter the brain, where they cause the damage that manifests as the clinical symptoms of autism.
Thimerosal, an ethyl-mercury salt, is a vaccine preservative that has been used since the 1930s to prevent bacterial contamination in multidose vaccine vials. Because mercury is a known neurotoxin, concerns about cumulative mercury exposure in children resulted in the 1999 decision to significantly reduce or eliminate thimerosal from pediatric vaccines manufactured for the U.S. market.(11) It is, however, still found in trace amounts in some pediatric influenza vaccines.(12) In addition to the temporal correlation described above, the concern over vaccines and autism was brought to the fore as the result of a 2000 study designed to test the hypothesis that autism is a unique form of mercury poisoning. This hypothesis, put forth by the executive director of Safe Minds, an anti-thimerosal autism awareness group, was based on observations that some of the clinical signs of mercury toxicity look similar to particular manifestations of autism.(13)
Despite the consensus of the overwhelming majority of scientists to the contrary, public concern persists that vaccines may be causally linked to autism, a situation worsened by the popular press’s failure to let sleeping dogs lie.
The Media Coverage:
Although the possibility of a vaccine/autism link has been soundly and repeatedly debunked by professional analyses of numerous studies, the press continues to capitalize on parents’ fears about the link by ignoring the science, and by presenting mixed messages. Virtually all media outlets continue to run stories about the alleged link, including ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, the Associated Press, Reuters, PR Web, U.S. News and World Report, Newsday, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, L.A. Times, Washington Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago-Sun Times, People, and countless others. And that does not include the vast sea of websites posting articles on the topic.
Coverage has ranged from blatant scaremongering and dismissal of scientific evidence, to fairly unbiased assessments of the data.(14,15) One of the top offenders was CBS, which based one of its anxiety-provoking interpretations on a single study in which mice injected with thimerosal “developed profound problems
