Autism and vaccines, Chapter 10,000

Haven't read enough about autism lately? Even if you have -- and we're betting that you have -- you might nonetheless head on over to Scienceblogs.com for their ScienceBlogs Book Club, which right now is a multi-blogger review of a new book on the vaccine-autism brouhaha.

"Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure" by Dr. Paul A. Offit (Columbia University Press, 2008) examines the rise of the autism-vaccine theory after the (later-debunked) research of the British surgeon Dr. Andrew Wakefield (you can read a summary of that research here) and a second assertion, by parent advocacy groups, that use of the mercury preservative thimerosal in vaccines was to blame for a rise in autism cases. 

Offit, who is chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, says that he was driven to write the book after study upon study failed to find an autism-vaccine link -- and yet, as a result of those studies, the press took the matter up and continues to present the issue as if it were a controversy. It's not, he says -- at least not a scientific one. And, he writes:

"My hope for this book is that people confused about this subject will see the sand on which the notion that vaccines cause autism is built. And also get a better look at the motivations of the fringe scientists, lawyers, journalists, and parent advocates who continue to flak for the irresponsible notion that vaccines cause autism."

At the ScienceBlogs Book Club, you'll read what bloggers and commenters have to say about the book. Many of the comments are thoughtful, some are -- hold onto your hats! -- angry, even rude. I've not read the book yet, but plan to.

-- Rosie Mestel

Comments

[Robin H. Morris]

Chapter10,000 seems like an understatement! It seems as if this subject has sucked the air out of every discussion on autism.
My story is simple. I am the mother of 21 year old quadruplets. All children were vaccinated, only one has autism.
What does this say about the vaccine theory?

[Reality Check]

Paul Offit holds the patent to several vaccines--for Rotavirus--and makes lots of cash not only by promoting vaccines but also defending them. His research is also funded by vaccine corporations.

Vaccine corporations are protected from lawsuits by the Federal Government. Why? Because there are are dangerous components in all vaccines: aluminum, MSG, fetal and animal tissue, other viruses or bacteria besides what the vaccine is designed to prevent, and so forth. Some vaccines, such as HIB, cause unexpected consequences: such as antibiotic-resistant ear infections.

This is just one paragraph out of thousands that should cause parents to investigate the whole vaccine issue before they follow the schedule rec'd by people like Paul Offit. He's a joke.

And quintuplets Mom? Are your quints identical? No. Why haven't you considered the possibility that the vaccines triggered something in the Autistic child--something that the other children were not susceptible to?

For example of this, Google "Hannah Poling." Good luck to you.

[Sullivan]

"Reality Check" needs a fact check.

Dr. Offit was the inventor of a Rotavirus vaccine. He does not "hold" the patent, as he assigned the rights to his institutions. Those insitutions have sold the rights. Whatever profits Dr. Offit has made on that vaccine are done. Promoting this book does nothing to increase his income (he is donating the proceeds to autism research).

Claims for vaccine injury must first go through the Court of Federal Claims. This is because the vaccine program is a government program and the government has accepted that it holds some liability due to that.

Interesting that you should mention Hannah Poling. Here is a discussion of some papers that just came out on that subject

http://www.neurodiversity.com/weblog/article/176

The book is quite well written. It covers much of the history and science behind the autism/vaccine notion, without using technical language. It is concise, yet full of information.

I wish this had been out a few years ago.

[Max]

As for the incident rate of autism what do detractors from the vaccine theory attribute the steady rise to? And also the high rate of premature babies born?
New research for the latter indicates possibly a bacteria.