Are you completely convinced of the safety and effectiveness of the childhood vaccine schedule, or do you think additional research is justified?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is gearing up to study the links between vaccines and autism. Some, including Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), have called this a waste of scarce resources, like studying whether the earth is flat or whether Elvis is still alive.
The whole concern about MMR and autism is believed to have originated in a 1998 paper in The Lancet by Dr. Andrew Wakefield and 12 others. The journal retracted the paper 12 years later, and the British General Medical Council revoked Dr. Wakefield’s medical license.
Dr. Wakefield was not the first person to suggest an association, and hundreds of thousands of parents have reported that their normally developing child suddenly regressed (losing eye contact, speech, motor skills, etc.), often after a well-baby visit that involved “baby shots.”
Nearly 90% of autism cases may be regressive, according to a 2018 study by Ozonoff, et al., a fact not compatible with a genetic cause. Rather, it implicates a sudden toxic exposure. (Exposure to microplastics or common foods is not sudden.)
Autism is one of many conditions found to be far more prevalent in vaccinated children (see graph) in a 2017 study by Mawson et al.
Unquestionably, the diagnosis of autism is being made far more frequently—it may be as high as 1 in 25 children in some areas. The burden of needed social services will become even more crushing when the children’s parents die. A $1.6 trillion/year tsunami has been suggested.
Some studies have found a vaccine connection; others have not. Should we toss out all the positive ones as flawed, as Sen. Cassidy has suggested? Or pursue all avenues to investigate the cause of this overwhelming catastrophe?
Additional Information:
- Vaccinated vs. unvaccinated kids, showing difference in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): findings by Dr. Paul Thomas
- AAPS amicus brief supporting Dr. Thomas
- Analysis of the Danish study (Madsen et al.), the “most exhaustive” study of an MMR-autism connection
