Vaccine Decision Ignites Autism Debate
Hannah Poling
Federal health officials conceded that several vaccines contributed to autism-like symptoms in a 9-year-old girl, Hannah Poling. For years, there's been debate among parents, researchers, and the government over whether a mercury-based preservative in vaccines, thimerosal, causes autism. While the government has said that vaccines don't cause autism, many anti-vaccine groups see this as a vindication of their beliefs. Read WebMD's news story and interview with her father, Jon Poling.
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What We Know
This is important news and the WebMD team is working to deliver you the best information.
- December 1998: Hannah was born, possibly with a rare mitochondrial disorder from the onset. But it's important to note according to her father, Jon Poling, MD, PhD, a neurologist, that Hannah may or may not have been born with the mitochondrial disorder. All genetic mitochondrial testing was unremarkable at that time. Whether she was born with a metabolic problem or it developed later is still an unknown question. This is one of key questions that his daughter's case raises in both the science and the law.
- July 2000: Hannah received five shots, containing nine vaccines.
- February 2001: Hannah was diagnosed with features of autism spectrum disorder.
- November 2007: The Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation, said "compensation is appropriate" because the vaccines aggravated her disorder, causing her to have "features of autism spectrum disorder."
- March 2008: The government says that this does not mean that vaccines cause autism.
- Hannah's father, Jon Poling, told WebMD Thursday that his is not anti-vaccine and that they are a hugely important medical advance. But he added that every treatment has a risk and benefit, and that he couldn't say that vaccines are "absolutely safe, that they are not linked to brain injury and they are not linked to autism."
- The CDC said Thursday this was a special case and that there is no evidence that vaccines are unsafe for any children.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics said Thursday that the case "raised many questions" and that it wanted to examine the documents to better understand the implications.
The Background You Need
On this issue, here are the must-read articles, reference materials, and news stories you need.
- Q & A: Are Vaccines Safe?
- Expert View: Pediatrician Dr. Steven Parker
- Study: Vaccines Don't Cause Autism
- Autism Symptoms
WebMD's Coverage
To deliver you in-depth coverage, WebMD has:
- Posted a news story on the court case.
- Updated a QA about vaccines to include the newest information.
- Is working on ways to bring you additional perspective and context.
- Is moderating an active discussion of the topics on its boards.
- Posted a blog from a mother of an autistic child, with her take on the news.
Those Involved
The people and organizations surrounding this event.
- Hannah Poling, the 9-year-old girl diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
- Jon Poling, Hannah's father, a neurologist.
- Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation, Department of Health and Human Services, the government office that admitted the vaccine-autism link in Hannah's case.
- Autism United, a coalition of autism groups.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has said that vaccines do not cause autism.
- SafeMinds, an advocacy organization that believes vaccines cause autism.
Technorati Tags: autism, vaccines, breaking news, webmd
18 Comments:
I just don't know -- I feel more afraid than ever about vaccines. I don't question their goodness, but I do wonder if any child should get them on the current schedule. Is it too much?
My nephew was diagnosed with autism. He has done wonderful progress. When my sister had my niece, she decided not to go with vaccines as soon as she was born. She has been in perfect health so far, occasional colds, but nothing more. As for future vaccines for my niece, my sister will go to a pediatrician that is willing to space out much more the vaccines than the current schedule. It is outrages that they get so many at such a young age, there has to be more time for their bodies to take them. Did vaccines cause my nephews autism, we don't know, but she is not willing to take that risk again with my niece.
After working as an occupatinal therapist with children with Autism for several years, I came to my own conclusion regarding vaccinations for my children. Parents would tell us at conferences over and over their stories that are so very parallel to this beautiful little girl's. With it so obviously in our face, I have continued to be shocked that we are not seeing at the very least "predispositions" that are aggravated by the vaccines. This is a first step and I am so glad that webmd is willing to follow it.
A study of autism among Amish (who do not vaccinate for religious reasons) found only two (2) cases of autism -- both children who had been adopted and had gone through the vaccination mill. When it comes to getting medical research grants, who do you think will get the funds: someone who concludes that vaccines are safe, or someone who demonstrates that big Pharma made a big oopsie?
Yes it's funny how they are always talking about the removal of mercury in 2001 and there was no decline in autism, but yet they ignore the Amish study!!
They seam to have forgotton that they chose to use up the old stock first in 2001 and mercury ws still present in the Flu vaccine.
I hope and pray that people will wake up and research the facts first.
There are many inaccuracies being spread all over the news about this story.
Right up front, in your timeline you state that in 1998 Hannah Poling was "born with a rare mitochondrial disorder.'
Please observe this closely: there is NO evidence that Hannah Poling had any kind of mitochondrial disorder at birth or at any time prior to her 9 vaccinations in July 2000 - at 19 months of age. She does NOT have the genetic variations showing mitochondrial disorder. The biochemical markers showing mitochondrial dysfunction that were detected after she became sick, AFTER the vaccinations, appeared but then disappeared. The signs of mitochondrial dysfunction were intermittent.
Toxins, including thimerosal and other ingredients in vaccines can CAUSE mitochondrial dysfunction.
Please look into these facts. They are important.
I find it incredible that we are so trusting of the vaccines. We have to approach each vaccine that our doctors presents us with fresh eyes.
Are the unknown risks of long term damage worth the protection that a chickpox vaccine provides? I decided absolutely not.
Are the risks of some of the other vaccines worth the protection that they provide? In some cases yes, in some cases no.
My wife and I believe that however good intentioned the medical industry is (I say industry intentionally) they are still over-medicating our population and are so gung-ho to eliminate illness that they lose sight of the big holistic picture.
This isn't a health industry phenomenon either. It is the prevalent golden bullet mentality of our society. Sure it is easy to write off the hippie no-vaccine folks as Luddites that are endangering their kids. But are you certain that what you are doing is good for your kids? Are you going to find out in 15 or 20 years that maybe you should have played it safe and listened to nature instead of technology?
well, I started off trying to sound normal, but then I got weird on ya.
My son was given the several vacinations at the age of 15 months. First he got a fever and then the fever got higher and gave him a seziure. the doctor said that the seziure was called febrile. So i really question if these vaccines help children's bodies or cause more harm to them.
Maybe the government is saying vacines do not cause autism, but they are wrong. When you expose a child's brain to the number of vacines given to them in short amounts of time, like in this case, the result is something like autism. The brain cannot handle all these vacines be given in such a short time period. Remember, the vacines are just weakened forms of the viruses. The Omish cultures have a very low rate of autism. Why does are culture have such a high rate vs. their culture? Because of vacines. Doctors want you to blindly follow their advice, but be careful. I have a 6 year old daughter and we only give her a does of 3 shots every six months and we home school her. We don't care what the governemnt or the doctors say because all the care about is their bottom lines in the end.
Old fathers cause Autism in the same way that old mothers cause Down Syndrome.
Stop thinking you can have babies past your early thirties- we'll cut these numbers right down.
This is complicated....so that 20 or 30 children a year get autism (or something else) from vaccines. But 20 or 30 *million* children are saved by vaccines (by protection against these disease). I mean, the polio vaccine gave some peope polio...but that doesn't mean that they stopped the vaccine.
There's no risk-free route with anything...you go for the (far-greater) good.
i was vaccinated as a child. my husband has never been injected with anything and never eats antibiotics. he gets sick a lot less often than i do.
you know that aphorism about eating a peck of dirt, it's good for you? mercury is bad. exposing your children to mild, controlled danger when they are little and resilient is not. it'll make 'em stronger in the future.
The comment below shows a clear bias toward vaccines. The poster's facts are just wrong. The number of children becoming autistic is much higher. I have one of these children, I'll bet this idiot does not. I am not anti pharmaceutical company, I have made my living in the pharmaceutical R&D industry for 30 years. There is a lot of evidence, although it is subjective, that vaccines do have something to do with the high number of autistic children in the US. This is not a problem in other parts of the world.
My 4 month old has had 5 shots the lst few doctors visits. I have been worried about the effect they have on her, she gets sick for a few days and then starts acting like herself again. The FDA should made a federal limit of 3 per visit per month, to keep this problem down.
My son has mild mental delay this happen around 8 months of age. He had went in to have his 6 month vaccines after he ran a high fever. Over the next months I noticed a change in my son. He stop looking at me in the face. He just wasn't the same. Please think twice about vaccines. I wish I knew what I know now.
I have a child (adult now) 22 years old. After his MMR vaccine he had a seizure, quit walking, started dragging his leg. After many doctors visits (as anyone with a child with autism or autism like symptoms will know) we had a neurologist who thought it was due to his immunizations. I am a absolute firm believer that the thimerosol in the vaccines was the cause. Doctors in North America schedule vaccines way to close together. Lets face it, if you are going to be suseptible to an allergy or the like having the vaccines so close is bad news waiting to happen. If thimerosol (mercury for preservative use ONLY) isnt an issue why have they taken it out of some of the vaccines, eyedrops etc. The only reason it was in the vaccines anyway was for the sole benefit of the pharmaceutical companies. Preservatives mean more doses per vial. Be careful though, dont be fooled thimerosol is still available in the flu shots in Canada. It is on the warnings when you go to sign for your children. There is no doubt in my mind that this ruling is only the start of many things to come and is just the tip of the berg. The pharmaceutical companies and the government knows that there are and were issues...You watch....this is just the beginning. To all you parents out there that know this is not us losing our minds..the truth will come out eventually. Hang tight, not that this will change our life or our childrens its to late but people should be aware. Hearing the ruling made me happy, sad and angry all at the same time and Im sure there are many other parents out there that feel the same.
Having lived in West Africa for over 10 years, I have seen the horrific effects of polio, measles, menengitis and tetanus in the population. Can it be that Americans are too far removed from reality of the diseases that these vaccines were created to diminish in the first place?
I understand your concern person who lived in West Africa. But no, we are not too far from these diseases, in fact 1 in 150 of our children, 1 in 99 boys have a LIFELONG disease BECAUSE of these vaccinations. WE are experiencing an epidemic and WE want safer vaccinations, is that too much to ask?
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